Comparing Bios

Bio is short for biograf, which is the Swedish word for cinema.  So far I've been to the Swedish bio 3 times. (That doesn't count Haga Bion, my favorite, which always shows international movies including lots of French ones!!!) Anyway I've figured out a list of ways that Swedish and American cinemas are different AKA things I think are better in my home cinemas. (Sorry Swedes! Let me be ethnocentric, I'm a tad homesick!!)

The following list compares 2 different big and nice Swedish movie theaters I've been to 3 times (but not Hagabion!) to, say, the Warrens in Wichita, and even North Rock.

1. The talking norms- I noticed this one the second I set foot in the theater in Växjö last summer. You walk in to find your (reserved--one pro of the theaters here) seat before the movie and feel like you're walking into a high school cafeteria. Apparently it's totally fine in Sweden to have loud conversations before the movie starts (even during the previews). You can pick out the most interesting conversation in the theater and listen to it, since they are all equally audible. Last night's highlight was the people behind us very obviously making fun of the people in front of us. Magically, the people in front of us didn't notice because they were talking and surfing on their phone.

Then, finally after the previews, when the lights finally turn off (see #2) and the opening credits are rolling, most people start to shut up. I really missed the "message" from Warren or Dickinson theaters telling us we still have time to get popcorn and drinks, to turn off the cellphones and to be quiet. This is probably just me but I swear that people have been laughing much more loudly at movies here than at home. Or maybe the movies I saw here were funnier? (Sidenote: A funny thing I've noticed going to see subtitled movies is that you can tell apart who's reading and who's listening... the subtitle readers always laugh after the non-subtitle-readers... It's funny because it sounds like a delayed reaction... I catch myself doing it at the movies at Hagabion too).


2. The lights- The lights, err... spot lights, are shining on you until the second before the  movie starts. I miss going in to the dark theater and enjoying the previews in peace and...darkness.

3. The seating set-up- So maybe this is just these theaters and I'm sure there are other theaters in the states like this too. But I felt like I was in a very crowded stadium. In Wichita theaters, the floor is either inclined, giving everyone plenty of foot room under the seat in front of them, or there are 6-inch high steps that are long for plenty of foot room. In the theater here, each row (I'm not complaining or anything but last night's theater had all of 8 rows) is on its own tall and steep step.  So tall and steep that if you try to stretch out your cramped leg, you might just kick the person in front of you in the head.

To be fair, that last one has an up-side, in that there's no way your view can be blocked by someone's huge head, so that's nice! Especially if you're all the way back in row 8, far away from the screen.


Those are my rants for today... I think America gets enough shit to justify this list! I should add that the 3 movies I've watched at these theaters (The Hangover, Inception, and most recently The Social Network) have been enjoyable, so I guess the theater didn't ruin the experience! And speaking of America, I'll post pictures of my successful Thanksgiving dinner next time!

Miss you all, even you Mr. Bill Warren!

Remembering the Long Days

I promised to show some of you my pics from Iceland. (The cheapest one-way plane ticket from KC to Europe happened to be to Iceland. Then 4 days later I took a separate flight--that only allowed ONE suitcase--to Copenhagen.) I was there for the Summer Solstice, and now as we approach the Winter Solstice and the sky turns a deep midnight blue at 4:30pm, it's time to share (and reminisce)...

As we descended onto Iceland, I pretended this little chunk of land was the whole island (more exciting that way). Really it's just a small peninsula but hey, it works! Coming from Kansas, I had this weird sense of claustrophobia knowing I was on a somewhat small island, for most of the trip.

 Landed at 11:30pm. Not quite the Midnight Sun, but a couple hours later it was still/again light out.

 The next day was their National Day! I must admit I missed the festivities though, since we had gone out and experienced Reykjavik's bizarre nightlife the night before..

These are my LOVELY Couch Surfing hosts, Julien and Claudia. French and Italian, respectively. The airport bus driver drove me right up to their doorstep (instead of the bus stop, a 20-minute walk away- what a nice guy!). I felt guilty that Claudia was waiting up for me at 1am on a weeknight, until she asked me if I wanted to go out... So we went to some very hip bars and met a bunch of Claudia's friends.

I got  no pictures of said nightlife, but maybe this will paint one for you. Between the hours of 1am and 7am at your average, everyday Reykjavik bar: Guys wearing full-out suits, pushing and shoving like nobody's business, very interesting outfits, fun music, breaking beer bottles and glasses all over the place but it's so normal that nobody even looks up...

Oh, Scandinavian buildings!

The continental rift! The picture-perfect, "no-man's land" paradise between the North American and European plates.

 Me at the rift! Luckily there was a Bostonian also traveling solo, on his way back to the US. We awkwardly took pictures of each other at all the stops of our tour that day. What a bond we shared!

 Just a neat picture.

"Gullfoss" was quite amazing!!

 I hate to say it Dad, but Geysir is a little more entertaining than Old Faithful because it goes off every 5-ish minutes.

