Cranes, roe deer, fox - OH MY!

One way cool thing about where I work now is that there are several long term projects that have been going on for >20 years, so that practically anyone who has touched foot here has been out to volunteer on one of the projects in some manner.  The roe deer project is one that has been going on For Ever (it seems).  They have been collaring or marking fawns and adults for >20 years and have this huge rich database tracing the families of deer that live in this area.  Roe deer are facinating little ungulates.  They tend to have twins and actually stash them and leave them unlike moose calves who stay at their mothers heal from birth. Because the roe deer stash their young, it makes our job tricky to find them.  You need lots of eyes and to walk searching in the bush hoping that you will not step on the fawn or that you are fast enough to tackle it when it does finally bolt out from the bush its been hiding in.  If you get them within 1 day of birth, they tend not to run.

 The project here captures fawns, puts expandable and breakaway collars on them, draws blood, and ear marks them along with taking measurements etc.  The breakaway collars will basically degrade away and fall off their necks before they are 1 year old (in theory).

Besides roe deer, there are also people working on cranes - The cranes cause a lot of crop damage, particularly when they come in the thousands in the fall. Cranes are kind of territorial - or rather, they have their family's home area and if there is a pair of cranes there, there isn't likely another family in the same field.  Lovisa is a PhD student who is trying to track the birds and find out where they migrate to during the winter.  So, part of the challenge is to tag the chicks right after they hatch, before they get their flight wings.  The challenge with this is you need to be fast.  From the second you see the birds in the field, you need to move.  What happens is we drive along looking for birds with chicks.
We see them in a field and the chase is on...Its kind of tricky and you hope that the field they are in has been harvested already - but you drive through the ditch onto the field and directly at the birds trying to get between them and edge of the field or forest.  Once sort of close, even before the trcuk comes to a stop, you jump out of the vehicle and start running.  You run at the chicks (very important you know which is the chick from adult).  The chicks can't fly, the adults eventually fly away and then circle while waiting for you to finish.  But, hopefully you will get to them before they disappear - and in high grass or forest, they disappear QUICK.  They will duck down and poof they are gone and just like those fawns they hide and now you have to search for them.  Its crazy.  If you can corner them they will puff up and try to peck at your eyes.  They know where your eyes are and they aim for them!

Once captured, keep the head behind your body and start to take measurements and put the backpack GPS on it. They put the legs bands on it that identify through color and pattern where the bird was initially captured .  Good to go!

One of the most frustrating projects that I see Grimsö has been doing for a while is trying to look at red fox impact on roe deer, interactions with lynx, and predation threat on other creatures here in Sweden (mostly a huge concern for competition with arctic fox - but not in our area).  What is frustrating to me or for me is how freaking hard it is in Sweden to capture a red fox.  Sweden is extremely extremely extremely conscious of animal welfare - to the hindrance of progress when it comes to scientific studies of wildlife.  Everywhere Ive been thus far, most people equate wildlife studies to laboratory studies on mice - which is so unfair to compare with.  We do not work in a lab and trying to make laboratory standards exist in the field is ridiculous expectation.  There are plenty of capture methods in existence in the world, but Sweden is very specific about what can and cannot be used, unfortunately removing some of the most effective and efficient methods of capture in order to enforce those laboratory "expectations" - Anyway, its too much detail for this simple blog - lets just say that the methods of capture here in Sweden are really inefficient compared to USA.  OR the foxes here in Sweden are simply behaviorally way different than USA (could be both).

One of the fun things about foxes is that they stink or rather their pee stinks.  They really smell bad and to get them out of the trap you really have to consider your own clothing. Gustaf has these coveralls that are his trapping clothing because the smells just permeate and will not leave once set.

Ive met the real Santa and guess what - He's Finnish!

In my last blog I mentioned how Finland claims to be the home location for Santa.  That would be Ravaniemi.  This is the 5th time Ive crossed the Arctic circle on foot in the 3rd country.  Its also the second Santa home Ive visited.

This was the first time I really can recall being incredibly giddy while visiting a santa.  Santa's at malls have NOTHING on this guy.  There was something that was totally real about this man and the atmosphere and the beard and the clothing - it was all superb.

Oddly enough, I have now met 3 people who are terrified of Santa.  Tuija and her sister do not like Santa and refused to get within 10 feet of him.  Maybe terrified is the wrong word, but they didn't want anything to do with him.  They were however, very encouraging of me.  So much so that I got photos and video (if I can ever get the web site to work) of my visit with Santa.  The entire conversation was recorded.

My first impression of Santa was "Holy crap your shoes and socks rock!"  That is what made this Santa the best Ive ever met.

