A Fig in Sweden

daycare anxiety

Every day we walk by the pre-school we hope Sophie will go to in January. And every day we dread the idea of somebody else taking care of her.

Until today.

Because, for the first time, we were on the inside, visiting with the staff in preparation for the sign-up process. What we saw impressed us so much that we actually feel excited for her. She is going to have a blast. She'll spend Mondays in the forest learning about snails, slugs and other critters. Tuesdays are focused on Montessori learning. She'll paint on Wednesdays, and do gymnastics and sports on Thursdays. And then Fridays are for singing.

Now let's just hope we get in. Daycare, or pre-school as they call it, works a bit differently here. You have to submit your top 3 choices to the kommun, and they place you based on that. You should get your #1 unless it's full, I guess. You also pay the same amount no matter where you go: for one child, it's 3% of your income up to a maximum of 1260 SEK ($200) per month. No, I didn't forget a zero. It's $200 per month. (!!!)

They also have a two-week introductory period when a child first enters daycare. The first few days, the parent and child join the group for about an hour. Then the parent leaves for maybe 45 minutes the next day, adding a bit more time each day until the child is there the whole day alone. Isn't that great? No separation anxiety for the child... or the parent.

I never thought I'd say this, but I can't wait until January!

it's rhubarb season

Have you eaten much rhubarb? I haven't. It seems like a southern thing to me.

Well, it grows like a weed here. I wish I had known... I would have planted some in the garden. This week, two different Swedes made rhubarb pie for me. With rhubarb from their gardens. (Lucky me!) Both pies were absolutely delicious. More like rhubarb crisp than rhubarb pie. So I have been regularly buying rhubarb at the farmer's market now.

I found this rhubarb crisp recipe online, and Lewis gives it the thumbs up. I'm making it again this weekend.

best place to be a mom

Happy mother's day to all U.S. moms out there! Sweden celebrates the day in a few weeks. We wish we were in Denver right now so we could mark the occasion with breakfast at our favorite spot: Racines. Instead, I think we'll buy some potted flowers at the garden shop. We used to do that with my mom when we were growing up.

Anyway, even though we are lacking a place that serves french toast with strawberries, Sweden is the best place in the world to be a mom. Really! That's what Save the Children says in its Mother's Day Report Card. I think being a mom is the best feeling in the world no matter where in the world you live. But we feel pretty lucky to be so well taken care of in Sweden.

the tax man

We were all enjoying a quiet Sunday night at home (all of us except Lewis, who is still in Greece working on a class project) when chaos struck.

I was nursing Sophie when all of a sudden the doorbell rang. Immediately, Tilly went berserk. And I must have been startled a little, and jerked slightly, because then Sophie lost it and started hysterically screaming. Meanwhile the doorbell kept ringing and Tilly kept barking. It was 3 minutes of pandemonium. I ran to the door with a screaming Sophie in my arms but nobody was there. Then I noticed some dude coming around to the back door. I opened it and asked, "Can I help you?"  The dude explained that he was from Radiotjänst, otherwise known as the TV tax people. Sophie erupted once again with her hysterical screaming. She's never cried like that before and I was really flustered. I told him I couldn't deal with this right now and asked if he could come back.

It took Sophie probably another 15 minutes to calm down enough so she could finish eating. I was so upset that she had become so upset. This protective, mama-lion instinct kicked in, and I think I really could have ripped that guy's head off.

Anyway, back to the TV tax. In Sweden, you have to pay a tax just for having a TV. Why on Earth they do not charge this tax through your cable subscription is beyond me. Instead it's on your honor to pay it. Our American "welcome family" had warned us about the TV tax people when we moved here. They told us how they avoided paying it for years because the people didn't know English and they kind of played dumb about it. So we decided to play dumb too. And it worked up until last night.

Radiotjänst has inspectors that go door to door to register people's TVs. By law they are not allowed inside your home to see if you have a TV. So, theoretically, if the TV is upstairs in a back room, there is no way Radiotjänst can prove that you have a TV. Our TV is in plain view from the sidewalk, so there is no getting around the fact that we have a TV when visiting our house.

The annual TV tax is about 2000 kronor or about $350. A pretty hefty tax! The main reason they collect it is to fund two Swedish public television channels, which we obviously don't watch. But we knew that paying the tax is the right thing to do and that if Radiotjänst contacted us we would pay it.

The guy came back about an hour and a half later, and I gave him all the info he needed. We get our first bill in 2 weeks.

It's a little ridiculous to complain about paying it. Taxes are paying me to stay home with Sophie and take walks in the forest every day. :)

hot wheels

Just a glimpse of pram culture here... the pram parking "lot" at the baby health clinic.

I love being able to walk everywhere with her in the stroller. Earlier this week we walked to the big grocery store, which is on the outskirts of town. That's the one place we usually drive to because it's a bit further out and we tend to really load up. But I think I'll just put a backpack on and head over there on foot with Sophie a few times a week instead. And yesterday we walked to the IKEA store. It was Sophie's first time inside. She slept through the whole thing, so unfortunately I could not show her all the cool products that she will come to love. :)

Yup, I am starting to get out more. With Sophie past the two-month mark, I am less concerned about germs. Plus we're heading into spring, so there are fewer nasty colds going around. On my walk the other day, I bumped into a photographer I work with at IKEA. He is on "pappa leave" and was waiting for a train with his little girl. They were on their way to the Louisiana Museum north of Copenhagen. I told him he was so lucky to be able to get out and do things like that (because his girl is a toddler rather than an infant). He said, "You can, too." I guess he's right. Although breastfeeding does make it a bit more difficult. But I think I'm going to make a list of some good destinations and make a point to go. Museums are perfect because they have easy access to bathrooms, food and private places to breastfeed. Funny how having a child makes you see places in a whole new light.

