Going home

Our last day in Stockholm. Tomorrow we're going to try to survive two long flights with the kids, hoping they will show their best behavior as long as possible (I have no hopes they'll sleep much...). We'll be leaving around 6 am Sunday, and will arrive home around 4 am Tuesday, Swedish time, in California.

We're sure curious about what it will be like. According to news reports, all of Northern California is smoke filled with 1000 active fires...

What a welcoming after 5 weeks abroad...

Part of me is sad of leaving. And part of me is very happy to come back home, to our house, to our real life. It sure is going to be nice to stop wondering about the what the weather is going to be like.

Family reunion

Today we gathered the family for a little get-together. When thinking about it, it was more like a family reunion. The last time we were all in the same place at the same time was... our wedding... that's how unusual it is that we are all gathered at the same place at the same time. With expat-parents and a sea captain in the family besides me and my alien family, the chances are slim.

I sure wonder when a day like this will come again...

Life of an alien.

An Old Town meeting

Last year I met fellow Swedish alien blogger Annika (who writes the blog "Life in the Suburb!") on one of the two rainy days we had in Stockholm during our stay. This year I met her on the day Stockholm was the warmest city in the country (according to some statistics I think I caught on one of the numerous news programs). We had a good time eating "smulpaj" at Kaffekoppen on Stortorget, talking about Swedish phenomena and feeling like the only Swedes on the sqaure - at least the only ones who were not there with guides...

And I wanted this picture from Prästgränd to illustrated
this post - but for some reason, Blogger has decided to
rotate the picture. I've redone it, renamned it, reloaded it
- done tons of things with the same result.
So now you have to tilt your head until I figure out while this
picture of all is being rotated.

A perfect Stockholm summer day

We have spent the day at Skansen - a huge outdoor museum/park/zoo in downtown Stockholm, walking around, eating pancakes and meatballs, enjoying the sun, the very Swedish animals, the cute, old houses. Even though you're not far from the city center, you're almost transferred to another time when walking around. Now and then you can catch glimpses of the bustling city around you.

And as the Swedes that we are - we just can't stop talk about how great the weather is - how unbelievable lucky we've been, doing Gröna Lund yesterday and Skansen today and it's been totally perfect...

A day at Gröna Lund

I'm exhausted. I've spent the whole day at Gröna Lund, the tivoli downtown Stockholm. Well, they don't open until noon, so "the whole day" might be exaggerating. I didn't even go on a single ride. I was rather making sure the ice cream with spinkles was being served at the right time. That entertainment was provided while waiting in long lines for the ride "Nyckelpigan". And cheering everytime the merry-go-around completed a circle.

Event organizer. Maybe that is a future career?

Anyway - I love Gröna Lund. The view from here is one of the best in Stockholm and I like the fact that this tivoli is more than 100 years old and that it's in the middle of everything. I'm kind of curious if my kids will cherish their memories from here like I have done. After all, part of their childhood is also "tivolis" 10 times in size - like Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo about an hour's drive from where we live in California. The future will tell. I did my best to make them have a great day today. I give myself 5 out of 5 stars, thank you very much.

(Oh, and I was lying. I did go on a ride. I took a tour on the "Veteranbilarna").

A rare picture of me, on Djurgårdsfärjan, with one
of the greatest city horizons in world in the background.

A very Swedish day

We had errands downtown today, so we loaded the kids in the rented (kombi...) car and headed north. Even though both me and my Husband are born and grew up in Stockholm, we haven't been driving around on a regular basis for years, so we are almost ashamed to say we hardly found our way around...

While the Husband had a quick meeting with a friend I took the kids up to Humlegården (a huge park downtown Stockholm - the closest you get to a Stockholm "Central park") where I had vague memories of seeing a park construction when passing by when I used to live here. It turned out there was a huge "Parklek" ("Play in the Park") with different section for different age groups and packed with strollers, parents, and kids. What a great and fun idea - I had totally forgotten all about Parklekar - and I have never had kids in Stockholm. We all had a blast for a couple of hours.

Once back home and the kids were happily asleep after a hectic day, we turned on the TV and as always these days, these "TV-hallåor" (TV program presenters) makes me so giggly - it's such a fun phenomena. They are always happy and all smiles and introduce you to the next program.

In this case it was "Allsång på Skansen" - a very important TV show during the summer seasons. It's celebrating it's 20th anniversary and tonight was the season premiere. I actually watch it sometimes online during the summers when in California. They do the show live from downtown Stockholm and have great views from my this fantastic city. I don't really care for the artists performing (I hardly know half of them) - but I do care for the views...

The Daughter playing in the typical swedish wooden
play construction at Humlegården in downtown Stockholm



A happy Swedish "TV-hallåa" (TV-program presenter?)
is announcing that next up is Allsång på Skansen.



