This year at Christmas, I went to my teammates families cabin in Salen, which is located up north near the Oslo, Norwegian boarder. We arrived at night, but I could barely make out what the place looked like. Every single tree, every road, every rock, every roof was covered in snow. When I say covered I mean you could see the outlines of these objects, in white. I was no less then amazed, I mean we were entering Dr. Sues land! I had never seen this much snow in my life. When my family and I would go to Mammoth mountain in California, it would look like it did in Salen at the very top of the mountain, not everywhere you turned. Maddis laughed as I gawked and took as many pictures as I could in the darkness. She and I arrived before everyone else so we went grocery shopping and then made ourselves at home in the cozy cabin with a glass of wine, a blazing fire in the fireplace and a spot on the couch.
Her families cabin is located on a secluded street on a hill side facing one of the ski-able mountains or should I say "hountains" since they are more like giant hills. There are woods directly across from the house and neighbors to the right and further down to the left. They bought land on the corner of the street so they have a lot of room to the left of the house and behind. There is a big deck/balcony off the left side of the house and a detatched garage they use to store their snow mobiles to the right. Most swedish cabins look to be small on the outside but when you come inside they really open up. Its a 4 bedroom house with a loft. Inside, the decore is wood finished, adorned with cozy furniture and cute christmas lights and decorations. Its what you would imagine a ski cabin would look and be like. For heating purposes there were heaters in the rooms but in the living room we had a fire blazing in the fireplace almost the whole time. Needless to say, the scenery was ideal for a snowy white Christmas.
Maddis and I dressed up the house a bit and put lights on the tree her father picked out a week before, for Christmas. We left the ornaments for when her sister Emilie arrived, she wanted to help putting them up. The rest of her family (minus her oldest sister and her family) was to get there that night. The next day, we decided to drive into the city and look for ingredients to make rocky road bars. I first tasted one when I was at our team Christmas party. The assistant coach prepared them for us and I must have eaten about 5 of them. They were so incredibly good and so easy to make. The ingredients are as follows: melted chocolate, mini marshmallows and peanuts. You let it sit in the refrigerator for about 30-45 minutes to harden and then enjoy! Its that simple. They turned out great and I once again ate a lot :)
Among winter sports that I wanted to try, snowmobiling was high on my list. Maddis had talked about it before we got to the cabin so I was excited to try it. Her dad made sure the mobile was charged up and ready to go before we left. Unfortunately but also fortunately for me, I had to have a license to drive one, therefore I was going to be a passenger only. I was fine with that since I had never driven one before and the snow was really deep making it easy to get stuck. We set out on our way via the road first and then got to a snow mobile crossing that took us into the woods. Maddis opened her up and we were flying. I wasn't able to take any pictures or videos as we were driving along since my butt rarely touched the seat, so I had to hang on to the hand holds on either side. I hooted and hollered as we sped along, it was one of the most fun things we did. Maddis made sure to tell me that when she leaned to one side I needed to as well. It was like we were a bobsledding team, flash back to the movie Cool Runnings! We got to what seemed like the top of one of the "hountains" and noticed two guys digging out one of their mobiles that got caught in the deep snow. Maddis asked if they needed any help but they looked to be almost done digging themselves out. Unfortunately the snow seemed too deep to continue on the track so we had to turn around like the other guys were trying to do. Of course, as we tried to turn the mobile, it to got stuck. One of the guys looked over at us, laughed and then asked us if we needed help, we definitely did. So, after a few tries and a lot of pushing and pulling (on their part, I didn't really know which end to push and pull at so I helped when they asked but mainly stood back and flashed my cute smile and embarrassing laugh for the guys helping us) we were finally free of the snow only to get caught again 20 meters down the track. Luckily, again, there was someone to help us, so we got out pretty quick. We made it back to the house in one piece but it was a short ride. Maddis told me that the snow was just to deep and we could try another day. I agreed and since I wasn't that great of help getting us out of the snow, I decided taking a break from snowmobiling was a smart idea. However, we were not able to go again since time did not allow, but if we go there for an after season party I think we will be able to then. A girl can only dream!