Oh, but back to the health clinic visit... It was Sophie's two-month checkup, which included a visit from the doctor. That's how the free system can work here. Up until now, we've only seen a woman who's like a midwife for babies, not a real doctor. If there was a problem with Sophie, we would have seen the doctor earlier. But as long as a child is developing normally, babies only see a doctor at 2 months and again at 6 months, 12 months and 18 months. Sophie got the thumbs up from the doc, and now I start a baby massage class with 8 other Swedish moms on Monday. This will be interesting, especially since the class is in Swedish!

feathers, falafel and some vitamin D

IT WASN'T A FLUKE! Our girl wonder did it again. She slept straight through till 7 a.m.

So the well-rested fam took a drive to Sophie's birthplace – Växjö – a 45-minute drive away. It's the main city in our "county," and our main reason for going was so I could change my last name to Lewis'. Yup, I'm no longer a fig. Now it's my middle name.

Why the delay? I like my name. I've liked it for 37 years. And I guess the feminist in me didn't see why I should have to change it. But I guess this cold, dark place has softened me. I've been planning to change it for about a year now, and having Sophie got me to move my butt and do it.

It was easy peasy, and the way the Swedish government works means I don't need to really inform anyone about it. It will be automatically updated since it's tied to my personnumber. And the personnumber drives everything. They use it much more than a social security number. Next I'll change it in my U.S. passport, which is up for renewal soon.

While we were in Växjö, we decided to stroll the shopping street, which was all decked out in Easter feathers (a lady even handed us a bunch!). Yes, they decorate trees with feathers for Easter. I don't know the significance. Usher in spring or something. The little girls also dress up as witches and go door to door. And instead of Easter baskets, they fill cardboard eggs with candy. We picked up 2 eggs today  (see photo) – one for Sophie, and one for her future little sister or brother (whenever THAT happens.) I love that we'll raise her with all these neat Swedish customs. I think I'll buy a bunch of feathers, too. The neighbors will think we're nuts when we move back to the U.S.

Here I am with my feathers and a big ole falafel sandwich as I take in some really bright sunshine.

battling the brown with a little green

When we learned that we'd be adding another person to this planet we decided to try and lighten their footprint as much as possible. We're not perfect by any means! But we try. Like using hand-me-downs and buying used clothing and supplies.  (Which also appeals to our budget, of course.)

But the #1 (and #2) way to be more eco-friendly, of course, is how you take care of the #1 and #2. We use unbleached prefold cloth diapers during the day and disposables at night. (See... not perfect.) The cloth diapers just get soaked so quickly. It's more comfortable for her to sleep longer with the disposables on. So that's what we do. Luckily Sweden has an eco-labeling system, which makes it easier to make the green choice. (I wish the U.S. had this.) It's called the swan label, and it's only placed on two brands of diapers in Sweden.

So far I've only been able to locate one of them, and only at one store in Älmhult: Coop. They're the Coop brand diapers. And they're actually the cheapest.

We'll see how they stand up to Sophie's poo-fests. A co-worker told me she tried Pampers and Libero and liked these the best. You gotta love when the green choice is also the best choice.

good wood

My friend Karin, who was the HR person responsible for hiring me, came by the house today for a little fika and brought Sophie her first Swedish toy: this classic from BRIO. I was JUST saying that I want to find nice wooden toys for our girl, so I was so excited about this great gift! I've heard of BRIO – they make the wooden train sets popular in the U.S. What I didn't know is that the company's roots are right here... like a 15-minute car ride away! A guy named Ivar (not to be confused with IKEA's Ingvar) started the company in 1884. I found a bunch of things that I want to buy, like this cute pull-along dog and push cart. Turns out their main office also has an outlet shop, so Sophie and I will definitely be paying it a visit sometime soon!

the swedish stork - part III

(I promised a part III about coming home with Sophie and here it is... finally!)

For the first hour home with Sophie, we were petrified. I was starting to wonder why we were stupid enough to leave the hospital. Plus I hadn't slept in 4 days, so I was mumbling and delirious.

But that quickly changed after we got a call from our friend Alisa, who reminded us that we are, in fact, capable adults, and then the child health clinic (BVC). I swear when I heard the woman on the other end of the line say she was from the BVC – and that she understood we just left the hospital and wondered if we needed anything – I could have kissed her. What service! We had only been home for about 2 hours.

She explained how the BVC works and set up a time for me to bring Sophie over so she could be weighed and chat a bit.

In the meantime, I had two burning questions that couldn't wait: 1. Our home is a bit colder than the hospital. How could we tell if Sophie was warm enough? (Answer: Babies' hands and feet are always cold. The only way to tell is to feel between their shoulder blades on their back. If it's warm and clammy, they are too warm. Warm is good. Just not clammy.) 2. Is it normal for her to be sleeping so much? (Answer: Yes. Newborns sleep 20 hours a day.)

