Trick or treat?

Halloween is a big deal in the US. And a HUGE deal if your 4. The excitement of deciding what to dress up as. The excitement of getting to walk around outside after dark, daring each other to walk up to houses scarily decorated and trick or treat.

I spent the evening walking around a neighborhood with a pirate, a clown, two Snow Whites, one Belle, a fireman, and numerous number of undefined princesses. The streets packed with kids and parents. If Americans always say hello when you meet them on the street, on Halloween you are almost one big family. Everyone happily chatting away with each other while watching your kids trick or treat safely on the streets.

And then, over night, the Candy Stealing Witch came and took 90% of the collected candy away... there is only so much you want your kid to eat unless you want to collect them from the ceiling, high on sugar...

San What??

The Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet just published a notice on the Californian earthquake. They got it almost right...

Maybe they've been to focused on the forest fires that they confused San José with San Diego...

Earthquakes and fires

We just had an earthquake in Northern California. 5,6 on the Richter scale. "Moderate" according to the report system (but pretty significant for those on top of it). 146 km from where I live. I wouldn't have known had not a friend from Palo Alto called me and told me about it (she spent it with her daughter under a door frame).

Even though California is "earthquake land", forest fires are really a more common problem in this state. The areas of the SoCal of the forest fires were (and are) HUGE. And amazingly enough, earthquakes are actually pretty local. Just the smoke from the forest fires can effect thousands of people in areas where you wouldn't even have felt an earthquake in the other end of the area.

In the end, I'm not sure I prefer one or the other... they're pretty nasty reminders of Mother Earth's unpredictably mood...

Read more about the earthquake on fellow Swedish-Californian alien blogs: Monica, Lotta (in English) and Minten. Who all by the way had updated their blogs long before the papers wrote about it!

The San Diego fires on Google Maps. One of the two major ones would completely cover all of Stockholm. Just to give you an idea of the size...

Rain!

For a long time tonight I thought a neighbor had a motorcycle running on the street. Then I noticed it was getting darker quicker than the sun sets. And finally I realized that it actually was a thunderstorm approaching. A thunderstorm with rain! Yihaaa! The first one since, since, since... I can't even remember?? March? April??

It lasted for about an hour (and the unused and somewhat distracted Daughter seemed skeptical when we tried to explain it by "Uncle Storm playing drums", not easy being a 4-year old when it can be 6 months between rainstorms and you forget all about the sound of heavy rain against the window and the sound of thunder).

When it was over I took a walk to the mail box just for the smell. It smelled... hm... dusty... like all that dust from the summer heat was floating around...

I was hoping more for... "clear, green, fresh smell".

Oh, well, you can't have all. Good thing it wasn't Wednesday, a lot of kids (and some adults) would have been really disappointed since the storm passed over exactly during the best "trick or treat" time...

Swedish winter time

Ok, so Sweden now has "winter time" (daylight savings is "off"). But the US won't switch until next Sunday. So for one week the time difference between Sweden and California is... (and I just hate doing these calculations) ...10 hours and not 9. No. Wait. Sigh. Wrong again. 8 hours.

So instead of being 5 pm in Sweden at 8 am here, it (or "she" as we say in Sweden, the clock being a female) is 4 pm.

I do NOT like daylight savings. Especially when Europe and the US is out of sync...

Saving people all day

I have spent all day (8 am to 5 pm) learning about pediatric first aid and CPR (as I've written about before). It was a long, but pretty interesting day. The teacher was an experienced EMT (Emergency Response Technician) with lots of (horrible) stories to tell.

So now I've done ABC on mannequin adults and plastic babies, helped choking adults and infants. I'm now a certified something (CPRist??). At least for two years, then my certification expires...

I'm really glad I took this class. The rest of the students hated me. They mostly were there to renew their 2-year certifications and had done this numerous times before. And I kept on raising my hand asking questions on how to handle burns and what really happens when the EMS arrives (Emergency Response Service) and so on.

Oh, well. I hope I never have a reason to practice what I learned but I sure feel more ready! Hopefully no one will choke in my kitchen! (considering the amount of cooking I do, that risk was pretty low in the first place...).

