God Jul, Thor, Goats, Santa

So far Sweden has been filled with things that are sorta kinda familiar.  From all the time we spent in Germany there are little things that strike me and memories come flooding back.  Now, Id imagine if I went back to Germany this would be 10 fold but for now I will take the Swedish version of my childhood memories.  

 Do you ever go visit some place and find this piece of art or statue or pottery or jewelry that looks so perfect, so beautiful that you buy it and bring it home...but then somehow when you are no longer in that situation surrounded by the colors, smells, shapes, sounds, and that beautiful piece of artwork just doesn't quite make perfect sense.  The best is when its in its element and it makes sense.  It all fits and looks like it should.  Well, for the past 15 years or so, my mom has had these Christmas ornaments that I've ever really quite understood.  They are a set of straw ornaments.  Why did she buy them?  Maybe they were hand made? At least they were a set.  But, Ive never really like them - or its not that I didn't like them, rather they just never seemed to fit with all the other eclectic ornaments we've collected over the years.  With these straw ornaments there are some wall hangings we have as well, they too are made from straw and wheat and other various dried plants.  Well, all this rambing is because now that I am in Sweden, I see these things everywhere - and it makes perfect sense.  It is all so organic here when it comes to the christmas decorations.  Im surrounded by farm houses that are all red with white trim, horses and now snow.  But still, I can now see why my mom got those silly little straw ornaments.  

There are some strange Swedish Christmas traditions that I am learning about.  Granted, they are strange simply because Im not familiar with them, but for sure they are different.  And maybe calling them tradition is the wrong word.  However, these things are everywhere in Sweden and I find them endearing.  

There are these Christmas pigs.  It is tradition to have a Christmas ham, so there are little piggies all over the place.  What's better is the Christmas goat or Yuel goat in Sweden the modernized version is the  Gävle Goat.  Those guys are very interesting.  They even had a HUGE one like 20ft tall in Örebro.  The crazy thing is I am learning, that some Swedish Chrismas traditions aren't that old.   The modern evolved version of the Yule goat was started in 1966 when Stig Gavlén came up with the idea of a giant goat made out of straw.  This goat thing has gotten out of control in that almost every year when the gigantic goat is erected, somehow people burn it down.  Its become a tradition to vandalize or destroy and for sure burn the goat.  Now, technically this Goat actually started WAAAAY back...as far back as to pre-Christian days. It is known that in old agricultural Scandinavia, the last sheaf of corn bundled in the harvest was credited with magical properties as the spirit of the harvest and saved for the Yule celebrations, called among other things "julbocken" (the Yule Goat).    Another popular theory is that the celebration of the goat is in connection to Thor, who rode the sky in a chariot drawn by two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. He would ride them to a banquet, slaughter them and let everyone eat them.  He would awake the next day and feel guilty, bang his hammer on the ground and resurrect his precious livestock to have them have 1 more year of servitude.

 A man-sized goat figure is known from 11th century celebrations of Childermas, where it was lead by a man dressed as Saint Nicholas, symbolising his control over the Devil. Or even an better

version has Santa not giving presents to people, but demanding that they give him presents instead.  He rides around on the goat demanding booty and plundering every year.  

The icons of Santa and the Christmas children seem to be all over the place.  I really like the Santas because they are more Gnome or elf like than Big White Fat Guy Santa. 

 Ginger bread men are really big here.  I never really understood it, but man the cookie called pepparkakor is soooooo good.  I was never a big fan of the american version of gingerbread, but here its not as sweet.  

The Swedish mushroom is not a historical tradition, but seems to be picking up popularity.  You decorate your advent candles with these mushrooms.  These shrooms are poisonous and deadly to eat, but pretty for decorating your for the holidays.  Its very strange simply because by the time Christmas comes around there are no mushrooms anywhere to be found.

Swedish candy & crack

Ive done the whole cookie exchange thing....seems to be lots of women gathering in a kitchen to bake and make some delightfully decadent cookies, then everyone goes home with tins of an assortment of treats.  Well, here in Sweden cookies aren't as big of a deal as candy.  At least from my perspective AND because of the lack of chocolate chips - which to me is a universal indicator of a cookie consuming country but Im biased.

