Sorry, once again, no pictures for this post. I know that makes it awfully painful to read but what should I put pictures of? A diagram of the upper urinary tract? You can look that up on google images! A photo of the doctor's office? Sort of forgot to bring my camera...
About 2 weeks ago, I was slightly suspicious that there was something wrong with my kidneys when I felt pangs of pain there, but I ignored it. Sure enough it started to get constant. So I self-diagnosed myself with a kidney infection (I was right). I realized something ironic about going to the doctor. When you feel like crap and it hurts to move, you do not want to LEAVE the house for anything. Why would the doctor be any different? Why can't the doctor make house calls like in Little House on the Prairie? So, when I found out the doctor was actually open on a Sunday evening (probably the only establishment in the whole city), I didn't go because I REALLY didn't feel like it. Ironic, yes.
The next morning I trekked out. The elevator was broken as usual so I walked down 5.5 flights of stairs (not as bad as walking back up, that was very painful). Walking was pretty painful and I felt like such a spoiled suburbian person for always having access to a car. I guess there are TONS of people in the world who don't know anybody with a car and this is normal for them. I mean I have walked to the doc plenty of times before in college and in Sweden but what do you do when it is too painful to walk? Maybe they just call ambulances, that would have been so unnecessary but sort of fun! Anyway I found the doctor's "office" that a friend had told me about. The main door was wide open, with an empty lobby. There was a hidden plaque in the entryway stating it was a doctor's office. Just an empty white room, no reception, with some foldable chairs and an enigmatic plywood door, also unmarked. There was a doorbell next to the door and a paper stuck above it saying "ring and wait" So I rang, and waited. One couple was already waiting. They confirmed that yes, you just ring and sit down. This is one thing that bothers me about queuing in France. I used to complain about the Swedish uber-anal queue for everything, but now I miss it. Because here, you just memorize the people that were in the vicinity when you got there, and when all of them have gone, you know it is your turn. I am very bad with faces so this makes it impossible for me to relax while waiting for something, trying to keep track of where I stand in the line.
I was sitting very uncomfortably doubled over and just counting the minutes until the doctor said "next" and it was my turn. The other couple had random visitors during their wait, some lady and a baby coming to show them bags of hand-me-down clothes. Right time and place? I suppose so. Another couple came in. A beggar came in from the street and spoke to the room in Arabic. When he was ignored he came to each of us individually and said something to each of us, one by one. Can't you see, Monsieur, that we are obviously at a ghetto clinic so we probably don't have money to share, and that some of us are in pain?? My insurance even covers private medical care so I do not know why I chose this place. Oh yeah, because who likes to do research when they feel like crap? Just go to the first one anyone tells you about.
A guy stepped in from the street asking who was last in line, I guess he was planning to wait in line while visiting a café or something? The man that came in after me said I was last. I said, no I thought I got here before you? He said, well I had forgotten these papers so I left to get them, but I got here before you. This is why I hate this anti-queue. I was like, ok whatever. But he said that I could go before him, no problem. I didn't say anything. Then his wife started yelling at him in another language. Obvious much??
When the doctor came out and said "next," the guy insisted that I go before him. I found myself in a humongous empty garage-like room, with some cubicle walls set up to make 3 makeshift rooms. It had an ambiance about as comfortable as a place you would go to be euthanized.
I was greeted by the doctor and a very young teen-aged boy. "This is an intern. Does it bother you if he sits in on this session?" Oh yeah, what woman would be bothered by a 16-year old boy sitting in on her doctor's appointment?!? Thinking this question didn't even deserve an answer, I just said, "I don't know, it's fine." The doctor was like, really are you sure? "NO, of course not, get that kid out of my sight" is what I didn't say.
It turns out that this garage cubicle doctor's office has no more medical equipment than a laptop and printer, and he printed me a prescription, and two notices sending me to two other places in the city to get tests. I walked back to the first testing place, it would cost 55 euros. I only had taken 50 with me thinking they would directly bill insurance anyway. The nearest atm was just about as far as home and I had stupidly only taken that atm-only French card with me, so I hobbled home to get my Swedish debit card, put about 1000 euros on the account to avoid having to walk anywhere ever again, tried to keep myself from completely breaking down, and went back to pee in a cup and get tons of blood drawn. After that I would rather have gone home than to radiology but he wrote "urgent" on that order. But oh, they don't accept credit cards, I would have to pay cash. So I had to leave there to go to an atm. Then they gave a sonogram to check for stones (none found). On the way home I picked up my scrips and collapsed into bed. This whole ordeal lasted from 11am to 3pm. It was exhausting. I missed 4 days of work and just stayed in bed the whole time, it was sort of nice because when lying down the pain wasn't too bad so it was lots of resting!
But that isn't the end of the story, no. For the first time ever, I broke out in hives from antibiotics. Typical. Calling in a new prescription was not an option. This was all hard paper, no computers involved. So getting new meds would have meant going back to the doctor, getting paper in my hand and putting the paper into a pharmacist's hand. (WHAT YEAR IS THIS!?!???!??!!). So after the hives were not too bad and only lasted about an hour, I decided to keep taking them. My body eventually gave in and stopped producing hives after a few days.
Next time I get sick I guess I will go to a hospital?
söndag 18 december 2011
tisdag 6 december 2011
Nations DO Have Personalities
I have come to the conclusion that France and Sweden are total opposites. There are tooo many reasons to name, but just take my word for it. Yeah, tons of people say that "Marseille is not France" but that is just where I am so some of my comparisons are just Marseille-specific. Some obvious points are the weather, the drinking water (still having a hard time accepting that change), new vs. old, dirty vs. clean, elevators working vs. broken, availability of postage stamps, I could go on, but those are boring and whiny. Here are two interesting differences I have been noticing, without sounding like a bratty tourist!
Babies on busses
France: on almost every bus and tram ride I have been on here so far, strangers talk to the babies in their vicinity. It starts with one old person saying funny stuff to the baby, then some laughing comments about how the baby doesn't want to talk to him/her, then others chime in laughing and commenting, smiling at the mom, trying to get the baby to react...
Sweden: Sometimes the babies interact with each other, then the parents do too, but generally, pretty kept to themselves.
Strangers asking me where I'm from
France: people in the grocery store line, the pharmacist, the doctor, the other doctor, the other doctor (I will explain that story later)... "vous êtes de quelle origine?" :)
Sweden: Nobody. Though sometimes they used to speak English back to me, their way of saying, "I know you're a foreigner!"
Other interesting tidbits just about life in Marseille:
The Honking Ritual
Did you know that honking is effective in reducing city traffic?
This is a very watered-down version, because they usually do not let up on the horn and just play one long HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO(NKeventually)! I just caught the tail end of it when most of the honkers had stopped. This goes on twice a day for about 5 minutes each. I a m n o t e x a g g e r a t i n g ! ! !
I Am a Robot
Is what I say to myself when walking down the street.
No eye-contact. No emotion. No smiling, not even to yourself. Do not speak, to anybody. Do not look at any humans. Nothing gets your attention, not even somebody yelling pretending like they know you, or making very loud and unusual noises.
Using this strategy just makes it easier to forget about the people on the streets raping you with their eyes.
Next time you get a doctor story! It is not as juicy as being in a third-world country so don't get too excited but it was interesting...
Babies on busses
France: on almost every bus and tram ride I have been on here so far, strangers talk to the babies in their vicinity. It starts with one old person saying funny stuff to the baby, then some laughing comments about how the baby doesn't want to talk to him/her, then others chime in laughing and commenting, smiling at the mom, trying to get the baby to react...
Sweden: Sometimes the babies interact with each other, then the parents do too, but generally, pretty kept to themselves.
Strangers asking me where I'm from
France: people in the grocery store line, the pharmacist, the doctor, the other doctor, the other doctor (I will explain that story later)... "vous êtes de quelle origine?" :)
Sweden: Nobody. Though sometimes they used to speak English back to me, their way of saying, "I know you're a foreigner!"
Other interesting tidbits just about life in Marseille:
The Honking Ritual
Did you know that honking is effective in reducing city traffic?
My window
This is a very watered-down version, because they usually do not let up on the horn and just play one long HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO(NKeventually)! I just caught the tail end of it when most of the honkers had stopped. This goes on twice a day for about 5 minutes each. I a m n o t e x a g g e r a t i n g ! ! !
I Am a Robot
Is what I say to myself when walking down the street.
No eye-contact. No emotion. No smiling, not even to yourself. Do not speak, to anybody. Do not look at any humans. Nothing gets your attention, not even somebody yelling pretending like they know you, or making very loud and unusual noises.
