Thanksgiving - with a real turkey

We got unexpected (Swedish) family guests over Thanksgiving and decided that we for once would cease the all American tradition and put together a real Thanksgiving. So we had them watch the Thanksgiving parade in the morning, play football outside (oh, well, soccer - we don't own a football) help out to prepare the meal, eat until they couldn't move and then watch some football on TV. Isn't this the essence of Thanksgiving so what? ;-)

We went online to find recepies for "traditional Thanksgiving food" and managed to make both the turkey (we opted for a small one) and green bean casseroll. We cheated on the pumpkin pie and got one from the store (don't tell anyone). Everyone ate everything and we had a lot of fun. We were pretty impressed with ourselves - maybe we'll do this as a tradition. ;-)

The small turkey.

Fall in California - flying away

What have I been up to this fall? Looking back - I'm not sure - it feels it's still - or at least should be August - but obviously I'm stuck in the past. I have done some travels - a couple of trips to Stockholm, Sweden, one trip down to LA to watch the Midterm Elections and one trip down to San Diego to attend a conference. Add regular work and a family to the travel mix. The bad thing about getting all those miles when traveling is that you can use them - for travel - when all you want to once you get back from your miles-awarded-travels is not to travel...

When you fly "domestic" within California - Southwest is your best choice. Southwest is a special airline - voted high in customer satisfaction and - one of few that actually isn't on the verge of bankruptcy...  When you are to board a Southwest flight you are assigned a special number - and you have to line up in the exact order when it's time to board. No one has assigned seats - not even travelers in "business class" (there is not business class - only the privilege of getting on board first - and getting a free drink). It's a somewhat nice change from long term flights across the globe - and the best part is that "domestic" California rarely means flying more than an hour.

Random pictures from this fall:

The wall of Konserthuset in Stockholm

The fantastic ceiling of Ulvsunda Slott outside Stockholm
- you don't see ceilings like this too often over here...

Meg Whitman declares defeat in Universal City in LA where
I happened to end up on Midterm Election night. 

Spent a few rainy days in San Diego in October. Not much use of the rain. 

We did see the sun one - one evening. But I did have a great view from my hotel room...

Greta Garbo in Stockholm

Whenever I'm in Stockholm, I try to find the time to walk through Södra Skogskyrkogården (The Woodland Cemetery) and visit my grandmother's grave. I grew up next to the cemetery so this is my well known grounds to me. 

Since 1999, not far from my grandmother (who passed about a decade earlier), Greta Garbo is buried here. Greta Garbo grew up in Stockholm but lived most of her life in the US - and between 1941 and the time of her death in April 1990, no one hardly saw her. It took a 9-year legal battle to decide on where she should rest

She is now resting in a quiet glade in this beautiful cemetery and someone has always put fresh flowers by her grave.

Stieg fever

The success of Stieg Larsson in the US is amazing - everywhere you go, every newspaper you read - you'll find the books displayed and can read stories about him and his books. The Americans are obsessed with these books. I always smile when I see people with the books (and you see them everywhere)  - thinking how they pronounce Fiskargatan and Bellmansgatan. And suddenly you have a new topic when you meet people - talk about the Millenium books and about Stockholm.

According to the Entertainment Weekly, the last book (named "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest" and released in May 2010 in the US) sold 500 000 copies within the first 14 days in the US - which is an average of 35,714 books a day or 1489 books per hour.

Tolouse for a princess wedding

To add to stress during my few weeks in Europe - I had managed to plan a trip to Toulouse where a old and very good, dear friend was tying the knot. She was getting married the same day as the Crown Princess was getting married in Sweden - so I left a crazy Stockholm for a quick visit to the old town Toulouse in the southern parts of France (or so I think - I flew and really didn't have time to check the map in more detail).

While keeping updated on the progress of the Crown Princess wedding in Stockholm I had a day to walk around in Toulouse - unfortunately in rain. I managed to buy an umbrella despite my total lack of French - and the clerks total lack of English. These are the times you wish the founders of Esperanto had been more successful.

The wedding was fantastic (or so I assume - I didn't understand any of it - but the bride and groom kissed at the end and looked fabulously happy - so I guess everything went according to plan) - and the couple was so fantastic - I'm pretty sure my friend was a princess in a former life - she sure looked like one. Made me want to get married again. Almost. Nah.

