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Description
Hi everyone! We are a quiet family (two adults, a 3yo (not so quiet), 12yo (very quiet) and two old bunnies) living in a large house by a river in a charming tiny village called Råstrand. It's a very peaceful place surrounded by nature, mosquitoes, horse flies and retired lovely people who are always eager to chat. There are no large cities nearby. There are towns, but not much happens there. If you're a village-person at heart and love the idea of slow living, then we're pretty sure that you'd love this place. During the summer we enjoy swimming in the river and kayaking (we have our own kayaks).
We moved into our forever-home quite recently and the house is screaming for some new paint and small reparations. Right now the house is blue, but we want to transform it into the typical Swedish (falu)red-house. Scarping the old paint and painting the house is our most urgent and important project. Since mom has found a part-time summer job and dad is on parental leave hurting from "old age", we feel that we won't be able to finish the project on our own. There may be other projects coming up, but it really depends on how much we can do during the short summer we have and how much help we can get.
In our free time we like to do puzzles, kayak, play Might & Magic and do some small trips. James loves playing chess, Ela loves studying languages, our 3yo Kai loves Halloween, trains and monster trucks and 12yo Martin loves playing Roblox & Minecraft. We enjoy our slow-living lifestyle.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Interests
Pets
Technology
DIY & crafts
Hiking
Languages
Gardening
Plant care
Outdoor activities
Nature
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We are a Polish-Hawaiian family surrounded by Swedish language and culture. We love hosting people from all around the world, learning about other cultures, traditions and cuisines. Even though the village is small, the local traditions still live on - we celebrate Valborg with big fire, Midsummer with the Midsummer pole, songs, dances and flower crowns; and more. We also have "village-meetings" from time to time, which you would be very welcome to join - we usually meet for a simple fika (coffee break with pastry), but there are also other meetings during which we eat locally prepared dishes, like palt, surströmming, meat balls, meat soups. During your stay we may have other guests from different parts of the world. The village is very welcoming and peaceful.
We would be happy to help you with the languages you learn (if we speak them), teach you how to survive the harsh northern winters, how to kayak. Ela knows quite a few languages, she knows how to crochet, how to get rid of insects that kill plants without using strong chemicals. James is very good with chess and can teach you how to get closer to winning. We could help with simple IT-related problems.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
We've moved to our forever-home just recently. As for now our biggest and most important project is scraping the old paint and painting the whole house, but we have different small projects planned. For example if you enjoy working with wood and small building projects, we'd need help with adding some shelves/storage space in the house, help repairing the old chicken house or chopping wood. If you enjoy gardening, we'd need help moving the lawn, planting vegetables that we're growing from seeds and clearing the path to the water.
We have a lot of projects planned for the summer, but what you would do really depends on what you enjoy doing. And any help is gravely appreciated. The whole family is involved in the projects.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Polish: Fluent
Swedish: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate
German: Beginner
Sami: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
Spoken languages by the family: - James (dad): English (native), Swedish (advanced) - Ela (mom): Polish (native), Swedish (advanced), English (advanced), Spanish (advanced when I left it 10 years ago, now more intermediate), Northern Sami (in the process of learning), German (very eager to learn) - Martin (12yo): Swedish (native), English (native) - Kai (3yo): Polish (native), English (native), Swedish (passive-native)
Accommodation
We have two rooms with beds on the upper floor, but we have only one bathroom for everyone in the household. The Workawayers would be offered privacy, bedding, clean bed sheets and towels. We have a washing machine and a clothes-dryer.
We eat meat at home, but we can always provide food for vegetarians and vegans.
What else ...
We're allergic to strong smells like perfume. Since we only have one bathroom we need to make sure not to occupy it for longer than necessary. We also take off our outdoor shoes and walk barefoot or use house slippers inside. No drugs or smoking allowed. Other than that I think we're a pretty normal family. :)
The transportation is a tricky part. The nearest grocery store is 10 min away by driving (the village is called Gargnäs) and this is where the closest bus stop is. But we're also able to pick up people from other bus stops: Sorsele, Malå or Storuman. We have a local website for what's worth seeing in the area, so if you google name of our village (Råstrand), it should come up in search.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have fiber so the internet connection is pretty strong on the bottom floor, but it's decent on the upper floor. We offer privacy in the Workaway room.
Space for parking camper vans
There is space for parking.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
Bunny bunny
Ginger bunny
Photos
