Happy Thanksgiving

Today is Thanksgiving in the US. There is no such holiday here in Sweden, and I miss it. I like the idea of giving thanks and spending a day reflecting on what we are thankful for. After all, we really have so much to be thankful for.

Since today is not a holiday here, I celebrated Thanksgiving last Saturday with our Danish friends from San Diego at their house in Denmark (less than two hours away). Our friends are going through some tough times now and did not have time to prepare a special meal, so I did the shopping and whatever I could do ahead of time. I didn't have all that much time either, and since we were only 4 adults and 2 kids, I kept it relatively simple.

The menu:
a special Swedish smoked sausage
stuffed mushrooms
broccoli casserole (my mom's recipe with artichoke hearts--I substituted cauliflower for some of the broccoli)
stuffing with mushrooms and celery (also my mom's recipe)
herb-roasted turkey breast (recipe from Rachael Ray)
gravy
lingonberry jam (instead of cranberry jelly which we couldn't get here)
baked yams and potatoes
sour-cream apple pie
pecan pie

The turkey breast turned out really well; even my husband liked it, and he usually hates turkey. I cheated and used frozen pie crust, and that was a big mistake. Unlike the stuff I used to get in the US, this was hard, didn't taste good, and it was almost impossible to use since the roll stuck together when it thawed. It didn't matter so much though since we were all so stuffed by the time we got to dessert.

To make the day extra special, there was snow for the "kids" to play in. Snow is pretty uncommon where they live since it's on the coast. We had a few inches here, but there was pretty much none in Malmo and Copenhagen. Luckily, they had just enough for a little sledding.

Farewell Winter Wonderland...

Welcome back Skåne. The snow that we've been enjoying since Thursday is now gone. In just a few hours, the temperature shot up to 43 F/6 C and the snow (only a couple of inches, but enough to cover everything and allow for snow play) melted leaving mud, ice, and fog in its place. The snow had done so much to lighten the landscape. Now that it's gone, it's so much darker. Sunrise is at 8 AM and sunset at 3:30 PM--well, they would be if you could see them behind the clouds. At least I don't have to scrape the car.

Like Screaming at Deaf Ears

On Monday I was invited by the local government's business relations department to speak to a visiting politician on behalf of the network for female small business owners of which I'm the chairperson. We're only about 20 members, so I invited the others to come along, and two of them did. So along with a kinesiologist and an internet specialist I met with a city councilman and a member of parliament. I was disappointed to find out that the MP did not represent this area; she was just here to visit a power plant and make a speech on the behalf of her party (part of the somewhat conservative coalition, but on the liberal side). There are 7 major political parties in Sweden, 4 on the right and 3 on the left, though by American standards the most conservative would be liberal democrats. While this may seem confusing, the differences between parties are so slight that it is essentially a two party system at the national level and a free-for-all at the local level.

I came with three main points that I wanted to make. The first was the proposed increase in the gas tax that her party was pushing for. Gas is already about $6 per gallon and most of it is taxes. Her party's argument was that ethanol is better for the environment than gasoline, and since the market for ethanol has driven the price up so that it is now higher than gasoline, an additional tax on fossil fuels is needed to make ethanol a more attractive alternative. Sure, I'm all for reducing emissions and dependence on fossil fuels, but ethanol only works in certain new flexi-fuel cars, and there's some debate if it's really that much better for the environment when you consider what it takes to produce it. Since public transportation really is not an alternative in rural areas, the people that are most impacted by the price of gas are women/families with small children in rural areas. I thought I made a good argument, and she saw my point, but her response was that her party (which supposedly is the one that represents farmers and small businesses) was driving this tax increase because it is politically correct and nothing else matters.