Using this strategy just makes it easier to forget about the people on the streets raping you with their eyes.
Next time you get a doctor story! It is not as juicy as being in a third-world country so don't get too excited but it was interesting...
onsdag 16 november 2011
Mundane Fundane
Hump day is over! I am so tired even though work hasn't been tiring! I can't even express how strange and wonderful it is to eat a leisurely breakfast and get other stuff done at 8am and then not have to leave until 8:45. And there is SUNlight spilling through the windows while all of this is going on! Usually I'd leave at 6:45 or 7:00 in the pitch black to start the day in Sweden. (Ok, in the summer it wasn't black but still just as early).
We work from 9:00-17:00 and we can take lunch between 12-14. You can take the whole time if you want but most people do 12:30 or 13-14. This still doesn't really make sense to me since in my mind the less hours of work = the better. But yeah obviously you gotta get something done... So sometimes we will have to stay late so it should be close to full-time anyway, plus a lot of lunch. I won't go into details about where I work or with whom because I really don't want to publicly publish anything specific like that. It's not like anybody here will know this URL anyway, nor be interested in it. This will be really boring. Don't read it unless you want to know about my tasks at work and other daily habits. And the best part is that there are NO PHOTOS.
I haven't had much training yet but learned as I go. My main tasks are like so: the boss forwards me random e-mails that she received but can't bother to read (because they are in English). Then at a good moment I say, "So, this e-mail you sent, what do I need to do about it?" Then she makes me explain which e-mail it was and what it's about, including me slowly reading it to her out loud. Then she explains the situation to me and tells me what to do. Usually she wants me to respond to the e-mail, usually in English. Then she tells me exactly what to write (in French). Then I try not to forget all the details and write the e-mail. Not all that efficient is it? Sounds sort of like The Office? I'm happy with it! Because the boss has left early every day this week so I have had almost no work to do in the afternoons!
Another task I have is translations! I love this bit. I've been putting a few promotional texts into English which is really fun since I get to make stuff sound good in my language of expertise without having to actually write or invent the content. I have put one activity info sheet into awkward French (I needed to get that shit edited afterward). But they need the help so I will probably do this more and hopefully improve.
Next week I'll help another girl work on a book about a big project that is ending. Today at work I was delighted when my boss told me I was going with her and a couple other people to a town an hour north of here to promote a project that we will be working on! I'm excited about seeing a little of the surrounding scenery here. The event is from 10-12, then lunch, then again from 14-16. So typical!
Well that's all so far with work. I really like it because it's laid back and the people are all so nice and interesting and I learn so much! Other than that I have walked around enough to see some stores and thus crave a huge shopping day, and haven't done much else. Every yoga place is free for the first time, so I went with a roommate and a neighbor, who are basically trying out every yoga class in the city. Tonight they went and I think it was the yoga I really enjoy but I was too sleepy to go, typical excuse.
Another new thing is my green tea test. Yeah green tea is great for your health in many different ways, everybody knows that and I won't get into it. I read that to reap the most benefit from it you should drink at least 2 cups a day, and that more than 5 cups doesn't help any extra. The exact science of Statistics has proven that so it must be ever-so true. So every day I have been drinking 2 cups of natural green tea. I have done this religiously for over a week now. I don't know if these changes are supposed to be physically noticeable but I still believe in the benefits no matter what. I do feel great, because it has just enough caffeine for a natural-feeling energy kick but not the bad feelings I get from my beloved coffee. Feeling great might have to do with recently moving to a place that not only speaks French but also has 60º and blue skies in November.
The last piece of news is that I am getting an American visitor this weekend! Haven't had an American one since Danielle came in June! It is dear cousin Perry's friend and my former French tutee who currently studies in Clermont-Ferrand! She barely needed my help at all though so I don't take credit for her language talent. I would, however give a lot of credit to the best French teacher in history that we both had, the late Mr. Peterka who taught me more French than anybody else has! He was the best teacher and everybody knew it!
A bientôt!
We work from 9:00-17:00 and we can take lunch between 12-14. You can take the whole time if you want but most people do 12:30 or 13-14. This still doesn't really make sense to me since in my mind the less hours of work = the better. But yeah obviously you gotta get something done... So sometimes we will have to stay late so it should be close to full-time anyway, plus a lot of lunch. I won't go into details about where I work or with whom because I really don't want to publicly publish anything specific like that. It's not like anybody here will know this URL anyway, nor be interested in it. This will be really boring. Don't read it unless you want to know about my tasks at work and other daily habits. And the best part is that there are NO PHOTOS.
I haven't had much training yet but learned as I go. My main tasks are like so: the boss forwards me random e-mails that she received but can't bother to read (because they are in English). Then at a good moment I say, "So, this e-mail you sent, what do I need to do about it?" Then she makes me explain which e-mail it was and what it's about, including me slowly reading it to her out loud. Then she explains the situation to me and tells me what to do. Usually she wants me to respond to the e-mail, usually in English. Then she tells me exactly what to write (in French). Then I try not to forget all the details and write the e-mail. Not all that efficient is it? Sounds sort of like The Office? I'm happy with it! Because the boss has left early every day this week so I have had almost no work to do in the afternoons!
Another task I have is translations! I love this bit. I've been putting a few promotional texts into English which is really fun since I get to make stuff sound good in my language of expertise without having to actually write or invent the content. I have put one activity info sheet into awkward French (I needed to get that shit edited afterward). But they need the help so I will probably do this more and hopefully improve.
Next week I'll help another girl work on a book about a big project that is ending. Today at work I was delighted when my boss told me I was going with her and a couple other people to a town an hour north of here to promote a project that we will be working on! I'm excited about seeing a little of the surrounding scenery here. The event is from 10-12, then lunch, then again from 14-16. So typical!
Well that's all so far with work. I really like it because it's laid back and the people are all so nice and interesting and I learn so much! Other than that I have walked around enough to see some stores and thus crave a huge shopping day, and haven't done much else. Every yoga place is free for the first time, so I went with a roommate and a neighbor, who are basically trying out every yoga class in the city. Tonight they went and I think it was the yoga I really enjoy but I was too sleepy to go, typical excuse.
Another new thing is my green tea test. Yeah green tea is great for your health in many different ways, everybody knows that and I won't get into it. I read that to reap the most benefit from it you should drink at least 2 cups a day, and that more than 5 cups doesn't help any extra. The exact science of Statistics has proven that so it must be ever-so true. So every day I have been drinking 2 cups of natural green tea. I have done this religiously for over a week now. I don't know if these changes are supposed to be physically noticeable but I still believe in the benefits no matter what. I do feel great, because it has just enough caffeine for a natural-feeling energy kick but not the bad feelings I get from my beloved coffee. Feeling great might have to do with recently moving to a place that not only speaks French but also has 60º and blue skies in November.
The last piece of news is that I am getting an American visitor this weekend! Haven't had an American one since Danielle came in June! It is dear cousin Perry's friend and my former French tutee who currently studies in Clermont-Ferrand! She barely needed my help at all though so I don't take credit for her language talent. I would, however give a lot of credit to the best French teacher in history that we both had, the late Mr. Peterka who taught me more French than anybody else has! He was the best teacher and everybody knew it!
A bientôt!
New Favorite Cheese
BREAKING NEWS !!!
I have a new favorite cheese.
I did not discover it in France, no... I had it for the first time in Göteborg. I bought it from Linnégatans Ostaffär to which I received a gift certificate a long time ago from a very intuitive significant other.
It's a sheep cheese! Fromage de Brebis. I believe that brebis means "ewe." It is produced in the Pyrenees. Since my pack of cheese is unfortunately not with me in bed right now, we'll assume mine was also made there. In one evening I've already consumed about a third of the 250g package! When I first tried it I was so surprised by its deliciousness and unique taste, so upon seeing it at the store I just had to get it!
The cheese looks pretty standard but somehow I recognized it from across the store. I do think the color/texture combo is a bit special, or else maybe I am just obsessed!
This one is a little aged but still tender with a subtle kick of the very interesting flavor. Pretty sure I noticed a tiny tiny hint of a goat cheese taste with a sweeter edge! The texture is solid but still pretty soft, so it sort of melts in your mouth. It is soooo goood!!! I eat it plain but surely it's amazing tons of other ways.
So go out and check out this cheese!
Anyone tried it? Thoughts?
I have a new favorite cheese.
I did not discover it in France, no... I had it for the first time in Göteborg. I bought it from Linnégatans Ostaffär to which I received a gift certificate a long time ago from a very intuitive significant other.
