My mom has not much interest of being in the kitchen. Wrong, she likes being in there, loves good food, loves to take place and lately; loves to bake. She recently retired, last year in October, and now she has all this time on her hands. Don't get me wrong, I do not complain when I get freshly baked bread EVERY single morning, not at all. We have these few weeks eaten more bread than we did during the four years we lived in the US. And I try to run every morning.
Early this morning we flew from Stockholm to visit with my brother and his family in Mattmar, Jämtland, further north in the very long country of Sweden. One hour in the air and we are still only in the middle. Here, baking has reached another level; my sister-in-law is the proud owner of Agdas Cafe (Agdas coffee shop www.agdaskafe.se) ) where she bakes and makes everything from scratch. Everything! There is no end to the creativity and delishiousness. My brother works from home with his office in the same building (an old farmhouse from the 19th century, beautifully renovated) and it is a wonder that he is still walking around, not rolling. We arrived Thursday morning, just in time for gubbfika (old man's coffee break) at 10am, freshly baked bread with ham, cheese, marmelades and a choice of coffee and tea. After a first breakfast at 6am before leaving for the airport, a second one on the one-hour flight (free of charge! FREE!) a third one just hit the spot.
As soon as we were done, we were put to work, willingly so. Amanda was the first one to don the apron, very proudly. She started with baking tekakor (tea cakes) for the lunch time prawn sandwiches, continued with serving the customers, cleaning the tables, putting flowers on the same and just having a great time and most importantly, feeling very good about herself.
Ulf and my brother left for stocking up at the store leaving me and the kids to take care of business. We made biscotti, baked more bread, an amazing cake appeared like magic allthewhile serving a steady stream of customers. Amazing. Again, I would be sooo fat if I had a cafe or any kind of food related business.
When I was little, we spent every summer up here in my grand parents cabin (cabin as a real cabin, we had only cold water on tap, a dass (outdoor toilet), no tv and once a week we got to go to my great-grandmother for a well deserved bath. All clean and sweet smelling we would snack on peppermint candy and gingerbread snaps in either the kitchen, while she was working with one thing or another, or on special occasions in the salon, surrounded by old photos and relics from the past.
Up here I'm surrounded by childhood memories and relatives, most of whom I do not know. My own kids once asked me which is my very favorite place in the world and the answer came out of my mouth even before I had a chance to think about it. I wouldn't want to live here permanently, but I will come back to visit over and over again.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Jag är så glad!
Pippi Longstocking is an institution in Sweden, actually all the characters and stories by the lovely Astrid Lindgren are sacred, and rightly so. We have tried to keep up, reading the stories, singing the songs, watching the movies, but it is hard when your children prefer to hear stories in another language and soon, they become more familiar and well-versed with Dr. Seuss than Pippi.
This summer we have had a major Astrid Lindgren boost, thanks to Petter 3 1/2 years old. He watches the movies and sings the songs and then like magic, so do our kids as well.
We managed to borrow two bikes for the kids to use over summer; nothing fancy but they work. The small bike is purple which of course suits Amanda perfectly. The only problem...there are still support wheels on it. Support wheels that she has refused to have taken off despite the fact that she learned to ride her own bike without them this winter. The joy of hearing her exclaim: " I'm so happy!" when she rides it is worth it though. "I can stop and start and turn and I'm so happy!" And off she goes singing Pippi's summer song (Pippis sommarvisa), her own version with made up words when she doesn't quite remember.
Bribery always works though and this morning I took the support wheels off with the promise of putting them back on if she couldn't do it. They are still off.
When we lived in China, our bikes were our main way of transportation. We lived right smack in the middle of the city and since Beijing is pretty flat, it was easy to get everywhere we wanted. Ulf strapped his briefcase on the back of his bike and I bought a big basked to put all my stuff in. My first bike I inherited from my first Swedish friend in Beijing who were there for a brief period with her boyfriend, on assignment for Ericsson. It looked like a bike from the 1920's; huge wheels with a big frame and an old lady's seat. A great bike but as we both needed new bikes anyway, we decided to get "real" bikes at the Giant store; bikes made in China but hey, they were DESIGNED in the US.
