My journey into Sweden began by train from the West coast of Norway. After changing trains at the border and continuing on for several hours, I ended up in Sundsvall, Sweden. Sundsvall is a city roughly halfway up the East coast of Sweden. I stopped here because it was a convenient place to settle down for a night after a day of travel. The downtown area has many dragon sculptures. Local artists paint the sculptures to represent the different businesses that are involved in sponsoring them.
Next, I went further up the coast to a city called Luleå. It is the highest latitude I have ever visited, roughly the same latitude as Fairbanks, Alaska. My train ticket was upgraded to make room for Syrian Refugees. They all got off in Luleå. I was taken a back by seeing a great number of people with nothing other than the clothes on their back. It moved me to see so many Swedish people of all ages greeting the refugees with a warm smile, toiletries, and winter clothes. Refugees have the option to stop in Lulea and begin the asylum process or there are buses to Finland. How they decide what to do I don’t know. I found a Syrian who spoke broken English and he seemed to convey it is a decision based on the whim of whatever you feel is right. It appeared most were going to Finland. He also said that prior to getting to Sweden he walked for twenty days straight. However, I couldn’t understand how he made it into Sweden. Next, he asked me where I was from. When he found out I was American, he said it’s my fault he had to flee Syria. This was awkward for me. I could tell he was no longer up for discussing anything further so I apologized, wished him luck, and walked away…
// Oliver – Day 27 – Sweden