In Sweden I learned to make candy.  And from what I can tell, the results look exactly like what you get from the store.  There is no difference in presentation which for some reason to me was so impressive.  For instance, you can almost always tell a home baked chocolate chip cookie from a store bought cookie.  There is just something about it.  I don't care if its the over priced pepperage farms or the kebler toll house, they never look like mom's cookies - and mom makes the best cookies!  Here, the candy we made, put next to candy purchased from a store - I couldn't tell the difference 95% of the time.


There were 9 of us ladies all busy in Lynns house from 1:30ish to 7pm.  It included a very nice squash soup dinner followed by Christmas porridge in which I learned you need milk, cinnamon  butter, or syrup (or all in combination) to really eat it properly!

However, lets get on with the types of candy/holiday food we made.  I will not go into all of them in grand detail because we made over 17 different kinds (I lost track) of candies...

It's all about "Knäck", a Swedish christmas candy, that actually translates to.. crack. Really. I find that pretty funny. Especially since many people also find it horribly addictive. It's really a creamy almond toffee - but that doesn't sound half as fun.   

Lussebulle or lussekatt  The buns are baked into many traditional shapes, of which the simplest is a reversed S-shape. They are traditionally eaten during Advent and especially on St. Lucias Day, December 13.

I don't know what these are called, but they are this wonderful hazelnut chocolate nuget stuff wraped in marzipan which is then dunked into some sort of chocolate coating of your choice (white, dark, milk etc.)  

One of my favorite was white chocolate saffron truffles.  Anna was making these without me being aware, but Im going to get the recipe from her!  Granted it will likely be in swedish so I will have to translate it.

Personally, I made 3 items that actually didn't turn out 1/2 bad.  I made my grandmothers Rum Balls, then some Coconut balls that didn't quite form properly because I put them outside in the snow to cool and it froze *oops*  I amended the recipie by putting in chocolate chips and orange flavored crazins.  Johanna made something similar but her's was a long log that she drizzled chocolate over the top.  Johanna also made the Christmas porridge for us to eat after dinner.

We had white chocolate lingdonberrie truffles, chocolate candied ginger truffles, german walnut chocolate chip cookies made by our resident german Henrikka.  It was funny because she had to weigh all her ingredients.  I don't remember this from being in Germany, but I was only 4-7 years old. 

Henrikka also made this other candy which is some traditional swedish treat that I can't recall the name.  It was like hard toffee or another version of crack.  Only, Lynn decided to hand wrap each piece.  Henrikka is cutting it with a knife, but what was best is to use scissors and cut it.  At some point its a lot like taffy and if you get it during that time you can use scissors.  

We had these peppermint things that is simply sugar, peppermint, vinegar and one other ingredient...you dribble it onto wax paper and then dollop it with a bit of chocolate.  

Because I had some extra time as other people were cooking, I also decided to make some fudge.  Now, evaporated milk is not called that here in Sweden and there is none in Lindesberg as most Swedish people do not cook with evaporated milk.  Some of you may realize that fudge or quick fudge recipes typically call for evaporated milk.  then you add the marshmallows.  Well, with sweetened condensed milk you do not add the marshmallows...so it worked out OK because there weren't many of those in great supply.  Malin made some sort of rice crispy treat with cranberries and pistachios...only they were flat...like squished pancakes of a treat.  Tasty, but flat and not as gooey as a good rice crispy treat.     My fudge was a bit odd only because I made dark chocolate and when I thought I was adding vanilla flavoring, I accidently grabbed the peppermint and splashed it in.  By this time I had already added the cranberry chunks.  So, peppermint, cranberries and then I did top 1/2 of the tray off with walnuts - which in the end it all wasn't bad...but not complementary flavors.  Stupid peppermint.

Costa Rica

https://picasaweb.google.com/113574314616508763787/CostaRica?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Moose, Meeses, Mouses?

DO NOT FORGET TO CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE THEM.
So, as stated on my facebook page, I went moose hunting last week.  I wanted to explain a bit about the Swedish or European style of hunting and how it is different from what I know of as hunting.  This is simply my impression and what I have gathered thus far.  I am sure there are going to be some exceptions and I may have misinterpreted something along the way.  But first a history lesson and some facts about Swedish hunting culture.

History:

My attempt at showing the size of sweden
against the USA...lets just say its tiny.

Moose management before 1830 in Sweden started as early as 1347!  It was (as we learned from Robin Hood) privilege of the King and his men.  It was in 1789 that all landowners were given rights to hunt, and the moose population was less than 1000 individuals!  Wow!  Considering the peak harvest for moose in Sweden in the early 80's was >174,000 individuals IN ONE YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!  This is not counting the some >6,000 that were reported as roadkill.

