October Days

Hej to the folks back home!  It has been a very relaxing couple of weeks and I have been enjoying the beautiful autumn weather to the fullest.  

The weekend since my last blog post was a cozy one spent with the family holed up in our house to watch General Conference.  Conference has become a fast favorite of mine; it is so nice to spend so much time with your family and listen to amazing talks from the comfort of your home.  Conference weekend for me goes hand in hand with food, so we enjoyed lots of late, charming breakfasts and baked treats.  On Saturday, we hosted four missionaries in our home for dinner and a session of General Conference, which was a tight squeeze on the sofa, but a lot of fun.  The newest missionary had only been in Sweden for a week and fell asleep on the couch, occasionally lifting his head and blearily blinking his eyes at the TV before giving into his exhaustion.  I know exactly how he felt and it admittedly felt a little nice to finally not be the new(est) one.   

On Sunday, we took a trip to the Gothenburg Botanical Gardens between sessions for a walk to stretch our legs.  My lovely host dad made hot chocolate from scratch and we brought it with us to drink sometime during our outing.  The weather was of course another perfectly overcast, chilly autumn day.  The fresh air did us good and seeing the pretty leaves on the trees was even better.  I took a few pictures before my camera died.

The weather this autumn has been positively delightful!  We had perhaps a week of rain that, after walking around the city, leaves you feeling like a wet cat.  After that it has been clear days and crisp air that fills your lungs with smells of damp forest grounds and chimney smoke.  It isn't cold enough to need a heavy jacket, perhaps a few layers and boots.  It is perfect for your favorite sweaters to finally make an appearance.  By the time my school day is over and I go home, my body temperature reaches that median where it is cold outside and my nose is pink, but I am not shivering or chilly and a cup of tea and thick socks make for the definition of cozy.  Sweater weather at its finest, I must say.  

Fall is most definitely my favorite season, if you haven't noticed, for a number of reasons.  Many are particular to Sweden:

1) I love fall colors like burgundy and forest green and navy blue and rusty orange and wine color and the list goes on.

2) I love sweaters in a way I can't expect people to understand.

3) I love tights of all colors; thick and thin, printed and plain.  I would say I wear some sort of outfit with tights on average about twice a week.  Because of my love for skirts and dresses, my collection of tights has been gradually growing, as has my heart.

4) Socks, especially fuzzy socks, are just so plainly brilliant I can't even express.  They are like little hugs for the bottom of my feet and they never reject my toes.  If my feet are warm, I am warm.  My covered feet also serve for great fun in sliding around the floor, given momentum.  It has come to the point where I can't sleep without fuzzy socks on, and I can't remember what the top of my feet look like.  I have no interest in finding out either.  Christmas package, Mom?

5) I love scarves, namely knit infinity scarves.  My neck loves them and so do my outfits.

6) I love apples, and apples love autumn and they just taste so much better during this time of the year.  Swedes aren't all that into pumpkin, which is unfortunate, but I love pumpkin as well. 

7) Autumn and tea go together like Wallace and Gromit.  The amount of herbal tea that I consume on a daily basis could be compared to the amount of water an Olympic athlete drinks.  So that may be an exaggeration, but I go to the bathroom often enough to make it feel real.  A cup of tea with a blanket and a book or a good conversation, is one of my absolute favorite activities.  Is tea a hobby? 

8) The flavors of fall are lovely to bake with, which we all know is my number one.  

9) With cold weather comes darker days, and with darker days comes candles.  My family sometimes eats by candle light, something I used to beg my parents to do when I was a little girl growing up in New Mexico.  They complained that they couldn't see their food, but my host family can appreciate the romantic atmosphere some well contained fire can provide.  At home around this time I would have my favorite Macintosh Apple scented candle lit and burning whenever I am in my room.  I miss my scented candles, but really any candlelight is golden.  

10) As the days get colder, my host family lights fires in the furnace next to the kitchen.  It heats up the whole upper level and is conveniently located at the top of the stairs, so the warmth envelops you as you take your last steps up.  My host brother, Vegard, pretty much owns the spot right in front of the furnace on a little bean bag situated in a prime position.  From this spot you are extra toasty, get a constant wiff of the smells from the kitchen, and also can talk to people who may be in just about any part of the house.  Lots of times we will sit together on the bean bag and I will ask him to read me a Swedish children's book, or we just talk.  

11) The weather.  Few times in the year is it possible for the air to be crisp and damp at the same time - and there never seems to be enough for my lungs.  While it can be pretty bitter with a wind, the air temperature is generally spot on.  With the right sweater and socks, you can be outside for long periods of time and never feel a chill.  

12) Despite the long list proceeding my last and final reason for loving fall; this has got to be my number one.  The scenery at this time of the year in Sweden is absolutely breathtaking.  There are so many trees everywhere.  Deciduous trees mixed in with the evergreen trees make for a patchwork of natural beauty in a variety of textures and colors.  A serious perk of living in a house on a large hill is the view from the windows over the big hills (not quite mountains) on the other side of town.  It is enough to stand outside and take it in for hours.

