Beverages, food and shopping

I don’t know if I mentioned this in something I posted or if I wrote about it and then didn’t get around to saving, but the idea is to be a little more detailed about this trip than I normally would, because it occurs to me that there are a few of you (namely, my friends at work) who don’t really have the Swedish connection already and wouldn’t understand what I mean when I talk about.. fika and that feeling of being invisible while in a room because the conversation is going on around you and you don’t have the faintest idea what’s going on. (Or, maybe that’s just me.) Therefore, this is my chance to be that jet-setter who’s off to Europe for spring vacation. Having said that, try to remember that everything I say is filtered through my contact with M and his family and his/our friends, not necessarily all Swedes. Also, do accept this disclaimer for all posts made while I’m away so I don’t have to explain it all again.

M’s parents have dialup, so I’m writing this before I connect.. both to keep the phone line open and because even local calls cost money here. (Not much, from what I understand, but enough that I don’t much want to be connected when I’m not doing anything online because it’s not my phone bill.) Dialup, by the way, really sucks. Anyway, I’m having a glass of Coke and enjoying it immensely, because I have been very thirsty of late. I’m just not a big alcohol drinker, and I don’t really care much for carbonated water, which is readily available everywhere. I’m not at all saying that there is no pop available here, but.. well, M’s family tends not to drink it.

I tend to think of meals here as being more formal, and M was questioning me on why that was, since if you look at what we ate last night at the extended family dinner (grilled meats, mushrooms, cheese, zucchini, potatoes) none of it is all that fancy or formal. But, it’s all served in distinct rounds, and we finally figured out that that is part of what makes it feel more formal to me. We had champagne last night before dinner. Then we sat down, and there was carbonated water, beer, cider (low-alcohol, but still with alcohol involved) and wine for drinks with the food. Then, everything was cleared away and the dessert was brought out with coffee and tea. (Tea for me.) After we ate that, chilled bottles of booze were brought out—vodka and bourbon and all sorts of things, including one bottle with a handmade label. Small amounts of that were consumed, although not by me, and then all that was cleared away. A while after that, a tray of saft was brought out (think homemade kool-aid from real berries.) That’s five rounds of beverages, folks. That’s a lot! At my family’s Sunday dinners, we usually put some of the food on the table, but some of it is still on the stove in the pot. Drinks are served on a get-your-own-unless-you’re-over-seventy-or-under-ten sort of way. Not that one way is better.. it’s just very different and quite hard to get used to.

Today was all about the shopping, and then we went to his sister’s apartment for dinner. First stop, IKEA. No, we didn’t buy any furniture. ;) We did get picture frames and a painting and a whisk, though. I really, really like the clean lines of furniture here, and I’m not joking at all when I say that when we get a house, I’m willing to drive to Chicago to go to an IKEA if I have to. Pathetic but true. Of course, in Kentucky, that distinct IKEA look is the exception rather than the rule, which helps. Anyway, there’s a little outlet mall next to it, and we went there briefly, though we didn’t buy anything much. We did eat lunch, though, at Wayne’s Coffee. What’s up with the Americanized name, we didn’t quite figure out—it was a very Swedish sort of place, if a bit of an unspecial sort of Swedish place.

We came back to the house for a few minutes to drop off M’s mom, and then we were off to do some shopping in Sollentuna. We went to Obs, although they don’t call it that anymore, and bought a few things, and then stopped at Stinsen, which is where we used to do all our grocery shopping. We also drove by M’s tiny little house, which was fun. We have decided that the person he sold it to doesn’t live there anymore, because there were certain female touches in evidence. Not that this is important. Mainly, most of today’s shopping was about the nostalgia. It really was a most excellent summer we spent here in 2000.

Anyway, we took the train into town in the evening, and had a miserably wet hike to his sister’s apartment. She has a really cute, tiny little place.. lots of places here are tiny, but generally the space is utilized very well. She cooked some sort of spiced meat patty, with a warm potato-asparagus salad. Quite good. (It is always a little scary when you go to someone’s house for dinner!) Very pleasant evening, in any case, and then we headed back to the house. At least it wasn’t raining anymore, but it was chilly, and we were walking much faster than my short little legs appreciated. Good that we did, though, because we just made it onto the walkway as the train was pulling up. M informs me that it is a very important custom that you begin walking in the direction of the train when it approaches, until you come to a full stop in front of whatever door is closest to you after you both stop moving. I think this is utterly ridiculous, but who asked me? Public transportation is hard for my little head to comprehend anyway.

Anyway, now we’re home, and it’ll be bedtime as soon as we’ve done our online stuff. I have posted a novel, as M would say, so I might as well stop now while I’m ahead. :)

Conversation I just had

M likes cheeze doodles, but has long claimed that the American version is inferior when compared to the fine Swedish product. We had them at Blatt's the other night, and although they were good (they tasted oddly of cheese--real dairy cheese, which was weird) they were not the ones that M has long referred to in his monologues regarding snack products. He bought a bag today and sat down cheerily with it this evening while I was writing that long post. After I finished and we traded places, I tried a few to see what the big deal is.

