After the terrorist attack in Stockholm yesterday, there is a deep sadness and shared grief for those who lost loved ones and those injured in the attack. There is good news that the alleged driver of the truck has been arrested within just a few hours.
I am proud of my new country of residence with their responses. Prime minister, Stefan Löfven, stated, “We are determined never to let the values that we treasure — democracy, human rights, and freedom — to be undermined by hatred.” (https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews/videos/10154559343497217/)
From local media (https://www.thelocal.se/20170408/stockholm-attack-man-arrested-thought-to-be-driver):
Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel have visited the scene of the attack to pay tributes to the victims.
A visibly moved Victoria, with tears in her eyes, said she felt great “sadness and emptiness”. But she added that she still felt a certain strength. “Society has shown tremendous power and that we are resisting this, that we want to resist this. That we are united. That the Swedish society is built on tremendous trust and community. We will go stronger out of this in some way.”
Because the trains were shut down, friends on Facebook were letting others know that if they were stuck and couldn’t get home, they were offering their guest room.
The truck crashed into Åhléns department store, where Anya and I had lunch with a friend just 4 weeks ago and I had dinner with my sister in February. We walk on that pedestrian street almost every visit to Stockholm, so we can remember being there and in other shops that appear in the images.
My prayer is that the rising backlash against the welcoming of refugees will not be fueled by this. Sweden has an amazing spirit of generosity. Earlier, a coworker and I were talking about the fact that Sweden has taken in twice as many refugees per capita as Germany has. Her response was, “We are a rich nation. Why wouldn’t we?”
In the midst of this heaviness, we celebrate Anya’s 17th birthday. Last night, she took some friends out for burgers, the one who were not able to join her today, as they were headed home for Easter break (yes, they still call it Easter). A couple friends came back here for chocolate cake and ice cream afterwards.
Today, Anya will go with a friend to Stockholm and meet a classmate who lives there. They will avoid the crash site, but Anya is eager to have Vietnamese Phở, or rice noodle soup. There are no Vietnamese restaurants in Uppsala among our Chinese and Thai options. The friend that Anya will go with says it is OK to go, and she would know, as her mom works in the Swedish state department.
Catching up on a couple previous days…
Recently, I met Steffi for lunch in Uppsala at a quaint place next to the river. The sun was shining, though it was a bit chilly and we were thankful for the blankets to wrap around us while we talked. Steffi teaches engineering at the university, so she is a great one to talk about higher ed policies and practices. She is the award winning teacher with a passion for active learning. I learn a lot from her, but we also just really enjoy time together. She grew up in East Germany with memories before the wall fell. She gave me the gift of some of her story of the challenges from those days and how that they have shaped her today.
She suggested we go on a bike ride, and we rode 10 km (6 miles) south along the river to Lake Mälaren. This large lake was the major inland trade route from Stockholm even before the vikings.
On the way, we passed a small skiing area. The serious skiing is up north, but this is good for beginners.
We biked back to Uppsala, and met Donna (center) for dinner after visiting the middle school where Donna works as a school counselor. It is right below the Uppsala castle and the beautiful university library.
The conversation was in English with this group of expatriates. Steffi, though German, teaches mostly in English but also in Swedish. Wow! Steffi is also so excited to hear of Anya’s interest in math and eager to work with Anya as she learns her new software, MATLAB, which Anya requested for her birthday.
Happy Birthday, Elenn (April 7) and Corrine (April 8).
With blessings,
Beth