Swedes visit Fairfield through Rotary exchange program

FAIRFIELD — A pair of young people from Sweden recently completed their exchange program with the Fairfield Rotary Club.

For a little over a week from June 24 through July 2, Swedes David Kronstrom, 22, and Malin Hoffstedt, 23, toured Fairfield and the surrounding area while staying with four Rotary host families. They saw the best Southeast Iowa had to offer, paying a visit to the Greater Jefferson County Fair, shopping at the Fairfield Farmers Market, visiting the American Gothic House in Eldon and taking in a Fairfield Municipal Band Concert on the square.

The Swedes also spent time connecting with the area’s Swedish heritage, by visiting a Swedish church in Lockridge, and of course perusing the Swedish American Museum in Swedesburg.

“It was so cool and interesting,” Kronstrom said. “You fly for so many hours and end up in the middle of a big cornfield where you see a sign that says ‘Welcome to Swedesburg’ in Swedish. It’s not what you expect when you travel so far away.”

Kronstrom said they visited cemeteries in the area, and there again he was surprised to see gravestones of people from his region of Sweden, with the gravestones written in Swedish, no less.

In fact, southeast Iowa has a shared history with the part of Sweden Kronstrom and Hoffstedt are from, which is the Kinda region surrounding the city of Kisa. Large numbers of Swedish immigrants came from that part of Sweden to southeast Iowa in the mid-1800s. That’s how this Rotary Swedish-American exchange program was born. In 2009, a group of Swedish visitors came to Fairfield and met with the town’s Rotary Club. Together they developed the Rotary Swedish-American Exchange Program, which would sponsor young, creative adults to visit each other’s countries to develop friendships and learn more about each other.

Hoffstedt said she wanted to participate in this exchange program because her sister came to Fairfield four years ago. Her sister told her about Fairfield, but there were still some things that surprised Hoffstedt.

“Everything is just bigger … the cars, the houses, the food packaging,” Hoffstedt said.

“The amount of food, also,” Kronstrom said. “There are so many different flavors of everything.”

Kronstrom and Hoffstedt said houses seem wider in America, and they’re more likely to be made from brick, whereas in Sweden most homes are built of wood. Houses in America have more bathrooms, too. The Swedes were surprised to learn that guests have their own bathroom.

Kronstrom said he and Hoffstedt thoroughly enjoyed their time in Fairfield and the time they spent with their host families.

“We’ve been treated like royals,” he said. “Everyone is so nice and friendly. Being so far from home, it feels really nice to be taken care of.”

Kronstrom and Hoffstedt stayed at the homes of Rotary couples Colleen and Carl Stone, John and Jody Loin, Sue Gail and Art Atkinson and Connie and Bob Boyer. Jim and Gwen Pedrick were their tour guides for Swedesburg and the picnic with the Mt. Pleasant Rotary Club. Patricia and Kyle Mason hosted them in Bondurant, where they stayed just before flying back to Sweden.

This was the first year Rotary has been able to host Swedes since the pandemic began in 2020. Rotary also sends local residents to Sweden as part of the exchange. Those who are interested in visiting Sweden through this program can contact Beth Alonso at alonso_beth@yahoo.com.