It's a sheep cheese! Fromage de Brebis. I believe that brebis means "ewe." It is produced in the Pyrenees. Since my pack of cheese is unfortunately not with me in bed right now, we'll assume mine was also made there. In one evening I've already consumed about a third of the 250g package! When I first tried it I was so surprised by its deliciousness and unique taste, so upon seeing it at the store I just had to get it!
The cheese looks pretty standard but somehow I recognized it from across the store. I do think the color/texture combo is a bit special, or else maybe I am just obsessed!
This one is a little aged but still tender with a subtle kick of the very interesting flavor. Pretty sure I noticed a tiny tiny hint of a goat cheese taste with a sweeter edge! The texture is solid but still pretty soft, so it sort of melts in your mouth. It is soooo goood!!! I eat it plain but surely it's amazing tons of other ways.
So go out and check out this cheese!
Anyone tried it? Thoughts?
onsdag 9 november 2011
Room Progress
Today was pretty awesome. A guy who works at the place I'll be working came and spent 2 hours on my room. He cleaned it and got my bed all fixed up. Still waiting on some furniture. My room has french doors (obviously, this is France). But really, it used to be a living room or something. The entryway between my room and the next one was boarded up and covered with some fancy curtains.
There are 6 people living here because the Latvian guy is actually a Latvian couple. I met the girl and she is really nice! Everyone is nice. Of the 20 people working at my future job, maybe half are French. I'll be completing my project (still don't know what it's about) with a team of 3 French girls and a French leader. So, je vais parler français très bien! Two other volunteers are Swedish, from Göteborg. I'm glad there is some Swedishness for me here!
Looking in the fridges in two apartments, I noticed that each person has their own Camembert cheese. Of COURSE I bought my favorite foods that I used to buy during the Vichy Adventure of 2008, but I will have to be careful with the Camembert this time. Like maybe one pack a week, instead of two. I do not want to repeat the Fatness Adventure of 2008. Meet a 20lb heavier me:
There are 6 people living here because the Latvian guy is actually a Latvian couple. I met the girl and she is really nice! Everyone is nice. Of the 20 people working at my future job, maybe half are French. I'll be completing my project (still don't know what it's about) with a team of 3 French girls and a French leader. So, je vais parler français très bien! Two other volunteers are Swedish, from Göteborg. I'm glad there is some Swedishness for me here!
Looking in the fridges in two apartments, I noticed that each person has their own Camembert cheese. Of COURSE I bought my favorite foods that I used to buy during the Vichy Adventure of 2008, but I will have to be careful with the Camembert this time. Like maybe one pack a week, instead of two. I do not want to repeat the Fatness Adventure of 2008. Meet a 20lb heavier me:
That mail was definitely not sent by whole dairy products.
A lot of the fat sat in the hip/thigh area, not (ever, hopefully) pictured. Buying new jeans all the time gets expensive, especially if Mango is the only one carrying your size. And giving away never-worn shorts to a much narrower aunt who has had 3 kids is a bit embarrassing. So I'm doing my best... Dinner tonight was couscous with zucchini (with an appetizer of Camembert on biscottes).
One of the roomies is playing guitar and singing. I'll have to become her friend and ask for partial rights to the guitar.
tisdag 8 november 2011
New Harbor Town
Well, here I am, in Marseille. I should probably change my blog header sometime, to a more French and less Swedish theme. I wanted to change it to a picture of our awesome Göteborg harbor view in the last flat but I've moved on to bigger, dirtier and poorer now as far as flats & harbor towns go.
Needless to say I didn't get the flight attendant job at Lufthansa, I had a phone interview and my Hoch Deutsch was NOT "sehr gut" as I had claimed, haha. Their loss!! I worked as a karaoke DJ for 2 nights and it was fun-ish, I didn't go to the interview for the casino because screw it, and I got a full-time job offer to work at a daycare which I then declined when it was already too late, or almost too late, depending on your sense of ethics. Anyway, while on an amazing, epic family cruise these people tried contacting me telling me I was accepted to a volunteer program (all expenses taken care of, and then some) in Marseille. They wanted me to come on Nov 1, 2 weeks from then and I was like hail naw, I'll come on November 8. Well it wasn't that simple. It was a horribly difficult and emotional situation in trying to decide if it's worth it to leave Christoffer. It's a definite amount of time, which makes it better. It's a long amount of time, which makes it harder. I'll be back for Christmas, which makes it easier. All in all I decided to take the opportunity. Long story short, I'm young now and can't do shit like this when I have kids!
Back to now. A nice German girl picked me up at the station and took me to my flat. I think my roommates will be 2 guys and then "2 Spanish guys."
"So all guys?" I ask
"No, you have the 2 Spanish guys too"
Well I already saw one of the Spanish guys (male) so far so I guess one of the "2 Spanish guys" is a girl.
My room was dirty, with no furniture besides a broken bed sans mattress. Luckily my new German neighbor (who lives across the hall) will be at her boyfriend's tonight. So I'll sleep in her bed in their much nicer apartment, hopefully just one night. Maybe the "productive" French will, against all odds, clean my room, buy me a new bed and the rest of the furniture, all in one day! Well I just found out that I clean it when I move in... So I hope there are ample cleaning supplies, like I like... I assume I'll be staying in this girl's room for a while, living from my very well-packed suitcase.
Not much else to update on now, except that I can't go on a walk around the neighborhood because we apparently live in the ghetto. Shit. And even here our closest grocery store closes at 7:30. I thought this was a big city!!!
Looking forward to more discoveries and new adventures...
Needless to say I didn't get the flight attendant job at Lufthansa, I had a phone interview and my Hoch Deutsch was NOT "sehr gut" as I had claimed, haha. Their loss!! I worked as a karaoke DJ for 2 nights and it was fun-ish, I didn't go to the interview for the casino because screw it, and I got a full-time job offer to work at a daycare which I then declined when it was already too late, or almost too late, depending on your sense of ethics. Anyway, while on an amazing, epic family cruise these people tried contacting me telling me I was accepted to a volunteer program (all expenses taken care of, and then some) in Marseille. They wanted me to come on Nov 1, 2 weeks from then and I was like hail naw, I'll come on November 8. Well it wasn't that simple. It was a horribly difficult and emotional situation in trying to decide if it's worth it to leave Christoffer. It's a definite amount of time, which makes it better. It's a long amount of time, which makes it harder. I'll be back for Christmas, which makes it easier. All in all I decided to take the opportunity. Long story short, I'm young now and can't do shit like this when I have kids!
Back to now. A nice German girl picked me up at the station and took me to my flat. I think my roommates will be 2 guys and then "2 Spanish guys."
"So all guys?" I ask
"No, you have the 2 Spanish guys too"
Well I already saw one of the Spanish guys (male) so far so I guess one of the "2 Spanish guys" is a girl.
My room was dirty, with no furniture besides a broken bed sans mattress. Luckily my new German neighbor (who lives across the hall) will be at her boyfriend's tonight. So I'll sleep in her bed in their much nicer apartment, hopefully just one night. Maybe the "productive" French will, against all odds, clean my room, buy me a new bed and the rest of the furniture, all in one day! Well I just found out that I clean it when I move in... So I hope there are ample cleaning supplies, like I like... I assume I'll be staying in this girl's room for a while, living from my very well-packed suitcase.
Not much else to update on now, except that I can't go on a walk around the neighborhood because we apparently live in the ghetto. Shit. And even here our closest grocery store closes at 7:30. I thought this was a big city!!!
Looking forward to more discoveries and new adventures...
onsdag 21 september 2011
What might happen
First of all I just made the most delicious soup--ever. It contained, among other things, a rutabaga. I didn't know it was a rutabaga until afterward when I google translated "kålrot." So that was cool, since I never really was sure what a rutabaga was before! The unattractive "root fruits" as they are called in Sweden are soo cheap and sooo healthy and should be eaten more!
Yeah I know, this blog would be boring as hell without photos.
Today was a good day. Christoffer got 2 calls for interviews and I applied to some fun jobs. I usually don't shout from the rooftops about the jobs I apply to since I so diligently apply to thousands every day and 99.9% of them end up in a "we have decided to go further with another applicant" but today was a bit interesting. I applied to be a "steel woman" for a steel company that needs a more gender-balanced workplace (office job, not miner), a "karaoke hostess" at a restaurant that happens to be 2 blocks away, and a dealer (no experience needed!) at the casinoo! Status? Took a tricky "service test" for the casino job, already got called for an interview with the karaoke job (the boss is also interested in some marketing services), and the steel job? Well they requested that application be sent by snail mail, so it's on its way... The casino sounds like the coolest but the karaoke/mktg job sounds quite promising and also potentially fun haha... Maybe I can succeed in making it THE place to go in Majorna!