I got to visit a French castle outside in the country side - darn clouds that kept on blocking the view and the sun. And I kept a firm grip on the person I found (part from the bride) that could speak Swedish and secretly wished I had slept with a Rosetta stone course running in my ears the last couple of weeks before the wedding so I could have made it past "Bonjour, ca va?".

A few pictures from Toulouse: 

And the princess and her prince:

Summer in Sweden - and in California

After a very busy spring I took off with the kids for a couple of very busy weeks in Sweden. Working and visiting isn't a good combination. You'll end up in a weird situation when friends and family assume you're "home" when in fact you're "away" - far from routines and practicalities,  The kids thinks they are "away" and me - I'm stuck in the middle. Four weeks run fast when you're trying to do everything - but we got it all done - Junibacken, Gröna Lund, Skansen, Old Town, eating ice cream in Kungsträdgården, fish herring, archipelago boat. And - we were lucky with the weather (only Swedes will get that part).

I came back to California a wreak - needing vacation from my vacation. ;-) The good thing about summer in California is that sun is guaranteed. No more packing a sweater and a rain coat "in case of" - you can pack away everything until October.

A few random pictures from Sweden this summer:

A real moose. Alive.

I'm I the only one who has this labyrinth at Skansen as a firm childhood memory?
The alien in me almost cried when I saw my kids run through it - 30 some years later.

Swedish strawberries and a Swedish Tant.

And then came the ash...

We've had a busy week.

When Eyjafjallajökull decided it was time to wake up last Wednesday night my paretnts was en route to Sweden from CapeTown connecting in Amsterdam and my sister-in-law with family was en route to Sweden from California through Chicago. Needless to say we've ha a busy week trying to figure out flight schedules, alternative routes and what to do if this ash cloud just won't go away...

After four days my parents arrived in Stockholm after using three different trains, two ferries and a bus. Their luggage is presumably still in Amsterdam and who knows if they'll ever see it again.

This morning my sister-in-law with family finally took off, five days delayed. Things were looking good enough at 4.20 am this morning - there seemed to be a flight inbound for Chicago (through which they are transferring from here) and there was an estimated departure time and they had confirmed, re-booked tickets.So they took off for the airport and the Chicago flight.

But when the airport information system in Chicago showed other information than the SAS flight system when arriving there, we were not sure what to think.

Turns out SAS has a pretty active Facebook team and they have been working non-stop the last couple of days providing people with information to the extent that they could answer (after all - no one really knows where these ash clouds were heading and with authorities unclear with what rules should apply it's sure been a virtual nightmare for everyone trying to have some kind of answer).

This is the conversation I had with SAS on Facebook this morning - and the captain of the actual flight I'm asking about was online and could help confirm the information we needed (You don't want to go through security at O'Hare's terminal 1 unless it's just minimum time until your departure - for some reason this international terminal, from most international flights (ie LONG flights) depart at O'Hare has no food in any form once you've gone through).

I like what social media can do with organizations and their communication. You might ask yourself why the same information can be as informal and readily accessible on their actual business websites instead of Facebook - but hey - as of today - we got our answers so I'm happy. And what could be a better confirmation of a flight than the actual captain.

Classic backpack

I get tons of direct marketing material from apparel stores. Somehow I've ended up in a register and every day I find them waiting in my mailbox, no matter if I shop from them or not. Some of them are thick as magazines. The other day I got the Crewcuts catalog, that's J.Crew's children's line. I browsed through it and found this...

A Fjällräven Kånken! Now this brings back memories! It was released in 1978 and I remember having one but can't remember the color (blue? green? It wasn't pink, that's for sure - it was Sweden in the 70s!!). It was used for field trips - something I have a memory we did quiet often. In Sweden you could get one for SEK 399, but Crewcut wants $80 for it. Finally something that is cheaper in Sweden! ;-)

Anyway, a Fjällräven Kånken is a real classic - every Swede over 30 would know this backpack.

Long-haul flights - part of being an alien

When I flew back from Sweden, I had to go through Frankfurt. That means that you'll end up on a jumbo, either United's or Lufthansa's. Both are horrible. The are huge, old and outdated. I ended up on Lufthansa's flight and was squeezed in in the back cabin. The jumbos have not inflight entertainment, the only entertainment on the flight is on small screens in the ceiling. On the 11-hour flight, they showed 2 movies, both of which I had seen coming to Europe.