My husband is a big guy, he is tall, by Chinese standards, very tall. Chinese bikes, though designed in the US, are made for Chinese people and thus, not exactly the right size for a 6' man. As he is a determined man, some would even say stubborn, we went ahead with it and made the store custom build him a bike. The largest frame, still too small, was compensated somehow with an extra tall seat and handle bar. It worked well, we used our bikes all the time in China and later in Japan and in France, then equipped with kids' seats.
When we moved to America, I decided that it was time for a look-over, a complete renovation, and I took my bike to the bike shop next to Target on Frank Lloyd Right and the 101.
"No problems", the repair guy said, looking exactly like a bike repair guy should with a leather apron, long hair and and excited look in his eyes. "So cool!", he exclaimed when I came to pick it up, one week later: "Everything is backwards!"
Ulf's bike never got repaired in America, maybe there are still bike repair men on the side of the road, fixing your flat tire for a kwai, willing to take on his antique. Maybe they even have frames big enough for a normal sized waiguoren (westerner) these days, or maybe we'll just buy him a new one.
This summer we have had a major Astrid Lindgren boost, thanks to Petter 3 1/2 years old. He watches the movies and sings the songs and then like magic, so do our kids as well.
We managed to borrow two bikes for the kids to use over summer; nothing fancy but they work. The small bike is purple which of course suits Amanda perfectly. The only problem...there are still support wheels on it. Support wheels that she has refused to have taken off despite the fact that she learned to ride her own bike without them this winter. The joy of hearing her exclaim: " I'm so happy!" when she rides it is worth it though. "I can stop and start and turn and I'm so happy!" And off she goes singing Pippi's summer song (Pippis sommarvisa), her own version with made up words when she doesn't quite remember.
Bribery always works though and this morning I took the support wheels off with the promise of putting them back on if she couldn't do it. They are still off.
When we lived in China, our bikes were our main way of transportation. We lived right smack in the middle of the city and since Beijing is pretty flat, it was easy to get everywhere we wanted. Ulf strapped his briefcase on the back of his bike and I bought a big basked to put all my stuff in. My first bike I inherited from my first Swedish friend in Beijing who were there for a brief period with her boyfriend, on assignment for Ericsson. It looked like a bike from the 1920's; huge wheels with a big frame and an old lady's seat. A great bike but as we both needed new bikes anyway, we decided to get "real" bikes at the Giant store; bikes made in China but hey, they were DESIGNED in the US.
My husband is a big guy, he is tall, by Chinese standards, very tall. Chinese bikes, though designed in the US, are made for Chinese people and thus, not exactly the right size for a 6' man. As he is a determined man, some would even say stubborn, we went ahead with it and made the store custom build him a bike. The largest frame, still too small, was compensated somehow with an extra tall seat and handle bar. It worked well, we used our bikes all the time in China and later in Japan and in France, then equipped with kids' seats.
When we moved to America, I decided that it was time for a look-over, a complete renovation, and I took my bike to the bike shop next to Target on Frank Lloyd Right and the 101.
"No problems", the repair guy said, looking exactly like a bike repair guy should with a leather apron, long hair and and excited look in his eyes. "So cool!", he exclaimed when I came to pick it up, one week later: "Everything is backwards!"
Ulf's bike never got repaired in America, maybe there are still bike repair men on the side of the road, fixing your flat tire for a kwai, willing to take on his antique. Maybe they even have frames big enough for a normal sized waiguoren (westerner) these days, or maybe we'll just buy him a new one.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Phew!
Supposedly so much time on my hands and still, no time to get anything done!
As we are now on our third week in Sweden it is dawning on all of us that we are not going back, that at the moment we actually have no idea of where we are going. Yes, we know which country and city but not much more than that. We also do not know when we are leaving and where we will stay when we reach our destination. Or when we get our stuff, currently in a container in storage in Los Angeles.
I can handle this, it is not the ideal living situation but I know that once we get there, and get our belongings, it will be good and normal and routinely again. The kids...the kids are sad and wish to go back to Arizona. Any small argument about stupid things like you have to wear long pants when it's raining or you will be cold ends in tears and: "I just want to go back to Arizona...".
