Hello fellow Warhawks!

I don't know how many of you remember me. I was one of the shy ROTC kids. I can probably sum up the last 25 years or so since leaving Madison pretty quickly: worked for a while, went back to school at night, got a Bachelors, kept working. . .got married (I'll get back to that in a minute), never bothered having any kids, and traveled as much as possible.

Then, when we were both about 40, it happened. I guess it's not unusual for a guy to have a midlife crisis, is it? Just as I was expecting my husband to drive up in a red Corvette with a 20-year old in the passenger seat, he hit me with it: We're moving to. . .Sweden!

Move from sunny Poway, California to, um, not-so-sunny Sweden? Hmm. The Corvette and blonde option suddenly didn't look so bad.

Well, the next thing you know, we're selling, donating, and giving away just about everything we own and starting over like newlyweds. Unlike John Lennon, I didn't have to Imagine no possessions. I really didn't have any. We've been here for almost seven years now, and while I was never voted as the classmate most likely to learn Swedish, I've actually done it, albeit with a decidedly flat American accent. I can easily pass as a Swede until I open my mouth. Then the gig is up.

We both work (he's a sales engineer and I'm a technical writer), and we're still enjoying Swedish traditions, like being able to nudge people out of the way in the subway without saying "excuse me," and eating pickled fish in more variations than I can name here. Good thing I'm from California and had 40 years to soak up the sun, because it gets dark here at about 3 in the afternoon in the winter.

Seriously, it has been a great experience living here. If you want to read more about the (mis)adventures of a couple of transplanted Californians, have a look at karens-progress.blogspot.com.

I hope to see you all at the 2008 reunion!

KRAM! (No, I'm not insulting you. That's Swedish for "HUG!")

Karen Johnson Ware

(Profile written July 2007)

Find out what's new with many of our other classmates by attending our next Reunion!