The woman at the BVC is not a pediatrician. She's like a midwife for babies. In other words, she specializes in child health but she's not a doctor. I met her two days later for Sophie's appt, where she weighed Sophie and measured her head and length. Then she offered to make a home visit the following week. The home visit was great because she could see Sophie's environment and make comments. For example, she saw Sophie's bassinet (pram thingy) and asked if we had a pillow for her head so she won't get a flat spot. She also saw that we had a bouncy seat and said Sophie shouldn't use it until she is 6 weeks old.

Then she gave me some Vitamin A and D to give to Sophie starting at 4 weeks because we don't get enough sun here. (And you thought we were exaggerating.)

The other unusually Swedish thing we have encountered is the Swedish feeding cup (pictured below).

When we were in the hospital they needed to give Sophie formula because of her difficult birth. They used this feeding cup that looked a little like a gravy boat. We picked up one at the apoteket so we could continue supplementing her diet with some formula. Now at 1 month, we give her one formula bottle before she goes to bed and I pump instead. Our reasoning: It fills her up more so she sleeps longer at night, and we want her to be ambi-food-rous if that makes sense. We figure if we keep her on a little formula we can always feed her formula if we need to.

Other highlights of home life with Sophie:

- Poop, lots of poop. When I told the BVC nurse (Ann-Katrin) about our dirty monkey, she laughed and said, "Well, she's eating a lot." (Yes, the girl can eat. Sophie was getting hungry every hour on the hour in the afternoons, but Ann-Katrin told me to push it to 2-3 hours.) We have finally figured out the secret to folding cloth diapers so her poo-fests don't result in blowouts. Though we're also using more disposables than I thought we would - mainly at night.

- Harley the cat and Tilly the dog have pretty much steered clear of Sophie, though both are curious.

- The Pram!! My beloved pram is certainly proving it was worth every krona. The three wheels make it easy to manuever with one hand so I can hold Tilly in the other.

- Sleep or lack of it. Actually Sophie is pretty good at night. When she doesn't amaze us with a 6-hour block, she usually gives us 4-hour shifts, waking up around 2 or 3.

- Sophie loves being in the sling. Mom loves it, too, because then I can use two hands. This one is the organic cotton CuddlyWrap.

 

the swedish stork - part II

OK, onto Part II: Once the delivery was over, Lewis, Sophie and I were taken to our room. Most rooms are doubles, and the husband can stay overnight only if there is space for him. We knew it had been a busy day for deliveries and had little hope that Lewis would be able to stay over. But for some reason we were placed in a single room so it was no problem for Lewis to stay.

Click here for a video tour of our room at Växjö hospital

Some things we found interesting:

- Babies are never apart from their parents. When the doctor was worried that Sophie had gone #2 in the amniotic fluid and swallowed some, they asked Lewis to follow them to another room where they suctioned out her lungs.

- Food is not served to you in your room. You need to walk down to a common area to get it. Breakfast is buffet-style while lunch and dinner are based on your meal preference (ie. they gave me vegetarian meals). 

- The babies are placed in these wheelable bassinets, so it was easy to take Sophie with me to eat every day.

- Everything you need for diaper changes is in your room. They don't do that stuff for you. I don't know what it's like in the U.S., but I was under the impression that the nurses did some of that. I guess it depends on the facilities.

- You are expected to tidy up your room and throw out the garbage before you leave. (Which I did, but then the midwife came in and told me they would clean the room. I've read on message boards that other hospitals in Sweden really expect you to clean up your room.)

- You need to bring clothes for your baby to wear during his or her stay. They put Sophie in an outfit to start, but then we needed to change her into ones we brought the next day.

- The only real negative thing about the way they do it here is that I didn't have one point person to go to to ask questions about Sophie's well-being. Yes, you get to hear many different perspectives, but I was also a little frustrated that the guidance I was given was based on who was working that shift. We were told the day after Sophie was born that they needed to feed her formula because she was starting with "negative money in the bank" so to speak due to the fact that she was pulled out with the vacuum extractor and I received antibiotics during delivery. Since I planned on breastfeeding, I wasn't too happy to hear that because I was worried it would screw that up. I had to just trust her judgment and agree to it. On the last day, when the midwife we love found out we were giving her formula, she made it seem like we demanded it or something. I got the impression that she didn't approve of it. So maybe things would have been different had she been there instead. (We actually don't have a huge problem with the formula. It hasn't gotten in the way of breastfeeding, and we're still feeding her a little to supplement. She's a big eater!)

- And we didn't pay a dime.

christmas in Älmhult

You know you're celebrating Christmas in Sweden when...

1. The turkey you're about to cook has the name, address and photo of the person who raised it on the packaging. (The same is true for honey and all other meat products.)

2. The biggest turkey you can find at the store is less than 10 lbs.

3. Your house is filled with clementines.

4. Your house smells like hyacinths.

5. Your windows have some form of light in them: advent star or candles.

6. You have to tune into iTunes radio to find familiar Christmas music.

7. The grocery store is closed on Christmas Eve but open on Christmas Day.

8. And you've been drinking too much glögg.

At least this is what Christmas was like in our house this year. Since I'm only a few weeks away from delivery, I wasn't allowed to fly back to the states. So Lewis and I had a cozy Christmas here. We invited the other orphans stuck in Sweden from Lewis' program to come join us as the vegetarians attempted to cook a traditional American Christmas meal, complete with turkey and gravy. We had 3 guests from Mexico, Guyana and Ukraine, and they really helped us make the day special.