Add in some parental guilt about uprooting our children and you have an ideal living situation.
On our treks into the city for our health certificate (three days of traveling on bus/tram/subway) and other excursions, I've seen the "new" Sweden. I left 15 years ago and sure, I've visited every year; enjoyed the city life at least once every summer and experienced the glory of summer Stockholm. Not in a long time have I had to use public transportation as much as this year, visited clinics and laboratories and waited in line to get my own, and my family's, chest x-ray done. We've used public transport, as mentioned, which has improved tremendously. It's easy, cheap and gets you from a to b efficiently and without major mishaps. We have seen how the once so very monochromatic Stockholm has changed, in a good way. There are people of different colors and cultures who belong (more than I do) and take their place. Different languages are spoken on buses and subways and not by tourists only.
In one area though, and I'm really sorry to have to point this out, it seems to have gone backwards.
Question: What is the one thing that all living creatures have to do? Not sleeping nor eating.
Yes! Going to the bathroom. We all do it, there's no way around it. Yet, in Stockholm there is not only almost impossible to find a public bathroom; when you do - you have to pay for it! Even in restaurants, EVEN at McDonalds. And if you do not have the right coin, because the machine on the door does of course not accept credit cards and if you put the right amount of money in but in the wrong denomination, it will take your money but NOT let you into the bathroom! So what to do when you have a six 1/2 year old with you who cannot hold it a second longer and you can't get in? Pee in the sink? Well lucky us who were saved by a German tourist and later by a very nice lady from another part of the country (yes, she had to go again). Is there any wonder that people pee in the elevators and in back alleys? That they risk their lives in the subway tunnels and develop urinary tract infections? Even in the movie theater when you've been sitting in the dark for at least 1 1/2 hours drinking soda and eating popcorn, you need a code to use the bathroom. And they are not even clean!
Are people really that greedy? Or are Swedish people really that bad at using the bathroom, leaving them so stinky and smelly that there is no use having public restrooms? I understand if you don't want people sleeping and doing drugs in public bathrooms but there's just gotta be a way to deal with this.
In China, I developed the most amazing bladder. I could go for a day without going. Not because there were no public restrooms around, there were plenty, but they were just a bit stinky and actually quite hard to figure out how to use. In the west, going to the bathroom is not a social event, most people prefer to go in private (unless you're in a bar or restaurants with girl friends of course), in China it was the opposite. There were a few variations on the layout of the public bathrooms, some had stalls (usually without doors) and some where just an open space. Sometimes there were a few grooves, parallel on the floor, sometimes just an flat surface, slightly tilted to assure that all the end product ended up where it should. In department stores there were usually restrooms in one corner of every store; very easy to detect because of the scent, but they were there, and they were free!
My mom is an expert on public restrooms, she really should write a guide book on the subject. So far, America is the true winner with Singapore as number two. She never visited in Japan, a pity, they would surely win with their heated toilet seats and muffling sounds of the ocean or birds singing and no use for toilet paper even; a nice douche, cold or warm, and a puff or nice warm air will do nicely.
Those Japanese, they sure know how to do it.
As we are now on our third week in Sweden it is dawning on all of us that we are not going back, that at the moment we actually have no idea of where we are going. Yes, we know which country and city but not much more than that. We also do not know when we are leaving and where we will stay when we reach our destination. Or when we get our stuff, currently in a container in storage in Los Angeles.
I can handle this, it is not the ideal living situation but I know that once we get there, and get our belongings, it will be good and normal and routinely again. The kids...the kids are sad and wish to go back to Arizona. Any small argument about stupid things like you have to wear long pants when it's raining or you will be cold ends in tears and: "I just want to go back to Arizona...".
Add in some parental guilt about uprooting our children and you have an ideal living situation.
On our treks into the city for our health certificate (three days of traveling on bus/tram/subway) and other excursions, I've seen the "new" Sweden. I left 15 years ago and sure, I've visited every year; enjoyed the city life at least once every summer and experienced the glory of summer Stockholm. Not in a long time have I had to use public transportation as much as this year, visited clinics and laboratories and waited in line to get my own, and my family's, chest x-ray done. We've used public transport, as mentioned, which has improved tremendously. It's easy, cheap and gets you from a to b efficiently and without major mishaps. We have seen how the once so very monochromatic Stockholm has changed, in a good way. There are people of different colors and cultures who belong (more than I do) and take their place. Different languages are spoken on buses and subways and not by tourists only.
