Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!  We had a great time at the Halloween Party.  Angie and John came over early to help with decorating.  Everyone brought a dish to share. It was so nice to have everyone together.  The kids seemed to have a great time playing.  They all got involved in a fun game of run-run.  Hitting balloons back and forth was a big hit too.  There was a pumpkin piñata compliments of Angie and John.   The kids also bobbed for apples.  That was Ellie’s personal favorite.  She kept going after apples long after everyone had wandered off to another activity.  Ellie was Strawberry Shortcake for Halloween.  She wore the same costume that I used when I was her age. 

Pie Day

David could get out of bed, but he is a little sore.  Today is going to be a food prep day.  David woke up with the goal of making pumpkin and apple pies.  He stayed home to work on the dissertation while Ellie and I headed out to gather supplies.  Ellie and I discovered the joys of apartment living on our way downstairs.  The elevator and stairs were showing the effects of someone’s party.  Wonder who is responsible for cleaning that up?

We headed back to the outdoor market for a pie pumpkin for David and another small pumpkin for Ellie to paint.  She was so excited to pick out her own pumpkin.  Then off to the store.  We made a fun discovery on our “big store” Pris extra.  They have pie crust.  1 ½ hours later we emerge with most of what we need for the party. 

Back at home, David takes over the kitchen, steaming pumpkins and making pie crust.  I wish I could bottle this smell.  The scented candles don’t quite capture it.  By the end of the day, we have two pumpkin pies, roasted pumpkin seeds and homemade stuffing to go on top of the hot chicken casserole.  The hot chicken casserole just doesn’t taste the same.  The stuffing is different with way too much sage, the chicken has a different texture and mayonnaise is a whole different taste.  The stuffing can hopefully be fixed but I wonder how I can import Duke’s Mayonnaise. 

While watching football, we gutted our pumpkin.  Bedtime came quickly, so carving will have to wait until tomorrow!

David's pumpkin pie with homemade crust.



Eww this is slimy.



Mommy's turn.

Today Ellie and I got up early to join the SIS (Stockholm International School) PTA’s walking group on a trip to Durjarden.  Joannah Duckworth is a member and encouraged us to come along.   All of the moms were really nice.  The garden is within walking distance of the school.  The garden was absolutely beautiful.  We had a great time but after about an hour Ellie was done being in the stroller and there was no way she could keep up with the pace they were setting (closer to a run).  So we found a bus stop and headed back to town.  Joannah went back with us because she was supposed to help some friends with a move.  We stopped and got some lunch at Wayne’s coffee  (The Starbucks of Stockholm).  I had my first chi tea latte in Stockholm.  Joannah got a Snickers latte.  I will have to try that later.  I smelled wonderful.  Ellie and I split vegetarian lasagna that was very good. 

Ellie wanted to paint her pumpkin that she got yesterday, so I next goal was paints.  We found a neat little craft store and after much searching found an affordable set of paints.  Back out on the side walk we met a really neat lady.  She wanted to talk to Ellie about her babydoll and we she found out we were new to the country gave us a Swedish history lesson.  In 1986, the Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot on his way home from the cinema.  He and his wife had stopped to look at something in the window of the shop that Ellie and I had been in, when he was attacked.  There is now a marker on the sidewalk to mark the site.  Talking to this lady made me realize how little I know about the country I am currently living in. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Olof_Palme

David survived his first game of bandy.  It is similar to hockey, but played with a ball instead of a puck.  Traditionally, it is played on ice but at Electrolux is played on a court.  David was tired when he got home but enjoyed it enough that he will play again next Friday.  Just hoping he can get out of bed in the morning.  Ellie had a blast painting her pumpkin.  Although she used 8 different colors, the overall effect is green.   Her main goal was to cover the pumpkin (stem included) so no orange showed.

At Durjarden

Durjarden

Durjarden

Let's start with white.

Add a little yellow and pink

And paint the whole thing green!

