My latest project

It takes forever and my hands get tired but I enjoy spending the time together.

Just Like the Book Said

I happen to be a huge American Girl fan. So naturally I was very excited to celebrate St. Lucia today. For those of you who have not read the series, one of the girls celebrates this Swedish tradition in the book Kirsten’s Surprise. It was just what I expected. They vote on a girl to be Lucia. She stands up front wearing a crown of candles. A choir of kids sing behind her while holding candles. Ravina said that sometimes the kids hold the candles to close to their faces and faint while singing. I noticed that the little ones had fake candles=)

Meanwhile Jonas was playing his new DS.


I guess he is more of a star wars fan.

Alex's Birthday

Today was Alex's birthday! I got up extra early so I could run down to the bakery and buy a fresh pastry before school. I left it for Alex with a little note. (No, I did not get one for myself:-) I did however enjoy a little slice of princess cake.



Paulina got a puppy! So cute.



Jonas and his new friend.

Another Blog for Russell

I got access to 43 libraries in Stockholm!!! I am so happy.
This is where I can study sociology in English.

A Day with Frankie

Frankie is a good friend of ours from the U.S. He happens to also be from Sweden. He is here for the summer and rode to Stockholm for a weekend to see us. I hope you enjoy seeing some of the cities best scenic spots in the background.


This is Frankie in what is know as old town.















Frankie took this picture of Alex and I along the water.















Looking down on the city.

A Blog for Russell.

Russell said that I need to blog more. So I shall try. After my conversation with Russell all I wanted to do was go roller blading but alas I was called on to make apple pie. I made two! There were seven boys so I wanted to make sure that I got a bit too.
Although making apple pie at 10 at night wore me out and I went to bed right after my slice. Stefan is house sitting this week so I have a bed to sleep in! The boys stayed up till morning.
To my delight, in the morning there was still pie left! I had an egg sandwich for breakfast. I wanted to enjoy the pie not scarf it down. With all the boys asleep I had a very girlie morning. Drinking tea and watching reality shows while surfing the internet. I waited until Alex woke up and we ate pie together. He had just gotten back from a 24 hour shift and is leaving for a night shift tonight. So the rest of the afternoon was dedicated to spending time with Alex.

Jonas and I

My little brother after he won a bag full of candy.

Pics!

These are a bunch of pictures that have been sitting on the camera waiting to be downloaded.
This is from when Alex, stefan and I walked though Slussen. Which means the locks.




Here is TQ at his family's restaurant. Which just happens to be my favorite place to eat! It really is the best Chinese food that I have ever had.




Swedish Subway!

Today was my first day of summer classes. We started right were we left off last week so academically there is not much of a difference. About half the class is from my old class so there are a lot of new students. My class is also now on the forth floor instead of the second, which made today’s thunder storm that much more interesting.
Tomorrow the bus drivers will be on strike. I can still take the train to school but traveling to other parts of the suburbs is going to be tricky. For example, to get to Hallunda from here it takes about half and hour by bus. Now we have to take a 10 minute train ride to Stockholm station and a 50 minute metro ride to Hallunda. Plus you have about a 10 minute transfer wait. I feel bad for the students in my class who have to deal with the new commute. I am thinking that most of them won’t show.
For those of you who have not checked out Russell’s blog I have a link to it off to the right. He is English major and a captivating writer so his blogs are always interesting.
Finally to the best part of my day! I got to work today. A huge thanks goes out to Stefan (Steven) who has been Alex’s friend since forth grade. After school I went to Stefan’s shop to have a look. It was a very big shop filled with uniform type clothing. Among other things they print logos on clothing. I made a new 24601 t-shirt with Stefan’s design and help. I have wanted to go to globen with Stefan for a long time so I decided to hang around till he got off work. I folded t-shirts, put helmets together, check off shipments and helped iron on logos. It was a lot of fun
Afterwards we walked all around the shops by globen. We saw plenty of nifty things.
I am still working on getting the camera fixed. Lots of pictures to come.

