REA, REA! Book Sale Day!

Today is Tuesday, February 26th. It is book sale day in Sweden!! REA!--Sale! the signs say. The bookstores have been advertising their books on sale for a couple of weeks now. They pretty much are selling the same books due to a monopoly. I did go to a local store in Kungsbacka and was disappointed in their selection of books for myself--I'm not interested in English language books on Elvis, motorcycles, or parents who killed their children. (like, would anyone really buy that last one? Creepy!). I did find several fiction books at the Kungsmässan Mall, mostly by English authors which you find a lot here. All stores sold the Stora Bok om Kök which is a compilation of recipes by the largest grocery store in Sweden. The prices varied between 99 to 149 kronor. Luckily, I paid the lesser price which equates to about $16.00-$24.00 vs. over $60.00 after the sales. I of course bought several children's books too. There is big hype about the annual sale because they have reduced the price of most book by about 50% or more! For me, when buying English language books which are very expensive, that is a bonus!

The picture today is of the sunset taken some steps from our little cabin. It has been misty and windy today so nice to see some pink sky!

More later,
Carrie

Happy Anniversary!

February 24, 2008
Today Mattias and I are celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary! Actually, we are celebrating our Justice of the Peace wedding which happened with my sister Kris and brother in law, Elliott as witnesses at the Dakota County courthouse in Hastings, MN++ months before our formal ceremony in Gotland, Sweden in 1999! Happy Anniversary to us!
More later,
Carrie

P.S. Mattias also has the good fortune of celebrating his name day. February 24th of each year in Sweden has names Mattias and Mats on the calendar to celebrate. We forgot about coffee in bed this morning for the special guy!

Pictures Finally!

 

 

 

 

Saturday

We prepared the morning for Liv's school friends to come for lunch and play. I baked a banana bread with chocolate chips and then made pizza dough for our pizza lunch. The girls came over, sisters originally from Australia. Liv and Hanna were so excited to show them our digs and to speak English with playmates. The girls played with ponies, Barbies, build a fort outside, watered and watched a film before the end of the day.
I had a headache for most of the day and then took my prescription meds to see if that would alleviate it after 3 p.m.. It kind of did but I felt funny anyway. You see, Mattias and I, when were were on the boat, consumed much wine-- red wine in particular along with salty snacks galore! We decided that when we moved to Sweden, we would eliminate buying both wine and snacks. Not only to help the budget but for health sake. (never mind that a glass of red wine a day cuts cholesterol or whatever the latest finding is). And chip consumption only makes you want to eat more---empty calories. So, we have been here for over two months and I did give in and purchase one single liter of white wine a couple of weeks ago and then Mattias went and bought several bottles of red wine and a box of white last night. With our meal we finished one bottle of red last night, and hence, the headache today. Oh, and we also bought chips....So, the willpower held out until this weekend really which I think we have to congratulate ourselves on. Moral of the story, I'm really going to give up red wine again and see if that helps my headache situation!
I tried to take a little couch rest and had the girls playing house in the background. They were trying to spoon feed me pretend tomato soup which wasn't sounding too appetizing. Then they went on to play dog and owner! I closed my eyes for some minutes and felt better. Our family was invited to one of Mattias' old friend's house for dinner. He has 3 girls, two of which go to Liv's school. For the meal we had a delicious Raclette experience---the electric raclette platter where we cook the meat, and underneath are the little individual cups that you put veggies and cheese. put that under the heater lamp and melt the cheese. It is a very social meal. The girls loved it! They had fun playing with Mats and Carolina's girls too and were exhausted when we got home. We spent some time chatting with Jan and Britt Marie and then I Skyped my sister. It's closing in on 1:30 a.m. I best be going for the night.
More later,
Carrie

Friday

It's the end of the week. Yesterday at the Kungsbacka library was a celebration of alternative mother tongue languages to Swedish. Liv and I drove into the city after she finished fritids. We met her English teacher who is British but has lived in Sweden for many years. She has been the mother tongue teacher in Onsala for many years and is on her way to retiring but likes the group or the teaching I guess. She is a sharp looking lady and tried to fix us up for a playdate with some gals and their kids from England. One of the gals was friends with one of my new friends in Onsala and had heard about our family, newly arrived from America. A small world here in Sweden. We didn't get a playdate arranged despite the best efforts of the English teacher. A little too pushy but in a nice way! Liv had some artwork on exhibit at the library. The mother tongue classes encourage the student to continue learning the traditions of their home country or background. Liv had pictures of a cowboy and a map of the U.S. with Minnesota and Washington, D.C. We watched a dance performance of Thai students--one of which is the daughter of a gal in my SFI class. There was also a very flexible belly dancer, probably from Iran. Gee, if I could learn belly dancing, my mom tummy would disappear quickly!

