Four Months In Sweden...

And I still couldn't tell you the difference between mellanmjölk, lattmjölk, filmmjölk and good old regular mjölk.

Except for the fact that I always buy the blue one, because a Swede working at the grocery store told me it was the best one. I've tried every one except for filmmjölk which is supposed to taste like milk gone bad..but I really couldn't describe to you any distinguishing taste difference. Now I just look for the one in the blue carton, if it doesn't come in the blue carton, I wouldn't know the difference.

Reason 3284923842 Why I love Sweden

In most recent news, I have officially been nominated and then elected for a foreman position at Wermlands Nation here in Lund. In Swedish, the position is called "hovmästare" which translates into head waiter. There are going to be 5 head waiters in total at the nation next semester; a head waiter is in charge of either a sittning (i.e. having workers to serve, setting up and making sure things go fairly smoothly) or a pub night which is a lot more relaxed and just consists of serving food etc. It's certainly one of the most relaxed positions at the nation, and I will only be required to work as a head waiter about once a month but I'm greatly looking forward to being more involved in a nation next semester to give it a different tone and feel from this semester.

I've mentioned before that at the traditional Swedish dinners at nations you sing a lot of songs..every nation has their own song book with different songs in them. There's a favorite of mine called "Yogi Bear," and here's a little tidbit of the lyrics that I can remember..

Yogi has an enemy, Ranger, Ranger
Yogi has an enemy, Ranger Ranger Smith
Ranger Ranger Smith, Ranger Ranger Smith
Yogi has an enemy Ranger Ranger Smith

Yogi has a girlfriend, Cindy, Cindy
Yogi has a girlfriend, Cindy Cindy Bear
Cindy Cindy Bear, Cindy Cindy Bear
Yogi has a girlfriend, Cindy Cindy Bear

Cindy likes it up the bum, kinky, kinky
Cindy likes it up the bum, kinky kinky bear
Kinky kinky bear, kinky kinky bear
Cindy likes it up the bum, kinky kinky bear

Yogi he likes furniture, Ikea, Ikea
Yogi he likes furniture, Ikea Ikea Bear
Ikea Ikea Bear, Ikea Ikea Bear
Yogi he likes furniture, Ikea Ikea Bear

Walking on pins and needle

So over the past year and a half I've acquired 3 tattoos: a script piece on my back that is a French proverb translating to "There's no place like home," as well as my parents initials on each ankle representing their dichotomy through left and right brain. It would only make sense then that in Sweden, my year abroad, a time in my life I have no doubt I will remember and that it will shape me, that I shall once again get another tattoo. Over the past 6-8 months I've played around with various ideas, and decided that I definitely wanted an image this time..words take up a lot of space and although they hold a lot of meaning, I don't want to be a human book. Which lead me to decide on pink lily flowers; I associate these with my mom's home in San Rafael..whenever we have flowers in a vase on our dining room table, they are always pink lilies.

I did some research of tattoo shops in Copenhagen and found a really nice place that reminded me of Spider Murphy's where I got my first tattoo a year and a half ago. I emailed and talked on the phone with a woman named Rosaminna, who never failed to make me feel as if we had been good friends for 10+ years. She recommended Yanni to me, a guest tattoo artist who was only going to be at the shop for the month of December..reluctant to wait so long I asked if there was anyone else who was capable of tattooing beautiful flowers. She said yes but that she would recommend waiting for Yanni, because he would do the best job. Alright, sold. Consultation and tattoo appointment booked for early December.

Fast forward to last week, I go to Copenhagen, get insanely lost two times but finally get to my consultation at Brightside Tattoo. Rosaminna goes to fetch Yanni, we meet, shake hands and we go to his station where we are to discuss my tattoo. He immediately asks where I'm from, I reply "The states" he asks where, "California near San Francisco," and he says that he is from Santa Clarita near L.A. Well, fancy that..come all the way to Sweden, and then to Denmark to get tattooed by an artist from California who's traveling through Europe; I immediately feel more at home and comfortable with him. Fast forward to today, December 7th, my friend Sofia comes with me to the tattoo shop and because of my killer visual memory we arrive to the tattoo shop early. Yanni calls me back shortly after 12 p.m. and asks if he can just freehand the tattoo directly onto me (usually tattoos are drawn onto paper and then placed as a stencil on the body), I said that he most definitely could, but only because he was from California. I go back and he begins drawing and I was immediately amazed at his talent to draw so well directly onto my body with what appeared to be minimal mistakes. I okay the preliminary tattoo and we get to going. Ohhh that very specific pain that only comes with a tattoo..I don't see the point in expressing it because hell, I have two hours to sit through so no point getting dramatic although I do have a natural knack for that sort of thing. And not to toot my own horn or anything, but I'd like to think that I can handle pain quite well..yes I would occasionally grip the side of the table I was laying on, or look away and mouth "Ouch" but I've got a pretty killer poker face. If anything I enjoyed watching because the technique and the art of tattooing is so unparalleled and fantastic, especially when he was filling in the flowers and told me that the tattoo gun had almost a dozen needles.