In one area though, and I'm really sorry to have to point this out, it seems to have gone backwards.
Question: What is the one thing that all living creatures have to do? Not sleeping nor eating.
Yes! Going to the bathroom. We all do it, there's no way around it. Yet, in Stockholm there is not only almost impossible to find a public bathroom; when you do - you have to pay for it! Even in restaurants, EVEN at McDonalds. And if you do not have the right coin, because the machine on the door does of course not accept credit cards and if you put the right amount of money in but in the wrong denomination, it will take your money but NOT let you into the bathroom! So what to do when you have a six 1/2 year old with you who cannot hold it a second longer and you can't get in? Pee in the sink? Well lucky us who were saved by a German tourist and later by a very nice lady from another part of the country (yes, she had to go again). Is there any wonder that people pee in the elevators and in back alleys? That they risk their lives in the subway tunnels and develop urinary tract infections? Even in the movie theater when you've been sitting in the dark for at least 1 1/2 hours drinking soda and eating popcorn, you need a code to use the bathroom. And they are not even clean!
Are people really that greedy? Or are Swedish people really that bad at using the bathroom, leaving them so stinky and smelly that there is no use having public restrooms? I understand if you don't want people sleeping and doing drugs in public bathrooms but there's just gotta be a way to deal with this.
In China, I developed the most amazing bladder. I could go for a day without going. Not because there were no public restrooms around, there were plenty, but they were just a bit stinky and actually quite hard to figure out how to use. In the west, going to the bathroom is not a social event, most people prefer to go in private (unless you're in a bar or restaurants with girl friends of course), in China it was the opposite. There were a few variations on the layout of the public bathrooms, some had stalls (usually without doors) and some where just an open space. Sometimes there were a few grooves, parallel on the floor, sometimes just an flat surface, slightly tilted to assure that all the end product ended up where it should. In department stores there were usually restrooms in one corner of every store; very easy to detect because of the scent, but they were there, and they were free!
My mom is an expert on public restrooms, she really should write a guide book on the subject. So far, America is the true winner with Singapore as number two. She never visited in Japan, a pity, they would surely win with their heated toilet seats and muffling sounds of the ocean or birds singing and no use for toilet paper even; a nice douche, cold or warm, and a puff or nice warm air will do nicely.
Those Japanese, they sure know how to do it.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Syphilis - seriously?
Last time we moved to China, I'm pretty sure I flew in on a tourist visa and then somehow, everything sorted itself out. This time, we go by the book- of course, we are very law- and immigration law especially - abiding people...
Therefore today, we went to the first of two doctors appointments for our "Physical Examination Record for Foreigner". This has to be done in order to apply for the visa that we need and then, after we arrive in China, we get to do it all over again! In Chinese! Lucky us!
This I do remember that we did at one point that spring of 1997. Suddenly we had to go to a local hospital to get checked out. I remember long corridors and a lot, a lot, of people hanging around. We were escorted into a small room and I was to go first. Could I see well? Hmmm...well, no not really. I'm half blind and have been wearing glasses since I was 11 or so, so no. Oh dear, that is not good and off they went, checking, listening, probing, examinating....a chest x-ray...
After a while it was Ulf's turn with the doctor:
"Can you hear well?"
"Yes."
"Can you see well?"
"Yes."
"You are ok to go."
Huh? That was it? Why oh why did I ever say anything?
At least I learned my lesson and did not X the yes box for the questions if we had ever had either of the following diseases on the form:
Polyomyelitis, scarlet fever, bacillary dysentery, toxicomania, mental confusion, psychosic manic, paranoid or hallucinatory...diphteria, typhus fever, brucellosis or viral hepatitis. All horrible disease I'm sure and not very common in the western world.