Fine, I will jinx it and tell you about the flight attendant job I applied to. It has been a dream since childhood. Hope I get to fulfill it! I passed the English and personality tests so now I get a preliminary phone interview!
So, plans, plans, plans...
I really wanted to get a kitten for a while, always have, still do, especially after a friend that works for Lufthansa Cargo told me that a cat can be just another carry-on item, no problem, but I think I will have to refrain. I doubt it's allowed in this apartment and I decided to wait until I am stateside again to become a cat lady. Thought about that money I was so willing to spend on cat maintenance and decided I can either save it instead, or buy super healthy and delicious food (like rutabaga...).
I also bought something to make the winter fun and maybe even replace a gym membership (that I have also been considering). My new ice skates are HOCKEY skates so they 1)look cool and 2)will allow me to become a hockey star. Maybe Christoffer will practice with me. He worked as an ice skating teacher for kids in London, so he can teach me to skate backwards! The only problem is that they haven't come yet. I bought them on an auction on Sweden's eBay (was SO excited when I won the auction!!). Got them for around $30, barely used and hopefully my size. I sure hope the seller wasn't just a scammer. We'll see.
Speaking of buying things, I have realized that I have some materialistic tendencies. Walking down the street I find myself marveling at expensive kitchenware, bath towels, gourmet food, espresso machines, the Lush soap store, overpriced but still not pretentious cafés... and thinking yes, that's why I wanna be rich! haha what a lavish lifestyle I can imagine myself in. Not seriously but sort of seriously.
What more plans do I have that are relevant to you, my fanclub? I would so so love to visit home for Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years/maybe my birthday, but I can't leave my potential awesome full-time job for that long. And without the awesome job it's sort of steep, might as well wait until 2012 when I potentially awesomely would move back to the US. I miss all my friends there and especially all the Wagles!!! Grandma just turned 85 yesterday!
Gonna go make some butter-flavored popcorn and continue watching "Burn After Reading" (weird). I'll write again when something interesting happens!
underrated
Yeah I know, this blog would be boring as hell without photos.
Today was a good day. Christoffer got 2 calls for interviews and I applied to some fun jobs. I usually don't shout from the rooftops about the jobs I apply to since I so diligently apply to thousands every day and 99.9% of them end up in a "we have decided to go further with another applicant" but today was a bit interesting. I applied to be a "steel woman" for a steel company that needs a more gender-balanced workplace (office job, not miner), a "karaoke hostess" at a restaurant that happens to be 2 blocks away, and a dealer (no experience needed!) at the casinoo! Status? Took a tricky "service test" for the casino job, already got called for an interview with the karaoke job (the boss is also interested in some marketing services), and the steel job? Well they requested that application be sent by snail mail, so it's on its way... The casino sounds like the coolest but the karaoke/mktg job sounds quite promising and also potentially fun haha... Maybe I can succeed in making it THE place to go in Majorna!
Fine, I will jinx it and tell you about the flight attendant job I applied to. It has been a dream since childhood. Hope I get to fulfill it! I passed the English and personality tests so now I get a preliminary phone interview!
So, plans, plans, plans...
I really wanted to get a kitten for a while, always have, still do, especially after a friend that works for Lufthansa Cargo told me that a cat can be just another carry-on item, no problem, but I think I will have to refrain. I doubt it's allowed in this apartment and I decided to wait until I am stateside again to become a cat lady. Thought about that money I was so willing to spend on cat maintenance and decided I can either save it instead, or buy super healthy and delicious food (like rutabaga...).
I also bought something to make the winter fun and maybe even replace a gym membership (that I have also been considering). My new ice skates are HOCKEY skates so they 1)look cool and 2)will allow me to become a hockey star. Maybe Christoffer will practice with me. He worked as an ice skating teacher for kids in London, so he can teach me to skate backwards! The only problem is that they haven't come yet. I bought them on an auction on Sweden's eBay (was SO excited when I won the auction!!). Got them for around $30, barely used and hopefully my size. I sure hope the seller wasn't just a scammer. We'll see.
Speaking of buying things, I have realized that I have some materialistic tendencies. Walking down the street I find myself marveling at expensive kitchenware, bath towels, gourmet food, espresso machines, the Lush soap store, overpriced but still not pretentious cafés... and thinking yes, that's why I wanna be rich! haha what a lavish lifestyle I can imagine myself in. Not seriously but sort of seriously.
What more plans do I have that are relevant to you, my fanclub? I would so so love to visit home for Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Years/maybe my birthday, but I can't leave my potential awesome full-time job for that long. And without the awesome job it's sort of steep, might as well wait until 2012 when I potentially awesomely would move back to the US. I miss all my friends there and especially all the Wagles!!! Grandma just turned 85 yesterday!
Gonna go make some butter-flavored popcorn and continue watching "Burn After Reading" (weird). I'll write again when something interesting happens!
söndag 11 september 2011
What has happened
Ok, so I guess it's fair to update my vast readership of what's up! I'm sure my lack of recent blogging has been the talk of the town, of the world. Well people, you can calm down now because I'm about to update you!
Do you want to hear what will happen or what has happened first?
Chronological order tends not to fail...
Part I: Bad Planning, aka We Suck At Life
So, there was some talk about Christoffer and I going to the US. As our apartment was shared with someone else, it was too complicated to be able to plan a potentially spontaneous trip/move to the New World while considering an outsider's life plans. So I told Christoffer to take action. When he failed to take action, I took action. I canceled our lease. (which wasn't a contract at all since it was BLACK aka cashunderthetable which is the only way to rent in this poorly planned city. Also, ONLY subleases unless you are rich and/or lucky.). We would move out in 2 weeks. Notice the housing shortage situation I mentioned... If you want to buy an apartment you may do so, but the value of apartments has TRIPLED in the past 10 years (lucky 35-40 year olds can make a killing on their first apartment they bought 10 years ago). OH, and I guess an income would be nice to buy an apartment as well (ask Christoffer about that). So it was less than a week from move-out day, and... nothing. Christoffer and I were at our wit's end. Within 1 week we had spent $50 posting and re-posting our "housing wanted" ad 3 times so it'd appear on page 1 or 2. We'd had chances to take really cheap places, but we are talking g-h-e-t-t-o. Some of us have standards (one of us, and it wasn't particularly me). We went to one showing in the borderline-ghetto but it was a really nice apartment, and the girl had met another candidate that evening and then us 20 minutes later. Two hours after we left she would call us with her decision (WHAT THE HELL, RIGHT??) She picked the other people because they had a BABY. Is THAT what it takes to get a friggin flat these days??? A BABY?? Couples with babies get all sorts of cash & other rewards from the government so I'm pretty sure those couples won't have as much trouble finding a decent flat. On the other hand it was noble of the girl to pick them because I guess no one wants to be responsible for turning a baby out onto the streets. In other words, no offense taken.
Long story short, as Christoffer and I were at our lowest desperation, preparing to sell everything for $5, quit our jobs or lack thereof and move to his parents', I got an e-mail. Our "we need to find a cheaper place or else we will be on the streets in 2 months" had left our memories, we didn't give a damn about the money anymore (a problem for a later date, like tomorrow). So we took this huge apartment on the 8th floor in the most sought-after neighborhood in the city, Majorna. So now we are bound to this apartment for 6 months and, oh yeah, with a roommate. She's really cool though. But let's look back and see, did I have to cancel our last apartment? No. Now, same rent, same situation, no options of spontaneously leaving, and no dishwasher this time. Plus the 1000sek move (like $150) and 2 weeks of homelessness before the new contract starts.
Part II: Big Brother- I MEAN, the Civil Register
And now since the new apartment is also dirty and black and probably profitable to the contract holder, we don't have an address to for the "civil register" (aka SOCIALISM TO THE MAX). This civil register address basically defines you. The civil address assumes that there ARE enough apartments for all the people living here, and that everyone actually lives where they are registered. This isn't your usual American writing mom's address for "permanent address" on a Direct Loans form. This is official, socialistic bullshit. So now I kiss goodbye to getting hired, getting mail, payroll, correct taxes, medical care, being allowed to do lots of other things.... Apparently you can't exist without registering yourself somewhere. My question, where do the homeless street people register themselves? And can you repeat and spell that address please?? Again, a problem for the future. But it should preferably be solved within the next minute. Stress.
