Moose and Glass Ware

We were all picked up this morning by Lage (pictured), who has been driving us around in a mini bus all week and went to a Glass factory in Nebro. It was amazing to watch the glass blowing process and we all bought various items from Kosta Boda.

We then presented at Nebro Rotary Club which went well and then off for a quick visit to a Moose farm! We learned that apparently car accidents involving moose is a bit of a problem in Sweden, about 12-15 accidents per day, they are big animals and it would not be pretty.

We are all off to our host families for our last night in Kalmar and then on to Vimmerby tomorrow for the district conference at lunch and then a driver further north to Öskersham.

Cheers

Christie

Prisons, Forests, Uni's and more......

NB: this is a day late.....it was a big day.......

We started today giving a presentation at a breakfast club in Kalmar! The sun was shining and everybody was ready to hear from the "Australian's" by 7:30am.

By 9:30 we were off to our separate vocational visits, Christie to the Kalmar Prison (yellow builind pictured), Lesley and Tim to the beautiful forests of Sweden and Jackie and Brooke to the educational hub of Kalmar, Kalmar University.

We all had a great time, learning more about our counterpart vocational sectors, making comparisons and identifying many similarities and differences in the many sub sectors of each.

Lage, our very accommodating tour guide whilst in Kalmar, had lunch with the girls before taking us the Kalmar Regional Council, where we were given a detailed insight into the many aspects of the region.

We spent the evening with our hosts - For Christie and Jackie, this meant meatballs and Ikea!

A Great Day - Love Jac

Out & About in Kalmar & The Island Öland.

Today we visited a local senior high school (years 10 to 12) where Jackie was able to gain some information on how the educational system is structured in Sweden. She was far to excited when she pretended to give a lecture in the very grand assembly hall of the school, complete with fresco's on the roof and walls.

We then headed to an island off the coast of Kalmar, connected to the mainland by a 6km bridge. The island of Öland is a major tourist destination for Swedes as well as international tourists and many people take their caravans and tents and camp in the summer holidays.

The temperature today was around 15 degrees which is a bit of a jump from the 6 degrees the day before and the snow in Stockholm! Our guide today takes a dip every day in the Baltic with his mates - sometimes having to break through the ice to get in and do about 10 laps - NAKED!

We visited a castle on the island and also saw the current kings summer retreat.

We enjoyed a home cooked meal with our hosts (the pic of Jackie is outside our host families house right in the middle of the city, we have the whole top floor!) and are looking forward to our vocational visits tomorrow - we also gave the hosts some Vegemite for breakfast, Kenneth liked it but his wife Gunilla was very polite and didn't say (or eat) much!!

God natt! Love Christie.

Our First Official GSE Day.

Today we started our GSE programme, we were collected from our hotel and given a guided walking tour of the beautiful town of Kalmar. Kalmar is a 16th century town, where cottage style houses line the cobbled stone streets. We visited the town cathedral and were treated to a the mammoth organ being played especially for us by their 80 year old organist.

After a brisk walk through the town centre and over parkland we made our way to the local hotel for a lunch Rotary meeting where we gave our 1st presentation to the Rotary Club of Nyckel. After a very warm welcome and the exchanging of banners we were relieved to deliver our presentation without a hitch. (from all accounts it appears to have gone quite well!)

We were then taken to the Kalmar newspaper 'The Barometer' where we were interviewed by the political correspondent about our visit to Kalmar, our individual professions and the GSE programme.

We have now all arrived at our prospective hosts for the next 4 nights. The house we (Jackie and Christie) are in is very quaint, straight out of a fairy tale book, just beautiful. Our hosts are very welcoming and have made us feel at home immediately.

Arrival in Kalmar, Sweden

Today we woke up after our first nights sleep in Stockholm to a beautiful sight of white covered roofs, cars, trees and ground. To all of our surprise it had snowed over night and we were all very excited to be surrounded by such an impressive scene.

After a banquet breakfast, we caught a taxi into town, parked our luggage in a locker and headed off for an adventurous walk to the Old City of Stockholm. We ambled our way through some cobbled stoned streets, lined with cafes and shops, catering for both locals and tourists alike. With cold fingers and toes, having stopped numerous time to adjust scarves and gloves, we explored a side alleyway, only to find the most quaint little restaurant, ready to serve us with a hot chocolate.

We headed back to the main station, after we had stumbled into the ceremony of the Changing of the Guards at the royal palace, and got ourselves organised for our next flight to Kalmar.

We arrived in Kalmar at 7pm and we were warmly greeted by Lage, what a gorgeous man, singing and laughing with us all the way as he drove us to our hotel (www.hotelpackhuset.se) in a minibus they have organised to cart us around in all week! We certainly have been made to feel very welcome already. After a quick brief about tomorrows schedule, we have just finished dinner and we are all heading to bed, to try and get our minds and bodies ready for the huge week that is ahead.

Goo nat from Jac.

We have arrived!

Well after 28 hours of flying and some crazy stop over adventures (the upgrade to business class on the 3rd leg was welcomed with open arms) we have finally arrived safe and sound at our prison/hotel Stockholm (www.langholmen.com), and settled into our cells. The flights were fairly uneventful, a little chatter, some movie watching, delightful cuisine and of course trying to catch some Zzzzzz (some of which had to be drug induced).

We have all had a long hot guilt free shower, a wander around our local surroundings, and our first meal (which was Italian) but we are all on our last legs and ready for bed. We are really looking forward to what the coming weeks will bring.

Goo Nat (good night) love Jac and Christie.