They also ask for EKG's and blood work to determine if we have hiv and/or syphilis. Did I mention that we all have to do this? They have to make sure my six year old doesn't have syphilis? Better safe then sorry, I guess?...
Taking Amanda's EKG was interesting....
"You have to lie really still or there will be a looooong line on the paper that tells that the heart is working to heard, dear."
"Ok", she says and starts breathing....iiiinnnnnn - filling the whole chest cavity and tummy so that her back arches from the examination table and ooooouuuuuttt, crunching down on the same table and iiiiinnnnnn....
"Amanda", the kind nurse Amy explains, less patiently now, "you have to lie completely still!"
"Ok! I can do it!"
Iiinnnnn......oooouuuuut.....
"Amanda! Keep your arms still! You cannot move your arms!
"Ok!"
Iiiiinnnnn.....ooooouuuuuuttt....
"Wait here, I'll just go check with the doctor if this works...."
"All done! You have a healthy heart Amanda. We'll see you again tomorrow when it's your brothers turn..."
Therefore today, we went to the first of two doctors appointments for our "Physical Examination Record for Foreigner". This has to be done in order to apply for the visa that we need and then, after we arrive in China, we get to do it all over again! In Chinese! Lucky us!
This I do remember that we did at one point that spring of 1997. Suddenly we had to go to a local hospital to get checked out. I remember long corridors and a lot, a lot, of people hanging around. We were escorted into a small room and I was to go first. Could I see well? Hmmm...well, no not really. I'm half blind and have been wearing glasses since I was 11 or so, so no. Oh dear, that is not good and off they went, checking, listening, probing, examinating....a chest x-ray...
After a while it was Ulf's turn with the doctor:
"Can you hear well?"
"Yes."
"Can you see well?"
"Yes."
"You are ok to go."
Huh? That was it? Why oh why did I ever say anything?
At least I learned my lesson and did not X the yes box for the questions if we had ever had either of the following diseases on the form:
Polyomyelitis, scarlet fever, bacillary dysentery, toxicomania, mental confusion, psychosic manic, paranoid or hallucinatory...diphteria, typhus fever, brucellosis or viral hepatitis. All horrible disease I'm sure and not very common in the western world.
They also ask for EKG's and blood work to determine if we have hiv and/or syphilis. Did I mention that we all have to do this? They have to make sure my six year old doesn't have syphilis? Better safe then sorry, I guess?...
Taking Amanda's EKG was interesting....
"You have to lie really still or there will be a looooong line on the paper that tells that the heart is working to heard, dear."
"Ok", she says and starts breathing....iiiinnnnnn - filling the whole chest cavity and tummy so that her back arches from the examination table and ooooouuuuuttt, crunching down on the same table and iiiiinnnnnn....
"Amanda", the kind nurse Amy explains, less patiently now, "you have to lie completely still!"
"Ok! I can do it!"
Iiinnnnn......oooouuuuut.....
"Amanda! Keep your arms still! You cannot move your arms!
"Ok!"
Iiiiinnnnn.....ooooouuuuuuttt....
"Wait here, I'll just go check with the doctor if this works...."
"All done! You have a healthy heart Amanda. We'll see you again tomorrow when it's your brothers turn..."
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
But why?
We took our kids for a little excursion into reality yesterday. After almost one week of country life we felt we were all ready for a look at "real" life in Stockholm; i.e. we took public transportation to visit the in-laws.
First the tram: "Look kids! Look at the water, isn't it pretty?"
"Are we there yet? Oh look, a McDonalds! Can we go and have some REAL food?"
Then the subway: "No, kids, it is not ok to stand up and spin around the pole like you're getting paid for it, sit down like a "normal" Swedish person. Don't look at anyone and for gods sake, do not talk to anyone!"
"Are we there yet?
"Almost there! And then we have to run into the store and get whatwasitagain that farmor (grandma) needed? Four things remember?"
"Ice cream!"
"Yes, but what else?"
"Ok, she said salad..."
"And milk and cream, wait here outside with dad, I'll run in quickly."
"But, it's raining....."
"Hurry guys, the bus will be here any minute, we can walk but we have a lot to carry, what do you want to do?"
"...but it's raaaiiiinnnninnnnngggg..."