Mount Shasta from the air

Here is an attempt to catch California from the air, coming from the east. Far, far away, in the middle of the picture (click on it to see a larger picture) you can see Mount Shasta (where fellow alien blogger Anne-Marie lives) (not ON the mountain, but next too it).

The lake is not Lake Tahoe, but Pyramid Lake, north east of Reno. The lake is actually in Nevada, the border to California a bit west of the lake.

Jetlag

"Jet lag, (also jetlag or jet-lag), is a physiological condition which is a consequence of alterations to the circadian rhythm".

It's always feels good with a proper definition.

Ok, so this westbound jetlag has been more trickier than usual. Despite two 10 hour nights since my return to California, I feel totally exhausted and unfocused (could be the sudden lack of "smågodis*"...).

According to Wikipedia, females are more susceptible to jet lag than are males, part because estrogen is often vulnerable to jet lag-like conditions. Could I use that as an argument to travel more comfortably in business in the future?

(* the greatest candy in the world)

Confused

Sometimes I wonder if slower means of transportation would be better... If the trip between Sweden and California would actually take longer time. That way the body, soul and brain would have more time to adjust to the movement and keep up.

Today my body thought it needed Swedish fall clothing (it was +28 here today), my soul was still walking the streets of Stockholm and my brain was more or less asleep all day.

(but once the jetlag days are over, I usually will vote for more research grants for development of beam machines for Sweden-California travel. Or at least a Concord).

Scary fires

I returned home to a state on fire. Huge, scary fires are roaming in Southern California (which still is pretty far from here... about 6-8 hours in the car). Half a million people evacuated... This is of course the major news story - occupying all news programs. Fires really are a huge problem in California, a bigger problem than earthquakes (as long as the Big One keeps away).

The Husband compared acres and maps and if you take the largest area on fire in California, translated to the Stockholm area, it would be an area stretching from Arlanda in the north to Södertörn in the south and Eskilstuna to the west...

Even the forest fires are bigger in America...

Home sweet home!

I'm back home after a long, but pretty uneventful trip. No farting neighbors, but a non-working flight system (mine was the only one not working...).

I really know this trip by heart, could probably do the connection at O'Hare blindfolded... Now I'm sticking around home in California, but I'll do one more visit to Sweden before Christmas.

Time to go home

My 10 days in Sweden are almost up. The bags are packed, all my electronic gadgets charged. I'm actually somewhat looking forward to sitting on that plane tomorrow (the first one... the second one I hate...). As usual it's been intense days. I'm leaving at 7 am tomorrow morning, and nothing unforeseen happens I'm arriving at 3.30 am at home in California.

It's going to be a long Tuesday.

Kantareller

Chantarelles at the "Haymarket" (Hötorget) in downtown Stockholm. Not sure if they're really Swedish however... according to my inside source (my mom...) there are hardly any mushrooms this year. No matter its origin - it is my favorite mushroom however...

Swedish pizza night

My host served "Swedish" pizza for dinner (even though pizza is claimed to be "Italian" here). Compared to the Californian ones, they are really, really thin and have probably 1/4 of the cheese.

I can't even remember the last time I had one. I choose my "regular" - Capricciosa (ham and mushrooms). Not bad at all!

Catching an afternoon movie

I used to work close to Hötorget and one of the biggest (the biggest?) movie theater in downtown Stockholm, Sergel. Often on my way home, I used to sneak in a see a movie, not caring about the lack of company, just enjoying the movie.

This afternoon my dinner host delayed the start of the planned dinner, and when I got the text message I happened to be standing on Hötorget. So I decided to see if I could catch a Swedish movie. The movie "Underbar och älskad av alla" (the only Swedish movie in this cinema) had started 10 minutes earlier, but you could still get a ticket.

So that is how I spent the afternoon!

(The movie was a "chic flick", occasional funny, a great Sunday afternoon movie, lots of views from Stockholm - nice!) (and the male star was... pretty handsome).

Colorful houses

Blue, yellow, red. Colors of houses you rarely see in California.. This picture is taken from the neck of woods I grew up in (my house was yellow but it's not the one in the picture). I never thought about house colors much, but after all these years in California and in an area with "Spanish" houses in "earth" colors, I think I really, really like colorful houses.

The new KappAhl commercial

Remember I wrote about on Richard Gere's participation in the Swedish apparel store KappAhls commercials? Well, it's here. I just saw it on TV...