I am feeling exhausted today and don't know why. Actually, I feel like I'm in a bit of a funk...would have been a great napping day, which is nice on a rainy day, and could well have taken one. It was my day off from school today and Hanna's as well. I had a good week at school and feel better prepared now that my teacher has provided me with a study plan. I have lots of work to do and look forward to it during the week, but not so much at nights or weekends!

The house was a bit of a disaster so I spent some time picking up and doing laundry. The space we are living in is very tiny so everything should be put away after it is taken out. That happens sometimes but clothes tend to get piled here and there. Liv had a good day at school today and got done at 12:30. She didn't have fritids today so was home earlier than normal. She is working on her book, "The bad haircut", or some title like that. It was something she started when we were on the boat. Hanna has been doing workbook things. We are making bread and waiting for the loaves to rise so we can get them into the oven.

Mattias and Liv washed one of the cars in the rain and wind. She came back in with a healthy glow to cheeks. Mattias now has gone on to get a haircut, stop at the Systembolaget-(liquor store) in Kungsbacka since that is the only one in the area--a 20 minute drive! Then he'll go to the grocery store for us.

Mattias' Dad and Britt Marie should be arriving back to the house after suppertime. We'll probably visit with them this evening. I best get to the bread now.

More later,
Carrie

It's Tuesday

The kids have just gone to sleep and I was able to leave them sleeping in our little house while I walked over to the "big house" to get this blog written and sent tonight. I don't have computer connection, or very good cell phone connection when I'm in the little house so the little things become a chore!
We spent a some nice Sportlov days at Elisabet's family home in Värmland. Elisabet's father lives in an expansive home built in 1822, (the carving near the fireplace says so). There was plenty of room for all of us to spread out, kids and all. We were able to get out and make a little sport and we spent one day downhill skiing with the kids. The mountain had made snow since there was only but a crust on the ground. It was my first time downhill skiing in Sweden and luckily, we brought our ski equipment with us this summer so we didn't have to bum out that those things were in storage!
Liv developed another ear infection and needed to be doctored on Saturday. She had a perforated eardrum so was feeling uncomfortable and had spent most of the night previous tossing and turning. On Sunday, the kids went sledding outside the house. The weather was springlike.
Back to school for all of us this week. Mattias is in Stockholm for two nights and had meetings in Uppsala today. He'll come home late tomorrow afternoon.
More students have been added to my SFI class. There are now 9 different languages that we all speak with one unified language of Swedish that we are learning to speak. Our class is gelling and it is a nice day to spend away from home learning. The SFI courses have most recently gotten some bad press in Sweden. That was on the news last night and was a bit of a bummer for our teacher who is probably my age, and has been teaching Swedish as second language for over 20 years! Our class has mostly "love immigrants" we figured and the area of Sweden that we live in, the Kungsbacka kommune, has not taken many, if any refugees, but will step up to the plate and do so very soon. Some from Iraq will be arriving and the teachers are scrambling, wondering how they will do it as the classes are already so full. Job security for some I guess....
I took Liv to the doctor this afternoon and for a haircut today. The stylist man put so much "product" in her hair she was beginning to look like a junior miss pageant contestant. It was pretty crispy afterward and Liv and I had a good laugh! I realized that I know a lot of Swedish, but it takes what seems like forever to get a point across. Mattias had warned me that I needed to leave the doctor's office with a referral for ear specialist. Even though the doctor spoke English, I still walked away with not the right paperwork! I don't understand the systems here... then I wanted to book a haircut appt. for Hanna and tried to explain to the man that she finished dagis at 3:30 and we'd arrive shortly after. Finally got my point across there using sign language and some creative use of words... It is exhausting sometimes but a challenge to keep plugging away at Swedish! Now I know why my girls are so tired and crabby at the end of the day!!
Mattias received word that we may be able to take ownership of our house in 2-3 weeks time! That is great news for us, and for Mattias Dad whose homes we occupy, and means we can get in and get to work on our new place. After some discussion and looking at floorplans, it looks like we will try to do some renovation before moving in after all. We are trying to secure the time of a carpenter to help us with moving some doors, adding some doors and removing and moving some closets. With a little snowball effect, that will mean we can remove some paper and repaper the walls before we paint. I have been to the paint store looking for a similar color to my beloved Benjamin Moore Linen White. The paint salesman said that 70's colors are the trend here now, along with bold wallpaper--white is coming on the trend again! White is coming?! I would like similar schemes to my old home--linen white on main walls and color in bedrooms etc. Will continue my search. I do enjoy the trends and like to see new ideas for inspiration anyway.
I will try again to get pictures posted tonight. Some of the ski trip, sledding and some delicious new cheese that I bought last week.
More later,
Carrie
Looks like the pictures aren't posting for some reason. I'll try again with that another day.