Sweden is about the size of California.  They now take something like 70,000 moose a year. Imagine that, there were less than 70,000 people in Sante Fe New Mexico in 2005.  Of course, thats nothing compared to New York growing by 70,000 people in the last 15 months this year!  Maybe all those people would like a moose for themselves?

How to Hunt:

Moose hunting in Sweden is done in groups.   It reminds me of stories I read about Raj's or Kings hunting back in the day.  The king rests on his pillow, has beautiful slave girls feeding him grapes as he waits for the peons to push the dangerous animals towards his location.  Then, if he has enough motivation to sit up and pull the trigger and kill the animal he will do so - else the beaters start all over again.  OK, maybe not as snobby as that - Jim Corbet a famous hunter and conservationist in India would use this technique to flush out man eaters (which was often dangerous for the beaters).  I would also imagine some kings and Raj's that were into hunting, were really into hunting and therefore not as lazy as I depict.  

Anyway, there is a hunt master who is in charge of the hunt.  He is the guy with the "on the ground" knowledge about how the animals move through the system, where the animals are hanging out and where the "hotspots" will be.  He is the organizer of the hunt and he will position the hunters along a transect.  Usually a road or trail of some kind.  These "hunters" are about 300-500m apart (closer to 300).  They are instructed to not shoot at the houses, the buildings, the cars, and other people.  They are also instructed to shoot calves and bulls.  All they do is sit/stand there and wait for a moose to come by.  So....then there are the "beaters" or "pushers".  These are people that attempt to line themselves up and to call and shout as they move along in a line towards the stationed hunters. On my beat, I had to call very loudly at one point so that the hunters could know where I was so they wouldn't shoot me.

 As we are now super fancy with our technology, I, as a beater, was equipped with a GPS transmitter (also known as a dog collar) that some of the hunters could track my movements in real time.  Those hunters could see my movement on their GPS units and direct us by radio.  Instead of using people, another option is to hunt with dogs.  You set a moose hunting dog loose a (loose moose hunting dog-say that 3x fast) and watch it on your GPS unit and track its movements.  Once a dog has "cornered" the moose (it will keep a safe distance away from the moose and just bark at it), you sneak up on the moose and shoot it. (from my understanding, this is the closest method to what Im familiar with in USA...however, I am a bit fuzzy of how/who gets to sneak up on the dog if you are hunting in a group of so many people and not supposed to shoot anyone).

Once a moose has been directed into the line of fire or cornered and its been shot, they extract it from the forest and taken back to Grimsö.  Now, this is how Grimsö does it...Other hunting groups will have different facilities and different organizations to their hunt.

The whitish dog is not a moose hunting dog
but the other little dog is.  

 If you hunt on Grimsö property (which you pay to have a "membership"),  Grimsö does not allow you to keep the moose meat, rather they distribute it to all the people who sign up on a list who would like to purchase meat.  You as the hunter get to keep the skull/antlers and the tongue and heart if you want them.  Often hunting teams will split the moose meat between the hunters for that day/week/effort.  They will hunt here in Grimsö every Tuesday and Wed until January.   If you hunt on Grimso, you have great resources at your finger tips regarding manual labor and cleaning of the carcass   Basically there is a man (his name is Lhasa) who will come and help extract your moose, he will take it back to the barn and skin and quarter the beast before you even have your afternoon cup of tea.  He will also clean the skulls for you.  Granted, you are paying a membership fee to hunt on this land so this is all part of the package.

This is the moose hauler thing
it has tracks on it like a tank

On my moose hunting trip, we found the moose (he wandered off with a bullet in his body) and got to use this lovely moose hauler thing to help us pull it out of the pond.  Once on dry land I held a leg as the guys gutted it and removed the rumen.  Then, it was standing back and watching the moose hauler drag the moose out of the forest.  I barely did anything. Unlike when Doc and I got our moose in Alaska.  We had to quarter that thing in the field standing in a bog.  I could barely lift a leg to haul it the 1/4 mile back to camp.