The host Anders Lundin sings "Stockholm i mitt hjärta" in the season
premiere of Allsång på Skansen - a very important TV show. Behind the
scene is the fantastic view of downtown Stockholm.

Commuting in Stockholm

Commuting in Stockholm really is fantastic. For four weeks I lived on an island in the "middle archipelago", commuting to work every day, taking the bus to downtown Stockholm on the mainland across the island. And now we're on Dalarö, an island in the "southern archipelago" (but which you can reach by car) and from here I walk a couple of hundred meters and get on a bus, that will take me to the commuter train, that will put me in downtown Stockholm in about an hour. Without even using your own car a single time.

You tend to forget how easy transportation actually can be - if there really is a great public transportation system like here. Amazing.

Connecting from the bus from Dalarö to the commuter
train in Handen , going to downtown Stockholm.

A Sunday of shopping

I left for downtown from Dalarö today to meet up with friends from Paris, who have been visiting in Stockholm over Midsummer and whom I was supposed to meet yesterday, before we got soaked by the little thunderstorm. We unfortunately never caught each other today for a bunch of reasons, so I got an unexpected shopping day all by myself in Stockholm with lunch at Wayne's Coffee.

I came back to the island with non-snug fitting Swedish pajamas for the kids, a couple of fun things from Designtorget, an electrical Brio train for the son and some great fitting Swedish clothes for me.

Sometimes these totally unexpected shopping tours are the most succesful....

A little Swedish thunderstorm

When we were to leave the island today for Dalarö, another island in the south of the archipelago where we're staying the remainder of our visit to Sweden this summer, we got caught in a sudden, very local thunderstorm. The flashes were hitting around us, the thunder was roaring and the heavy rain and hale were pounding.

Too bad we were in a little boat with four suitcases and lots of other packing (some in paper bags...) and got two, totally hysterical kids that have never experienced a little summer thunderstorm in the archipelago before. You could see the edges of the dark cloud and the clear blue sky around it and the storm only lasted for about 30 minutes.

Enough to soak us completely, as well as all our luggage... and the wet and cold Daughter stated clearly that she wanted to go back to California...

Too bad we didn't think of taking pictures, because it sure was an adventure. You just have to imagine four totally soaked persons and a huge, wet pile of luggage...

One Midsummer pole and seven flowers

Our Midsummer Eve was a fantastic, wonderful day in the Stockholm archipelago. Weather was great (and I'm putting this first since this is a very important part of grading how great your midsummer were... and the first question fellow Swedes will ask you when talking about how you celebrated Midsummer) we danced the "little frog dance" around the Midsummer pole on the commons on the island, ate tons of Swedish princess cake, picked "smultron", fished in the pond, barbecued and collected seven flowers to put under our pillows to dream good dreams.

As a Swedish alien - this sure is how you would like your kids to experience Midsummer. I love Midsummer!

Boat highway

The island in the archipelago that I'm on is right by a "boat highway", ie a water pathway for boats to get to the outer parts of the archipelago. It's kind of fun, just sitting on the porch and watch the boats go by.

Today, the day before the "real national day" in Sweden, Midsummer Eve, the boat traffic was a bit more intense. Today is the day when everyone leaves the city for the country side, or also the archipelago if you're in Stockholm. Midsummer is a HUGE weekend in Sweden.

When we stopped at Ica Maxi at 10 am this morning, the store was packed. We had to walk a long way from the car to the store and the line for the strawberry stand outside was so long we decided we can do Midsummer without strawberries and a strawberry cake (and we actually eat strawberries all year around home in California).

We got a princess cake instead. Now THAT is a cake for Swedish aliens... Can't wait until tomorrow!

Schhh!

Don't tell the Swedes, but I actually sort of miss darkness... Of course it's amazing with these bright summer nights (18 hours of daylight in Stockholm right now), but still... I wouldn't mind a night when it was dark.

I really prefer my bedroom to be pitch dark when I sleep. And since I right now sleep in a living room with 6 windows without blinds (fantastic view during daytime!), it gets kind of... sunny pretty early. And with a son who wakes up at least once a night, I can report that yes, the sun really do shine at 4 am in Stockholm.

Oh, well. Maybe I should just wish for blinds for the summer house. Or my own room without a window (and a son who would start sleeping through the night would also be convenient). Because it sure is magic and fantastic and wonderful with the night sun. If only I didn't have to get up at 4 am and convince my little 2 ft that yes, it actually is the middle of the night, and going back to sleep is the right thing to do. At least for his mom.

The land of the kombi

Every morning I take the bus downtown from the mainland across the water from the island. It's about at 30 minute ride and after 3 weeks here, I'm still acting like a tourist, being busy, looking around, enjoying the view, checking out things and people...

