The Sabrina-Fredrik Mystery Unveiled
It had been eight years since Sabrina, Fredrik and I last saw each other in Sweden. That is, up until earlier this year when they started their 10-day Japan holiday by trekking out to my neck of the woods for a long overdue reunion. While we had only four days together, I schlepped them through my school, to my favorite Indian curry restaurant, to a wonderful local hot spring resort, skiing for 2 days in Nagano Prefecture with my town’s “family ski weekend,” and finally to the famous historic capital city of Kamakura on the coast just SW of Tokyo. See the end of the blog for some photos of our whirlwind adventures.
How do we know each other, you ask, and why did they move to China? Well, since you're dying to know, here's the story!
Sabrina and I took Swedish language class together during the year I lived in Sweden. She and Fredrik met prior to our co-Sweden stint while they were both studying in Nottingham, England. At the end of their studies, instead of returning to her native Germany, Sabrina decided to follow Fredrik back to Sweden. Seemed to work out well for them. They've been together for something like 10 years. And if you think I’m well-traveled, wait until you hear what they’ve been up to since our year together in Sweden.
After living for 3 years in Sweden, following a very enjoyable vacation in Barcelona and long-term interests in Spanish music and Latin dancing, they decided to move to Spain to take an intensive Spanish language course for a few months. The original idea had been just to travel, not to settle down and intensively study ANOTHER language (they are both fluent in English, can speak some French, of course both speak Swedish fluently, and naturally Sabrina's got the German thing going), but they decided to put the money towards something more lasting and invested in language courses and living as students in Spain instead.
After finishing the language course, their intention was to find jobs and settle in Spain for a spell. However, through Mexican friends made during their time in Spain, they found merit in moving to Mexico instead, which they did, and lived in Mexico City for 3 years.
When they decided to call it quits in Mexico and move on to the next adventure, they first finally decided to tie-the-knot in Cancun, then took a 1-year “honeymoon” and traveled extensively throughout Latin America, South America and Europe. Their next long-term destination choice was China, and to get there, they continued their extensive journeys by taking the land route from Europe to China through Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway and down through Mongolia before making roots in Shanghai, where they have been living since October 2007.
In case you’re wondering, Sabrina is a Civil Engineer and typically serves as Project Manager at constructions sites…one of those jobs that you can find relatively easily anywhere in the world, apparently, and receive substantial salary and compensation for it. Fredrik’s chosen career is in Human Resources. International jobs in Human Resources aren’t quite as readily available, but luckily, because of Sabrina’s relative global job-security, it’s okay for Fredrik to bide his time in the job-search arena. He's recently found very gainful employment for a Swedish company with an office in Shanghai.
Fascinating couple! Not hard to see why it's been enjoyable to keep in touch with them over the better part of a decade regardless of distance.
IN TOKIGAWA TOWN:
Shopping at the one and only local grocery store. Sabrina and Fredrik were oddly excited about their first Japanese grocery store experience.
Sabrina sitting in on a Math class at one of my junior high schools.
With some of my friends at our favorite Indian restaurant. Back row (l-r): Akiko, me, Sabrina, Fredrik (boy that row would have killed brain cells to figure out, ay? ;-) ). Front row (l-r): Takeshi, Toshi, Mai.
GUNMA PREFECTURE, ANNUAL TOKIGAWA TOWN FAMILY SKI WEEKEND:
View of the surrounding mountains and neighboring ski slopes.
Standing in line like good students for our ski lesson with a Tokigawa Town ski pro.
Hamming it up with our ski instructor.
So accommodating for the ski staff to entertain the skiers waiting in line at the lifts like this. :-)
Lunch time!
Dinner-time at our Ryokan (Japanese-style inn). Me and Fredrik with one of my 1st grade junior high school students and the inn owner, who used to be a member on Japan's womens national volleyball team! Yes, she was extraordinarily tall. :-)
The start of Day 2. What a shiny, orange-looking group. ;-)
Fredrik and Sabrina on the lift with one of the guys I happen to play tennis with on Sundays!
I'm pretty sure I posed this picture just for future viewing entertainment.......lost ski and everything......
Here's Fredrik and Sabrina looking distinctly suave and not buried in snow.
Fredrik showing off his "I'm from Sweden and you're not" world-class skier pose. ;-D
With all the school kids from my town who were on the town ski trip!
KAMAKURA
Good travelers wisely utilizing travel time to bone up on their next destination.
Even better travelers, having ditched the prep-reading and gone straight for the infamous Japanese public transportation snooze.
The giant Buddha in Kamakura.
My best impression of a giant Buddha.