The Woodland Cemetery

I grew up next to the Woodland Cemetery, a beautiful and fantastic place just south of downtown. It was built in 1917 and the architects used the natural landscape as a frame and a stone wall surrounds the cemetery. It's so big you can get lost.

Today I took the subway to Skogskyrkogården and took a walk through it, placing a fall wreath on my grandmother's grave. The sky was almost clear, the air thin and cold the leave trees in beautiful fall colors, framed by the green pine trees.

If you live in Stockholm and have never been here or are a visitor in Stockholm, this sure is worth a visit. It's like a hidden treasure! It's amazing during the All Saints holiday (as I wrote about last year).

More fish

I had my Friday dinner at the nice restaurant Pontus by the Sea, celebrating a birthday. The restaurant is located in one of the most beautiful spots in Stockholm, in the Old Town, by the sea, with a view over the water. And the food is delicious!

Thyme grilled saithe with brandade, onions and veal gravy

(Timjanstek sej med brandade, smålök och kalvsky)

Movie night

I wanted to go to the movies when in Sweden. In the end we ended up watching a French movie, the movie adaptation of Anna Galvada's "Hunting and gathering" ("Tillsammans är man mera ensam"). It is a very special book and I really wanted to see the movie and it would have been too complicated to see it in the US - with English subtitles... two languages are enough when seeing a movie...

The first half of the movie I was sort of disappointed - even though it was fantastic to listen to French (something seldom heard in California...), but the movie grew on you in the end. The books is still much better, but they did as best they could I think.

And instead of popcorn we ate Swedish "smågodis"...

The daily lunch

Lunch habits in Stockholm: at noon sharp everyone heads out from their offices to a restaurant that serves the "daily lunch" (dagens lunch). You usually eat a main, hot, meal with bread and salad on the side and drink mineral water or "light" (as in low alcholhol level) beer. The lunch menu changes everyday and every week.

At 1.30 pm, the restaurants are deserted...

Stockholm by dusk

I walked from Old Town to "downtown" and took some picture of the nice (but freezing cold!) fall dusk in Stockholm. Tricky without an tripod, but with the use of trashcans and statues some of the pictures turned out ok. Enjoy!

Saltsjön and Stadsgårn

National Museum and old steamer

National Museum and Skeppsholmen

People boarding old steamer for dinner in the archipelago

Royal Castle in Old Town

9 am in Stockholm

Public transportation from one island to the other.

Morning traffic with great view (and don't miss the bird!).

Delicious dinner...

I had dinner at Den Gyldene Freden, the oldest restaurant in Stockholm (founded in 1722!). Not the best picture, but it was amazingly delicious... fantastic*!

Artic char, chantarelles, almond potatoes, smoked milk.

Lågtempererad röding med kantareller, mandelpotatipuré, laxrom och rökt mjölk.

(* as it should be for SEK 275...).

Stockholm by water

Done shopping

On my way home I passed by GinaTricot's new store on Götgatan at Södermalm in Stocktholm. I have only seen commercials for GinaTricot in the Swedish magazines sent to me, but never actually seen the clothes, so I decided to take a quick look. After all, I do need clothes and my last attempt on Sunday didn't give much result.

I came out with two bags of clothes (and soaking in sweat.. they have some serious ventilation problems).

Check.

Stockholm by morning

Slussen, Skeppsbron, Saltsjön. 8.42 am this morning.

Happy Birthday!

A reason to have a glass of champagne?! The Swedish Alien blog turns 1 year today! Hurrah! 572 posts.

It's been a fun year - I like writing my small observations, it's become part of my day, and it seems some of you out there like them too! Thank you for reading, thank you for commenting! One year later I have found new friends, some close by, some in other parts of the US, some in Sweden and some online. I've found new blogs that I read frequently that makes my days more fun - laughing and learning!

Thanks for reading! Cheers!

Observations from Sweden #4

24 hours in Sweden. A few observations:

- I know more about the state of NHL hockey after watching the morning program than I have ever known all fall in the US.

- The difference between a full local bus in Stockholm and a full domestic airplane in the US is... hm... huge. Where did the smiling, nice Stockholmers from this sunny summer go? Did they all emigrated or were they just tourists?

