Dreaming in Swedish

Summer Has Finally Arrived

2011-09-11T02:09:00.000-07:00

Yay! Summer is here!- regardless that it's almost mid-September.
Actually it arrived in August so this is our 'July' and it is fabulous. Vancouver is truly spectacular when it's sunny. I spent the day walking about with my cousins and their little one, visiting a friend, going to the movie Contagion and ending the evening at the new pastry shop Thierry. It's a great cafe with specialty coffees and french Macrons

ahhh...felt like a real summer day!

http://www.thierrychocolates.com/

Summer Solstice

2011-06-22T11:12:00.000-07:00

Well, it's that time of year again when the light is at it's maximum and usually people are walking around smiling and enjoying the summer weather. Except this year, it hasn't come. Well, today is the second sunny day in a row so far. eek! It didn't seem to matter much when the hockey was on ( we all know how that ended!), but now, I'm fed up with this weather! Even now, it's only 19 degrees, not exactly warm and with the slight breeze we always have from the ocean it will feel more like 16- that's just not summer weather to me. So, I'm thinking about going to San Fran for a weekend. Each summer I usually take a short trip to my favorite place Cortes Island in Northern BC, in an area called Desolation Sound- but it will be even colder there then it is here and if sun and warmth is what I want, I'll need to go South of the border to California.

On the other hand, I'm also planning ANOTHER trip to Sweden :) this time for September? Not 100% sure yet of the best date so I have that to look forward to.

I'm sure you've had better weather then we have!

Hockey, Hockey, Hockey

2011-06-04T00:54:00.000-07:00

It's all about the Hockey babies- even as I type this my eyes are continually drawn to my nails. That's right, in the NHL it's bad luck to shave your beard, so the guys grow play off beards and the girls- well, we do our nails.
Check out this photo of mine!

You'll notice my middle finger on the left hand is the Stanley Cup. That way, when the Bruins do something I don't like, I can show them my finger and remind them who has the cup. Also I've got my man Burrows on my right thumb which is perfect because my other thumb is a GO- so when I put them together I'm cheering my #14- really he's great when he's not biting anyone :)

God help me I'm sick- with the fever, Canuck Fever that is. It's true that even among Canadians, Vancouver fans are known for being a bit crazy and a little over the top. It's also true that 17 years ago, in the 7th game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs we lost- and then we had a riot.

But I'm not worried, after all, I'm sure we'll win, so we don't have to worry about any riots, we only riot when we lose! Ha Ha- so no worries!

I saw this on YouTube and thought is was so funny, it's a Boston Bruins fan here in Vancouver- really funny.

You must be very proud of the Twins ( Henrik and Daniel Sedin), they are seriously amazing players and will lead us right to the Cup, I'm sure of it!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxu2-Ts4AWM&feature=share

By the way, I had the pleasure of meeting another Swedish Hockey player, now retired through my work- Matt Sundin HELLO- talk about another great Swedish Hockey Player! wow and also a very nice guy too!

True Stories

2011-04-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

Tonight I attended a story telling event. I have been attending these events for quite some time now.
I had pitched a story to tell tonight at this very popular night. It's actually become a victim of it's own popularity because now, it's soooo popular you can hardly get a seat. Me and 3 of my friends ( yes it's grammatically incorrect) had decided to go tonight, plus I was accepted over a month ago to tell a story for tonight.
So I was suppose to be up 2nd to tell a story I had pitched called 'The Painter'. Problem is, ever since Monday I've been trying to tell the story, recording it on my computer in less then 10 min. and just couldn't do it. It's a good story- no problem there, but the rules are 1. must be true and about yourself 2. no notes 3. under 10 min.
Last month a woman got up and stayed on the stage for more then 20 min. they couldn't get her off, so this evening they were being really strict about the rule. I knew this morning that it just wasn't going to happen in less then 10 min- no way. So I emailed the promoter and pitched a different REALLY great, short funny story- seriously a fabulous story. He emailed me back and said we'd prefer you do the story you pitched, call me. So I called him. He explained that my new story conflicted with a story on the schedule. You see, my story was funny and had some gay guys in it, but the very next story was being told by a gay guy about gays who died of AIDS and they thought that my light hearted story would conflict with his serious story about being gay during the AIDS epidemic. OK I said, I totally get it. But the only story I felt I could tell last minute AND stay under the 10 min. rule is one I've told at another event. It's a good story, don't get me wrong, it's just not a 'great' story- it's not what I'd call worthy of the event tonight where close to 200 people have gathered to hear really good stories.

I ended up telling my little story in maybe 7-8 min. totally within time, a totally 'good' story because I didn't want to ruffle feathers and all that-
Then I swear EVERY single person after told a story not less then 15 min. and totally boring, not even good stories.

AND ON TOP of that, the really great story I wanted to tell, which had some gay guys in it, would have gone over fine, because in the end the gay guy told his story in a lighthearted way- !

Next time- I'll just tell the story I want to and fuck them!
Idiots. The last guy told a story that was so boring I think my friends would have left if they could.

Jeeez@!

oh yeah- I'm a story teller by the way :) it's a super popular thing in N. America, even more in the U.S then Canada and it's really popular here- I can't find anything on-line about storytelling in Sweden- do you tell true stories in nightclubs there?

My Thursday Evening

2011-04-01T00:53:00.000-07:00

She stood in the pile of stuff toys on the floor while I tried to move the other monstrous pile of fully named ( first and last names) animal what-nots from her single sized, pink infused bed.
'No, I want to sleep with my penguin finger puppet'.
A FINGER puppet? I thought looking around at no less then I might guess 100 various stuffed animals and creatures great and small in a plethora of colours ranging from grey to rainbow. There's no way I can find a finger puppet in this mess and I don't dare offer her something else- or do I?

'Well' I said trying to seem casual and not show my fear of a 5 year olds potential meltdown at bedtime, ' I would have thought you'd want to sleep with Hooty' picking up the tiny white and brown spotted owl from amongst the many on her bed. Sitting on the side of the bed I held Hooty in my hand and remembered that when she was 3 she wouldn't go ANYWHERE without this little thing. Just then, she came bounding on the bed having finally pulled on her pj's as I'd requested. 'Well, if I can't sleep with my finger puppet then I'll sleep with frogi and Crackers- whose a pillow that is the colour of a cracker' she informs me and with that she plopped down on her bed with frogi in one hand and the pillow ( crackers) beside her actual pillow.
Phew- meltdown averted I thought as I kicked aside the blocks , a play computer, 2 dozen or more toys on the floor all to one side of the bedroom. I was worried I might step, trip, fall or break an ankle on one of these things.
'Alright' I said 'into bed you go' and some how she managed to get under the pile of pink to sit up with her books in hand.
In my mind I'm going over the routine with her parents- have I forgotten anything?
Playtime ( painting, video) till 7, snack till 7:30, teeth brushing, let her read 3 books and then bed.
Ok, we're not exactly right on schedule, but close. It's 8 pm and it will be another 15 min. as she reads until lights out.
'It's not about finishing the sentence, you have to read it so that it can be understood'. She slows down for 1 possibly 2 seconds and is once again whizzing through the words to the point of missing some.
'Slow down, there's no hurry' did I just say that ? Of course there's a hurry, I want to get her to sleep- I don't like to delay bedtime, my niece often gets a second a wind.
She's tired so I read the last book.
'Will you sleep with me'? she asks sweetly- 'No, but I will lay down for a bit', ' Ok well, I just want you to stay for 9 minutes'.
9 minutes?
Ok whatever. She's a master at getting what she wants. I can't help but wonder if she's learned that adults can't lay down in the dark for more then 5min. without falling off to sleep.

I shut out the lights but there's plenty of lights in from the window and her night light. She wiggles down, down, down until she's almost unseen beneath her pink comforter, dressed in her glow- in- the- dark pj's- I kid you not, she told me they glow in the dark but all I noted is that they were another shade of pink. I smile to myself- she really is cute. She turns on her side, hugging frogi to her chest, head on her pillow and the crackers pillow. I lay back beside her and stay still, hoping that she will be off to sleep in a few moments.
Is it 9 minutes? I have no idea, but from the absolute stillness beside me I conclude, my work is done. I slowly, stealthily roll off the bed, which is fairly close to the floor. As soon as my weight leaves the mattress I hear a serious voice from beneath a princess patterned comforter ' how many minutes was that Aunt Juni?" Ahh... hmmm It was more then 15 I say- I'm guessing- but you know, if I stayed any longer I really would have fallen asleep.

Her parents were at a wine tasting venue. Back out in the living room, with a cup of tea in one hand and the remote control in the other pointed at a glowing TV I hear a text arrive on my phone.
- how's it going?
It's Daddy, can't stay away can they?

I realize way too late I forgot one thing on the schedule- make her pee before bed. oops!
I tell the inebriated parents when they arrive, as they sway and swing from the many $100/bottle wine they've been tasting- 'so sorry I forgot to get her to pee'. They look at each other- the secrete look of couples- I haven't had that look with anyone in longer then I can remember.
'How much did she drink' the Father asks me
'Oh, nothing- she had toast instead of milk before bed'
'Ok well, she should be ok'. He concludes, Mommy says she'll get her up to go before they go to bed.

I'm home now and almost ready for bed myself :) I have to say, easiest babysitting I've done in a long time!

Finding Yes

2011-03-23T01:29:00.000-07:00

Wrote this the other day- it may be a tad too long for a blog post, but here it is anyway :)

Finding Yes

To quit is so easy, isn’t it? It has become a habit in my life. Once in grade school a teacher had defiantly said to me ‘ are you going to hand in that project or will you take a zero’. Take a zero I thought? I didn’t even know that was an option, I raised my chin to his challenge- I’ll take the zero I said, just as defiantly right back; from that day on quitting seemed like the easy route. No, I won’t go I said lamely to friends who were making plans to go somewhere I wasn’t quite sure I’d like. It seemed easier to hang back, stay where it was familiar. In high school I’d take a project out of my locker and look at it, uncertain if it was good enough and then find myself putting it back in, and locking the door or worse, tossing it in the bin near by. Walking empty handed in the class I’d rather let the teacher think I hadn’t completed the task, then hand something in and show how little I understood. I’d rather have nothing, then something less then great. Give me a zero, instead of a moderately passing or even slightly failing grade. Not willing to show my hand to find out where I was with the material, I no longer knew what I was capable of. Slowly over time I came to believe that I knew what I couldn’t do and so I’d just avoid that . Never realizing that getting to know where I was absent in my abilities was not the same as learning what I could do. Life became a lot smaller as a result.

I’ve taken risks in my life. Moving out to Vancouver being one of the biggest for which I suffered dearly the first two years I was here. I didn’t ask for help or make plans for my trip, another consequence of not having practiced accomplishing things. I lacked the experience and practice of having finished something so I didn’t know what it took to do that. I didn’t understand the steps involved. So I either jumped to the finish in my mind, judging myself unfit and end up never starting, or start something and not being willing to follow the steps, miss the fundamentals and end up feeling like the failure I secretly always thought I was in the first place.

It reminds me of starting to do a deep clean of my apartment on a Saturday Morning. By mid afternoon I’d find myself surrounded in chaos, everything a complete mess. Things pulled out of cupboards, half in and out of boxes to keep and throw away. The key here is not to stop, but rather to keep going- it has come to me that every project has it’s open hearted mess moment, where it’s all come out, but order has yet to take shape.

One day, years after my arrival in Vancouver I found myself sitting on the grass eating lunch in English Bay, looking out to the ocean. Suddenly, looking to the right I realized that I was in almost exactly the same spot I had been years ago when I first arrived. I smiled to myself imagining that I could see a younger version of me, sitting, eating and enjoying the sun- I could even remember the shirt I had worn that day. All of a sudden my mood darkened like a cloud passing in front of the sun- she doesn’t know what’s ahead of her I couldn’t help thinking, and before I knew it I was saying in earnest – go home, turn around-go home. As if I could still speak to that younger version, existing someplace in another time and save her from what I’d gone through. Then, unexpectedly I felt eyes on me and turning my head to the left I was shocked to see an older version of me, looking toward me confidently, patiently-lovingly. Keep going she said- you’re half way there.

What would it be like if there was always a more patient and confident older self looking after us, there to say: hold on, don’t let go, move faster- keep going? I suspect in an ideal world our parents could be that person, if they weren’t struggling with their own inner feelings of quitting all the time, or perhaps a mentor or coach would suffice. These days, life coaches are all the rage- and isn’t that maybe their one and only job? To watch the compass for you, to keep you on track, to be there and say hold on just when you feel like letting go?

That’s great, but what about all the times when there’s no one to cheer you on? It could be just as challenging to have been raised with the expectation of receiving rewards or words of validations, each and ever time you accomplished something. For eventually, you’ll be alone, and there’s no one to say hurrah that you’ve done it. There may not even be a loud enough inner voice for what lies dormant in your heart- some action, thought or decision that you can sense, but not hear clearly enough to be certain- is this the way? In this state of unknowingness there needs to be a practiced ability to find a Yes. To be able to say Yes to the uncertain shifting sense that this is the way, to be willing to feel yourself along the wall, step-by-step along ground you can’t see. Where you allow the fear and dread of not knowing be your companion- but not your only companion. Where the Yes you’ve given to the dream, the task, is big enough that it is in itself enough to sustain you. To create a bridge between the trembling desires of something you know not that you can do, and the reality of doing it.

There is a term in architecture called as-built. It refers to the blueprints that are made after a building has been completed. There then are two sets of blueprints when a building is finished- the original plan and what was actually done- the as-built. This being the culmination of changes and modifications that had to occur in order for the plan to be executed. They are never the same. Nothing ever goes according to plan, yet many planned things are accomplished.

Sometimes I have the image of standing on the riverbank, wanting to cross and picking out the rocks that I’ll step on to make my way to the other side. Fine, it’s a good idea, but then as I begin and get halfway there, I find one stone is too slippery, or that it is insufficient to hold me, and I HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER WAY.

But I’ll never get halfway there if I don’t begin, so really what seems to matter most is finding my Yes. A Yes that is consistent, with deep enough roots that I can feel it, no matter the wind, the rain or the slippery steps- always able to lean back against it and rest. Letting it hold me up when I’m weary, until I’m ready to take my next step.

Cherry Blossoms

2011-03-19T00:30:00.000-07:00

I'm lying on the couch listening to the chimes on a balcony singing off in the dark and feeling the breeze blow through my balcony door, it's cool and a little crisp, but springish- if you know what I mean? I still need to wear my winter coat these days- not the heavy winter coats of Eastern Canada but a winter coat all the same, though no sweater underneath and I only wear a scarf because it looks good, not because I need to.

It's spring in Vancouver. The cherry blossoms are open and therefor I'm sneezing at all times of the day. Something on my balcony has been moved by the wind, some dried leaves that have found their way there and the curtains are moving again, the chimes are constant. The wind makes it's own sound, a kind of deep throated rumble, not sure where that comes from, and a there's a little sound coming from the opposite corner of the room from where I'm sitting, perhaps the table is talking back to the wind.

As I walked under the cherry blossoms today I thought about how terrible my allergies have been in past years. Every single major accident I've ever had in my life has happened while I've been living here in Vancouver and always during the allergy season, the cherry blossom season . I never had allergies before coming Vancouver and I never had an accident before moving here either. I'm so allergic to these flowers, yet I must say I still love them. Can I manage this season without an accident this year? I hope so.

3 years ago I had a very strange Saturday. I went about my day, but was constantly distracted by visions that I was going to be hit by a car. Finally I called a friend on my cell phone and told her what was happening- she talked to me until I got home. Once home, I relaxed and began boiling some water for tea. It was going to be a quiet night at home, watching tv. Until I accidently spilt the boiling water on my feet - it's a long story, too many details for here, but the result was that both my feet were totally covered with hot, freshly boiled water. The first thing I did was pull off both my socks as quickly as I could, since they were burning- but that was the wrong thing to do, only I didn't know that. As I pulled off my socks all the skin came off with them, it was horrible, really, really horrible. I've never felt so much pain and I've had a LOT of accidents in my life. The appropriate thing to do by the way, is to submerged the affected part in water and THEN remove the clothing. I learned that after the fact.

Sitting on the side of the tub with the phone in my hand and my feet submerged in cold water, I called the nurses hotline. Apparently I was moaning, as the nurse told me she could hear how much pain I was in and if I couldn't find someone to take me to the hospital, she was going to call an ambulance. I have this thing against ambulances- I absolutely abhor the idea of being in one, of being on a stretcher for that matter. I called every person I knew, it was saturday night - late and no one was answering their phone. Finally I called an elderly couple I knew, Peter answered the phone ' is Maureen there' I asked, my voice sounding a bit strange in my ear ' no, I'm sorry, she's gone to bed' he said. I paused, not sure what to say, then began ' Peter, I've got a problem, I've burned my feet badly' he interrupted me ' shall I come over?' ' yes, I need to go to the hospital' ' I'll be right over' he said, and he was, God bless him.

I knew I'd never make it to the hospital with the amount of pain I was in, so I hobbled around my apartment finding a low level bin to fill with water. I found one and while I could hear myself yelping in pain, I managed to fill it with cold water. I had to stop and put my feet in the cool water a couple of times on my way to the elevator and I don't know how but I somehow managed to get to his car. Peter had the door open as I came out of the building and while I sat with my feet in the bin of cold water he drove to the hospital. As I moaned I could see him wincing, he was quite visibly feeling my pain- my feet looked like lobsters and a bit like hamburger meat on top, where all the skin had come off. I felt bad that he was feeling bad, if you can believe, but I couldn't stop myself from groaning in pain- it was excruciating. For the rest of my life, I'll never forget that pain and I can't see burn victims without remembering it.

Once in the hospital I was quickly passed into the 'fast track' area, where my feet were placed in an even bigger bin with water and ice to cool. When skin is burned I learned, it actually continues to 'cook' so reducing the heat in the skin is imperative. Peter is an amazing man- he stayed with me for hours, holding me, comforting me and at one point, even had me laughing- don't remember at what. I finally had some oxyicodon and it did me a great service that night, though I found it upset my stomach later and had to stop taking it, leaving me in pain for the rest of my healing time. Maureen came to relieve Peter ( her husband) at about 4 am and while the nurse was wrapping my now very swollen feet, she leaned over and whispered 'do you feel safe at home'? HAhahah- well, I'm not an abused woman, but no I don't feel safe at home, considering I've been the source of all of my own accidents! I guess they didn't quite believe my making tea explanation!

The doctor explained to me that day that my feet would continue to swell for the next few days. This still didn't prepare me for what ended up being basketball sized feet! They also said I might need plastic surgery on the one ankle which was worse then the other and that it would be about 3 weeks healing. I had to go back to the hospital every other day for the first week, so they could look at my healing progress, and re-bandage my feet. It was also a very painful process, anything touching the wounds was excruciating and I learned to say yes to their offers of painkillers before they began the process. On one such day, the doctor on duty and the nurse stood over my unwrapped feet admiring the badly burned appendages- really, you did this making tea eh? Impressive. Well, that's not the word I'd use to describe it. I couldn't walk for 3 weeks and one worry was that I would develop a blood clot from lying around so much. ugh! Luckily the plastic surgeon opted against surgery and the wound did close on it's own as he predicted.

The only thing I regret is not taking photos each day or every other day of the healing, for the body truly is miraculous. It was very painful, but amazing to watch the healing from swelling, to blisters to scabs and so on- and finally I was left with only the smallest scar on my left ankle, pretty amazing considering how bad it was.

I can only pray that this year will be free from accidents for me, considering I almost died the very next year with a bad mixture of allergy medicines. http://dreaminginswedish.blogspot.com/2010/03/snow-on-blossoms.html

But then this year, my mind is on Japan and the tragedy that they are suffering. You know, all of our cherry blossoms were a gift from Japan? It's impossible to see the blossoms and not think about what they are going through at this time. I pray for them, that they may have wellness, that they may come through this.

Sorry for the disgusting photo- I hope this isn't too offensive. I took this about 2 or so weeks into the healing process.

Today

2011-03-04T21:17:00.000-08:00

Today I have the lying down flu. I call it that, because when I'm lying down, I feel only slightly ill, but the moment I get up and try to do something, I feel really sick, want to hurl ( vomit) and well, have to lay down again- so you see. When I first woke up this morning I knew right away that I had a fever. I haven't had a fever in years and years, can't even remember the last time, but you never forget either. I was also cold and clammy as well as being warm to touch, not too good. But, having said that, as I mentioned, when lying down I didn't really feel 'that' bad. I set myself up my couch , under a blanket with my laptop computer playing old star trek shows and a hot pad. After a while I fell asleep and when I woke up I thought it was really cold in my apartment, so I got up and turned the heat up. As soon as I did, I once again had a huge wave of nausea and had to lay down again. Eventually it became clear the heat wasn't working, as I lay on the couch, noticing it getting colder and colder in my apartment. In the whole time- 14 years that I've lived here the heat has never stopped working so naturally I got up to call the caretaker- he lives in the building. As soon as I made it to the kitchen to get the phone, I was ready to hurl again- well, just the feeling. Ugh- damn lying down flu! I called my caretaker and went back to the couch where I fell asleep again only to wake up to soft knocking on my door an hour later. I was feeling better- or was I? I got up to answer the door and felt even worse then before when I tried walking- yuck. Letting the caretaker in I warned him that I was feeling sick and then he went about checking the thermostat while I staggered back to the couch and my heating pad. G, went on about how the whole building has been complaining of not enough heat, because it's been sooo cold lately- this has been a really hard winter on the heating system. I tried not to laugh out loud. It's been -3 - really that's not THAT cold. But anyway, as I've said I've not had a problem before this. The thermostat is dead he said tapping it, I'll send J- the maintenance guy around to fix it. I nodded meekly and then asked if he wouldn't mind locking the door so I wouldn't have to get up again- he said yes AND he offered to take my garbage, which was hanging near the door ready to go out, down to the bin. So sweet eh? I smiled and thanked him. I wasn't looking forward to J coming to fix the thermostat- he never does anything well, or right the first time. There was a leak next door years ago and in attempting to get to the pipe to fix it, he went right on through into my kitchen wall! Then when he had to come in and repair the wall, he did a sloppy job. Another time, he had to replace a faucet in the bathroom and he fixed the water hoses on backwards, so hot was cold and vice versa. He's a nice guy but totally incompetent and worse he smells so strongly of whatever it is he smokes and I'm quite convinced he's never had a bath or shower in his whole life. On the other hand, he is a sweet guy who always smiles and waves so I just sighed inwardly wondering if he really would be able to replace the thermostat. I closed my eyes but just a few moments later J was knocking at the door- he has a master key so I just said 'come in' but he usually keeps his earpods in with music playing so I had to get up again and let him in. Sure enough I was overcome with wave after wave of nausea and dizziness- ugh.