And did I mention Lewis bought me a new mobile phone??!! Very exciting. Now I don't have to worry that my 5-year-old phone will freeze up just as my water breaks and I need to get a hold of Lewis.

Having Christmas here meant we got to go out and buy a tree in the square. I figured we'd get the lowest priced one. But nooooooo. Lewis shocked me by snubbing the "regular" trees and picking a "silver" level tree. Dad and Dick, I can already see that Lewis will take part in your annual who-has-the-best-tree competition.

Having a tree meant we needed to buy some Swedish ornaments. We like the traditional ones: the doves with the symbol, the straw garland and the little santa heads (photos below.)

God Jul och Gott Nytt År!

a princess at Christmas

I don't think I have ever written about the princess cake. It's a Swedish specialty and is known for its green marzipan exterior. Inside is a sponge cake with whipped cream layers. It's common to serve for birthdays and other special occasions.

This week I've been all about the princess cake. I feasted on one Wednesday afternoon at a holiday copywriter meeting. And then I had another when my team wished a coworker a happy 40th birthday. I saw another being served today and steered clear.

But there were more goodies to be had this afternoon at our annual Christmas gathering with IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad. All employees flocked to the distribution center -- a gigantic warehouse -- where we listened to Christmas carols, ate pepparkakor (gingerbread), julgröt (christmas porridge) and glögg (mulled wine), and heard IKEA's leaders speak about the business. The highlight of the event was collecting our Christmas gift and then shaking Ingvar's hand. I thought I would work up the nerve this year to say something more than merry christmas. But I froze up. I couldn't even get a decent picture of him (it's the blurry pic at the bottom).

IKEA really is a special company. I can't think of any other that would have an event like this. Where the founder of the company personally thanks each and every person. It's so uncorporate. It has the intimacy of a really small family business yet it's one of the biggest companies in the world.

Then my coworkers and I hugged each other before heading home, where I passed out cold on the couch for a few hours. Like any exhausted 8-month-pregnant princess would.

getting ready for the real thing

Yes, that's a fake baby. And a fake boob.

All part of our predelivery education. Classes are normally offered in groups. In Swedish. Instead, my midwife gave me and Lewis a private lesson in English. What happens during delivery. When to know it's time. How to breathe (something many Swedes have been telling me is very important). And how to breastfeed. They want you to breastfeed within the first two hours after the baby is born.

Then we watched some videos in Swedish. The first documented the birth process for a few women. It pretty much showed everything. I think I was on the verge of tears a few times seeing how uncomfortable painful it was for them. It didn't make me scared, but it did open my eyes about how long I will be in pain. How long it takes to wait before you start pushing, etc. We didn't really need the movie to be in English for that.

The second film followed a few sets of parents home for their first days on their own. Nothing too interesting in that one. The people looked pretty happy, so that was good.

The baby and I were checked out as well. The baby's heartbeat is now 144 (down from 150 a few weeks ago) and my fundal height (uterus) is now exactly on the line of where it should be. I had been a little low the first few measurements. Let's hope this jump doesn't mean I'm going to have gargantuan baby!!

I've been a bit nervous about that since they don't like to do Cesarians here. It truly is a last resort. But the midwife assured me that if it looks like the baby is having a problem coming out on its own that they will do it. And that they track the health of the baby the entire time.

I definitely feel a bit out of the loop going through this in Sweden. I mean, we were at the bookstore the other day, and there are tons of books you can buy to be prepared. But they are all in Swedish. Maybe it's good that I'm a bit naive. Sometimes it's when you know too much that you can freak yourself out. That seems to be a Figlar trait. :)

 

got your goat?

Your Christmas goat, that is.

As you can see, it's an old Swedish tradition. They are made of straw with red ribbon wrapped around them. We intend to buy ours from IKEA this weekend.

Thursday marked Santa Lucia day, the festival of lights. We're nearing the darkest time of the winter, and as the story goes, Lucia went door to door to bring light into people's homes. She brought light into our office yesterday, too.

winter golf

We were eating breakfast Saturday morning when Lewis said, "Our neighbor is going golfing."

This may not seem like such an alarming announcement. BUT IT SNOWED THE NIGHT BEFORE AND WAS STILL JUST OºC OUTSIDE!!

I ran for the camera to document the lunacy. This guy beats out my parents for the most-in-love-with-golf award. (By the way, congrats to my mom who recently won a Jeep for shooting a hole in one!!)

A few hours later, we drove to Malmö and passed lots of other crazy Swedes on the golf course.

looking (and sounding) Swedish

About a week ago I told Lewis that I really wanted it to snow. He looked at me like I was crazy. I mean it is only November.

I told him that I wanted it to snow so it would stop raining.

He said I was beginning to sound like a Swede.

Well, I got what I asked for this morning, when we woke up to a thin white coating on everything.

It does seem a bit early in the year for such cold temperatures. (This isn't Colorado... once the cold weather sets in, it doesn't leave.) I'm sure I will be eating my words when we still have snow everywhere in March April. I have a feeling we're in for a tough winter.

Which reminds me, I better start feeding the birds.

11-11 make a wish

A few snow flurries swept through Älmhult on Friday night and we woke up to a freezing house this morning (53 degrees!). It's minus 3C outside. There's ice on the steps, which poor Tilly slipped on after her morning pee. And even Tito is ready for winter with a new slightly used snowsuit (my best find on Tradera so far – only 51kr when it normally sells for 500kr at Polarn O Pyret!).