I should also mention that the reason the moving to the US idea seemed to disappear so carelessly in this mess, it didn't. Thing is, on August 15, 2011 the US discontinued a visa program that would only have taken Christoffer 3 months to obtain a visa. He read me this news on August 17, 2011. Talk about frustration. Especially because we had planned for him to start the application process in early August but just didn't get around to it. So now it will take 7-9 months. (echo: FRUSTRATION).
Part III: Homelessness for the Privileged
Two weeks of homelessness. We stayed in our old place until September 4, even though the new tenants were paying for September's rent and they had to camp out with friends during those days, hahahaha but it's not really funny.... But hahaahahha anyway and a big thank you to them. Then a few nights with Christoffer's brother. He is 4 years younger and has just moved to town with his girlfriend and they got a cheap, central apartment with a legal contract immediately with their first ad posted. (fjkdls;fiew???)
Currently we are staying at Christoffer's good friend Patrik's place. It is what I think you would call a loft, with a spiral staircase and all. He is in Spain for the week, lucky us. (THANKS PATRIK!!!) All of our (read: CHRISTOFFER'S) stuff (read: useless junk collected over the past 25 years) is divided between our new apartment, my dear friend Anna's spacious attic, and a little bit at the little bro's and Patrik's. To move all this stuff we rented a moving truck, returned it not giving a damn about the rest of the stuff. The next day we rented a "rent a wreck" car, returned it even though we could have kept it for 24 hours, because we thought we could handle moving the rest of the shit out of the apartment. (HOW??) The day after that we had 4 people carrying 6 arm/backfulls of shit, planning to take 2 painful tram trips but awkwardly ran into our old landlord who helpfully and awkwardly took us in 2 car trips. Those car trips were my biggest "I want to disappear right now" moments thus far. Maybe you had to be there.
Part IV: Painful Hypochondria
During all of this and for the past 2 months I have been fighting an "överansträngad handled" or I guess you could call it painful hand/wrist/arm/andsometimeselbow&shoulder syndrome or maybe tendinitis. This is a bitch especially when lifting heavy things and moving, but also when caring for old people, doing dishes, applying to a better job, texting people, blogging, surfing the internet on my archaic smartphone while trying to remove my mind from being at work, sleeping with right hand under pillow under head, turning keys, opening doors, opening pop cans, opening beer cans, opening wine bottles, ETC. OD'ing on ibuprofen hasn't helped because I haven't been resting my hand. If I were Swedish, I would go to the doctor and get 5 weeks of partially paid sickleave. But I would rather work for more money (plus I don't think I'm eligible for the sickleave with my type of work contract).
I have learned to live with the pain and liver abuse because the next time I'll have 3 weeks to not use my right hand will be when I am dead.
Part V: What is my occupation anyway?
What is this job I keep complaining about anyway? Well to be fair I shouldn't complain about it, it's a good job with pretty decent pay. I work for the city going to old people's homes and do stuff for them like do their dishes or make them food, do their laundry or other personal tasks, depending on how able they are. I am feeling wary about continuing it now though as the weather gets colder. With cold weather comes sick employees which means 2 things: 1. Working double in the same amount of time because half of the workers are sick or "sick" (HAPPENS MORE OFTEN THAN YOU'D THINK). And 2. Possibly getting sick myself from switching from indoor to frigid outdoor so frequently throughout the day. Then I wouldn't get to call in sick whenever I damn well please (like the rest of the population in Sweden) because I would be a substitute and therefore not get sick pay. Another thing that sucks about the job is when old people go evil and verbally abuse you (not very often though).
What? You went to Sweden and now you're working in this type of service job?!??!?! Did you waste your education!?!??! What a waste of life?!?!?
Oh relax people!
1. Have a little respect for service jobs
2. Service jobs are extremely respectable & common long-term careers here and they pay nearly as much as any other career here (yay socialism)
3. Um, hellO, don't you realize that I'm getting some valuable first-hand experience with one of the fastest growing markets of our time, the elderly?!?? Don't you think that elderly care will be a huge industry for years to come? Don't you think they will want administrators or marketers who know the industry??
4. And even if 3 is wrong or irrelevant to me, it's called Life Experience. Dad said you don't go to college to be something, you go to learn something. I have learned so much at this job too, things I never would have been able to experience if I went straight to a (BORING) office. Maybe I will decide to be a doctor from all this anyway.
5. My Swedish has gotten so good, especially learning Old-timer words. Valuable lessons like Don't you know what a potholder is!!!??? ("no, I don't, but thanks for teaching me!" was my exact, cheerful response to the mean old lady) and a stressful made-me-wanna-cry yelling debacle taught me the word for "cardigan" as well as an alternative old-person word for blazer. Phew!! Plus, these days I've gotten really good at smalltalk too, seriously.
Those 5 points were not because I am insecure about the job I got here, but because I know for a fact that I have very critical family members who think I'm so awesome that I should be hired as a doctor-lawyer combo today on the spot. That was for them.
To calm those critical people, I DO have a Marketing-oriented job too! For the city as well. It is pretty part-time but it's lots of fun! I'm an ambassador for a youth project that I participated in. I present (and represent) the project to people in the target group (ages 16-24), spreading the word about it and showing my face at activities where I get to mingle and meet people and make sure they know about the opportunities awaiting them. The project is for young people to find out and work toward their goals in life regarding studies, work or entrepreneurship. I went there myself and got great tips for job searching, some free practical courses, among many other invaluable things!
As for other occupations, my CV (resumé for you Americans) is starting to be more unbalanced in that more of the jobs were in Sweden than in the US. I've worked in German-speaking customer service, tourism/hostess, VIP lounge hostess for international VIP guests at an annual worldwide youth soccer tournament, and even worked as a waitress for 2.5 hours (NO THANK YOU). I even got offered a job for $40/hr being a tour guide in German (scary) but was forced to say no because I had to volunteer for my free musical festival ticket. That was a bummer. But if I had skipped the volunteer work I would have had to pay tons of money...
The "What Will Happen" part will have to wait for another day. Sorry to cause so many people so much suspense.
Do you want to hear what will happen or what has happened first?
Chronological order tends not to fail...
Part I: Bad Planning, aka We Suck At Life
So, there was some talk about Christoffer and I going to the US. As our apartment was shared with someone else, it was too complicated to be able to plan a potentially spontaneous trip/move to the New World while considering an outsider's life plans. So I told Christoffer to take action. When he failed to take action, I took action. I canceled our lease. (which wasn't a contract at all since it was BLACK aka cashunderthetable which is the only way to rent in this poorly planned city. Also, ONLY subleases unless you are rich and/or lucky.). We would move out in 2 weeks. Notice the housing shortage situation I mentioned... If you want to buy an apartment you may do so, but the value of apartments has TRIPLED in the past 10 years (lucky 35-40 year olds can make a killing on their first apartment they bought 10 years ago). OH, and I guess an income would be nice to buy an apartment as well (ask Christoffer about that). So it was less than a week from move-out day, and... nothing. Christoffer and I were at our wit's end. Within 1 week we had spent $50 posting and re-posting our "housing wanted" ad 3 times so it'd appear on page 1 or 2. We'd had chances to take really cheap places, but we are talking g-h-e-t-t-o. Some of us have standards (one of us, and it wasn't particularly me). We went to one showing in the borderline-ghetto but it was a really nice apartment, and the girl had met another candidate that evening and then us 20 minutes later. Two hours after we left she would call us with her decision (WHAT THE HELL, RIGHT??) She picked the other people because they had a BABY. Is THAT what it takes to get a friggin flat these days??? A BABY?? Couples with babies get all sorts of cash & other rewards from the government so I'm pretty sure those couples won't have as much trouble finding a decent flat. On the other hand it was noble of the girl to pick them because I guess no one wants to be responsible for turning a baby out onto the streets. In other words, no offense taken.
Long story short, as Christoffer and I were at our lowest desperation, preparing to sell everything for $5, quit our jobs or lack thereof and move to his parents', I got an e-mail. Our "we need to find a cheaper place or else we will be on the streets in 2 months" had left our memories, we didn't give a damn about the money anymore (a problem for a later date, like tomorrow). So we took this huge apartment on the 8th floor in the most sought-after neighborhood in the city, Majorna. So now we are bound to this apartment for 6 months and, oh yeah, with a roommate. She's really cool though. But let's look back and see, did I have to cancel our last apartment? No. Now, same rent, same situation, no options of spontaneously leaving, and no dishwasher this time. Plus the 1000sek move (like $150) and 2 weeks of homelessness before the new contract starts.
