You know that feeling when you are out alone in a forest? And it's so quiet you wonder if anything else in the world even exists? (Or you hope that nothing else - like bears - exist). That is a daily occurrence here in Söderbärke.
Living out in the country - and I mean really out in the country - is a new experience for me. The hotel and restaurant I am staying and working at is in a tiny village called Tolsvbo, which is located about two and a half hours northwest of Stockholm. The nearest town is Söderbärke, which has a pizza place, bus station, train station, grocery store, hair dresser (a necessity) and a whopping 900 people. Every morning I go for a walk around the hotel and it's neighboring area around all those Falun red houses. Every house has a Swedish flag out front. There is a Slakteri (slaughter house) right up the road and a Keramic (ceramic shop) a little further down. The school bus is a sprinter van with a "caution children" sign on the back. There are actually more houses around than I thought there would be, however many of them are summer houses where people have not yet arrived for the season. Most walks I take I don't see anyone else.
The best part of this country living? The hotel is right across from a large lake. I've never seen a lake "de-frost" before, but let me tell you it is a lot more exciting than throwing something in the microwave. When I first got here, my hosts told me the water was frozen about a foot deep. Every morning I check to see what areas of the lake have succumb to spring. When there is a warmer day here, the lake does something spectacular. Although it is still frozen underneath, the warmer temperatures create puddles on top of the ice that give it an unbelievable glassy effect, causing everything to be reflected. Driving into town the other day it looked like the sky had flipped upside down. And then, one day, all of a sudden it was all water! The sunsets and sunrises here are unbelievable, with new colors and shapes hanging over the lake every day. I've taken hundreds of pictures because each time I see the lake it is more breathtaking than the last. Not only are we in a land of many lakes, we are also surrounded by never-ending forest. Birch and spruce trees are at every turn and from any direction of the hotel you can get lost (literally) among them. Walking through the forest here is like walking on a soft squishy carpet. There is spongy bright green moss covering most of the ground which only adds to the beautiful landscape.
Daily life out here is quiet, but busy. There is always something to do. My hosts, Fridus and Roswitha, are extremely kind and welcoming people. Roswitha (with an art teacher background) and Fridus (with a handyman/facility maintenance background) make a great team for this line of work. They are both from Holland and bought this property about eleven years ago. There are eight different buildings - most of which were built around 1826 - and they also own a bit of land. They are extremely hard working people. They run a twenty room hotel, full service restaurant (including all cooking), upkeep of all the 150+ year old buildings, cleaning of all the rooms, gardening, mowing, yard work, ordering food and supplies, care of a dog, 3 cats and 6 chickens, website upkeep, answering phone calls and making reservations. Only the two of them. They make and create everything themselves. From curtains to napkins to shelving units to tables to lighting fixtures to dog houses - nearly everything here they have created, crafted, and built themselves. They started hosting workawayers about a year ago as it allows them to create a more successful business model. In my time here I have sewn curtains, cleaned hotel rooms, helped in the restaurant, painted fences and shelves, decorated hotel rooms and the restaurant, worked on art projects, reupholstered chairs, greeted guests in the restaurant on the weekends, helped in the garden, planted flowers, and I've even made Swedish meatballs! Fridus and Roswitha do a great job of allowing workawayers to choose tasks based on their interests and strengths. And they are very patient and will teach valuable skills for each worker to take with them (I mean, the poor woman had to re-teach me how to sew! Yes, there was a lot of seam ripping my mistakes and starting over). There have been other workawayers here as well - we've had a few German girls, a Dutch guy and a girl from the Czech Republic. Each person comes and goes at different times so it is fun to meet people from all over the world. The German girls were surprised to see me and learn that I was American because 'I wasn't fat and I wasn't wearing a lot of makeup.' Oh good old American stereotypes. Glad I didn't fit that bill.
Roswitha and Fridus speak Dutch, Swedish, German, French and English. Wow. It took me about a whole month but I finally got down a few Swedish words here and there. Hello is Hej (pronounced Hey) - so luckily that one isn't too hard. But it is weird feeling so informal. And a lot of the time they will say "Hey hey" which causes me to giggle. I feel like I'm in high school greeting my girlfriends "Hey girl heeeey." Roswitha recently got a dog, Olvar, who is Finnish. We take him for walks and are trying to help her train him. I've gotten the hang of "ney" which is no. And that's about it.
Our busiest weekend was Easter weekend, where we served over 300 Swedish families Easter brunch to include; 6 different kinds of fish, 4 kinds of sausages, 2 kinds of meatballs, a lot of hardboiled eggs and many desserts. I helped to stock the food on the buffet and clear plates - and I definitely have a better appreciation for the restaurant industry now! It was hard work! The highlight of this weekend was meeting - and seeing - Swedish families celebrating one of their main holidays in a traditional way (they also celebrate mid-Summer in June and Christmas in similar ways). There was also an art show going on in the town and part of the exhibit was at the hotel, so we were able to see that as well.
All in all, this was a once in a lifetime experience with truly amazing people and I am so thankful I was able to spend a whole month at this wonderful place!
Highlights:
- Roswitha, Fridus and the other workawayers - it was so fun to sit around the dinner table each night and hear stories from all these different people and perspectives. And compare differences in culture and ideas and lifestyles. We occasionally veered into American politics but I tried to quickly steer us out of that territory.
- Being out in nature! It is so beautiful out here and there are so many different trails and areas to explore. I was here for a month and only scratched the surface.
- Getting to decorate - we made a trip to the big city to IKEA and were able to fully refinish one of the hotel rooms that had some previous water damage. So fun to shop and decorate! Sophie and I (one of the German girls) also were able to decorate the restaurant for spring and Easter which was very fun.
- Easter weekend - although extremely busy it was really special to see three or sometimes four generations celebrating one of their favorite holidays.
- The food - Roswitha is an amazing cook! And the desserts were to die for.
Lessons Learned:
- Owning a hotel and restaurant is a lot of work. As I said, there was always work to be done and I don't know how the two of them manage it all!
- No matter what kind of business you are in, a sense of pride in what you produce is so important. In talking with Roswitha, she said at this point in her life her top priority is creating a comfortable atmosphere for her guests. As long as she has a place to be creative and do her art, she could live in a shoebox!
- Swedish people are so kind. Everyone who visited the restaurant was so nice and didn't mind that I butchered the few Swedish words I learned.
- It's always interesting to hear international perspectives on Americans. Although hard to hear a lot of the time, they are usually spot on.
- Apparently, I could get used to lakeside living.
- Although I really tried, I never saw a bear. Or a moose. Or a lynx. (Thank goodness!).
Thanks for reading - now on to Norway!
The hotel and an Easter snow!
Some of our restaurant decorations.
A lake sunset.
The endless forest.