Halloween Shopping

So since the party is official, time to get in gear and get decorated for Halloween.  Ellie, Angie and I set off this morning with quite a to-do list.  First on our list, find the bookstore a few blocks away that sells English books.  Strike one.  They are not at the address that the web gave.  A quick call to David and a few google searches later – they are out of business.  Okay moving on to Gray’s American Store.  Maybe we can find some fun Halloween goodies there.  Strike two – they are not at their listed address either.  Do the Swedes ever update the internet?  Our next goal, shoes for David.  He needs tennis shoes to play bandi and didn’t bring his pair from Greenville.  Of course they are from 1988 so an update is probably good.  We hop on the elevator to head down into the subway station.  It descends without a problem but when we get to the bottom the doors won’t open.  Okay, rearrange everyone.  They still won’t open.  The elevator also won’t go up.  None of the buttons are working.  Giggle fest begins while trying not to breathe in  through our nose (of course it is a stinky one).  David calls in the middle of all of this and once he understands the problem directs us on how to stand to get the doors to open.  Should using an elevator really be this hard?

David had run out at lunch and bought shoes so that is off our list.  After grabbing a quick lunch, we were off to Buttericks.  It is similar to a party city in the states.  Buttericks along with the Hard Rock Café, Stockholm began trying to start the Halloween celebration movement in 1990.  While more Swedes are celebrating the holiday, it is still a very limited movement.

http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

Buttericks does have a wide variety of all things Halloween, decorations and costumes.  It was wildly crowded but we made our way through the whole store and bought some things for the party.  After Buttericks, it was off to the outdoor market to buy a pumpkin to carve.    I knew I was going to get taken the minute the salesman said, “You are American.  You need pumpkin for Halloween.  I give you a special deal.”  Yeah right.  The pumpkins were either not in great shape or fairly big.  We picked out a good sized pumpkin with a good side for carving.  Thirty-five dollars later, I was the proud owner of a pumpkin.  He even “threw in” a small pumpkin for Ellie.  Suddenly the $58 turkey is not looking that expensive. 

Decoration outside of Buttericks.

Ellie "shopping" at the outdoor market.

Pumpkins everywhere.

Ellie and Mommy pushing our pumpkins home.

Lunch with Daddy

Today we decided to meet Daddy for lunch.  Ellie loves that  he works close enough to make meeting easy.  The drive kept us from meeting often in Kinston.  We rode the train to David’s stop (an outing requirement for Ellie).  At the subway station, there is a pizza shop were we ate.  David and the guys go about once a week for pizza and beer at lunch.  Ellie had a cheese pizza and David and I split a  pizza with dollops of spaghetti sauce.  Yummy.  At lunch we ran into Jason and Joannah.

 Some of David’s coworkers think that okra might be located at the indoor market at Hortget.  Since Joannah has sometime before she had to pick up the girls, she offered to show us were the indoor market was located.  So hopping back on the train after lunch, we headed over.   The indoor market was huge.  They did have a few fruits and vegetables but no okra.  The vast array of meats and fish was staggering.  There were stands to buy raw ingredients and also stands that sold prepared foods.  It is a popular lunch spot.  We saw a whole turkey, the first I have seen.  It cost 89 kroners/kg.  That would translate into about $58 dollars for a 10lb bird.  I am guessing there will be no turkey for thanksgiving at our house (Please eat an extra piece for us this year).  They also had whole rabbits.  I am not sure that I could take a whole rabbit home, cook it and then eat it.  Ellie had a blast looking at all the different meats and identifying everything. 

I talked with Angie this afternoon and we decided to have a Halloween party for all the expats at our apartment.  Let the cleaning commence. 

Taking care of baby on the escalator.

Post Office

Ellie pointing out some construction equipment.

Our "post office"

Subway Art.

In yesterday’s mail a package slip arrived.  We can finally find our post office.  For anything mail item that will not fit through the door slot, you receive a pick-up notice.  The postal system here is a bit different than the American system.  Instead of having buildings dedicated to the postal system, the government contracts with local businesses to handle packages and sell stamps.  This is usually a convenience store like a 7/11. Our local “post office” is a place called Handler’N and is only a 3 block walk from the apartment.  The lady behind the counter was super nice and talkative.  She gave me suggestions on all sorts of places that she thought Ellie would like to go.  I also bought my first Swedish stamps.  They have a version of the US forever stamp, which I bought not knowing how fast we would go through them.  It takes 6 Kr to mail things around Sweden (just under a dollar) and 12 Kr to mail overseas. 

