Epic weekend!

I wanted to just document for your entertainment and information this particularly interesting weekend:

1. Friday night, I went to "humanities house" at the university, where they were holding a Slavic student disco.
2. I drank several beers, and ended up in a very intense conversation with an Italian guy named "Alfredo". He tried to teach me how to say "mozzarella" for like 10 minutes, which was very funny at the time. I told him I am a drummer (not really for any relevant reason) and he told me that was great, because their metal band is looking for a drummer. There band is called Porn Chemical Rocking. Porn because they like "the ladies", chemical because they are chemists, and rocking, obviously because they are rocking.
   
3. I also met a 33 year old bike mechanic from the Basque part of Spain who -would not- stop giggling. He showed me his bike through the window.
   
4. When I was waiting for the bathroom, the Russians kept saying "You are Russian? No? What are you?", but that was to everyone, not just to me.
   
5. I met the Spanish guy's friend Hannah who is a literature major so I asked her who her favorite author was. She said she didn't have one, so I got really excited and wrote down the names of all of the J. D. Salinger books I like and told her to read them. She asked me if they were translated into Swedish, but I'm not so sure.
   
6. Spanish guy was standing there, and apparently he was sad because I didn't recommend him a book, so he asked me to recommend a song. So I think I told him to listen to Doctor Worm by They Might Be Giants, and also to Here Comes Your Man by the Pixies. Strange combination maybe? I wonder if he did...
   
7. Anyways, I also met a Swedish guy who learned to speak English in Missouri. He was really dissappointed that I have never been to the south. He kept saying "Ya gotta learn your history! We got Elvis, the king 'o rock. Ya ever been to Memphis? We got the ocean" but, as I pointed out repeatedly, I'm from Nebraska. We have our own history, like the Oregon trail, and people dying of cholera and oxen, which is what I ended up shouting at him about.
8. Hannah dragged me on to the dance floor where they were playing strange Slavic dance/pop music.
   
9. I met Erik and Sara, who run the pub. I can't remember why I met Erik, but then we talked about his braided beard, and how he wanted to look like ZZ top and how my dad likes ZZ top and how my mom won't let him braid his beard, and how Erik's beard used to have three braids, and how now it only has one. He also showed me his tattoo of a red skull with green hair and TWO braids in its skeleton beard.
   
10. Erik introduced me to Sara and the other people working at the pub. They let me use the employee bathroom and invited me to come work with them, especially for their halloween pub which will be a big event, with costume competition and all. Also, Erik promised to teach me guitar if I worked at the pub.
    
11. I left around 3am with my friend Nareg, who I had come with earlier. We had to wait for half an hour for the next train. In the station, we met a Swedish student named Daniel and a Dutch student named Mark who showed us a secret door to a long flight of stairs, where, (they informed us) hobos like to sleep. We climbed up to the top of the stairs and went outside, where Daniel and Mark sparred over the last piece of gum tobacco they had (called Slusch or something) Daniel had put it in his mouth but Mark had just quit smoking and he said he needed it. So they basically chased each other around and tried to kick each other in the butt.
    
12. On the subway, I got confused, or fell asleep or something, and I rode two stops past the station where I change trains, so I had to turn around and try again. The tram that takes me right home stops running at 1am, so I walked from the metro, which took me about 40 minutes. I went to bed at 5am.
13. Today, saturday, I left the house to go to the blues jam at Stampen, still a little bit out of it from last night's adventures. As I was walking to the tram stop, an acorn hit me squarely on the head, and I thought "divine retribution! ouch!"
14. And last but not least, at the blues jam, I bumped into a musician in the musician's corner who had a nyckelharpa with him (Swedish folk instrument, looks kind of like a violin but with lots of pegs on the sides and a tiny ineffectual looking bow). I asked him if he was going to play it in the blues jam, and he either said no, he wouldn't because there was a girl who was on her period and very whinny and annoying who was preventing him, OR he was comparing the nyckelharpa as an instrument to such a girl. I'm still not sure what he was getting at. But he did not play the nyckelharpa. (Steve, now i know if you still read my blog. I did not ask the guy where he got his nyckelharpa.)
    

THE END.