A bit about Organizing a Hunting Group:

If you are a landowner, you will often join into a hunting organization with landowners surrounding your property.  You as the landowner OR you as a hunter can join and pay for hunting rights to some hunting group.  Often, you pay to hunt on the same land for years if not generations. These units come up with a harvest management plan which should somewhat follow the guidelines that the Municipality has outlined for that general "area", as long as they are somewhat following the guidelines they can do pretty much what they want on their section of land. So, unlike in USA where the state Fish and Wildlife department sets the harvest goal, it is the local management unit that sets their goal for how they want to manage the moose in their area.  

This is considered a "big" bull
for the area

To get a hunting license in Sweden you have to pass the hunter safety course and then you have to pass the shooting test.  The shooting test means you have to shoot at a stationary moose target and a moving moose target from 80m.  You have to shoot it in the "kill zone" and score a 14 or higher in 4 shots.  Grimsö chooses to make that exam slightly harder in that you have to get a 17 out of 20.  You have to shoot 2x at the stationary and 2x at the moving target.  Being a foreigner, and being a part of the Grimsö team, I too would have to pass the shooting exam, provided I prove my hunter safety is OK.  You are also supposed to join the National Hunter Association which is about $100 a year membership fee.





First Swedish cultural experience - milking ketchup, sausages for birds, crayfish, and singing

This past weekend was over flowing with all things Swedish.  There are photos that instead of posting here, I will post in Picasa and give you links to specific photos.  CLICK HERE for full album and scroll to bottom for the latest photos

It started Friday when a couple of us went into town for the yearly Lindesberg "Market". Its a small market that only comes once a year and is for just 1 day.  There wasn't a lot of variety.  Lots of meat to buy.  Lots of reindeer, wild boar, moose, red deer, and salami.  I got some strange bread and this traditional chocolate puff thing.  I was expecting it to be something like marshmallow, but it was more like whipped cream.  I do get a kick out of their sausage things.  I remember when Bryan, Byron and I were here and we were laughing at the length of the hotdog vs. the bun...but now I get to laugh at the ketchup dispenser

That evening I was invited by the students to their Crayfish party.  Typically they celebrate this day in August, but the students decided to celebrate here together.  This was my first real experience of a Swedish party.  This typically involves a LOT of singing.  The food was kind of funny because they had the "American" crayfish that were packaged and imported from China - whoohoo America really knows how to outsource our invasive species!  They had "Swedish" crayfish that I couldn't tell the difference in taste - rather the exoskeleton was more pokey yet softer to crack.

The meal had "rules".  The men had to escort a lady that they were then responsible for the rest of the evening.  The guy was responsible for the women on their left.  He had to offer his arm for escort, pull out a chair, and toast her first every time we toasted.  Upon a toast, the pair must toast each other first, then toast the person to their opposite site, then toast the person across the table, drink your drink, then toast the person across from you, a person to your right and then back to your partner.  This happened every time anyone wanted to drink, BUT it followed a song.  So - basically, if you wanted to drink, you had to sing first.  They had a "program" of songs that were all in Swedish!  It was very funny because 1/2 of us were not from Sweden and we had no idea the tune or what we were saying. 

 

After the appetizer, came a cheesy pie thing and then another cheesy cornbread type thing along with the crayfish.  These were "traditional" foods for the celebration.  It ended in this blueberry pie which just looked like they threw raw blueberries into a pan and covered it in oats...raw oats.  The drinks were also "organized" in that we started with a mojito type drink, then came beer, and this traditional liquor that was like fennel, and then wine.  oh then the champagne.

After the dinner it was dancing.  Lots of dancing.

Lets just say Saturday morning came really late for some people.   

Navigating Sweden - frogs, taxes, microwaves, timers, shoes...

So far Sweden has physically been much like Alaska.  However due to the warm stream coming from somewhere things are warmer here than they would be on the same latitude in USA.  Stockholm is slightly more northern than Juneau Alaska which is very close to my current location.

This is the type of frog that visited
 me in the shower

Of all the places Ive been in the world (including Juneau and my most recent trip to Costa Rica), Ive never knowingly had a frog in my shower until I come here.  Yesterdays cleaning routine was more interesting when the frog wouldn't leave.  I didn't want to get soap on it, but it kept getting under foot.  Much like a dog or cat that winds itself between your feet.  Eventually I shoo'd it out and finished my cleaning.