"Only a drizzle and here it comes!"
"Amanda, press the red button so the driver knows to stop."
"Amanda, press it now!"
"NOW, Amanda!"
"But why can't we just tell him that we want to get off?"
"Well, Amanda, what if everyone just shouted out that they wanted to get off, the driver would be so very confused."
"But he should know! He should know where people wants to get off."
"Amanda, it doesn't work like that in Sweden; you don't say hello to the bus driver or ANYONE else, you don't ask how people are, you don't look them in the eye, you pretend you don't see anyone and you always wait in line. Don't smile at people you don't know or they think you are crazy or drunk.."
"Huh?"
"Nevermind, just try to do what everyone else does, god knows I try..."
First the tram: "Look kids! Look at the water, isn't it pretty?"
"Are we there yet? Oh look, a McDonalds! Can we go and have some REAL food?"
Then the subway: "No, kids, it is not ok to stand up and spin around the pole like you're getting paid for it, sit down like a "normal" Swedish person. Don't look at anyone and for gods sake, do not talk to anyone!"
"Are we there yet?
"Almost there! And then we have to run into the store and get whatwasitagain that farmor (grandma) needed? Four things remember?"
"Ice cream!"
"Yes, but what else?"
"Ok, she said salad..."
"And milk and cream, wait here outside with dad, I'll run in quickly."
"But, it's raining....."
"Hurry guys, the bus will be here any minute, we can walk but we have a lot to carry, what do you want to do?"
"...but it's raaaiiiinnnninnnnngggg..."
"Only a drizzle and here it comes!"
"Amanda, press the red button so the driver knows to stop."
"Amanda, press it now!"
"NOW, Amanda!"
"But why can't we just tell him that we want to get off?"
"Well, Amanda, what if everyone just shouted out that they wanted to get off, the driver would be so very confused."
"But he should know! He should know where people wants to get off."
"Amanda, it doesn't work like that in Sweden; you don't say hello to the bus driver or ANYONE else, you don't ask how people are, you don't look them in the eye, you pretend you don't see anyone and you always wait in line. Don't smile at people you don't know or they think you are crazy or drunk.."
"Huh?"
"Nevermind, just try to do what everyone else does, god knows I try..."
Monday, July 4, 2011
What a witch!
"Mama, can you promise me there are no witches or sharks in Sweden? And can you please speak to us in English, we get so confused!"
Well, that's new, especially for Amanda who keeps blabbering away like there's no tomorrow. Little did I know that she didn't understand half of what she is talking about! Well, it's only been less than a week, camp Sweden will go on for at least another month...
So, even if we were 11 adults and four kids carving away at the lamb we roasted over open fire on Saturday, there were plenty of leftovers. Think Thanksgiving, and how you eat turkey for days afterwards, times ten. Since my brother and his family (five of the adults) left for their tour d'Europe the following day and didn't feel like packing a leg of lamb for lunch, it was up to the rest of us to deal with it.
How is it that something so yummy one day looks so unappetizing the next?
Today Petter, my sister's 3 1/1 year old son, came over for a three day or so visit. He is a funny one. He has an amazing vocabulary for his age and just can't stop talking. Amanda and Petter played house for hours and he proudly told me later that they not only had girl babies, they also had one boy, a guinnea pig, a cat and a dog. They went shopping and Amanda had the monies because she was the mom, good girl.
Petter is the only one who has never visited us, ever. Only for the reason that he wasn't born yet when his parents and sister came to see us in France. Amanda was one at the time and Marcus 2 1/2 and while those years were kind of blurry, I remember we had a good time. We ate. A lot. Petter's dad, Niclas, used to be a chef as mentioned before and France is of course any cooks favorite playground. We had oysters and foie gras, we made cheese fondue, we drank wine.... we went to the park. They have promised to visit us in China and we can't wait to show them around.
My brother and his family only visited us in France as well. I realize when you have children it is not that easy to travel to faraway lands so our three-year sejour in La France was perfect for visiting. They came in the winter, Amanda was one (1) week old. "When do they open their eyes?", Sofia, then 12 years old, asked not knowing that at the beginning, the first six months or so, Amanda was a super easy baby who only slept and ate. Little did I know that six 1/2 years later Amanda would worry about sharks in lake Mälaren and that wicked witches would climb through the windows at night; but also know that mommy is always in charge of the monies.