Luckily I had no one next to me so at least I could move around a bit and sleep and with my extra battery to my iPhone and bag of paperback books I picked up at PocketShop at Arlanda I  had my own entertainment. But 11 hours... that's a loooong time to be squeezed in.

This is what you'll stare at for 11 hours on the flight between Frankfurt and San Francisco. 

Why is it called "legroom"?

Semla

I like semlor. Even though it's basically just a bun with cream and some almond paste. It's a hazzle to make them on your own (and I actually think bought ones turn out better...). I was too lazy this year to make them - but during my stop in Stockholm I had one (actually two...).

Mmm...

Subway systems

Since I grew up in Stockholm, I'm used to get around using public transportation. It's usually the quickest way if you're downtown and there is a subways system. And if you've used one system, you've used them all. The basics are the same, you just have to remember to keep your ticket - in some systems you might need it to get out.

During our stay in New York, we had meetings in downtown, midtown, uptown in the same day and rush around in the subway, sometimes adding a little taxi drive.

And as all subways systems... they're pretty nasty in during rush over... and in the New York subway, you have no cell phone coverage.

Baskeball in Madison Square Garden

During my visit to New York I got the opportunity to spend an evening at Madison Square Garden, watching New York Knicks play the Detroit Pitsons (where we have Swedens' first NBA player, Jonas Jerebko). An American sports event is like a big party. Everyone is in a good mood, hanging out, watching the game, eating pizza. It's a good feeling and a real show.

During time outs or breaks, all the coaches, always dressed in nice suits, gather on the field, making quick strategies to bring back to the team. All while the audience is entertained by different performances. Even if you don't like basket ball (or fotball or baseball or what ever sport), you still have a good time.

Me and my co-workers were wearing red caps (Detroit Pistons' color), and cheered when ever Jerebko scored. Which he did pretty frequently, but not often enough to save the Pistons, who lost the game to the Knicks.

New York, New York

New York might be in the same country and on the same continent, but it's still far from California. Getting there from here takes a whole day of boring flying. You don't just "pop by New York". I didn't have time to do much - a quick stop for about 30 minutes at FAO Scharwz and the MOMA Design Shop, the rest of the days were spent rushing between meetings. And then rushing out to JFK to continue to Sweden.

Arriving through the clouds to La Guardia.

The Village. 

In between meetings. 

View from my hotelroom. Empire State Building from the Meatpacking District.

Travel and jetlag

I've been on the road and done a little airport hopping. Had to spend some time in New York and then continuing to Stockholm, Sweden. I used to be pretty good with jetlag - but these days, westbound jetlag (meaning coming back home to California) hits me so hard... it takes me two weeks to get out of it and have energy to do anything past 8 pm at night.

I've fallen behind on my updates - started numerous post, only to fall asleep before finishing up... But here we go - a couple of blog posts are coming right up!

Wooden stairs vs carpet runner stairs...

I saw this picture in the newspaper over the weekend. "Looks great!", I thought when I saw the picture of the wooden stair case. Then I read the text and yeah... sure enough... the wooden stairs case was the "before" and the carpet runner stair case was the "after"...

Scandinavian design runs deep, deep in your veins...

English as a second language and grades in Elementary school

Last week we got notice that our Daughter, who is in 1st Grade, has now formally been moved from the ESL status to FEP - meaning going from limited English proficiency to fluent English proficiency. That means that in theory, if you could correlate for age, we have a Daughter that is now better in English than we are. Cool!

All kids (in California, can't speak for the other 49 states) that speak a different language at home are flagged as ESL students and monitored extra in school. This is the Daughter's second screening (since it's her second year in the American school system that starts with Kindergarten at age 5) and she made huge progress the last year. We're so proud of her, handling two languages so very natural, switching back and forth...

We also got her grading, her Grade Progress Report,  for the second period of the school year. Here you get grades from 1st Grade (well, you got "grades" in Kindergarten too, but they were more based on attendance) and I love it!