On a slightly more complicated note, the exchange and transparency of information in this country is interesting - you can look up anyone's license plate number and get all sorts of information about that car's mechanical history as well as some basic information about the person who owns the car.  No flipping people off and having anonymity while doing it.  Not only can you get personal information from a license plate, but you can look up anyone's phone number and find their address.  The ramifications of this transparency  - how would that work in USA??  Don't know if it would.  Socialist economy I guess?

In concert with this is something they call a Personal Number.  This is a number that you can't do anything without.  I can't get a bank account, get into social security, get retirement, buy things on line in Sweden, buy a car, buy a home, get drivers insurance, get to be a functioning citizen in the country...Even register at the university I currently work for...well, technically Im not working for them without it.  If you are here less than a year, you do not get a number.  I am going through issues because my VISA was only issued for 1 year at a time, and they issue the visa from date of application, not from arrival into the country.  This number is generated and overseen by the equivalent of the IRS called Skattavarket.  We all know how wonderful it is to deal with the IRS - well, that is similar attitude here.

Today, I tried to heat up some milk.  Yes, its low fat milk, but Ive never had a microwave "cook" the milk to the point where it completely separated and created cottage cheese? yogurt? whatever it is, its solid and clumping swimming in clear-ish liquid.

Lots of things here run on timers.  To turn my stove top on, I first have to turn on a timer that allows power to the stove tops.  If your cooking requires longer than 60 minutes, you have to be there to return on the power.  The oven I get to borrow in the student kitchen only runs for 15 minutes at a time.  Talk about being tied to the kitchen!

Taking off your shoes is "common" - not sure how far out this extends and if its more of an expectation - basically how strict is it??  Even to come into my office place, I take off my shoes.  Everyone has different shoes that they leave in the office or they just walk around in their socks.  They have slippers you can borrow if you don't want to walk in your socks.  My feet get cold at my desk so Im glad I brought my crock's!

Mastering the art of French Cooking - with Lea

One of my new friends Ive made is from France.  Her name is Lea and she LOVES food and to cook.  Also, I just recently rewatched that movie Julie and Julia....so Julia Childs is in my head and very apropos.

Lea has been great - very outgoing and taking me in and including me in things.  Its lovely to have someone like this, just assumes you will join in because it will be silly not to.  So, she has taken me berry picking and mushroom hunting and has been "teaching" me how to cook the items we harvest.

the paper acts as a stove pipe to let
the heat escape without boiling over

Two weekends ago (gosh its been that long?), we went blueberry picking.  Ive been told the blueberries here in Sweden are different from the ones in the USA.  Sometimes they call them (spelled my phonetically) Bullberries (Im sure its something like boulberries with a crazy symbol above the o).  Anyway, they are short and only come to your knee at best.

The oven - reminds me of a toaster oven on steroids

Lea then taught me how to make pie crust - the same way my grandmother taught me to make chocolate chip cookies....you sort-a kind-a follow some measurements, but really its off of feel/smell/texture and whim. Somewhere in the recesses of their minds they were taught the proper ratios, but this has been lost to instinct and taste.  Somewhere in there was a measurement of 250 g of flour and 125 g of sugar, but after that - it all goes to pot on how much.  I did learn that using an egg is necessary to make the dough elastic and then will not require flour to be put on the counter or the rolling pin.  I also learned that you can make the dough without the egg and how different the dough then reacts.  So, I made my 2nd pie ever a blueberry pie using the ingredients we could "find" in sweden.

This followed a course of Moose Taco! My favorite meal ever!!

Aaaah Comfort food - Shrimp flavored toothpaste and beer canned sausage?

Packaging is an art form.  If you believe in god - s/he had style to create lots of different packages.  Humans all come in different shapes and sizes, all bundled up in different wrappings, but in the end - our essence is the same no?  Boys are made of slugs and snails and puppy dog tails, while girls are made of sugar and spice and everything nice!!!  or is it carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus.....either way, its pretty easy to recognize a human by its packaging.  We as humans, then have taken this art and use it to wrap other things up for ease of transport and utilization.  Each country I visit, it seems will invest in different materials and slogans and effort.  In India - lots of just fresh stuff.  Lots of non-packaging, come and get raw sugar, sticks of cinnamon...not much in the way of pre-processing for regular every day cooking.  However, for the "metro" person, the "westernized" person - lots of pre-processed, packaged food (see previous blogs).  Similar to South Africa (didn't have a blog at the time) and Mexico.  Then, with in each country there is the market and art form of advertisement.  Growing up in one place, I am sure, makes you familiar with products/slogans and how things are served.  However, should you be from outside, what is standard and common place for the resident can be a little awkward and interesting for the visitor.  There are people who spend their lives devising ways of packaging food, the color of the package, the name of the package, the utility of the package.  There are people who have somewhere along the line agreed and said "yes, this is how we shall serve our people this dish".  Apparently, this is not universal.
Seriously - shrimp flavored toothpaste??  OK, this is my "standard" of growing up without tubed foods and about the only thing I immediately associate with a tubed product is toothpaste.  So, it was quite a surprise entering a grocery store and seeing tubed things everywhere.  I recognized the packaging but the pictures on the front made me take a step back.  Why shrimp?  What the heck is in this thing? and why is it in the dairy/fish section?