I believe I hit a new low this evening, when I was curled up on the floor in the shower reading my Dr. Bronner's Magical soap label for fun- it was the only thing that I could really DO at the time. I was in the middle of thinking about brushing my teeth but I was tired and sad and therefore needed to lay on the floor.

I feel like I went all day without talking to anybody. I didn't see any of the other students, and of course I didn't talk to any Swedes while I was out today. It's so SAD to be by yourself all of the time. Some of the time, yes its fabulous. Actually, I learned this the hard way last weekend when I was stuck on an island being with people all day for three days. But all of the time its not. Like you're walking down the street and you see a nice cafe on the other side, so you wait at the cross walk. And then you think to yourself, "Why am I waiting for this crosswalk? So that I can go buy a tiny coffee that is kind of expensive and drink it by myself?" And then you say, "No, I am waiting here because next to the cafe, there is a store full of cool looking light fixtures," to which you reply "What, so I can go over there and look at lamps? You'll just have to cross the street again to get back to the subway." Which is true. So I didn't cross the street.

On better days, my peppy alter-ego will pipe up and say "Poop on the subway! Let's cross that street! And let's LOOK at some light fixtures!" But sometimes I don't have that, and in those times, it would be good to have a friend around.

At the same time, I think I would prefer to be alone ALL of the time than to be stuck with people who I have nothing at all in common with. I really had no idea how annoying it can be until I went to see a documentary about Vogue ("The September Issue" ), which was actually really interesting. Anna Wintour, the current editor in chief I think, basically said that if you shop at Kmart, its because you just don't care about being fashionable, and so people shouldn't go around hating the fashion industry, because its just a matter of taste that Anna Wintour can afford to wear whatever she wants. Yes. So, if you ever want to know how much in common you have with another college-aged girl, just go see a documentary about fashion, and if they immediately start talking about how the movie gave them a huge appetite for shopping, and which designer brands their mom's bought them last year for Christmas, then you know. (Wow, was that TOO cynical? Did I cross my own "toocynicaldon'tcrossthisline line?)

Candy #3 and Gotland

The 3rd and last candy in Candy: part 1

Name: Japp (wtf?)
Quantity: two pieces, one package
Description: Mjölkchoklad fylld med mjuk chokladmaräng och kola
"Milk chocolate filled with soft chocolate meringue and caramel"
Evaluation: Now I know what the Swedes eat when they are craving a milky way because that's exactly what it tastes like. Maybe someone can check a milky way for me- this one has the chocolate meringue on the bottom and the caramel on the top.
Made my Marabou, the other big chocolate company besides Coletta
Grade: 5 out of 10. I would eat one of these if I found it lying around, but not really spectacular, lacks that special something I need in a candy bar.

GOTLAND: I went on a trip with some of my classmates to Gotland last weekend. It is an island, technically a part of Sweden, but they consider themselves a separate culture. They had a lot of sheep, a lot of ancient artifacts from vikings etc., and hedgehogs are their national/regional animal.

Ingelkott! I saw one of these Saturday night, (not this one). Best moment ever! So cute!

There were a lot of old kyrkan (churches). Apparently the Danes burned the roofs off of some of them, which was actually really beautiful.

Hobbit house! I forgot what this was. I think it was a rebuilt medieval settlement.

Today's Candy

Name: Plopp
Quantity: 1 bar divided into 6 portions
Description: Mjölkchoklad med ringlande toffeefyllning OR milk chocolate with soft toffee filling

Evaluation: I really wish I knew why this was called plopp. But even after eating it I have no ideas. This candy IS made by a Swedish company, Cloetta, and fortunately they have a website. So this is what else they have to say about Plopp on the website http://www.plopp.se/sv/Hem.aspx
"Plopp is joy and nostalgia. Plopp is successful party with fish pond, rustling bags lie and expectant eyes. Here is a småbusig, Swedish favorite classics with a twinkle in his eye, which faithfully followed us since we were small. The taste and texture of the toffeefyllda milk chocolate is unlike anything else. Was little spontaneous it is time for Plopp. For it is your host."

Okay, that wasn't so helpful.

Grade: 6 out of ten, because the toffee/caramel filling was interesting- it was not solid or chewy like a Risen, but it wasn't runny either like the caramel filling in say, an easter egg. It was good, but again, it didn't knock my socks off.

