Boat Launching

Post nummer två of the day, hooray! Followers, rejoice!

After leaving work a bit early (shh, don't tell!), and in an attempt to continue to surround myself with bearded boatbuilders, I met up with Johan to get on the ferry to Skeppsholmen, across the way, to see the boats being launched! I paid 40 SEK to make a trip of...mmm...about 4 minutes, tops, that I could have swum in the same amount of time...I just would have been soppier.

But it was worth it to see the three beautiful boats the six students launched, and everyone so excited! They used this great little manual travel lift, and broke a bottle of something or other on the bow, with a little wreath, and a good luck wish bestowed by the master boatbuilder through what looked like some ancient gramophone horn thing, and it was off! They rowed around, realized their boats needed to do a little swelling, left them at the docks with some automatic pumps in their bilges, and had a celebratory drink!

Johan went through the program, best two years of his life, he says. As I explained before, they go into the woods and cut the wood the first year, leave it upstairs to season, and learn all about boatbuilding! The second year they spend with more learning, I'm assuming, courses to get their boater's licenses, etc, and building their boats, of course! Two people build each boat together, and they can choose which type they build, but it certainly has to be Swedish, or maybe just Scandinavian, and it's best, and most likely to be approved, if you choose one that, say, hasn't been built in 100 years, for example. Johan took his friend Christophe and me for a little tour of the buildings, which are beautiful and smell like tar and freshly cut wood, and I thought for a moment about owing my parents the money we paid for the deposit on my spot at NYU and staying here for the next two years...just...across the water. It just seems like such a wonderful atmosphere to be a part of, plus at the end, you can buy the boat you built, or someone else probably will. Johan still has the one he built, and he says it's still in almost perfect shape, thankyouverymuch.

The three of us went to a little bar/cafe run by Hostelling International that's located right as you come off the gangway of the HUGE SHIP HOSTEL they have on Skeppsholmen. Johan was disappointed to find out that the portions have been cut in half, while the prices have doubled...and they did away with the Happy Hour he was so looking forward to! Christophe is French, and his English is not...perfect yet, let's say, and when I finally admitted to understanding what they were saying, I had this incredible afternoon of speaking French with two native speakers! It was fantastic, and I was very flattered by their assurance that I speak very well, which, LISTEN UP MR. CREPE MAN CIRCA 1998 who embarrassed me about the way I was speaking outside the Eiffel Tower, gave me confidence to keep speaking, and I could almost keep up with them...except when Christophe broke off into the Swedish he's learning, and I got way lost. But how exciting! I ended up mumbling French to myself the rest of the day, almost thanking the cashier for the beer I bought at ICA in French, etc, etc. After being frustrated at my lack of Swedish, which is ridiculous, this was rather refreshing.

I spent the rest of the night as usual, reading and having a small supper outside, watching the beautiful sunset.

Not such a bad day! Only a few more entries to do tomorrow at work, then it's vacation time...or...a few more entries and a review meeting with Fred, and...hopefully vacation! I kid, this is Sweden, of course vacation, immediately, plus benefits.

god natt!