Caspar the cat-guide taking a rest on our walk in the wood.
We are pet-sitting at our friends’ summer house for a long holiday weekend in Småland, Sweden. When we arrived we found two young boys on the deck waiting for Lars and Eva. Obviously confused by seeing us instead of the usual occupants, they began asking questions in Swedish which we couldn’t understand.
We tried to explain by saying, “Sorry. No Svenska. English?” They wrinkled their brows. Frustrated and unable to understand what we were saying, they soon jumped back on their bicycles and left.
We carried our luggage into the house but were summoned back to the door by light knocking a few minutes later. I opened it to find the boys. Obviously having conferred on the problem, the smaller one asked, in perfect English, “Are you living here?” I pointed to the cat and answered, “No. Baby-sitting Mascot.” Then I added enthusiastically, “Coca-Cola?” and presented a container of treats. They grinned, grabbed, then jumped up and down pumping fistfuls of cookies shouting, “YES! Coca-Cola!”
Skoal! Our little Swedish teachers.