Across the globe, as I am sure you know, each culture has its "favorite" types of food and its "standards".  Well, in Sweden they sure do put a LOT of emphasis on the cracker section.  The bread section takes up about 6' of space, but the CRACKERS!! goodness me!  they sure do need quite the variety to choose from.

They have ISLES dedicated to crackers.
 Whats up with that?  Now, I know in USA we have isles too...but there seems to be a balance.  Like the isle for crackers is just as big as the isle for bread.  Here, bread is an after thought.  CRACKERS are the way to go.  Also, because I am not as familiar with the packaging process...they all look the same.  At least in the USA you can get an idea that one type of cracker is different than the next.

OK and whats with the beer canned sausage?? At least I think this is sausage.  It was surrounded by sausages, bratworst and other such plastic wrapped compressed meat products.

Mayo in a tube?  really?  well, I suppose that is better than all the BUTTER in squeeze bottles.  

I know, I know pot calling the kettle black - we have butter in spray things, but really - they need this many types of squeeze bottled butter?

  

 I do appreciate that their juice section is so so not as limited as the USA.  There are so many fruits out there and yet we always see the same old processed sugarized stuff.  Here - there is VARIETY and cool fruit.  Not just orange and apple, but passion and coconut!  Mango and leche

 uhhhhh................what is this? oh, more cheese...

Reallly - jelly in a tube?  will that not be messy?

OOOh me! me! I wants some ordnots rings!

Yogurt in a box???

And finally..........for now.......Things that I didn't know were from in my own country.....

excuse me?!?! It cost HOW MUCH?

The exchange rate for Sweden is somewhere around 6.6 kroner per 1 USD.

Upon arrival, and even before arriving I was told that Sweden was expensive.  I knew that Sweden was expensive because I was here and remembered it was expensive.  But there was still  somehow this disconnect.  You know, that thing that happens when you are told something, you never realize the profoundness of the statement until you live it yourself (we all learned this growing up - or our parents tried to prevent us from learning this).  When I was here last I was in a travel bubble mode.  Didn't have to buy the basics, didn't have to think long term and most of what I purchased was frivolous and gifts.  So, today was the first day it really hit me, which again I know is silly.  Ive sorta kinda sorta pay attention to buying groceries, but after the first 3 items I kinda loose track till the final receipt and quick math is not my forte and it all gets lost in the shuffle.  Also, Id expect it to be costly to get me started so I haven't paid much attention

My epiphany today you ask?  Contact solution.  Something I have to buy once a month or so - something that costs around $12 for 2 bottles of generic brand low shelf stuff or $10 for 1 bottle of high class stuff.  Well, here the same stuff cost me $21 for 1 bottle of the high class stuff.  BAM! smack in the face - this shits expensive, and so will life here be.  It might not be that big of a deal for you if you don't wear contacts - but this is one of the common items in my shopping cart that I hate buying in the US and now I REALLY hate buying it.

There are things I miss (already??).  As always its the same story - new country different foods, so you miss those familiar foods. But I haven't even been here that long.  Maybe India was so exotic that new foods overwhelmed and entertained for longer.  However, here, there are such similarities in types of food.  A very meat and potato base country unlike India.  Also, in India I didn't cook for myself often.  I had an Auntie or the kitchen staff at WII cooking.  Now, I'm having to shop and look for food I understand and coming up short.  No peanut butter - its been noted already.  More on this later.