Christmas Eve day came and the presents were all around the tree. Their normal tradition was to go cross country skiing, have dinner and then open presents. I had never been cross country skiing before but had seen it done on TV and thought that it looked fairly easy to achieve. Well, lets just say its easier on flat land then on the hills. Maddis thought I was going to fall just from standing on the skis, luckily I am somewhat coordinated and could handle myself on flat ground. However, going up and down the hills was another feat I was faced with. The first hill we came to, Maddis went down first and turned around to tell me what to do, "right foot slightly forward, bent knees, lean forward and try not to do anything else." Seemed simple only I looked like I was trying to do the splits with bent knees as I leaned to far forward. What ended up looking so easy for everyone else to do I made look hard and a little painful. I got the bottom and fell backwards and to the side. Laying there laughing and frustrated, I got up the best and only way I knew how, roll to the side and stand up. Thankfully that worked well enough so I wasn't left to roll around on the ground like a helpless caterpillar on skis. We ended up skiing for 2.5 kilometers and two more falls accompanied me on the way. One fall forced me to squeeze my legs together as hard as I could seeing as the tracks went from two lanes to three on the way down the hill. I was so desperate to not pull my groin that I ended up knock kneed before I crumpled in a heap to the ground as I made it to the bottom of the hill. Just for reference of these "hills", think of a small grassy knoll that kids like to roll down, that type of hill was my enemy that day. Regardless of falling, I found new respect for the sport overall and would love to do it again. Since I don't ski anymore I think it would be a great alternative and an amazing work out, I was sweating through my winter jacket at the end. Maddis's mom lapped us and went for 5 kilometers, go momma Eriksson!
That night we had the traditional Christmas food of Christmas ham, swedish meatballs (homemade), Janssons Temptation (potatoes and anchovies mixed together with cream), sil (type of fish mixture), deviled eggs with caviar, boiled potatoes, sweet mustard, caviar in a tube and some other little things that I am not to fond of eating. Weirdly enough, my favorite dish is the Janssons temptation (potatoes and anchovies). Its a baked dish that actually comes out to be pretty good if you don't think about what's really in it. Everything tasted amazing, especially the homemade swedish meatballs. After our meal, we gathered around the living room and began to hand out gifts. Maddis was "santa" so she handed out all the presents. I decided to open all the gifts from Maddis and her family first and then to call my family on skype later. Maddis's mom and dad got me lotion and soap from the Body Shop and also really good Glogg that we drank at the cabin. Her sister Emilie got me a Swedish horse. They are little wooden horses that are a tradition here in Sweden. Some are painted red and or blue with designs on them and some are just one color. You see them everywhere and I was even talking about wanting to get one while I was in Salen on the way up in the car with Maddis. I was so excited when I unwrapped it, they probably thought I was a little crazy being as excited as I was about a little wooden white horse. Maddis gave me a post card with a picture of a fluffy wintery dog on the front. On the back it said in Swedish that she would be giving me my gift the next day and it was a surprise. I was able to connect with my family over skype and they were happy to see that I enjoyed all the gifts they got for me. One gift in particular was my ultimate favorite, an Olympus digital camera. Its shock proof, water proof and fool proof! Just the type of camera I need since I am super clumsy and have always wanted to have a waterproof camera. I absolutely love it and will carry it wherever I go which is great since my bigger one is so awkward and heavy when I want to go site seeing. They in turn opened their gifts I sent them. I was excited to see that they all seemed very pleased with what they got, made me happy.
The morning of the 25th we ate a quick breakfast and was out the door, on our way to the "surprise" Maddis had planned for the day. I asked her what I should wear and if what we were going to do involved a helmet. She told me to wear snowmobiling clothes and brought the helmets with us, also telling me jokingly that this was the last day of my life. When we arrived to our destination I did a quick scan and saw a number of things that could have been the big surprise. First thing I saw were snow mobiles so naturally I thought that we were going to do some heavier snowmobiling. Then I heard dogs and saw someone hitching them up to a sled on the opposite side of the road. The last thing was a ski lift and so I thought we were going to do some more cross country skiing at higher altitudes. All of these thoughts came to a halt when I saw 4 dog sleds with 8 dogs a sled come bounding through the trees and into the clearing. I looked at Maddis and she asked me if I knew what we were doing and I yelled with excitement "Dog Sledding?!?!" and she nodded. I jumped on her and gave her a huge hug. Dog sledding is something I have been wanting to do since I moved to Scandinavia. We both laughed when we realized she was the best boyfriend ever! Since the dog sledding was such a great part of the week over Christmas, I will make a separate post about it. For now just know that it was amazing and an incredible time.
In Sweden, everyone celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve so on the 25th everyone (i mean everyone) parties. Naturally Maddis and I were ready for this day, we decided to go in the sauna and jacuzzi with a few beers and have some relaxing time before we were to get our dance on at the bar that night. We got all gussied up and were then driven to a bar/club Harry's. When we got there, there was no line and not a whole lot of people inside...5 minutes later the place exploded with party people everywhere. The party was in full swing and Maddis and I were ripping up the dance floor when Maddis looked around and then yelled to me "we are the tallest girls in here!! We are a freak show!!" I laughed and reassured her that we weren't. Then I took a look around and realized that we really were the tallest people there, besides a few guys. Oh well, its common to be taller then most but to be taller then everyone, now that was weird. We met some skiers/employees who were working there in Salen and they even commented on our height. They told us that they noticed us right when we got the the bar to order drinks, we stood out. Ok, ok we get it, we are tall, but once we told them what we do, they understood why. Although one of them thought we were pulling a prank, thinking I was not from America and was in fact Swedish and that we weren't volleyball players, ha! What turned into a very late night (we did not go to sleep until 5am) made for a very sleepy morning after. The next day I don't think Maddis and I got up from the coach at all unless there was food to be eaten or to go to the bathroom. We both slept most of the day which was needed since the night had been so long.