In the end, I have never been more consistently ecstatic, besides the pain that was uncomfortable, I immediately fell in love with the tattoo..it is exactly what I had wanted and more: all thanks to Yanni Vera.

From Ianna, to Snow, to Stockholm and Back

Oh how daunting the idea of trying to summarize the last couple of weeks seems to me right now. Let's start off with last weekend: Ianna (a friend from UC Santa Cruz), came to visit me in Sweden from Friday-Monday. I was so excited and proud to show off Lund and my friends here, two new additions to my life that have undoubtedly altered me in the best way feasible. There are a few things I find necessary to experience when one visits Sweden: 1. The Systembolaget (the ridiculously high priced alcohol store owned by the government, but is amazing nonetheless), 2. The nation life, it's hard to really explain what nations are to people, it's better to just drag them around, 3. Pizza med pommes och vitlok sauce (pizza with french fries and garlic sauce on top, delicious!) 4. Viggo's burgers yumm, 5. A tradition Swedish sittning (and in Ianna's case, a tackfest at Wermlands) 6. A yummy falafel after a night out. and usually 7. Drinking ciders in the park, weather permitting. I am proud to say that we were able to accomplish all of that during Ianna's stay. Her first night here, we went to Hallands Nations, and were able to acquire some free drinks because we knew two of the guys working at the bar and danced until about 1:45 a.m. when we decided to head out. It was the first day of some snow collecting on the ground, and feeling as invincible as I did, I took off my cardigan and heavy duty jacket, frolicking in the empty street leading into town in nothing but a romper and some tights (don't worry I paid for it physically by shivering uncontrollably for almost a full hour after getting home). Saturday during the day, I took Ianna to Malmo, a nearby city very close to the water, and we trekked the long journey to the Turning Torso and unfortunately were unable to do anything else due to time constraints. That same night we had a tackfest at Wermlands Nation (one usually has to have worked for Wermlands to attend, but I am lucky enough to have friends who allowed Ianna to attend free of charge or physical labor!). Sittnings/tackfests are something that we've grown so accustomed to since being in Sweden that it's easy to forget how "foreign" (no pun intended), they can seem to newbies. The other Kaliforniens and I spent most of Friday and Saturday giving Ianna all the details of how they work: from the randomization of all the attendees so you end up sitting next to someone of the opposite sex that you probably don't know, to all of the free alcohol, the three course dinner you get, all of the funny songs that you sing (mostly in Swedish) that can often consist of standing on chairs or tables, with accommodating interesting hand gestures and pounds of the table with ones fist. All in all, having Ianna visit last weekend was a fantastic treat, making me grow increasingly excited for other friends from California to visit so I can share with them all of the magic of Sweden.

For probably about a month and a half now, the Kalifornien girls and I have been talking about Stockholm, let's go to Stockholm, we should go to Stockholm, we need to go to Stockholm. But life, time, prior arrangements and lack of full motivation always seemed to find us and prevent us from doing it. Finally, last week we just decided that we were going to do it, it was now or never. So Sunday night, Kristen, Jen, Sara, Peter and I booked our train and hostel in Stockholm (extremely last minute considering we were leaving early the next morning). It was impulsive in the best of ways. The trip overall was so much fun, Stockholm is very large compared to Lund, there was snow on the ground and the crisp air and wind would bite at your face constantly. Trying to figure out the right formula for warmth was probably the most interesting aspect of experiencing cold weather; our first day there I made the mistake of only wearing pants, and I swear to you my ass felt like 20 bees had stung it and it had gone numb. I didn't make the same mistake the next day: wearing a pair of tights, leggings, and pants. The makings for an impenetrable shield from the cold air and wind. We walked around Stockholm a lot, soaking in it's picturesque scenery and buildings, covered in snow. A memory I hope to never forget was when we decided that it would be really lovely to book a sauna in our hostel (best hostel ever, right?!), and decided it would be an even better idea to run from the sauna, up the stairs and out of the hostel into the snow and cold. We did that twice, part dying, mostly laughing and enjoying it. Another night we were wandering around old town of Stockholm and found a bench in a little courtyard area next to an alley and decided that a jumpingoffthebenchgrouppicture was in order. Low and behold, between the weight of 3 people, and the bitterness of snow and winter air, we ended up breaking the bench..running away like 7 year olds and laughing about it for the next few minutes saying to Peter, "Hey Peter, remember when you broke that bench?"