Ellie wanted to ride the train so we rode up a few stops and got off to explore.  We found another chain of grocery stores we had not visited before.  This store seemed to me to be more like an Aldi.  It looks like you never know what you might find.  They even had the center isle of random toys, books and gloves etc.  It had good prices on what I bought but I could find everything I was looking for category wise.  Ellie’s favorite find was Halloween shaped chicken nuggets.

Library Cards

Ellie and I are feeling more official.  We both now have library cards.  To obtain a library card, you need a personal number (big surprise).  At the library, the librarian set me up at the computer to fill out the request form.  Here was my surprise.  I don’t know how to use a Swedish keyboard.  It is slightly different due to having 3 extra letters: ä, å, and ö. The function key and several other keys are in different places and labeled differently.  I was lucky to have a very helpful woman behind me that answered a few questions and also told me how to enter my phone number.  I still haven’t figured out the telephone system.  Phone numbers are different lengths (from 8-10 numbers) which changes based on your area code.

Ellie could not get a card at the library in Greenville until she was 5, so she was super excited to have her own card.  We checked out 5 books (including Curious George rides a train) using the self-scan machine, which requires your card and pin-code number.  Next time we will also have to find a book for me. 

Clean up, clean up, everybody clean up!

-  Our only goal for the day was to complete our unpacking and get the house presentable to do a video tour for the family.  It was a perfect day for it.  The weather was gray, cold and rainy.  After a yummy breakfast of omelets, bacon and toast (Thanks, David) we jumped in and got started.  We went room by room.  The hardest room was the maid’s room because we had been using it as a “don’t know what to do with it so we will stick it here” location.   We were able to get to all straightened up and David even put the crib up there.  It is starting to look like “April’s” room.   He had set the crib up during Ellie’s nap time and when she wandered into the room she was really surprised to see it there.  I am not sure if she remembers sleeping there or not.  It looks different without the cat-net on it. She asked to get in the crib and played in it for a while.  She even laid down and decided she was too big for a crib.

Ellie had a lot of fun helping “show” everyone around the apartment.  She thought it was exciting to be of video and wanted to watch it over and over again.  We made gumbo in the crock-pot for supper.  The family conclusion (even David) was gumbo is not gumbo without okra.  So that will be a mission for the next few weeks - attempt to find gumbo. 

The Aquaria Wattenmuseum

Today our adventure took us to the Aquaria Wattenmuseum (or the Aquarium). http://www.aquaria.se/swe/start.html  It is located in the Durjarden area.  To explore another new mode of transportation, we chose to take the ferry across the water.  It is located near the Vasa Museum so you can also get there by tram.  The ferry leaves every 15 minutes and is a 7 minute ride to the other side.  Our SL cards that allow us to ride the subway is valid for the ferry. 

Ellie loved riding on the boat.  She enjoyed looking out the window at the water.  The museum is fairly small but very well laid out.  It covers mainly tropical and Nordic aquatic environments.  You enter into the rainforest, which Ellie loved.  She had a great time looking at the fish, frogs and plants.  There was even a wooden bouncy bridge to walk across to get a better look at the fish.  However, she did not like the thundershower that came through the rainforest.  In addition to the “changing” weather conditions in the rainforest, they also cycled through night and day.  The next section was tropical fish.  The had a large tank with lots of brightly colored fish.  There was even a crawling observation tunnel that children could crawl through to get a better look at the tank.  It was Ellie’s absolute favorite thing about the museum.  They had several tanks that were up high and they had ledges with step that the children could climb up and see.  There was also a shallow pond that the children could get right up by to easily see the fish.

In the environmental section, you could climb down in the sewer system to learn all about pollution and what it does to the water and fish.  We then walked outside to learn about the Baltic.  They museum takes advantage of being on the water and uses it as a teaching tool.  They have built a salmon ladder from the water to the inside of the museum.  They have released salmon from inside the museum and each year in October they have salmon return to spawn.   We hung around the ladder for a while but did not see any returning salmon. 

For lunch, we ate at a street vendor.  We had the biggest hamburger patty I think I have ever seen.  About ½ of it was sticking out of the standard size bun.  It was a really great hamburger though.  We did learn that fries are called “sticks”.  Not sure if that is a standard translation or just what the street vendors use. 