When we approach downtown Stockholm the traffic on the (very tiny) "highway" (compared to the US) gets a bit more intense.

It's amazing how many "kombi"-cars (station wagons) there are here. It must be 9 out of 10 cars, or at least 8 out of 10 (and according Wikipedia, Swedes buy the most station wagons compared to the other European countries) (there are hardly any station wagons in the US). It sure is the "standard car" to drive in Sweden and it looks kind of funny when they are all lined up in the traffic jams.

I almost have to giggle, but no, you can't do that on a bus in Stockholm. You keep to yourself, are quiet - and you definitely do not giggle.

Toys from the past

My mom is the oldest of four sisters so there is not much left from her childhood in terms of books, toys or any other memories (well, except the stories, and they are many...). When I was a kid this always made me sad for some reason and at really early age, I decided I would try to save my things for my (at that point very hypothetical) children. And so I did. I've gotten teased for my boxes in the attics many times, but for the past 20something years I've kept the them so my kids could play with my old things one day.

That day was yesterday.

I brought one of the boxes from my storage downtown with toys to the summer island and sat with almost teary eyes as the Daughter was playing with my (but now very) old doll, doll stroller and dress up clothes and other things.

It was a great and almost scary moment at the same time. So much time has passed, but it still felt like yesterday when I saw the toys, and then this new little person playing with them.

I'm so glad I've save the boxes, despite all the hassle being an alien these days with limited access to storage in Stockholm. But all the storage problems in the world was worth that single day yesterday. I think you earn lots of "grown-up points" when your kids are playing with your old toys...?

Dolly at the Stadium

Last night Dolly Parton was in town and I got a chance to go see her. Not that I'm a country music fan - but I kind of like her - she sure has personality and with 40 years in the business I'm happy to have had a chance to see her live. We were lucky to sit on the "sunny" side at the Stadium in downtown Stockholm - it was a chilly night.

One of the newspapers in Stockholm claim some of the songs must have been playback, and I don't know... maybe... some sounded a little too perfect some times. But she can't fake her funny giggle.

It was a lot of fun and I even got a pink cowboy hat afterwards.

For my daughter's dress up box.

But a copule of chic 20something girls at Stureplan seriously asked me where I had found the cool hat (no, I wasn't wearing it, it was just hanging on my backpack). So maybe I should keep it for myself...

A fashion report

Ok, this isn't much of a fashion job (except when I write about hoodies and tapered jeans), but here is a little fashion report from Stockholm. I love shopping in Stockholm during my visits here - to me it's "special" as compare to shopping in the US which these days is more "everyday".

I haven't had much time to browse the stores during this visit, unfortunately I'm way too busy to do any more advanced shopping sprees, but the few times I've been in and out I've noticed that this summer's fashion in Stockholm, if you go by the supplies in the stores, is a lot about strong colors.

Green, yellow, blue, red.

These are not my colors at all... I'm more of a "earth tone type of gal".

Great! I will save soo much money this summer.

Kylie in the Globe

Last night I saw Kylie Minogue's show in the Globen in Stockholm. I really had no expectations, I can't say that I now that many of her songs - except the "hits". The Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet gave the show 5 out of 5. But I'm not sure I agree... I don't know - it just felt it got a bit too much at times... or maybe because I'm kind of tired, archipelago-life vs hectic downtown life is taking it's toll. And her new material is more... I don't know... techno sort of? It all sounded like the same song.

It got better in the end and the extra songs were really good.

At least when she sang "I should be so lucky". That's when all of us born in the 70s got on our feet and sang along - and the younger crowd looked confused.

It's kind of fun though, come all the way from California to see a superstar all the way from Australia.

Soccer night

You can't be here in Sweden and miss that the European Championship in Soccer going on right now (or probably in any part of Europe).

So to feel really Swedish I spent the evening watching the game between Sweden and Greece (which Sweden won by 2-0!), the first game for Sweden in the tournament. Not that I watch American fotball too much (at all actually) when in California, but it was a actually a bit fun to watch some old fashioned soccer.

Rain and WIND!

After two weeks with wonderful weather during our two summer weeks here in Sweden, we today woke up to clouds and rain. We have almost forgotten all about that the weather can be less then perfect. I had to dress up in total rain gear when going to work.

And then I spent the day sweating downtown working. I'm still kind of stuck with "rain = must be cold = more clothes". You can't teach old dogs to sit as we would say in Swedish.

By the time I got back to the island we had a very, very strong wind. Operating the boat on the water was kind of tricky and I got sort of wet. It sure is an interesting commute to and from work...