My host family has been so lovely and we often go out somewhere on a trail or someplace to take a walk on the weekends.  Last weekend, Lars and Vegard and I had a sort of camp out.  We hiked up a trail to a cliff that looked out over Partille and a good amount of forest.  We were just in time to see the sunset and we waited until it was fairly dark before we lit a camp fire and drank hot chocolate, ate hotdogs, and roasted marshmallows.  When we got home, we watched Forrest Gump to conclude our night.

Earlier this week, my good friend Rebecca, who is an American exchange student in Helsingborg (about two hours south from Gothenburg) came and stayed with me on Tuesday night so that we could take the PSAT together on Wednesday morning.  We left fairly early and set out to find the location of the test, which was held in an international school.  Initially we were impressed by the stonework and the overall appearance of the school, but it didn't take too long after classes started for us to realize it had a definite sketchy vibe to it.  The test itself went pretty well, I think, but it didn't really contribute to what I consider one of the best days I have had in Sweden.

The test ended up taking from 9:30 till 1:00, so we were both brain dead and hungry and cold when we were released.  We walked around, following our own whims to find a good place to eat.  We decided we wanted soup to warm ourselves up after spending hours sitting in a drafty auditorium.  We wandered until we saw, across the street, a sign in front of a place called The Foxx that said Bagels.  We hadn't had bagels since we had been here, so we were intrigued.  There were a few people eating at the outdoor tables set up around this corner building and they seemed to be enjoying their meals.  We walked across the street to The Foxx and unintentionally stood right in front of the entrance, which is down a few steps from street level.  As we were reading the menus, a guy who worked there came out from the cafe and beckoned us to come in while he tended to the customers outside.  We were a little annoyed to feel pressured, but we followed him in and to the cashier.

He quickly caught on that we were American and that I didn't speak Swedish, so we had a pleasant exchange explaining the whole situation.  The place itself is rather small and has a sort of urban feel, with the space being slightly depressed under street level.  There was interesting music playing, the kind that wasn't interesting enough to catch your attention, but in that sense also doesn't distract you.  There were bar stools and high tables as well as some sofa areas.  On a wall next to the entrance, a projector was constantly playing some sort of silent film.  The soup we ordered was a sort of thick stew with lots of components and the perfect amount of spice that warmed you in a way that heat simply cannot - from the belly.  The soup was delicious and it was a good amount that trickily left you so full that you don't want to move or leave, but not so full that you regret eating it.  The real star of the show, however, was the bagel that came with our soup.  It was positively delicious, by far the best bagel I have ever had.  It was warm and was situated so perfectly on that colorful little plate next to a smear of cream cheese that, though it complimented it well, wasn't necessary.  The bagel had an impeccable balance of sour and sweet that good bagels do.  It was warm and chewy and had a distinct homemade taste that let you feel every bit of love in every little bite.

After we ate, we sat down on an incredibly comfortable green couch and watched the silent Planet Earth episode that was projected on the wall.  We talked about the animals we saw and had some legitimate discussions about different wildlife.  I was so comfortable and content, the world just melted away.  Before we knew it, it had been an hour since we had walked in.  A Charlie Chaplin movie had replaced Planet Earth, and we were laughing at the humor in the black and white pictures.  Out of nowhere, that friendly waiter (who looks rather like a modern Charlie Chaplin actually) brought us a plate of watermelon cut in the shape of a heart.  We enjoyed that for a while longer... an hour longer... and finally forced ourselves to leave after I got another heavenly bagel to go.  I can't remember ever being so relaxed and simply content in my entire life.  I recommend The Foxx very strongly, so if you ever find yourself in Gothenburg, make sure you spend a few lifetimes there.  It is most definitely one of my favorite places on Earth.

Our perfect day continued when I took Rebecca to 4 Gott, a candy store not far from my school.  It's tucked away on a corner that isn't all too busy.  The store is indescribable and so fantastic.  A trademark of Sweden might be the way they sell candy - it is very common for candy stores to have bins of different candies that you shovel into your bag and pay according to weight at the cashier.  4 Gott is candy every inch of the store.  There is so much candy and a countless number of bins that make a grown man turn five years old again.  We chose our poison and I took her to the Lion Steps.  These are steps that lead down to the canal that is in front of my school.  They are a good place to just sit and talk while you look over a part of the city.  We call them the Lion Steps because of the two lion statues that guard either side.  We ate our candy and then spent some time in the mall, Nordstan, that was right behind us.  After dropping her off at the train station, I went home and had a great meal with my family.  It was a wonderful day, one that I will never forget.

Gothenburg Botanical Gardens entrance

We are friends I promise

A field trip to a trash disposal place, really not worth talking about. This is my class

The graveyard I pass everyday on my walk to school

The watermelon the waiter brought us at The Foxx

One of the cupcakes I made last Sunday

Fika at my house after school with a couple friends, Sofia and Johanna.  We made hot chocolate and cookies 

The view from the Lion Steps

An afternoon spent out on the porch after school

Your regular selfie with Vegard

On our way to the camp out

The view of Partille from our hike!

Gorgeous sunset over Partille

Vegard

Look everyone I'm building a fire

My favorites <3

I admittedly don't know exactly how to dress for a hike...