Drottningholm

Drottningholm Palace today was a huge disappointment. We brought food for a nice picnic, all the grassy areas were covered in poop. Dog, duck, I don't care, it was gross. There was however nice green grass everywhere, with a few bushes and trees, but these were the "gardens." Visitors get to look at the pretty grass and the trees, not enjoy it. We finally found a half shaded bench to sit on. It was 30 degrees C. To hot for sitting in the sun.
The newspaper said that there would be free tours of the palace today. Although the theater, the reason we came, was a separate tour. It cost money to see that. So we went to the theater gift shop and looked at pictures. We didn't even see the palace. They wouldn't allow any backpacks in. They didn't have any place to store them.
The best part of the day was sitting on the bench. Not even the castle was exciting to look at. It was yellow and old looking. I don't have batteries for my camera so I couldn't take any pictures.
So then it was decided that we would take the ferry boat back to Stockholm central. I didn't want to spend money to take the boat back but we got there just as it was about to leave and everyone jumped on before I had time to say "no." It turned out to be a lot of money.
I was planning to go to Skansan tomorrow for a birthday. This is the zoo and museum that I have wanted to go to since I first started reading about Stockholm. Every weekend there has been some excuse for why we can't go. Alex has been there before so I don't think he was that excited to go. Finally tomorrow we had the money and a birthday party. Only I spent my money on a stupid ferry ride that we didn't need.
After that there was no hope of having fun. I cut the holiday short.
I found out that on of the school field trips we take is to Skansan. Plus it will be free. Plus I don't have any batteries for my camera anyways.

New Place

So I went to the centrum where we are planning to move today. It looks so nice. I don't know which apartment building we are moving into I just know that it is one minute away from the metro station. Here are some of the possibilities.

I could see water from the metro station so I took a bike path down the hill. On the way I saw a badminton net, a tennis court, playgrounds and lots of hiking trails.




I continued on the bike trail past the marina. I came to a huge park and beach. Tons of people where laying around, swimming, grilling and buying ice cream. My camera batteries had died at this point so I don't have any good pictures. There was a fotball field, beach volleyball, ice cream stands and a big sandy beach. It looks like tons of fun!

Lessons

It seems that some of you want me to study 9 hours a day. One person emailed me to tell me to study 18 hours. (I would like to see you try it Mark.) I am really only studying Swedish right now. To study one subject for that period of time is a bit frustrating. At least for me. I like to get some fresh air. Socialize a bit. i have been play badminton every day. Did I mention that I get paid for every day that I go to class. What is the rush? I like to consider my leisure time here to be, "Cultural Studies."
So today I was on the bus and I saw a stroller in parked on a grassy hill. The stroller started to roll down the hill. I couldn't tell if the baby was in the stroller or not. I instinctively started banging on the window and pointing. A group of women sitting on the bench, with there backs to the hill, suddenly stood up and one of them started running after the stroller. Judging from the way that she was talking to the stroller the baby was indeed inside. A lesson to everyone: use the breaks on the stroller when parking your baby on a hill.
See that experience right there would qualify as, "Cultural Studies." If I had been studying instead of listening to my Ipod, well who knows how many babies I would have sent flying down hills?

Birthday Party

So Alex and I began his little brother's birthday party by barricading ourselves In our room. Meanwhile outside the bedroom we could hear an army of little boys attacking each other with a plethora of sound affects. It sounded like star wars verses power rangers.
I honestly could not believe the birthday boy had any energy left. He had been jumping around all morning. I even spent an hour playing badminton. He was diving for every shot.

Anyways after a few hot dogs and some running around on the playground it was time for cake. Sadly the birthday boy had gone to bed. Apparently he had a bit of a headache. He did however come out so we could sing, "ja må hon leva."
After another brief disappearance he was back again for presents. Still looking under the whether.
I am happy to announce that the next day he was all better and ready to have another birthday.

I did however get a picture of Alex enjoying his brother's birthday!