Every time Lewis sees the snowsuit hanging it strikes him that we'll have a little person in our house who fits into it. The reality is starting to set in. After 12.5 years together as a couple, we will now have a third person around all the time. It IS a bit weird when I think of it that way. Just two months until my maternity leave starts (and that includes about 2 weeks off at Christmas.) So I feel like it's really getting close.

Not sure if I have explained how the Swedish system works when it comes to maternity leave. I just filed all the paperwork with the government. Basically, I get 80% of my salary for a year + 1000kr per month to help with expenses (roughly $175). Most Swedes put the 1000kr aside for the baby in his or her own savings account. We're thinking we'll do the same thing. Of course, we may need to dip into it if things get tight! Sorry kid!

I need to be off for a year because the Swedish daycare system does not accept babies until they are a year old. If Lewis had a job, he could take parental leave at 80% pay to watch the baby if I wanted to go back to work before 1 year. Technically we get 480 days total of paid leave, which we can split between the two of us. 60 of those days stay with dad, but Lewis can give me the rest of his days. Yes, it's a bit complicated. Imagine us having to navigate through all of this in Swedish!

I've been really struggling with the fact that I will be off for a whole year. I really love my job and it's hard to leave. BUT, I know that this is an opportunity that I wouldn't have in the U.S., so I plan to really take advantage of it and enjoy it. And then when Lewis finishes school in September, I'll still have 3.5 months of maternity leave left, so we can spend that time together as a family as he looks for a job. Really cool.

And all this because one night I was looking for chairs on the IKEA website. It was two years ago today that I boarded a plane for our new life in Sweden. I felt like my heart was being ripped out when I stood inside DIA and looked at the Rocky Mountains for the last time. Leaving all of our friends and our home. Leaving a life where we were really, really happy. And we will be happy to come back whenever that is.

But this is home for now. And we love it actually. I love that there is virtually zero stress in our lives. I love that Lewis is able to get a degree in a field he is passionate about. I love that our marriage is even stronger. I love that we are starting a family here.

I hope we will continue to be so lucky... 

food for thought

This is the kind of question that is starting to keep me up at night. :) Luckily some creative Swedes at boob® have figured it all out.

fearless baby-clothes shopping

I stole Lewis' train pass yesterday and spent the day shopping in Lund. The weather was gorgeous... low 60s and sunny. The excursion totally recharged my batteries.

Now I knew I would be facing the wrath of my penny-pinching husband if I went too wild with baby purchases. In the end, I came home with two well-priced outfits plus this adorable Danish-designed (read: way overpriced!) doll, Fearless Fred. I knew the price tag would kill Lewis, but I love the bold contrasts for infant brain stimulation, and Fred's pegleg just cracks me up. Well worth the big bucks in my opinion!

Check out the whole line of Roomie Dolls here.

I was also daring enough to venture into Polarn O. Pyret, the Swedish baby clothes shop I mentioned a few weeks ago. If we knew we were having a girl, this penguin dress would have definitely been smuggled into the house!

celebrate your buns

Today is cinnamon bun day (kanelbullens dag) in Sweden! Trays and trays were brought into the office this afternoon. Yes, we still had to work... the country's love for this pastry apparently does not warrant paid time off. :)

swedish scones

A few posts ago, I mentioned that the lingonberry was now in season. So when Lewis and I walked down to the farmer market (yes, it's a one-farmer market) yesterday to get some fresh raspberries for our morning waffles, I also picked up a half kilo of lingonberries. By the way, I erroneously posted that raspberries were already gone for the year, but we've been able to get them the past two weekends.

This morning I made lingonberry scones. And for dinner this week, I'm going to try this recipe for mustard-roasted salmon with lingonberry sauce. You carnivores out there would find a lot of good uses for lingonberries. There's the IKEA staple: Swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce. And I found this recipe for duck breasts in lingonberries and red wine.

To be truly Swedish, though, we should have picked the lingonberries ourselves. This time of year, you see lots of families on the side of the road and in the forest picking lingonberries. The former owners of our home left a lingonberry picker behind, but we've never gone out on our own lingon hunt. Honestly, I wouldn't trust myself to know that I was picking the right berry and could easily end up with something poisonous. I don't think Tito would appreciate that.

Maybe we'll be brave enough to try it next year...

baby got threads

Since this blog is supposed to be about our life in Sweden, I thought I would add a short post about Sweden's version of Baby Gap: Polarn O. Pyret.

As you can see, the stuff is fun.

Henry and Alisa came back from Stockholm with a super cute outfit for the baby from Polarn O. Pyret. I think the only way I can buy more is if I smuggle it into the house. My budget-conscious husband does not believe in designer clothes for the little one. He even thinks Baby Gap is too ridiculous. I agree that we shouldn't spend much money on clothes, but I'm a total sucker for those little outfits.

Lewis thinks it has something to do with a maternal instinct. I don't know. As a young girl, I really could have cared less about dolls and dressing them up. Going to a friend's house to play Barbie made absolutely no sense to me. I was a tomboy from raggedy head to dirty toe.

But I've actually found the urge in the last few years to be more feminine. In the way I dress. In my hobbies (I'm finally going to take up sewing and knitting... my mom must be wondering what took me so long!). And in getting ready for this little peanut. Could this newfound femininity have something to do with the fact that after 5 years of trying to get pregnant, it finally (miraculously) happened?