A related point that I made was the need to maintain the roads in rural areas. She promptly agreed that this was necessary but could not defend why all the budget was being spent relieving congestion in a few big cities and putting up center barriers on a few major arteries that had been working pretty well before. These barriers are used to make 2 + 1 roads which means that instead of being able to pass into oncoming traffic, it is now one lane in each direction with alternating passing lanes. This sounds pretty good in theory, but out here, you spend a lot of time stuck behind a tractor, or a harvester, or a load of beets going only a fraction of the speed limit. This creates long lines of traffic which then drive like maniacs to try to get by the obstacle during the short passing sections. Also, if there is an accident, all traffic is stopped in that direction and it is very difficult for emergency vehicles to get through. But I digress. Instead of maintaining the smaller roads, the department of transportation has been lowering the speed limits on them. This just teaches the locals to ignore the speed limits. This might not sound like that big a deal for a Californian, but Swedes are generally a very law-abiding folk and I think the little things like driving the speed limit are a part of their culture that is in danger. I'm digressing again. Just fix the damn roads! It's better for everyone (locals and tourists), good for the economy (more tourism and more spending money for people who don't have to pay so much in car repairs and fuel), and good for the environment (better fuel economy).

The third thing I wanted to mention was the poor mobile phone coverage out here. Like most small business people, I use my mobile phone for my business. What's not so good for business is that the first thing I have to say to people who call is that I need to call them back from my regular phone before we lose reception. In general, I have only 3 minutes to talk on my mobile before the call is dropped. My colleague the internet specialist has the same problem, and it's unfortunately not uncommon. Apparently the problem has to do with how far apart the cell phone towers are placed. Most were built for GSM, but now it's 3G that everyone is using, and they need the senders to be a little closer together. But when the government renewed the licenses, there was no requirement for extra senders to make sure that the service still worked. What's really scary is that the next generation of phones (4G) requires contact with two senders at the same time.

My colleagues backed me up and also had their own issues to discuss. Since the MP was interested in entrepreneurship among women, we tried to put everything in that context. Both she and the local politician took a lot of notes, and I hope that some of what we said will be of some use, but I'm not holding my breath.

Driving Test

On Wednesday my daughter's school had a field trip to the recycling center, and they needed parents to help drive the kids there (they took the bus home). I turned out to be one of about 15 drivers. What made this interesting was that it had rained the evening before (actually more like the whole week before), then it cleared up and everything froze. My car was encased in about a quarter inch of ice and the doors were frozen closed. I was running late by the time I managed to get into the car and get enough of the ice off that I could see to drive, but as soon as I got out to the paved road, I realized that I wouldn’t make up any time driving.

I was the last of the drivers to get to the school, but they were still waiting for a couple of students. There was black ice everywhere, and even walking in the parking lot was nearly impossible. Amazingly, winter tires make it possible to drive even when it’s that slick. Obviously, I wouldn’t want to risk crashing with my daughter in the car, but I was extra careful with somebody else’s kid in the car too. So then I end up in the middle of the caravan that was going a bit faster than I was comfortable with. Luckily I caught up at a stop sign, and then the whole group got stuck behind a tractor with a load of beets, so speed was no longer an issue. Still, I felt like I was doing a driving test the whole time because the only thing worse than crashing with somebody else’s kid in your car would be causing a chain reaction crash involving the whole school. I’m relieved that’s over.

Since then, we’ve had gale force winds, rain, sleet, hail, and now snow. Fun, fun!

Thoughts on the Election

Even here, in the Swedish equivalent of hillbilly hell, we couldn't escape news of the election. I lay low as far as my American citizenship is concerned, so there was no flag waving, celebrating, or pre-election preaching on my part. But now that it's finally over, several of my friends have asked me what I think.

I am somewhat relieved that Obama won, though not nearly as relieved as when McCain locked the Republican nomination. That was the high point for me, since I considered McCain to be the least scary of the Republicans. That meant that either way, things were destined for a significant improvement. I feel that McCain shot himself in the foot with his choice of vice-presidential candidate because that woman is really scary! I understand that it was necessary for a token female to balance the ticket, but honestly, was she really the best he could find? It was such a flashback to Arnold Vinick being driven to the right as a last ditch attempt to secure the Republican vote after a crisis shook the country.

While I'm on the subject of the West Wing, why is it that Hollywood screenwriters can create more likable politicians, with better messages and better speeches, than real life political operatives and writers? Sometimes reality sucks.

Now what really gets to me about the election was that Californians could vote to ban gay marriage. I like to think of my fellow Californians as open-minded people, but apparently there are plenty who are not. What a shame.

