(soggy) Autumn Leaves

This isn't so interesting, but in the course of an evening spent reflecting on random things instead of writing this stupid essay (anger! chomp chomp! gnashing teeth!) I was thinking about fall, and what it is like at home. I realized that a prime adjective for autumn-time at home is "crisp", as in "the crisp autumn air" or "the crisp smell of leaves" or "crisp fall apples". But in Sweden, so far, autumn has been rather damp. There's a lot of rain. So you wouldn't really say "crisp" then, would you? This has huge ramifications! Can you really make "apple crisp" in a place where the fall isn't genuinely crispy?! I don't know! We must go to a higher authority on crispiness:

Kia Shine, crispy (*krispy) expert. or, perhaps the Urban Dictionary, source of infinite wisdom has an aswer?

Reader comments always welcome!!!

Have can, will soup

Wow! I just made some black bean soup which should have been awful, but I love it!
I started out with only a can of black beans. I was hungry. What can you do with a can of beans?
I thought about just warming them up (that's still food, right?), but instead I ended up with this:

1 can black beans, in beanie-water
1 clove garlic, chopped up into bits
generous portion of oregano
2 spoonfuls of the olive oil left over from the stuffed olives I've been eating since sometime before I went to Latvia
cayenne pepper
salt
another spice that smelled good at the time
creme fraiche

And I like it! Or maybe I just like black beans, and you can't really mess them up. I wouldn't serve it to company, but I sure would make it again if I find myself alone with a can of beans!

Another post? Oh my!

Just one more thing. Sweden is getting dark. Next week is midsems week, and Erik is coming for some quality brother-sister bonding time. Then I have a week off, to do what? Hopefully take a train around Sweden, but also to get my act together! I feel like the time is slipping away from me, and I have been spending too much time staying up half the night working at pubs with crazy Swedes. Let me qualify that - crazy Swedes who I love! but still - it makes me feel kind of lost to spend at least part of every week sleeping until 1 or 2pm.

I think I would feel less melancholic right now if I could just complete some piece of work, like a paper, or start knitting a scarf for winter, or do a thorough analysis of my finances. It's strange, but even though I feel more accepted and well-liked as a whole by the group of friends I have met working at Gula Villan (student pub) than I do with my study abroad group, it feels sad not to be spending time with the people on my program. I don't understand, but I guess we have a common experience being exchange students that I don't have with the Swedish students. There's actually a big difference in how it feels to go wandering around the city with another American college student compared to going out with a student who grew up in Stockholm. And its not just that you know where you are going when you go out with a native Stockholmer. Its a difference of perspective. I don't know if I can explain it. But lately I have been feeling strangely ungrounded. I just REALLY need to make muffins with/for someone! It's not like I don't get this feeling back home when I'm at school too. I'm never baking enough with people :(

Here is my proposed travel plans for the winter break:

1. Take a plane or train down to the southern tip of Sweden to Malmö, where I will see one of the largest immigrant communities in Sweden.
2. Take a train North to the university town of Lund.
3. Continue North up the West coast to Göteborg.
4. Somewhere in this area (?) visit the home of Selma Lagerlöf, Swedish author
5. Continue North to Mora to visit the museum/home of Swedish painter Anders Zorn
6. Somewhere in this area, visit Carl Larsson's home

the rest not in coherent order yet:

- visit the town where they make Orrefors crystal
- visit a town in Dalarna region where someone told me there is a cool copper mine
- visit a town in the South where someone told me they make good candy
- visit Uppsala
- make a trip to Okelbo!
- I don't think I can make it on this tour, but I would love to go to Northern Sweden, maybe to Abisko.

We shall see - I haven't bought any tickets yet, and I think financial and time restraints will limit this itinerary a little bit.

Hoppsudderudeeruderrullanlej!

SORRY SORRY SORRY SORRY for the crappy correspondence! I haven't written much lately, and I apologize. Thank you Grandma for the letter! I received it last week, and I am in the process of writing back :)

TWO WEEKS AGO: I saw the most amazing of all concerts featuring Steve Gadd on the drums. I was standing approximately 10 feet from his drumset - AMAZING. I couldn't manage to get any signature for me, or Randy :( but while waiting for the band after the show I met a man who writes for a Nordic jazz magazine who was doing an interview with the guitar player after the show. He recommended some Swedish (and some not) jazz musicians for me to listen to:

1. Lars Gullin
2. Jan Johansson
3. EST (Esbjörn Svensson Trio)
4. Bobo Stenson
5. Steve Swallow
6. Carla Bley

Two things struck me about Steve Gadd's playing. First was his ability to play super fast double strokes between his hands and feet, and second was how powerful his sound was. It wasn't just that he was loud - because it wasn't always just loud - but it was always very powerful and leaning ahead.

I was a little surprised at Steve Gadd himself because I think I imagined his appearance from the videos Randy has shown me, which in my head became a little like George Clooney, and in person only his eyes looked lively and healthy and the rest of his face looked at little haggard.

GEORGE CLOONEY VS. STEVE GADD



























ALSO IN BREAKING NEWS:

I learned a new song in Swedish class. It is called "Tycker Du Om Mig", meaning "Do you like me"

Here's how it goes!