I staggered back to the couch while J looked at the thermostat on the wall between my kitchen and bedroom. He tapped it a couple of times, then took the cover off and began removing it. I tried not to watch, keeping myself interested in the star trek - next generation episode I was watching on youtube but I couldn't help noticing he seemed perplexed. He had spread everything out on the kitchen counter and seemed to spend most of his time reading the instructions. So I asked, as casually as possible, 'you been replacing a lot of these lately?' He said 'yeah they go from time to time , but this once is ancient' referring to mine. Well, I imagine it's the original about 30 or so years old. It took him forever and it didn't work when he was done, the pipes, which bring hot water into my radiators located along the wall of my apartment didn't come on. Humph. I asked him what he would do about it, and mentioned I didn't want to be too cold tonight. He told me to call G, which I knew would piss G off, but I felt I wanted this to get fixed. As I suspected G was not happy to have to come back up to my apartment, but he did about an hour later. Once again I was up letting him in and this time, when he left to get J to help him I said, I'm leaving the door open- so I could just stay down, which is what my body wanted, obviously.

G and J came back, moved all my furniture around, with me still under my blanket, pale as a sheet on the couch. Taking off the radiator covers, it turns out that the motor was dead. They replaced it and it all still didn't work. Didn't want to tell G to check the thermostat, knowing full well that there was no way J could possibly have done it correctly, but I really wanted to say it. Finally, after a while, G had to check the thermostat and yes, it hadn't been installed correctly, I over head G ( while I lay with my eyes closed) point out that the wires had not been connected properly.

Anyway just before leaving,G, who is the nicest guy and the best caretaker we've ever had, said joking- 'well is there anything else we can do for you?' 'Make some soup?' I said 'just do the dishes and you're free to go' and they both laughed on their way out the door.

So, that's what I did today. I'm feeling better by the way, in both the lying down and standing position, still sickly, but better. No actual hurling happening, thank God, I absolutely hate vomiting.

Vancouver Stories

2011-02-26T22:45:00.000-08:00

When I first moved to Vancouver 20 years ago, I settled into the West End; a downtown residential neighbourhood mainly known for having a large gay male population. I had a nice little apartment with not much in it, except a lamp and a mat on the floor. At night, I used to take my guitar down to the waters edge, sit on a log on the beach and play. I didn’t really know how to play much, so I would just practice finger picking on the 3 main chords that I knew. One night I was there around 11 pm or so- (I know, what was I thinking?) when I started to get the feeling there were other people nearby. In those days I practiced meditation and was just beginning to work with energy. I thought if I surrounded myself with white light, that would be enough to keep me safe. I know, I believed in some crazy stuff when I was 22! Soon enough I saw a guy making his way toward me, he had to cross over some rocks to get onto the beach and though it was dark- there was enough light for me to see him approaching. Suddenly, after he came within a few feet of me, he veered off as if he’d been struck by something and literally staggered away. I thought wow, the white light; as if it could act like some kind of force field. Then another guy came and he too, after getting to a certain distance near me, suddenly began staggering off in the other direction as if he couldn’t get away fast enough. I was amazed, still playing my guitar but shaking my head in disbelief- I had no idea this white light stuff could be so powerful! Then another man, much smaller then the others came closer and closer until he was close enough I could see his face; I realized by his staggered walk that he was quite drunk. As he neared me he suddenly stopped and said ‘oh my god you’re a woman!’ For a moment he was bent over laughing and slapping his leg. Then he walked over and sat beside me on the log, still laughing and said ‘ how many men have stumbled over here thinking you were a guy with that short hair of yours?' Huh? Really? I did have super short hair in those days, but it surprised me to think that anyone could think that I was a guy, even though it was very dark on the beach. He explained to me that I was in an area of the beach known as ‘the fruit loop’ where gay men would come at night to cruise each other. We laughed about the mix up, spent some time chatting and he attempted to sing to my guitar playing. In the end he gave me his phone number, which he used my lipstick to write on a piece of paper. I folded the paper and put it in my pocket but when I got home and looked at it, I was only left with a butterfly.

Small Town BC

2011-02-21T16:49:00.000-08:00

From the very beginning when I arrived in BC over 19 years ago I found a place that I absolutely loved.
Initially it was Savary Island, up near Powell River but I soon travelled a wee bit further and found Cortes Island. British Columbia has thousands of islands, but Cortes really is special. Located at the mouth of Desolation Sound, it is surrounded by mountains, water and gorgeous beaches, truly it is a beautiful place. Last month I was reading a book called 'Adventures in Solitude' which is one man's account of growing up spending summers in Desolation Sound. What I learned, which sort of knocked my socks off - is that the entire area was originally settled by Swedes. Yes you heard me, Swedish people, aside from the Native Americans, were the main settlers of the area. I guess the fact that one of the nearest small towns to the area Lund- could have been a clue- it is named after Lund Sweden. I simply never questioned where the names came from. Apparently Lund was established by two Swedish brothers Charles and Fred Thulin in 1889. The book is a fascinating journey, and shows that life was very hard. More then one Swede went 'bush' which is a mental break that actually has some very clear stages and ended up shooting some people and died themselves. It must have been a very difficult and isolated life up there.

Eventually Cortes, an island off the coast ( my favorite one) became known as kind of hippi commune type place- and now has one of the most fantastic learning retreat centres in the world called HollyHock. Although the workshops and accommodation at Holly Hock are expensive, you can just go for a few days and stay there without taking a workshop and it becomes a little more affordable. You can stay dorm style for about 108.00/day which includes, nature hike, 3 organic vegetarian meals per day ( snacks are available all day) and yoga. Much of the food is grown right there in their garden, or fished locally.

Of course the real difficulty is getting there. Flying by float plane is very expensive, although the best way to go. Alternatively you can take the bus and ferry from Vancouver which takes all day and you will still need to get a water taxi from Campbell river- or you can continue on Ferries across Quadra Island- that is an even longer trip. To drive or bus it takes 10-12 hrs, while flying form harbour to harbour Vancouver to Cortes takes 1 hr.

For many years, every summer I'd go and spend a weekend at Holly Hock. Last summer I went to Sweden instead, don't know if I'll get there this year.

here are some links to this wonderful place

Lund

BC News story on Cortes Island

HollyHock

The last time I went to HollyHock was 2 years ago. I met a lovely man there that year named Ron Kurtz who was giving a workshop with some assistance in a method he originated, called Hakomi. It's a combination of the lovingkindness of Buddhism and psychotherapy. He is truly one of the most lovely people I've ever met- and he passed away just 1 month ago. I felt very honored to have met him at all.

But that's what it's like at Hollyhock, or at least it has been for me, I've always met the most wonderful and interesting people there.

Summer's Almost Here- yup won't be long now!

2011-02-06T19:24:00.000-08:00

We can see the deer moving around in the field behind our house

yup- won't be long now.

lol- just thought I'd add that for you Swedes- Actually the Cherry Blossoms have started to bloom here, so it's almost spring. However, it's been dark like the dead of night and pouring with rain every day. I feel like shooting myself! I think if these deer were here, they would be carrying umbrellas. What I wouldn't give for a single drop of sun right now!

Ikea: Swedish for common sense

2011-01-25T22:15:00.000-08:00

Yes that's right folks, Ikea means common sense.
No it doesn't - apparently that's NOT what it means. It's a made up word- for real?
But for years in Canada Ikea commercials always ended with ' Ikea- swedish for common sense' so I actually thought that's what it meant IN SWEDISH.

Yes, I thought the SWEDISH word for common sense was Ikea.
go ahead-laugh. This is your free joke of the day. :) see how nice I am?

Naturally when my Swedish friend asked me if I knew what Ikea meant- I said (very confidently)
Yes. It means common sense.

Needless to say he was silenced. oh? what? no- why do you say that?

He's so serious though he didn't even laugh- come on that's funny- I really thought that hahahahah good thing I didn't try and use that one when I was in Sweden eh?

so yeah, that's how my Swedish lessons go these days.

One Year Anniversary

2011-01-23T14:01:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a year since I created this blog. The idea in the beginning was to keep myself motivated in my desire to visit Sweden. I didn't think it could be done, financially and for other reasons, and I felt that having a blog would keep my mind on the prize so to speak. I guess it worked since I did make it to Sweden and I also learned a lot about Sweden from other blogs that I have read. I am truly grateful for all the blogs out there, as there were many things that it was helpful to be prepared for, and reading these blogs helped me do just that. Also I'm thrilled to have met and made a friend or two through the blogs that I have been reading- a very unexpected and delightful surprise! I will continue to enjoy reading blogs from and about Sweden. I guess it's just an interest of mine or as my friends call it my 'Swedish Fetish' lol. I love the style and culture of Sweden, but not enough to say move there- Canada has many great things about it, can't imagine leaving it to be sure.

Now I'm at a little cross roads and am not sure what I will do. I like having a blog, but this blog to be honest is not a good representation of who I am. Perhaps it was due to the limited scope of this blog or maybe because it was anonymous- not sure, but it seems to me that this blog is not really 'me'. It's a fairly limited view of myself, a caricature if you will and certainly not a complete picture of my life. When I think about blogs that I enjoy the most, they tend to be ones that contain more information that is less personal- with a few exceptions of course. To that end, I may do another blog- not sure, but do feel that this one needs to go or change in some way. I'm not enjoying my own posts, kind of sick of talking about myself :) and I'm sure other's must feel the same.

And while it's true I do still dream OF Sweden- it's not enough I think to dedicate an entire blog about.

A blog about Vancouver? A blog about Storytelling? perhaps- something else I'm passionate about?

I don't know.

Any suggestions?

My year in review:

Learning Swedish- dear me, I guess I'm terrible because while I learned to read a little Swedish, speaking it is quite another thing. Have to say I still really like Swedish, but unless I was living there, don't think I'll ever really become proficient. Just don't have the practice time. Also, it's true what they say- it's hard to speak Swedish with Swedes, because they speak such good English. My Swedish 'teachers' on-line have turned into friends and we just catch up on fb now, in English.
Nice to have friends in Sweden though, must say :)

The Olympics- Can't believe it but a year has almost passed since the Olympics were here. Sigh. It was so much fun and I can feel the whole city is a bit sad that we are not having another Olympics this year. I'm not exaggerating- everyone is talking about it. So the the city has stepped in and apparently there will be a whole bunch of events and parties on the anniversary to fill the void. I'll be attending as many of these events as possible.

Health- This has been a bit of crappy year for health. Gained weight instead of losing- totally my own fault. Tore my calf muscle and had a sciatic impingement- both totally my fault from over exercising lol - and also had some mysterious illness that I'm still getting loads of tests for- finally something that's not my fault!- though I'd rather not be right about it :(

Sweden: Finally went to Sweden! It was great- and not so great. I didn't put everything that happened in my blog. The truth is from the day before I left until the day I arrived in Stockholm something went wrong- something major EVERY SINGLE DAY- was it all my fault? I don't know. Whatever the reason,I believe I deserve a second visit to Sweden and so I plan to go to Sweden again- just not sure when. Also I hope to see so many of the places I didn't get a chance to on my first trip. I would recommend Sweden as a place to visit to anyone- it's lovely and filled with lots of character and history. There are also lots of problems just like any other country in the world. And yes, I found the people to be on the whole very kind, intelligent with a wonderful sense of style- wow. I can see why there are so many people dedicated to finding a Swedish mate. Personally though, while I'd like to visit every year, go to Norway and see the Fjords too, I have no desire to live there. Although I toy with the idea of moving to another country from time to time, I don't see myself actually doing it. I'm more of the visiting type I think.

Meet Me For Lunch

2011-01-13T19:58:00.000-08:00

I love this short talk by Elizabeth Lesser, she has the perfect way of saying this though I find it hard to follow her suggestion at the end. A goal to aim for I guess.

http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_lesser_take_the_other_to_lunch.html

Winter Solstice, Christmas and New Year's Eve

2011-01-02T00:21:00.000-08:00

This time of year is one of my favorites, though I'm hesitant to say it's my one and only favorite for fear of being caught saying that about many other moments such as spring, summer, fall, waking up in the morning and well you get the idea. I find as I get older, in many ways life gets sweeter and that in itself brings with it a sense of bittersweet, because I become more and more aware of how short life can really be.

My family is very old. Is that something one can say? What I mean is that most people in my family with the exception of my siblings and their children are elderly. When I turned 40 I went back East for a party my Mom was having for me and having invited a couple of friends I warned them 'just so you know, my family is old'. My friends, a couple who are themselves in their 60's said ' but dear, WE are old' and I just laughed- 'no you're not' and waited for their reaction. The day came and we sat in the party room of my Mother's building watching as my family ambled in with their canes and walkers and then my friend turned to me and said 'wow, your family is really old' HAHA I know! At the time I had 5 family members over 90 and the rest were over 80, as I said with the exception of siblings and my Mom- who is nearing 80 herself.

So it was without much surprise that 3 people passed away this year which made this my (and my Mother's) first Christmas without Grandma. On Christmas day another family member passed away, but he had lived way beyond what anyone had expected considering he had pancreatic cancer and so again, not unexpected but sad all the same. He was not even that old, for my family and it made me really aware how anything can happen. It's so strange how long a day can seem yet how short a life can be?

Perhaps because of this, I really did my best to enjoy as much of the season as possible. I love Winter Solstice almost more then Christmas and even though I live far from my family I do my best to find special ways to celebrate each year with friends. I've also created a few of my own rituals- I like to walk the labyrinth each year during Winter Solstice, go to the various light displays with friends, bake Christmas cookies for gifts and I always eat a box of Purdy's chocolates- my very OWN box each year. It's a little too much and each year I've been getting a smaller and smaller box to be honest, but I can't resist it, it's the one thing I really look forward to each Christmas morning.

New Year's Eve is also a very special time for me. I take it as an opportunity to release things from the old year- and attempt to make a conscious effort to be clear about my intent(s) for the new year.
Why not? I think it's a great opportunity to re-think things, say good bye to what's not working, fine tune stuff that is and dream bigger.

I hope your Season went well- would love to hear about any special rituals you have and I wish you all the very best in the New Year!

Here's a few pics from my season.

Swedish Craft Fair

I made it! The Scandinavian Centre is a ways out from where I live.

Look familiar?

Inside the centre looking down from the balcony. I had my first taste of Glögg.
I didn't take any of the craft tables because I wasn't sure how people would feel about me taking photos.

going out to Salt with friends

Me at Salt

One of the young ones in my family
out to see Christmas Trees!

Winter Solstice annual Labyrinth: the tea lights are put in brown
paper bags and used to make the walkway- it's really beautiful!
We walk the labyrinth while the crystal bowls are played, creating a mesmerizing and beautiful sound.

There are many art light displays during the festival, but each year this one is my favorite. The tree of light is made with lanterns the children make out of paper mache. It's really beautiful!

6 wks

2010-12-10T22:56:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been 6 weeks since I pulled my calf muscle and I can honestly say there's no pain and nothing stopping me from getting back to regular exercise. Except for the fact that I've lost all momentum and motivation for exercise unless you consider baking, eating and drinking wine some form of exercise? I'm amazed that it took 6 wks to get better, when initially it was getting better so quickly. However, it does say a tear takes 6 wks to fully recover and I'll have to consider that maybe 'they' the doctors of wikipedia ( not leaks) really do know what they are talking about. Well, also my friend the doctor told me that too actually.

I guess I'll have to wait until AFTER Christmas to once again try losing the same damn 10 lbs ( now 15) that I've been trying to lose since last year. Arrr...

In other news...oh yeah, wait, there IS no other news. Life is fairly boring at the moment.

However, I continue to bake Christmas cookies and look forward to the many parties that seem to come up at this time of year. I did take a little cruise out to the Swedish Center to their Christmas Market- that was fun. Really enjoyed the fact that people kept talking to me in Swedish!

Hope you are enjoying the season.

I'm planning on trying these. They look amazing!

http://annesfood.blogspot.com/2009/12/gingerbread-macarons.html

Favorite movie at this moment: Tous Les Matins du Monde, beautiful, sad, gorgeous music
Favorite show at this moment: The Peep Show with David Mitchell- sarcastic, ironic humour- crass but so funny.

Reading: Adventures in Solitude- a book about one man's experience in Desolation Sound ( BC coast)- really good so far.

I love Desolation Sound, try to go there every year when I'm not heading to Sweden;so when I heard this author giving a reading of his book I knew I would buy one.

Vancouver Weather or Global Warming?

2010-11-12T22:37:00.000-08:00

Many people make the mistake of coming to Vancouver in the summer and then moving here based on that experience. It’s a mistake, because the weather we have in the summer is not indicative of what most of the year is like here. Usually, it’s raining, 100% humidity- a temperate rainforest.As a result Vancouver is lush, green, very clean and wet, extremely wet. If you move here you’d better be prepared for that. Although, funny enough this year we’ve been very lucky and have been experiencing a number of sunny breaks.

For 19 years I’ve lived in Vancouver and almost all of them included the rains starting in early October and basically continuing until December some time. Then often there would be some sunny breaks until the rains would begin again and pretty much continue until February, when spring arrives. During the spring the rains will come on and off but there are more sunny breaks and of course the cherry blossoms come out and it all starts to seem like the end of winter when that happens; even if the rains continue.

This year, as I said, we’ve been lucky. It just started getting cold at night this past week. The temperature is hovering during the day at around 8 degrees and going down to 5 at night and there are some sunny breaks, which is almost unheard of at this time of year. Last year we also had one of the warmest winters on record and February, during the Olympics felt more like April. This year, everyone is saying it will be very cold maybe even some snow, which we don’t usually get so close to sea level, yet it’s been pretty fabulous so far.

Since moving to Vancouver I'm noticed a lot of changes in the weather. A lot less rain and much warmer summers are just some of the more obvious changes I’ve seen. Is this global warming or just some kind of natural cycle? I really don’t know. I do feel a kind of guilty pleasure though when I imagine that global warming is potentially improving the weather in Vancouver.

Regardless, today I was able to walk across the bridge- the first long walk I’ve been able to do since I injured myself 2 wks. ago. I’ve been limping for 2 wks and really it was only today I felt I was able to do a good walk. I was so excited to see the sun coming out from behind the clouds and see all the fall colours with the sun glinting off them. It was a truly lovely morning and early afternoon until I went to work. Even on my evening break it seemed very mild outside and I think it’ only just started raining now. I say I think, because while I can recognize the sound traffic makes when driving on wet roads, because my doors and windows are shut I can’t actually hear the rain itself. Funny how I know the sounds so well now; I don’t even have to look outside to know the weather’s changed.

I can’t help but wonder if it’s possible that global warming could improve the weather in some parts of the world while making it worse in others. Wouldn’t that be interesting, if the weather in Vancouver just got better and better? It’s unlikely thought, I’ve heard it said it’s not global warming it’s climate change- meaning more extremes of weather, not just warmer. I’m looking forward to getting out more and more with my walking abilities restored whether it’s raining or not!

Freaky Friday

2010-10-31T03:57:00.000-07:00

I pushed off the stair suddenly when I realized the train was about to leave and then something whacked my leg from behind- but wait, as I turned around to see what it was, I realized I hadn't been hit by anything. I felt a pop and then sort of like an elastic band go 'boing' in my leg mid-way down my calf. By the time I landed on the floor from the stair, I could no longer walk. Oh Crap! I've pulled my calf muscle. I was stranded too, couldn't walk at all at first. As I struggled to figure out what to do, I managed to hobble over to the seat and wait for the next train, the pain was unbelievable,all the while my mind working at what I had to do. I would need to get a taxi, take it to the grocery store where I had to buy my dinner before going back to work later in the evening. Hmm.. work, how was that going to happen if my leg wasn't working? I felt down my calf on the left leg wondering if I'd torn it or if it was just a strain. I knew a pop sound and the elastic pulling feeling were not good signs. Somehow I managed to get a taxi as soon as I got out of the train station, thank GOD, but hobbling into the grocery store was ridiculous, moving at a snail's pace and any time I slipped and put weight on that leg I'd feel shooting pain all over. It was horrible. I'd figured out that I could take some weight on the left heel, with a straight leg , as long as I had almost all of my weight on the right side and kind of swing the left forward.
I finally got home having about 2 hrs before I'd need to head off to work again. I began icing my leg, with it raised on some pillows as I searched the internet for information on calf muscles strains.

Shit! Even a minor Grade 1 says it takes 2 weeks to heal and the Grade 2- where you hear the pop and feel as if someone has hit you from behind (exactly what I felt) takes 3 wks or longer to heal! What? I can't wait that long-

I was praying that I didn't have Grade 3- where the tendon is torn off completely and needs to be re-attached, one symptom being unable to walk. I was getting worried.
But then when I looked at my leg there was no bruising, no swelling yet and that seemed to me a good sign.
Nothing to do but wrap it up in a tensor and off to work I went, scooting about on a stool for my shift. The whole time my friend a nurse texting me and admonishing me for going at all. 'Should you be at work?' she wrote, ' I think you may be making it worse, you could be laid up for a long time' blah blah, but there was nothing I could do, it was too close to work to cancel, there was no one to take my place.