Part II: Big Brother- I MEAN, the Civil Register
And now since the new apartment is also dirty and black and probably profitable to the contract holder, we don't have an address to for the "civil register" (aka SOCIALISM TO THE MAX). This civil register address basically defines you. The civil address assumes that there ARE enough apartments for all the people living here, and that everyone actually lives where they are registered. This isn't your usual American writing mom's address for "permanent address" on a Direct Loans form. This is official, socialistic bullshit. So now I kiss goodbye to getting hired, getting mail, payroll, correct taxes, medical care, being allowed to do lots of other things.... Apparently you can't exist without registering yourself somewhere. My question, where do the homeless street people register themselves? And can you repeat and spell that address please?? Again, a problem for the future. But it should preferably be solved within the next minute. Stress.
I should also mention that the reason the moving to the US idea seemed to disappear so carelessly in this mess, it didn't. Thing is, on August 15, 2011 the US discontinued a visa program that would only have taken Christoffer 3 months to obtain a visa. He read me this news on August 17, 2011. Talk about frustration. Especially because we had planned for him to start the application process in early August but just didn't get around to it. So now it will take 7-9 months. (echo: FRUSTRATION).
Part III: Homelessness for the Privileged
Two weeks of homelessness. We stayed in our old place until September 4, even though the new tenants were paying for September's rent and they had to camp out with friends during those days, hahahaha but it's not really funny.... But hahaahahha anyway and a big thank you to them. Then a few nights with Christoffer's brother. He is 4 years younger and has just moved to town with his girlfriend and they got a cheap, central apartment with a legal contract immediately with their first ad posted. (fjkdls;fiew???)
Currently we are staying at Christoffer's good friend Patrik's place. It is what I think you would call a loft, with a spiral staircase and all. He is in Spain for the week, lucky us. (THANKS PATRIK!!!) All of our (read: CHRISTOFFER'S) stuff (read: useless junk collected over the past 25 years) is divided between our new apartment, my dear friend Anna's spacious attic, and a little bit at the little bro's and Patrik's. To move all this stuff we rented a moving truck, returned it not giving a damn about the rest of the stuff. The next day we rented a "rent a wreck" car, returned it even though we could have kept it for 24 hours, because we thought we could handle moving the rest of the shit out of the apartment. (HOW??) The day after that we had 4 people carrying 6 arm/backfulls of shit, planning to take 2 painful tram trips but awkwardly ran into our old landlord who helpfully and awkwardly took us in 2 car trips. Those car trips were my biggest "I want to disappear right now" moments thus far. Maybe you had to be there.
Part IV: Painful Hypochondria
During all of this and for the past 2 months I have been fighting an "överansträngad handled" or I guess you could call it painful hand/wrist/arm/andsometimeselbow&shoulder syndrome or maybe tendinitis. This is a bitch especially when lifting heavy things and moving, but also when caring for old people, doing dishes, applying to a better job, texting people, blogging, surfing the internet on my archaic smartphone while trying to remove my mind from being at work, sleeping with right hand under pillow under head, turning keys, opening doors, opening pop cans, opening beer cans, opening wine bottles, ETC. OD'ing on ibuprofen hasn't helped because I haven't been resting my hand. If I were Swedish, I would go to the doctor and get 5 weeks of partially paid sickleave. But I would rather work for more money (plus I don't think I'm eligible for the sickleave with my type of work contract).
I have learned to live with the pain and liver abuse because the next time I'll have 3 weeks to not use my right hand will be when I am dead.
Part V: What is my occupation anyway?
What is this job I keep complaining about anyway? Well to be fair I shouldn't complain about it, it's a good job with pretty decent pay. I work for the city going to old people's homes and do stuff for them like do their dishes or make them food, do their laundry or other personal tasks, depending on how able they are. I am feeling wary about continuing it now though as the weather gets colder. With cold weather comes sick employees which means 2 things: 1. Working double in the same amount of time because half of the workers are sick or "sick" (HAPPENS MORE OFTEN THAN YOU'D THINK). And 2. Possibly getting sick myself from switching from indoor to frigid outdoor so frequently throughout the day. Then I wouldn't get to call in sick whenever I damn well please (like the rest of the population in Sweden) because I would be a substitute and therefore not get sick pay. Another thing that sucks about the job is when old people go evil and verbally abuse you (not very often though).
What? You went to Sweden and now you're working in this type of service job?!??!?! Did you waste your education!?!??! What a waste of life?!?!?
Oh relax people!
1. Have a little respect for service jobs
2. Service jobs are extremely respectable & common long-term careers here and they pay nearly as much as any other career here (yay socialism)
3. Um, hellO, don't you realize that I'm getting some valuable first-hand experience with one of the fastest growing markets of our time, the elderly?!?? Don't you think that elderly care will be a huge industry for years to come? Don't you think they will want administrators or marketers who know the industry??
4. And even if 3 is wrong or irrelevant to me, it's called Life Experience. Dad said you don't go to college to be something, you go to learn something. I have learned so much at this job too, things I never would have been able to experience if I went straight to a (BORING) office. Maybe I will decide to be a doctor from all this anyway.
5. My Swedish has gotten so good, especially learning Old-timer words. Valuable lessons like Don't you know what a potholder is!!!??? ("no, I don't, but thanks for teaching me!" was my exact, cheerful response to the mean old lady) and a stressful made-me-wanna-cry yelling debacle taught me the word for "cardigan" as well as an alternative old-person word for blazer. Phew!! Plus, these days I've gotten really good at smalltalk too, seriously.
Those 5 points were not because I am insecure about the job I got here, but because I know for a fact that I have very critical family members who think I'm so awesome that I should be hired as a doctor-lawyer combo today on the spot. That was for them.
To calm those critical people, I DO have a Marketing-oriented job too! For the city as well. It is pretty part-time but it's lots of fun! I'm an ambassador for a youth project that I participated in. I present (and represent) the project to people in the target group (ages 16-24), spreading the word about it and showing my face at activities where I get to mingle and meet people and make sure they know about the opportunities awaiting them. The project is for young people to find out and work toward their goals in life regarding studies, work or entrepreneurship. I went there myself and got great tips for job searching, some free practical courses, among many other invaluable things!
As for other occupations, my CV (resumé for you Americans) is starting to be more unbalanced in that more of the jobs were in Sweden than in the US. I've worked in German-speaking customer service, tourism/hostess, VIP lounge hostess for international VIP guests at an annual worldwide youth soccer tournament, and even worked as a waitress for 2.5 hours (NO THANK YOU). I even got offered a job for $40/hr being a tour guide in German (scary) but was forced to say no because I had to volunteer for my free musical festival ticket. That was a bummer. But if I had skipped the volunteer work I would have had to pay tons of money...
The "What Will Happen" part will have to wait for another day. Sorry to cause so many people so much suspense.
lördag 18 juni 2011
Holidays
I promised pictures of some certain events a long time ago. That is, thedayafterThanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's!
Thanksgiving
Believe it or not, I was working on Thanksgiving and therefore had no time or energy to prepare the meal. Sadly this was not the first time I'd worked Thanksgiving. In high school Meredith and I worked at the Bingo Casino. God holiday pay, woo hoo. We also stole some pies from our family and took them to work with us. Take that!!!
Back on track... On Friday I left work early (that's how I roll(ed)) and got to cooking! I had skyped with my dad and brother the day before and decided to make my turkey EXACTLY like they did theirs!!
(the only small difference is that my turkey was in fact a chicken)
Basting it...
The Turkey
Gracefully getting the turkey off the makeshift turkey roaster while trying to salvage the delicious drippings
Timed shot of the 3.5 Thanksgiving guests
(about the darkness outside: no, it's not late at night. It is just Sweden)
Not the most appetizing plating, but it was good!
Starting at 9:00 and clockwise we have the
Turkey (me)
Green bean casserole (me)
Mashed potatoes (Christoffer - I'm not telling if they're real or from a mix)
Gravy (me)
Roll (me but they were frozen)
Salad (me)
Salad dressing (me)
Olives - made me nostalgic for my usual Thanksgiving
Thanks for the help cooking everyone! :-P
Oh yes and we even enjoyed some American wine! Wooo hoooo!!!!
Christmas (in Switzerland)
Wrapping & forging mom's long-distance Christmas present to her mom with her mom's fun supply of wrapping materials.
How do you rotate pictures on here?
The Christmas tree! (pre-candles)
Omi (AKA Nonna to everyone else besides me and my older brother, talk about feeling singled out)
sitting with her beautiful and delicious Christmas Eve spread that she so lovingly cooked and put so much detail into the table decor. <3
The red balls are chocolates :)
This wasn't any special dinner. I repeat, just another normal dinner in my Grandma's house :)
The Wellington and some veggies. Exciting, I know.
Omi making Gnocchi!
