Yesterday afternoon as we were getting ready to go to town to do some grocery shopping (always hectic, that–both the getting ready and the shopping), the phone rang. I was surprised when Olof gave me the phone and said it was for me since I so seldom get phone calls, and my surprise turned to confusion when he said it was someone named Ragnhild.

I said a tentative “hello?” and the caller said she was from a radio station in Luleå and started talking about the show she worked for. I was still confused and feeling not a little harried and at first I figured she was calling about a contest or a survey or a sales pitch or something else equally annoying. Turns out, though, she had come across Stavfel while preparing for the show, a talk show called “Karlavagnen” that has a different subject every night. Last night’s subject was “What do you miss in Sweden,” and they wanted to talk to people who had traveled extensively or lived abroad. Who better than immigrants for that topic, right?

Anyway, I said that I would be willing to participate and we chatted for several minutes about some of the things I missed. I have to admit that I was a bit caught off-guard and had a hard time just then thinking of much to talk about. I muttered a few things about baseball and variety at the grocery store, and apparently she was convinced because she said she’d call me later that night to talk on the air with the program host.

Fast forward several hours and we were sitting on the couch listening to others (including our very own Tjej, illustrious founder of Stavfel) talk about the things they missed. About an hour-and-a-half into the program, the phone rang and it was my turn to talk. I locked myself in the bathroom for some peace and quiet and went on about breakfast cereal and such for five minutes or so. I barely remember what I said, honestly, and I felt totally tongue-tied. It was fun, though, and my kids were mightily entertained by hearing me on the radio. When I went back to the living room, Tage was sitting on the floor with one of the speakers held up to his ear; when he saw me he pointed at it and said, “You in there,” then told me to go away and talk to him some more through the speakers. I told him it wasn’t the kind of magic I could repeat, but that didn’t stop him going on about it for the next hour.