The Little Swede

A friend of mine has a grandson, Alex, who lives in Sweden. Pretty much from the date of his birth we've referred to him as "the little Swede." I finally got to meet Alex, now 10, at dinner last night.

He's a good looking boy with fair skin and straight blonde hair. His English is excellent and he speaks with only a slight accent. He was dressed in a tee shirt with a skateboard graphic and an oversized ball cap - apparently the universal wardrobe of 10-year-old boys.

We ate at CiCi's Pizza. It's a pizza and pasta buffet with the added bonus of a small game room. I had never been there before but it was highly recommended as a place kids love and adults tolerate. We'd tolerate it more if they served alcohol. About the time Alex was on his 3rd plate of pizza he declared: "In the future, I think all restaurants should be just like this one." High praise indeed.

Other conversations with Alex:

Me: Do you have a pet back in Sweden?
Alex: Yes, a dog.
Me: What's his name?
Alex: It's in Swedish.
Me: Tell me anyway.
Alex: Eddie.


As we were about to play a game of air hockey:
Alex: Nobody has ever beaten me at air hockey.
Me: Aw, that's a shame it's going to happen while you're on vacation.
(Nothing like trash-talking a 10 year old. He did go on to beat me soundly, fair and square. His record is intact.)


In my car with the top down. Alex was in the back seat. It was hard to hear.
Me: Why don't you teach me some Swedish words?
Alex: Like what?
Me: Like how do you say hello in Swedish?
Alex:  You can say "hi" or "hey"
Me (laughing because I couldn't hear very well but it was obviously the same in English): WHAT?
Alex (very slowly and patiently to the stupid deaf woman in the front seat): You can say "hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii" or "heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey."

Got it.

So that's it. Hej da for now. (Which is "goodbye" and Alex pronounced it something like "hey duo" which sounds Italian to me but I'll take the kid at his word.)