Sorry

Okay I know I totally suck for not writing anything in forever. I'm really sorry I have been very busy lately. Filip and I have now (since I last posted on here)FINALLY found an apartment. It is pretty teeny tiny but I like it. We both have jobs now as well, which is GREAT! Filip works for a company that manufactures buss seats and I am a nanny/au pair. I really like the family I work with. I just spent the weekend with them in Norrland visiting family. Now that I am home though, I am stuck in bed with a cold.

On a side note the other day my cousin Laura sent me a link to a mirrored hanging tree house and asked me if I had seen it and now I have. In Norrland they have these cool tree houses for tourists to camp in. They looked really expensive. I was shocked to see the one Laura showed me. I even got to go inside it and see what it was like. They only let up to 3 people in it at a time because it can't handle a lot of weight. It looks really cool in person. They had a few more tree houses there as well one was a cute little cabin that was fire engine red and looked straight out of a fairytale. Another house was a more modern looking 2 story cylinder shaped house and with what I assumed to be a shower/bath house next door.

The coolest one I saw was one that looked like a giant birds nest and there was a little pole in the ground near it with a keyhole and that was how you got up. when you turn your key a ladder comes down so you can climb up. unfortunately we could not go up and see it and the last one we saw was the biggest but there were people staying in it so we could not go in that one either. it looked like a big matte black safe hanging from the trees with a big long ramp to get in. They were all so cool. I would love to stay in one some day especially in the winter because the mosquitoes up there are brutal.

So now that Filip and I have moved up here to Trollhättan you would think I would have some awesome sights and sounds to tell you about but I have found out that poor people don't really get to enjoy sights and sounds too often so instead I have compiled a list of things that are weird about Sweden

1. Jobs pay you monthly so if you are broke and start your job you will still be broke for about 2 months.

2. FIKA - The Swedish word for snacks and coffee they have fika religiously and if you have guests over you better offer fika otherwise you are very rude.

3. You must pay for your bags at the grocery store. (I forget about this quite often and end up carrying groceries home in my purse)

4. Blood pudding - either Sweden likes twilight a little too much or they really do enjoy something so positively disgusting.

5. Pizza here is a little personal pizza with a super thin crust. A far cry from papa johns. Oh and by the way popular toppings include bananas and shrimp.

6. Here in Sweden leggings are considered pants. Every time I become comfortable with the notion that you can wear them as pants a big fat girl always seems to walk by and reset that idea...

7. Candy can be salty.

8. It is barely into September and I have already broken out a winter jacket and boots.

9. Rain seems to be the default weather setting here (please come visit me in this freezing, rainy country. oh p.s. it's pretty windy too.)

10. I still don't understand the mail system. (they don't have a post office)

11. You cannot buy any type of over the counter medicine like Advil or stuff like that at the grocery store. You have to go to a special pharmacy with limited opening hours. (good luck if you get a headache in the evening)

12. Windows do not have screens. I hate bugs.

13. Swedish people do not believe in carpeted floor. Just the occasional area rug.

14. Swedish people should not make sushi. It's just wrong.

15. Sandwiches for breakfast and pancakes for lunch.

16. The pancakes are not pancakes as you know them (thick, fluffy and golden brown) nope they make crepes and try to pass them off as pancakes. They are pretty delicious though. you eat them with jam and whipped cream though not butter and syrup.

17. The only place you can purchase alcoholic drinks is at system bolaget the government owned liquor store. unfortunately their opening hours are quite limited so no impromptu partying you have to plan those out in advance because they close at 6pm on week days and at 2pm on Saturday and they are closed on Sunday. Basically the liquor store is a bank with no ATM. Oh p.s. there are only two of them in the whole city and surrounding suburbs where we live.

18. Milk comes in what looks like over-sized juice boxes. You rip off the corner and pour it that way. I apparently do it wrong.

19. Pretty much everything is closed after 8 or 9 on weekdays and pretty much all weekend as well.

20. Swedes hate peanut butter. It is so hard to find here. grocery stores usually have a few tiny jars of one brand and don't seem to always order it in stock. Gone are the days of shelf after shelf of every nut butter you can imagine plus the whole no reeses deal.

Well there you have it a few interesting facts on Sweden. I will update more to that list as they come to me. Here's to hoping I actually write another post.

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