Vlogging

I attempted to make a vlog this week. (blog+video=vlog). I took my digital camera downtown to view the sights. Only my camera, with all the pictures deleted, would only let me take one minute of film. So I adjusted the settings to low quality film. Seven whole minutes. So much for having to edit. The video was bad. I blame the fact that seven minutes does not allow for a lot of taping and the fact that I had just spent some time talking to my friend Kate from Manchester. She has a thick British accent and it does not rub well to me. I sound bloody ridicules, if I do say so myself. Anyways you can't even see half of the things that I am talking about. Even so I posted it on my youtube site.
As of right now 12 people have looked at it. One person even commented and gave me five stars. Crazy. It really is a horrible video.

First

Ok so I had my first experience with Grand Theft Auto IV. Totally cool. If your character is just hanging in his flat you can play a game or watch TV. The comics that they hired for the comedy central station were actually really funny. They have a pretty funny VH1 spoof. The best TV program though is the Republican Space Rangers. If you are a republican you will probably get offended. It is a great satire covering both the Iraq war and typical science fiction space show. It was fairly entertaining to watch. The online dating is also full of surprises. As it should be.
When I moved here I knew that there would be no Starbucks, red robin, dennys, although I never expected this. There is no ranch here! If it does exist here I can’t find it. I thought it was weird when I ordered my pizza with ranch sauce and they didn’t have it. Now I can’t find it in any of the stores. Have I mentioned that toppings for pizza include baked bananas and fried egg? The egg one is really good! I am not crazy about baked bananas. Although, we do have baked bananas as a side dish once a week for dinner. So my first big food miss is ranch.
I had my first Swedish boat ride. Really beautiful. The pictures say it all.





Apparently I am the first American that a lot of people in my class have ever met. This really surprised me. They all agree that I am not what they expected. They thought that Americans were all “hard” and “selfish.” Consider their idea of the USA comes from shows like “Jerry Springer” and “The Hills” those thoughts can be justified.

Cats

Anyone in Evita cast knows that I am not superstition about saying “Macbeth” in the theater. Although I don’t know how I feel about black cats crossing in front of me. Statically black cats are the least likely to be adopted probably because the old superstition. This is not a superstition that I would like to promote in any way.
Earlier today I was just jogging along my favorite suburban trail enjoying one of my favorite heart pumping songs “Ghostbusters.” When a shiny black cat slowly crossed in front of my path. I smiled thinking of how this cat could possible cause me bad luck. Then it ran in front of me again back from which it came. Now I have to wonder. In a superstitions world does this undo the previous bad luck citation that I just received or enhance it? I forced myself to think logically and put the whole thing out of mind. Then later on (I was jogging Big Willy Style) there was a black cat sitting in my path staring me down. I attempted to jog confidently by the cat but I was a bit spooked and heavily winded.
If the cat superstition is true I am in for a world of bad luck. Wish me luck!
Love Ryn

Exploration

Today I explored the heart of Stockholm on my own. Nothing beats running around a huge European city by yourself. I must have walked for a least four hours before I sat down for lunch. I had a salami sandwich in the King's Garden beside the castle. It was 11 degrees. Alex said that Swedes go nuts when the snow melts and the sun come out. Everyone around me was eating ice cream. I found the tourist information center and picked up almost every pamphlet in English. I went down one street and found the royal theater.



Every time I turn a corner I want to take a picture.



I bought some postcards in Old Town Stockholm. Customer service is not the same here. Shop keepers don't really talk to you or smile unless you talk to them first. The girl I got the postcard from seemed like she could have cared less that I was shopping there. In general everyone here is less sociable towards strangers.



I saw the guards at the palace. They are really nice. Not like the ones in London that don't move. The guards walk to there post all official and everything. They stay in one position while standing. Although they look around and they smile and nod there head at you as you walk by.

I heard people talking about April fools but did not come across any pranks.

My biggest accomplishment today was finding the train station and getting onto the right train!