- Or maybe they just were watching the Swedish "morning TV" this morning - which seems to take it as their goal to make sure all Swedes fell the burden of news before breakfast (while eating my "hönökaka" with "leverpastej" this morning I learned about the bad housing of foreign workers in Sweden this summer, seriously discussed at 6.30 am by a bunch of experts (had they even had breakfast yet). Followed by the weather report.

- You have to "rent" your shopping cart (using coins) at the grocery store (they seem to think I'm about to steal it otherwise) (why would I - where would I take it??). No coins = no shopping cart = ... no shopping...

- Stockholm is always beautiful - despite clouds and rain!

- Public transportation is amazing! You can go almost anywhere! (never mind the three full buses that just passed my this morning...).

Note to self

Note to self: before coming to Stockholm next time - lose 10 kg and fit into size 40 or less. Or else you will not find clothes.

I spent 1,5 hours this afternoon (the time I had before the stores closed at 5 pm!!) to find a few "office" outfits. I came home with nothing.

Nada.

The only sizes in all the stores were XS, S, M and an occasional L. No XL what so ever.

Have I grown or has the Swedes shrunk or was it just bad luck??

Oh, well. The Son now has a new Bamse-sweater and the Daughter now has a new Pippi-sweater. Good for them.

Finally in Stockholm

After a pretty quick trip (I didn't even have time to sleep...) I arrived in a rainy Stockholm. I had almost seen all the movies on the inflight entertainment system - how ever that is possible considering the rate of movies I see these days. I read books and newspapers instead. Oh, how great to read a paper version of DN! I even read the sports section!

The older man next to me farted the whole trip. Gosh!

I really wonder what the airport staff opening the doors to the airplane upon arrival thinks about the air quality inside the plane...

I managed to get downtown in record time due to early Sunday morning traffic and a complete racer driver.

Went straight to bed for a couple of hours to minimize jetlag and then up and went outdoors for fresh air and daylight and had a light evening meal. Tha's my trick for jetlag - works every time!
It is raining in Stockholm, but when you haven't seen rain in a couple of months it's kind of cozy...

The last one

So I was the last one on the plane. Now I hate some 9 hours of the inflight entertainment ahead of me. Then I'm in Stockholm!

Security again

Ok, is everyone traveling today?? This security line at terminal 5 is going to take forever. I'm not going to have many minutes to spare... In the meantime I can admire the Swedish flag...

In Chicago!

A pretty uneventful trip. Saw a movie and listened to music. Now I want food before next security at terminal 5. Two hours until the SAS flight to Stockholm.

On the plane

Looks as if we're going to be on time. Boarding is almost completed almost 20 minutes before departure time. Now I have + four hours to Chicago...

Security lines

Sun is up and I'm at the airport with an hour to spare. I'm going to spend it in the security line. It is loooong this morning, despite being Saturday. Oh well, it's not as if I have somewhere else to be. While writing this on my cell I've moved about 25 meters. This is really the worst part of flying. I know I have to remove my sweater, which I hate. What do they think I'm hiding? A sword? In plastics? Too bad this part of the airport does not have a Premiere line for security, then this would be over quickly...

Foggy...

Almost seven. I'm in the car on my way to the airport. It's really, really foggy. Almost like driving in milk. The Husband thinks we're late. I think we're fine. I still going to spend an hour at the airport...

Packing my bags

At 8 pm, I had not packed a thing, not even got the suitcases from the garage. This is pretty unlike me, considering I'm going away for 10 days tomorrow. But it's been a busy week - and actually - it doesn't feel like such a big deal, these short, intense trips to Sweden. Without the family mind you, would I be bringing the kids, I would have started packing two weeks ago...

I'm actually hoping to get some shopping done on Sunday afternoon in Stockholm. I have just realized that my closet wasn't really that packed with office clothes suitable for the fall season... Working from home in California sure limits the range of office clothes...

And since it came reports on snow flakes in Stockholm, I might need to upgrade to warm clothes...

I'll probably update from my cell during my trip. Or "see you" in Sweden!

Pumpkin Patch

Today we picked up a couple of pumpkins at a local pumpkin patch. It's a great little place, cute and very neat displaces of all the pumpkins. We got five loaded to the car.

