Three Weeks later

I do realize that this blog post is long overdue, but those of you who are “in the know” can understand my reasoning for the delay. The truth is, I’ve been very busy and distracted. If you would have asked the ‘Maria 2 years ago’ why she was so busy…a long response concerning school, rehearsals, homework, practicing, and studying would have been in order. However, for the first time in a very, very long time, I have the opportunity to get my personal life in order.

Through all of the challenges I’ve faced getting acclimated to this new city, county, and culture, I have finally found a respect for myself that I’ve never really felt before. I’ve always been a very confident and motivated person, but through this experience I’ve found a new sense of peace…a satisfaction in my musical abilities and path for a career, a respect for my physical appearance (although it can always be improved!), and a sense of pride in who I am and where I come from. I know that the recent opportunity to truly let someone into my life is a result of this sense happiness and contentment, and I am astonished by the events of the past three weeks!

I love clichés. It’s true. I live by the motto that “everything happens for a reason” and truly believe it with all my heart (thanks for that, mom!) I don’t think that there are accidents in life and that the most beautiful things are unexpected. I also enjoy a good, romantic story…and am quite excited to have one for the books.

Before reading any further…go back and recall my blog entry from January entitled “Välkommen tillbaka till Sverige”. It briefly mentions talking to a guy on the airplane coming back to Sweden from the US after Christmas break. My flight was rerouted to Skellefteå (between Stockholm and Luleå), and during the hour and a half chaotic delay on the runway, I began talking to my handsome neighbor. I believe my phrase to break the ice was “I’m bored…do you speak English?” After an energetic conversation, and in a totally unexpected moment of bravery, I gave the then stranger my business card and told him to email me. I remember going to sleep that night hoping that he wouldn’t ‘drop the ball’, because I felt a very unusual, instant connection with him.

To my amazement, an email arrived in my inbox a few days later, and thus began a three month exchange of detailed, cautiously flirtatious, emails with Arvid. We talked about everything from our daily lives, to vacations, to TV and music, to politics (ick…), and everything in between. Eventually we began talking about meeting up. The first planned meeting occurred in Stockholm for my concert with Anders and the choir at Jakobs Church (see entry “plane, train, fire truck, van”) Arvid came to the concert, and then met up with me, Lou, and Marcel, for drinks later that night. I know now that we were both anxious and had very high expectations about this meeting…and we both had the same reaction. No chemistry…just friends…what a bummer!

After this encounter, I took the trip to Germany and Austria with Anders. I thought a lot about ‘airplane guy’ and how disappointed I was that we didn’t hit if off in person. When I got back to Sweden, we began texting and emailed again, but my intentions were innocent and friendly. I assumed we would just end up being great international friends.

When I decided to spend Easter up north, as opposed to spending it in Stockholm, Arvid invited me to spend the time with him and his family (they are from Skellefteå, which is very close to Piteå). He knew that I really wanted to ride on a snow scooter, and this was the perfect opportunity to do so. Now, recall the blog entry “Easter” and after you’ll realize that it is pretty hard not to fall for someone after such an amazing weekend surrounded by nature, beauty, kindness, laughter, food, and fun.

When Arvid drove me back to Piteå, I really couldn’t understand what I was feeling or what was going on. I had seen a different guy…more like the person I had been getting to know through emails, and less like the guy the I met up for drinks in Stockholm. But, he’s Swedish…I’m American…he hunts…I play music…he grew up in outdoorsy northern Sweden…I grew up in the comfy suburbs of Ohio. What was I thinking?! But, I knew that he was special, and when he offered to come back up to Piteå the following Thursday to cook me dinner, I couldn’t say no (…plus free dinner, I know you’re not surprised!) 

The dinner on Thursday was perfect! There is nothing like a home-cooked gourmet meal to win the heart of this girl. Not to mention that the meat we were eating was from a moose that Arvid had hunted! We spent the evening eating, talking, and laughing. It was the perfect “date”…the only thing was I didn’t know if it was actually a date…or a nice guy just trying to make an American girl feel good. When he left I was once again very confused! Friends? More? What is happening?!

He came back up to Piteå that following Saturday. I spent the days in between the meetings trying to figure out what was going on in my head and my heart. I knew that I really liked him. He has so many amazing qualities that I am attracted to (I’m sure I’ll get into them more as the relationship progresses and blogging becomes a priority once again!) But, he never once crossed the friendship barrier…which can really play with a girl’s head!

During dinner on Saturday, another surge of bravery came over me. After some rambling and nonsense, I told him my feelings and asked him what was happening between us (crazy, I know…but it’s just how I do things!) He laughed and said that of course he liked me and wanted to see where things could go between us. In other words….green light!

After that, the relationship went into a ‘fast-forward’ mode. Arvid intended to go back to Uppsala (where he lives, just outside of Stockholm) the following week. However, because of the volcanic eruption in Iceland, all flights were cancelled in Europe for the week. It was a pain for most travelers, but you will not hear us complain. He spent most of the last two weeks with me in Piteå…meeting my friends, cooking amazing food (he loves my American banana pancakes, but breakfast is the only meal that I’m allowed plan, because he’s such a great chef!), learning about each other, walking around the town, and even working and being productive (he has his own company doing web-design and programming for various clients, so he could work while I continued my daily routine at school…it was nice that my professional life didn’t stop…I learned a lot of new music, had a few gigs and 3 recording sessions)

Now, I am in Uppsala spending the week with him and his friends. I could write about us for a very long time, with much more detail…but will leave that for my personal journal. Some of the details will just have to stay between us, but I promised myself that I wouldn’t hold anything back from this blog! So, I hope you enjoyed my little story…I know there is much more to come!

I also know that many of you are staying “I knew it!!!”…considering most predicted that I would meet a guy while I lived here. I was very, very skeptical…but one short, little flight with a long delay surely changed all that!