First Snow

There is a word in Swedish for the type of weather we've been having that translates to 'raw'. That's a good word for it, as it is a bone-chilling type cold. They say that in the north of Sweden, where it is 20 or 30 degrees colder, it actually feels warmer because it is drier there. Being right on the North Sea ups the brrrr factor here.
We had the first major snow last night and everything looks beautiful. I am dying to post pictures, but Peter's internet connection is out and I can't upload photos at the university library. I promise to post some soon though, including some of Peter and I from our "Thanksgiving" dinner this past Saturday night.

Auctions

In the past week I have been to two auctions with Kirsten and Jan. One was in a small village, the other was in downtown Halmstad. These pictures are from the one in the village. The day we went was just a viewing day. The actual auction took place the next day.


Kirsten with a bowl by a Falkenberg (a nearby town) artist we both liked.

EuroStop

EuroStop is Halmstad's biggest mall. It is similar to American malls, with a few differences such as a grocery store at the entrance. Remember that yellow and green sign from an earlier post? It's System Bolaget, the over-priced, state-run liquor store. The prices have led some Swedes to buy their liquor in Denmark or Germany. Overall, Eurostop is a really nice mall. There's a hotel next to it, in case any of you shop till you drop types come visit me here.


I didn't recognize this coffee shop to be an American chain (no Starbucks in Sweden thus far) but for some reason their whole menu was in English. This is perhaps due to having a lot of tourists from other European countries. English is used as a common denominator language.

I Hennes Skor (In Her Shoes)

Monday night while Peter was at karate, I stayed in Halmstad and saw a movie I've been wanting to see ever since reading the book by Jennifer Weiner: In Her Shoes. When I first saw the poster for the movie, with the title "I Hennes Skor" I said to Peter "Oh great. It's in Swedish." He assured me the only movies that are dubbed into Swedish are for children (I had seen'Shrek' dubbed into Swedish on DVD a few weeks before. A Swedish voice instead of Eddie Murphy as 'Donkey' was just wrong). Anyway, it was indeed in English- with Swedish subtitles- and was wonderful. The only other movie I had seen here was in an old village theatre near Ugglarp that only showed movies on Sunday nights. This was a more modern (relatively speaking) multiplex.

The Winter Street

Late yesterday afternoon Kirsten and her son Linus' girlfriend and I went to a Christmas bazar that was held in a barn in the largest dairy farm in Sweden. There were three floors of holiday gifts, all handmade crafts like candles, sheepskin products, jewelry, etc. There was also a separate building with food products such as lignonberry jam, sausages, cheeses, candy etc.
When Kirsten and I got back around 7 pm (or 19:00 as they would express it here), the night sky was amazingly vivid. Kirsten pointed and said what did you call that? I told her we call it the Milky Way. I asked her what it was called in Sweden and she said "The Winter Street"

The Winter Street. Isn't that nice imagery?

More photos of Peter's House

We've been spending one or two nights a week at Peter's house in Laholm (usually Sunday and/or Monday since that's when he has karate) and the rest of the time at the cabin in Ugglarp.

Bibliotek

In this basement room in the downtown Halmstad library, all the books are in English. I have my own library card, and check out four or five books a week.

More downtown Halmstad

First Frost Pictures

From Peter's driveway, 7:30 am today.

Halmstad University Campus

Brrr

The weather is offically colder. The ground was covered in frost this morning, and some puddles of water still have a thin layer of ice over them this afternoon. Peter changed the tires on his car last night (himself of course). The studded tires will stay on until about April. It's supposed to snow within the next few days.

The building where Peter works

As seen through a rainy windshield.

Peter in his Swedish Lunkhead Outfit

Sometime this summer, I don't remember why, I jokingly called Peter a Swedish lunkhead. I explained to him that a lunkhead is someone...goofy, kind of dim-witted, that sort of thing. Since Peter and I know this description is far from the truth, we both enjoy my calling him that at times. At times when he is dressed like this for instance. This is outside his workshop, which used to be a barn. He was about to work on a car, one of his many skills.

Downtown Halmstad

November 16th and the holiday season is here.