My friend the nurse met me after work and drove me home. In my apartment I sat on the floor as she looked at my leg. See? I said, no bruising, so it can't be torn. 'Well, yes, she said doubtfully, but it could show up later'. I was skeptical though, all my other injuries I have seen bruising and swelling right away. I was worried that I still couldn't walk at all on the leg, but encouraged that there was no bruising or swelling. Another friend of mine, a chiropractor returned my call and as we spoke I lost my confidence. 'You heard a pop?' she asked yes, and I described the sensation of the elastic band pulling up. 'oh that's bad' she said ' really bad, it sounds like a total tear, can you walk on it at all?' No. 'oh see, that's bad' she said again.

Crap, Crap, Crap. was all I could think. I really can't be off work for anytime, I simply don't have the money to do that.
She was still talking ' well, some say surgery is best and others think it doesn't help and that it can re-attach on it's own. most likely they'll put you in a boot , but you really should be on crutches now you know, don't put any weight on it' blah blah ' it will take 6 wks to heal' What!!?

6 wks!

Then my friend a massage therapist called and it was the same story 'you heard a pop'? yes, 'ooh that's not good' and we went through the whole thing again. I promised them both to go in to the clinic the next morning and I iced again, wrapped it again, elevated it again and prayed, really prayed that it was only a strain and not a tear.

My friend the nurse and I had plans to go to a really big, fabulous Halloween party and naturally she suggested I couldn't go. No! I insisted as long as I could hobble from the car to a chair in the place I'd be happy to still go. Yes, I'm a nutcase. What was I thinking?

I couldn't sleep that night and ended up giving up and getting up at 4am. I looked at my leg again, it was still not bruised, not swollen and it seemed to me there was less pain and I could walk better. After being up for several hours I finally went back to bed to sleep and ended up sleeping til noon. I was lying in bed texting my status to friends 'haven't tried walking yet today' ' yes! I still want to go to the party' Okay, I'm an idiot- but I had my costume planned and hated the idea of missing the party just because I stepped of a single stair the wrong way!

When I got up I noticed I could put a tiny bit more weight on the foot- really, just the tiniest amount but I knew that meant I did not have a tear. There's no way it would be getting better already- yay!! It's just a strain.

It's now almost 3:30 in the morning, I've just arrived home from the party. It was fun, a bit crazy sitting in a chair all night. The party was held at a sound stage where they film and store set decorations. It was amazing, the place was huge and there were really cool things all over, decorations for films and so on. 400 people filled the place and everyone came dressed for Halloween, now you know why I didn't want to miss it! I did get really tired by the end and with $3 drinks my friend got a tad drunk and tried to coax me into dancing. I had actually tried earlier thinking I could just 'bounce' but it wasn't possible without hurting my leg and later in the evening just moving around was dangerous, I was afraid of falling or getting pushed. Still it was a fun evening and the leg is definitely improving, I'm sooo relieved!
Will still take about 2 wks to heal completely but that's better then 6 wks!

Here's my Halloween pic, more to follow!

The Meaning of Life

2010-10-20T00:47:00.001-07:00

This says it all

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxZbUpY_zsw&p=2DEBA555EFCF9E2B&playnext=1&index=88

xoxoxo

Vancouver Entertainment

2010-10-16T09:29:00.000-07:00

Vancouver is mostly known for it's out door activities both during the winter and summer months. During the winter, you'll find that many people are taking classes for something yoga, meditation, painting, singing, drumming the list is endless what you can do. What Vancouver is not known for is live entertainment, musicals, plays, operas etc.. Oh yes there are some, but not like Toronto or Montreal where the musical scenes are much bigger and there are so many more events going on.

lately I've been exploring live theatre style events that don't cost a lot and are part of the small but growing comedy community here. Last week I attended an event called 'Readings of Deliciously Rotten Writing'. It was hilarious! They have comedians and actors read from books that are just bad, pure awful. Many of the best ones are written by celebrities and there were a couple I saw last week that had me laughing out loud. The other even I attended a couple weeks before was a storytelling event. I was impressed that the entire restaurant was packed, standing room only and that there was no cover. For very little, the cost of a drink you can go and be entertained for 2 hrs. I was amazed how good some of the stories were and I love the rules.
1. It has to be true
2. It has to be about you.
3. Less then 10 min.
4. NO NOTES!

Anyway, there was a fellow who told a story about a conversation he had with his 6 year old son on the bus that had everyone peeing their pants laughing. Another woman told a story about her pretty harrowing lion safari where she and her mate ended up in a tree.

In addition to these things I'd also like to attend some readings by writers that take place around town at various cafes- haven't managed to fit it in yet, but I hope it's a good as the storytelling or the readings of rotten writing :)

Readings of Deliciously Rotten Writing
http://vimeo.com/13380468

Gobble, Gobble

2010-10-08T23:27:00.000-07:00

It's Thanksgiving weekend which can only mean one thing- well two actually- Turkey and pumpkin pie. Although for years I would make apple crisp for our Thanksgiving desert, over the last couple years I've grown to prefer pumkin pie. yum.

Here's a little trivia on our Thanksgiving Holiday and I can't help but wonder- do you ever eat a big Turkey dinner in Sweden? I can't imagine not having it at least once per year.

This year, instead of cooking I'll be going to a restaurant with my cousin, his Sambo ( sorry I know some of you don't like me using that Swedish word, but I like it! ) their little girl and a friend of mine. I was given a gift certificate for this place for some work that I did and I've decided to take them for Turkey dinner. It's an enormous pleasure to be able to do this and I'm really looking forward to it.

The Menu includes
Free-range Turkey,
garlic mashed potatoes,
maple sweet potatoes,
pumpkin pie

and I'm sure I'm missing some things :)

Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving weekend, even if it's not a red day for you.

xoxo

Thanksgiving (Canada)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For Thanksgiving in other countries, see Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving
Shopping for pumpkins for Thanksgiving inOttawa's Byward Market
Observed by	Canada
Type	Cultural
Significance	A celebration of being thankful for what one has and the bounty of the previous year.
Date	Second Monday in October
2010 date	October 11
Celebrations	Spending Time with Family,feasting, religious practice

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day (Canadian French: Jour de l'Action de grâce), occurring on the second Monday in October (since 1959), is an annual Canadian holiday to give thanks at the close of the harvest season. Although the original act of Parliament references God and the holiday is celebrated in churches, the holiday is also celebrated in a secular manner.

On January 31, 1957, the Canadian Parliament proclaimed:

“

A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed … to be observed on the 2nd Monday in October.

”

Canadian Thanksgiving coincides with Columbus Day in the United States and the Día de la Raza in most of Latin America.

[hide]

[edit]Traditional celebration

Thanksgiving is a statutory holiday in most jurisdictions of Canada, with the provinces of Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador,New Brunswick and Nova Scotia being the exceptions. Where a company is regulated by the federal government (such as those in the telecommunications and banking sectors), it is recognized regardless of status provincially.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

As a liturgical festival, Thanksgiving corresponds to the English and continental-European Harvest festival, with churches decorated withcornucopias, pumpkins, corn, wheat sheaves, and other harvest bounty, English and European harvest hymns sung on the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend, and scriptural selections drawn from biblical stories relating to the Jewish harvest festival of Sukkot.^{[citation needed]}

While the actual Thanksgiving holiday is on a Monday, Canadians might eat their Thanksgiving meal on any day of the three-day weekend, though Sunday and Monday are the most common. While Thanksgiving is usually celebrated with a large family meal, it is also often a time for weekend getaways. The Thanksgiving weekend, given that it invariably falls at the very end of the summer, is traditionally a perfect time to put away the patio furniture, close the cottage and pull the boat up, thus getting ready for the long cold winter.

Due to Canada's proximity to the United States, American traditions such as parades and football have crossed the border and been adapted into Canadian traditions. The Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest Parade serves as the nation's only Thanksgiving Day parade and, as a result, gets significant national attention, being broadcast nationwide on CTV and A. Canada's top professional football league, the Canadian Football League, holds a nationally-televised doubleheader known as the "Thanksgiving Day Classic." It is one of two weeks in which the league plays on Monday afternoons, the other being the Labour Day Classic. Unlike the Labour Day games, the teams that play on the Thanksgiving Day Classic rotate each year.

[edit]History of Thanksgiving in Canada

Various First Nations in Canada had long-standing traditions celebrating the harvest and giving thanks for a successful bounty of crops. Canada's First Nations and Native Americans throughout the Americas, including the Pueblo, Cherokee, Cree and many others organized harvest festivals, ceremonial dances, and other celebrations of thanks for centuries before the arrival of Europeans in North America.^[6]

Canadian troops attend a Thanksgiving service in the bombed-out Cambrai Cathedral, in France in October 1918

The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean.^[7] Frobisher's Thanksgiving was not for harvest but homecoming. He had safely returned from a search for the Northwest Passage, avoiding the later fate of Henry Hudson and Sir John Franklin. In the year 1578, he held a formal ceremony in Newfoundland to give thanks for surviving the long journey. The feast was one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations by Europeans in North America. Frobisher was later knighted and had an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada named after him — Frobisher Bay.

At the same time, French settlers, having crossed the ocean and arrived in Canada with explorer Samuel de Champlain, in 1604 onwards also held huge feasts of thanks. They even formed 'The Order of Good Cheer' and gladly shared their food with their First Nations neighbours.

After the Seven Years' War ended in 1763 handing over of New France to the British, the citizens of Halifax held a special day of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving days were observed beginning in 1799 but did not occur every year. After the American Revolution, American refugees whoremained loyal to Great Britain moved from the newly independent United States and came to Canada. They brought the customs and practices of the American Thanksgiving to Canada. The first Thanksgiving Day after Canadian Confederation was observed as a civic holiday on April 5, 1872 to celebrate the recovery of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from a serious illness.

Starting in 1879 Thanksgiving Day was observed every year, but the date was proclaimed annually and changed year to year.^{[citation needed]} The theme of the Thanksgiving holiday also changed each year to reflect an important event to be thankful for. In its early years it was for an abundant harvest and occasionally for a special anniversary.

After World War I, both Armistice Day and Thanksgiving were celebrated on the Monday of the week in which November 11 occurred.^{[citation needed]} Ten years later, in 1931, the two days became separate holidays, and Armistice Day was renamed Remembrance Day.

[edit]References

Unbelievable

2010-09-18T03:35:00.000-07:00

I actually had to sit down. It's been a rough year for this. I read recently that rape in Vancouver is the only crime on the rise, by over 30 % this year.

Now this.

A 16 year old girl is gang raped by 7 boys at a party, who video tape it and post it on Facebook. The video tapes and photos go viril and the police are begging the kids to stop downloading them.

They have to beg?
Why isn't it obvious that this is horrific?
What will it take to stop this from happening?

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Column+Spread+photos+signals+social+media+open+Pandora+evil/3542405/story.html

I really don't have words for this-

For the Birds

2010-09-13T21:34:00.000-07:00

I love birds. You may recall I did an entire post on a finch nest I found after a particularly stormy day. Now , when I say I love birds, I don't really mean ALL birds. Sorry, but I don't like crows and am not fond of Seagulls although I'd never say I don't like them at all, just not my cup of tea.

This evening I went for a walk around Stanley Park- I love Stanley Park, it really is a precious gem and can be so up-lifting when one walks around on the sea wall. http://vancouver.ca/parks/parks/stanley/seawall.htm

Well, the walk was beautiful, the day even brighter than the one where I shot the photos found below and actually quite warm, considering the time of year. At one point my friend and I stopped so that she could use the washroom and I noticed a fellow, strangely dressed in multiple layers including a bike helmet with a bike lamp on it with long white hair nearby. He was carrying a clear plastic bag, the kind you get when you buy a blanket, that has a zipper in it. It was filled about 1/4 of the way full with plastic water bottles and the like. I found myself turning away. I don't know how to explain it, I get the feeling I shouldn't watch someone when they are picking through garbage as their job. He went to one bin and then walked passed me to the bin on the other side of the building where the washrooms are. I stepped lightly away, keeping an eye on the door for my friend. As I did this the man began to speak to me. " Do you know birds here in Vancouver'? Now that's a fairly odd question, I turned to face him and noticed that the man had come quite a lot closer to speak with me. I noticed as he spoke that he had a french accent and aside from his odd clothes he was totally lucid and intelligent. Well, why wouldn't he be? Except that I suppose I thought people who collected garbage were not I guess- which is an embarrassing thing to admit, but there it is. As we spoke, he pointed to a field in the park where he had seen two birds which he didn't know the names of and was hoping I might know. As he described the birds, I had the funny feeling it was the very same bird I had seen and not known the name of last year- it struck me as odd that here was another person who likes birds enough to notice an odd one, to want to find the name of it. We talked very briefly about the birds, he mentioned that he had looked in the bird book for it, I found my mind saying 'he has books'? He went into a fairly accurate description of the birds and I said that I had seen it as well and also didn't know the name of it. Then, just as quickly as he came, he thanked me and left.

Just then my friend came up behind me and we continued our walk, this time cutting across the park, no longer following the seawall.

I told her that I was embarrassed to admit that it surprised me that he was just a 'nice' guy who was interested in birds and reads books just like I would and she smiled and told me she'd had a similar experience with a homeless man in the alley near her apartment.

I love birds and I'm glad to meet someone else who does too! I'm also glad to have a chance to release some unconsciously held prejudices about people who collect bottles for a living. So, thank you birds of Vancouver.

Here's a couple pics I took last year near the same place.

Whistler

2010-09-12T23:24:00.000-07:00

I realized after reading my last and totally pathetic post that I had not even explained my trip to Whistler very well.

Well, that's because there's really not much to say. Whistler is all about the views to be honest. The village itself is pretty lame and looks like a Walk Disney version of a ski lodge. There's not much to do or see in the village except maybe drink and buy over priced ski clothes. Unfortunately my friend doesn't drink and the only things we looked at to buy were souvenirs. Oddly enough, it turned out that the stores at the peak of Whistler Mountain had better prices than Vancouver. Too bad my friend didn't take the chance and buy what he wanted there! It's not like you can go up the peak to shop, it's a pretty expensive ticket - about $50.00 for a day pass. We also looked at Zip trekking but I had no interest and it was 119.00 dollars which is actually quite expensive for a 3 hr. ride yes?

Anyway, here are a few pics of us going up Whistler Mountain over to Blackcomb via the Peak 2 Peak Gondola and then down Blackcomb via the chair lifts. Now I'll be honest, the thought of going down the chair lifts scared the heck out of me and I told my friend don't even bother asking me, I won't do it. Well, not sure how he got me to say yes to that hmm.. but in the end it wasn't too bad and he kept his promise and didn't 'swing' it or jostle it in any way.
The terrible thing is that pictures don't do it justice. It really is very beautiful and majestic, but somehow that just doesn't come across in the photos. There is one picture of young kids biking down Whistler Mountain- crazy I know! They have special brakes on the bikes to allow for it, but still I think it's just nuts.

The actual Peak 2 Peak gondola is the red one , it goes between the two peaks of the mountain and is considered to be the highest unsupported structure. The details can be found here: http://ww1.whistlerblackcomb.com/p2pg/details/

I LOVED it and we ended up going up again from Blackcomb on the chair lifts and reversing the whole thing- it was awesome and best part of the trip for sure. In case you ever have a chance to take the bus to whistler I suggest the Pacific Coach Bus- which was express. We took that up but when we were leaving the hotel suggested Grey Hound and said 'take the Grey Hound, it's cheaper' i thought with a shrug 'why not'. Well because it's NOT an express that's why not! Yeah we saved $10.00 but had to stop at every bloody small town on the way back to Vancouver- I don't recommend it.

Dreaming of Sweden

2010-09-07T23:48:00.000-07:00

Well, today I had the strangest feeling that I was really missing being in Sweden. Sometimes I wonder what’s wrong with me? I mean, I thought all this Swedish fetish would go away once I actually visited Sweden. Nope. Well, certainly I’d get sick of it once my young friend visited me for 13 days, the longest I’ve EVER had anyone in my tiny apartment. Nope.

Sigh. I think I’m a weirdo. People keep asking me if my background is Swedish- nope. I’m English, Irish and Dutch. Just a little of each with a dash of French and God knows what else, but no Scandinavia, not a pinch.

Anyway, a client of mine I saw the other day and hadn’t seen since I went to Sweden wanted to hear all about my trip. Really, all I could say was ‘well my bags got lost and someone stole all my money, but the main problem was that it was too short’. Hahah and she said ‘well, it says a lot that you want to go back’. I’m so jealous; she actually has family IN Sweden that she can visit- ANYTIME she wants to. She offered to give them to me- that’s SO Canadian of her. Oh you need something? Please take mine. Yes, we are a strange bunch here.

Anyway the trip with my friend was splendid; if a tad too long. I was absolutely fine until the 10^th day and then I was like ‘ok, I want my place back’. But I have to say he was very quiet, clean and easy to get along with, and it didn’t hurt my reputation to have my friends thinking I had such a young, good-looking Swedish boyfriend- even if it wasn’t true J Obviously he’s too young for that and to be quite honest I’m not looking for a relationship of any kind with anyone right now. So I can’t even say that my desire to go to Sweden is for that- even though it’s true the men are very good looking there. I mean, looks aren’t everything and it didn’t seem to me that relationships were any easier or better there than here in Canada.

Now that I’m thinking about it, it was this time last year that I began to plan my trip to Sweden, maybe it’s just a Fall thing? No of course not ! I’d feel a lot better about all of this if I could have just one inkling what it’s really about. After all, it can’t really be about Sweden can it? Since I’ve been and it didn’t stop and now I’m feeling ‘ I wish I was in Sweden for fall, for Christmas..’

That just seems really strange to me. I shared this with my good friend ‘R’ over a cappuccino this evening; he was really surprised to hear that I was still struggling with these feelings. ‘Do you think you want to move there’ he asked with his eyes wide open, ‘is it legal, could you just go there’? ‘No’ I said a little exasperated, I don’t want to move there’. And it’s true, I have no desire to ‘move’ to Sweden. ‘I just want to spend some time there’ I said- ‘like 3 months’.

Anyway, it’s just stupid because I can’t, I have my work which I really depend on and I’ve got all this lovely debt and oh yeah, my tax bill which as I told my friend ‘R’ came in today. When I told him the amount he opened his eyes wide again and said ‘were you expecting it’? Oh yeah I said with a casual shrug, as I raised my tiny cappuccino cup to my lips, tasting the bitterness of it unsweetened ( I’m off sugar again) ‘of course I was expecting it, because I didn’t open the last letter they sent me- just before my trip to Sweden tee hee.

Hmmm…mystery solved? Maybe I just don’t want to be here, with all my lovely debt?

Naaaw! That can’t be it, because everything else is going so well in my life right now, truly. My work is good, my friends are great and I’m finally working on finishing a project I’ve wanted to do for years. It’s all coming together so beautifully.

Then why am I still dreaming of Sweden?

Delicious

2010-08-22T22:37:00.000-07:00

Life has been totally delicious lately. I was planning to do lots of cooking while my swedish friend was here but in the end it's just been easier to eat out. Oh my! It seems to me his trip will be mostly highlighted by the foods we've eaten; West Coast (Salmon) Indian Food and tonight Thai- his choice.

For some reason everything seems to be about food. I'm amazed how much dairy this guy can eat. Seriously 2 seconds ago he said ' I love milk' as he drank a glass of milk with granola in it. Yogurt for breakfast, cheese at lunch and milk and ice cream in the evening, it's really funny how much dairy Swedes eat. Now I know he's not representing all swedish people, but when I was in Sweden I noticed people eating a lot of dairy there.

The trip has already had lots of funny moments; like when a friend of mine wouldn't stop hugging him 'supposedly' to teach him to hug Canadian style, but she's not kidding anyone, he's a cutie :)
And then my friend D who gave him a huge list of words to work with since everytime he asked him how something was, he would always just answer 'good' or 'nice'. My friend 'D' was like ' ok, R, you've got to learn some new words like awesome, fantastic, excellent and so on, while he explained that when people answer 'good' it really means something is only so-so. That's not something I'd ever thought of before, but it's true. Vancouverites usually describe things in terms like 'it was awesome' or fantastic but if they say something was 'good' they really mean 'not very good' hahah.

I have also done quite a bit of sight-seeing with my friend and as far as I can tell, he's having a 'good time' but since he is very shy and doesn't say much it's hard to know exactly how much he's enjoying Vancouver. On the other hand, I know he loves food- cause he said ' I love milk' and he's always eating, just like me hahaha.

We will be going on our road trip tomorrow and I hope it is even more delicious then the last few days have been.

Welcome to Hawaii

2010-08-15T23:16:00.000-07:00

Er..I mean Vancouver. The weather here right now can only be described as tropical. I strolled the way home after having gone out the other night for candy and found myself looking at my neighborhood through fresh eyes. It occurred to me as I sauntered, sucking on a chewy piece of toffee that ended up being too hard, that in just a few short hours my Swedish friend would be here. The smell of a skunk and then the sight of two bobbing nearby had me veering off unto the other side to the street. I made my way down another street rather unconsciously and became transfixed on the low-rise buildings, all the windows and curtains open, seeing people eating, watching TV. In one apartment a man was standing in his living room, with his hands on his hips shouting at someone sitting, unseen in a chair. ‘Did you really think I was going to fix that?’, he shouted as I walked by. It was a cringe worthy moment and feeling like an intruder I looked away and stepped up my pace. I made my way around a corner and walked through a cloud of marijuana drifting out an apartment window. As I approached the crossing near my building a group of gay men sat on a porch of one of the few houses left downtown, speaking and laughing lightly among clinking glasses and candles burning in glass holders. I came upon my building, the trees lit up by the lamps in front, the warm glow from within the lobby shinning out the glass front.

Now I sit on the balcony, writing this post and drinking tea with my own candles burning. I look out around me at the buildings, all the windows and curtains open, no breeze to be had. It’s warm, really warm. It’s hardly ever this warm in Vancouver, especially in the evening where not even a scarf is needed. The reflection of the lights off the water from the ships in the bay catches my eye. Right above me is the big dipper and the sound of someone pushing a shopping cart filled with empty bottles down the alley temporarily fills the air.