Sandhamn weekend

I've spent the weekend in Sandhamn with my family, celebrating my mom's 60th birthday. It was a fantastic weekend - the weather was so perfect! We had a great time - I love this little sand island in the outer archipelago. I used to take day tours here in the summer all the time, spending a couple of hours at the beach at Trouville or eating chocolate cheese cake at the Inn.

Oh, those summer memories...

Sweden's National Day

After celebrating July 14 in France and and July 4 in California, celebrating June 6 in Sweden is kind of... "bleak"... as we would say in Swedish.

They've tried to do a lot for this day, Sweden's National Day and since a couple of years it's been a public holiday - but it seems we're still sort of "lost". At least me... I have no traditions or things I usually do on this day... No special food, no special event, no special place I "always do". And then I'm a huge fan of special days - and I love the.

Maybe it'll grow on us now when most people have the day off.

I can honestly say that perhaps I even celebrate it more when I'm in California than here.... But at least we put of the flag on the flag pole today.

Observation from Sweden #5

It really is convenient that things cost the exact amount that is on the price tag and not 7-something % more when you shop here. In Sweden the sales tax is always included in the price in the stores (in comparison to California where it's not).

Makes shopping a bit easier - but I wonder how long Swedes would accept a sales tax of 25% if they had to add it every time they purchase something...

Cool coincidence

Today I experienced something pretty cool. On my way to work, about 20 seconds before I disappeared through the entrance to the office building someone grabbed my arm.

It was my brother!!

How cool is that - to bump into your brother!

Hm. I just realized that this might not seem like an amazing story at all... unless you've lived far from family and friends and knowing that the chances of ever "bumping into" someone you know where you now live are... well... more or less zero.

My happy cellphone

I have two cellphones. One American and one Swedish. Most of the year my Swedish cell phone is quiet. It's turned on, but rarely gets attention. When I'm in California most people use my VoiP office number to get in touch.

My Swedish cell phone is a Nokia which - I have realized when I look around at my colleagues' phones - is getting (very) outdated. But since I hardly use it is still in great shape, spending most of it's time resting on top of a shelf in my home office in California.

But when I'm in Sweden my Swedish cell phone comes to live. You can almost feel how happy it is to serve again. Jumps with joy with the phone rings, smiles with each sms.

Today I've spoken to my brother on my cell four or five times. Isn't it interesting that we call each other more now when we're actually closer in distance than we normally is... or maybe it is because you just can - no time differences to complicate things. Suddenly you can just make a phone call to your family without calculating hours. And my cell phone is happy, very happy.

Two different worlds

Every morning I wake up on an island in the archipelago and take the bus downtown. From early morning bird song to sounds of the city. I love the contrasts - and the weather is making the early morning boat ride to the mainland a pure joy.

From this...

... to this

A conversation between cousins

Today the kids got to spend some valuable time with their cousin and my kids, starved from same-age company, living on a archipelago island before the summer holidays have really started here, were so happy.

At one point the cousin's neighbors came out.

Swedish cousin; "Look, those are my friends over there!"
Alien cousin, happy to see more kids: "Do they speak Swedish or English?"
Swedish cousin, with a confused, blank face: ".... Swedish..."
Alien cousin: "Yes, just like we do right now!"
Swedish cousin; "Can you really speak English?"
Alien cousin, with a confused, blank face: "...Yes".
Swedish cousin: "Prove that to me!"

Then something else happened to divert attention, so the Daughter never had to prove her English speaking skills... and they happily played in Swedish for the remainder of the afternoon.

It's always fun to get a reminder of the life of a bilingual kid, when what language potential playmates speak is a valid question as well as the names and ages and the color of the house where you live.

The perfect summer day

When you're Swedish, you patiently wait through darkness and cold during the winter for that perfect, glorious summer day that makes the wait all worth it.

Today was such a day.

Bringing my alien kids here (and going through jetlag hell...) seems all worth it when I can give them a day like this. The perfect Swedish summer day. We might live in California and be used to sun and blue skies - but this, this sure is special. I hope my kids will learn to appreciate it, because this is not their life, they don't know about waiting for months to take off your shoes and walk barefoot through the damp grass in the morning, for the sun to be up so late it never really gets dark.

We have spent the day smelling the lilacs, hunting down the best pine cones, checking for wild strawberries, counting all the boats go by on the water, listening to all the birds singing and feeding their baby birds in the wooden nesting-boxes, getting the evening bath in small tubs outside on the wooden patio in the warm evening sun.

The perfect Swedish summer day.

The weather

Things are slowly returning to normal and I'm almost considering I might bring the kids on a cross Atlantic travel again. Almost. In 10 years or so.

Anyway, you can't blog from Sweden and not write about the weather. My parents check the weather report several times a day - the weather report in the morning paper, on the radio and in all the news broad cast.