Finished John Steinback's Cannery Row on the way back. I went to Monterey California a lot as a kid to visit my Grandparents. So the book had a personal touch to it. I loved the book overall. It made a great bus/train book because the chapters are short. I am Mrs. Malloy, chapter 8. It is almost too weird. Great book.

In Stockholm

So much has happened in this past week I don’t even know where to begin. I will start with all the new things I have learned how to do. I believe that I have finally mastered the art of flushing the toilets! Along the same lines do to some trail and error experimenting I can now identify a water closet. I can also take a shower and lock and unlock the bathroom door. I have come soooo far in only a week.


I love the transportation system here. It is so easy to use. They have screens on all the buses and trains announcing the next stop. So far the buses and trains have all been on time. They run about every 15 minutes.



It takes me about 10 on the bus to get to the nearest grocery store for some chocolate. My favorite chocolate bar is similar to a chocolate covered gram cracker bar. Out of the candy bin I like a chocolate coconut thingy. I am not really sure what all is in it. I really need to learn Swedish. It is about 74 kronor per Kilogram. Speaking Kilograms I weigh 50 Kg over here. Someone else do the math please.
The city is beautiful. I am lucky that I have so much time to explore everything. My favorite place so far was, translated, the house of culture. The building has theaters, art galleries, music and a food court that over looks a courtyard. The big glass building is the one I am talking about.


I did come across a small stage by the castle. There were a lot of pars and other small lights hanging up. I didn’t have time to really see anything else. Alex kept walking. I guess he didn’t think of it as a tourist sight. It is hard to see the plot in the photo.



I got my library card today! I found a small section dedicated to English books. I got a Steinbeck book. This is me just outside the library.


Alex and I also went hiking today by his parent’s apartment. It is not as rural as Coupeville but it is still beautiful.



Not much else is new. I have mostly been taking care of paper work and running in and out of janitor closets trying to find a bathroom.

Trip to Sweden

Leaving for Sweden was very hard. The hardest part of the trip was leaving my parents.

On the plane to Chicago the worst part was the in flight movie. I really wanting to sleep on my nine hour flight so I was hoping to stay awake on my four hour flight. I was unable to pack any books because of space issues. Alex had my ipod. I did have the DS however which saved my life. There was no way I was watching that chipmunk movie. I tried to watch it for the fist few minutes but the voices drove me nuts. United also offers a few xm satellite radio channels. I listened to that most of the way. Until the movie was over and THE OFFICE came on! yah! I was so happy. The plane landed on time but because of deicing problems we got in over half and hour late. I had a really tight connections so I had to book it across the airport. I took that cool little train to the international termanal. I missed all the moving sidewalks. I was walking so fast that I didn't notice them till it was too late. I took a lot of rides on the polish moving sidewalks so it was ok. When I got to my gate the shooed me right onto the plane.
I was exhausted and after dinner slept from iceland to the UK! Food was ok. The last hour after breakfast was hard. I had slept in a fetal position in the seat which was comfy at the time but I suffered afterwards. It was a polish airline so it was sometimes hard for me to understand what they were saying.
Chopin airport was pretty spiff. All the wall except bathrooms and offices were glass. I had to back track a couple of times because the glass made things a bit confusing. The terminal was gorgeous. I choose row 16 for the last flight thinking it was in the middle of the plane. I ended up in the last row next to the employee's fold out chairs.
I looked out the window most of this flight. They also gave us a sandwich and a polish chocolate bar. Stockholm is beautiful from the sky. It was sunset so all the buildings were orange. The guy I was sitting next to wouldn't let me take a picture because we were about to land. We landed about half an hour early. I finally found customs. They kept me the longest. Same problem as that I had in Seattle. You are not allowed to buy a one way ticket to Sweden. I got through ok and went to baggage. My bags were the only two left. I only brought two bags and a backpack. Talk about moving light! The Swedish airport was lined with pictures of famous Swedish people.
I meet Alex and his family just outside the terminal. They were very friendly! I will write more about them and everything in my next blog.
-Ryn