SportLov week

We've been plagued by colds, fever and unidentified stomach aches in our house. Hanna has missed the past three days of school and Mattias and I are still suffering from our cold. Liv seems to be okay and has been going to fritids during this week off which she's enjoyed. I guess we've picked up our share of new Swedish bugs since being here!
Today I met three other gals for coffee in Kungsbacka. It is nice to meet new people--Australian, Swedish another American, and to chat in English relating to our respective new home in Sweden. I should, however, give up the treats related to the coffees if I want to keep up the various meetings! After coffee I walked a couple of undiscovered blocks in Kungsbacka and found a toy store and a kid's clothing store, both of which I never knew existed. I was able to pick up a little something for the girl's Valentine's Day tomorrow at the toy store and a couple pair of pants for Liv. Seems like Hanna is moving into Liv's old size here....
Mattias, Hanna and I went to do a look and see our future home yesterday. We are still satisfied with our decision to buy Rolf's home and are getting ideas for renovation. Since it was built in 1966, many details remain the same but it could use some refreshing as in paint, new kitchen, bathrooms and other details. It sounds so much like a similar project that we embarked on in Minnesota--am I ready for another of the same?! Rolf's household goods and personal items are still in the house and the executor is getting them ready for dispersal. Until that happens we won't be moving in, but it should be within in the next couple of months. We probably won't go all out renovating until we've lived there anyway but it is fun to get ideas going. We are anxious to get our container of our own household goods and clothes back to us. Mattias has been going to his business meetings looking a little more casual than he'd like as all our clothes are in storage.
We leave tomorrow afternoon for Elisabet's family home in Varmland. It will be a good 4-5 hour drive before we are there so hopefully the girls will take a nice nap on the way.
More later,
Carrie

Busy week

It was an incredibly busy week with our household.
I started my Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) class in Kungsbacka on Monday. It goes Mon to Thurs until June. I was nervous about starting as the class began a couple of weeks ago but I seem to be right up to par with the rest. We have a really fun teacher and they use a Bulgarian teaching method. Bulgarian of all places! It is called Suggestopedi and we use music, rhythm, role playing etc. to learn the language. It is not just sitting behind a desk listening and reciting back to the teacher. One afternoon a week we have a writing class and two afternoons a week we do a self study with computers or other materials in the Study Stuga at the school. I am enjoying being in a class with people from all over the world. We have a few Americans; Australians; Thai; Chinese; Polish; Czech; Romanian; Iranian and a guy from the Middle East.
With my schooling, that takes me away from home for many hours in the week. I am not so used to having to be organized when I walk out of the house in the mornings!
Hanna started her dagis inskolning this week. She is getting right into the routine and we are not required to stay along with her all day after all as she trots off and is happy on her own. She has made friend with a couple of girls and will have a playdate planned soon.
Both Hanna and Liv spend many hours outside during the weeks and with that we are constantly looking for mittens; not so dirty jackets etc. I will have much laundry to do this weekend!
I was invited to attend a Parent Teacher Association meeting at Liv's school this week. With my limited Swedish I attended and got to hear about the issues at school and although it is a bit uncomfortable, I figure this is a good way for me to understand the system. I think the topics for discussion here are similar to home--bus safety; playground behaviour; speakers; and the lunch lady came to talk about nutrition. She said they were introducing more organic foods to the school menu including all dairy products, knackebrod (hard tack bread), breads and some veggies. A new friend invited me to attend and she helped to translate.
This morning was my day off from school. I did child drop off duty and Mattias is working on legal things for his job. I met up for coffee in Kungsbacka with two English speaking Moms-- one Australian and one Swedish who I met through a English speaking parent website. The Australian's girls are friends with Liv at school and the Swedish gal lived in the U.S. and Zurich before moving back home to Sweden.
There are several other mom's that use the same site and for some coincidental reason, there are four of us with kids at the same school and all the girls have the same English as First Language class together. It will be nice to get to know these gals.

Next week in this area of Sweden is called SportLov week. That is a week's vacation (held over a three week period in the entire country of Sweden) that is for families to make sports together. Many go to the mountains for skiing, some play indoor sports, other fly to exotic places and have vacation. Hanna will be at dagis for her Sportlov; Liv will not have school. We will travel to the Värmland region later next week and spend time with Jens, Elisabet, Linus and Johan at Elisabet's family home. There is snow there, unlike here, so that will be great fun for all kids.

I am actually in bed now suffering from an achy body as a result of a cold that just came on from my husband. I took a big gulp of NyQuil and think that will kick in soon so I can get into a nice slumber. It is a rainy miserable day out and good one for a nap anyway.

More later,
Carrie

Fettisdagen! A sweet holiday in Sweden

Todays is the National Semlor Day. Fettisdagen Day. The wiki article tells some fun stuff about the Semlor--that the average Swede eats 5 between Christmas and Easter.
I've eaten two so far. Hanna's dagis baked semlor and we had fika (take a cup of coffee) there today. Yummy!


