Category: general

18
Jul
2011

WHALES & PUFFINS & GULLS, OH MY!

If I’m not careful I will be turning my biorhythmical clock upside-down. It’s really easy for me to do when I’m on vacation. I stay up later and later and then I wake up later and later. I have to start restraining myself or I end up sleeping all day and being up all night. When we’re traveling, however, it’s harder to do, since we usually have things scheduled: places to be, things to see, goals to achieve (my goal for Iceland: find a silver puffin charm for my countries-i-have-been-to-charm bracelet). It’s funny, I didn’t actually inspect the paper money...

17
Jul
2011

NOT ENOUGH SYNONYMS FOR AMAZING

Iceland was amazing. I wish we’d had more time and that I had better feet for hiking and better knees for climbing because that country is just MADE for hikers and climbers. Everywhere we turned there was something incredible to look at. We were completely saturated in natural beauty for 8 days straight. 1000-year old lava fields covered with pale green-gray moss like melted cheese on pizza (for MILES). Craters tall and squat and smooth. Pseudo-craters covered in short, brilliant green grass looking like a string of octopus tentacle suckers. Lava formations like some crazy-quilt rock-garden fantasy. Bright blue mineral...

04
Jul
2011

AMERICAN STYLE

Yesterday, we were all-American…even those of us who don’t come from the United States. We had our annual Independence Day BBQ hosted by the AWC at a lovely location on the shore of Ringsjön (a member’s home). Thanks to the high level of moisture content in the air, Barky had a great time playing Humidity Hair From Hell plus I had a red red nose (from the allergy-treatment aftermath (so no photos of me, ahem). There were hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill and watermelon slices and red/white/blue berry desserts, but alas, I didn’t have time to make deviled eggs...

29
Jun
2011

ALL OF US ARE FOREIGNERS SOMEWHERE

I don’t think about the fact that I’m a foreigner and an immigrant very often. I’ve assimilated quite well here, and frankly it wasn’t all that difficult. I’ve got lots of advantages in the immigrant deck of cards: I’m Caucasian, I’m educated, I speak English. I come from the US and I came because of a Swede. I’m not a refugee, even though I’m jokingly classed as a “love refugee” by a certain subset of expats. I have a job so I can contribute to taxes that keep this country running. I learned to speak Swedish quickly and fairly easily....

28
Jun
2011

COUNTING DOWN, OR UP, DEPENDING ON WHICH WAY YOU LOOK AT IT

When Anders first suggested Iceland for our summer vacation trip, I wasn’t all that enthusiastic. It’s expensive. People mostly go there for the scenery and outdoor activities. It’s small. But the more I’ve learned and read and heard, the more excited I’ve started to get about it. I’ve seen Jeanine’s photos and heard colleague’s accounts and it sounded lovely but what was there really to do for someone who doesn’t do bathing suits and isn’t thrilled at the prospect of horseback riding or nature hiking for days on end? I’ve heard Iceland compared to the moon and heard that it’s...

23
Jun
2011

VACATION STATE OF MIND

My entire family is on vacation except for me. Martin has 8.5 weeks. Karin has 10 weeks. Anders changed his scheduled vacation time and took next week off, so he has 5 weeks off as of today. I’m still working next week (and as we speak, actually) but then I have 4 weeks off. And it’s a 3-day weekend right now (as soon as I quit working, already). But still. 10…8.5…5…4…I think I’m getting the short end of the vacation stick.* It’s 9 pm and the sun is still high in the sky. It’s shining right through the bedroom windows...

20
Jun
2011

DON’T LOOK INTO THE LIGHT

Sometimes it’s good to take a break, even when it’s unexpected, and even when the very thought of it makes you a little twitchy. Our Internet has been wonky for ages. We can either be online on the PC OR the iPad OR the iPhone OR the Internet-TV OR the laptop, but not more than any one of them at once. And we have to constantly disable/enable/disable/enable the Internet on the PC. It’s incredibly annoying, but at least when it stops working COMPLETELY, you have to go and do something else, right? I’ve been hacking away at the to-do list...

14
Jun
2011

BUSY ON

Pay bills, including money to klasskassa Buy teacher gifts for Debbie & Inger Get dryer fixed Search for and buy new or used trampoline WALK WALK WALK Start WW again Send email to regional speakers requesting bios Get presentation title from Laurie Renew Swedish passport for Karin File US taxes Send reminder invite for regional to all clubs Check with Cate about Embassy speaker Email Kamila about ad for company donation Email Tobbe about recycled printer for program & ad Start program layout for regional Schedule a long-overdue massage Book hostels for Iceland Plan Iceland itinerary Replace wilting/dead pansies with...

11
Jun
2011

INVINCIBLE SUMMER

Things that I am grooving on lately: Looking: Swedish summer! Listening: Sara Bareilles — Little Voice Reading: Bill Bryson — At Home, A History of Private Life Drinking: Schweppes Pear Lime Fusion Eating: mozzarella & tomatoes, red seedless grapes Flowering: Paradisbuskena (Paradise bushes! latin: Kolkwitzia Amabilis), it’s called Beauty Bush in English, and it really is incredible. Giant bushes FULL of these gorgeous deep pink flowers Karin took this photo of the farmhouse behind us. It’s falling apart…no one has lived in it or taken care of it for a couple of years now. The green-covered mound to the right...

06
Jun
2011

AFTERNOON ON A SUNNY SUMMER HOLIDAY

The breeze is ruffling the parasol—it’s making flapping sounds like the wings of some large captive bird. A delirious dance of wind and rippling fabric. The eges of the parasol are frayed; it’s almost always windy here and they’ve had several summers’ worth of windy workouts. The sun has heated the wooden boards of the deck to a degree that makes them unpleasant to walk barefoot on. The wood is bleached to a soothing gray and darker knotholes contrast with marching rows of shiny nailheads. Dandelions, grass and clover stretch illicit green fingers up between the planks. Karin just came...

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