My head is exploding with thoughts, worries and desires: the main being that Sara and Jennifer's time here is quickly fleeting and I am feeling more and more like I don't know exactly what I will do with myself. In an attempt to create a new sort of routine next semester, I will probably be more busy with school seeing as I'm planning on taking departmental courses (WITH ACTUAL SWEDES), and am also in the process of trying to become a foreman at Wermlands Nation. I was nominated through my friend Sofia for three positions, hovmastare (head waiter of sittnings), lunch chef, and Saturday cafe chef. I tend to steer clear from cooking because of my genetic predisposition to messing up any sort of food that I touch, and hovmastare seems like it would be a fun position for me; I've dealt with 5 year olds, I'm pretty sure that I would be able to boss around some twenty something year olds. I am to attend a meeting on December 9th, where I believe is when I give a little tidbit about myself and the members will vote for those who they see fit to become more involved in the nation. Wish me luck! As I mentioned earlier, I am feeling increasingly sad about my two closest friends in Lund leaving so soon, which leaves me here..at the end of my update because I need to go get ready to create even more memories with the people I've come to love so much here.

Kram och puss

(Hugs and kisses in Swedish)

Adventures In Copenhagen

So last weekend, after talking and planning about a visit to Copenhagen, Denmark, Jen, Sara, Kristen and myself finally paid a visit to our neighboring country! We had heard that some other UC girls had spent the whole night in Copenhagen and then took the first train back in the morning at around 5 a.m., so we thought, hell..we can do it too! After missing the first train we were trying to catch to Copenhagen, we made it on the next one and huzzah, a mere 45 minutes later we were there! In Sweden, you're only able to buy alcohol in the Systembolaget, an alcohol store that is owned and operated by the country, with a heavy tax on all alcohol and in smaller quantities. Imagine our happiness when we walked into the first 7/11 we saw only to find mass amounts of ciders and beers in the refrigerators. We each bought a cider and confirmed with the young looking cashier that we were able to drink in public (although I was really skeptical about his level of validity; pretty much I thought he was trying to set up some stupid Kalifornien girls to get arrested in a foreign country).

Let's make a very long story short: we heard about this college-y area in Copenhagen, and about the bus we had to take to get there..we took the bus and ended up outside of the center in a very sketchy area. In the end we were pretty much right back where we had started and made our way back to the center of the city and looking for bars/clubs/food. We collectively decided that since we never eat out at a nice restaurant (besides the occasional 2 a.m. falafel in fluorescent lighting) that we deserved a meal at a nice restaurant. And Italian food it was! I'm pretty sure that the Italian waiter wanted to kick us all out when I bothered him for bread repeatedly, Sara wanted her meal vegan, and Kristen and Jen wanted to split a dish. The food was nice, although I was still hungry after..but we got to sit around and have good conversation for some time before migrating back out into the cold and onto the remainder of our evening.

We ended up at a bar which was exactly when I was reminded that when one goes to a nation in Lund, there's a very specific age range of youth that are there. Talk about a rude awakening when we walk into this pub/bar that was underground to find that, yes, there were people our age there, but there also were men, I kid you not, old enough to be my dad there. When I was at the bar ordering drinks, this guy started talking to me..way upwards of 40 and I couldn't help but think to myself, "Dude, how old do you think I am?" Ahh, gag. Anyways, I spent a ghastly $8 on a yummy pina colada and the four of us exchanged some major girltalk for some time before we decided that we were all tired and couldn't bear to stay out until 5 or 6 a.m., when we couldn't even find a reliable club and weren't really feeling in the club mood we decided it was best to head back to little old Lund. On our way home we found some fake snow that we frolicked around in, that was quite lovely! Copenhagen is so incredibly different from Lund, big urban city versus a tiny itty bitty town..and as much as I enjoyed a night out on the town as I guess one could call it, it made me love and appreciate Lund even more.

à toute à l'heure!