As we prefer, we ended the night with a little tiger football, both Auburn and Clemson.  Both teams won.  However, this staying up late to see the 3:30 EST game is going to kill us.  

The ferry

Ellie and David excited about the ferry ride!

View out of the ferry window!

Waterfall entrance to the museum.

Climbin down into the sewer to learn about pollutio

Don't fall in the pond!



Ellie's favorite fish tank!



The salmon ladder

Snow Day!

The snow finally showed up.   David woke up at 4:15am because he was hearing pops.  When he looked out the snow was falling.  He even woke me up to show me the snow.  We both thought about waking Ellie up to see the snow and then decided she would see plenty of snow while in Sweden.  Lucky for her it was still falling steadily when she awoke.  We hadn’t told her about the possibility of snow since she was so disappointed on Thursday.  I told her to go look out the window for a surprise.  She ran to the window and squealed.  I wish I had a camera ready to catch her expression.  She was mesmerized by how the snow was falling and where it was sticking.  After breakfast, we put on her snowsuit on over her pj’s and went out to play.  She loved making snow balls (they looked more like snow pancakes) and then throwing them.  After about a ½ hour, she was too cold to keep playing. 

We spent the rest of the morning playing board games, doing puzzles and watching the snow begin to melt.  After naps (for both of us) Daddy brought home pizza for dinner.  We have found a pizza place a block away that we all really like.  It is so cool to be able to walk a block and pick up dinner.  After dinner we had our first movie night ever, watching Madeline.  Ellie enjoyed being about to curl up on the couch with us and show us her favorite movie.  All the snow was gone by bedtime.

From our bedroom window

Ellie in the snow outside the apartment.

First touch of 2010! "Mommy the snow is cold!"

My first snowball!

Across the street.

Swedish Meatballs or not

So disappointed – no snow.  Crazy I know by the end of the winter I will probably never want to see snow again but it was cool to think we might get some in October.  I have never lived anywhere that got snow before Christmas.  It was Ellie’s first question when she woke up.  She didn’t believe me and ran to the window.  Her little face just fell when she saw that there was no snow.  We had a laid back morning with a trip to the grocery store.  I have discovered that our ICA has a rewards card like all of the grocery stores in the US.  The cashier walked me through how to apply so now I just have to fill out the form and mail it in.  Of course, I have to find the Post Office which will be an adventure in itself. 

Ellie and I also checked out a new park three blocks away.  It amazes me the variety and number of parks that exist in the city.  Her favorite activity at Vasaparken was the trampolines.  They had three trampolines built into the ground.  She had a great time bouncing around.  There was also a cool slide that she had fun running down.  The whole play area was covered with the safe rubber matting.  We also saw the city workers raking leaves and using a truck with a large claw to pick them up.  It is amazing how much work the city puts into keeping it clean and picked up. 

David and the guys planned a night out because a Kinston-based employee was in town for a few days.  So Ellie and I called Angie up and invited her over for a “girls” night.  I am sure hanging out with a three-year old was not really her idea of a girl’s night but it was better than staying at the hotel alone.  Ellie and I made Swedish meatballs (with some help from David before he headed out).  They were okay but didn’t have to flavor of those that I have had here so I will keep experimenting.  We finished off the night with a game of Farkle.  Amazingly enough, Ellie won.  She is so lucky at that game. 

Bouncing, Bouncing, Bouncing!

"Look how high I can jump!"

Sliding super-fast - like Chloe

Leaf clean-up!

Large green space three blocks from the apartment.

Overview of the play area

Open Preschool

Ellie and I decided to explore “Open Preschool” today.  In Sweden, open preschool is pretty much like an open to the public play date.  The one we attended is operated by one of the state churches.  They have set hours that they open their doors to the public and let children come in and play.  They also have some structured activities like music or dancing.  But it is mainly a place for children and their parents to gather and have fun. 

Ellie didn’t want to go at first but once she realized she wasn’t being dropped off, she agreed to give it a try.  She had so much fun playing with the different toys there.  Here favorite play toy was the airplane.  She flew back and forth to Florida, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina and Pittsburgh. We made a friend, Tommy, who had moved to Sweden 3 weeks ago from London.  He was 2 ½.  Most of the other children were under 18 months old since most older kids attend a structured preschool.   It was nice for both Ellie and I to get out and be around other moms, dads and kids. 