My friend, Mie, who lives in Kamakura, was kind enough to take time out of her day to show us around the city. Supposedly, when you see a happy Buddha statue like this, you should touch his belly for good luck. You might remember me doing the same thing in one of my China photos, although in my photo I was running with the idea that if you look as happy or happier than the Buddha, your chance at luck should increase exponentially....right?!
How do we know each other, you ask, and why did they move to China? Well, since you're dying to know, here's the story!
Sabrina and I took Swedish language class together during the year I lived in Sweden. She and Fredrik met prior to our co-Sweden stint while they were both studying in Nottingham, England. At the end of their studies, instead of returning to her native Germany, Sabrina decided to follow Fredrik back to Sweden. Seemed to work out well for them. They've been together for something like 10 years. And if you think I’m well-traveled, wait until you hear what they’ve been up to since our year together in Sweden.
After living for 3 years in Sweden, following a very enjoyable vacation in Barcelona and long-term interests in Spanish music and Latin dancing, they decided to move to Spain to take an intensive Spanish language course for a few months. The original idea had been just to travel, not to settle down and intensively study ANOTHER language (they are both fluent in English, can speak some French, of course both speak Swedish fluently, and naturally Sabrina's got the German thing going), but they decided to put the money towards something more lasting and invested in language courses and living as students in Spain instead.
After finishing the language course, their intention was to find jobs and settle in Spain for a spell. However, through Mexican friends made during their time in Spain, they found merit in moving to Mexico instead, which they did, and lived in Mexico City for 3 years.
When they decided to call it quits in Mexico and move on to the next adventure, they first finally decided to tie-the-knot in Cancun, then took a 1-year “honeymoon” and traveled extensively throughout Latin America, South America and Europe. Their next long-term destination choice was China, and to get there, they continued their extensive journeys by taking the land route from Europe to China through Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway and down through Mongolia before making roots in Shanghai, where they have been living since October 2007.
In case you’re wondering, Sabrina is a Civil Engineer and typically serves as Project Manager at constructions sites…one of those jobs that you can find relatively easily anywhere in the world, apparently, and receive substantial salary and compensation for it. Fredrik’s chosen career is in Human Resources. International jobs in Human Resources aren’t quite as readily available, but luckily, because of Sabrina’s relative global job-security, it’s okay for Fredrik to bide his time in the job-search arena. He's recently found very gainful employment for a Swedish company with an office in Shanghai.
Fascinating couple! Not hard to see why it's been enjoyable to keep in touch with them over the better part of a decade regardless of distance.
IN TOKIGAWA TOWN:
Shopping at the one and only local grocery store. Sabrina and Fredrik were oddly excited about their first Japanese grocery store experience.
Sabrina sitting in on a Math class at one of my junior high schools.
With some of my friends at our favorite Indian restaurant. Back row (l-r): Akiko, me, Sabrina, Fredrik (boy that row would have killed brain cells to figure out, ay? ;-) ). Front row (l-r): Takeshi, Toshi, Mai.
GUNMA PREFECTURE, ANNUAL TOKIGAWA TOWN FAMILY SKI WEEKEND:
View of the surrounding mountains and neighboring ski slopes.
Standing in line like good students for our ski lesson with a Tokigawa Town ski pro.
Hamming it up with our ski instructor.
So accommodating for the ski staff to entertain the skiers waiting in line at the lifts like this. :-)
Lunch time!
Dinner-time at our Ryokan (Japanese-style inn). Me and Fredrik with one of my 1st grade junior high school students and the inn owner, who used to be a member on Japan's womens national volleyball team! Yes, she was extraordinarily tall. :-)
The start of Day 2. What a shiny, orange-looking group. ;-)
Fredrik and Sabrina on the lift with one of the guys I happen to play tennis with on Sundays!
I'm pretty sure I posed this picture just for future viewing entertainment.......lost ski and everything......
Here's Fredrik and Sabrina looking distinctly suave and not buried in snow.
Fredrik showing off his "I'm from Sweden and you're not" world-class skier pose. ;-D
With all the school kids from my town who were on the town ski trip!
KAMAKURA
Good travelers wisely utilizing travel time to bone up on their next destination.
Even better travelers, having ditched the prep-reading and gone straight for the infamous Japanese public transportation snooze.
The giant Buddha in Kamakura.
My best impression of a giant Buddha.
My friend, Mie, who lives in Kamakura, was kind enough to take time out of her day to show us around the city. Supposedly, when you see a happy Buddha statue like this, you should touch his belly for good luck. You might remember me doing the same thing in one of my China photos, although in my photo I was running with the idea that if you look as happy or happier than the Buddha, your chance at luck should increase exponentially....right?!
posted by Mandy | 11:05 AM
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