Thursday, September 26, 2013

A Little Overdue


I am so sorry to everyone for completely slacking off on the blog!  Gosh I feel dumb after saying I would update it every week - please forgive me!!

Starting back up from the last post:

My host parents went down to the south of Sweden for a short vacation spent hiking and visiting my host mom's mother.  During the week, my host dad's daughter, Mette, who doesn't live at home anymore, stayed at the house to take care of us.  Our numbers were increased by one when my host brother, Even, came home from a summer spent working in Norway.  The first time we met, we spent about 3/4 of the night staying up and watching movie after movie.  It wasn't smart since I had school the next day, but I'm not apologizing.  

That week was full of adventures - including getting terribly lost on a run, delicious home made pizza, more movie nights, and grocery shopping (it really is fun with siblings).  We had some great food ranging from Thai to spaghetti to virgin margaritas and guacamole.  It was semi-adults watching teenagers, so there was a higher degree of immaturity in the house.  Regardless, it was a blast.

On Friday, September 13, Even took me with him and some friends to a concert in Liseberg (a famous amusement park in Gothenburg).  The act was Timo Räisänen, a sort of indie rock artist native to Gothenburg.  It was a lot of fun and the music was great!  The park was all lit up and everything was cozy and surreal.  We were standing pretty close to the stage, so we got a good view.  We made our way home late after the concert and wandered around for a while in a group of four or five.  We finally got home around midnight and I pretty much just collapsed in my bed.  

The next day, Lars took me and Vegard to an old fortress that was on an island about 45 minutes away.  We got a late start, but we got to spend a lovely afternoon on the island.  The views from the fortress were gorgeous and it was quite a workout to climb up the winding stairs to higher ground.  We brought along fika, which we ate on a large hill over looking the water.  It was to be the last day of good summer-y weather, so we ate dinner on the deck later that evening.   

Speaking of the weather, it's been quite the roller coaster in and of itself.  Fall in Gothenburg means dreary and rainy and cold.  My day dreams of crisp autumn air with a sharp breeze and nip in the air were misplaced and twice, I was caught in a hard rain shower on the way to school.  It was great how I was jacket-less wearing a skirt, tights, and flats both times.  No one ever said I learn too quickly from my mistakes... what can I say? I'm an optimist.  Soggy feet are a great way to put a damper on your day, but I had sympathetic classmates who patiently listened to my whining and laughed at how unprepared I was.  

The weather is also unpredictable in that there will be an occasional day of fantastic weather that just throws everyone off.  It's enough to keep my closet door open just a little bit, enough to see the colorful summer dresses I still want to wear.  Well, I don't quite know what I was thinking bringing so many fair weather clothes.  I should have known better right?  Wrong, fashion over comfort 9 times out of 10.  Although it's oversized men's flannels and leggings 1 time out of ten.  So I'm not THAT hard core. 

School has been so much fun!  Tell me, is it crazy that my favorite class is gym?  It's probably because the class is only once a week and we always do something really fun.  The first week, we played ultimate frisbee and I dominated.  There is a fiercely competitive side of me that, when awakened, makes for the most fun and the biggest rush.  My classmates are now amused by my intensity during games and stay out of my way.  I was quick to identify the good players on both teams and I made friends with them, with plans to form an elite team later on.  The following week we played beach volleyball, which I was super excited about.  I did end up having a pretty elite team, but it wasn't worth it because the other teams were so bad.  A wasted team and wasted energy - there was no competition whatsoever.  I suppose I will have to sacrifice my need for perfection for the sake of a good game. 

As for the Swedish, it's been a struggle.  I have been learning, and lately my friends like to do brief language sessions where I am only allowed to speak Swedish for a period of time.  Most of my teachers have asked me to just study Swedish during the classes that I can't participate in.  It's a good motivator to learn as quickly as I can so I can really join the class.  It's a bit frustrating, because I feel like I don't learn nearly as quickly as I want to.  I have this internal struggle of whether to be mad at myself for not being very good after a whole month in the country, or for being encouraging that I have come so far in only a month.  To be honest, a big hurdle to get over is Japanese.  While I am not fluent in Japanese, I have a solid amount of words floating around my head that jumble with the Swedish.  While I was Skyping with my mom on her birthday a couple weeks ago, I was speaking Japanese and had a few moments when I couldn't find the right word - but the Swedish word came quickly to mind.  Most often, however, I will be trying to speak Swedish and a bit of Japanese sneaks in.  When someone unexpectedly confronts me in Swedish, like strangers, I start to panic and blurt out random Japanese words, looking for the Swedish words until I give up and admit a defeated "sorry, I don't really speak Swedish."  When I try to form sentences or converse in Swedish, Japanese filler words will pop in.  My friends and family find it funny when they catch a Japanese word here and there when I'm trying to speak.  As much as I appreciate being bilingual, it's often hard to fit in a third.  