Giving several opportunities to time it just right to get these shots:

Those two pictures and their medium-low quality make me miss my good 'ole digital Canon Rebel. This is a shout out to the dirty camera thief,  possibly AKA my loser hostel roommate... If you are reading this, I hope you are enjoying MY camera. Or the measly couple hundred (dirty) bucks you sold it for. I'm sorry that your dad didn't get you your own of those for your 18th-birthday-Christmas-2005-high-school-graduation-Christmas-2006-and-19th-birthday gift. I guess you needed it more than I. Hope you enjoyed the pictures of me and my friends in Copenhagen, Göteborg, Malmö, and Paris that you also STOLE. I don't need the pictures of Göteborg anymore anyway. Just enjoy the pictures and never come here, please!

Back on track, here is the infamous Iceland volcano Kifoea;dsfjkanjdh!!!

JUST KIDDING! Not sure that pic has any significance. Did you fall for it?

 One of the many sweet kitties running loose in the city! These cats all (mostly?) have owners, but they just use the whole city as their back yard. They're mostly friendly and sweet! (PS. This picture was taken in the dead of the night. Isn't that so cool?!)

 Blue Lagoon, the must-visit spa-type place. It was extremely relaxing, and right on the way to the airport. I didn't hang out with anyone though so if I go again I will make sure it's with someone else and we can make the most of the swim-up bar.

A lot of that region just looks like this:

Remember the one suitcase rule? There was also a 44lb limit, INCLUDING carry-on. So, I got 2 regular bras, a couple sports bras (to flatten it out, making room for the rest you know), then over 20 shirts and ranked them strategically from tightest to loosest, and topped it off with a triple-jacket-combo and 2 scarves. Margo had already helped me practice the drill while packing...

I went in the bathroom at the Keflavik airport to put on my outfit. When it got too hot and stuffy in the stall, I went out in the open so as not to faint. Then I noticed a security camera. That put me on-edge until take-off, because it must have looked really suspicious. The funniest part of all is that they hand-patted me at security. They felt all my extra inches of fabric rolls and saw how over-stuffed but somehow boobless I was, and didn't even get suspicious.

Here are a couple shots half-way through my dressing. You can see I've already put on a few pounds in the first picture...

 Look at all those straps!! My face = relaxed from the Blue Lagoon.

The whole experience was probably dangerous to my health, but I took all those layers off right after security. Almost seemed like a waste, but it gave me something to laugh to myself about!

Casual Friday

First I'd like to thank you for all of your support in helping me identify the little bug I found and featured in the previous post. Since you are probably dying for an update, it didn't take long for me to find out it is a black carpet beetle. They lay 40-114 eggs per litter. They eat carpets. Later I found like 7 more in the bathroom. Where are the other 100? How I miss Manhattan, where the landlords legally had to spray for bugs TWICE a year! How I sometimes love and miss the USA's liberal use of toxic chemicals!

In other news, another company around these parts seems to think I'm worthy of working for them! Companies in Sweden love hiring me on a very temporary basis, a few days at a time. This financial company has an unusually long list of people to contact, so I get to help them for about a week! It's in the center of town in a nice building, on the top floor. While Christoffer has been doing some work in the famous "lipstick building," (red/white building shaped like lipstick. Maybe I'll post a picture sometime) we have been trying to decide whose workplace is more "posh." We both have espresso machines (and hot chocolate) with your average IKEA dishes and a dishwasher, but I think I have him BEAT.... We have a roof terrace WITH deck furniture all to ourselves,  not one but TWO dishwashers, and here's the kicker- a shower in the employee restroom. A NICE shower, you know the modern all-glass ones.

I thought I was going in for an interview on Thursday, but they put me right to work... Luckily I was dressed nicely because nobody was wearing jeans. So for Friday, after having canceled my afternoon coffee date, I showed up, double-wearing my slacks from Thursday. Almost everyone was wearing jeans. It was Friday, and a half day at that. Everyone was leaving at 1, including me. "Why half day today?"

"Tomorrow is a red day. So tomorrow is a holiday and automatically so is half of the day before it"
"So, how do you get in 40 hours?"
"You don't!"

Oh, Sweden! At first I misunderstood though, turns out not every Saturday is a red day, just some. Red days are special holidays of some sort. I think this one has to do with the day/week? of the dead, you know...  Halloween/All Soul's Day... So most of the time they do work all day Fridays (though some people quit at 3 or 4 every Friday- Oh, Sweden!). The thing I ask myself is, if I'm still working on Friday, do I wear jeans? Is it every Friday they wear jeans, or just the Fridays before a red day? So much to learn...

When I'm unemployed again in a week's time, I won't have to worry about that anymore!

Now for a story about red wine... Actually, about its bottle.

One October, in a small town on the east coast of Sweden where a person named Christoffer is from, there was a wine bottle that simply could NOT open. The cork was of a strange plastic, and it was the third occasion the wine bottle tried to open.

The poor wine bottle had had enough. At its wit's end, the last thing to try was to be drilled.

...And then filtered! It worked! After a looong pour, the wine bottle's contents could finally be enjoyed, and after fulfilling its goal, it lived happily ever after.

Tonight I really wanted some red wine. And you know what? The liquor store closes at 2PM on Saturdays. Closed Sunday. You Kansans are so lucky!! You can enjoy all your alcohol at home any day of the week, while I will have to visit a bar later...