Overall the night had been a great success but it also signified the closing of the time we had in Salen. On the 27th, we were to be heading out to Gothenburg, a city that has been talked about so much and also on the west coast of Sweden, I couldn't wait. What was also waiting for us there was a chance to hang out with the famous volleyballer Kyle Gramit.
The morning of the 27th I said my goodbyes to the Eriksson family and I thanked them about a million times, telling them this was probably the best way to spend Christmas being away from my own family. I didn't want to leave Salen, but I knew there were exciting things for me in Gothenburg as well. I know I will be back to Salen one day and hope that it is just as awesome as when I was there for Christmas. I will be forever grateful to the Eriksson family and Maddis for inviting me into their home over the holiday. It was a great Christmas and I will never forget it.
One of my wishes and bucket list ideas is dog sledding. When Maddis gave me the post card with the dog on it saying her present was a surprise, I had a feeling that it might be dog sledding, but I didn't want to get my hopes up so I thought about all possibilites. Like I said in my previous post, when we got to the site for the dog sleds, there were a couple of things that we could have done besides dog sledding. There were snowmobiles and a ski rental shop with a ski lift right next to it. Plus she had brought helmets to make me think we were doing something else. She is a sneaky one.
We were assigned to a sled that had 7 dogs attached to it. We were the third sled behind a father daughter combo and behind us was the rest of their family, mother and daughter. When we were ready to go the dogs went from exhausted to pumped and energized. They were jumping and barking, pulling at the sled signifying that they were ready to go. The two guides were on the front sled and told us to pull on the rope that held us to a pole in the ground third so that we were all in a line heading up the "hountain". Maddis was the first to be in the sled and I was the "driver". There wasn't much to do as a driver since the dogs knew the way but there was a break peddle in case the dogs were to fast or if there was danger of crashing into the sled in front of us. Half way through the trip they added another dog to our sled because lets face it, these dogs were smaller then I thought and Maddis and I are not children. It was a tough ride up, the dogs were pretty tired and so I had to push the sled a couple times to get them moving. Even when you thought they could take no more, we would be stopped and some of them would look back at me as if to say "what are we waiting for?! Lets go!!!". The people in front of us were going quite slow, I am not sure if it was their dogs or the fact that the dad was breaking almost the entire time, but we had to stop a few times in order to get some speed going up some of the steeper hills.
Once we got to the top, the scenery changed a bit. We weren't surrounded by trees so much as white tall objects here and there. The fog came in so everywhere you looked it was white except for us and the dogs. I couldn't really tell where the ground ended and the sky began. Getting lost out there would have been extremely frustrating and difficult. It was very cold as well, my toes were starting to go numb. We finally arrived at a resting place and let the dogs take about a 15-20 minute rest. Where we stopped was at a small ski hut in a valley in the middle of nowhere. Maddis and I ordered up hot chocolates and cinnamon buns. There was a small room with a wood burning stove that we set up shop in. I had been sweating so I decided to take off all my jackets so I could dry out a little bit. Once we were through with our fika, the two guides asked us to go back to our sleds and get ready for the trip back down. This time it was my turn to be in the sled and to sit back and relax. I figured we were going to be flying down the face of this "hountain" since it was mostly downhill. The scene was incredible before we left the ski hut. Every single dog knew what was about to happen and you could tell they were all extremely excited. Most were jumping, pulling and barking. The noise was immense, so the main guy walked through the packs and tried to shush them. It worked for like 5 seconds but then they got riled up again, so they set them loose and we were off!
The people in front of us, yet again, were painfully slow. Maddis and I did stop quite a bit as well to get some speed. There were even a couple times were we traveled off road a little, this made us laugh a lot. Unfortunately for one of the dogs, he kept getting stuck in the rope, twice I had to untangle him. I almost wanted to just hold him in the sled with me because he looked so tired. I was a little nervous to touch or handle him since I wasn't sure how these dogs reacted to people but when I went over to him to untangle his leg, he just kept looking straight. It was like I wasn't even there, I'm sure that they are handled all the time by other people and was glad that he did not growl or snap at me. There were some parts of the path that we bounded and sped over, I was laughing most of the time. We were the loudest team out there, encouraging the dogs to run was number one with Maddis and I. We kept saying that they were probably thinking, shut up and let us do our jobs. But we just kept whistling and praising them as we went along. They were great!