P.S. A friend of mine drew this, and I thought it was just too cute not to share.

Another busy week

Last weekend we started another big project. We decided to insulate the attic of the little barn. This is the building that I usually use for my photography exhibit during the local Easter art show. The rest of the year it's handy for storage or for warm weather entertaining. Last Easter we had a snowstorm, and it was miserably cold out there. We had a heavy duty portable heater, but it was noisy and sadly insufficient, so insulation is definitely a good idea. Anyway, this project turned out to be more than we anticipated as soon as we gained access to the attic. We hadn’t been up there in years—not since we through down and disposed of all the old hay that was up there—or so we thought. There was still quite a bit of old hay, remnants of old furniture, pieces of bicycles, and several piles of old doors and windows. For added excitement, the windows were on top of the hay, and several of the windows were broken.

So, last weekend was spent removing the crap from the attic of the little barn. I learned that a pitchfork really is the best tool for handling hay. I discovered that the dust from old hay is so irritating to the skin that it felt like having a sunburn and the chicken pox at the same time. I’m very thankful that they don’t have Hanta virus here in Sweden, because the hay was full of rodent droppings, and I couldn’t help but think about the aerosolized dust from dried mouse urine that I was breathing as I pitchforked, then swept, then vacuumed.

The weird thing was how traumatized the mice were that their hay homes were disappearing. At first, I'd see them scurrying away as I threw a pitchfork of hay out the door. By the end of the day, they were just kind of walking around in circles in shock. I had to pick them up and move them out of the way so I didn't step on them!

After all that, I was glad to be able to relax at my computer with my work on Monday. Both Tuesday and Thursday I attended courses related to the network for female small business owners that I’m involved with. The content of Tuesday’s class was quite dull, but the discussions that we had both during the class and the hour-long drive there and back made it well worth while. Thursday’s class was something that I actually wanted to take on communication. While I’ve long since been forced to overcome my fear of public speaking, I thought this would be worthwhile to learn how to speak like a Swede. (As I learned years ago, I could not drive like a Californian to get my Swedish driver’s license. I succeeded only after a few lessons at a local driving school to get the attitude right.) So I found it rather illuminating to find out how Swedes perceived what I said.

Yesterday I had a booth at a wedding expo. This was my third time at this show, so I wasn’t particularly nervous. In fact, I’ve come to like these shows. Attendance was about the same as last year, and I feel I had a good response from the people I talked with. There were a lot of photographers there, and I think some people stayed away thinking, “Oh no, not another photographer,” but there’s not much I can do about that. The booth next to me rented chocolate fountains, so I spent the day watching people sample marshmallows dipped in white chocolate. That was a bit rough, but I think I did well and only ate two. There were also boxes of chocolates all over the place, including at the end of my own table. That was a bit harder to resist, but I think I did okay to only eat five over an 8 hour period.

Today it was back to work on the attic of the little barn—vacuuming, laying down tar paper, and fitting together giant bricks of used insulation. This was less strenuous than last weekend, but just as tough on the skin. We used up the insulation that we salvaged from the big barn, and that was about enough to cover about 2/3 of the little barn, so there’s still a little left to do next weekend.

Today was also Father’s Day here. Our daughter had been at her grandmother’s house for the weekend, but my husband went to get her this afternoon and rushed home for dinner. While he was gone, I made an apple cake and my “Chinese burritos.” We’d invited some friends over, but there was a miscommunication, and they couldn’t make it. Oh well. Dinner was good anyhow.

Random Questions

The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." Joseph Campbell

Welcome to the 2008 edition of getting to know your Friends.

Rather than forwarding this on to my friends, I’ve decided to post this on my blog. I would like to encourage my friends with blogs to do the same.

1. What time did you get up this morning?

It’s Saturday. My daughter let me sleep until 7:20 when she woke me up to point out that there were deer in the field.

2. Diamonds or pearls?

It depends on the occasion, but in general I’m pretty low maintenance when it comes to jewelry.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?

It’s been so long that I have to strain my brain to remember. I think it was Curious George with my daughter, fall 2006 in San Diego.

4. What is your favorite TV show?

Probably The West Wing, though Ally McBeal, MASH, and ER are also favorites.