Interesting food for thought.

In the meantime, I am going to continue to scour the baby racks at H&M for outfits that are adorable and affordable. Picked up a cute polar bear sleepy recently that will keep the little muffin warm when he or she is so rudely welcomed into this world in the middle of the Swedish winter!!

speaking of cheap stuff

I've never really been into antique shops and flea markets. I don't think I have the eye for it. But I've been inspired recently by the sfgirlbybay design blog. So Lewis and I set out to find little treasures at the nearby Östregårds flea market in Moheda (near Alvesta and Växjö). We didn't know we needed a little wooden man until we saw him.

One thing I've failed to mention before is that the area of Sweden we live in, Småland, is known for its thrifty, cheapskate nature. Think Ingvar Kamprad, who founded IKEA and grew up here. Smålanders are known for their hard-working mentality and for doing more with less. They love a good value.

That means a flea market in Småland has about the cheapest prices you'll find. We loved it, and plan to go back often. It's open every Sunday through the summer. There's even a little cafe there for fika.

my taxes hard at work

Living in socialized Sweden means getting some perks in exchange for paying 30% income tax: paid maternity leave for a year, heavily subsidized child care, "free" medical service and free higher education, among others. We don't have children, so that eliminates the first two. Lewis is making that free tuition pay off. And now I have discovered the joys of socialized medicine.

It's not all fun, of course. I was feeling bad enough that it necessitated an urgent call to the clinic in town.

We've been here a year and a half and actually never knew who to call if we got sick. We do know that if an emergency happens, we need to drive to Växjö or Ljungby for the nearest hospital. That's 45 minutes away. Anyway, I thumbed through the telephone book and found something that looked promising. It said phone hours were from 8-9 in the morning. Yes, phone hours. The vet is the same way. You can only call and talk to a person during very limited hours. So I waited until 8 and made the call. Much to my surprise, the answering machine was in English! The recording said to enter my phone number. Then "she" told me that I was added to the queue and that I would get a call back in 10 minutes. Sure enough, I did. I explained my symptoms to the receptionist. Again, in English (yay!). She gave me a time later that day to come by and see the doctor. Turns out this clinic is 2 blocks from our house.

Once there, I was instructed to pay 150 SEK (or a little more than $20). In return, I had a test, saw the doctor and got a prescription. The doctor sent the prescription electronically to the government-run pharmacy. When I got there, it was all connected to my personnummer (or SS#).

That's it.

I don't pay that much more in taxes than in the U.S. really, but the benefits we get are really amazing. I think people complain about taxes in the U.S. because they don't ever really see the benefits of all that money they put in. At least not directly. Meanwhile, I'm still paying off my student loans from grad school.

And I'm feeling better now too. :)

valborgsmässoafton

Walpurgis Night: The Swedish way to welcome the arrival of spring

copywriters need copyreaders

I heard it for the umpteenth time today in a meeting at work: "Nobody reads copy."

Greeaaat. So, um, should I like hand in my employee badge and buy a one-way ticket back to the states? I should probably touch up my Photoshop skills. Or find something else useful to do in life.

Work actually has been going really well. I'm involved in a really fun project at the moment. And I don't believe that nobody reads copy (doh! double negative). People might not read everything. But I think they absorb headlines, even if it's subconsciously.

The funny (and reassuring) thing is that copywriters are predicted to be one of the most in-demand workers in the next few years, at least in the U.S. My friend Andrea, another writer, sent the report to me a few months back. Something about mega-salaries. I'm not sure why. But everything in the news is true, right?

Meanwhile, I sit here reading the local Swedish newspaper. All Swedes buy newspapers. I think it must be for the weekend listings. I saw a couple of photo assistants on the way back from lunch yesterday carrying some groceries and the local rag. It actually struck me as a good thing... that people still rely on newspapers for their news. I know readership has been dropping in the U.S. But I don't think it's the case here. I decided to look it up, and the stats are impressive. According to a paper from Göteborg University, "Most Swedish people watch television, listen to radio and read a daily newspaper on an average day. And so it has been for the last 20 years."

The report adds that "about 6 out of 10 young people take part of a morning newspaper on an average day."

I think it must be a matter of routine here. In the U.S., we have 24-hour news channels. Here, you get the news at very specific times. It's just like shopping. In the U.S., some stores are open all night. In Sweden, shops close at 6 on weekdays and between 2 and 4 on weekends. It forces you to be organized with your time. You can't buy something whenever, just like you can't watch the news whenever. That means people need to be proactive about making it a priority. Which is why you see everyone buying a newspaper. They can't just flick on the TV at 1 a.m. to get the local news. It's you-snooze-you-lose country out here.

I like it.

So what are the headlines in the Smålandsposten? Something about no toilets somewhere, a model who likes horses and this sport they play in Sweden that involves a compass and a map.

But I just look at the pictures.

we're no April fools

We've lived here long enough to know that if it's a sunny day in Sweden, you need to enjoy it. Which is why we spent the whole weekend outside. It was about 60 degrees and pure sun both days. On Saturday we started our sun-seeking adventure by driving down to Lund so Lewis could hit the Apple store. While he was inside, Tilly and I explored the outdoor market, where we found loads of colorful Easter feathers. You might remember that I mentioned those in an earlier post.