I brought my camera - here are a few pictures:

A citizen in the family

The Son is now officially a Swede like the rest of the Sweden (he has only been American so far). He got his Swedish "social security" today, the key to EVERYTHING in Sweden. Swedish "social security" numbers is a combination of your birth date and four "extra" number in the end.

Hopefully this also means that his Swedish passport might be on it's way any month now.

The number combination looks a bit weird - Swedes born abroad gets sort of a "fake" Swedish "social security". Once you move back to Sweden you can claim your "real" number...

Right now it looks as if the son was born on the 65th of July.

Swedish TV night

Acting on a tip from Veronika, I decided to watch the new Swedish television comedy drama "Gynekologen i Askim*" online tonight.

Oh, how I love these Swedish drama series... maybe more so when living here because I see program like this so rarely these days. People who are... normal people. The series made me laugh a lot and feel... content - just listening to Swedish and watch this "slow paced" drama.

And let me tell you this... "Gynekologen i Askim" will never, ever, never be shown on American television...

*The OB/GYN Dr in Askim (a small Swedish city).


(Picture from SVT).

I love trains!

I used to "interrail" in Europe as a teenager. Not a really advanced "interrailer", I always had a specific goal, but moved around Europe by train. The longest trip Stockholm-Malaga (remember M?). Those were the days... I like going by train - you see a lot and your soul has time to follow.

I just read an article reminding me about my American train experiences. I have taken the train from Chicago to Washington DC. But the longest trip I've taken in the US is from Chicago to Phoenix, through Dallas (where I stayed for a couple of days). From Phoenix I took a bus to Flagstaff, where we rented a car and drove up to Grand Canyon. Then we took the train back from Flagstaff to Chicago. That 's a looong trip.

Well, actually, the distance (the "track distance" between Chicago-Dallas-Phoenix is actually almost the distance between Stockholm and Malaga.

It sure was a great adventure! Too bad it was way before the age of the digital camera... I hardly have any pictures from that long trip.

If you have the time and are adventurous, this sure is a fun way to go around the US. The train system is not as advanced as the European (where you can go almost anywhere by train), but you can see some great things from an Amtrak train! You just have to be prepared to sit on the same time for very, very long time.


(Picture from Amtrak.com)

Goody bags and thank you cards

I've spent the weekend preparing, organizing, implementing and cleaning up a birthday party. It actually was great fun, even though it is pretty intense... and we even kept it really, really small. The Daughter is happy and we're happy it's going to be another year until the next one...

Of course we had the traditional Swedish "fish in the pond" - which the Daughter's American friends think is great fun. That's how they get the "goody bags" in our house. The "goody bag" is a must - and here the kids usually get small stuff besides some candy. Usually when they leave the party.

Now the only thing left is writing the thank-you notes. This is a great tradition - sending out thank you cards to your attendees, with a personal note on how you appreciated that person's gift. This means that at a kid's birthday party, you have to have someone assigned to keep track of birthday cards and greetings among all the hysteria when the kids are opening the gifts (another reason to keep a party small...). But it's really nice to get the thank you card and it's fun to sum up the party writing them.

(Since I have never have kids in Sweden, I don't know the habits of Swedish birthday parties. Do you send thank you notes after the party?)

Love lines

I've spent the evening getting things for tomorrow's birthday party for the Daughter. I'm late, but it's been a busy week (WHAT would I do if the stores didn't close at 9 or later...??).

Anyway, "Spanarna" from the Swedish radio has been keeping me company, making me move around the aisles, giggling, catching up on the last couple of weeks' shows.

Despite it being Friday night, I wasn't alone and I ended up standing in line (even if short) in almost all stores I visited. I really like standing in line in the US, compared Sweden. People are talking, are friendly - and - when a new check-out opens up, it's always the one next in line that goes to go first - NOT the one in the back of the line, pushing forward, like in Sweden... The visits always ends with a "Have a nice day!" and actually, most of the time I really think they mean it!

On my miss list

The Husband came home and talked about the sandwiches they had eaten at the evening meeting they had tonight. That made me suddenly miss Swedish lunch sandwiches which in turn made me miss the salads I used to eat for lunch when working in downtown Stockholm.

I used to walk down to Panini at Kungshallen and order a prosciutti and mozzarella salad with pasta... mm... add Ramlösa to drink. If the weather was good, we sometimes ate it on the stairs below Konserthuset, watching the market and the people, trying to get some heat from the sun...