I have recorded the conversation for posterity:

K: They're not bad, really, but they kind of taste like stale feet.
M: Yeah! I know! And they really smell like stale feet!! *huge grin*

Boys are weird.

Tuesday. I think.

I'm not sure exactly what's wrong with me, but I haven't been feeling all that well today. Low blood sugar, or something. Very tired and cranky, and also, my cough is much worse. My sinuses are throbbing in strange ways.. not painful, just annoying. I'm blaming it on a change in climate, walking around in the bloody rain yesterday, hormones and jetlag. Everyone needs a scapegoat, and I have plenty. I took a nap this afternoon, though, which is never a good sign.

Today's entry is necessarily boring, because we didn't do a whole lot. Since nothing was really planned, we slept late, and then finished up our Sollentuna shopping. Today, it was Swedish pizza for lunch (salami and onion for M, vegetarian without olives and artichokes for me) and then Sollentuna Centrum, and a brief stop back at the house and then to Kista. (My favorite place because it looks almost like my name. I'm a dork. Also, it sounds pretty. Shee-sta. I have been assured that it is not all that terrific, but who cares?) We did stop by at M's bank while we were at the first place, and got his internet banking thingie set up. He's lived in the US for nearly five years now and has not once had direct access to his account. He's also a dork. He was happy when we left, and I tried to trick him into agreeing that he liked it when I nag, but he didn't fall for it. Hmph.

M's mom made meatballs, boiled potatoes and stewed carrots for dinner. I now feel like I can finally say that I had a real Swedish meal. :) We watched home videos in the evening and had ice cream and strawberries.. oh, right, that's something else worth mentioning. I also nagged M into buying me some Swedish strawberries at ICA this afternoon. He has always said that I had never had a real strawberry since I hadn't had the ones grown here. They really were good, although I believe I shall resist becoming a strawberry snob. I must limit my neurosis.

Tuesday. I think.

I lost my entry. It was really good, too. Brilliant writing. Probably would have even been linked to by Liz. But alas, something wonky happened with the modem (ahem, husband picked up the phone) and it all went bye-bye. Even though I copied it. Bye bye, wonderful post. Hello, dry and boring post. It is a terrible loss to the internet. (Edited to add: duh, seems as if it posted without so much as a by-your-leave. Now I've been caught lying about the quality of my deleted posts. So sorry, and sorry for the repeated text. Dialup is much too slow to refix everything and pretend that it never happened, so I'll just pretend it's all fixed without actually fixing it. You do that too!)

Or, possibly, I talked about how it was a rather boring entry since we didn't do very much. We didn't have anything planned, so we slept late. Then we ate pizza for lunch, which made the boy smile very big, and went off to finish the Sollentuna shopping rounds. By the way, I guess I could say that what we have purchased so far would be picture frames and four pieces of art, plus a whisk, and four sets of knitting needles. At some point, I'm going to have to figure out how the tax rebate thing works. Anyone know? I've never bothered with it before but it really seems stupid not to. Oh, and we went to M's bank to talk to them about his account and set up internet banking.. I kind of insisted. The boy has lived in the US for almost five years and had never been able to directly access his account. We mentioned it last time we were here, but he never did go do it. He was happy when we left the bank, so I tried to trick him into agreeing that he liked it when I nag, but he didn't fall for it. Shucks.

We left the Kista (say--Sheesta) shopping center sooner than planned.. mainly because I was feeling really crappy. I'm not sure exactly what's wrong with me, but I just don't feel right. I have plenty of things to blame, though.. jetlag, hormones, the leftovers from being sick last week, walking in the rain yesterday. Also, my cough is worse. Very annoying. I was actually hoping that it would clear up once we were here, and instead, it's gotten worse.

M's mom made meatballs and boiled potatoes and stewed carrots for dinner, and now I can finally feel as if I have had a real Swedish meal. ;) Funny how they turned out in little balls, rather than the gooey mess that M made when he attempted it. (yes, love, I will stop teasing you about it someday. Promise.) And then we had ice cream and strawberries.. I nagged M into buying me some Swedish strawberries at ICA today, because he has always said I've never eaten a REAL strawberry. They were very good and sweet, but I will refrain from becoming a strawberry snob. Must limit my neurotic tendencies.

Not sure what the plans are for the rest of the week. I know that there is dinner in town on Thursday, and possibly going out on Friday, but everything else is still open. The sun is supposed to come back, at least, which will make taking pictures more fun. We want to spent at least one day in town, and perhaps more, if it turns out that way. I still haven't found any good postcards. I'll have better luck in Gamla Stan, probably. (Old Town, translated.) Anyway, I need to look up a couple of things and then turn the internet over to M. Being all cozy and warm in bed with a book sounds nice about now.