While I colored a pretty picture! (and sort of helped her)
How do you rotate!??!?!
We went sledding down the (barely) Alps.
New Year's
Christoffer and I hung out with his childhood bestie and girlfriend in their awesome new house! They were the best hosts ever, keeping the drinks flowing and preparing a 3-course meal for us! Starter was something delicious with seafood in it (my memory is failing me). Main course steak with a special potato dish, cooked collards, uuhhh it was a long time ago... Dessert was if I remember correctly a raspberry mousse or something? Anyway it was delicious and really nice! We were greeted at the door with cocktails and fed plenty of beer and wine. Not to mention our midnight champagne and the after-midnight wine plus I almost died of happiness when I saw the cheese platter.
Mr. New Year's
Someone's champagne fell without making a sound. Can you spot the glass?
Our lovely hosts
The classy besties..
tisdag 14 juni 2011
Daycare
Some stories about a couple of the FIVE daycares above which I live... If this is too much text but you are slightly curious, then just read Daycare 3. It is the best and most "OMG!"-worthy. And I wanted to take photos to show you the scenes of crime to these stories but as there are kids playing right now I probably would have gotten accused of pedophilia.
Daycare 1:
Directly under the balcony. The kids are pretty cute for the most part. They were possessed for about a month and EVERY MORNING as a group, they (very cultlike) would yell "ey ya ey ya ey ya ey ya ey ya" over and over and over again. For the first couple weeks it was only one crazy kid. Pretty soon it spread to the whole preschool class. The leader child would start and then the rest of the kids would gradually follow and it would grow louder and louder.
Some hypotheses:
The kids seemed to yell this when one of them was on the bouncy horse. Maybe they were trying to say "yeehaw." But the rhythm wasn't quite right for that.
Maybe one of the kids IS troubled in some way and that is just "her thing." (We're pretty sure it was a girl). After a while the other kids thought it was awesome.
Maybe they are yelling "Heja!" to each other which is a way to cheer someone on when for example running a marathon, or riding a bouncy horse.
(We think it's the third one.)
Daycare 2:
I'm not really sure where this daycare is, probably far away... (under another apartment building). All I know is standing on my balcony I looked down and saw some kids running down the very long courtyard (like 4 blocks long). Just a couple tiny toddlers by themselves, wearing protective neon vests. Then a couple other kids. Then more. Then 5 more kids. Then some walking kids. "Where the hell is the teacher!!!?!??!" I wondered. I looked at the first kids and they were already a couple blocks up almost to the fountain at the end of the courtyard (nearing the street, mind you). Looked back a block the other way, THERE was one teacher, pushing a stroller and lovingly caring for a few of the toddlers. (keyword, FEW). I couldn't watch anymore. I know corporal punishment is illegal here, but is yelling so kids a mile away can hear also illegal? And why is unemployment such a problem here if these daycares have a 1:20 ratio? SORRY I promise I am not bashing Sweden. This is clearly not typical daycare protocol.
This is a dramatic shot I found online. Taken from where the front kids were, showing the peril they were headed for.
Daycare 3:
Another mysterious daycare was playing in a little sandbox mini-playground. And I was creepily creeping on them. One kid was throwing sand in another kid's face. The poor victim was powerlessly trying to cover his face and otherwise just sitting there and taking it. A daycare teacher was miraculously present (I know, right?) and started making her way toward the kids. Ooh! I thought I want to analyze how they discipline around here! How very interesting, you know? Would she avoid negative words like "no" or "don't"-? Would she opt for "we"-? Would she say please? What tone would she use? The suspense was killing me as the woman approached the children. You know what happened next?
........
........
........
........
........
........
........
........
........
........
The daycare lady continued walking past the sand-thrower, made her way to the swings, and started swinging.
I'm not saying this is how everyone here is. Surely not. But when living above a daycare you get to see what goes on when the parents are NOT there! Most of the shit that goes down down there would not have been tolerated at the daycare where I used to work!!
(Positive Plug:) But other than that Sweden is VERY child friendly. At least I think they are, because their second biggest city is more child friendly than my hometown in KS. And daycare only costs like $150 a month. That's pretty awesome. (Unless they let kids throw sand in each other's faces, unsupervised.)
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Oh yeah! You didn't care about any of that stuff I just wrote! Sorry, it'd be a waste to erase it all now. Anyway I'll have to share pics and stories of my actual life another time.
In recent news, I found a book in the elevator! Marley och Jag. :) I applied my 24-hour rule and then quickly went back to get it before another thief did (since the owner was obviously out of the picture by then). I'll put it back after I read it.
Just too cute to leave unwanted in the dirty elevator.
Daycare 1:
Directly under the balcony. The kids are pretty cute for the most part. They were possessed for about a month and EVERY MORNING as a group, they (very cultlike) would yell "ey ya ey ya ey ya ey ya ey ya" over and over and over again. For the first couple weeks it was only one crazy kid. Pretty soon it spread to the whole preschool class. The leader child would start and then the rest of the kids would gradually follow and it would grow louder and louder.
Some hypotheses:
The kids seemed to yell this when one of them was on the bouncy horse. Maybe they were trying to say "yeehaw." But the rhythm wasn't quite right for that.
Maybe one of the kids IS troubled in some way and that is just "her thing." (We're pretty sure it was a girl). After a while the other kids thought it was awesome.
Maybe they are yelling "Heja!" to each other which is a way to cheer someone on when for example running a marathon, or riding a bouncy horse.
(We think it's the third one.)
Daycare 2:
I'm not really sure where this daycare is, probably far away... (under another apartment building). All I know is standing on my balcony I looked down and saw some kids running down the very long courtyard (like 4 blocks long). Just a couple tiny toddlers by themselves, wearing protective neon vests. Then a couple other kids. Then more. Then 5 more kids. Then some walking kids. "Where the hell is the teacher!!!?!??!" I wondered. I looked at the first kids and they were already a couple blocks up almost to the fountain at the end of the courtyard (nearing the street, mind you). Looked back a block the other way, THERE was one teacher, pushing a stroller and lovingly caring for a few of the toddlers. (keyword, FEW). I couldn't watch anymore. I know corporal punishment is illegal here, but is yelling so kids a mile away can hear also illegal? And why is unemployment such a problem here if these daycares have a 1:20 ratio? SORRY I promise I am not bashing Sweden. This is clearly not typical daycare protocol.
This is a dramatic shot I found online. Taken from where the front kids were, showing the peril they were headed for.
Daycare 3:
Another mysterious daycare was playing in a little sandbox mini-playground. And I was creepily creeping on them. One kid was throwing sand in another kid's face. The poor victim was powerlessly trying to cover his face and otherwise just sitting there and taking it. A daycare teacher was miraculously present (I know, right?) and started making her way toward the kids. Ooh! I thought I want to analyze how they discipline around here! How very interesting, you know? Would she avoid negative words like "no" or "don't"-? Would she opt for "we"-? Would she say please? What tone would she use? The suspense was killing me as the woman approached the children. You know what happened next?
........
........
........
........
........
........
........
........
........
........
The daycare lady continued walking past the sand-thrower, made her way to the swings, and started swinging.
I'm not saying this is how everyone here is. Surely not. But when living above a daycare you get to see what goes on when the parents are NOT there! Most of the shit that goes down down there would not have been tolerated at the daycare where I used to work!!
(Positive Plug:) But other than that Sweden is VERY child friendly. At least I think they are, because their second biggest city is more child friendly than my hometown in KS. And daycare only costs like $150 a month. That's pretty awesome. (Unless they let kids throw sand in each other's faces, unsupervised.)
----------------------------------
Oh yeah! You didn't care about any of that stuff I just wrote! Sorry, it'd be a waste to erase it all now. Anyway I'll have to share pics and stories of my actual life another time.
In recent news, I found a book in the elevator! Marley och Jag. :) I applied my 24-hour rule and then quickly went back to get it before another thief did (since the owner was obviously out of the picture by then). I'll put it back after I read it.
Just too cute to leave unwanted in the dirty elevator.
lördag 9 april 2011
Discoveries
Lately I've learned a few things!
aaand,
no discovery was made when taking the third picture, just reaffirming what I already knew:
1. There IS a sport I am better than Christoffer at!!! (besides swimming):
2. What a bidet is ACTUALLY for:
3. I don't have a picture for this one, but I guess after a YEAR of immobility my running time is BETTER than (ok, just as good as) it was last year. Yes, today I proudly ran (jogged) 1.497 miles in 15:42, my average time per mile is 10:28 (credit to an iPhone app for me knowing all that). That sucks for most people's standards, but it's GOOD for me. 1) because when I started running last spring I ran a 12-minute mile the first time and 2) because 10:30 was my exact time running the mile Freshman year of high school PE class as our final exam. 10:30 also happened to be the slowest you could run to still get an A. YES!! Not bad beating my 15-year-old self by 2 seconds. and 3) because according to my Excel running log (don't make fun of me) my average time last year was around that so I'm already at my old average. Weird.
aaand,
no discovery was made when taking the third picture, just reaffirming what I already knew:
tisdag 8 mars 2011
Weather Widgets = Wishing for Wagles in Wichita
I knew I shouldn't have done it, it does more harm than good...
