Issue link: http://ihouse.uberflip.com/i/703833
16 Ingrid (Bergstrom) Borland 1947 – 1949 I was twenty years old when I came to California in 1946 with the intention of staying for one year to learn conversational English. I had completed a course in pediatric nursing in Sweden and found myself a job as a nanny for a family in Oakland. However, the grandmother in the family, a trustee of Mills College, encouraged me to go to college instead. When I protested that I had absolutely no money, she told me I could work my way through college. And so, within just six months of coming to America, I found myself enrolled at Cal and moving into Room 471 at International House. I-House opened up a completely new world for me in so many different ways. I had spent the wartime years in relative safety in neutral Sweden, but here at I-House were young people who had been through the war in so many horrible ways and who were all determined that there was never going to be another war like WWII. People had such a wonderful vision of a future where the creation of lasting peace in the world was not only a possibility but within our reach. Most of us were truly that idealistic! And what a time of personal growth and development it was for me! I had been a very shy and withdrawn teenager in Sweden, and what made me venture out alone into the wide, wide world is still a mystery to me. But here I was at I-House, completely on my own, and seven thousand miles away from home. The experience opened me up in ways I would never have dreamed of earlier. I learned about the world around me through delightful songs and dances and conversations. I made friends with people from all around the globe, and I can honestly say that my closest and dearest friends today are people I met at I-House so very long ago. My need to work my way through school hampered somewhat my participation in large-scale cultural activities at the House, but I joined in those activities that did not demand as much time. One such event was a celebration of Christmas traditions from around the world, for which I was asked to share the Santa Lucia Festival, which each year ushers in the Swedish Christmas on December 13th. It portrays the legend of Santa Lucia, a young girl from Sicily who was martyred for her Christian faith, and whose story became intertwined with old pagan beliefs and customs when missionaries brought Christianity to the Vikings around the turn of the first century. Portraying Santa Lucia, I walked slowly down the middle aisle of the completely darkened auditorium, while the well-known Sicilian Santa Lucia song was softly sung by a small group of students on the stage. I was preceded by a few attendants, each holding lighted candles. Dressed in the traditional long white dress, I wore a wreath covered with greenery, in which were the holders for six small lighted candles. As we approached the steps to the stage, I stumbled ever so slightly as I stepped on the hem