Sweden 301

Yes that's right, we've skipped passed 101 and 201 and gone full immersion for a semester. The following topics focus on settling in to the local environment. I had been hoping to write some of these days ago, but long (12-15 hr.) days stifled my motivation to do anything but sleep. At least they were as productive as they were long. I wish I could talk more about that, but I cannot.

Permanence
On arrival, the first thing I did in my hotel room was unpack. Note that this is monumental. Never before, in any of my travels, have I unpacked my bags and put away the shirts, pants, socks and underwear in the logical method of the moment. It is "of the moment" without a doubt. It is when you brace your perspective with the nervous concept that, in this room this hotel, this town, this country, this continent you will reside for some incomprehensible span of your life. And after so many of these ventures/relocations/transplantations, you resign to this understanding easily. Yet, it is just a hotel room and as impermanent as three faces of the moon.

However, today I purchased a used bicycle--and it is a proudly Swedish-built one at that (Crescent Donani). Until now I had used the Scandic Hotel's damcycle; a woman's bicycle of such incredible mass that, when riding off a curb, the bike does not fall towards the earth but rather the earth falls towards to the bicycle. Head lamp and tail lights are required by law after dusk, which will soon envelope eighteen hours of the day (at which point I feel it is a misnomer to refer to it as a day). The crowning, but subtle, accoutrement is the planetary gear hub (note the rear wheel below). So practical, efficient, and convenient is this technology, yet it is eschewed by the American bicycle culture as fiercely as we do the metric system.

This unassuming MTB with the local necessities and accessories instigates a new moment of permanence. It is a piece of Sweden in which, like my work, I am now invested for a long(er) term. For a man who has insisted on living out of his suitcase for the better parts of many months away from home, this is not just monumental, it is (dare I say) diamental!

And how much did this little piece of Sweden cost? 900 kr ($140) Not a bad price; 25% off via negotiation.




(Uniquely) Swedish
Volvo Limousine:
Yes, a Volvo station wagon stretched two or three meters in it's mid-span. This one was spotted in the parking lot of the Scandic Hotel one cool morning. Think about it though--what vehicle could be more practical for retrieving a Fortune 500 CEO from the airport and then, on the way home, stopping by the soccer field to pick up little Janne and the other thirteen members of his team? Välkommen.

Two men dancing a-sort-of waltz and singing a song on their way to lunch:
Not surprisingly, theirs is a different definition of masculinity. This contrasting instance was filled with joy and exuberance; absent is the phobia that is so commonplace back home and (here especially) feels absurd. Having worked with these guys for a month now, I laughed with them because it felt only natural to. Jovial moments are sweet morsels in our microcosm.
Välkommen.

More pictures from previous outings
Not so much outings as standing on my room's balcony (which is located above the second "c" in this image). I didn't realize the zoom lens was capable of respectable lunar photography. And I love the fact that I'm situated to the east of the city center and the old church (domkyrkan) for sunsets.


Fruits and salads to cure scurvy for a lifetime!
Every single meal I have ordered comes with the obligatory side of iceberg lettuce, thin slices of onion, generous quarters of juicy tomatoes, and several spoonfuls of sweet, turgid corn. Invariably, it has accompanied chicken pie (with curry spices), crepes, tuna on bagel, shepherds pie, fish and chips and (I suspect) a large salad. At cafeterias--particularly at work--you pay for your basic meal but then have access to an all-you-can-eat salad bar and fruit bowl.

When people ask, "So what kind of food do you most frequently eat there?", I will reply "kiwis." The hotel breakfast (frukost) bar contains a plate piled high with kiwi-halves. Such a delicacy, made readily available and (I have learned is best) eaten with a spoon like a boiled egg. It is important to note, from experience, that if the kiwi is deformed by the salad tongs, it is over-ripened and does not possess the special "zing". Kiwis in Sweden.