I "think" spring has arrived

One of the first things I heard when I got to Sweden was: "all Swedes talk about is the weather." That was what a mexican friend, who at that time had been living here for 4 years told me.

Now, it's been almost 3 years since I moved to Sweden and I was told that I sound like a Swede, because all I post about is the weather. But the weather here is so unpredictable that one can't help but complain. The perfect example is this: the first week of may, it was cloudy and it snowed. We got to temperatures of  -1 C, when the week before that it had been 23 C!

Something else that also changes, besides the weather, is the nature. As soon as the sun begins to shine and the snow begins to melt, everything around you starts to get green. I love it.


Now what one can only hope for is that the weather continues this way, this week it has been around 23 C, ... we will see, since in the northern europe, one can never know for sure!

City girl

"When we get there I want to visit this really pretty place. We can walk there for a while. It is in the forrest" he said.

FORREST... background music of a terror movie... this word brings back memories of.. my last encounter with an ant pile, a snake and a dead cow. Yes, those were the "fun" things I saw last time we went out for a 2 hour "stroll". So you can understand me when I felt kind of scared for what awaited me. Even though everybody says that Swedish snakes are not deadly, they still bite, and it still hurts, that is always my reply. I like the outdoors, but my idea of outdoorsy is walking in the park, with an ice cream in one hand and my house 5 minutes away.

Skuregata was the name of the park where I was told we would walk for a "little while". The view, from the top was beautiful. We could see everything, the lake, the town, it was really breathtaking. I wanted to sit down and enjoy it but he said, "come on, we have to keep walking".  Oh oh!... I thought to myself.

We walked and walked until we were in a canon. It looked pretty but scary at the same time. I said, "ok, that looks nice, now lets walk back." I saw the excitement in his eyes as he said, "no, we have to walk through here to get to the car".

By then I was unhappy.

Every step I took I felt like Bambi walking on ice. My legs trembled and my heart pounded. I felt that I was going to fall and break my head. He, on the other side, ran through it like it was a piece of cake. I gasped every time I felt the rocks beneath my feet move and longed for the city or the beach. Anywhere but there.

While walking through the canon we met other couples, who seemed to be also "enjoying" their way.  Sweaty and frowning I looked up and saw that we had made it safe and sound. He turned around and he asked: "Wasn't that fun?"
I replied: "You and me have totally different definitions of fun!"

Its that time of the year again...

to sport a spring jacket. This year I went for a trench-coat that my sister gave me for Christmas. I did not get the chance to use it, until the beginning of April, when it was cold, but not so cold... you know what i mean?

Swede tooth

I have never had a sweet tooth, but about two months ago I tasted this classic Swedish dessert and I became addicted to it.

They are called chokladbolar, or chocolate balls, and they are absolutely delicious. I heard that swedes learn to make them when they are kids so I figured that they most not be hard to pepare, and they actually are not. So I leave you the recipe in case you feel the urge to satisfy your "swede tooth".

Enjoy!

Ingredients

4 cups of regular rolled oats

1 1/4 cups of white sugar

1/2 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup of butter or margarine

2 tablespoons of strong coffee

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

2 (1 ounce) squares of unsweetened baking chocolate, melted

1/3 cup of coconut flakes

Instructions

Mix the oats, sugar and cocoa together in a bowl. Add the butter, and use your hands to mix the ingredients together to make a thick dough. Mix in the coffee, vanilla and chocolate until thoroughly blended. Place the coconut flakes in a small bowl. Pinch off small amounts of dough and roll between your hands to make small balls. Roll the balls in the coconut flakes. Balls are ready to eat or may be refrigerated 2 hours.

Witty advertising

One of the first things I said when I came to Sweden was: "Wow, I am really in a first world country, everybody speaks english!!!" Wether you will need to find milk aisle at the super market or if you want to ask someone at the bus stop which bus to take, the lack of swedish language will not be a problem, since english is spoken everywhere.

That was one of the things that saved me during my first two years here, when my knowledge of swedish was basically null. Not on the streets can one see how skilled Swedes are in english, but television is another great place to see it.

I find awesome the way swedish advertisements use word play, whether it be in english or swedish, or both.

The following are swedish commercials/advertisements I absolutely loved.

commercial 1: What would you do if you won the lottery? Pay Kiss to ride around with you in your car and play live music? BTW (Kiss means pee in Swedish)

commercial 2: Mm the Swedish language. So rich, but so complicated to pronounce... and with only 9 million Swedish speakers, "who speaks Swedish anyway?"

Couldn't get "Sweder" than this!

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday, or as they call it Sweden, Fet Tisdag and it is tradition to eat samla (or samlor in plural) which is a type of pastry made of cardamom-spiced wheat bun which has its top cut off and insides scooped out, and is then filled with a mix of the scooped-out bread crumbs, milk and almond paste, topped with whipped cream. The cut-off top serves as a lid and is dusted with powdered sugar.

They are very sweet for my taste and the first time i ate one I couldn't finish it. But they are really popular in Sweden and my boyfriend couldn't let Fet Tisdag pass without eating one!

The enjoyment of obligation

Scenario 1: I remember when I was 7 years old I was in piano classes, and I deeply hated them. I don’t know if it was that they were after school, right after I had had dinner, and I was always sleepy. Or if it was the fact that my parents were forcing me to learn to play the piano, it might have been both, but the fact was that I never really enjoyed playing. The classes continued through the years, with different private tutors, until I turned 14 and the classes stopped. A few years later I got the urge to sit on the piano at the house and see what I could remember from my early years of private classes. With each key I touched and the music it created I started to fall in love with the piano and wished I had time to take classes again.

Scenario 2: A few years ago I was studying French. I had had classes when I was younger and traveled to France for a month and a half and I realized that I loved the language, so what better way to embrace it than by becoming fluent in it. I remember truly enjoying my classes, regretting every time I had to miss a class because of work, and taking pleasure out of doing the homework, even it meant sleeping late.

Today, I am learning a new language, not for fun, not because I enjoy it, even though I like the way the language sounds, but because I have decided to live in Sweden. But the feeling of enjoyment and pleasure that once learning French gave me, is completely gone in my process of learning Swedish. And like I said before, it is not that I do not like the language. So what has happened? What makes me feel like learning it is a burden I carry on my back? My answer is that I am forced to learn it. Once you are forced to learn something, by your parents, circumstances etc, the fun, the excitement of learning it completely disappear when it is an obligation. Oh gosh! Maybe there is a way one can enjoy obligation?