Tycker du om mig? Ja, det gör jag!
Är det riktigt säkert? Ja, det är det!
Får jag hålla om dig? Ja, det får du!
Hoppsudderudderudderullanlej.

Köper du ringen? Ja, det gör jag.
Sätter den på fingret? Ja, det gör jag.
Är det riktigt säkert? Ja, det är det.
Hoppsudderudderudderullanlej.

Reser vi till prästen? Ja, det gör vi.
Gifter oss förresten? Ja, det gör vi.
Är det riktigt säkert? Ja, det är det.
Hoppsudderudderudderullanlej.

Quick and dirty translation:

Do you like me? Yes, I do!
Is it really true? Yes it is!
Can I hold you? Yes you can!
Wheeeeee!

Will you buy the ring? Yes I'll do that!
Put it on the finger? Yes I'll do that!
Is it really true? Yes it is!
Wheee!!!

Go we to the priest? Yes we do that!
...and get married? Yes, we do that!
Is it really true? YES IT IS
Wheeeee!!!!!

I'M ON A BOAT - don't you NEVER forget!

I was on a boat this weekend... TO LATVIA!!!
In case you were wondering what it was like, please view this video.
Just kidding! It was an experience too bizarre to be described by simply a video.
How about a string of adjectives (and nouns)? gaudy, disco, karaoke, drunk, tax-free, sketchy, luxurious, cramped, Slavic-sounding radio announcements, beds that fold out of the wall, water in all directions forever, 9ish floors, choreographed dance shows at 8 'o clock, fruit for dinner cut up with a Swiss army knife...

OK sorry for the indirectness: the boat trip was very strange, but Latvia was lovely. We arrived in Riga, the capital city, around 10am on Sunday. Here are some pictures!

Tired Tamale

First of all, Congratulations to Jon Garrey for the cutest letter ever! I will attempt to reciprocate. I keep writing postcards to people and then not sending them for weeks because buying stamps is such a challenge. In reality it is very easy to find and purchase stamps, but its something I struggle with personally.

Next, my lunch.
Today I bought some things that I will eat for lunch all week. I bought knäcka bröd, some kind of soft mild cheese, and a whole mess of olives. I am very pleased with this food, even though the olives cost almost 50 kroner, which is a lot for lunch groceries. I also saw a butternut squash and bought it on the spot, I was so happy to see it! I could bake it and eat it with butter, I could make curried squash soup, or who knows? The possibilities are almost endless.

Mental health: I have a desperate need for control in some areas of my life. This is not new information, but I was reminded of it today when I learned the the "Hippie" themed party at my favorite Gulla Vilan (humanities house on campus with loads of lovely people) was on Thursday and not Friday and it almost ruined my evening. I had planned out in my mind what the week was going to look like, and everything fit perfectly from going to the Opera on Wednesday, to Steve Gadd (famous drummer) on Thursday, to hippie party (I thought) on Friday, and Dave Weckl (another famous drummer) on Saturday. Now I have to think how I will make it to both the hippie party and the jazz club and whether I should change or go downtown with flowers in my hair and a peasant skirt. I guess the reason I am upset besides having control issues is that I enjoy the hippie persona, and I consider myself fairly qualified to do a good job representing it. Besides, in such a modern and style-conscious city as Stockholm, its a rare opportunity to feel in my clothing element, so to speak. What can I say? I can't wear a pair of stylish black jeans meant for a very thin/fit population of swedes the same way I can wear a nice long hippie skirt. It's just the way that I'm shaped.

Lastly, I have a cold - from not sleeping .... from drinking coffee late at night. Clearly, this is my fault. So let me say this now, in public: No more coffee after 6pm for me. Either that, or I might have to (gasp!) start drink decaf. "But decaf is for chumps, Brita!" you say. And I can't say that I didn't hold this viewpoint at one point. I used to secretly laugh at customers who ordered decaf cappuccinos from me. "Why even drink coffee if you're going to drink it like that?" I used to sneer, in my head, because if I so much as sneezed at them Terri Jo (my boss, notoriously scary lady) would have bit my head off in so many words in one of her famous passive-aggressive mailbox notes. But everything has changed now. Now I can see the world from the bleary eyes of one who put the end of a banana on their nose tonight at dinner - the eyes of one who has spent a night without sleep because of coffee.

Rant

I still hate computers. I thought I was over it - but it doesn't matter that they allow me access to the whole world wherever I am, I still hate them! I hate waiting for them, I hate spending time with them, I hate listening to music on them, and I don't even really like looking at them. They're bad friends - they demand that you handle them well and provide them with energy, and then they isolate you from your surroundings and give you a headache. Sure, it may make it easier to communicate and thus connect with other people, but maybe the ease of it encourages you to do a shoddy job, just like digital cameras encourage you to take worse pictures. Just take this post for example. If I had to write this with pen and paper, do you think I would have done such a bad job? No!

Rememberances of the homeland...

