A Fig in Sweden

thanks, arne runehagen

Good grief. It seems that everywhere I look parents are debating whether or not to give their children the H1N1 vaccine. And getting quite aggressive about it. Not here in Sweden, but definitely on the U.S.-based blogs, forums, etc., that I visit. I actually don't know how people feel about it here. 

Then this flyer shows up in the mail this week regarding the Swedish vaccination program. Sweden is vaccinating everyone in the country free of charge. Our "kommun" will start vaccinating high-risk people tomorrow. If Lewis and I want one, we'll have to wait until December.

But my main concern was what to do about Sophie. The brochure answered that for us: "Barn under 3 år som inte tillhör någon riskgrupp, rekommenderas ej vaccinering." (Children under 3 that are not in a risk group should not be vaccinated.)

OK, so why am I still worrying about it? Are you torn/nervous/unsure about the whole thing, too?

älmhult's museum circuit

Does living in the middle of the woods mean we have no access to culture and the arts? Um, usually. But Sweden's biggest toy maker, BRIO, has a "play museum" at their headquarters in nearby Osby. (More play than museum, but still.) It was a fun afternoon, and, yes, we ended up coming home with a new wooden toy.

filed under 'oh my god'

The bestest, funnest, cutest Swedish baby clothes shop has arrived in the U.S! This is *authentic* Swedish baby fashion, not Hanna Andersson's version. (Sorry, I fail to see the link to Sweden at all in those clothes.)

This is great news for when we move back to the States. I was wondering how I was going to satisfy my PO.P fix.

duktig means clever, and here's the proof

We went to the antikloppis (antique flea market) in Moheda for the last time before it closes for the season. Unfortunately we came home with an empty car. We came close to buying a wooden cradle for Sophie's future brother or sister, especially after I peered in and saw this at the bottom.

But we did manage to add a few Swedish home furnishings to the place over the weekend... an ensemble of IKEA play furniture for the small play area at the end of the dining room. I have been eyeing the new DUKTIG kitchen ever since it came out. Some of you may remember that I had grand plans to make Sophie a play kitchen. Ha! Thanks, IKEA, for giving me a good reason to be a slacker.

red is the (not so) new green

One of my new favorite retailers is a company called Howies – the Welsh version of Patagonia. Their autumn catalogue was shot in Sweden and includes some nice features on Swedish life, including one about the use of red paint on houses and how eco-friendly it is.

I'm not sure I've ever mentioned this before on the blog, but there are three main house colors in Sweden: red, yellow and white. And just to prove it, here's a picture from our ferry ride outside Stockholm.

 
It's part of the reason why we kept our house yellow (our combo looks a lot like the house that's furthest to the left and cut off). A Swedish friend told us that back in the day, red was the cheapest color to buy and that you had to pay more for yellow or white. People with yellow houses, in particular, were seen as wealthier. And now it turns out we're also not as friendly to the Earth. We suck.

good egg(cups)

There's a guy about 10 kilometers up the road who opens his garage/shed once a year for an antikloppis ("antique flea market"). Last year I found these cool green chairs. Here's what I came home with this year.

For a mere $1.40, I am the proud owner of these egg cups, used to hold hard-boiled eggs. Yes, apparently the ole bang-the-egg-on-the-plate-or-table technique isn't quite civilized enough on this side of the pond. Swedes place the egg in an egg cup, tap the shell, peel it about halfway down, and spoon out the inside. All while sitting nicely in the cup.

Did we really need a pair of egg cups? Nah. But they made me and Sophie smile.

poor me

Click the image for a hysterical 4-minute clip about the socialist way of life here. And be sure to watch Part 2.

what's swedish for "stride rite"?

Friday's shoe shopping trip was canceled due to the aforementioned toy shopping trip. Plus, dang, do you know how expensive baby shoes are? Like $50.  With every little body part rapidly growing, I thought it was best to delay the purchase as long as possible.

As with most baby milestones, I feel completely in the dark about how to go about this in Sweden. I stopped by the little shoe store in town a few weeks ago to scope out the selection. I think they had about 7 or 8 to choose from. My favorites were from a brand called KAVAT, apparently a Swedish institution in the children's shoe industry. They were also the most expensive. But they had that "we know what we're doing so you won't screw up your child's feet" look. I liked them!

I am now scouring Tradera (like eBay) for some good deals on some gently used ones. Saw this endearing pair – unused from the 1970s! They even have a little Swedish flag on them. Maybe that mustard yellow won't match much today, but they would look pretty cute sitting on a shelf for a bit of a nostalgic look in a nursery. But I should probably stick to searching for ones Sophie would wear on her feet! :)

Recommendations welcome!

i'm a sucker for swedish toys

I went to BRIO headquarters today (20km down the road in Osby) to pick up something for a birthday fika we're going to this weekend. I came home with these little guys for Sophie – a stacking owl and rolling hedgehog. It took tons of will power to stop at two things (but I've made a mental list of things to get on the next visit!).

I find wooden toys so much more creative than plastic stuff. And I know this is going to sound a little sappy, but when I look at them I get a glimpse of Sophie pulling them out of a storage bin 30 years from now and giving them to her own kids. The toys she had when she was a little girl growing up in Sweden...

swede the plow

When the Swedes want to plow the highway, they do it in one fell swoop. On our way to a meeting in Klippan, Sweden, a coworker and I were stuck behind this two-lane plow on the E4. Have you ever seen anything like this?! The big arm hanging off of it cleared the right lane while it also plowed the left. There was no getting around it for about 20-30 minutes. I thought for sure the dude would pull over to let the long line of cars pass. Not a chance. We all just had to sit tight and go 40 km/h in a 120 km/h zone. Needless to say, I was late for the meeting.