'System Bolaget' are the government-run liquor stores. They are the only place you can buy liquor in Sweden.

Of course there's a McDonald's. There is probably a McDonald's on Neptune.

Swedish Grocery Store

"What are those animal parts in thatfreezer?" I asked Peter. "Moose and wild boar" he replied. Here he is earnestly contemplating a purchase.


Glass is the Swedish word for ice cream.

On our way into town Monday morning...

We pulled over and walked down to the sea. We both loved the way the water looked and how it felt to be by it.

More things that are different in Sweden

A while back I posted a list a friend found on the internet of things that are different in Sweden.

Here are a few of my own observations:

1. No water fountains. Anywhere.
2. You have to deposit 5 crowns (40 cents) to get a grocery cart
3. The game show 'Jeopardy' is pronounced 'Yepardy'
4. Legal highway speeds fluctuate based on weather conditions
5. Few overweight people, virtually no morbidly obese.
6. About 1/5 of TV programs are from the US and have Swedish subtitles.
7. A combination of beautiful old windmills, no longer in use, and weird looking new ones.

Previous Months' Posts / Weather Report

A lot of you have told me you are new to the concept of weblogs, so I just wanted to point out that to see posts from previous months just look to the right and scroll down to "Archives". From there just click on which month you want to view.

The weather turned stormy today. The wind was so strong that at one point while I was walking head on into it, I was actually knocked a few steps sideways. I was flattered that the wind would pick a refined carb lover like myself to do that to.

My Mastery of Swedish Literature

What can I say? It's working. Peter has even stopped laughing over my pronunciation. I am kind enough to limit my reading to him to three or four pages at a time. I've also been "reading" Swedish newspapers, magazines, etc. I'm getting to where I can get the gist of an article. One thing I'm getting great at is reading menus, but that probably comes as no surprise. I can also write a basic grocery list in Swedish. I am finally beginning to believe Peter that there is indeed a difference between an 'o' and an 'ö' ('Ost' is 'East', 'Öst' is 'cheese') Other groovy, oddly-pronounced Swedish letters: å, ä.

Swedish Pizza

Have I mentioned that the Swedes are pizza crazy? Peter said he remembers the first pizzeria coming to Laholm in the early 70s. The trend caught on from there to say the least. Swedish pizza has a thin crust and is served with something called 'pizza salad' which is almost sauerkraut-y cabbage topped with oregano. Mmmm (NOT). Another distinguishing feature of Swedish pizza is the names: 'Disco' or 'UFO' pizza, anyone? The pizzas deserve their weird names because they feature weird ingredients and combinations. I decided to pass on the tuna and jalapeno combo, but couldn't resist trying the 'Bahamas' pizza, which featured bananas, pineapple and curry. If my niece is reading this, she is probably wondering how this compares to the Ethiopian omelette I once felt compelled to try for brunch in Portland. I am happy to report that the 'Bahamas' pizza was actually pretty good.

Other Photos from this Week

I'm still loving exploring the countryside. We went to the 50th birthday party of one of Peter's closest friends Saturday night. I'll be posting some pictures of that soon.

Peter's Dream House

Peter has mentioned that he would love to live in this house. I like it too.

Icelandic Sea Horses

When I walked down to the sea yesterday I was very happy to see my four horse friends were out. I've been told these are Icelandic horses (or ponies- not sure which). The weather was cold and blustery and they seemed energized by it. They put on quite a show- running around, 'horsing' around with each other, and at one point all running toward me and then stopping to pose. It was wonderful.

Possible Travel Plans

It's possible that Peter and I might accompany Jan on a trip to Zurich, Switzerland sometime before mid December. I am really hoping it works out. Also in my wish list is Oslo, which is about a five hour drive from Halmstad. Definetly in the agenda is a day in Copenhagen, since that is only a two hour drive. I've only seen the airport so far, so I'm looking forward to seeing the city.

I'll be uploading photos from the last week sometime this weekend.

Hunds

Kirsten and Jan, who own the cabin and live next door, have two very sweet dogs. One is seven months old and the other is about eight years. They both love lots of attention and I am happy to give it to them.

Surf's Up

Now that it's gotten windier, the North Sea is truly amazing.