Lat night I ran from my friend Sara's host family's house to the subway stop by my house which was about 4 stops away so that Anna could try to catch it to HER house... anyway long boring story point is, my hair was really crazy and sweaty last night and I put it up in some kind of twist before bed, and when I woke up, it was really really curly! I love it! So I took a picture.

Here is a picture of my host family's living room. This is mostly for you, mom, because you said you wanted some regular pictures of what things look like, instead of close ups of bugs... :)

Candy Critique: part 1

I think an important part of every culture is what kind of candy they eat, and what they call it. That is why I have endeavored to do a thorough review of the Swedish candy available in my local grocery store. For Part one, we have three candy bars: Daim, Plopp, and Japp. I picked these because I have either seen them before or because their names were entertaining or potentially inflammatory.




TODAY'S CANDY:

Name: Daim
Quantity: two pieces, one package
Description: "Milk chocolate (42%) with a crunchy almond caramel centre"
Evaluation: Daim lives up to your expectations for crunchiness informed by the crunchy looking pictures on the wrapper. I would say that "almond caramel" is a little of an overstatement for something that was actually just toffee. However, maybe in my America-centric worldview, I have overlooked the potential complexity of the toffee flavor.
I don't know if this candy is actually made in Sweden, because it belongs to Kraft foods, but it seems to be popular.

Grade: I give this candy bar a 5 out of 10 for living up to my expectations, but no higher. It's hard to be the first candy bar- everyone judges you so harshly!

In other news, here is a picture of the back porch at my house.



Today on my walk with Tonton (the dog I am payed to walk), I was throwing sticks for him in the park when suddenly, he ran across the park to this family, sniffed around, and then peed on one of their bike helmets. Why!!!? I apologized, but the lady was really irritated: "This was brand new!" ...

I get paranoid about how much hair I leave everywhere, especially on the subway. I just keep thinking, "My DNA is in this hair. People could get my DNA from this hair."
I don't know what they would want it for, but it still sounds really sinister.

good day, bad day

Bad day: I got a job walking this lady's dog three times a week for 1000 kroner a month. Unfortunately, the dog is a complete asshole. When I tried to turn around to go back home, he just sat down and stared at me. When I tried to tug his leash, he just dug in his heels. And when I tried to pick him up, he growled at me. This is a jack russell terrier, not a big deal right? wrong. Plus, this is Sweden. It's illegal to beat your kids, so its probably illegal to yell at your dogs too. I bet the other dog owners thought I was a bad mom.

Good day: I bought a pool pass that gets me into any "state" (public) pool for 10 visits. While I was swimming, I was thinking about why it was so much more strenuous to swim between islands in the Stockholm archipelago than it is to swim laps, and I decided its like the difference between being chased by Tigers and going for a jog. Much more interesting to be chased by Tigers!

Bad day: I lost my house key, probably while I was pleading with that stupid dog, Tonton.

Good day: My host mom found a bunch of children's books to read to improve my Swedish. And she told me not to worry about the house key. They will get a new one.

Bad day: I went to see the Teddy Bears at a club named Berns that looks kind of like a big boat from the outside, but since it was a free concert, it was completely packed, and they wouldn't let anyone else in.

Good day: Instead of going inside to see the show, we (me and Anna from the program)got to watch it on a big screen outside the club. It was exactly like watching the Stop Making Sense DVD, except in REAL TIME!!!

Bad day: It was raining, and we got really wet.

Good day: After the screen concert was over, we bought ice cream at the nearby seven-eleven, and looked at a men's fashion magazine.

This is what drives people to kill...

I seriously just spent the last HALF AN HOUR catching bugs in a paper cup and shaking them out my window. Not because I was bored, but because I made the mistake of opening my window for ventilation, and I really don't have the heart to squish bugs. They are the big, harmless looking (maybe) male mosquitoes (?)- they don't bite, they don't let eggs, and they don't make noise but when you look at them closely, ALL of their legs jiggle when they are flying, and they look like spiders, or worse, witches. That's really the thought that crossed my mind when I was trying to co-exist with one in the bathroom. Frankie, pictured at right, was especially hard to catch, and towards the end of our game of wits I considered using my superior size and power to squish Frankie. I was very frustrated. There were more interesting things that happened today, but I can't write about them NOW, now that I spent the last half hour catching bugs.