There are many things that I love about this place and many things that over the years I’ve come to regard as burdens, as something to be endured. But in this moment I love it all. The flowers on my balcony, due no doubt to so much sun in the last few weeks are literally overflowing. Their soft gentleness in the glow of the candles makes me feel like I’m surrounded by colourful clouds. It’s August, the month of fruition.

It’s funny how another person can cause us to view our life and ourselves in new light. I’ve looked around my apartment over the last few days and wondered how he will see it. I live in a tiny apartment surrounded by many other tiny apartments. I don’t have much. I live in the heart of the city with a view of the ocean and mountains. That could be considered a lot, depending on what you like. When you go out at night here you will encounter skunks, raccoons, gay men (lots of them) and possibly some kind of drugs. If you look into the corners you’ll find people sleeping there, and looking down the alleys you’ll see homeless men at work. Pushing their grocery carts, filling them with the empty bottles they dig out of the garbage bins. You will also see loads of people walking their dogs, standing and holding the leashes while the dog pees and poos. It’s all very funny in my mind; seeing people pick up after their dogs, while their dogs turn to watch them.

Anyway, this is where I live. This is Vancouver.

Counting Down

2010-08-13T15:12:00.000-07:00

Well it's officially only 4 days away until my swedish friend comes to visit. I've been working tons to save up and try and take ANOTHER holiday this summer, even though I've had mine. Also, I've been trying to come up with some fun things we can do in the city as well as perhaps a little trip. It looks like the best place to go will be Whistler at some point as the rates are very good this time of year, there's lots to see and do up there AND the drive is spectacular.

http://www.whistlerbcbritishcolumbia.com/

Also I love the Gulf Islands http://www.victoriabc.com/vancisland/gulf.html so I'm thinking a trip to one of them may be on the menu too, but of course I'll have to see what he wants to do when he gets here :)

Other then seeing the whole city I think a trip each day to the beach( or just to the pool at my building) will be on the list 'cause it's going to be 30 plus degrees the whole time he's here. Wow, that's really hot for Vancouver and especially this time of year, luckily it won't be humid and the temp. goes down in the evening considerably.

Ok, now back to work!

Vancouver Summer

2010-08-06T11:41:00.000-07:00

Summertime in Vancouver is especially good, compared to the rest of the country. In Alberta it tends to be too dry and further back east is known for its high humidity. In fact this year Toronto’s temperatures more resemble Florida’s then what you’d normally think of for Canada. By contrast Vancouver, especially in the city, surrounded by the cooling effects of the Pacific Ocean, is often ideal. These last few weeks have been a perfect example of ideal Vancouver Summer weather- 23 degrees or so during the day and 18 at night with the odd day going a wee bit higher. Unfortunately it has been a very dry summer and it was a dry winter, which means the interior of the province will be tinder dry- any spark will do and forest fires will abound. This year is particularly bad up by Whistler where about 8 forest fires are burning out of control. There are currently 400 forest fires burning across the province, but for some reason these 8 are causing more smoke then normal. Yesterday Vancouver was covered in a thin fog of smoke and I heard from friends who’d gone to Whistler for a day off that the village was blanketed in smoke. If that weren’t bad enough a river that the Native Indians use for fishing has begun to run black and no one really seems to know why, though there are a few guesses. Although forest fires happen every year, it is also true that some things like drier then normal conditions, location of fires and wind can make them worse and no they don’t happen in the same place every year; it’s not something you can predict. I’m praying for the people in the area of the fires, and for the Natives who depend on that river for their fishing- it’s bad for them, I really hope things improve.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2010/08/05/bc-air-quality-advisory-extended.html

This is Beautiful

2010-08-05T10:54:00.000-07:00

I had a dream and in it there was a man who was very lonely. I told him that loneliness is not a function of aloneness. When you are doing what is essentially yours to do, when you are fulfilling that which only you can do in the world- you won't feel lonely. I woke up feeling very at ease.

Then I saw this on FB- I think it's a beautiful poem. On the other hand, I don't think we need to be alone if we don't want to be :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7X7sZzSXYs&feature=player_embedded#!

Crazy Deer!

2010-08-03T00:29:00.000-07:00

Vancouver is filled with wildlife and what people fail to remember is that it is WILD life. Raccoons are fed by visitors and then when they get accidently bit, they need dozens of rabies shots- yup happens every summer. There are many raccoons who frequent my area, right downtown, I just stay away from them.Also it seems to be a huge surprise to people that real skunks spray, why yes they do sweet hearts, they spray when threatened and it takes very little to threaten them. I am always smelling the results of a dog gone too close to a skunk. Fine, but I have to say even I was surprised by the following video, although when you view it you can see the deer in question is very high strung, not happy and obviously protecting it's young. Still , crazy deer!

So, if you are going to visit Vancouver or surrounding area please just remember the wildlife is exactly that, wild- there's no telling really what it will do, best to stay clear!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JgtT9uKWdA&feature=player_embedded

Great News!

2010-07-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

Well this is the best news all day. My Swedish Teacher will come to Vancouver in August for a visit, isn't that wonderful? He has been trying to book a ticket for some time and saving his money but until a job came through he just couldn't do it. Now that a job has come through for him, he is able to come and visit me here in Vancouver. I'm very excited to host my first Swede here in Vancouver and will try and come up with lots of things for us to do, perhaps a road trip? The rocky mountains or a shopping trip to the US?

Here are a few more shots from my trip to Sweden.

I can't wait to come back and visit.

Here is the centre of town in Ängelholm getting ready for a music festival, they have very civilized seating! There were also long table to sit at while drinking/eating.

Here is one of the musicians from the show.

an example of Swedish common sense, protecting children's ears from the show :)

Swedish addiction: so much candy everywhere!

This is a silly shot of me in the ice bar at Nordic Sea Hotel. I'm not a fan of vodka but I actually liked drinking out of ice cups, I think that would be cool to have at home.

Here is a Swedish guy with his wallet hanging out of his pocket, I took this after a day of seeing people with open bags, leaving their bikes unlocked at the train station and finally this- you Swedish people are very trusting. In case you come to Vancouver, don't do this! You will be robbed here, we have ( unfortunately) lots of crime here due to the drug problem.

Here I am in front of some building in Stockholm haha sorry don't know what it is ( my swedish teacher didn't know), but I remember I was standing on the Palace grounds to take this pic. :)

Just a few months ago my swedish teacher was doing this job, he was in the army. Since he has quit he no longer has to do this, but took some pleasure in teasing his friends who were there that day. It was very hot and he was glad it was not him standing there!

Cake and candy everywhere in Sweden. Ice cream on every corner! Delicious but how do you stay so slim?

Slut nu :)

Sweden 2010

2010-07-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

Well the trip has been over for about a week and my life is finally getting back on track. For the first few days I was resisting coming back into my life. There are simply too many things I’d like to change, everything from where I live to what I do that makes it challenging to come back. On the other hand, Vancouver can be a soft landing. I was up-graded for the last leg of my flight to first class due to a lack of number of seats in economy and it seemed appropriate that my flight across the mountains toward the shores of Vancouver be met with a class of chilled white wine and a cheese plate. How nice! The weather since I’ve gotten back has been perfect Vancouver summer weather- 23 degrees, no humidity and 18 degrees at night. Perfect for sunning during the day and sleeping at night.

I did finally get my money back from the bank that was stolen, but it was a pretty big shock to find out that the burden of proof of fraud is on the victim. I was lucky, I had tried to use my card in Sweden the same day someone was using a duplicate card in Canada. It proved that I had my card on me and they had no choice but to give me my money back. Apparently Vancouver is a hotbed for this type of crime, called skimming-

My last 3 days in Stockholm were the best of my trip, though I have to say I absolutely love the Kalmar castle. I met Emma and she very graciously showed me Galma Stan and then we went out for drinks and dinner with a friend of hers who was also visiting Stockholm. I had a wonderful time and I’m very grateful for the company. The next day my Swedish teacher met me in the lobby of my hotel and we went all around Stockholm, including taking a tour of the palace. Well, he’s not from Stockholm so unlike Emma wasn’t able to tell me anything. Every time I pointed to something and said ‘what’s that’ he would say ‘ I don’t know’ it got to be a joke by the end of the day where he said himself ‘I feel like I’m always saying I don’t know’. We went out for dinner and met up with Emma again to see a friend of hers dj- what a great night! I loved Stockholm but I was very aware of the small amount of time, I’ll simply have to come back.

Things I’d do Differently Next Time:

I would plan more-

1) Knowing that my computer, being an apple needed a special kind of charger would have been very useful. I could easily have found this out before leaving at the Apple store, just didn’t think of it.

2) Knowing that most rental cars in Sweden are standard and you have to ask for an automatic would have been very useful. In the end I didn’t drive the car, which in hindsight crimped my plans somewhat.

3) Having a better idea of how long the trains take, what they cost and looking up schedules before hand would have saved a lot of hassle. I relied too heavily on the idea that I could use the internet and or that the train station could book my ticket- well yes, except their when their internet was down too. This wouldn’t have been such a bother except that I didn’t have a paper schedule on hand. Not being able to print out tickets is a real drag! What to do when you book things on-line but don’t have access to a printer.

4) Pen and Paper! I can’t believe it but I didn’t put a little pad of paper and a pen in my bag. I guess I figured I could use my iphone for notes and my computer- but when I couldn’t re-charge them this was no longer possible. I finally bought pen and paper at Kalmar, what a dumb thing to forget.

5) Cash Money- everyone told me not to worry about it and just use my bank card when I got there. I could easily have brought cash but I took this ill advice instead. Cash is king. The banks charge huge service charges to remove money from international banks, I had no idea about this AND if for some reason your bank card doesn’t work, then your screwed! Cash is accepted everywhere, whereas traveler’s cheques are not.

6) Even though I had accommodation worked out before I left and even looked up some ‘just in case’ scenarios I would have done a bit more before hand. As it turned out, I was in need of accommodation unexpectedly a couple of times and without access to internet or my phone, well it was tricky. Having names and numbers printed on a sheet would have helped.

7) More time. Wish I could have stayed a LOT longer. I have a friend who is doing a home exchange and staying in Denmark for 10 wks. That sounds about right to me, I’ll consider that for another time.

Things I’m glad I did

1) I’m really glad I learned some of the language and especially to read the language before going. I heard over and over that ALL Swedish people speak English. Well, that’s not true especially in the smaller towns and besides what does it help when all the signs are in Swedish? Unless you have a Swede with you, you’ll need to know some basics especially for grocery shopping. Good to learn some words for Milk, turkey, ham etc.. ahead of time. Also very useful for the menus in restaurants which I found to be all in Swedish in smaller towns.

2) I’m glad I spent time in a Vandrarhem ( hostel) and in smaller areas. Stockholm is great, but I learned more about the culture in the smaller towns. I would consider doing a trip where I only stayed in Hostels all around the country, that would fun!.

3) Meeting people on-line before I went. Well this was the smartest thing I did unintentionally, which is probably why it turned out to be intelligent, ‘cause nothing I did on purpose was. I met some people on-line and it made my journey so much richer when I got to meet them in person. This made my trip, after all Sweden is about the people, and meeting some real Swedish people made it all worthwhile.

4) I’m glad I made the effort to make friends with Swedes, even if they are shy along the way. I just said Hi and started chatting, they got over the shock pretty quick and it all worked out.

5) I’m glad I threw my diet to the wind and ate and drank whatever and had fun. It was worth it!

All in all it was a great trip that just wet my appetite for Scandinavia. Luckily I have a friend in Copenhagen who is still eager for me to visit and friends who are going to Greece this fall who are encouraging me to come along- I’m thinking Copenhagen-Stockholm- Greece sounds good eh?

Here's a shot of the Kalmar Castle that I love.

Here's me in front of the Castle. The wind was blowing but it was still REALLY hot, very humid weather Sweden!

Here's me and Emma having dinner, it was great! The food was really good, but I have to say the wine in Sweden is the worst- think 'Baby Duck' a really bad wine we had in Canada years ago for $15.00/glass yuck! But on the other hand they give you lots of it hahaha.

A lovely pic of Emma!

Here's me and, my Swedish Teacher and Emma out for an evening of fun. Very good times indeed.

Living the Dream?

2010-07-14T23:23:00.001-07:00

Note: wrote this quickly so please forgive spelling/grammar mistakes.

Well I have arrived in Sweden. Actually I arrived last week and yet it seems like only a few days ago. One thing I’m very grateful is my ability to manage expectations. I learned a long time ago that the difference between what a person expects to happen and what actually happens often gets filled in with disappointment. Consequently I’ve learned that having expectations is what actually causes disappointment and keeping these manageable has helped me at many points in my life. I’ve had my share of ups and downs in life and I can honestly say I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t depend on outer circumstances to make me happy or content, I choose my own inner environment and if something outside makes me even more happy or content, then so much the better. Well, It’s a good thing, because I’ve been using my tools of inner peace a lot on this trip!

Day 1

The Sunday night before I was leaving I decided to try melatonin. Heard of it? It’s suppose to help with jet lag and because I’ve had a problem with that in the past I thought it would be good to try something new. It said on the bottle to take it 2 nights before leaving and the day you arrive and that should do it. Melatonin is a hormone that causes you to sleep and is produced in the brain when it’s dark outside. A synthetic version is available over the counter. I took the Melatonin on the Sunday evening and found myself almost immediately sleepy beyond belief, I struggled to get to bed in time and actually really disliked the whole feeling. When I awoke after a fairly restless sleep, I noticed that I felt ‘out of it’. I ran around doing last minute errands and talked to a cab driver who said ‘ oh yeah, you’ve got the mellow melatonin’. Apparently it is known to ‘mellow’ a person out, but I was actually staring into space when I needed to be getting things done. Never in my life have felt so disorganized in getting packed and ready for a trip. I’ve decided to blame the melatonin.

I knew the minute I tried to pull my bag the next morning that I’d packed WAY too much, but it was too late, I was already leaving much too late for the airport. I had the driver drop me off at the international but when I got inside I couldn’t find my carrier, it was a carrier I’ve never used before. In the end after an insane ½ hr of going back and forth I finally found someone who could help me. It turns out the first part of my trip was being flown by a partner of the carrier in domestic. Great, the other side of the airport! By this point I was almost frantic because I know that international flights require earlier check-ins and I was past it. Luckily, I did arrive to the domestic carrier and they did get me on but I was within 10 min. of their time limit! Very close.

The flight went well, except I didn’t sleep and of course there was no way I was taking that stuff again. I settled into the trip knowing that now it had begun and in some ways all the planning and preparing would have to suffice, whether it was sufficient or not. Apparently it was not sufficient.

It was very exciting for me to look below as the plane began to decend in Arlanda. I loved seeing the red buildings and patterned farmlands. It all looked very beautiful. I was feeling pretty good, although very tired but excited to finally be arriving.

I stood with many other people waiting expectantly for our baggage. There was an uncomfortable silence as the baggage conveyor came to halt with many of us still without our baggage. Crap. Yes, my baggage among many others had been left behind in Frankfurt. I remember that everyone needs to take a number in order to do anything in Sweden, but did not remember it in time as every other person quickly ran in front of me to the number machine and then lined up at the missed baggage counter. I got the last number. Actually a young girl gave me hers when she realized someone else in her family had already gotten one, she was maybe 9 years old. Hahah even she made it to the number machine before me and oh did I mention that I was the closest?

Ok. Now to find my friends. My friends were trying to skype me by phone which was not working so all I got where texts saying that a text could not be received. Great. Now what? I knew where the car rental was so I decided to go there. Once there a very helpful man told me that my friends had not come yet so I decided to wait. But then I got afraid that their message had been to meet them in the airport so I took the bus back to the airport to look for them. At this point, it had been a couple hours after my 15 hr. flight and not having slept much the night before or on the plane I was actually beginning to feel a little delirious. I finally ran into my friends, 4 hrs after I arrived. Wow, was I tired. I was so tired that as I stood in front of the car rental counter with my friends, when one of them said ‘so do you have a Swedish guide like the lonely planet?’ I heard ‘ so do you have a Swedish guy are you the lonely planet? I burst out laughing when I realized what he’s actually asked me. REALLY, really tired.

We got to the car and there was a problem. This whole trip was planned around us sharing the car. Except the car was a standard and I don’t drive standard. Actually, not many people do drive standard in Canada, almost all the cars are automatic. My friend should have known this, but I also wished I had asked before we had rented it. My friend’s girlfriend doesn’t drive at all, so he was stuck driving the entire way to Ängelholm.

The car was tiny and being as tired and sore as I was doing a 6 hr drive in the back seat squished beside the luggage wasn’t the best idea. But I managed.

The original plan was that I would stay with my friend’s girlfriend’s brother but once in the car my friend explained to me that was no longer an option. It was simple, her brother was getting married and his sambo had changed her mind about having a guest the week before her wedding. Frankly I understood completely and my friend said ‘it’s no problem because you can stay at the cabin’. Of course then his girlfriend said ‘yes, but that was when we thought she could drive the car’. Oh yeah, the only problem is the cabin is fairly out of the way. Well, we all agreed it would no doubt work out some how and so off we went to Ängelholm .

The drive was gorgeous and I don’t regret a single minute of seeing the beautiful Swedish countryside. I do believe the grass here is a different shade of green and seeing the deep red cottages in the background of full yellow fields was a real treat. THIS is why I came to Sweden. I was so taken with the beautiful countryside my friends started saying that Sweden was my own Valhalla. ‘Take it in’ my friend would say as he drove, laughing a little at my exclamations ‘oh look at that, look at the grass isn’t it beautiful?’. We also saw a moose just causally poking about along the side. Endless fields of green and yellow we passed. It was wonderful.

We arrived too late for me to be taken out to the cabin and my bags surprisingly hadn’t arrived. I was invited to stay for ‘tonight’ by my friend’s girlfriend’s parents but I could tell it wasn’t convenient. They have a lovely apartment that was already full and one more on the couch was not ideal, but it was only for one night right?

Day 2

The next day we sat on the verandah( deck) to a traditional Swedish breakfast. Bread, ham, cheese, cucumbers and tomatoes with orange juice. It was fun for me to try eating something new and I loved sitting there looking out at the red clay roofs all around. I have to say, it really is gorgeous here.

Unfortunately my luggage still didn’t arrive, I got to experience Swedish service at it’s finest. I would call the reference number and a person would answer saying that my baggage had been sent to Ängelholm and I would say yes, but I don’t have it, so where might it be then? Well, you’ll have to call the Ängelholm airport. I called the airport and they would say to me ‘you have to call Stockholm about this’. You get the picture. My friend’s girlfriend loaned me some clothes so we could all go do some shopping. I needed a computer adapter and sunscreen, she had a list of items she needed as well. When we got back in the afternoon it was a huge surprise that my luggage hadn’t arrived yet. ‘S’ my friend’s Swedish girlfriend got on the phone in Swedish and began tracking it down. It takes someone speaking in Swedish to get things done in Sweden I think, because very soon she had the whole story. It was sad and silly. They had sent the luggage by plane but the plane had broken down and returned to Stockholm. They promised it was back on it’s way now and would be delivered by the later afternoon. We all went out to look at the cabin where I was suppose to be staying. We drove and drove and drove and it became very clear to me that it was a long way out. It was lovely, by the sea and was very kind of her parents to offer it to me. I mean really, they don’t even know me! But what could I say? I had no desire to be so far out, the bus which was not that close only ran a couple of times a day, that would really put a cramp in my traveling. Not to mention the weight of my bag, which was just crazy. Finally, since I live alone I wasn’t looking for a retreat style vacation. I want to be near people, doing things, seeing things etc.. In the end I told them that I’d rather find a place to stay in town and we went back to the house in town.

In the meantime I spend some lovely moments in Ängelholm. It is a beautiful town and it has been exactly what I wanted to experience while In Sweden. One of the unexpected things has been listening to the birds, which all sound different then the ones back home. I’m a big bird fan so this has been a real pleasure for me. The black bird, the seagulls all look very similar but sound slightly different- they sing in Swedish! I also love the buildings them selves, we don’t have anything with so much character in Canada, cobble stone paths and beautiful stone churches. I know if you live here you might just be used to it, but for me it just wonderful.

That night I came back from the cabin to find my luggage had at last arrived. When we arrived ‘S’ mother told us we had 5 min. to change for dinner, I took her seriously and changed quickly only to find others were taking longer. We all went out to the center of town for a lovely meal and it was a great evening all around. Later, I went on the computer to search for a Vandrarhem or hotel nearby. There was nothing available. Literally nothing. Some tennis tournament nearby and a local musical festival had the whole area blocked up. Ok no problem I looked in Helsingborg, well nothing affordable there either. Ok, no problem, maybe I’ll just head on to Gothenburg hmmm nothing really affordable there in hotels and all the hostels also booked, some big soccer thing in town apparently. Yeah, my friends said, July is pretty busy in this part of Sweden. I really didn’t want to go to my friend’s place in Oskarshamn just yet, I had only planned on spending a night or two there and didn’t want to impose any longer then that. I was feeling really stressed so I took the only night available at the only Vandrarhem ( hostel) in Ängelholm. I went to sleep that night wondering where I would stay for the weekend, but not wanting to put any pressure on my friends, I just hoped it would all work out.

Day 3

When I went on the Friday ( 3^rd day here) to check in at the Vandrarhem the woman was amazingly friendly and open. She asked me why I was looking for a place and I explained my original plans had fallen through. She said ‘well, I do sometimes rent another room in the basement at times like these and it would be available for the whole weekend’ I said I was eager to see it. It was a bed very neatly placed in the corner of the laundry room. I can see why she hadn’t mentioned it on the phone, but to be honest it was perfect. The room was cool, spotless and very cheap. YAY! A place to stay. Here’s a moment for me to reflect on something I just love about Sweden. How neat and tidy and organized everything is. It really is marvelous and I’m super impressed by it. I told my mom the laundry room was spotless and at just 150.00 crowns a night, well you can’t beat the price eh? In the meantime I’d come to understand that the plug I had purchased for my computer, phone and camera didn’t work on apple products. Crap. So I couldn’t charge my computer or phone. That was going to prove to be a much bigger problem.