5. What do you usually have for breakfast?

Cereal with milk. On weekends often oatmeal, cream of wheat, or waffles.

6. What is your middle name?

Patricia

7. What food do you dislike?

Unfortunately, the list is pretty long. It includes anything pickled (including herring), organs, tentacles, feet, things that are really slimy, and most fresh fruit.

8. What is your favorite CD at moment?

I have several: Mika, Life in Cartoon Motion; The Dixie Chicks, Taking the Long Way; Anastacia, Pieces of a Dream; Crosby, Stills, & Nash, Greatest Hits; Beethoven Symphonies 5 & 7.

9. What kind of car do you drive?

1998 BMW 3 series station wagon

10. Favorite sandwich?

Salami and Brie on a baguette

11. What characteristic do you despise?

Hypocrisy

12. Favorite item of clothing?

The white leather jacket I bought in Montreal.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?

Again, the list is long: Australia, New Zealand, Shanghai, Colorado, Alaska, Iceland, South Africa, Patagonia. Places I’d like to go back to: Utah, Hawaii, Norway, Berlin.

14. Favorite brand of clothing?

Whatever’s a bargain.

15. Where would you retire to?

Perhaps California?

16. What was your most memorable meal?

My friend Bosse invited us over to his place and served us moose. Moose is generally very good, but this was absolutely fantastic. I’ve never had meat so good.

17. Favorite sports to watch?

I hardly get the time to watch sports anymore, but I do enjoy a little synchronized swimming, gymnastics, and ice skating. I used to watch tennis and American football.

18. What is your favorite holiday or special occasion?

Halloween

19. What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Baking Christmas cookies.

20. When is your birthday?

January 18, 1969

21. Are you a morning person or a night person?

Neither. I like to sleep.

22. What is your shoe size?

8 ½

23. Pets?

2 black cats

24. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us?

I’ll be going to Hong Kong and China in February.

25. What did you want to be when you were little?

A nuclear physicist.

26. How are you today?

Fine, but a bit chilly.

27. What is your favorite candy?

Dark chocolate

28. What is your favorite flower?

Tulips

29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to?

December 12, leaving for vacation in California.

30. What is your favorite pastime?

Photography

31. What are you listening to right now?

My cat purring on my lap.

32. What was the last thing you ate?

Cream of wheat for breakfast.

33. Do you wish on stars

no

34. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?

teal

35. How is the weather right now?

Cloudy and cold (37 F/3 C); luckily it’s not rainy or windy.

36. The first person you spoke to on the phone today?

It’s not every day that I talk on the phone at all, but today I did arrange a play date for my daughter.

37. Favorite soft drink?

Cream soda

38. Favorite restaurant?

Here in Sweden there’s not so much to choose from, but Sjöbo Gästis is pretty good. In San Diego, Lorna’s (Italian), Carino’s (pizza), Emerald (dim sum). Chains: Outback Steakhouse, Cheesecake Factory, Soupplantation.

39. Real hair color?

What you see is what you get: dark brown.

40. What was your favorite toy as a child?

Legos

41. Summer or winter?

Summer in Sweden, Winter in California.

42. Hugs or kisses?

Both

43. Chocolate or Vanilla?

Chocolate!

44. Coffee or tea?

Tea

45. Do you want your friends to email you back?

Sure

46. When was the last time you cried?

I don’t remember exactly, but probably within the past few days watching something on TV. It doesn’t take much.

47. What is under your bed?

My keyboard, and probably a fair amount of dust.

48. What did you do last night?

Watched an episode of Bones on TV and updated my blog.

49. What are you afraid of?

I have an irrational fear of dinosaurs.

50. Salty or sweet?

both

51. How many keys on your key ring?

2 (1 car, 1 house), no point in carrying the rest of them.

52. How many years at your current job?

2 years doing wedding and special occasion photography.

53. Favorite day of the week?

I don’t really have one since I really like my work.

54. How many places have you lived?

Counting each area only once: Fountain Valley (CA), Zurich (Switzerland), Taitzung (Taiwan), San Diego (CA), Lövestad (Sweden) = 5

55. Do you make friends easily?

Not really.