Would you believe that I met not one, but two groups of Swedes at the Rodin exhibit in the Vancouver Art Gallery yesterday?

First I overheard a woman talking to her kids in Swedish. Somehow, I worked up enough courage to strike up a conversation på svenska. I haven't had many functional conversations in Swedish before, so it was really exciting! I was shaking like a leaf though... Considering how blyg I can be, I'm kind of surprised I did it, although I would have kicked myself if I hadn't.

We talked about Swedes in Vancouver and what's going on in the Swedish community here. She said the club in Burnaby is hardly worth checking out, but that there's a program at UBC, the director of which I should maybe hook up with. Anyway, I got her e-mail address and moved along.

A short while later I noticed a young couple. The girl was holding a book with "Engelsk ordbok" on the cover! Considering I had already warmed up, I decided to give it another go. Turns out the guy is studying at Simon Fraser and the girl is visiting and considering studying here too. I think they were equally taken aback as the first woman, but less talkative. That was probably a good thing since they had thick Skånska accents, and I probably would have had a hard time understanding much more than the basics.

So there you go. Apparently the Gallery is the place to stalk, um, meet Swedes. :) It's funny. It must have been so weird for them. They never expect a Canadian with no Swedish roots to be able to speak their language.

Just goes to show that what you think no one around you can understand just might not be so secret after all!