I met a fellow that night who is working here in town but from Stockholm. He was watching TV in the common room and I joined him, eventually he turned the sound down and we chatted and drank the wine I had brought. It was a lovely evening and I was once again surprised by his reaction to my traveling alone. It seems so far many people are very surprised that I’m traveling alone. Why is that I wonder? In Canada I don’t think anyone would blink an eye, but it seems to be a big thing here.

Day 4

The Vandrarhem is wonderful. It is a huge open spaced house with many rooms and a large well stocked, super clean kitchen. I had wandered over the day before to the shopping store (ICA) to get a few things for my shelf in the fridge and buy a bottle of wine. Today I decided to go to Helsingborg and Helsingor. I enjoyed taking the train and the ferry, but not so much the towns. I found them a bit run down, and cramped. I was relieved to come back to the Vandrarhem and have a glass of Vit Vin in my new home. But instead I decided to check out the musical festival in town. I arrived to find the whole square full of people, many already enjoying beer and wine while sitting with friends at long tables. So far in this town I’ve noticed EVERYONE is married unless they are very young and there are so many babies. Babies, babies babies everywhere, it’s quiet something actually. Tonight at the musical fest is not different where everyone is out with his or her family. I’m wondering where I’ll sit and then as I approach a long table under a tent I see a woman who is sitting alone. I decide that I’ll sit with her, and as I pass I smile at her. She looks- well pretty surprised. I go around the table and end up on the other side and sit fairly near her. It seems to me as if we are the only single people in the whole town. I ask her if she speaks English ‘ a little she says’ and she isn’t lying, her English is only a little more then my Swedish. I asked her to take a picture of me and explain it’s for my mom. We start to chat and with her little English and my little Swedish I explain that I’m traveling with friends part way and on my own part of the way. She’s impressed and says ‘you strong’ and makes a face while using her arms to demonstrate this. Really I say? She says ‘ja I think so’. The band hasn’t started yet when suddenly I see the fellow from my Vandrarhem. I wave him over and he sits with us. Then he asks if we want a drink and he goes to buy us a drink. We all sit together laughing and chatting, he’s translating and the band starts. It’s all music from the 50’s and 60’s the age of my two companions and it isn’t long that the fellow is asking us if we want to dance. Unfortunately no one is dancing so we wait it out. Then my friend explains to me that the woman has asked him how long he knows me and apparently it’s a big deal that he has only just met me too. She seems very surprised by this and he tells her that we chatted for about 3 hrs the night before. I’m beginning to realize that people don’t just ‘connect’ here that easily. In Canada it’s fairly common to connect casually with someone in a restaurant or well, really anywhere- even in a line if it’s been a while. After a couple more drinks I suggest that we all go up and dance together and maybe some other people will join us. They agree and we end up having a few others join us. It was a really fun evening and the woman ends up saying to me, once my other friend is away from the table that she is very glad I came to sit with her and that she has had a fun evening. I get the impression being one of the few single people in town isn’t very easy. Being single myself my heart goes out to her, life can be hard but it’s much harder when you’re always alone. This town is a family town, I can’t imagine being single here. After a lovely evening we walk her home and then ourselves to the Vandrarhem, which is really feeling like home to me.

Day 5

I wake up in the middle of the night to realize my phone has rung and they left a message. I listen and discover my bank has called. My bank has called? Can I call them as soon as possible? Well I tried, but the number they left only works in Sweden. I try again, using a collect world wide number on the back of my card, but it also doesn’t work. My phone does not have enough charge so I turn it off. The next day I explain to the woman here about my adapter and she says she’ll bring one the next day that may work. Ok, no problem. In the meantime I facebook my sister and ask her to call my bank and tell them I’m in Sweden and can’t call them. She does and leaves a message saying ‘they won’t tell me anything, they say you’ve got to call them’. I’m assuming they want to confirm I’m in Sweden, but I’m a little pissed because I bought my medical insurance for the trip through them and at the time they made a note in my file that I was going to Sweden. They shouldn’t be bothering me!

It’s Sunday and super hot, I decide to go to the beach. When I first came up over the hill to look down at the beach I was surprised how much it reminded me of the maritime’s in Canada, only much hotter and I’m also intrigued by all the white people. Hahah I’ve lived in a multicultural society so long, been used to being the minority I find myself almost staring at the people. I just have never been around so many white people. I too was white-blond as a child and as I walk along the shore of the beach, where all the kids are playing I’m reminded of spending summers at my grand parents cottage.

On the other hand, can I just say “Hello Sweden, have you heard of skin cancer?” I was so shocked by how everyone is practically naked, no hats, children racing around nude and seemingly no one using any lotion of any kind. The sun was beating down hot, I was really hot, especially under my hat and had also thrown my sarong over my shoulders to cover up a bit. There was no shade anywhere and I noticed getting some smiles and ‘looks’ presumably because I was covered up. Well, there’s nothing worse for a red head than a sunburn.

I came back from the beach very tired and went to my room to shower, do my hair and planned to go out for a drink in the town. After drying my hair I noticed that there was a man sitting in the room across from mine and I decided to ask him if he thought I could use my Swedish plug with my curling iron. Turns out he speaks perfect English. He explains to me that it will fry my curling iron and somehow we start talking about -who knows what. He says ‘sit’ and indicates the chair near his in his room. I sit and we chat some more and I learn he’s a musician profession teaching in Holland, originally Swedish but having lived in Holland long enough to call it home. He’s home to spend time with family and he’s driven the whole way. This is his first stop across the border. But can I ask you he says “is that the laundry room”? indicating the door I came out of as my room. Yes, I said laughing and explain how I ended up sleeping in the laundry room. He laughs and tells me that’s how he came to this place. It was a very similar situation only back then they hadn’t renovated the basement, it was one big room and he stayed in it then. He actually was looking forward to staying here in the basement again because his last visit was so nice. I agreed and then I said ‘well, I’m off for a drink in town would you like to join me?’ He looks at his watch and says it’s the world cup starting at 8:30 but he decides to come for an hour anyway. Off we go to the restaurant in the square where I see the same guy pouring wine who’s been there every night. We share nachos ( not very good) and each have a couple glasses of wine, nice! The company is great. When we get back to the common room my other friend is already there with the world cup on and we all sit down to watch it. There’s a lot of chatter and joking, it’s another great evening in Sweden J

Day 6

I pack early and leave for the train with the intent of going to Oskarshamn to meet my friend ‘D’ and to visit Visby. The trip is horrendous and begins with my trying to buy the ticket. The internet is down the woman behind the window explains. Ok? I say, ‘ja’ she says and looks hopelessly at her computer, it’s not working. Ok? Now what? Well she can’t look up my schedule and apparently has no other idea of what to do. What? What about calling another station and getting the info from them? I have to say the customer service here is well- not here. I’m frantic at this point, it’s 5 min. before I know my bus is to leave but I can’t find which one it is from my computer and I know there’s no other bus that day that will connect me to Oskarshamn. I also know there are no rooms available in town, so I HAVE to get to Oskarshamn. I finally remember the first connection and get her to book me on that bus and miraculously make it. But if you’ve been listening to the news you may know already that Monday is the day when all the trains get delayed and stopped due to a thunderstorm. The trip is endless, with broken buses, elevators and trains. At one stop I’m waiting for a bus to pick up passengers stranded by the trains being down when a woman I’ve been chatting with and who has been waiting with her daughter whispers to me, ‘can I show you something’? She motions for me to follow her over a bit to the other side of the stop. I’m intrigued, what’s she up to? She begins speaking in a low voice, almost a whisper, barely moving her lips ‘ I am going to collect my car and drive my daughter to the next stop, you are welcome to come but it’s difficult, I don’t like the boy ( the boy sitting at the stop with us) he’s too angry, I nod in agreement, he’s been kicking the garbage bin and swearing about the trains. She indicates that I should walk around the corner with her daughter while she takes her bike home to get the car. I find this all very funny, but go along with it, hey it’s a ride right? We go around the corner and wait for her there. I thought her daughter about 16 couldn’t speak English but then she starts chatting in English with me . Where are you from, and so on while we wait for her mother. The really funny part is after she comes and we get in the car, we drive around the corner and have to pass in full view of the ‘boy’ a 18 or so year old who is staring angrily as we pass. Hahah this is sooooo funny!

The day I arrive at Oskarshamn is very long and hot and I arrive hungry and my ‘problem’ with heat is full on. I swell up in heat. When this happens I have to cool my body down or it gets bad, really bad and eventually I find I stop peeing and then I get really sick. I meet my young friend ‘D’ and have to explain to him that I need to cool down. We go to his apartment which is super hot, on the 4 th floor of a building and no air conditioning. The whole ride out has been without air conditioning and I’m beginning to think it doesn’t exist in Sweden. The water coming out of the tap is hot also and at this point after about 8 hrs of travel in this weather I’m ready to almost faint. He can’t believe it when I suggest we go jump in the ocean ‘oh no, it’s too cold’ nej, nej I say It’s a perfect day for it. I basically force him to take me to the ocean and like a good Swede he joins me even though he doesn’t want to. It’s funny watching him walk in slowly with his arms up around his chest. Eventually we get in and cool off pretty quickly. I think in the end he agreed it was a good idea. We have dinner at my suggestion picnic style on the grass under a tree out in the back of his building. It’s fun and the air cools off finally. I sleep like a log.

Day 7

Today’s the day I go to Visby! It’s one of the places I’ve been so longing to go, I can hardly wait BUT we found out the price for a ticket is 700 sek and then we will only have 2.5 hrs. there because it will be time to return soon after. I convince ‘D’ to let me pay for the tickets, he doesn’t think it’s worth it but I’ve come a long way and don’t want to miss this. I quickly make a lunch to take with us and realize I’ll have to stop at the bank to get some cash. This is good thing and a bad thing.

My bank card isn’t working. We take a number and stand in line only to be told same thing by the person there, the bank has frozen my funds. What!?? I can’t believe I’m stranded in Sweden with no money. I’ve got 600 sek left in cash and my visa has only enough room to pay for the hotels, which is why I didn’t want to use it to pay for the Visby tickets. We go home and collect my computer which has only about 50% charge on it and go to the library as ‘D’’s internet has been down since the day before. When we get there his elevator is broken- again and he casually mentions that everything in Sweden is broken. Well, sometimes I think that may be true.

We go to the library and I send an emergency email to my sister asking her to call me. We go back to ‘D’s place and wait in the stifling heat for her to call . Luckily my sis is a farmer and gets up early. She calls and I tell her the only thing is for the bank to call me. She calls them again and waits on hold for a long time, when she calls me back it’s no, I have to call them but in the meantime my sister has called the telephone company and confirmed that I must dial 00 before the number in order for it to work. Well how would I know? So I dial and sure enough it works and I reach my bank. They forward my call to ‘security’ and to make a long story short- it turns out my bank froze my account when there was suspicious activity. Apparently someone in Vancouver has been taking out the maximum each day for 3 days while I’ve been in Sweden! That’s right, I’ve been robbed. Actually it started the Monday before I left. What’s the result? The result is I have very little money left. I’m basically without any money.The bank offers to transfer the remaining balance to my credit card so I have some money to use, but the reality is it’s not really enough and my sister also agrees to add money to my card. My mind has been whirling. I have no money left and yes the bank will return it but when? This takes time and I’m wondering what will I do when I get home? How will I pay my rent? My sister tells me to enjoy the rest of my trip, the security man tells me they will start the rebate process right away instead of waiting for me to return, the visa woman is very sympathetic and puts a comment on my file that I’m in Sweden, so nothing more goes wrong with my last card. I hang up the phone and ‘D’ and I go to Kalmar to visit the castle. I’m distracted the whole drive, I can’t stop thinking about all my money being stolen, how is this possible? I remember what the man said ‘they have readers that read your card number and pin’ it happens all the time.

The Castle

We arrive at Kalmar and I’m struck once again by the beauty of the architecture of the city. I just love it. I can’t really say more then that. The castle is fabulous, it almost makes up for missing Visby. We have soft ice cream on the pier an eat sticky candy on our walk around the castle. We eat our picnic lunch on the grass by the wall of the castle and I think what it must have been like so long ago. I touch the robe that is said to be from that time period and look with amazement at the small bed. ‘D’ said that they used to sleep sitting up and we look through the windows of the dungeons and see the gate open on the floor where a mock clothing has been laid to show where prisoners spent their time. We see their clothes and ‘D’ reads out their crimes to me. It’s really good and distracts me enough from my troubles.

Sweden has been a distraction for me for a long time. I used it to do something through the long dark winter after my ex and I broke up. I was lonely and learning a new language, meeting people on-line, it was really good. Sweden is a beautiful distraction.

Day 8

Today I’m back at the Vandrarhem, I feel like I’ve come home. I wish I could stay, but not really. Sweden is not my home, but this place is so friendly and welcoming. I will stay here tonight and then it’s off to Stockholm tomorrow. I’m hoping the rest of my trip goes without so much trouble hahah but I know better then to expect anything. I will meet my young friend and Swedish teacher ‘R’ on Friday and he will show me around the city. I’m looking forward to it.

The Plan

2010-07-05T07:51:00.001-07:00

Arlanda

Helsingborg- what was I thinking a long drive after a long flight? Oh well!

Malmo- might as well, it’s so close.

Copenhagen- hey, that’s not in Sweden! But close enough, might as well visit I guess, will see what my friends want to do about that.

Kalmar- Oland, Visby- meet my skype friend,some glass place and a castle. Must see Visby, really looking forward to that.

Gothenburg- absolutely, the whole point to go to Sweden, well not really, but a big reason anyway.

Stockholm- at the end of my trip and not for too long, just 3 days. Looking forward to the gardens, a friend of mine said they are wonderful, and meeting my Swedish teacher friend.

I’m off tomorrow morning- July 6, next time I post it will be from Sweden. If I make it! I’m a little stressed trying to get my apartment ready for my tenant AND get ready to leave. I have to put all my belongings in storage to make room for this guy, but then I also have to pack, get medical insurance, you know all these last minute things.

I’ve packed melatonin to help with the sleeping on the plane; I’m really hoping that works, so I can at least see some of this long drive to Helsingborg J

Gifts from Canada?

2010-07-02T22:19:00.000-07:00

Just wondering what a good gift from Canada would be? I would like to bring something for my two friends who have helped me learn Swedish over the last 8 months- and possibly some hostess gifts.
Wine? I don't think I can carry that in my bag, maple syrup? I'm sure you have your own. Or possibly it's better to buy something when I'm there in Sweden? What kind of gifts do Swedish people give each other when they are visiting, or going to someone's for dinner?
In Canada we really don't show up empty handed anywhere-is that just us?
Ideas anyone?

Many Thanks!

Happy Canada Day

2010-07-02T02:05:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's a holiday.
Well, the weather sucks, it's cold ( 14 degrees) and cloudy BUT it's still Canada Day, so a holiday. Yay!

It was a very interesting day. I had a massage..oooh that was great except I was so sore! I think I need another massage to get over my massage! Then I went to visit my cousin and his partner and child , they had several other children and parents visiting and then I went out with a friend. We met some very interesting men from Holland and had a great conversation over some really fabulous champagne. Then my friend and I managed to get a limo ride home for the same price as a cab. Yay! It was a good day after all. We did however, skip the fireworks, the cycle race and all the other canada day celebrations. I may be a bad Canadian, but that's just how it was. I'm back to work tomorrow, Sat. and Sun. I'm still not sure when I'll get a chance to get everything ready so I can leave on Tuesday. I"ve got bills to pay, shopping to do, packing to do and get my place ready for a complete stranger to move in for 2 weeks, including getting keys cut and a fob for the front door! I feel like there's so much to do! I have invoices to do or I won't get paid and so on...going away can be a challenge. And I'm suddenly feeling a bit nervous about it all. Tonight I was thinking, maybe I should be going to Holland? hahahah Oh well, I have the pre- going away jitters I guess.

Happy Canada Day and 4 days left to Sweden!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWQf13B8epw&feature=player_embedded

Ingen Trekant

2010-06-29T16:22:00.000-07:00

Well with only 1 week to go before I leave for Sweden and I’m still making good enough mistakes to have my friend R laughing out loud, snorting through his nose. Maybe I should just give up and be a comedian instead? I said no doubt to him in Swedish today and he lost it completely. Of course I pronounced it ingen trekant so that was the reason, ‘no, no’ he said, ‘don’t say that’ laughing some more. Then I said Skrattar inte åt mig! But of course this only makes him laugh more. It took a while for me to understand the mistake I'd made, I kept thinking there was an 'r' in there, don't know why, I have it spelled correctly on my phrase page that I keep. "Are you writing these phrases down?" R asks me, yes I am and I look again to find that even though I've written it down correctly, I'm still saying it with an 'r'. I’m sorry but I don’t think I’ll be speaking Swedish in Sweden, I make too many mistakes and God only knows the trouble I could get myself into. No doubt eh? I think I'll stick to ' how are you', which I can say now- that only took 3 months to learn and maybe the odd other more safe thing like ja or nej. On the other hand he makes mistakes too, he told me he was sick and eating penicillin, which sounds very funny. We never say eating with regards to medicine, in that case we say 'taking'. but not quite as funny as my mistakes.

Banana Bread

2010-06-28T00:04:00.000-07:00

Is it true that you don’t eat Banana Bread in Sweden?

Today I made banana bread with brunch for friends. I started with banana bread, because I thought it would be nice to have that delicious smell when my friends arrived and also give them something to eat with coffee while I poached the eggs for the eggs benny. I decided I didn’t want to do a traditional eggs benny, so instead of hollandaise sauce I used a nice spinach and lemon mayonnaise dip and added dill on top. I also added herbed goat cheese and smoked salmon. My plan was to begin by spreading the herbed goat cheese on the toasted bun, then add smoked salmon, then add avocado and then the egg topping all with the sauce. But somehow in all the rush I forgot the avocado. In the end I think this was fine, because we already had so much to eat. On the plate I added a salad I made of finely chopped yellow and orange peppers, cucumber with the seeds removed, fresh peas that had been gently steamed and asparagus on the side. To this I added the egg as mentioned above. Oh and of course we also had hash browns as well!

After brunch we had more coffee, banana bread and strawberries with whip cream.
I have to say it was all amazingly good, turned out better then I expected and I’ll be full for days. I love cooking for other people and realize I haven’t since my ex left. I didn’t know how much I missed it until today and I suppose that’s the reason I went a little overboard, making way too much food. Luckily everyone was happy and didn’t mind having food to take home with them!

10 more days until I’m on my way to Sweden! It won’t really sink in until I’m on the plane!

Here’s the banana bread recipe in case you want to try it J

Use older, more ripe bananas but not totally black ones, they won’t taste that good, just use really soft ones.

I use gluten-free flour because I’m allergic to gluten, but you can use regular flour in this recipe. On the other hand, you can substitute a gluten-free flour blend if you prefer or need to. Nuts are optional, I actually haven’t added them in years, I prefer to have it without nuts and these days I’m adding a little cinnamon too, which was not in the original recipe. I hope you try it and let me know if you like it!

Grease/Butter a loaf pan. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

1 ¼ cup flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
Cinnamon to taste- a dash or so.
2 eggs
2 Ripe Bananas
½ cup oil ( like canola, grapeseed or other flavorless oil, NOT olive oil)
¼ - ½ cup sugar- I prefer less sugar, but then I use rice flour which is a bit sweet. You may prefer ½ cup. Bananas are pretty sweet to begin with though.
¼ cup chopped walnuts ( optional)

Sift flour and soda together, add cinnamon here if you like- a dash or so, not too much. Set aside.

Mash the bananas in a bowl and stir until fairly smooth. Then add the rest of the ingredients.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ( flour, soda), stirring only enough to mix.

Butter or grease a loaf pan and bake at 350 for 40 min.- 1 hour, done when knife comes out of center clean.

Juni

2010-06-22T23:38:00.000-07:00

June is not my real name. When I was a child I was teased relentlessly about my name. My name is as masculine as say Fred or Charlie. Can you imagine naming your daughter Fred or Charlie, pretty weird eh? Well, speak to my parents ‘cause they didn’t seem to get it. It’s not bad enough that my name is masculine to most people’s ear (it actually has a feminine meaning) but it has been most known as a very old Celtic last name. Back in the day, apparently when people married they would add their names on the end until eventually there were too many and they started instead simply choosing the man’s name. Until that time, it was common to hyphenate names and so have all your family ties in your name. Somehow, my name became a last name, or maybe it started that way and became a first name later, I’m not really sure but in modern times it has most often been used as the name for towns and streets. Great, so my name started out being a boys name(probably) and ended up being a good name for a street in Florida. Thanks Mom and Dad.

I grew up in a tiny village, with a one room school house, where the grade you were in, determined the row you sat in. If you were ‘good’ you got to pull the rope to ring the bell at recess. I was never that ‘good’.

In Gym we played in the basement of our school house. It wasn’t a gym it was a basement with a cement floor,brick walls and pillars ( holding up the school presumably) spaced inconveniently throughout. Try playing dodgeball with pillars haha! Anyway, the gym teacher hated my name “who would name a girl that?” He said and called me by my last name the entire year, which is an actual last name by the way and sounds even more ridiculous as a first name then my actual first name. As the years went on I grew to dread the first day of school. Teachers would hesitate at my name, look up and around the room and then when they said it, the kids would usually laugh and I’d raise my hand to indicate it was mine. If they were kind they would only raise an eyebrow, but usually they were not kind and whatever they said, would set the tone for the entire year with all the kids in class regarding my name. Small towns can be very small minded and so it was with my name, they simply didn’t like anything different and it didn't help that because the school in my village didn't have all the grades, I had to go to a new town each year for each higher grade. So, each year I would go through the whole thing all over again, new town, new teachers.

