Dinner in a Swedish Home

After taking it easy for most of the daytime so Rachel and I could get some much-needed rest, we had dinner with Sarah's host parents at their flat. They live in Ostermalm, an affluent residential area to the north in Stockholm. When we got off the T, we walked down a street lined with classical residential buildings as well as a few modern ones. Between the eastbound and westbound traffic, in the median, was a beautiful park with benches, well-manicured grass and golden-leaved trees.

We arrived at their flat around 5 p.m. Christina and Oke (sp), a couple in their early 60s, were some of the nicest people we've ever met. Their flat was beautiful and spacious, almost stately, with pictures of their two recently married daughters, radiantly blond, blue-eyed, and beautiful, resting on the shelf beside their dining room table. We saw pictures of their two grandchildren, Gustav and Adam, both of whom looked adorable.

The flat had hardwood floors and very classical furniture, with tapering legs on the chairs and very straight and sturdy tables. A lot of their furnishings, including a candle holder and some of the throw pillows on the couch, had been designed by a Jewish artist from Austria who'd fled to Sweden during World War II (I wish I had the name. Though I've been carrying around my notepad for most of this trip, I thought it would have been rude to jot notes down during this social occasion).

Their youngest son, David, also came by for dinner. He is 24 and studying at the School of Economics here in Stockholm, a very well-regarded institution that's very hard to get into from what Sarah tells us. Like his parents, he spoke English very well and was extremely kind.

During cocktails in their living room, we discussed some of the transitions occurring here in Sweden, where the traditionally liberal and social democrats (socialists, by American standards) were recently ousted as the majority party in the 2006 election by more center-leaning moderates who want to cut taxes and prevent people from taking advantage (or abusing) Sweden's "welfare state" form of government.

Sarah's host family supported the changes, mostly for the reason of taxation, David and Oke told me (and looking at how nice his flat was, I could see why!). During our conversations, we talked about how Sweden and the US could learn a lot from each other by moving their current systems of government more towards one another. Sweden, for instance, could move a little more to the right by lowering its taxes (how does 60 percent or so of your income sound?!) and allowing for greater professional mobility where you don't get locked into to doing one job for your whole life. The U.S., on the other hand, could move a little more to the left by making things like health care and education a right rather than an expensive privilege.

We had a delicious dinner of homemade chicken, rice and mixed greens, followed by a Swedish Apple pie that you dump this thick cream over (almost as thick as a custard). Around 8 p.m., we gave Sarah's host family our sincere thanks and we went on our way.