Late Night Walks

When I first came to Lund, I (being the extremely paranoid person that I am) wasn't really a fan of walking at night and in the dark. But throughout my time here I've grown to really enjoy the cold air and the serenity of walking at night. Last night, with a million thoughts floating through my head I decided it best to go take a walk. I suited up in my jacket, scarf and gloves and went for about an hour long walk through the town, which is saying much because the city itself isn't very large. Something about the peacefulness here is intoxicating. Then again tonight for example, I headed to one of the Wednesday night pubs with some friends, and decided to take a longer route walking home. I don't remember much of the walk only because I was so wrapped up in my own head and thoughts, but there has to be something about the crisp air that adds to the appeal of the darkness here.

The Leaves Are Turning

Lund has to be one of the most beautiful places imaginable during autumn..the trees have been turning beautiful and deep reds and oranges, leaves on the ground everywhere and with the backdrop of the brick buildings, it's simply bliss to be here (pictures to come).

Yesterday (Sunday), Sara, Jen, Cyrus and I made crepes. Okay, so I mainly sat around and acted as moral support because me in the kitchen is just an accident and fire waiting to happen..but, it was lovely nonetheless. Cyrus being the French man of the group was in charge of making the vegan crepes, and after about six failed attempts and doctoring of the batter was able to make about 10 absolutely lovely crepes (beer included in the batter). We added all sorts of yummies such as mushrooms, onions (my favorite), spinach, zuccini and a garlic sauce that Cyrus made, delicious beyond belief! Unfortunately I had been munching on a baguette and some cookies the whole time of cooking so when the crepes were done, I was stuffed after just one. Along with some delicious food came some equally interesting conversation..mainly about the way that we were raised, and what kind of parents we think\hope to be, as well as our views on marriage. There's nothing more I enjoy than theorizing with other people (especially this group who are all so open and amazing), seeing where people come from, how we gather from experiences throughout our life and are constantly evolving and changing.

Random factoid that I recently learned from a Swedish friend about why classes start fifteen minutes past the hour, he was telling me that people used to not have watches and lived outside the city in the countryside..so on the hour a bell would ring and then the students would know that they had fifteen minutes to get to class (yay for a little bit of history!). Another point of amusement for us has been how the Swedes text, and when mixed with some form of alcohol certainly makes for some giggles on our end. We have rejoiced and tried to decipher the code of Swedish friends' text many a times (disclaimer:not all Swedes text with interesting sentence structure and incomprehensibility, just some). I have one friend who says "quite much" quite often, which I find to be adorable, another one of our friends says "okeeeej" which apparently is a Stockholm thing and one has to hear to understand it's hilarity and strong desired to be imitated constantly, we also has a friend who starts off most sentences with "well" or "well jaaaa." And secretly behind their backs, but with the greatest amount of love, I immitate them from time to time.

On another side side side note, it's officially November, which means that there is very little time left until two of the most amazing girls I've met here (Jen and Sara) go back home to California. I have extremely mixed feelings seeing as they've been such a large part of my time here in Sweden, we pretty much live at each other's corridors, spend every day of the week together filled with good food, good laughs, and good tv shows. It's so bizarre to imagine how the structure of my day will change so dramatically from fall term to spring term, so much so that I would rather live in denial and pretend like they're never leaving. Seeing as it is November, this also means that I'm officially a month and a half away from going home to California for two weeks, an event that I am both looking forward to and slightly nervous about, although I couldn't tell you why it makes me nervous. It's bizarre to imagine leaving Sweden, going back home to in a way mentally debrief from my first 4.5 months here in its eventfulness and intensity, and then return for another 6 months. And in conjunction with that, it's hard to grapple with the idea of leaving Sweden in June..of course I can't foresee how I might feel about my departure since it's so far in the future but for the moment, I'm recognizing how many connections I've made. Sure, some will follow me back to California and that will follow me back when I return home..but others that will simply, end. Not to say that I won't keep in touch with the Swedes I've become good friends with, but more that I don't know when I will see them again. The idea of being here for 10 months, creating these bonds and these memories and then leaving is an overwhelming one..I know, I know, I'm fretting far too prematurely. However, I must say that I've spent some extensive time thinking about all of the people that I've missed from California, all of the food that I will eat (and alcohol I will not be able to drink), as well as the beautiful California coast I hope to repeatedly visit, Mount Tamalpais that I will see outside of my bathroom window, as well as the Golden Gate Bridge that I miss so terribly. It's hard to conceive that there is a world that is still existing and turning in California without me there, and that I will go home and things will have somehow shifted, maybe not majorly or too noticeably, but time has an amazing effect and I'm eager to experience it for two weeks.

I apologize for the inconsistency and rambly quality of this posting, I suppose it reflects how I'm feeling: overwhelmed, excited, full, stimulated, nervous\anxious, and loving every minute of it. Cheers