For now, a sample of a grocery receipt and approximate cost conversions for those of you who are curious:
Please note, I am writing from a computer that does not have the capability of writing some of the letters of the Swedish alphabet.  Meaning the "a" with the little circle over it, the "a" with the two dots, and the "o" with the two dots.  So my items listed below are not spelled correctly.  Additionally, the sales receipt abbreviates and writes names wrong putting spaces where there shouldn't be or leaving out spaces more likely.  Also, I've not put the quantity, but recall in the US we tend to buy things big.  Most places Ive been do not have the culture of "storage" of food in our homes.  So, milk - its sold in 1L only and there are 4L in 1gal (receipt #2). Most items are 500g or less for the quantity, like the brown sugar (receipt #2).  Do the math.

 Some things to highlight:
 notice the cheapest box of tissue kleenex brand for about 80 sheets - $3!!!
Oranges or even apples are $5 per kg - not even a pound but KG! (thats .4kg per 1 lb)
Ive no idea what ny Skor smammorotter really is because I did not buy new screen steering wheels (according to google translator).
I am paying as much for milk as you pay for a gallon of gas in the USA...I haven't even gotten to gas prices here!

Remember in Sweden if you don't bring your grocery bags you have to buy them each time.  they do not give out grocery bags!

Here's another example

Oh taco seasoning - $2.00 for a packet of taco seasoning....So, if you are thinking of sending packages - some food items would be greatly appreciated, just ask.

2 bottles of wine 103 kr which is $15 and thats not too bad for wine Ive never heard of or seen and haven't tasted.

Additional warning - if you are planning on coming to Scandinavia - remember Sweden is cheaper than Norway or Finland!

Never shop with a hang over - from jet lag

I didn't sleep on any plane ride this trip and I suffered for it.  My flight from Seattle left at 6am, which meant a 3:30am wake up, a 40min drive to arrive at the airport the scheduled ~2 hours early.  I got everything checked in OK bags weighing 50, 50, and 41lbs besides my backpack with some books and computer.  UGH!  Packing was a bitch and I still feel like Ive missed somethings.  India was so much easier to pack for.  Winter clothing takes up LOTS of room and 7 pairs of shoes (excessive??) is more of an issue than I would have thought.

The Chicago airport wasn't bad, but MAN that was the LONGEST taxi ride from landing to getting off the plane.  I think that ride in itself was 30minutes.  WTH?  I had a 4 hour layover but because I had to transfer terminals and get re-checked in on a different airline, it was only a 2.5 hr layover where I was sitting and doing nothing.  Seriously, if you have to do anything in Chicago totally leave yourself LOTS of time between planes.  Lucky though, it was a direct flight to Sweden.  Not so lucky was the seat next to the SCREAMING baby girl.  She was mean too.  She also was singing something to the tune of London Bridges Falling Down...and would scream FALLING DOWN (in English) when she got to that part.  The rest of the song was in what I assume is Swedish.  She slept for about 3 hours of the 9 hour flight.  The rest of the flight she was screaming/crying/yelling/singing/running/beating/kicking.  I didn't sleep.

The stewardess on SAS airlines were a mixed bag.  One lady was a total B*ch.  I almost panicked because my little TV thing didn't work at first and this lady literally waved her hand at me and walked away.  I could not imagine 9 hours on a flight with a screaming child and nothing to block the noise.  Lucky for me, I talked to another stewardess and she got me fixed up for the most part.  Still the best airline is Quantas, however  SAS was better than United (the first time I came to Sweden) or Delta.

I arrived at 8 am Sweden time, but didn't leave the airport till 9am because it took that long to get luggage.  Customs was a joke - sooooo not like Australia or India for that matter.  IF you wanted to declare anything there was 1 counter, else walk through.  Getting my passport stamped took 2 minutes and they didn't even check to see if I had the proper VISA.  Which by the way, all I had to do was print off this piece of paper that said it was OK for me to be here longer than 3 months.  I could have foraged that thing in a heart beat!

Its a 2 hour ride from the airport to Grimso.  On the way back, we stopped so I could get some groceries.  By this time, I could barely keep a thought long enough in my head to get anything.  Im surprised I made it out of there with a complete "dish".  I am doubly surprised because nothing was written in english.  Thank goodness for photos.  However, they have got some straaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnngge things to eat here.  At least in India everything is fresh and the pre-packaged food is all rather boring.  Here, there is more pre-packaged food and its a guessing game as to what the hell it is Im buying.  More on this later!

Here is where Ill be: My Home

The land of the devil and just what is a quoll??