The big talk here right now is the weather - since it's unbelievable nice. You really couldn't ask for more in the end of May. All those dollars spent on tickets feels worth it (almost...).

I am without doubt the person in Stockholm most dressed. I still have to get used to that +24 means "shorts weather" and not necessarily "socks weather".

A familiar view for all Stockholmers out there.

Pirates in Stockholm!

Today I saw pirates arriving in Stockholm! They were shooting cannonballs!

Actually they were fake and it wasn't pirates... phew... it was the Swedish East Indiaman Götheborg that arrived in Stockholm for a visit. But it sure looked cool.


(you can see more pictures from the ship here)

Jetlag from hell

Well, this could probably be a post that I just repeat every year when I get to Sweden and bring the little ones with me for once. My kids doesn't seem to know that they are aliens and are supposed to like travel across the globe. They don't sleep on airplanes and they don't do jet lag.

By Wednesday night, three days after leaving California, I had logged something like 8 hours of sleep. The Son almost as much (or actually as little). It's just totally crazy. Traveling on your own, truly is a piece of cake.

I know it's going to be over. At one point. We probably have 4-5 crazy nights to go.

Oh, well. The Stockholm archipelago really has shown it's best May face. Clear skies, beautiful summer greenery, nice temperatures and just the fantastic, wonderful feeling of Swedish pre-summer.

This is the sight that we were greeted by on our last leg on our trip - the boat ride across the island to the summer house where we're staying (but not sleeping).

To the other side of the world

The bags are packed. Tomorrow we're taking off for a couple of weeks in Stockholm, Sweden.

Weather forecast isn't looking too bad. At least there is some sun showing on the weather maps.

We have a long trip ahead of us... first stop Chicago, about 4,5 hours away by plane and then Stockholm, another 8-9 hours. Then we have to drive through downtown Stockholm and out in the archipelago and the last part is by boat to the island where we're staying.

On the other side of the world.

Oh, the places she'll go

Today I attended my first American graduation. My Daughter's preschool graduation. The first one in a (hopefully) long run of graduations. She was totally unmoved and was just plain happy. I was totally sentimental (my gosh, I'm going to become one of those embarrassing moms with a kleenex box... ).

I had gotten her a graduation gift, the book "Oh, the places you'll go" by Dr Seuss. Dr Seuss is a very loved children's author I knew nothing about before I moved here. When you read his books, you realize that they are totally untranslatable. A translation would make the magic in his words and rhymes completely lost. I'm so happy my Daughter is bilingual and will be able to enjoy Dr Seuss.

"Oh, the places you'll go" is a great book. All grown-ups should read it. Actually, it probably makes even more sense if you're a grown up.

This is how the book starts;

"You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go. "

Dr Seuss illustrations are fantastic. Just look at this illustration from the end of the book, illustrating the words;

"And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.)

KID YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS."

Actually, I found the whole book being read online (don't you just love YouTube!?). Here is for those of you who have never read this book! Listen carefully when they get to the part about "The Waiting Place"...

How to memorize a number plate

Now and then you hear about a story when a criminal was caught when witnesses remember the license plate of the car criminal used. On my drive into San Francisco the other day I was thinking about this, studying Californian licenses while on driving on the dense highways, wondering if I, in situation of stress and adrenaline, would actually remember a license plate.

Seems I would have a greater chance with a Swedish number plate. They have the sequence "ABC 123" as the system, whereas the California system is "1ABC234" (at least the majority of plates) (and unless you have a "vanity plate" with a specific word). The spacing between the number series and the letter series also makes me think I would easier remember a Swedish plate than a California one. There just is no logic to "3PDQ296". Or maybe (if this ever becomes necessary of course) I'll focus on the "PDQ 296" and just forget about the "3". Then I would at least have gotten 86% of the plate right...

Or I just have to stay out of situations where my license plate memorizing skill is needed.

And the winner is...

The TV show American Idol has reached it's grand finale - and the winner of this season was the one I like the most - David Cook. I haven't really been watching, but I've checked out his performances on YouTube the day after.

I actually knew one hour before the show ending here in California that he had won. I was reading the news (having forgotten all about that it was the finale today) on CNN.com and they had a story on the winner (with a spoiler alert). The American Idol show is only "live" on the east coast. We on the west coast have to wait for three more hours (even though the show is actually done in LA).

Anyway - I turned on the TV and watched the remainder of the show, already knowing the name of the winner.

Here is David Cook performing "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" (one of my favorites!) by U2 from yesterday's show.

GPS and high rise buildings

On my birthday in January I got a GPS navigator for the car from the Husband. I was only a slightly bit surprised, after all I am married to a geek, and even though I can not remember ever mention the wish for the GPS, I usually get gadgets from him (actually I would be more surpised if I got a diamond bracelet...) (and I sure was first among friends and family with the mp3 player I got for Christmas in 1999*).