Things have changed a lot since then in Canada and I’m sure nobody would blink an eye at my name now. We moved to a bigger town the year I was entering high school (that’s gymnasium to you Swedes) and my Father had remarried and decided to hyphen his last name with his new wife’s last name. In a moment of misdirected loyalty I allowed my Father to register me into my new high school with his new married name. What was I thinking? Social suicide anyone? So now I had, yup, 3 last names for my name. Teachers absolutely hated it, apparently the hyphened last name didn’t fit on one line for the roll call list and it became a sore spot with each teacher. I dreaded the first day of school each year even more as I had to endure their ridiculous comments and personal opinions on my name. People kept giving me nicknames but none of them were good. One girlfriend insisted on calling me CANDY for the entire 5 years. I couldn’t get her out of it. I met a girl at camp who called me ‘Anne’ and so it went, people would just call me what they wanted, just not usually my actual name. Not really good for self-esteem I can tell you . Boys called me KDD, but they would say the K and then say dd really fast as in ‘hey K dd’ how’s it going? Stupid. Few people dared to shorten my first name to the obvious most boy sound name. I simply wouldn’t allow it, it was after all my Father’s name. Yes, I was named after my Father. My best friend from childhood called me ‘Den’ I loved her, but hated the nick name which didn’t really make sense, although it was a combination of different parts of my name.

As I grew older, for a while it continued to be a sore spot. When I was checked into the hospital for surgery as a teenager there was a rush of surprise and confusion when I arrived as the nurses realized I was female and they had to find a new bed for me. Banks constantly sent me mail with ‘Mr.’ on it and eventually I got used to ‘surprising’ people with my being female and not male. Once a woman at visa, from Quebec refused to believe I was the owner of the card I was calling about, she just kept repeating that it couldn’t be me because it was a man’s name on the card. There have been many times in my life when I considered changing my name. Some of my favorite names that I considered were:

June ,Lucy,Charlotte, Rose and Ioca Jenaid, but in the end I just got used to my own name until I actually preferred it and couldn’t imagine having any other name. Of course NOW it’s becoming trendy, ever since some soap opera star name her child my name and it’s a lot more common in Canada as both a girls and boys name. Of course now, nobody thinks anything of it. In the book of names my name is listed under ‘Androgenous names’ along with other names like ‘Brook and Alexis which can go either way apparently.

So, that’s why I chose Juni for my blog name. I love the way it sounds in Swedish even more than in English and it’s the month I was born. Lately I’ve been thinking wouldn’t Juni Blomqvist be an excellent name? If I was Swedish and had a daughter I’d like to name her that.

Sleep Anyone?

2010-06-22T02:04:00.000-07:00

I should be sleeping, I know. It’s almost 2 am AGAIN and I’m still up fooling around on my computer. I’m too excited to sleep! I can’t help it. When I was little and couldn’t sleep the night before Christmas, my Mom would always say ‘ the sooner you go to sleep , the sooner Christmas will come’. Well, if I go to sleep now, will I be suddenly transported to Sweden? That wouldn’t be good because I have so much to do to get ready. I have loose ties with work, family and now since I’ve decided to sublet my apartment while I’m gone, well I need to get that done. That means, cleaning everything triple time, removing personal items, somehow finding room for this in storage- what was I thinking? Oh yeah, I was thinking, ‘hey, why not earn some money while I’m away?” Right. Seemed like a good idea. Now of course it’s complicated. I put an ad up for my place for 2 wks. only and up until today, only one woman responded. Unfortunately she wants the apartment for the whole month. Hmmm… so I’ve been emailing everyone I know trying to find a place I can stay for the last two weeks of the month. I wasn’t keen on the idea in the beginning, I mean I like the idea of coming home from Sweden to my own apartment, not spending another 2 wks in my own city on couches, living out of a suitcase. On the other hand, I started getting used to the idea of the extra money, well, actually started ‘spending’ in my mind that is the extra money. Now, just today I get a message from a guy who wants the apartment for the original offer, just the 12 days I’m away. Humph! Now I’m not sure what to do. The woman hasn’t said yes for sure so I guess I’ll wait until I meet her. She annoyed me a little on the phone, first she tried to talk me down in price, no WAY, my apartment is in the most desirable location AND I’ve already priced it very reasonable. Then she tried to change the dates and while I’m willing to meet with her, I do get the sense she’s a little hard to please. A guy on the other hand, will no doubt be easier, is there a door? 4 walls? A lock? Great, here’s the money- is probably how the conversation will go. Ha! On the other hand I have some really nice flowers on my balcony and I’m not sure he’ll be willing to water them everyday, whereas I’m sure the woman will. Just guessing, but I think It’s pretty good guessing.

Arrr… so much to do, so little time. It’s all happening so quickly. I just hope I can stop a moment and enjoy myself when I’m there. J I plan to bring my computer and post often with pics while in Sweden.

Cryptic Message and Yay Sweden!

2010-06-18T23:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, while it was maybe not a ‘cryptic’ message I read on my facebook, it certainly haunted me. Each night before going to bed and each morning after waking up I found it going through my head. ‘ We’ve booked out tickets, see what you can do’.

My friend J, not too long ago (Just Imagine) mentioned that he and his sambo were going to Sweden to attend a wedding and had invited me to travel with them. In his orginal invitation he had said ‘we’ve got tons of places where you can stay’ . I was initially very happy and excited but a little nervous of traveling in July since me and humidity don’t get along. Anyway, since I made my decision that ‘now’ was not the time to travel to Sweden I’ve been pretty down in general. Dealing with it, but still, fairly down. When I got this message my heart started racing again. For 2 whole weeks I wondered what I could do and how I could make it work. Finally I made the decision to just ‘do it’, to book my ticket to Sweden and find a way to make it work.

So, that’s that. I’M COMING TO SWEDEN! Hahahahahahahah

I know, I can’t believe it either. I’ll be sharing a car down to the south of Sweden with my friend and his sambo, whom I haven’t met yet and then I’ll be staying with their family for a few days. After that, I’ll make my way back up to Stockholm hopefully stopping off in Kalmar, Oland, Visby and possible a couple of wooden towns. Eventually, I’ll end up for my last 3 days in Stockholm July 15, 16 and 17. Hmm... but when will I get to Gothenburg? Oh well, have to figure that out yet :)

I know July is not a good time to be in the city and everyone leaves for the country and is on holiday, but what can I do? These are the dates I’ll be there. Apparently everyone else will be in Visby, which is why I guess every single hotel is already booked up there!

I still have a few strings to tie up here before I fly out on July 6. Like, for example the fact that I haven’t even told my Mom, ever, that I want to go to Sweden. Now, out of the blue I’ll be telling her I’m going. I suddenly realize it would have been easier to get her used to the idea by mentioning it slowly, like last October when I first started this journey. She won’t understand and because of my current financial situation she won’t approve. I’m betting this will be one difficult conversation. Oh well. I have decided I’ll tell her, unlike the last vacation I went on (tee hee) where she ended up posting a ‘Has anyone heard from Juni’? message on my Facebook. Oops that was embarrassing.

I love my Mom but we have very different ways of living our lives and making decisions. My Mom would almost never go anywhere, even if she had the money never mind if all she had were a couple of ‘almost’ worn out visas. I on the other hand, well, I guess I’m willing to push things closer to the edge. I don’t advocate going into huge debt to do something but sometimes it’s like when you’ve eaten an entire box of cookies but there are two left. At that point, you might as well eat the last two cookies. That’s how I feel. I have no idea how I’m going to tell my Mom I’m going to Sweden. Really, if you knew her you’d burst out laughing, this is going to be interesting. My sister will probably insist I record the conversation for her personal amusement.

I much prefer the email I got back from a friend of mine when I told her I temporarily lost my mind and booked the ticket.

All it said was 'Yay Sweden'.

Yes indeed!

Good Morning

2010-06-12T10:28:00.000-07:00

An eagle, turned in the sky outside my window, making a big arch it headed off toward Stanley Park. Just beyond the trees below and the buildings in the distance I look at the ocean, calm as a lake with sailboats and ships seemingly unmoving on the surface. The sun is up from the other side of my building, making promises of a beautiful day by casting it’s light toward the ocean. The sky is hazy, the breeze is cool and each bird has it’s own moment to voice a song. It’s not that quiet though, I can hear the traffic, I can hear the banging of a parking gate opening and closing. When I step out onto my balcony to check my flowers for watering, I notice people walking along the sidewalks in t-shits, shorts and sun hats. I see the cyclists cruising alongside the traffic and listen for the signs of people rising and stirring as they begin a lazy Saturday. It’s morning, it’s late spring and it’s Vancouver.

Peonies

2010-06-10T00:53:00.000-07:00

The smell of peonies is wafting across the room toward me. I got a bunch for my birthday and around the same time also bought some flowers for my balcony. I feel like I’m surrounded with great smells, not to mention a friend of mine bought a huge bottle of one of my favorite perfumes for my birthday. Have you smelled the new Mark Jacobs? Mmmm. I don’t think it means anything especially; it’s just nice to have the beautiful essence of flowers around. They are so simple and graceful. Peonies are my favorite; they are so elegantly beautiful, with a silly yet sensuous way about them.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, I hope you have some gorgeous flowers to brighter your day. Truly.

Ease

2010-06-05T10:53:00.000-07:00

I had a little piece of green fabric that I used as a veil many years ago when I belly danced. No, I wasn’t particularly good at belly dancing but since I liked all kinds of dance, ballet, modern and country/western it seemed like a good idea at the time to try belly dancing. I didn’t do it for long and the piece of fabric stayed tucked away with my gold coin dancing scarf in my closet.

Recently I had some not so great news. I do in fact it turns out owe some back taxes. That can happen sometimes when self-employed, mistakes happen. Math. I’m terrible at it and I can honestly say this was my fault. Too bad, because now I owe back taxes with penalties ( 10%) and interest, which I don’t know what that will be yet. Thankfully it’s not some huge amount. Unfortunately it is the amount I had saved for my trip. It has been a disappointment to realize I wouldn’t be able to go to Sweden in June. In fact the day I was going to book my ticket was the day I found out about this money that I owe. I had actually already begun my post, about purchasing the ticket and was in a pretty fantastic mood I must say.

For some reason shortly after dealing with this issue, meeting with my accountant and coming to the reality that I should post-pone my trip I decided to take that little piece of chiffon and make something with it. Maybe to make myself feel better I guess. I haven’t sewed in years and it was a surprise to find myself wanting to make something now.

As I’ve been sewing this little piece of chiffon, a fabric that is notoriously difficult, I have come to the conclusion that life is a lot like sewing.

In sewing you will inevitably come to a place that doesn’t fit. Some pieces for the back of a neckband or in a sleeve are intentionally made bigger, they are given extra room to handle curves and allow for the difference in sizes between the back and the front of the body. In the pattern it will say ‘ease in fullness’. HA! It’s so funny, you follow a pattern and all the way along there will be dots and notches that you can just line up and sew and if you did your cutting/measuring well, then it will go fine. On the other hand then you will come to a point where the pieces don’t fit, there’re not meant to, and you just have to ‘make it work’ or ‘ease in fullness’. You can not do this with force, you can’t ‘make it happen’ you have to use ‘ease’ a sense of lightness of touch, an imperfect balance can be found but not with resistance or struggle. Some how you are suppose to take two pieces that don’t fit and are not the same size and make it look like they do.

Unlike sewing, there’s no pattern for life. The pieces don’t fit, it’s not fair. On the other hand I really do believe that if you wiggle and play it softly, don‘t struggle or force it ,you can ease into it. You can make it work.

By the way today’s my birthday and I’m hoping to have this crazy little dress done for going out tonight for drinks with a few friends. Maybe if I'm brave enough I'll post pictures of it.

Hey! I haven’t given up on Sweden. I’ve just surrendered control on the dates J

Summers

2010-05-13T23:50:00.000-07:00

I once heard Jan Arden ( a Canadian singer) talk about the number of ‘summers’ she has left to her life and that she wanted to spend one of those summers in Italy. It left an indelibly mark on me; the idea that we have only a certain number of summers and what it would be like to have a more conscious choice about what we do with those summers.

Vancouver is pretty far north and just like Sweden and other northern countries it starts getting dark pretty darn early in the winter. The lengthening of light is very noticeable here as we enter spring and we all look forward to having evenings of sunshine until 10 pm in the middle of summer. The reality is that this lasts a very short time, for before long after the lengthening of light, it is very subtly getting shorter each day.

What I mean to say is: Summers are special.

When I was a child they seemed so long. What is it about the warm sunny day on a beach that seems infinitely longer and more spacious then those short winter days? Is it that we are more alive in the moment and therefore experience it in a deeper way? Or is it simply that we sleep more in the winter, or play more computer games? I really don’t know, but I do know that spring and summer are unique times of the year for those of us living in Northern Countries.

Vancouver is GLORIOUS in the summer. By and large with a few exceptions this city simply sparkles from top to bottom. The sun glints off the ocean, the mountains stand out against the clear blue sky and everywhere it’s green, green, green. I am blessed to live downtown with the moderating ocean breeze so that even on the hottest day it will still be comfortable.

Few people who live here choose to travel very far from Vancouver during the summer; why would they? Many people who visit Vancouver for the first time during the summer often make the mistake of choosing to move here during that visit. It’s only a mistake if it’s made in the absence of any research into the amount and duration of our rainy season; Vancouver is a temperate rain forest. That means you will have rain most of the year. Not the beautiful and glorious sunny, cloudless days that we get blessed with a few short weeks each summer.

I’ve often joked that we need these amazing summers to fill our ‘batteries’ to last through the winter. For me it’s even truer because I’ve got a medical condition that is inflamed by hot humid conditions. This makes the more mild conditions in Vancouver a real honest treat for me. I can’t get this just anywhere; being able to lie out on the beach or at the pool without a triggering of my condition. It is in fact one of the main reasons I moved here years ago from Ontario which is known for it’s hot humid summers.

So for me, to make the decision to travel anywhere else during the summer then in and around BC is a pretty big one. June is the optimal choice because our weather here, although beautiful can still have some rain and be a little cool. To leave in July…well that’s almost unthinkable. Almost.

I’m considering visiting Sweden in July. In fact it's a definite possibility at this point.

It is however, something that I want to consider carefully. Summers are important enough to consider where we want to spend them. Besides, Sweden’s not going anywhere right? On the other hand, it may be just the perfect time for me to go.

Anyway, that’s what I did today; I contemplated the summers of my life and how I want to spend them.

The Diet

2010-05-11T00:19:00.000-07:00

After my break-up last year I basically sat down on my couch for 6 months and ate big bags of chocolate, and not the delicious sophisticated kind that makes one think they are doing something healthy for their body; I mean M&Ms and loads of Jelly Bellies. After a while, realizing that I had become completely addicted to peanut M&Ms I decided to switch to chocolate covered almonds. I found that I could sit in front of the TV and suck off all the chocolate and some how convince myself it wasn’t as bad or as fattening because I was eating them more slowly. I know, but that’s just what I told myself.

Slowly I began to gain weight. I’m not fat and even after gaining some weight I was still within normal for my range and instead of being grateful I seemed to eat even more as if I was daring myself to get fat. By the time the Olympics rolled around it had been 8 months and I was eating anything and everything I wanted. I drank wine, ate bacon wrapped scallops and ate Billy Minor Pie all in one night and then did it again the next night only that time I had 2 orders of bacon wrapped scallops. I can’t really explain myself except to say: I just didn’t give a damn.

Eventually my jeans didn’t fit anymore and I couldn’t ignore it, I had gained about 12 lbs. Not a huge deal, but enough to make some clothes impossible to wear and there was NO way I was going to buy bigger clothes. It was time to get serious and begin losing the weight. Right around the same time I decided to go on a financial diet as well. Some of it was imposed because business was really down and some of it was because of my desire to visit Sweden.

I’m really amazed at the similarity between the two things that happened around the same time. I began my diet initially by simply introducing more exercise. I wasn’t ready to cut back on the chocolate and jelly bellies. Over the next two months I did get more toned, doing spin classes 3-4 x /wk but not losing any weight made it seem like I was just getting toned fat legs. Yuck. My financial diet was similar; my original plan for saving money was to earn more money. I know- hahahahahahah. But it seemed like a good idea at the time. Like my food diet I was not yet willing to make sacrifices and it was as if there was a bit of complacency about my actions.

Finally in the last 2 months I’ve gotten more serious and been willing to do WHATEVER it takes to get the job done. Diet wise, I reduced calories by counting them all each day and sticking to my limit. Crap! I couldn’t believe how much I was eating before; I think I need to pray to the Slimming Gods and thank them for keeping me from really getting heavy- considering what I had been eating. It’s taken a little time, but I’m finally starting to see changes. My jeans, which had become impossible to even get on, go on now, but I still can’t wear them. On the other hand, I know that I WILL wear them since I’ve become determined to, it’s just a matter of time.

As for my financial diet, well I’ve had to make some hard choices but like my other diet I’ve finally started to see some changes and am making progress with saving money for my trip. In the same way that I now know for sure that I’ll be wearing those jeans again, I know that I WILL make my trip- it’s just a matter of time.

I actually felt myself relax in the understanding that it really doesn’t matter when I go, now that I know I will go. Same for losing weight; I’m not worried about it anymore because I know it’s happening. I can see that it’s happening and I’m committed to doing what it takes to make it.

In the beginning it seemed like a huge sacrifice to reduce calories and cut expenses; now it’s something I welcome. I know that every day I eat and spend within my limits I’m that much closer to what is really important to me. At first I may have resisted the process a little, but now I’m totally on-board and constantly looking for ways to cut down on both calories and spending. It’s like a completely different attitude; I’ve made a game of seeing where I can save money and calories.

Something else is happening too, which may be a coincidence or perhaps there’s something at work here that I just don’t know understand? My work has picked up again and I know the market is not better, so it’s not that but I’ve been getting a lot more calls for freelance work. Yay! My happiness is still the reserved kind, but it’s there and I’m really pleased with my progress.

Just Imagine...

2010-05-05T23:34:00.000-07:00

Well this is interesting. Just got a message from my friend who is planning a trip with his Sambo to Sweden. They are planning for July 10-25 and I've been invited to join them and perhaps one other
woman. The timing is not perfect for me, but I'm going to consider it anyway, because the opportunity to travel with friends and people who know the country makes it so tempting. I did say yes to my stockholm friend who is in the army when he asked if he could visit me in July, but he hasn't booked his ticket yet so maybe there's some flexibility with his dates. Otherwise, obviously I will honor that agreement first. Also I'm really interested in knowing from anyone who can help about the weather in July in Sweden. Unfortunately I have a problem with hot and humid weather, which is why I had planned for earlier in June. How hot and humid does it get? I've looked it up on line but am finding it hard to discern, it seems the weather is pretty different around the country. I will need to check with the friends to see where they are planning to visit. What an interesting development, I never thought I would get to travel with friends since none of my other friends have an interest in going to Sweden. This would open up a lot more opportunities to meet people. I don't really like traveling as a tourist. One of the reasons I started to learn Swedish is I was hoping to have a more authentic experience, well my friend's Sambo is Swedish, so how much more authentic could it be? But, have to reserve my excitement until I find out if I can swing those dates and the other issues. Still...I'm excited. Ok, trying not to be too excited, but still..hard not to imagine, it could be really fun :)

Oh Geez

2010-05-05T00:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I’ve started a number of blog posts recently and they are all lingering on my computer half done. Can’t seem to get them finished. It’s strange really because usually my problem is I talk too much. I did finish one post with pictures and even posted it, but luckily woke up a little more sober and quickly deleted it. Oops :) we won the game, that was the good news, the rest, well hopefully nobody saw it- the pics were ridiculous! I’m too old for such nonsense, or…apparently not. I’m not really much of a drinker, a single glass of wine still gets me giddy, so last Saturday when a trio of Ladies at the bar started buying my friend and I tequila shooters, well…ahem… it was a little rickety walking home. Terrible enough to drink and dial as they say, but this is my first experience with drinking and posting! Hahah. Luckily I think I deleted it all in time.

Yes I’m still dreaming of Sweden. I mentioned to a friend of mine that I haven’t seen in a while that it’s someplace I want to go and he messaged me back saying ‘we’re going in July, want some travel mates?’ Seriously? I thought, how cool is that? I could actually go in July with friends. It turns out his Sambo is Swedish; sometimes I think I must live on the moon because it never occurred to me that she was Swedish. On the other hand, I’ve never actually met her so maybe I can be excused for not knowing she is from Sweden. Still, she does have one of those obviously Swedish names. How great would that be to see Sweden with someone who is from Sweden? I’m thinking that would be awesome.

It sounds like the perfect plan except one small problem. My work situation is still not full time, regular all the time. It’s in sprints. It’s been in sprints for over a year now and I’m feeling REALLY challenged by it. Yes I’ve applied for other work, yes I’ve applied for work outside my field. I’m still doing that, but what I’m getting is work within my field(great!) just not enough of it.

Sigh.

Some other things I’ve been doing in the meantime, most likely the reason I haven’t wanted to post are : catching up on my taxes- I was 3 years behind! Yikes. I don’t think I’ll owe but what I was really avoiding was looking at the car crash that has been my career in the last 3 years.

Along with getting these things in order I’ve also been doing some life coaching sessions and some really practical financial planning stuff..full budgets, calculating everything and making new choices as a result. For example, I decided to cancel my TV. Who needs it ? I spend all my time on my computer anyway, skyping and messaging, goodness with all this sunny weather coming our way I’d much rather be outside then indoors watching TV. That’s $50.00/month savings. Yay!

Then I called a new service provider for my phone and internet and manage to wipe another $40.00 off my bill by changing to the new provider. Actually I’ll be saving more then that for the first couple of months because they offered me free service for switching.