Well, that's new, especially for Amanda who keeps blabbering away like there's no tomorrow. Little did I know that she didn't understand half of what she is talking about! Well, it's only been less than a week, camp Sweden will go on for at least another month...
So, even if we were 11 adults and four kids carving away at the lamb we roasted over open fire on Saturday, there were plenty of leftovers. Think Thanksgiving, and how you eat turkey for days afterwards, times ten. Since my brother and his family (five of the adults) left for their tour d'Europe the following day and didn't feel like packing a leg of lamb for lunch, it was up to the rest of us to deal with it.
How is it that something so yummy one day looks so unappetizing the next?
Today Petter, my sister's 3 1/1 year old son, came over for a three day or so visit. He is a funny one. He has an amazing vocabulary for his age and just can't stop talking. Amanda and Petter played house for hours and he proudly told me later that they not only had girl babies, they also had one boy, a guinnea pig, a cat and a dog. They went shopping and Amanda had the monies because she was the mom, good girl.
Petter is the only one who has never visited us, ever. Only for the reason that he wasn't born yet when his parents and sister came to see us in France. Amanda was one at the time and Marcus 2 1/2 and while those years were kind of blurry, I remember we had a good time. We ate. A lot. Petter's dad, Niclas, used to be a chef as mentioned before and France is of course any cooks favorite playground. We had oysters and foie gras, we made cheese fondue, we drank wine.... we went to the park. They have promised to visit us in China and we can't wait to show them around.
My brother and his family only visited us in France as well. I realize when you have children it is not that easy to travel to faraway lands so our three-year sejour in La France was perfect for visiting. They came in the winter, Amanda was one (1) week old. "When do they open their eyes?", Sofia, then 12 years old, asked not knowing that at the beginning, the first six months or so, Amanda was a super easy baby who only slept and ate. Little did I know that six 1/2 years later Amanda would worry about sharks in lake Mälaren and that wicked witches would climb through the windows at night; but also know that mommy is always in charge of the monies.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Greek?
"Are you a teenager now?", I asked my almost eight-year old son when he woke up after having slept from 9pm until noon the next day. "You were right, mom (!!!), I was really tired", he replied almost sheepishly, looking up at me from under his summer-cut short bangs. Well, that was a first...!
Today we are grilling a lamb. Not a leg of lamb or a couple of lamb chops but one whole lamb - and no, we are not Greek. Buying a whole or half animal at a time is nothing new for my parents; at the same (or different) time there might be half a cow/pig/lamb, chicken (duh), elk, reindeer (yup, Rudolph is YUM!) or why not a 2 1/2 kg (4.4lbs) bag of cod in the freezer. To have a whole lamb wrapped up in a black plastic trash bag in the wine/food cellar is new and almost a little Godfathery creepy.
How this grilling is going to happen is still unclear, it won't fit on the Weber that's for sure, but luckily my very competent brother-in-law, who used to be a chef, is in charge.
The reason for this feast is that the whole Andersson/Bengtsson and Persson clan is coming over, i.e my brother and sister and their families. My brother and his family are going on holiday and we won't see them for the next three weeks so it's a big family reunion.
All of my family members have at one time or another visited us during our years as expats. Our very first visitors were my mom and her mom, my grandmother Gun, who came to see us in Beijing in October 1997. My grandmother was 77 at the time and in great vigor and health.
We did everything during those weeks; visited the Great Wall, went shopping at both the silk and pearl market, had dinner at Li Family restaurant (http://www.regenttour.com/chinaplanner/pek/bj-food-li.htm), went to October fest at Lufthansa Center, saw Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City (a.k.a. the big university by my grandmother), went to all the temples and palaces and finally enjoyed the foliage at Fragrant Hills Park (Xiangshan Park http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/fragrant.htm). It was a beautiful day, clearish blue skies; a myriad of people had traveled to see the changing of the maple leafs from green to orange and fiery red. While my mom and I took the cable car to view the scenery from above, my grandmother stayed put on the ground, enjoying the interaction with the thousands of visitors who come each day during the fall. While the sun was nice and warm there was a chill in the air and she managed to catch a cold.