Anyway, he installed it in my car and the next day I took off on my trip to Reno.

And I fell in love.

This little device sure is fantastic! Suddenly I can relax when driving in unknown territory - and really, most of California is still unknown - I don't know short cuts or the smartest way to get out of a 7 lane wide highway if I take the wrong exit. Now, I just let my GPS help me out - and she'll take me where I want to go. "You have reached your destination" are the sweetest words.

On today's trip to the Swedish consulate downtown San Francisco, I had programmed the GPS to the closest parking house (see post below). We wanted to be in and out pretty quickly, just picking up the son's passport and then heading back - this week is pretty busy before my departure on Sunday. The Swedish consulate is located in the middle of the financial district, ie where the tallest buildings are.

And today I learned that GPS can't see enough satellites when surrounded by high rises... it totally flipped and crazily screamed out instructions "turn left, then keep right and turn left, not left, right, ahead keep right". In the end we had to turn her off and rely on our selfs, checking street signs and signs for parking. We found a parking house, not the one I had researched in advance, but one we think was actually even closer.

Next time I know to take out the old fashioned map before enter American downtown areas...

(* and just for the record... the Husband has also given me gadgets such as an electrical nail file, a sewing machine and a tea brewer).

New-fashioned maps

Ok - so I have to rush into San Francisco tomorrow to pick up the son's Swedish passport at the Swedish consulate. It's been ready for months, but you need to bring the item himself (even though the picture we took of him last August is very different from what he looks like now), we've postponed it and postponed it. But I really want his Swedish passport with me when I'm flying to Sweden on Sunday. He has already been three times to Sweden on his US passport - but I don't know... just feels good to know I'm bringing a Swede with me too. Alas - SF, here we come!

I just checked the opening hours at the Swedish consulate, and their suggested parking (this is only the second time I had to visit there and I can hardly remember the surroundings). Then I used GoogleMaps and streetview to figure out the best way to actually get into the parking house. Isn't these "new fashioned maps" just fantastic!!

Tomorrow I'll let my GPS in the car know the exact address to this point, lean back and just relax, letting the GPS guide me there. I hope we're in and out of San Francisco in less than an hour and a half...

Miles and kilometers

Despite the race I did yesterday was a 5K race - as in 5 kilometers - the distance signs were in miles... (I just had to stop to take this picture with my cell phone...) (of course you bring your cellphone during the race... who knows who might be calling...). And since I don't do miles yet, I had no idea of the distance during the race - only that a 5K is 3 something miles. The clock was a better way to know approximately the distance to the finish...

I won!

I won my 5K Walk today. Well, I was the only one Nordic Walking - so that means that I must have won that category, right?

It was a lot of fun - but HOT. No shade, no wind, just gazing sun. No idea about the temperature, but it was already +24C when I left the house at 7.30 am. It took me about an hour to do the walk, in the company of iPod music.

I'll definitely do this again. I don't mind being the only one with poles even though I got a few weird stares...

It's HOT

We do get pretty hot here during summer season, so 100F days (days with +37C) are not unusual. But after a pretty cool spring, cold northern winds and low temperatures at night, my Scandinavian body hasn't been prepared for the sudden switch to HEAT.

Today we hit over +41C here and since it was a bit windy - I don't know if you calculate "wind factor" when it's hot... does it make it cooler... or hotter...? - it felt like walking around in font of a hairdryer.

And while eating ice cream in the cool AC air inside (it's on days like this when you think your inside temperature of +26C feels really cold and nice...), I'm packing fleece sweaters and rain boots for next weekend's departure for Sweden for 5 weeks. Though I hope we get nice Swedish summer weather during our stay in Stockholm, we'll be totally prepared for cold and rainy weather. And today I wouldn't mind a little rain and over cast. I know that when we come back in early July, we'll have a couple of months of blue skies and no clouds... so weather is actually what I think the least about.

I'm thinking more about 7 nights of crazy jet lag for the two under 4t persons... of how to get your poor dollars to be worth anything at all... and about this year actually finding time to do all the things we want and meet all the friends we've missed. 9 days to go.

A new (very cheap) travel partner

My belowed travel partner, a Lenovo X40, is reaching his retirement age. He's been with me the past few years, in sickness and in health, but is now ready for a calm life, with constant charging for his tired batteries, far from working with java heavy web pages and huge file organization. He is Swedish just like me, and my plan was to get his replacement from Sweden too, since I really, really, really do prefer to have a Swedish keyboard.

But today we did some research and it turns out you can pretty easily order a Swedish keyboard as a spare part from Lenovo (people do really pour there coffee over their keyboards) and if you order the computer here in the US instead of Sweden, it's a lot cheaper.