I just remembered something. In the library at Grinnell, there are these really wide, dome shaped lamps, with just this dome around a light bulb that is screwed into the center. I can't remember if they're all over the library or just inside the study cubby. But anyways, they are always covered with little graffiti underneath the dome, and when you are sitting there you only have to tilt your head a little to read all of the graffitis. Damn those lamps! I wasted so much time reading graffiti in the library. It's not just the study cubby either. The bathroom is full of interesting graffiti, including a discussion about the ethics of leaving your pee in the toilet to preserve water (is it sterile, is it rude, etc.), a (long) list of countries that Grinnellians have been to, and an Obama v. Hilary discussion. In the basement girls bathroom, there is even more to look at, including the famous naked body prints in paint on the wall, discussions of body image, lists of cute boys, girls and professors, and random gossip, warnings about sketchy guys, poetry, and drawings.

The bathroom and lamp graffiti is not new news by any means, but I just realized that looking under those dome lamps occupied a significant amount of my time at Grinnell, and I can recognize its absence. Which is just a dumb way of saying I don't exactly miss it, well kind of, but I notice its gone now just like Cheez-Its are gone, or just like warm cheap gross things (usually with cheese) from 24 hour restaurants are gone.

But yeah, maybe some corned beef hash and faux-Mexican breakfast platter at 4 in the morning DOES sound a little good right now.

Tonight, tonight

By totally random happenstance, I ended up working at a pub this evening on the university campus. I actually got to tend bar! The pub is in an old yellow house on campus, and it has a nice kitchen as well as a bar and places to sit, dance, etc. We made oven pancakes for dinner, with jam and whipped cream. I corrected several more people about the Nebraska and Alaska not being the same thing issue, and made my Nebraska democrats proud; one Swedish lady asked me what party I was for and then told me that she would have been really disappointed if I was a republican. She told me she watched the documentary "Jesus Camp" and was scared that all Americans are crazy evangelicals. I think I made good friends with this Swedish lady, because later we danced to the Smashing Pumpkins, and she invited me to come karaoke with her on Friday. We shall see... I really like taking naps, sometimes I like them even more than karaoke. Especially since I've never done karaoke, and I don't have any idea what song I could sing. All I know is Scarlett Johansson looks really cool when she sings karaoke in Lost in Translation. Okee... I'm up way past my bedtime! The tunnelbana has long since stopped running and that's a sign that I should go to bed. So goodnight!

Hamburger

Somedays, one feels like a very big idiot. On those days, it is best to come home after school and take a shower and then a long nap.

My dad drew this picture; isn't it nice? I think wine was involved. Unfortunately, Tonton is not such a large dog. Perhaps I have a small prejudice against small dogs? But at the same time, Serena's chiwawa Max is really adorable.

Question: Does anyone have a really good Mulligatawny soup recipe they could send me? I am thinking of the Oven's soup, which is meatless and really yellow, and kind of thick. I remember Amy (Green) said once that it has a lot of flour.

Also, does anyone have any interesting ideas about seasoning carrots? Today, I made pasta for this week's lunch using the vegetables I had left over from last week- which meant carrots, pine nuts, garlic and a potato in pasta with a tomato pesto sauce (delicious, comes in a jar pre-made).
I was tempted to cook them with curry powder, because carrots are really good in curry, but since that seems like it would clash with tomato pesto, I just sauteed them with a little cayenne pepper. The result was just that the carrots were a little spicy. I was hoping for something more spectacular!

WORD OF THE DAY: Witchy

I love this word. I don't use it nearly enough, but this should be a word we use even when its not approaching Halloween time. It rhymes with twitchy, and witches really aren't so bad anymore these days. They just want some female-female bonding! Sorry, this does tie remotely to life, to my readings for my Women in Swedish culture and society but I don't care to explain.

I spent Tuesday to Sunday of last week in Hamburg - this is a picture of part of the botanical gardens. Lovely! Also, I saw my first opera, the Magic Flute, which was completely bizarre. I celebrated Erik's birthday with Erik and Malene. I ate cheese cake for breakfast. On the street, I watched a dixieland style trio play and sing "Down by the riverside" and then "happy birthday" for the woman who's party it was. The first verse was in English, and the second one was in German. I got a hair cut. I wrote two postcards, and bought three more. I had many cups of coffee. I went on a boat tour of the harbor. I read a little from the binder of collected stories that tells about how our family left Sweden and came to Nebraska. I cried a little, because it is a very sad story, and because they thought they might return someday, but never had the chance. And because the US didn't really hold the prosperity they hoped it did.
I think about my position in this story all of the time, even though it has ceased to be an interesting topic for conversation with others people. I am aware that there is a house in Sweden where these people in these stories lived, and that with a small amount of effort I can find this house in Okelbo. Maybe I am too sentimental, easily impressed by ordinary things because they belonged to someone long ago or someone on another part of the world. I like the thought that there is a tangible connection between people and the things that are a part of their everyday lives - their hairbrush, their stool, their coffee cups - even after the people are long gone. It excites me to think that the ground I am walking or the water I am drinking was used by people who came before me. So there are a couple reasons why it is important that I go to Okelbo. I want to see the place, because I feel like places can have a kind of lingering impression or spirit of their past inhabitants, and I want to go there to hopefully understand better why I came to Sweden and what exactly I am searching for.