This July 4, 235 years after our founding fathers assembled in Philadelphia to hold truths to be self-evident, we assembled under the sponsorship of the American Club of Sweden with fellow Americans and a wide-ranging group of American-philes at Fågelöudde Beach to celebrate that momentous event.
The mission of the American Club of Sweden, founded in 1905, is to strengthen bonds between the United States and Sweden. The current club is the result of mergers over more than a century of several similarly focused organizations. In its modern incarnation, it is a vehicle for networking through social programs and events. At the start of our second week in Sweden, we were keen to meet people, network and chat with other expats. Club Mission…our need…all perfectly aligned.
Our initial challenge to attend the picnic was finding Fågelöudde Beach. The American Club website posted general public transportation direction; Stockholm subway red line to Ropsten, 204 bus to Elfvik, 233 bus to the beach. The picnic required that we leave the familiarity of our relatively small Stockholm-centric travel circle so we did some Google map searching to align our understanding of the Swedish geography to the recommended subway and bus routes.
We packed sandwiches, homemade potato salad, cherries from the farmer’s market and some chilled wine. Our subway and first bus rides went as planned. We were now in the countryside of hay fields and about to exit the bus to catch our second bus ride. Due to the remoteness of the area, we checked with the bus driver to validate that the 233 bus actually stopped at Fågelöuddevagen. “Oh no. You needed to get off the bus at the last stop. It is too late now.” Gasp! But he continued, “If you want to go to the beach, it is just a short 700 meter walk up this road.” Ahhhh.
After the pleasant, woodland walk we were among the assembled crowd.
The Swedish July weather was blustery and a bit chilly, but the warmth of the crowd of 60+ people was very warm. We introduced ourselves. “We’re Jay and Helen and we've been in Sweden eight days.” Gasp! A new record for first time attendees. The club’s current and former officers were quickly summoned and introduced. “You need to meet so and so…”, “I sent out a Tweet to help you find permanent housing...”, “I was born in Atlanta…” People were wonderfully inviting and welcoming. Ahhhhhhhh….
We chatted, laughed and greatly enjoyed our stay. At day’s end, we waked back to the bus stop near the hayfields. As we sat waiting for the bus, Lillian and her son Ben, who had attended the picnic, stopped and asked if we needed a lift. Lillian had lived in the US for 25 years. Ben was born there. Now living in Sweden, they continued the inviting and welcoming ambiance of the picnic and dropped us off right in front of our apartment. It was the perfect ending for a perfectly lovely day.
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