It started out as sniffles but she quickly got worse and we finally had to take her to the international clinic for some professional help and medicin. She got better and after one extended week of their holiday they could travel home.
My grandmother later visited us in Tokyo where we had to go to the emergency room after she fell flat on her face while crossing the street and in Annecy, France, where we also had to go to the doctor for some reason that I can't remember. This didn't stop her though, she stayed activeup until the very end and I treasure the memories of our travels.
She would have loved to watch the spectacle of grilling a whole lamb. She would probably have witnessed it happen before in Spain or Prague or Canada or the Soviet Union which they visited way before it collapsed and become the Russia as it is today. She was some lady, my grandmother; opinionated, passionate, stubborn and curios with a big heart and an open mind, afraid of nothing. When she came to see us in Japan I had arranged for travel services for her at the airport, little did I know that that meant picking her up in a wheelchair at the gate. That didn't face her though, she steered the driver straight to the tax free shop so she could pick up the bottle of whiskey she was bringing us to treat us to Irish coffee.
Today we are grilling a lamb. Not a leg of lamb or a couple of lamb chops but one whole lamb - and no, we are not Greek. Buying a whole or half animal at a time is nothing new for my parents; at the same (or different) time there might be half a cow/pig/lamb, chicken (duh), elk, reindeer (yup, Rudolph is YUM!) or why not a 2 1/2 kg (4.4lbs) bag of cod in the freezer. To have a whole lamb wrapped up in a black plastic trash bag in the wine/food cellar is new and almost a little Godfathery creepy.
How this grilling is going to happen is still unclear, it won't fit on the Weber that's for sure, but luckily my very competent brother-in-law, who used to be a chef, is in charge.
The reason for this feast is that the whole Andersson/Bengtsson and Persson clan is coming over, i.e my brother and sister and their families. My brother and his family are going on holiday and we won't see them for the next three weeks so it's a big family reunion.
All of my family members have at one time or another visited us during our years as expats. Our very first visitors were my mom and her mom, my grandmother Gun, who came to see us in Beijing in October 1997. My grandmother was 77 at the time and in great vigor and health.
We did everything during those weeks; visited the Great Wall, went shopping at both the silk and pearl market, had dinner at Li Family restaurant (http://www.regenttour.com/chinaplanner/pek/bj-food-li.htm), went to October fest at Lufthansa Center, saw Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City (a.k.a. the big university by my grandmother), went to all the temples and palaces and finally enjoyed the foliage at Fragrant Hills Park (Xiangshan Park http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/fragrant.htm). It was a beautiful day, clearish blue skies; a myriad of people had traveled to see the changing of the maple leafs from green to orange and fiery red. While my mom and I took the cable car to view the scenery from above, my grandmother stayed put on the ground, enjoying the interaction with the thousands of visitors who come each day during the fall. While the sun was nice and warm there was a chill in the air and she managed to catch a cold.
It started out as sniffles but she quickly got worse and we finally had to take her to the international clinic for some professional help and medicin. She got better and after one extended week of their holiday they could travel home.
My grandmother later visited us in Tokyo where we had to go to the emergency room after she fell flat on her face while crossing the street and in Annecy, France, where we also had to go to the doctor for some reason that I can't remember. This didn't stop her though, she stayed activeup until the very end and I treasure the memories of our travels.
She would have loved to watch the spectacle of grilling a whole lamb. She would probably have witnessed it happen before in Spain or Prague or Canada or the Soviet Union which they visited way before it collapsed and become the Russia as it is today. She was some lady, my grandmother; opinionated, passionate, stubborn and curios with a big heart and an open mind, afraid of nothing. When she came to see us in Japan I had arranged for travel services for her at the airport, little did I know that that meant picking her up in a wheelchair at the gate. That didn't face her though, she steered the driver straight to the tax free shop so she could pick up the bottle of whiskey she was bringing us to treat us to Irish coffee.
Friday, July 1, 2011
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