The church where open preschool is held

Ellie playing at open preschool.

Dinner with Greenville Friends

What a rainy day!  We decided to meet Angie at the Hötorget train stop to explore the area and see what we could find.  After about ½ hour we were all pretty much done with wandering around in the rain.  We headed back to the apartment, had some lunch and watched Beauty and the Beast while Ellie napped. 

That evening, Ellie and I met David at Odenplan for a bus ride to Guy Austrius’ home.  Guy and Vivi are friends of ours from Greenville, NC.  We met them at church.  They are originally from Sweden but have been living in Greenville for the last 11 years.   Guy comes back 2-3 times a year on business and they both spend most of the summer in Stockholm.  They have an apartment in the same building as one of their sons.  He and his family including 5 year old Clara joined us for dinner.  We had a great time meeting them.  Ellie and Clara didn’t play much together.  They both are a little shy and were not quite sure how to handle the language challenge.  We had a pretty traditional Swedish dinner of smörgås (an open faced sandwich), meatballs and potato salad.  Vivi had sent kit-kat bars for Ellie and Clara.  Several weeks ago, during his sermon Pastor passed out one dollar bills and told the congregation to do something nice for someone to spread God’s love.  Vivi and Guy chose to buy Kit-Kat bars for Ellie and Clara to remind them that God, ORLC and they loved them.  (ORLC gives out Kit-Kats during the children’s sermon and Ellie immediately said, “That is what I get at church!”)  We had a wonderful evening getting to know Guy’s family and talking with Guy. 

Meeting the Midwife

Today was my first appointment with the midwife.  Ellie went with me and David met us at the subway station.  The midwife’s office is one door down from the subway exit which will be so nice come winter.  Our midwife, Maria, was very nice.  It was her first day on the job.  The appointment took about an hour with question/answer being most of the appointment.  They also check my hemoglobin and blood sugar.  The good news is I only lost 8 pounds this time.  The bad news I am anemic.  After the appointment, I had to go find the local lab and have all my blood work that I had done in Greenville redone. 

After David headed back to work, Ellie and I were off to our neighborhood apotec (pharmacy) to find over the counter iron.  Our apotec is like a small version of Walgreens or CVS.  They have basic self-care items (hair care, tooth care items, etc.) and the pharmacist behind a counter.  I was able to find some multivitamins but no iron.  After asking one of the employees, she led me to an old-fashion looking medicine chest.  It was not behind the counter or locked but had specialty over the counter medications in it.  I am not sure if when I need a refill if I can go into the chest by myself or if I have to have assistance.  I guess I will ask for help just to be on the safe side. 

The yellow awning is the entry to VasaMamma, my midwife's office.

Ellie with the VasaMamma Sign.

Back to IKEA

Because David had so much fun the first time we went to IKEA, we headed back with Angie and John.  They wanted to look at furniture since they are newly married and don’t have much between them.  We were still short in the lighting arena.  Knowing what to expect made the trip much easier.  We were able to find a light for our dining table, so we don’t have to eat in the dark.  Ellie found a moon light to mount to her bed so she has a light she can reach and read by.  We also picked up some power strips and smoke detectors.  Our apartment does not have smoke detectors which was something we had not paid attention to until Brian (also from Kinston) had a small house fire in the ceiling of his house last week.  They were lucky and his son woke them up.  There was only minor damage to the ceiling.  However, it got us thinking about the possibility and we decided putting up a few would be a good idea.

We branched out on this trip and even ate lunch at the IKEA restaurang (restaurant).  David had pork tenderloin and Ellie and I split köttbullar (meatballs).  They were delicious.  IKEA was also decorating for Christmas.  Our favorite tree was the mice-themed tree.  I am not sure if it is Sweden or just IKEA that has a thing for mice but we saw a lot of stuffed mice.  Ellie liked the idea of furniture shopping and even picked herself out a magic bed.  She wasted no time making herself comfortable.  To really go to IKEA it is easily a 5-6 hour day and that is trying to keep it fairly short.  We got home just in time to take a late nap and eat some crock-pot soup. 

Who needs a coat?

The rest of the group - David, John and Angie.

How to arrange 55 square meters.

Ellie has found her a new "magic"bed

The groups favorite tree - tree of mice!