The Day of the Cinnamon Bun

Today was the Day of the Cinnamon Bun. In Sweden. But we decided that since Sweden and California is the same shape (or something), it was the Day of the Cinnamon Bun here too.

But since I was too busy (or lazy...?) to make them all from scratch, we used the tube-dough... Open the tube and hepp! 8 cinnamon buns ready to go (it's actually a bit weird and magic at the same time...).

Not with "pärlsocker" unfortunately. But with the ever present frosting. But at least the house smelled of freshly baked cinnamon buns! The other Swedes at our little "Swedish school" this late afternoon were mighty impressed (I think). They know how the effort you need to put in to make these buns...

I just couldn't lie, even though I was tempted (and with my lack of kitchen skills, my cooking image sure cold need a boost). So I told them Pillsbury had helped us...

The greatest weather!

Right now we have prefect weather! Cool nights - meaning windows can be open (yes!), AC turned off, the house is nice and cool when waking up. Warm days - "lagom" - you can be in the sun and don't have to run between spots of shadows and the car is pretty quiet without the AC turned on...

I hope this last for weeks!

Now there really isn't any excuses for not going out power walking!

Reading (some) news online

I read the paper every day. The old fashioned local paper newspaper. After that I read the news online. Some days I read more, some days less. I read both CNN as well as the Swedish major newspapers online. Reading the Swedish news keeps me updated. Sort of.

Because sometimes it's hard to get a good grasp on some new stories if you were not there... seeing it on the news, talking about it with friends and family (not with people on the bus, we're talking Swedish people here...). Sometimes news stories grow without you not realized the magnitude of a story - it was just one headline of several when checking the news online from here.

The last couple of days' major news story in Sweden is about Carnegie, a financial institution in Sweden. They have obviously done something bad, which had some connection to the government. When I'm reading the top stories today I realize that I have absolutely no idea about what's going on... When trying to update myself, I realized that this is a story that has been going on since this spring... For months. Reading news online sure can be subjectively selective...

Oh, well. After all, I do live 8506 km away...

Cheese lovers

I'm a cheese lover. And thanks to the latest in health management, cheese is not as bad as it used to be. It's actually kind of healthy!

In Sweden we eat a lot of cheese, 17 kg per person and year (giving us a 4th place in the European cheese ranking according to Ostfrämjandet) (The Americans consume 14,2 kg per person and year). 80% of the Swedish cheese consumption is hard cheeses.

Meaning our cheese slicers (osthyvel) sure come in handy (which by the way is not a Swedish invention, but a Norwegian...).

We're always out hunting for local cheeses that can be sliced (we have five cheese slicers in the kitchen) and taste ok. We've found one Swiss at Safeway and a Jarlsberg at Costco. But that's about it. My favorite Swedish cheeses is Herrgård. And Grevé. And Prästost. And... we'll pretty much all of them.

Considering our love for cheese, we still can't really get how we have managed to get kids who hate hard cheese... Here we pack delicious Swedish hard cheeses all the way from Sweden and serve on special occasions, and the only cheese the Daughter wants is American cheese... the square, orange cheese that comes in single containers and taste like... hm.. plastics? She calls it "MacN'Cheese" cheese...

(pictures from Wikipedia.se and Kraft Foods).

The New Sweden

I just read an interesting article on the work on "the brand Sweden". It is always so funny to read about these brand platforms, especially when you're a living platform as an alien... talking about Sweden abroad on a daily basis, without help of any brand guidelines...

Sweden should now be characterized as: New thinking. Openness. Carefulness. Truthfulness.* (Freely translated - not really sure exact how to translate and funny enough, I can't find any translations on the brand work on any of the related websites... will the international brand be communicated in Swedish??).

Anyway, this called "The picture of Sweden 2.0". And it states that Sweden is not "Landet Lagom" (the land of the 'middle way'), but a new thinking, open and with values that breaks traditional patters.

So now you know - all fellow Swedish aliens and Swedish bloggers out there in the wide world. Start implementing on you blogs and when people ask you about Switzerland!

* In Swedish: Nytänkande. Öppenhet. Omtänksamhet. Äkthet.)

(Picture from Sweden.se)