Yeah, I looked up Wichita's weather when it isn't blizzarding there. Something I really try to avoid doing unless I'm there to enjoy it. I just wanted to get excited for Spring; that's what you're supposed to do in March!!! I tried it first with my local weather but the 40's+rain+snowflakes(?) just didn't cut it, didn't get me excited. To get excited for the Spring I'm used to I will have to wait until April here. Or maybe it will come in June...
What's worse than looking the weather up, is putting the "widget" up on my computer so whenever I check Gothenburg's weather I can see how much more pleasant and warm my family in Wichita has it. Pleasant reminder every day that says, "Don't forget to be homesick!!"
The top row is C and the bottom is F. I have to keep that Fahrenheit around so that when I am back home I'm not a weirdo that can't judge whether I need a coat for 45ºF weather, for example. People would think something was wrong with me. It also helps me learn about C! I'm very rusty on the warm Celcius measurements since it's been SEVERAL months since I've experienced any.
Well right now the weather is about the same but it is 5am in Wichita and noon here. I want to be in Wichita on Friday, instead of here in the sleet. :( This is why I shouldn't have looked up this weather, because I will probably "want to be in Wichita" at least one day every week for the next..... 9 months. I hope to actually be there in the fall though, yay!
Yeah, I looked up Wichita's weather when it isn't blizzarding there. Something I really try to avoid doing unless I'm there to enjoy it. I just wanted to get excited for Spring; that's what you're supposed to do in March!!! I tried it first with my local weather but the 40's+rain+snowflakes(?) just didn't cut it, didn't get me excited. To get excited for the Spring I'm used to I will have to wait until April here. Or maybe it will come in June...
What's worse than looking the weather up, is putting the "widget" up on my computer so whenever I check Gothenburg's weather I can see how much more pleasant and warm my family in Wichita has it. Pleasant reminder every day that says, "Don't forget to be homesick!!"
The top row is C and the bottom is F. I have to keep that Fahrenheit around so that when I am back home I'm not a weirdo that can't judge whether I need a coat for 45ºF weather, for example. People would think something was wrong with me. It also helps me learn about C! I'm very rusty on the warm Celcius measurements since it's been SEVERAL months since I've experienced any.
Well right now the weather is about the same but it is 5am in Wichita and noon here. I want to be in Wichita on Friday, instead of here in the sleet. :( This is why I shouldn't have looked up this weather, because I will probably "want to be in Wichita" at least one day every week for the next..... 9 months. I hope to actually be there in the fall though, yay!
fredag 18 februari 2011
"Picture Perfect"
When someone moves to another country especially from the US to Europe and we imagine their life, it is perfect, charming and like a story book. No problems exist in the lands far away and those who have moved there enjoy eating the country's delicious specialties every day, have a local pastry and (coffee/tea, local preference) every day at a sweet café on a cobblestone street and of course meet the local elderly who, with a twinkle in their eyes, give our expat friend the secret to a happy life... Part of what feeds this belief is when our friend posts pictures of how *perfect* their new foreign life is.
That being said, I have randomly grabbed (carefully selected) some totally random photos (only the best) that I've taken here in the past 8 whimsical months. I'll let you decide if you want to believe that these photos are a true representation of everyday life here. I never said it wasn't!
Go to costume parties! Can you guess what the theme was??
The theme was British. (It wasn't Halloween). Most of the Swedes dressed up similar to Christoffer, while I went all-out--like you're supposed to at a costume party--as Vicky Pollard.
Look at & take pictures of Göteborgs Hjulet. Maybe someday we'll be able to scrape together the cash to ride in it.
Enjoy Swedish wildlife just a 5-minute walk from home! These penguins are soo cute and the fastest swimmers I've ever seen!
Elk? Moose? Reindeer? Something Nordic that doesn't add an "s" to make it plural...
Fireworks for Liseberg (amusement park and magical world), closing night of the Summer season!
If they were pancakes could I have achieved this with them?
Dinner Dessert
PS. The black oil-looking substance was my first balsamic vinegar glaze, ok? It was delicious.
That being said, I have randomly grabbed (carefully selected) some totally random photos (only the best) that I've taken here in the past 8 whimsical months. I'll let you decide if you want to believe that these photos are a true representation of everyday life here. I never said it wasn't!
Summer
Let's start off with Björn, the cutest kitten in the North. Actually, all cats in Sweden are this adorable, duh!
Midsummer!
Can you spot the foreigner?
A teeny tiny square
If the whole world treated their mailboxes this way...
One of us is tired after lots of dancing around the may pole.
When volunteering for the Swimming competition, they housed me in my own cottage in the middle of the forest (sort of)... So I walked 20 minutes through this every morning for 2 weeks.
Kent, a big Swedish band, was doing an outdoor concert in town (on the other side of this canal). We happened to be walking by before it would start. Naturally we sat by the water listening to the whole concert!
Then one day we took a visit to Brännö, one of the car-less residential islands in Gothenburg's archipelago.
Took forever to find this, Café Husfik. No employees to be seen.
But there was a cat shaved like a lion!
The ferry ride home...
That reminds me, did I mention I take a boat to school every day? Just 5 minutes across a canal, nothing like these pictures. But I'll have to get a picture of that too when the weather improves!
Fall
In the fall you have to find other things to do like...
Visit an aquarium!
Go to an amateur race!
Fall
In the fall you have to find other things to do like...
Visit an aquarium!
Go to an amateur race!
Go to costume parties! Can you guess what the theme was??
Look at & take pictures of Göteborgs Hjulet. Maybe someday we'll be able to scrape together the cash to ride in it.
Enjoy Swedish wildlife just a 5-minute walk from home! These penguins are soo cute and the fastest swimmers I've ever seen!
Elk? Moose? Reindeer? Something Nordic that doesn't add an "s" to make it plural...
Fireworks for Liseberg (amusement park and magical world), closing night of the Summer season!
The professional, making "pancakes" or what I would call more like crepes.
If they were pancakes could I have achieved this with them?
Dinner Dessert
PS. The black oil-looking substance was my first balsamic vinegar glaze, ok? It was delicious.
View of something famous on the Göta Canal and view from the apartment.
I am not much of a sea-farer so I don't completely understand what that Eriksberg thing is.
Winter
The Haga Christmas Market with a parade.
Adorable little kids figure skating at a park for the public.
Speaking of being a creep taking pictures of kids I don't know, here's a Swedish Lucia celebration on Dec. 13 from the Italian St. Lucia. The kids sing and one girl gets crowned Lucia with a wreath and candles and the boys are "stars"or something like that... I hope I got all that right!
Thanks for the warning!
I got stuck in the snow
My busstop got stuck in the snow
A traditional Swedish pastry called a Semla that they eat in Jan-Feb but there is one special day in February I think you're supposed to eat it. I had one on my birthday.
Spotlight on Christoffer tearing it up on the ice rink.
Me tearing up my muscles on the ice rink (and practicing weaving through those cones)
Christoffer turned the unsuspecting me Swedish.
I am not much of a sea-farer so I don't completely understand what that Eriksberg thing is.
Winter
Adorable little kids figure skating at a park for the public.
Speaking of being a creep taking pictures of kids I don't know, here's a Swedish Lucia celebration on Dec. 13 from the Italian St. Lucia. The kids sing and one girl gets crowned Lucia with a wreath and candles and the boys are "stars"or something like that... I hope I got all that right!
Yes, I do feel the need to post a picture of my Advent calendar. I love these!
Winter Wonderland - first view of Sweden when I got back after Christmas.
Thanks for the warning!
I got stuck in the snow
My busstop got stuck in the snow
A traditional Swedish pastry called a Semla that they eat in Jan-Feb but there is one special day in February I think you're supposed to eat it. I had one on my birthday.
Spotlight on Christoffer tearing it up on the ice rink.
Me tearing up my muscles on the ice rink (and practicing weaving through those cones)
Christoffer turned the unsuspecting me Swedish.
And there you have it! My perfect, charmed European life. I will share pictures of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's some other time.
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