Family life in a charming tiny village called Råstrand, Northern Sweden

Details

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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 within a days travel from here. 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. Right now it's 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.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  DIY and building projects

  Help around the house
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  Interests

  

  Pets

  

  Technology

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Hiking

  

  Languages

  

  Gardening

  

  Plant care

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Nature
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We are a Polish-Hawaiian family surrounded by Swedish language and culture. We participate in social activities, such as Valborg, Midsummer celebrations or simple "village-meetings", during which all the people in the village come together and tend to have a fika or eat some local dish (like palt, surströmming, or similar). We are also active on other platforms and we host happily people from all around the world.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  As for now we need help with scraping the old paint and painting the house. The whole family would be involved in the project, but since mom has a part-time job and dad needs to keep and eye on the baby we may be doing it in different intervals.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Polish: Fluent
  Swedish: Fluent
  Spanish: Intermediate
  German: Beginner
  Sami: Beginner

  This 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)
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  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.

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  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.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  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.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  There is space for parking.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  My animals / pets

  Bunny bunny

  Ginger bunny

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