This week the museum was a little hectic because the gala was this Saturday so everyone was busy setting up last minute details.
I also interviewed another person this week. Her name was Joan and she typically works at the front desk of the museum. Joan was a little different from my other interviewees because unlike everyone else, her parents immigrated from Sweden and she and her brother were born in America. Joan was a very talkative lady. Most of my interviews last up to forty minutes but this interview lasted almost an hour and a half. This will be a lot of transcribing later but I’m up for the challenge.
Here are a few interesting facts about Joan and her family from Sweden:
1. Her father made cross country skis in Northern Sweden only fifty miles away from the Arctic circle. Because they lived so far north there would be parts of the year when the sun never set because of this they would have a lot of energy this time of year. Cross country skis were also the majority of his transportation
2. Her father translated his work on skis into carpentry work in America and built some beautiful homes in North Shore that can still be seen today.
3. Joan participated in her Swedish heritage by being St. Lucia in the Lucia ceremony. Lucia typically wears seven white candles in her hair while serving Lucia buns during Christmas.
4. As a kid, Joan and her brother would eat Swedish yogurt with sugar and ginger. Apparently, ginger is nature’s natural antibiotic so Joan and her brother never got sick as kids.
As I said earlier, this will take quite a while to transcribe but i am up for the challenge.
Swedish American Museum 