Lastly I’ve been looking at my cell phone. Hmm…not easy to make the decision to quit my data plan, but something I’m looking at. When I first got my iphone it was bought for me by the contract I had at the time. I had to have data so I could receive emails. Now, well I’m not sure I need it. On the other hand, I do use it a lot. I’ll have to think this one over a bit. Still, just by making a couple of new choices I’ve saved over $80/month that’s $960.00/year! I’m very excited about that.

So, I’ve been doing stuff. Just not ‘fun’ stuff, well maybe watching the Hockey game could be considered a little fun. Life in Vancouver can be extremely boring if you ask me, very routine. I feel like it’s a bit of monotony at times and that has been one of the motivations to go and visit another place, culture. It has been one of the things that kept me going this winter. I love learning new things and the challenge of learning a language and finding out about a different culture has been a wonderful distraction.

The Best Place on Earth

2010-04-23T10:36:00.000-07:00

The best place on earth: no it’s not Sweden, it’s British Columbia! Well, that was our tag line from our tourism board for many years anyway, now it’s ‘ you gotta be here’. All of our tourist commercials used to end by saying ‘British Columbia, the best place on earth’ and our car license plates say ‘Beautiful British Columbia’. It’s strange because most Canadians would be very hesitant to boast or brag about anything and we are quick to point out our own faults. A comedian once joked that there could never be a survivor show in Canada because we’d vote ourselves off ,as in – a person on the show holding up a sign with their own name ‘ I think it’s time for me to go’ .

However, when it comes to tourism, in British Columbia anyway, we don’t feel we’re bragging I guess because we are mostly just talking about the nature. The mountains, the oceans and the trees, so in a way it’s not ‘ours’ and perhaps that’s why it’s easy to say great things about it. Also tourism is BIG business in B.C, it is a huge part of our economy.

Since I'm often thinking in terms of tourism, I’ve decided to come up with my own top 5 or top 10 reasons to visit Sweden. It's something fun for me to do as part of the process of planning the big trip.

In the meantime here is a links for one of my favorite tourist commercials. No it’s not for Canada. It's for Tanzania and I think it is the best commercial for a place I've ever seen. 60 sec.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFvXxexBSRA&feature=player_embedded

Why Sweden?

2010-04-14T23:47:00.000-07:00

Since the very beginning as long as I can remember if I’ve ever mentioned my desire to go to Sweden the first thing people will say is ‘why’. This has puzzled me to no end, truly. When I told people I was going to Hawaii, no one asked why. When I said I was going to England, no one asked ‘why’. Same goes for Dublin, Scotland and so many other places in Europe, also driving across Canada (which is mostly empty) driving across the U.S, San Francisco, New Hampshire, never did a single person say ‘why’.

Why Sweden? Why do people ask that about Sweden? I can only assume it is because they know very little about Sweden and so it occurs to me that perhaps Sweden Tourism is not doing their job well enough.

I’m amazed at how little people know about Sweden and saddened, truly saddened by what they do know. Frankly I don’t think being known as the land of the Blond and Beautiful is very helpful, I know there are many more interesting and beautiful things about Sweden, the country and land then the relative attractiveness of the people. Although being attractive is very nice of course :)

So here’s my challenge: I’d like to see how many reasons you can come up with to visit Sweden. Why Sweden? If a person has only one place they can visit in Europe this summer, Why Sweden? I’m very curious to hear what you love about Sweden.

Also I’d like to hear as many reasons as possible why to learn some Swedish language. Yes! I can come up with many on my own, but I’m more interested to hear what you love about speaking or learning the Swedish Language. Try not to repeat a reason someone else has put down, find another reason if the one you thought of is already taken.

Good luck and believe me I’ll be using your answers whenever anyone says to me ‘why Sweden’.

A Swedish Fika

2010-04-09T23:10:00.000-07:00

Well, my first Swedish Fika, if I can call it that went very well…I guess?

I have to keep in mind this fellow did not contact me, I contacted him so I’m not really sure what he thought about meeting someone out of the blue as it were. When my friends first told me they met a Swedish guy at the Gold Hockey game party they said he was very nice and really shy. HA! He was not shy at all! Not even a little, on the other hand he was very Swedish. By that I mean he was nicely dressed, wore a coat from Italy and a scarf. That’s pretty unusual in Vancouver, it looked very comfortable and stylish. I do wish more Vancouver men would be a little more stylish. He did seem a little weather beaten; I could almost see the Swedish winters on his face. Mmm..could use a little exfoliation, some moisture cream and maybe a shave, he had ½ day beard. But other then that, a stylish guy J

I have to admit I was pretty unsure about meeting someone I didn’t know myself and was pleasantly surprised that I knew who he was right away (scarf is a dead give away) and that we were able to converse easily without any awkwardness. Naturally he asked me why I was interested in going to Sweden and learning Swedish of all things. I told him that originally I had only intended to learn a few phrases but basically one thing had lead to another and here I was learning a lot more about Sweden and Swedish then I had thought possible from a distance. He seemed somewhat interested and amused by my meeting people on-line to learn from. I asked him about his studies and we found common things to talk about like movies, scripts and favorite shows. What I didn’t do is speak a single word of Swedish not even asking him ‘ how are you’ in Swedish, which I can now say pretty well.

“I can’t believe you didn’t speak any Swedish to him’ my friend D said shaking his head at me over skype when I told him about the fika.

‘yeah I can’t explain it’ I said ‘ I just didn’t feel comfortable enough.

And that really is the only way to explain it. He seemed very nice, but also a little stern in a way that kind of scared me actually. I don’t mean HE scared me, I just mean, he seemed a little too serious to try my Swedish on. I’m used to people giggling when I speak Swedish, I wasn’t too sure how he would take me butchering his language. I was also worried that he would feel like it was a language lesson, which I didn’t want to impose on him. It didn’t seem to bother him at all that I didn’t speak any Swedish and he speaks perfect English so that part was fine as well. It did make me think that I might not be as comfortable with Swedish people has I would have liked. If they are all this serious, I don't think I'd like that. I must admit I was hoping that I would feel attracted to him, because my friends were so sure I would. But I didn’t and that was a little disappointing. I’m pretty sure he didn’t feel any attraction either. This wasn’t a date, on the other hand, had we both felt an attraction it could have lead to a date, because we are both single( as it says on Facebook) and looking in the same direction i.e opposite sex.

When we finished our coffee , he said I should add him on Facebook, which I did. When I added him I also sent him a message thanking him for meeting me for a fika and saying it was nice to meet him. This is a very Canadian thing , we do lots of thanking and apologizing. It would have been pretty normal and expected for him to acknowledge the message ( a quick one back with ‘ yeah it was nice to meet you too’) which he did not do and if he wanted to chat again or go to coffee again, well it’s in his court. I did feel a wee bit of a pinch when he didn’t reply to my message or send one of his own at a later date although he did add me to his facebook. When I told my friend D that he hadn’t messaged me back he simply said ‘jerk’. I laughed and we chatted about a few other things that day.

I don’t think he’s a jerk, I think he’s busy and not pursuing something where there isn’t anything to pursue. I would have liked having a Swedish friend, but not someone that I don’t feel comfortable talking in Swedish with, so I guess it’s for the best. I consider this a successful first Fika, because after all what is a Fika? It’s just having coffee right? Well, that’s what we did and it was damn good coffee too J

Hold Your Thumbs

2010-04-03T00:42:00.000-07:00

The wind came up again today, so strong that it turned my umbrella inside out, twisting the metal frame unto itself until the umbrella was of no use at all. It couldn’t be fixed. Oh well, I sighed to myself as I found a garbage bin for it and shrugged up my shoulders against the spitting rain and wind. I don’t know how I thought to myself, I don’t know when, but I know I’ll get another umbrella. There was a simple finality about that thought. You could call it resignation, but it really was more like non-negotiability. I live in Vancouver a temperate rain forest; I WILL get another umbrella. It’s no big deal. On the other hand when I say I will visit Sweden, well it doesn’t feel as non-negotiable, in fact it feels negotiable…dependent on outer circumstances. I guess that’s why I called this blog ‘dreaming’ because to a certain extent, this trip is still in the realm of wishful thinking. On the other hand there was nothing wishful about thinking of a new umbrella, that was pure certainty. But here’s the thing, in that exact moment I didn’t know how or where I’d get a new umbrella anymore then I know the exact how or where of my getting to Sweden. Oh yes, it’s easy to say an umbrella is a lot less expensive so it’s obviously more attainable. Yet, everything I’ve learned about creating or manifesting, tells me that it’s not what you’re attempting to create but the attitude you create with that matters most.

I continued on my way into the grocery store where I regularly buy coffee and while the woman was making my order we had a little chitchat as we often do. I began to tell her how strong the wind was and after she gave me my coffee she turned and reached behind the counter for something. I watched her a little amused because she had a kind of odd smile on her face and then she pulled out an umbrella from behind the counter saying ‘we get so many of these left behind each day ‘ and handed it to me. I thanked her most gratefully because it was once again pouring with rain. I left the store shaking my head a little at how simple that was. Ask and you shall receive. If only everything in life could be that easy. Or maybe it can be?

I’m looking for more work. I have been doing contract work since I closed my own business last year and it has been very difficult getting enough work and regular work. It really sucks. After the umbrella thing I’m wondering, what is it that stands in my way of creating regular, sufficient work?

My spiritual teacher told a great story of a woman who wanted to manifest enough money to take a particular course. Over and over each time the course came up she didn’t have enough money until one time she had the exact amount arrive in a cheque unexpectedly. Excitedly she signed up for the course and on the first night as she drove to the class her car broke down. The repairs cost the EXACT amount of the course and the cheque she had been given. My teacher says ‘it’s never about the money’. Ok, well, if it’s not about the money then what is it about? I’m curious to find out because I’d really like to get back to work AND because it’s simply not possible to take a trip, anywhere if I don’t.

When I chatted with my friend ‘D’ in Småland I told him I was beginning to doubt if I could make the trip happen, since the work has dried up again. He of course understands, as he is in a similar position himself, eerie that. Then he says , ‘ I’ll hold my thumbs for you as tight as I can’ and suddenly I’m all cheered up again. I find myself smiling, watching him hold both his thumbs in his fists over skype, so many miles away.

We don’t say that here, we say ‘cross your fingers’. It’s these sweet little differences that really make me smile. Thanks D!

Hold your thumbs! I did have an interview last week that if I started immediately could help, but it’s still only enough work to equal part-time. On the other hand, I could just practice saying ‘ I don’t know how, I don’t know when, but one day I will visit Sweden’.

Carry On

2010-03-31T16:53:00.000-07:00

Carry On

Today and yesterday have been crazy weather days in Vancouver. One minute the sky is dark and stormy, with rain pounding down out of the sky and the next thing blue sky is peeking out and the light suggest the sun is not far behind. Then, before long the dark clouds have moved across that streak of blue and the pounding begins again. It was brilliant on Sunday; gorgeous amazing warm weather. Today I donned gloves and a scarf to brave the gusts of wind and rain that were intermittingly coming up between happy sunshine.

Weird. Vancouver has weird weather.

One casualty of this weather came to light as I walked down a familiar street, where I like to say hello to favorite trees and in particular, smile at one nest that hangs in a magnolia tree.

I love finches. They are so delightful and full of energy as they hop quickly from branch to branch. They are super curious and will follow you along as you walk; always out of reach. I simply love their precious littleness and have over the years come to admire their nests. They build long tube style nests attached at the top to several branches in trees that bloom and often the nests hang low enough that you can see the birds going in and out. If it’s springtime, you can watch the movement down the tube-like nests as they make their way to the bottom where their young are. Usually the nest will swing a little as the feeding is happening. Many times I’ve found a nest near me and I’ve had the pleasure of watching the little birds, seeing them with food in their mouths going in and out of the nests; so simple, so delightful. Another interesting thing about them is they actually eat blossoms, at least cherry tree blossoms. I know, crazy eh? But I’ve seen them do it and one spring I lay awake at night wondering what it would be like to fall asleep in a cherry tree with a belly full of blossoms, swinging in the light breeze of the night. Apart from the fact that I’m allergic to them! Hahah.

Anyway, as I said I walked down a familiar street yesterday to say hello to favorite trees and smile at a nest that I’ve come to watch this spring. I found myself scanning the tree of the nest as I approached, something felt out of place and the tree seemed unusually quiet. It was then that my eyes fell upon the nest lying on the ground just a couple feet from where I stopped on the sidewalk. The branches had broken and the nest, still attached to them had been blown to the ground. I picked up the nest and noticed a hole in it near the bottom. Did that mean they had gotten out? Or was it something had gotten in and eaten the eggs? A few crows sat preening in a tree nearby and I wondered if they had eaten the eggs. As I touched the nest, never having gotten this close before, I was in awe of how the moss felt almost woven together, like a carpet or felted wool. It was thick and cushy and made me believe it must be quite warm inside and probably waterproof. A tiny feather was balanced on the edge of the fresh hole.

The last time a nest I was watching was destroyed it was a human who had very callously trimmed the tree, throwing the branches with the nest attached into the garbage bin in the alley. I was so shocked I spent about an hour looking for the nest in the bin, but there were too many branches and the bin was too big. It was quite terrible thinking of the little baby-birds trapped in side.

Anyway, it seems that’s the way of life. Sometimes the wind comes up and blows your house down. On the other hand, unlike with people, I think birds just carry on. If they lived, no doubt today and tomorrow they will be out gathering more moss, weaving and felting it together making a new nest. I don’t know if they will lay more eggs, but I don’t see why they wouldn’t. They just carry on, doing what they do and there’s something in that I admire.

I hope they made it out.

Here’s the nest I found on the ground. You can see that even though the wind was very strong the nest did not come away from the branches; it was the branches that broke. I really like that, how strong they make their nests out of so little. It’s really quite amazing.

I chose to leave the nest where I found it because I don’t know what nature has planned for it. A small animal may use it as temporary shelter, or perhaps the birds themselves can salvage something from it.

My Life on Skype

2010-03-28T22:42:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of months I’ve spent a little of everyday on skype or msn chatting with people I’ve met in Sweden. Just as I’ve seen on other blogs the tendency towards speaking English vs. Swedish is incredibly strong and there are days I simply don’t practice any Swedish at all. This is fine though, because I never really had the intent of learning more then a few phrases, in fact I never really meant for it to get this far at all. By that I mean, finding friends, chatting everyday and learning waaaaay more about Sweden, before actually going there. It’s a bit strange and it’s brought some interesting bits into my life that I could never have anticipated.

I’ve found myself in a Swedish home, when my Kalmar friend was home visiting. It was a little strange seeing only the torsos of family members walking by, occasionally stopping and saying hello to me, but while I couldn’t see their faces, they could see mine. I also found myself in a Swedish barracks one day, when my Stockholm friend was back in the army and skyped me from his bunk. Ok now THAT was interesting! The connection was very slow so as his friends passed the computer around I would only get very slow motion or still shots of what looked like bald naked boys hahah..they were all just in their shorts and when finally the camera seemed to settle on one face long enough I said ‘ now who’s this’ and my friend said ‘it’s me!’ but I didn’t recognize him with his buzz cut. He doesn’t skype from the army anymore; he’s given up since the connection is too slow. Now we chat when he’s home for the weekend, which is how one weekend it turned out that I heard his Grandmother in the background. She was watering the plants and chatting away in Swedish. Apparently she could see me on the screen but somehow didn’t realize it was ‘live’ and when he explained to her that I was really there, she quickly left; He said she was embarrassed. When I asked what she had been saying he said ‘she thinks you’re my girlfriend’, surprised I said ‘did you tell her how old I am’ and he said ‘yes, but she thinks you should look older’. Hahha okay.

Mostly what has surprised me is the friendship I’ve developed with ‘D’ my Kalmar friend. I guess I’ve been an age-ist (just making that word up) and didn’t realize it. I never would have thought that I could have enjoyed the company of someone so much younger (he’s 20) as much I do his. The feeling is mutual I guess as he said one day ' I don’t know Juni, I’ve never met anyone like you before, I feel very connected to you’ and I have to agree; I feel the same. It is very odd to make friends via the Internet, to have never met the person in real life and without a real sense of whether that meeting will ever happen. To have some part in their life, but only a snap shot as it were. I’ve been surprised how much time we can spend on skype, not really chatting so much as just spending time together. We exchange favorite songs, videos and have found lots to tease each other about. He’s still out dating regularly and since he now calls me his ‘big sis’, I do my best to help him when things go awry…and I must say that seems to happen quite often. I’m either not getting the whole story or Swedish girls are not very reliable! I’m starting to feel protective of him, so when one girl was texting (according to him) another guy while having dinner with him, I was quick to shake my head and tell him that is not ok! Alas, he seems more interested in her then the girls who are interested in him. Why is that I wonder? I’ve seen this so many times before with male friends who snub off really nice and attractive girls only to pursue the one who is ignoring them. I’ll never quite understand that. Anyway, from time to time D will encourage me to get out there again too and one day said ‘come on Juni, two flights with one smash!’ huh? It took me a moment to recognize the English version of this saying ‘two birds with one stone’ and I had a good laugh. ‘ Yeah’ D said smiling and nodding, ‘you want to visit Sweden and you’re single, why not meet a SWeedish guy?’ His accent more pronounced then usual and then he winked and took a sip of beer.
It’s a Friday night in Sweden when we have this conversation, but only Friday morning here in Vancouver. I work nights some weeks, so it works really well for skyping Sweden. I laughed and laughed and then made him teach me how to say ‘Två flugor i en smäll’. ‘Heey! You’re gitting perrty good at SWeeedish Juni, I’m REEally proud of you’!

I can’t believe that I’m getting good at Swedish though because these days when I chat with my Stockholm friend he is back to mostly giggling at me . I say something in Swedish, he giggles and then says ‘I’m sorry’ then I say something and he giggles and then says ‘I’m sorry’ again and it pretty much goes like that until I stop trying to speak Swedish. I did make him teach me how to say ‘Skrattar inte åt mig’ however, I find when I say it to him or D it makes them laugh even more.‘I guess I have a SMAAAAland accent’ I say one day to my Stockholm friend when he can’t seem to stop giggling at me and he very quietly answers ‘maybe’. When I mention this to D one night while he’s having a beer he cocks his head a little like he’s looking up at his ceiling and leans back in his chair ‘yeah, I’M SOorry. I have failed you’ he says thoughtfully. Then he seems to cheer up and looks back at the computer ‘well it’s ok, peoples will just think you’re Danish’. Well, I hadn’t intended to sound Danish, but there you have it.

Perhaps it was inevitable that my skype life would somehow creep into my real life. Without realizing it I’ve been talking a lot about Swedish and Sweden to my friends. So, when one of my friends and her sister were at a party a while ago and met an actual Swedish guy, who happens to be near my age AND is fresh from Sweden, naturally they thought of me! They didn’t mention me to him but when we met for dinner the next day; they were quick to tell me about him. ‘Oh, and we got his picture’ my friend J says pulling on her sister’s arm…’show her the pic’. ‘Oh yeah!’ She says excitedly as she pulls out her phone but her excitement soon fades as she looks at the picture, turning it back and forth ‘Darn, I only got one eye’ and sure enough as she hands me the camera I see a single eye poking out from behind another person’s head’. Hmm ok, well can’t say much about that one eye.
My friends continue with ‘he’s really shy but you should meet him’. I think about that for a moment and say ‘you know, he may not be shy, he may just be Swedish’ trying to explain what I’ve heard about the reserved nature of most Swedes; minus my Småland friend clearly! I was immediately thinking that I would have to be pretty proactive if I was going to meet this guy. I have to admit that I felt a little strange and awkward at the thought of contacting someone I don’t know, especially without a really good reason. However, after a couple of weeks I came around to the idea.

Soooo… I emailed my friend and asked her how I could get in touch with him. She then emailed her friend, who hosted the party to find out who brought him and before I knew it a woman I’ve never met sent us both an introductory email. It was simple and perfect; it said that I was interested in Sweden and she thought he would be a great contact. Nice.
Now with his email in hand I only waited one day to send a message off to him saying that I was learning Swedish and planning a trip to Sweden and would he be interested in a Fika? One day later he replied ‘interesting you are learning Swedish’ and suggested a day and time for our Fika. Pretty awesome eh? So now my life on Skype seems to be morphing into my everyday life. Next week, I will have my first ever Swedish Fika. Well, maybe it can’t be called a Swedish Fika if it takes place in Canada? Any suggestions? I asked my friend D what he thought and he said ‘as I’ve told you! Two flights with one smash!’

Vancouver Olympics and Photos

2010-03-11T21:22:00.000-08:00

Oh the Olympic were awesome and I really was planning to add photos and make comments as it happened, but as it happened was pretty exciting actually and so that didn’t happen. Here are some photos though, hopefully you can get a sense of just how much fun it was J

I didn’t take any photos of the one event I attended ( bronze curling) since my iphone sucks with long distance.

Waiting for the torch was awesome, people at first were really good, staying on the sidewalk, but you can see how easily it got out of control. The police were really great though, they were firm but not pushy, present but not in your face-too much.

As soon as the crowd sees the torch coming down the road they all crowd into the street and I have to go along, or I won't get a good pic!

I finally get a great pic!

Then we had to go see the Mascots with my niece, she absolutely LOVES them, knows all their names and was shouting for them to come to her so she could shake their hands. It was soooo cute!

Yup they built a ZIPLINE that flew across the rink in the middle of the city. It was awesome, the line ( min. 4 hrs.) to use it was not. I didn't not go, but loved hearing people traveling over the street all day. It was pretty crazy.

Now it's time to party a bit eh? a couple of my friends find time to wear the countries colours and have a drink.

Here's the flame, OMG the crowds were unbelievable!

One night I visited the Vancouver version of an Ice Bar. Here a reporter from Europe does a bit on the place as I happen to be there.

