Clan meeting in Bohuslän

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On saturday the 7/7/7, many people decided to get married in Sweden, for the benefit of forgetful future anniversary celebrants everywhere.

Not so the sprawling Berlin family, who opted for a family reunion instead.

For lack of youthful family members bent on (or suitable for) marriage on this day, the Berlin clan gathered from Linköping, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and possibly Ångermanland (thereby covering at least the nether half of Sweden) at my aunt Fia's house in Kungshamn, Bohuslän on the west coast. There the rocks are rosy, the white skies wild with wind, and the seagulls full of screams (and possibly discarded french fries). At the top of my aunt's flagpole in the garden flapped a white flag bearing an informal symbol of our family: one of my late grandfather's drawings of a troll, sitting happily in a field of flowers. My grandfather, affectionately known to the family as Bub, had a grandiose laugh, nose, personality and effect on my life. Not to mention a way with words and paintbrushes.

So while the troll looked benignly down at us, we ate a pot luck dinner of impressive geographic variation, and listened to my Aunt reading aloud from Bub's memoirs (which he wrote in bits and pieces throughout his life). We were told the story of the FÅNA-language, a language unique to grandpa Bub and his two elder brothers, which was invented during the years they grew up in Gothenburg in the 1920's. The FÅNA language is a remarkable mutation of swedish, where certain things were given grand and complicated names (mother, father and the three brothers had names spanning at least 4 syllables, which were later shortened for practical reasons and gave Bub the name by which he is known to his progeny) and certain phonetic sounds were replaced with others.

Apparently this had a catastrophic effect on the youngest Berlin brother's ability to spell correctly, and caused him to tell his mother one christmas that he thought everything at home was wonderful, but due to the complications of FÅNA grammar it came out as the swedish equivalent of 'Damned Godawful'. The story does not recount my great-grandmother Karin's reaction to this blissful remark from her 4-year-old.

I see now that certain twists of character, or rather certain polarities, are prominent amongst our blood relations:
1) An inadvertent tendency to be late for appointments
2) A love of either art, mathematics, or a combination of both
3) An impressive ability to stay up late
4) A love of wordplay, verse and song
5) A love of being close to, floating on, or immersed in sea water...
6) A deep understanding and appreciation for good food

What relieved me the most on meeting my kin was when My aunt Fia let me sneak off before dinner and take the year's first swim in the sea. I'm very glad that I've been blessed with family who can also acknowledge the importance of diving in.