A lot.

How about the difference between approximately $940 and $4100*.


(*the approximate price difference on the T61 that I'm getting, always tricky to compare exactly since you have so many different options on RAM,G, GHz, and other abbreviations - but it gives you the rough idea about the difference)

Green salad and an empty hand

I had lunch with the Husband today and we both ordered a salad before our meal. Just like in Sweden you can get a salad before your main lunch meal (even though it's more common to actually go assemble your salad on your own by the salad buffé in most Swedish "lunch restaurants").

The difference here is that a salad, means a salad... a lot of green salad. An occasional tomato, maybe some crutons, but the essence is the green salad - and your choice of dressing. Very important question - "what kind of dressing would you like on your salad?" You usually have 5-6 options.

The Husband always wants blue cheese, I don't want dressing at all, I just don't like it.

Then you get your salad - and a fork. I'm still working on trying to eat my salad with only a fork and look relaxed... It is soo hard not have something in your left hand when eating. When you've used a fork and a knife all your life it's hard to break the habit (even though you might not really use the knife... but it's just... there).

Oh, well, that day will come. I've only been here for 9 years.

5K Walk

In a spur of a moment, I decided to register to do a 5K race on Saturday. As an online friend said, "what a great way to start boot camp - start with the ending and have it over with". Exactly.

I won't be running. I'm no runner. But my plan is to walk (since you can do the 5K Walk) with my NW poles. How long can it take to walk 5 kilometers? An hour? I should manage that.

The race starts at 8.15 am, which is great considering will might have a 100F day on Saturday (+37C).

And at least I will (hopefully) look good in my new, nice outfit from my new favorite store, Life is Good. How can you fail with a "smile" on your head and a "walk" on your chest?

(And note the interesting phenomena that races are in the metric system (5K meaning five kilometers) and not yards or miles... I LOVE that! I sure can relate to 5 kilometers, whereas I would have no idea how long 3.107 miles is. Finally an area where I can use my metric trained brain!)

Childhood tunes

I was never one of those who clearly stated "my children will never watch TV before the age of 15". And thankfully so, since I, like I assume thousands of other parents, have realized that there are times when the TV is an excellent part of parenthood...

Like at 5.30 am when your the Son is sure it's time to get up.

And I'm really thankful for living in the age of hackable DVD players and easily available region 2 DVDs so you can actually choose what you have to listen too when you're half asleep, wanting to at least sleep until the alarm clock rings (even though we can hardly remember waking up by the electric alarm clock these days, having two irl ones).

I'm sure there is no harm for children's brain development to watch an episode of the Swedish TV-series "Kalles Klätterträd" at 5.45 am

And they really have to practicing their Swedish. At all times.

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day in the US. Somehow the American Mother's Day seems much more... serious than the Swedish one? The Swedish Mother's Day feels more... voluntarily. Some celebrate it, and some don't (or has this changed in the past years?). I remember making drawings for my mom on "Mors Dag", and maybe we gave her breakfast in bed, but I don't remember it as being a Big Day (hm... maybe she thought it was and wanted it to be...?).

Whereas here, it feels you more or less have to celebrate it. I found some statistics saying that 94% of all consumers participate someway in the Mother's Day celebration here - and somehow I'm guessing this is way more than in Sweden? Americans are anticipated to spend an average of $139.63 today this year and the total spending is expected to be $15,8 billion (National Retail Federation).

15,8 billion.

That's a lot of money.

The restaurants will be full today with children taking their mothers (and men taking the mother of their children) out for brunch, lunch or dinner. Every magazine have been full of possible gifts and the flower departments in the stores will be empty by closing time.

My under 4ft offspring are too small yet to understand that they are Americans and should come up with a hundred bucks to spend on their mama (despite her being Swedish born, I should be counted in the statistics, shouldn't I??) and if I know my Husband right, he will have totally missed the blast of retail promotion of this special day and tomorrow till be just a regular day in my house.

Oh, well. There is always microwave popcorn - and - the weather is always great on Mother's Day in California.

(Picture of Mother's Day bouquet for $69.99 from Interflora.com)

What happened to quilt cover openings?

Ever since IKEA opened close by we've gotten our bed linens there. I was brought up with quilt covers and have never felt at home with the flat sheet and the quilt over it, the type of bedding more used here (it feels my bed linens are always falling apart when you move around in your sleep).

But I have a clear memory from my childhood (and youth for that matter) in Sweden that all quilt covers had small opening in the upper corners, making it pretty easy to stick in your hands and drag the quilt through the cover and shake it in place.

What happened to the openings? Did they go out of fashion?

Because none of the quilt covers I've gotten at IKEA have these practical openings?? And since IKEA is Swedish, it can't be an American version of quilt covers.

