Summer breeds a sort of ecstatic mania among Swedes, probably because it’s so fleeting here. The trappings of summer are treated with a worshipful reverence that borders on lust. The appearance of Swedish strawberries and the tiny, buttery new potatoes, which have a place of honor on the traditional Midsummer menu, is awaited with breathlessness and much anticipatory lip-smacking. This morning the radio DJs announced that the first new potatoes of the season will be sold in Helsingborg this weekend, the last weekend in March, 3 days before the official advent of Spring, for 500 KRONOR A KILO. That is $73 dollars at today’s exchange rate.
For 2.2 pounds of potatoes.
Tuber or not tuber.
My mom will be here in 3 weeks. *happy dance* She’s asked my brother and I to furnish her with our shopping wish lists. I’m making a list and checking it twice! *whistles* The amount of things that I really miss, that I can’t find substitutes for, that I must have has decreased drastically from my first few years here. I get along without most of my comfort food favorites and have found substitutes for others. I still import a lot of over-the-counter cold remedies, Advil, chewable digestive tablets and toothpaste, though, and force my husband and my mom to carry the heavy bottles of my shampoo and conditioner whenever he goes over for a business trip or she comes to visit, since as far as I’m concerned the haircare choices here are either highway-robbing-price-gougers or total shite.
Wishing I Could See: Spamalot (Tim Curry!), Wicked, The Lion King
I miss the theater and concert scene in Chicago. I want to go to a show! waah!