It's a great way to track what's going on in school and it's still based on a pretty easy scale - N (needs improvement), S (satisfactory), G (good), O (outstanding). For a lot of the "issues" you can't get more than a "G" or "N". You get the grades three times a year and the first and the second time you have a parent-teacher meeting to talk about them.

The Daughter is doing great - and we can also see some of the issues she had. The teacher writes notes on the grade sheet, following up. The kids (at least in our school) are not aware of the grades and it's not something you really talk about as in "you have to improve your grades", but really a good indication of progress.

The grading is not only "subject" based like you're used to in Sweden (or were used to - I know nothing about how grading is done these days - my last encounter with Swedish grading was.... long time ago...). You get an indication on "issues" like "Citizenship" like "respect self and others", "makes responsible choices", and "Work habits" such as "follow directions", "stays on task", and "Area efforts" in areas such as "technology", "visual and performance arts", and "physical education".  My Daughter is "outstanding" at handing in homework (she should thank her mom!) and "satisfactory" in "staying on task". ;-)

Thumb prints...

When I signed up for the office I had to sign the lease by identifying myself... with my thumb print... Just like when we bought the house, the Notary came in when signing and got our thumb prints in her big book. To a Swede, that feels like... ancient... But, in a country where you don't have such a rigid system with the "personal numbers" - I guess this is a good way to ensure identity...

Painting walls

All our walls were white when we moved into our house. And for years we've thought about adding more color - especially to the living room. But since we have 5 meters to the ceiling in half of the room, it's a major project and one we just talk about but never actually start. And the other rooms have stayed white too, with the exception of the Daughter's room which actually got wall paper (ambitions of first time parents...).

But when we moved out the office part of our guestroom the last couple of weeks we suddenly were faced with an almost empty room (only the sofa bed remaining) and decided to repaint the room. We immediately took off for Lowe's so we wouldn't change our minds, and without much thinking spent about 20 minutes in the paint department, deciding on colors. We even dared to make a "fond" wall - one wall in a different color.

Once back home we just started painting and were surprised it was such a quick job (the preparations takes way more time that the actual painting).The light green color is called "fishnet" and the brown/khaki color is called "garden urn" (it must be fun working in a paint company's naming department...). American walls usually have a "bumby" structure (the original paint is "spray painted" on the walls - and sometimes I can really miss the "flat" Scandinavian walls. But adding color really made a difference. Now I want to repaint the whole house!

If the refrigerator hadn't  broken down, there would have been some time to go to IKEA and get the new furniture in...

It's going to be so nice to have a genuine guestroom again - a special place for our usually long way guests to use and hang out in.

Refrigerator failure

Last weekend our freezer failed. And here - that means that your whole refrigerator system breaks down since the freezer and the refrigerator parts are always connected. The Husband had just arrived with a week full of groceries and I was about to try to push the frozen items in to the tiny freezer half when I was met by a sauce of water and thawed food... We just had to turn around and head out and head for Lowe's and HomeDepot. No time for research or price comparisons.

Turns out that you can't have a refrigerator that fast - so with an interim solution of a freezer box (that we have thought about anyway) and an new, tiny office refrigerator set up in the garage we have made it through the week, and luckily the warm temperatures last week was exchanged with lower temperatures cooling the garage preetty good. We still lost a lot of food. And it's been a hassle to go out and in of the garage to get food.

But now we have a new, more energy efficient refrigerator - and a freezer box. We really are "freezing" people and are so annoyed at the small freezer half of the refrigerator solution that is the standard here. It's impossible to find the free standing freezer/refrigerator solution they use in Scandinavia - where they both part are the same size - and if one part fails - you don't have to exchange the whole system.

And we have opted for a in-door-ice maker (there are hardly any refrigerators without ice makes and they take up a good quarter size of the freezer part...), hoping to get some more space to freeze food...

But it was not money that was planned to be spent - I had lots of other plans for stuff for the house... like the newly painted guestroom...

Moved in!

After a couple of weeks of having my foot in two places - I'm now moved in to my new studio. It's a 1 minute and 37 second drive or a 15 minute walk from my home office - so it's almost like working from home still. I love to get out and walk in the morning and love "leaving" work and still being so close to home.

Very good feeling. I had a pretty good home office before the family grew larger and my office items had to be spread out - now they are all collected and set up in the same room and I love it. It's going to be a good spring!