I have yet (despite years of trials now) to figure out the best technique to get the quilt in the cover the easiest and fastest way without being able to stick my hands in. And since we now have a full/queen quilt to cover - this has turned into a major workout ever time it's time to change of sheets (that's the only time I'm glad we didn't get that King size bed a couple of years ago).

I'm seriously considering making my own openings, using scissors and my sawing machine (and I will. The day when I'm sitting here having absolutely nothing else to do. Which will be awhile).

(Picture of quilt cover from IKEA).

New stamps

I headed over to the post office yesterday to ship of a couple of packages and pick up new stamps. Turns out postage rates are going up on Monday. I must have totally missed that information and happily sent my letters to Sweden using a 90c stamp. And since I've gotten square envelope letters in return due to insufficient postage (square letters are more expensive than rectangular ones...) - my letters with 4c to little postage would probably have been returned.
Now I have stocked up with 2c stamps (having to add to to each 90c stamp) and hope to remember to actually attach them too...

Now you know, all of you who are old fashioned and send real letters to Europe. 94c on each letter needed on Monday!

Garbage day

Thursdays are garbage days in our neighborhood. Each Wednesday night we put our big garbage bins on the curbside (currently I'm doing garbage duty since the Husband is still suffering from his bad back pain) - the garbage bin and every other week the recycle bin and the other week the green waste bin. Two trucks drives by every Thursday morning, lifting the bins up with an mechanical "arm" and emptying them.

This is a major event on our street. The drivers of the garbage trucks are greeted as stars.

At least by residents below 4ft.

A REAL roadtrip

Here I thought I was on a pretty nice road trip over the weekend, cruising around three coastal cities in Northern California. Then I read the story of the three guys who are currently doing a REAL road trip.

They're doing 48 states. In 5 days.

They started on Sunday and will, if things go as planned, be done on Friday... They're blogging from the road if you want to tag along. They're driving 24 hours a day and are only stopping to re-fuel and change drivers (and do bathroom breaks I hope). Oh, boy must they be tired of that car by the time this trip is over.

Start of the week?

The other day me and the Daughter were talking about the names of the days and we went through them in both English and Swedish. She kept starting with Sunday and I kept correcting her, starting with Monday. Until I realized that, hm, my little Americanized girl has been taught in preschool about the days of the week and here the week do start on Sunday. And me, being the European that I am, will always start my week on a Monday and end it with a weekend.

Oh, well.

One day she might be teaching her old mama the mysteries behind inches and ounces.

REI

The night before I took off for my coastal weekend, I drove over to REI a few minutes away. REI is a outdoor quality gear/sports store. I'm not really an outdoor sports type of gal, but when I walk into a REI store, I almost wish I was... when you walk around you feel you have to take up mountain climbing or extreme kayaking... you almost feel... sporty...

Snap!

Anyway, I wasn't there for a camping tent or a triathlon bike - but a pair of good shoes for walking - in warm weather. And I added a fun cap from Life is Good and a REI rain/wind jacket. I ended up using these things a lot during my weekend. And I didn't even come close to a kayak or a mountain.

Salinas

On our way back home from our coastal weekend, we made a stop in downtown Salinas for a little walk and a visit to the National Steinbeck Center. John Steinbeck, who got the Swedish Nobel Prize in 1962, was born in Salinas and a lot of his books takes place here an in the surrounding areas (I really like East of Eden). The weather wasn't really on our side this Sunday morning - it was foggy and chilly. But we had fun anyway! All in all - a great weekend - lots of laughs and thanks to the GPS we didn't get too lost...

Road trip in California

We're driving around the coast in my friend's PT Cruiser, using the GPS and Google maps on my Blackberry to find places to go and things to see. We haven't got lost once. But then we have no clear destination, just driving around, enjoying the days. We left Santa Cruz this morning and drove slowly along the coast down to Carmel and then back up to Monterey. I'm having a great weekend!

Santa Cruz

I have arrived in Santa Cruz after my train ride to San José and drive down here. Weather is perfect and we have spent the afternoon walking around, taking pictures and enjoying life! A great weekend! Tomorrow we're heading over to Monterey!

Train ride

Today I got train tickets online - tomorrow I'm leaving for San José and then heading out to Santa Cruz and Monterey with a friend - spending the weekend taking pictures and enjoying the coast. I'm well over due a couple of full nights' sleep after the last few, crazy weeks and I'm so excited.

I haven't been on a train in the US since the early 90s when I traveled a lot with trains with Chicago as my base (that's another story for another day), and since we haven't solved our car issues yet, I'm taking the "Capital corridor" train to my little girlfriends' getaway weekend.

I will be blogging from the road now and then - but depending on time and internet availability regular blogging will resume after the weekend.