As this was the 4th trip to Australia I wanted to get off the East coast and head somewhere else.  My sister agreed and planned a trek through the southern part of Tasmania!  Woohoo...I was going to the land of the devils and wombats and Cadbury Chocolate factory!

The airport was so retro it was cool.  I feel odd that I can say retro - when I mean: we could bring water into the airport, we didn't have to take off our shoes AND there were people in the waiting area who were NOT getting onto the plane - there were family members seeing each other off!  *sniff*

Kim says peek-a-boo

 In Tazi we first went to a little place called Snugg.  Oh, wait, to get there we rented this way cool camper van thingie.  I think the USA should hop on this trend for rental cars.  Maybe they do and I don't know it - but we rented this minivan that came equipped with a fold out bed, table, portable plug in refrigerator/cooler/freezer thing, stove, folding table, tea kettle, pots, pans, plates, towels, camp chairs, flashlight and bedding.  Basically everything you'd need to car camp which is what we did for the trip.

 So in Snugg we camped and went to Hastings Caves because of my silly fascination with going under ground.  It was a tourist cave so no crawling on hands and knees, but it was still pretty to see the formations and all.  We saw some cave crickets, worms and fungus.  Also, the history of Australia is so cool because of it being a penal colony, so even the story of discovering the cave was kinda cool.  Lots of poaching and illegal harvesting of things in this country.

Quoll

We went to Lake St. Clare where I got to see a quoll up close and personal along with a ring-tail possum and potaru and other sundry creatures.  Saw me a platypus in the most placid lake - stunning!  I believe I saw a dead wombat and quite possibly a Tasmanian devil on the road.  The roads throughout the state were soooooooooooo windy - very curvaceous!

We went to Port Arthur which was a prison back in the day. We did the night tour.  There really is NOTHING there except

 this abandoned ghost prison.  It was super creepy and I really enjoyed it.  The guide was kinda funny at times and the stories that were told were way interesting.  I wish we could have stayed longer to learn more about the prisoners.  You can do a day tour too, but the night tour was sufficient and extra scary.

We went to Wine Glass bay - which was beautiful.  A nice short hike to a wonderful overlook to see the shape of the bay and then you could 

hike down the steeeeeeep slope to the bay.  We did not hike to the bay because there was so much else to do (hike would have been 5 hours).  AND it would have only really been worth it if it had been warm enough to go swimming.  As it was, we were in sweaters and jackets even on the hike.  

 

We went to Biechno where you can see the fairy penguines come up onto the beach at night.  You aren't allowed to photograph them so the tour company provides photos if you want to see what they look like.  But they are little birds that waddle up and out of the sea each night.  They are noisy (as most penguins are) and will sometimes walk across your feet if you are in the way.  But this is only observed during breeding season.  When I was there they were a little more cautious. 

We made it to Richmond which has the oldest standing church in Australia and a bridge that was built in 1823.  Quite the storybook town.  Lots of wood crafts in Tasmania.

  

We went to the Salamaca Markets in Hobart along with a quick stop at the cadbury factory.  No, did not go into the factory though I wish I had now.  They charge $7 but its not a real tour.  You watch a DVD and thats about it.  They don't even give samples!  We also went to the Royal Botanical Gardens which was a pleasant surprise.  We had time to kill before our flight and wanted to do something that didn't cost money.  Basically, figure at least $25 for any activity and at least $25 for every night to camp.  So, it was refreshing to have something that didn't cost and was still interesting to see.

Tasmania had some strange signs, like their speed signs.  When leaving a village or town, instead of just posting the new speed limit that you should follow, they would post the speed limit you no longer had to follow.  So it would be a 50 with a circle cross through it.  It seemed like they never posted the proper speed limit, rather the speed you don't follow anymore.   It got confusing because I kept forgetting what the  previously posted proper speed was.  Those were posted so infrequently.  However there were HUGE signs that said all speed limits are 90 km unless otherwise posted.  No one went 90 km/hr - and the roads were freaking curvy.  I can't believe I forgot to take a photo of this even thought it is so very memorable...the impact from it anyway.

 Is that car running up and over a kangaroos feet? or is that kangaroo lifting the car?
No standing???? no standing on either side?  So is floating OK or sitting - maybe we have to dance??

All over they have these signs with a circle cross thing over a S.  Much like our No Parking signs with a P and the circle cross over it, they use the word Standing and letter S.  No Standing = No Parking.  How the heck would you figure this out???