A birthday in Sweden

Today’s my birthday!! Hurrah! I’m a full 23 years old (that’s 8,401 days! And yes, I counted leap years) … and to be honest, it doesn’t feel all that different than being 22. Actually, today doesn’t feel all that different from any other day here. But that’s alright – I mean how can I complain? I’m in frickin’ SWEDEN.

I was reflecting on the overseas birthdays I’ve had, and they all have something strange in common. My first international birthday was in 11^th grade, when I woke up in Spain. That one was particularly cool, because I had a 30-hour birthday, since it was a travel day westwards over the ocean. Then, 2 years ago, I spent my birthday in Scotland.  Few people know what actually happened that night, and I am not one of them. 

And this year, I spent it in Sweden!

And the TriBond answer iiiiis….*drumroll please*

They all begin with the best letter to start a last name with – S!

Amanda was super nice and got me my only birthday gift this year – a polka dot scarf and some cute flower hair clips from H&M.  We got to school and Jocelyn said it’d be neat for me to see how the Swedes sing Happy Birthday, but the day went and past and everyone seemed to forget. At first I was nervous at the idea of drawing so much attention to myself, but as the day went on, I couldn’t help but get a little sad. It was my first unnoticed birthday, other than Amanda’s best wishes (which again, did not go unnoticed or unappreciated!). I suppose that I’m just used to being surrounded by family and/or friends, planning some sort of supper or drinks out with the girls, or having phone calls from relatives singing that oh-so-familiar and apparently-patented birthday song from miles away – so this was just quite a change.  But instead of being sad about it, I’m trying to look at it like the start to a new chapter of my life. My next birthday could be ANYWHERE – heck, I don’t even know what I’ll be doing in 2 months’ time! It just goes to show that times are a-changing. Birthdays may start to be less of a big deal, I may not always be near family and friends, and I’ll hopefully have many more exciting international adventures!  It’s all very exciting, really! Amanda and Chelsea and a few other people from work are thinking of going out on Friday, so hopefully we’ll have a birthday drink or some cake or something then. 

I did have a pretty cool birthday, though.  School ended early today because report cards are due tomorrow so teachers got part of the afternoon to work on inputting marks*. Another cool thing I did today was follow Jocelyn to her orchestra rehearsal. I brought along my own mouthpiece and the school’s trombone, and was welcomed warmly by the talented group of Swedes in her ensemble.  We played some Dvorak and some Bizet, and because there were no trombone parts, I was playing the bassoon part all night – which ended up being AWESOME because the part is so much more interesting than a trombone part! I think I may have played more than Jocelyn, who’s a flautist! It’s a pretty small ensemble, and I made up half of the brass section.  Being there made me so aware of how much I miss ensemble playing. It’s definitely one of the things I took for granted during my undergrad!

On the way home from orchestra, Jocelyn stopped at a gas station, and I asked her to show me around the convenience store part and point out any Swedish favourites. I picked up my own birthday gift to myself – a package of Swedish candies, a Swedish chocolate bar, and my second shot at carbonated water – this time flavoured (and on purpose…). Anyway, enough about that – I’m off to bed!

Until next time,

Beckers

*Apparently the work environment is very different here than in Canada- they have meetings to talk about how much stress each of the employees feels, and how we can work together to alleviate that stress.  34-hour work weeks are strictly enforced, and the other 10 hours or whatever are meant to be spent doing teaching-related activities but do not have to be at the school (i.e. they may include marking time at home). Seriously, how wonderful are the Swedes?!

UPDATE:

We celebrated my after-the-fact birthday with this AMAZING cake we found at a grocery store (lime icing, really light filling, and vanilla cake!) and candles :)

A belated Sundsvall birthday. Now I'm happy! :D