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?

Omi's decor

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 :)

 Featuring...  really good meat (forgot), mashed potatoes & gravy, bacon-wrapped green beans, carrots and broccoli. I documented a lot of her cooking during my stay.

This wasn't any special dinner. I repeat, just another normal dinner in my Grandma's house :)

 Featuring... her to-die-for beef wellington, some awesome thick pasta with a delicious sauce, roasted fennel, pears, parmesan and last but not least, some fancy dancy cheese sprinkled with pepper.

 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..

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?

........
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........
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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.

Discoveries

 Lately I've learned a few things!

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:

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!

"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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

"New" Title Photo in Celebration of a "New" Residence Permit

I know what you're thinking, I'm such a friggin' copy cat!! But I took a picture and edited it to be quite similar to the really awesome one I swiped somewhere online. (A reminder of the old, stolen pic). At least now this work of art is one of "my own." I feel soo uncreative for this. At least my version has a wintry touch and communicates the atmosphere of the whole city these days!

This blog is coming back to life! I found my camera's card reader (in my sock drawer) a couple months ago and tried many times with no results to upload an awesome video from Christmas. Coming up are some long-overdue photos about what the heck I'm up to!

FINALLY!
OH and it's not a big deal or anything, but after 8 months consisting of.... 1 case worker who had 8 weeks summer vacation, another case worker who, I recently found out she'll be back at work on July 7, my THIRD (or maybe millionth) case worker dusted off my case when I called him during the *1* hour a week he has "phone hours" (he also doesn't even have voicemail). He told me there was no reason I wouldn't get a living permit, it was just a matter of approving it (aka putting a stamp in ink and stamping??). He'd do it for me the following week since 8 months was quite ridiculous especially for an obviously-allowed-to-live-here-no-matter-what case. Then he was sick. Of course I couldn't reach him nor another human being that works at that office (when there are "too many" people calling, aka always, the customer service just tells you to call back another time, no queue option). So I guessed on the spelling of his name, sent an e-mail to 2 spelling variations of first.last@ridiculousgovernmententity.se, and within a couple hours got a response!  Ridiculous that these people are so hard to get a hold of unless you take stalker measures. (For the record, this guy was nice, competent, and helpful, unlike 80% of employees I have managed to encounter who work at this organization).

LONG (and WHINY) story short, I was approved yesterday to live here until 2013 if I want to. Whooop Whooop!!! I can do so many things now. For one, apply for some $$ reward for learning Swedish. Let the fun begin!

Here's another nice video of Göteborg! It's an ad for the energy company here and a musician from here (Timo Räisänen) singing sort of a love song to the city. The song's title Aldrig Långt Bort means "Never far away." He's saying "Even if I leave you now.... I'm never far away from you, Göteborg." Isn't that so sweet?



So, at 0:25 that is one of the streets right by my apartment, and the dome in the background is the Museum of Natural History that is nearby. (Sounds a LOT cooler than it actually is, trust me!) Next shot is of the boat going across the canal that I take to school though not a very good view and in a different part of the canal. View after that of all the trees is at the square not far from my apartment.

Ah, I just found another good video if you are REALLY interested in seeing footage of where I live.



At 0:20 (also the view before you press play) is the view from Christoffer's office in the Lipstick Building. PS Apparently this video was someone's school project.

LOTS of pictures coming up in the next post!!