Last Saturday, I went to a stake wide youth activity that was about two hours away.  It was a long day filled with activities like a picture race and little workshops.  I got to meet a lot of new people and it was fun!  At the end of the day, there was a two and a half hour dance, which was an interesting experience.  The music was infinitely better than any of the other dances I have ever been to, and there were maybe half as many people as I was used to.  The cultural hall itself was actually pretty small.  Someone had decorated it by hanging up strings of dangling CD's, which lots of people only ended up hitting their heads on.  Here, there is really no pressure to be dancing all the time.  Many people sit on the couches and chairs that line the walls and chat with their friends.  There are no slow songs at all in the playlist.  When do you dance together, you may ask?  Well, Swedes actually don't slow dance together, but they sort of fast dance together?  I don't know how you can describe it, but basically a guy will go up to a girl and ask her to dance.  Since there are only fast songs, this can be at any moment.  The boy then leads the girl around the dance floor, moving side to side at a fast tempo with a strange in-and-out motion with the clasped hands.  Twirls and spins are pretty common as well.  To be honest, it's a lot more fun than a slow dance.  There is more opportunity to be silly and laugh.  It was a new experience that proved to be very fun. 

These are the highlights of my past few weeks, again I am so sorry to have neglected my blog for so long!  I will do my best to be better.  Over all, it's been a little over a month in Sweden and I have never been happier.  Everyday is a new adventure, a new learning experience.  It's so much fun to meet new people and connect with them at different levels over things one would normally find mundane.  This whole language situation has been pretty rough, but it's been a journey without a lack of laughter and good humor.  While I miss my friends and family back home (and homecoming), I am glad to be here.  I hope everyone is doing well, please update me!  I love hearing from people and being caught up on what's happening over the pond.  Have a great week everyone!


With Even and Simon, headed to the concert

Timo!!

With Sofia during lunch


KarlAlex and Daniela

A church we passed on the way to the fortress

The front of the fortress

The courtyard

Up on higher ground

One of the courtyards featuring Vegard

Finally got Vegard to pose with me.  I work with what I have :)


Trying to sneak in a picture with the host brother.  Please note my fantastic new leg muscles

The view of the fortress behind our fika spot

The view of the island from our fika spot






Monday, September 9, 2013

Surströmming

This week was a pretty defining moment in my year; it was the week I ate surströmming.  For those of you unfamiliar with the food, it is a fermented fish that is famous for the absolutely foul smell and taste it has.  It's traditional in Swedish culture, but most Swedes I have met have not tried it.  Words really cannot express to you the intensity of this pungent odor.  It smells like an outhouse on the shore of a salty beach with dead, rotting fish all around you intensified and compressed into a can.  It's an accomplishment to be sick after your first bite, as opposed to before.  It is made from small Baltic herrings that are fermented (basically rotten).  Surströmming is traditionally eaten towards the end of summer on a thin, hard bread with potato and onion and butter.  A can of this must always be opened outside, but is probably best eaten inside because any fly that is within ten miles of this stuff will rush over (yes, it's that strong).  

It is slimy and tastes just about the way it smells, but surprisingly more salty and even a bit sharp.  The taste of this does not leave your mouth without hard work and it haunts you for a few days after you eat it with every little burp reminding you of your huge mistake.  I had heard about this before I came to Sweden and it is amusing to see that Swedes are not in fact nonchalant about this because it truly is disgusting to like 99.999% of the world population.  Most people I have met, especially my age, have not tried surströmming, so I joked with them that I am more Swedish than they are.

I got the opportunity to try this during a crawfish party, which is a tradition in Swedish culture.  Towards the end of summer, friends and family gather for multiple crawfish parties and such.  While surströmming is not a usual dish served, the people organizing this party thought it would be an interesting attraction.  It was a lot of fun!


Crawfish!


It was a little sad to see their little faces before you ripped them apart

So hard to do
About to try the rotten fish...