Swedish Miracle

So I have been back in Sweden now for a week. It has been fun, and it is nice knowing that I will be home in Utah soon. This past week at work has been EXTREMELY slow. I am just here for questions and discussions so work occupies about 2 hours of my day. It has been fun.

With me being the last one here I have the joy of tying up all the loose ends, closing apartments, selling cars, and changing addresses. Really fun and exciting work. To preface this story I will explain something about Swedish culture. People in Sweden are very private and keep to themselves. They aren't very talkative to strangers. For example, no one holds the door for each other, and if you do hold the door it is seen as weird. My co-worker was using the stairs in his apartment building one day, and as he was walking down them he looked out to the entrance and he saw a woman and a man struggling to carry a couch inside. So he walked down and grabbed the door for them. Right behind them was another Swede. The guy started to chuckle as my co-worker held the door open, and asked if he was American. My co-work said, "Yes, why do you ask?" "I can tell because a Swede wouldn't have done that."

So last night I decided I was going to clean out one of our apartments instead of paying someone to do it. So I had just finished boxing everything up and was starting to load it into my car to take to the Red Cross. As I get my car half-loaded this other car pulls up to the front door and two 18-20 year old kids starting moving in. Seeing an opportunity I pounce.

"Are you two moving in?"
"Yes, we are, to the 6th floor."
"Do you guys have furniture and other stuff?"
They look at each other, "we have beds."
"Would you like some more stuff?"
Look at me, look at each other, "Sure."

So I tell them what apartment I am in and tell them to come on up. They both look so lost and confused. Mind you, this apartment was used the least of all the ones we had here in Sweden. So all the stuff was still really new and had a lot of life left in it. When they walked in they were still waiting for a catch, and finally I said what do you guys want and they listed off some really small things. So I grabbed them and started moving them to their apartment. When I went in their apartment they had two beds and only clothes. Poor college students. So I let them pick what they wanted. It ended up instead of me spending all day Saturday running back and forth to the Red Cross, I was able to cut it down to one trip. It was one of those situations where it is beneficial for both parties. Their apartment is now stocked with more stuff than they would ever need, and I am not killing myself moving all that stuff.

They were really funny the whole time and kept saying things like; this is a joke, are you sure we can have this, do you want any money. When I would say do you guys want that, they would say, we would love it but would be too timid to say anything. My favorites though were,

"I feel like I am on Extreme Home Makeover"

"Is there a hidden camera somewhere?"

"This is only cool because you are an American."
"Why is that cool?"
"Because if it were anyone else, we wouldn't believe them. If you were a Swede we wouldn't even believe this."

It was like a dream come true. I am so glad I was able to find someone to take all this stuff. It really was one of those small things, that reminded me I am not alone here in Sweden.