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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For the Etruscan goddess, see Semla (mythology)

A typical semla.
A typical semla.

A semla is a traditional pastry in Finland, Sweden, Norway and Estonia, associated with Lent and especially Shrove Tuesday. The name derives from the Latin semilia, which was the name used for the finest quality wheat flour. In the southernmost part of Sweden, Skåne and by the Swedish speaking population in Finland, they are known as fastlagsbulle and in Denmark they are known as fastelavnsbolle (fastlagen and fastelavn being the equivalent of shrovetide), and in the rest of Finland as laskiaispulla. In Estonia it is known as vastlakukkel.

The oldest version of the semla was a plain bread bun, eaten in a bowl of warm milk. In Swedish this is known as hetvägg and originates from middle German hete Weggen (hot wedge) or heisse Wecken (hot buns) [1][2]. Today, the semla consists of a cardamom-spiced wheat bun which has its top cut off and insides scooped out and is then filled with a mix of the scooped-out bread crumbs, milk and almond paste, topped with whipped cream. The cut-off top is then put back as a lid and dusted with icing sugar. It is nowadays often eaten on its own, with coffee or similar, but there are still those who eat it in a bowl of hot milk. In Finland, the bun is sometimes filled with strawberry jam instead of almond paste, and bakeries in Finland usually offer both versions. (Many bakeries distinguish between the two by decorating the traditional bun with almonds on top where as the jam filled version only has powdered sugar on top).

The semla was originally eaten only on Shrove Tuesday, as the last festive food before Lent. However, with Protestantism the Swedes stopped observing Lent, and the semla in its bowl of warm milk became a traditional dessert every Tuesday between Shrove Tuesday and Easter. Today, semlas are available in shops and bakeries every day from shortly after Christmas until Easter. Each Swede consumes on average five bakery-produced semlas each year, in addition to all those that are homemade [3].

King Adolf Frederick of Sweden died of digestion problems on February 12, 1771 after consuming a meal consisting of lobster, caviar, sauerkraut, smoked herring and champagne, which was topped off by 14 servings of semla, served with bowls of hot milk. Semla was the king's favorite dessert.

This was the sweet chosen to represent Finland in the Café Europe initiative of the Austrian presidency of the European Union, on Europe Day 2006.
References

1. ^ Nordiska Museét: Fettisdagsbullen
2. ^ The special treat FASTLAGSBULLE
3. ^ Aftonbladet: Svenska folket laddar för fettisdagen

Sunday

Mattias and I had a quiet morning with the kids at Grandma Ingrid's overnight. We were planning to talk but instead realized that we were quiet over breakfast enjoying the peace and able to think without interruption! I cleaned up the little house then surfed the net a while reading about Super Tuesday and the plight of Britney Spears while Mattias helped his dad change the tires on his camper.
The kids soon arrived after lunchtime and Liv was shuttled off to a birthday party of her friend Felicia. Hanna and I met up with Elisabet, and cousins Linus and Johan for a little afternoon theater at a local school. Part of a cultural group getting theater out in the community so we attended the first in a series.
We got back home and both girls played while I cooked supper and updated our calendar. Then it was books and bed for the girls. Hanna starts her preschool orientation tomorrow which she is really looking forward to. I will start my Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) language class which is 17 hours a week until June. I have classes Monday-Thursday pretty much all day when you include lunch breaks. These weeks when Hanna has inskolning, Mattias will join her there. Liv will have her second English as mother tongue (Modersmål) class tomorrow afternoon which she enjoyed last week. Her teacher is an immigrant from England and the other girls are from England and Australia so if we're lucky, Liv will take on a British accent. HA!

More later,
Carrie

The Weekend!

A lazy Saturday catching up on sleep and play and bill paying (fun)! I intended on visiting a bookstore outlet in the city to see if they had English books for a song. I took a second look at the ad and saw they closed at 2 p.m. By the time we finished lunch and drove it would be too late. After I finish my library book, I will be ready to read more and like the convenience and choice of a purchased book...Instead, we took a late afternoon drive to Farmor (Mattias' mother) Ingrid's house in Göteborg for dinner. She visited India last year with friends and was inspired to make us a nice Indian meal of Chicken Masala, Basmati rice with turmeric for color, a lovely green salad with unusual greens. Hanna helped her to roll out the chapati's!. The girls stayed overnight and had a nice soak-play in the bathtub while Mattias and I were still there.
I am trying to upload a picture of the weekend treat, but the connection but not be working so will save that till tomorrow's addition!
To work off our treats and healthy eating, Mattias and I will take a huge walk tomorrow, Sunday, despite wind, rain, hail (as in today), or whatever nature gives us!
More later,
Carrie