Seaworld

So, I know it's been a long time, but between spotty internet connection and public talk preparation, I've had very little time to blog, so here comes another big chunk of recap...
On Friday we woke up to Kathryn's uncle all ready to hit the sea. Karin's brother and his wife are always up bright and early, but then they go to bed around 8 in the evening, so they miss out on all the crazy stuff that goes on... Maybe that's their plan. :-)  

Göran has a small fishing boat that we squeezed 8 people on and headed out to enjoy the beautiful weather. Even though the sun was shining beautifully and the weather was quite warm, the sea breeze still made it a bit chilly. We boated around the archipelago near their house for a while until we found a nice and calm bay where we could attempt swimming. Kathryn and I had decided we would try swimming. After sitting on the edge for a while trying to think of a way out of it, it was decided for us... First I decided for Kathryn, and then her mom decided for me. It was borderline torture, but we actually got used to it eventually.
Kathryn stayed in the longest, and even said it got enjoyable after a while.

We had a snack on the boat, and then we headed to a nearby shore where we picked up Hannah who had been working early in the morning.

The harbor where we met up with her had been in use for a long time, it has an old loading area and a railroad station. For 3 points, what is this little building?
They had a poster there describing allemansrätten. For another 3 points, why is that a cool law? (Personal interpretation that is funny might get you extra points... :-)
We waited for a train, but no train showed up... Sorry Jon P. :-) 

After we got back on the boat we started looking for a spot where we could start a fire and grill our Swedish hotdogs.

The wind had picked up a bit by now, so we had a hard time finding a place to moor our boat without it crashing against the rocky shores.

Finally we found a spot where there was soft stuff underneath us, so Göran ran the boat into the ground so that it would stay.
We dug up some old branches that burned quite well, especially since Göran brought some lighter fluid.
We headed back home, quite drained from a great trip, but very satisfied. Hannah and Salome got to be tugged by a rope for some of the way... there is a hilarious video of it that I can show those who so desire.

In the evening Salome treated us to a ton of homemade sushi. I even tried some of it... but not too much of the semi-raw fish. I don't have time to be sick... :)
Saturday I got to head to Ren & Stimpy's congregation to give my talk in English. Technically, only Renee is in the English group they have there, but Stina and her husband are thinking about joining it too.

We went down there a few hours before the meeting, enjoyed a delicious grilled meal and a dessert that Kathryn referred to as the best dessert she had on this vacation.
It was a cake made from merengue, ice cream, heavy cream and fresh strawberries. Quite delicious.

The talk went ok, and I survived. We spent the evening relaxing at Kathryn's Cousin's place, playing a board game. 

On Sunday came my Swedish talk, and it was a lot more worrying than the English one... it's kind of funny how you can slip away from your mother tongue...

When I was rehearsing the talk at home I was a little short, and I think that helped me to be calmer when I delivered it, at least it felt that way. After the talk we spent the evening with some friends from the congregation that live outside of Härnösand and then we went to the store where they had a sale on chocolate and bought a ton of chocolate. We don't know yet if it is enough, but we're going to raise our dental insurance just in case.