Then we headed due East for a coastal area called Österlen. We had never been there, and everyone keeps telling us to check it out. It's known for its apple orchards in the fall. But in the summer it's all about the beach. We were about 1 to 2 months too early but, hell, we were excited to see the ocean and the sun.

The sunlight brings the whole country out of hibernation. When we made it to this rock outcropping, a man came over to chat with us. This NEVER happens. He sat for 5 minutes and asked where we were from, if we liked Sweden and then gave us some local beach tips. Then earlier today as Lewis and I were biking out of our driveway to go grocery shopping, an old woman said hi and started speaking Swedish to us. We told her we only spoke a little Swedish, but she continued to speak Swedish. So the conversation quickly deteriorated to hand gestures and talking louder, like that makes any difference. We said Hej Då and biked the rest of the way with smiles on our faces.

Sweden rocks when it's warm and sunny.

wowed by white

The latest issue of Sköna Hem, a great Swedish interior design magazine, shows why we have started to fall in love with Scandinavian white walls. This is the home of IKEA photographer Per Gunnarsson. I love the simplicity of the style. Almost nothing on the walls, but it doesn't seem to need anything. In the U.S., white walls say "I haven't had time to paint yet." But most Swedes I know don't really use color on walls. Unless it's for contrast, like a red or black wall. Lewis has been resistant to this, but today he said he's itching to paint our kitchen and living room walls white. Right now they are a very pale yellow.

On that note... while we were out for a walk today, Lewis was saying that he couldn't think of anything to write in his blog (his last entry was in January.) "I guess we're pretty acclimated now," he said. Yup, I guess we are. 

our easter tree

Last weekend I rode my bicycle to the garden store in town to get some fresh flowers. Instead I bought some budding twigs. There were buckets and buckets of them, and they sort of reminded me of pussywillows. As I biked home with my twigs shooting out of my bike basket, I felt very Swedish. For whatever reason, it just seemed like a very Swedish thing to do. Like the French with baguettes.

Turns out what I really bought was an Easter tree. Swedes tie bright feathers to the twigs before Easter. It's supposed to make spring arrive faster. The other Swedish Easter tradition that's interesting is that children dress up like witches and go to people's doors asking for candy (like our Halloween). Last year Lewis bought two huge bags of candy, and we had nobody show up. But that was in our apartment. Hopefully we'll have a few little witches ring our doorbell this year. 

a glimpse of Swedish culture

It's Friday night in Älmhult, and that can only mean one thing... our butts are planted on the couch for some channel surfing. The local movie channel was having a Tom Cruise marathon, so we just had to watch Top Gun. Man, he wore a lot of tighty-whiteys in that movie. (We changed the channel when Days of Thunder started, though.) And then we stumbled upon my favourite Swedish movie: Masjävlar (or Dalecarlians, in English).

We rented this during the first few weeks we were both here in Sweden. It was one of our first glimpses into the Swedish culture, besides what I see at work. Now to watch it over a year later was interesting. First of all, I could understand much of the Swedish, which shows some progress. But, also, the way of life seemed more familiar. I guess we have adapted more than we think.

Check it out if it's available on DVD in the States. It gets two thumbs up from me and Lewis.

happy tulip day

Yes, it's tulip day today... so, of course, when I got off work Lewis and I walked over and picked up a bouquet at the store. It's been so warm here all winter, you'd think they would be blooming in the yard. Ironically, we looked out our window about an hour ago and saw.... SNOW! I was so excited I grabbed the camera and took a picture out the front door.

hugs from Sweden

I remember the first time it happened... when a male coworker hugged me at work.

It was the morning after being invited to his house for a small cocktail party. When I arrived to work in the morning, he hugged me hello.

When we have client meetings, we hug the clients before the meeting starts. When I recently bumped into a male director-level colleague who I don't see often, we hugged. And when my interior design buddy returned from Canada after the holidays this week, I hugged him, too.

Can you imagine such behavior in the states? I've never experienced it where I've worked. I certainly wouldn't have hugged my boss at the office (especially JP!). But, here, I hugged my male boss a few times.

The reason I am bringing this up now is because I noticed this the other day while I was staring off into space wondering what catalogue copy to write. I saw a young man that I work with hug a woman who had just come back from maternity leave. He went over to her desk to say hello, and hugged her. I want to point out that they were not particularly close and didn't even work in the same area.

As much as we gripe about how cold Swedes can be when you are strangers (read: no chit-chat at checkout, and never saying "excuse me"), this warmness is very endearing. It's one of my favourite things about the culture.

Hopefully more photos and fewer words with the next post. Thanks for reading! And happy new year!

full fart

I just had to share that in an all-employee catalog meeting today, two different people said "full fart." Hee-hee. Yes, the 1-hour meeting was completely in Swedish. Fullfart means "full speed" as in full speed ahead. It appealed to my juvenile sense of humor. Here's another fun one...

reindeer tongue

Ah yes, those festive swedes. It is the beginning of a wonderful season here... with the Christmas stars in everyone's windows, and glögg parties and ... er ... reindeer tongue.

Was invited to a "julbord" or Christmas Table dinner with some coworkers and our clients for the Asian catalog. We went to a mansion on the lake for this typically Swedish dinner. It starts with a fish table (lots of herring and salmon), then a cold meat table (which included pig's feet and reindeer tongue (hopefully not Rudolph!) and then warm dishes, then dessert, then candy. And I had some snaps and Christmas beer. Tomorrow is officially the beginning of it all with advent. We have our Swedish advent calendar with chocolates inside all ready to be opened.

