Life in the Land of the Ice and Snow
Infiltrating Sweden one cinnamon bun at a time
I won the mother-of-the-year award from my children this past weekend, and you know how I did it? With a nice little invention called “Jello!” Yes, I fed my children mango, raspberry muffins and grape jello for breakfast on Sunday. I am now the coolest mother in the world. “This is the best breakfast ever!” … Read more
Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash gets way creepier when your 6-year old repeats that one line like a robot all during breakfast. “Ring of Fire….Ring of Fire…Ring of Fire….”
Last week I met up with an American friend for lunch here in Stockholm. It was on Wednesday, which happened to be sunny and 11c (51 F) ! Now that I write this, it seems pitiful, but it was huge news for Stockholm. The news that evening showed the whole town outside eating ice cream. … Read more
Woke up this morning to a light rain. Ah, I thought… what a great day to be unemployed! I’ll crack the window open a bit, smell that fresh rain smell and read a book. I forgot that they are constructing a new garbage area for our building. This consists of a giant hole in the … Read more
My 6 year old son got a book of “WHY” questions this week from National Geographic. We wanted him to be interested in the book, so we started asking some of the questions that it asked. However, it turned out that our son didn’t need this book, as he says he already knows all of … Read more
I ate a reindeer heart this week. I feel like a barbarian. I was at a party for food tasting at restaurants and they had pieces of reindeer heart on toothpicks. It was a bit chewy. Not something I would choose to eat again. I wonder what kind of people eat this? I imagine rich … Read more
I was asked today to wait for delivery men to drop off 2 large 250 lbs pinball machines. I did not want to do this job, because last time I was asked to wait for a couch from Ikea, the delivery men put it on it’s side up in the air (taller than me and … Read more
The job ad says Stabsassistent Now, I know I could just ask or translate that and it means something totally different than I’m thinking, but I prefer to be alone with my thoughts of the Royal Family needing an assistant who stabs things when needed. Also, isn’t it funny that the Royal Family has to … Read more
Dare I say spring is here? No, but I will admit the sun has been out for over a week now and the snow has melted down to ice patches mixed with rotting grass and dog droppings. Ah, the smell of spring! I refuse to admit spring is here yet as it has snowed in … Read more
We get Easter Monday off here in Sweden. I don’t know why, but I don’t complain about days off. Maybe it’s to reflect on how much candy and food you ate over the weekend and swear that you won’t do it again next year.
Today is Easter Thursday, Maundy Thursday, Holy Thursday, Thursday of Mysteries (I like that one!) and in Sweden – skärtorsdag. In the U.S. there are church services which end with everything being covered in shrouds. In many European countries, all the bells are silent and there is silence in the church. In Malta, you visit … Read more
I was looking up some books to buy for my soon to be 6 year old this morning. I typed in “Golden Books” since that’s a nice kids’ collection of books that I enjoyed when I was a kid. They had stories like “Tootle the Train” and “The Saggy Baggy Elephant.” I don’t remember this … Read more
Back again at the unemployment office. And once again, the only seat available for the 2 hour wait is next to the crazed, agitated man who talks to himself and gets up every 10 minutes to tell the employees loudly that the system is wrong. This place has never once surprised me. It’s the same … Read more
Stockholm just got 4 new Ben & Jerry’s flavors in the grocery stores. The Americans are going crazy. Ben & Jerry’s didn’t even exist here when I moved 13 years ago. And even when it came, it was very limited in flavors. To get 4 new flavors at once is just amazing. And yes, we … Read more
I’ve been looking through the job bank at opportunities for one of my Italian friends looking for a new job. I noticed that when I look for an English speaking job, it’s mostly call centers and teaching (I guess we like to talk). But when I look up jobs for my Italian friend, all the … Read more
Job searching (there might be a lot of posts about this coming up). I saw an ad that said “Trainee BI.” This means trainee in Business Intelligence. However, I started thinking it was a fun way to write “Trainee Bee.” I thought I might get to wear a bee costume for some fun party place. … Read more