For each hockey game people would line the streets to get into pubs and restaurants. This was 8:30 am for the final game and even though most people hadn't even gone to bed yet ( I was home at 4 am) there were plenty lining up for a chance to watch the game with friends.

waiting for the game to start I order a breakfast for champions, and yes that is EXTRA bacon on the side mmmm. then the game begins and it's goal, goal and goal = GOLD yay!

Gold! That's all for now folks :) wish you were here, I'm still missing all the fun!

Snow on Blossoms

2010-03-11T19:04:00.000-08:00

Lovely Blossoms near my home. All the streets surrounding my house look like this.

Vancouver is a lucky city; like a beautiful woman who just takes it all for granted that the doors in her life are swinging open. The mountains, the ocean and even all the new buildings glimmer in the sun. When the sun shines in the spring you can practically hear your heart sing; it’s all that beautiful. The last few days have been a bit chilly and with some irony (considering the Olympics have ended) there is fresh snow on our local mountains. As a result of low temperatures at night we have also awoken the last few mornings to fresh snow on our cherry blossoms, which are fully in bloom along with the magnolias right now.

Each year I have a love/ hate relationship with these trees because I am allergic, very, very allergic to the cherry blossoms. As soon as they begin to bloom I sneeze, my eyes swell up each morning and itch sometimes beyond what I can take. I’ve tried everything and last year almost died trying, literally. I made the mistake of mixing some medicines and ended up in the hospital with my potassium below what is needed to sustain muscle functioning. I couldn’t walk or talk by the time my friends got me to the emergency. I thought I was having a stroke and so did the emergency doctor who turned out to be my ex. We hadn’t seen each other in 8 years, oh gee great! Our relationship had not ended that well and here I was with mascara running down my face, sitting in a wheelchair and unable to say anything coherently. Luckily my ex knew not only that my Father had died from a stroke but he also knew about my allergies and figured things out very quickly. He saved my life. I’m quite sure of it. Potassium regulates the heart and my levels were so low they were afraid I would have a heart attack and I had to be monitored for the rest of the evening to make sure my heart was not affected. Is that bad enough? Noooo… because you see I have a wee little problem, I have a slight tremor. You wouldn’t even notice it actually; it’s a slow, progressive degenerative disease that really isn’t that noticeable until one is much older. It’s so slow that when the neurologist first told me that it would eventually affect my life I simply replied ‘oh you mean I won’t be able to play the guitar or paint”? Thinking that at some time in the future I might have to give up my hobbies and without looking up from his notes he causally said ‘no, I mean you won’t be able to feed yourself or dress yourself’. Gulp.

It was spring that year when he gave me that diagnosis; though my family doctor had diagnosed me a couple years before. I remember walking out and seeing all the beautiful Cherry Blossoms. If you look them up you’ll see that the tree has been very symbolic in Japanese culture and one of the symbols is of the fleeting beauty of life. They bloom all at once, filling the air, the city with their gorgeousness and billowy softness, and then almost as fast, they drop and are gone.

Anyway, because my potassium levels had dropped so significantly that day I was in the hospital( one year ago actually), my small almost un-noticeable tremor became very noticeable. In fact it was so bad that the doctor (my ex ) tested me for Parkinson’s. Thankfully I don’t have it. Unfortunately my current boyfriend at the time arrived to find me in this state and it was probably pretty confusing because I had never mentioned the diagnosis in the 3 years we had been together. We were planning on moving in together that May and I realize now, I should have mentioned it, but maybe because I had been a bit in denial and also because it really is that unnoticeable I just never did. The doctor came into the room while my boyfriend was present and just assuming that he knew, began to explain why my tremor was unusually bad and that it should return to a more normal level once my potassium was normal again. Sometimes you can hear the silence between people and that day, after the doctor left, it was deafening between us. He never mentioned it, but you can guess what happened.
Two days after the hospital incident my boyfriend broke up with me. No explanations, no fights, nothing. Just ‘I can’t do this anymore’ and that was it. Of course we both knew what it was. I think one of the reasons I didn’t mention it to him was because I knew in my heart he would leave, he’s not a caregiver type. I’ve always played that role in our relationship. Oh, yes by now a full year later I can see that in the end it’s for the best and as all my friend’s said, well it’s better you know now, but still…it’s that time of year again and I’m remembering. I have decided to tell some people in my life about my tremor. I began hesitantly last year and just today in fact mentioned it to a close friend who lives far away. I haven’t told my Mom because she worries way too much as it is and in all fairness she most likely won’t be around for when it is a real problem.

You're probably thinking that this has nothing to do with Sweden, and you’d be right, sort of. On the other hand it does, because visiting Sweden is one of those things I’ve wanted to do and didn’t get around to doing. Last year, when I had this incident, it became apparent to me that there will come a time, when I can’t do these things. It really has been a wake-up call to continue living life as fully as possible, something I’ve always tried to do and has just become even more important since this recent incident.

Brief history of cherry blossoms in Vancouver:
In the early 1930s the mayors of both Kobe and Yokohama presented the Park Board with 500 Japanese cherry trees for planting at the Japanese cenotaph in Stanley Park honouring Japanese Canadians who served in WWI.
By the 1950s, many trees on city streets, were being removed and replaced because of problems with roots and canopies, and the move away from the large, long-lived trees of earlier plantings intensified.
In 1958 three hundred more cherry trees were donated by the Japanese consul, Muneo Tanabe, reported in the newspaper as “an eternal memory of good friendship between our two nations.”
In 1961 the Park Board hired its first full time arborist to handle public inquiries and to develop a system for recording the planting, pruning and removal of trees.
In 1967, Yoshino Cherry trees came to Vancouver as a gift from the Japanese city of Yokohama. They beautify Cambie Street between West 41st and 49th Avenues. [source]
By the time the Park Board completed its first comprehensive street tree inventory in 1990, nearly 36 percent of the 89,000 trees on city streets were represented by trees of the Prunus genus—the flowering plum and cherry trees.
2005 The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival Society is established as a not-for-profit charitable organization, inspired by the age old Sakura festivals of Japan.

Gold, Gold, Gold

2010-02-28T16:07:00.000-08:00

Were you dissing Canada? Sorry I can't hear you over the clanging of our GOLD MEDALS :)

back later for pics and such but the streets are a mad house and I need to rest a short while before parting later. Squeezing out the last bit of fun from what has been the greatest time of my life. I must say the Olympics is awesome, if you live right downtown and don't have to wait in any great lines :)

Canada VS Russia!

2010-02-24T21:14:00.000-08:00

Today was a great day!
It started out simple enough, I’ve still been coughing and sneezing so off to the infrared sauna for me, see if that would help. I love the new sauna in my gym, it really is amazing and I have been noticing some great benefits since I’ve been using it. After I got out of the sauna I was called into work. This is great news because I have been on contract since the Olympics started and it has been really touch and go. Actually I had applied for and been offered another job during this same time, it was a guaranteed income, though much less then my contract fee but for the same amount of time. It was really hard to make a decision, take a chance on contract work or take the guaranteed job at much less pay and it was also going to be crazy shift work that I wouldn’t have any control over. I could see that I was going to miss a lot of the best events in that job and in the end I went with my intuition which said take a chance on the contract work. The on-call contract work was with a company that I used to work for many years ago, I actually worked for them for 10 years, but haven’t worked for them in 5 years. Since I ended my own business last year, I found myself back at their doors looking for work. Well of course they had people and also due to the new market economy a LOT less work available. I was pleasantly surprised when the opportunity for on-call work during the Olympics came available, it would be after all an opportunity to prove myself. The first day I was called in I notice the woman on the phone was really, really sick. She mentioned that she had been off work for 3 wks! Wow and she still sounded terrible. Then when I arrived in the office I noticed everyone was coughing and many people were speaking with a noticeable horse voice. Oh oh.
So yeah, within 4 days my chest and throat were ‘tickling’ and that’s how I ended up with this terrible cold. At least I could continue working, as everyone in the office was already sick. The work has been on and off though, so when I got the call today I felt really encouraged although I noticed they had booked me during the game today. Darn! I was really looking forward to watching Canada go at Russia.
Then just as I was finishing with a client who had just flown in from New York for the game, he mentioned that his wife was unable to make it and he OFFERED ME HER TICKET! I can’t tell you what this would mean to me or anyone else in Canada at this point. This was a really big game because if we didn’t win we wouldn’t be in the gold medal event. Also losing to the USA for the first time in 30 years combined with the fact that we have NEVER beat Russia in an Olympic game, well, tension was high. But unfortunately I had to decline, I had two scheduled appointments with clients flying in from out of town and there was no way out of it. Awww!
Then just a few minutes after my client left to attend the game, my other appointments called, their plane had been delayed! I couldn’t believe it, but there was no way to reach my client. However, I did get to leave a little early, and ran to my favorite pub to see if there was by chance any space left at the bar. I’ve missed every game there so far as the crowds have been overwhelming, but today I was lucky, there was literally only one seat left in the place.
The game was off the hook! So amazing, within the first period alone we had 3 scores, the energy was amazing, everyone was so happy. We won 7-3 and it was a truly awesome, awesome game. I could actually have been at the game but in some ways this was better. I sat in a warm pub, had a great dinner and shared the event with a bunch of really fabulous people. I still can’t believe we won!
Go Canada.

Partying During the Olympics with a Cold

2010-02-23T20:04:00.000-08:00

Ugh! It figures just as business is picking up and the biggest party to ever hit this town happens and I get the worse cold I’ve had in years. But I didn’t let that stop me!
Here’s a short list of things I’ve learned while partying during the Olympics with a cold.

1) Radishes when eaten in large quantities are an expectorant and can help move out even some of the stickiest (nasty!) mucus from your body.

2) Radishes when eaten in large quantities cause stomach pains, gas and diarrhea. Arrrr!

3) Leave the hot water on in your bathroom and in less then 30 minutes you have a perfect steam room.

4) Leave the hot water on in your bathroom and watch your paint peel itself off the wall…oops!

5) Boil pears in water and drink the juice is a better remedy for a sore throat and/or horse throat then honey. Unfortunately, not much cures a horse throat after chatting over loud music for hours.

6) 4 shorts of Tequila in less then 90 minutes can suppress a cough for about 15 minutes. Precious minutes if you’ve been coughing non-stop for days :)

7) Alcohol prolongs the length of your cold; no real science on this but from my personal experience I’d say about 2 days per ounce.

8) Drunk men have no fear of colds, for that matter as I coughed and hacked my way around I didn’t notice ANY men taking concerns. A big surprise to me as I usually avoid obvious sick people :) Thanks for the drinks!

9) Funniest thing I’ve heard so far 'lets get out of here and find some Europeans, I can party with Canadians anytime’ ahhahah amen sister!

10) It’s way easier to work with a cold then with a cold AND a hangover.

I’ve taken the last couple of days off, from work and partying in the hopes I’ll be 100% better for the final crazy weekend. And wouldn’t you know it? I’ve been invited to both a Danish Party AND a Swedish Party. I plan to go to both if possible and hopefully I’ll have a chance to use some of my Swedish words.

To Each Their Own

2010-02-17T22:12:00.000-08:00

I heard it said once that two people could walk along the same river bank, each looking for a specific rock and each would see only their own as they searched. It can be like that with cars I’ve noticed. I decided that I wanted a white Toyota Yaris a few years back and before I knew it I was seeing them everywhere and then when I changed my mind it was as if they disappeared into thin air and the new favorite was everywhere. Well, this seems to be happening with me and Swedish things and people. First with my good friend R, when I mentioned to him that I was interested in Sweden he quickly let me know that he too had been looking into Swedish lessons at the Scandinavian Centre. Then I went out for drinks with a couple of friends the weekend before the Olympics started and while we were walking along to the next pub we ran into a dear family friend that I haven’t seen in a few years. Naturally we invited him along and because he is a well-connected person we were suddenly in the hottest nightspot in Vancouver. Well, I’m not much of a party girl so I found myself nestled into a corner, enjoying the last cup of air in the place catching up with my family friend. At some point one of my friends mentioned to him that I was planning to go to Sweden and he turned to me with a curious look on his face and smiling mischievously said ‘you know I’m Swedish’ don’t you? What?! I’ve known him for years and it never occurred to me. ‘Yeah and I’ve lived there!’ he continued smiling, obviously enjoying my surprise, ‘can’t you see the Viking in me?’ he lowered his voice, teasing playfully and leaning a little too close. He’s always flirting this one, and I never know where the line is with him. Because he's super cute I’d be happy to move that line but I think somehow considering our family connections he wouldn’t dare.

‘Really?’ I said with honest amazement at which point he repeated his last name to me as though I had never heard it before putting emphasis on the ‘son’. OMG, that’s so strange I’ve known him for at least 10 years and it never came up? ‘Yeah ‘ he said quite nonplussed ‘Stockholm is the most boring place in the world’. He turned a little away from me then, still smiling out of the corner of his eye while sipping his cocktail AND I noticed rapidly scanning the overwhelming crowds near the bar. He’s a player eh? So I’m not too worried if he found Stockholm boring because we have totally different lifestyles. Don’t get me wrong, I totally adore him, maybe a little more now :) but one major reason we haven’t seen each other in so long is we live completely different lives. But before he left to chase some little squirrel up a tree he turned to me and said ‘ let me know when you’re going, I’ll hook you up with my cousin’. Cool, someone to have a fika with (hopefully) while I’m in Stockholm, though if he’s like my friend, it may be more of a cocktail between flashing tails.

So I started realizing now that I’m ‘interested’ in Swedish things it seems that it has in fact been all around me and I just hadn’t noticed. I’ve been told Vancouver has a large Scandinavian Community to which I simply raised my eyebrows-really? Then I was chatting with my Step-Mother and mentioned my trip plans. She was completely taken by surprise at first, since it seems so out of the blue I guess, but then she immediately reminded me that she had worked for Ericsson's cell phone company a few years back. ‘Oh yeah, that’s right’ I said and then she offered to send me her Swedish lesson book and CDs. Huh? Apparently she had started taken Swedish lessons while she worked there. Now this I know she never mentioned! Finally a very good friend of mine who is well traveled said when I mentioned my travel plans, ‘oh great you can meet my cousins’. Huh? You have cousins in Stockholm?‘ Oh yeah, I’ve been there tons’ he replied smiling and saying ‘tack så mycket’ a little too much like Japanese, the other language he speaks.

Jeeze, it seems I keep running into people who have either been to Sweden or have family currently living there. I thought Sweden was a relatively small country, with only about 9 million people? They sure get around for their size :)

Anyway, I’m chalking this up to the idea that you’ll find what you’re looking for. It makes me wonder what else I’m not seeing that’s right in front of me? I wonder what else we can conjure up in our lives when it becomes something we focus on in a positive way?

Olympics in Vancouver

2010-02-16T05:33:00.001-08:00

I have tried to keep up with the Olympics but it’s been hard, as I came down with a cold the last few days and have spent my time trying to ward off something more serious. My history with colds is, if it gets to my lungs I’m pretty screwed. I’ve had pneumonia twice and bronchitis countless times and I’m fairly sure I almost died once years ago with a chest infection that left me gasping for air. It’s been years though since I’ve gotten really sick, mostly because I’ve learned how to ward off infections and keep colds down to 3 or 4 days. I use a combination of vitamins, steam baths and nasal irrigation and it seems to work.
As for the Olympics, what can I say? We are on day 2 and already a medal in each category! Gold. Gold. Gold. YAY!
I did try to venture out to the Dutch house on Saturday night but after a long journey getting there was turned away at the door. Apparently due to the fact that they had won the gold in speed skating they closed the doors to everyone except Dutch Nationalists. Awww!
So I stopped by the casino nearby and found myself on the escalator with a swedish husband and wife team ( just assuming here) dressed from head to toe in blue and yellow with Viking hats and braids as well as the Swedish flag for capes. They had their hands in the air and were saying ‘ Sweden, Sweden’, it was really hilarious because, although the whole city is dressed for the occasion the casino( which tends to be almost entirely Chinese) was not. Anyway, those crazy Swedes, put a smile on my face, even for just a moment until I felt the soreness in my throat again and went to get a ginger ale.
GO Canada.
And Sweden ☺

The Swedes are Here!

2010-02-11T00:43:00.000-08:00

My friend R is a really good guy and super funny, a natural comedic who is always coming out with the greatest things. He also happens to have a thing for everything Swedish if you can believe? And, was also thinking of learning Swedish once AND has actually stopped by the Scandinavian Cultural Centre near here in Burnaby. Yes I know I really must make my way over there but it’s really far and inconvenient.
‘No it’s not’ R says, you just take the skytrain for 40 min. then find the bus # whatever and ride that for another 20 or so minutes, and then get the other bus # whatever and it will take you right there’ Ugh. Ok, well yes I’ll get right to that.
Recently we were eating lunch together in the staff kitchen and catching up since he came back from his holidays. I was eating goat cheese and crackers when he hands me a can of soup ‘What do you think of this’? He says.
‘I’ve decided to go vegan and I’m going to try to eat only organic from now on’ he explains. I turn the can over in my hand to look at the ingredients while looking up at him out of the corner of my eye to see if he’s serious or not. I never know when he’s joking. I’m famously picky with food because I’ve got celiac disease. ‘Well, there’s wheat flour and cane sugar in it’ I hand it back to him and say ‘ I prefer, you know the other one, Imagine soups’ ‘oh well’ he ponders the ingredients, ‘I’m ok with wheat and sugar’ and begins heating up the soup.
So as R moves the too hot soup around in his bowl he tells me the story of the job that didn’t really happen and his vacation and of course everything is really funny. Finally he asks me what I’ve been up to and all I can say is ‘well like til 4 am talking to Sweden every night hahah’.
‘Hmm’ he says, contemplating my situation, ‘couldn’t you try meeting someone here before you go to Sweden, like during the Olympics?’ ‘Yeah, sure I’d love to’ I’m enthusiastically agreeing with him and we’re both nodding our heads and looking at each other sideways, squinting our eyes like it’s the best idea we’ve had in years… we’re both seriously silly together. I sit back in my chair and hold my hands up around my head, near my ears ‘ I’m developing this incredible ability to hear Swedish’ ‘it’s like, it’s like” I say, searching for a word to describe my new found ability to seek out Swedish people (without actually having to take the trip to nearby Burnaby)… and then R without missing a beat says ‘it’s Swedar’ like ‘gaydar’ (as in Radar for gays) only for Swedish people. Bahhahah- anyway I thought that was hilarious but really, could it be possible to pick Swedish people out of a crowd? I mean I’ve been listening to the language for a few months but I’m feeling pretty doubtful that I’ll be able to discern it from amongst so many, since Vancouver is now full of people from all over the world. As it turns out the Swedes are here and they walked right into my place of work today! Hahah Well, not all of them, just one, but he’s a tour guide and has a whole group of Swedes with him. I’m not sure he was too impressed with my phrase ‘Jag planerar att besöka Sverige i juni’ but he did laugh when I assured him that I wasn’t going to torture him with my terrible Swedish for the whole time he was in our office.
How strange eh? I don’t need Swedish radar because they are coming right to me ☺ hahahahahah.

The Olympics are Here!

2010-02-10T01:00:00.001-08:00

Yes I’m from Vancouver Canada which means that the Olympics are in my hometown as of, well today actually!
I was walking around town looking at all the tents, flags and stages being set up. There are these huge TV’s that have been set up, apparently to view the events from as well as many tents in Parking lots that now act as ‘houses’ for visiting countries. For example I walked by Irish House today, an enormous tent set up on the spot of a rather large parking lot downtown. I asked the security at the door what the hours would be and he said that during the day it would be a restaurant, during the evening it would be a pub and after 10 pm until the early hours it would be a nightclub. Hahah, you gotta love the Irish, they really know how to party. Basically it’s all day and night for them and anyone who wants to come in. I’ve been asking around to see who will have the best ‘house’ and of course to find out where ‘Sweden House’ will be. Unfortunately, Sweden House turns out to be pretty far from where I am, awww!! I’m still looking to see if Norway has a house, maybe that will be closer. Everyone so far tells me the Dutch will have the most fun house and the Swiss the most ‘dull’. I’ll have to find out for myself though ☺ It is all very exciting. They have set up a free ZipLine that that will travel over the new mostly free ice rink right downtown. The whole city is buzzing with new people arriving daily. I’m pretty excited because the business I’m in will be busier for the next couple of weeks. Also I have come up with a business plan to finance my trip to Sweden and I’ve already put it in place. I’ll tell you all about that next post ☺
And you can expect some pictures of the streets of Vancouver as the Olympics come to town.

Dreaming in Swedish

Summer Has Finally Arrived

Summer Solstice

Hockey, Hockey, Hockey

True Stories

My Thursday Evening

Finding Yes

Cherry Blossoms

Today

Vancouver Stories

Small Town BC

Summer's Almost Here- yup won't be long now!

Ikea: Swedish for common sense

One Year Anniversary

Meet Me For Lunch

Winter Solstice, Christmas and New Year's Eve

6 wks

Vancouver Weather or Global Warming?

Freaky Friday

The Meaning of Life

Vancouver Entertainment

Gobble, Gobble

Thanksgiving (Canada)

Contents

[edit]Traditional celebration

[edit]History of Thanksgiving in Canada

[edit]References

Unbelievable

For the Birds

Whistler

Dreaming of Sweden

Delicious

Welcome to Hawaii

Counting Down

Vancouver Summer

This is Beautiful

Crazy Deer!

Great News!

Sweden 2010

Living the Dream?

The Plan

Gifts from Canada?

Happy Canada Day

Ingen Trekant

Banana Bread

Juni

Sleep Anyone?

Cryptic Message and Yay Sweden!

Good Morning

Peonies

Ease

Summers

The Diet

Just Imagine...

Oh Geez

The Best Place on Earth

Why Sweden?

A Swedish Fika

Hold Your Thumbs

Carry On

My Life on Skype

Vancouver Olympics and Photos

Snow on Blossoms

Gold, Gold, Gold

Canada VS Russia!

Partying During the Olympics with a Cold

To Each Their Own

Olympics in Vancouver

The Swedes are Here!

The Olympics are Here!