Tom and Jerry was my favorite cartoon...

...but 30 years later, having a mouse in the house really isn't my idea of entertainment. This is the Swedish version of a humane mousetrap. Reminds me of the squirrel traps my dad was obsessed with when I was growing up. He was convinced the squirrels were coming back to our yard from the remote spot where he freed them. So he started spraypainting their tails. (Hey, everyone can use a little color in their lives!) One day my sister sprayed the squirrel and got him right in the face. An orange-faced squirrel was then running around Ridgewood, NJ...

married? yeah married, geez!

You remember Long Duck Dong from Sixteen Candles? I'm probably at his level when it comes to Swedish. I think it's fair to say that I'm not a language person. Most of the time at work people speak Swedish in meetings, send emails in Swedish, etc., but I usually don't say more than "Thank you," "Goodbye," "Can I get a cinnamon roll?"

That is until tonight...

Lewis and I need firewood for the winter and saw an ad for some in the IKEA newspaper. I called the number and said in Swedish, "Hi. I'm calling about the wood in the Älmhultsbladet." Ja, he said. "Do you speak English," I said in Swedish. "No," he said, "I only speak Swedish."

Crap! Not even a word.

What follows is a transcript of the next 15 minutes as I stumbled along, laughed, and made a complete fool of myself to try and communicate with this guy.

Me: OK, I speak a little Swedish

Him: You speak Swedish well

Me: No, no, no! Is the wood for fireplace?

Him: Yes (and then a whole bunch of stuff I didn't understand, which led me to think maybe it was burnable wood pellets or something)

Me: I don't understand. Um. Where are you?

Him: Håkan

Me: Håkan? (No freaking clue where that is.)

Him: Where do you live?

Me: We live in Älmhult

(Somewhere around here I told him that I would call him back, thinking we would need a translator because I thought there's no way I know enough words to continue this conversation.)

Him: How many cubic meters do you need?

Me: 10

Him: (no freakin clue)

Me: I don't understand

Him: (no freakin clue)

Me: I'm sorry. I'm trying. (laughing) How much does it cost?

Him: 300 kronor per cubic meter

Me: Good! (Giving Lewis thumbs up)

Him: Can you (blah, blah, blah) yourself?

Me: No, we only have a car.

Him: Only a car?

Me: Yes

Him: (something about him bringing it to us for 400 kronor.) It is a big amount and I will have to make 3 trips.

Me: Ok, so 3,400 kronor?

Him: Yes. Where do you live in Älmhult?

Me: Knutsgatan 18

Him: Where is that?

Me: By train station

Him: what?

Me: train station

Him: what?

Me: Wait a minute (as I motion to Lewis to go get the dictionary). OK, train station (different word).

Him: Oh, train station!

Me: Yes

Him: How far are you from the train station?

Me: 100-200 meters. Is wood good for fireplace?

Him: Of course!

Me: Is it chopped?

Him: What?

Me: chopped?

Him: Yes, it is split.

Me: Split? (Don't know the word.)

Him: Ok, so when can I come?

----

You get the idea. I think I asked 2 more times if the wood was good for a fireplace (yes, the dude now thinks I'm retarded) and said "I don't know," "I don't understand," and "Uhhhhhh," about a dozen times throughout the conversation. BUT THE REALLY COOL THING IS THAT WE WILL HAVE 10 CUBIC METERS OF WOOD DELIVERED BETWEEN 3 AND 4 ON MONDAY!

And now he just called back!!!

What a funny Swedish man. I didn't follow so much. He was laughing and I was laughing. All I know is we changed the time that he's coming by. I think I may have said that we were walking to Lund tomorrow (Lund is a 1-hour drive.)

So he either thinks I'm retarded or just plain crazy...

This is our life now.

på semester

I'm on vacation ... and boy do I feel lazy. I wonder if that's what happens when you get old. (Yup, 36 is just around the corner.) Anyway, Lewis has been busting his butt with all these kitchen renovations, and I feel like I can put in 3 hours of manual labor and then I'm just whiny and cranky. Or, maybe I just want to spend my vacation relaxing instead of construction! :)

We did manage to get some R&R in during my first week of vacation. We drove up to Dalarna, an area about 6 hours north which is known for its natural beauty and Swedish folk traditions. It's where they make the Dala Horse, Sweden's national symbol. We bought a really beautiful one for the house. It's big enough for Harley the cat to ride.

So we hung out for a few days there, saw Sigur Ros play in a quarry and then drove over to the High Coast to get some beach time, a few hours north of Stockholm. The beach was nice, but we preferred the atmosphere of Dalarna better. We're hoping that we can make the drive up to the area again before we move back to the U.S. or wherever life takes us.

Attached are some photos of the journey ... dude hand-carving some dala horses, Tilly playing with her ball on the beach, Lewis taking a picture of a cute coastal island town.

The next blog post will be the unveiling of our new stylie IKEA kitchen. The final touches of the install are happening as I write this. The stove, oven and sink are installed. And now the dishwasher is going in. Lewis and I finished almost all the wallpapering yesterday. Good thing we did before it broke up our marriage. It's pretty exciting to see it all come together. I think you'll be pretty shocked to see the before and after.

Stay tuned!