This place was very cool.  Open 364 days of the year, everyone can come and talk to Santa for free.  Santa, I think speaks 5 languages at least.  His elvish helpers are from around the world...I thought the elf I met was Russian, but Tuija says likely not.  I haven't met many Finnish people so maybe he's just got what I would equate to a Russian accent but he's really Finnish and I just can't tell.  No matter, I like to believe he was Russian - and tall, very unelvish.

Diagram explaining how Santa slows down the Earth's rotation
in order to make his deliveries.

Fabulous Finnish Foods - what Fun!

Though many Alaskans would argue, Finland claims to have the official house of Santa....but I will get to that in a moment.

First, on May day there is a traditional food that one needs to eat....its the Tippaleipä - traditionally served with Sima.  Sima is a fermented lemon juice that is a real big hit or miss depending on who made it.  This Sima was a total miss.  It tasted baaad.  The Tippaleipä...Looks like funnel cakes if you are familiar with the American fair food.

 When Tuija brought me the dish I made the worst mistake a person can make when eating foreign food.  I made the mistake of thinking it would be just like the funnel cakes Ive eaten during my childhood.  I was imagining the yummy doughy deep fried hot and steamy doughnut like cake, with the powdered sugar just melting as the funnel cake dissolves in your mouth.  oooh so yummy, making my mouth water as I think about it right now.

It was not hot, steamy or soft and melty.  It was not smooth and it did not dissolve anywhere.

Something else that is traditionally eaten in Finland is Leipäjuusto (bread cheese) or juustoleipä, which is also what I would call Finnish squeaky cheese!  YUMMY - and you would not believe how you eat it - you take

The cheese is on the right, the cupcakes were left just
because they look so pretty.

 a slice, pour in some heavy cream and sprinkle in some cinnamon - heat until warm and then put into a bowl and cover with cloud berries and  gaaaaaaaasp! sooooooo good! 

In Finland, Ive come to appreciate rye bread even more.  Well, maybe I shouldn't finger out Finland alone.  The variety of breads in EU is sooooo tremendously huge compared to the bread we eat in USA.  Additionally, Ive yet to find anything mundane as white bread.  Most of the time its wheat or rye here.  Love it!  In this photo all the way on the left is another yummy yummy dish - if served right.  It is this baked rice pudding surrounded by really really really thin rye bread.  The way I like to eat it is to have it warm, melted butter on top with a little bit of cinnamon or sugar.  The name is something like Karjalan or Ive also seen Karelian and Karjalanpiirakka.  Whatever its called, it is just a solid breakfast dish I enjoy.

Finland - land of funny hats and baggy pants?

I decided that I needed to make it to all of Scandinavia proper like (I went to Finland in 2007, but it was only to an island in between Sweden and Finland) - so, Ive a friend Tuija who was coming back to Grimsö to do her masters work.  So, I asked if I could come visit and travel back to the station with her and she graciously agreed to host me and show me around before heading back to our work.

I headed over on April 29 just in time to arrive for May day celebrations.  May 1st in Sweden and Finland is celebrated the entire week before (in some places).  April 30th the town ...Oh, i forgot to say I flew into Oulu where Tuija is going to university....So, on the 30th the town is overrun with college and high school students who's entire purpose (so it seems) is to drink copious amounts of alcohol.  It is one big street party, only its really concentrated in parts of the town, but its all over the town.  Tuija did not think I should miss out on this adventure - starting the day off right (10am) we sample a little of the traditional (student choice) finnish vodka with orange juice (to make it breakfast).  We then decide to take our party down town to experience the sights and just people watch.

 Couple things I have learned about Finnish culture - when they graduate high school, they get these funny lookin (my opinion) sailor hat type things.  These hats are warn once a year every year after they graduate, every year leading up to May 1.


Another interesting tradition is
 that while in university, each school has its own color and if you belong to a school, you wear a set of coveralls that is of that schools color.  You then decorate your coveralls with patches.  These patches you have "earned" by participating in various activities.  I think maybe some people even just buy patches - but to be true, you should earn them.  This tradition started back in the 50's I think.  Man!  with my secret love (OK, not so secret anymore) of patches, I really want this tradition to happen in USA.  I love it - maybe it hearkens back to my time as a girl-scout earning those merit badges.  I loved it and with more adult themed patches, i think you can have loads of fun.

It was a lot like a block party or tail gate party - lots of little packs of people, BBQing, or having a picnic - the only odd thing was that there wasn't many souls over the age of 25 - except this guy:

He made a stereo that is powered by
his feet!

Not quite sure, but you aren't allowed to hold hands with little people in certain parts of finland...he he he he

More to come on Finland....stay tuned!

Black grouse lek visit

Female is in the tree
All of the males are at the base
of the trees below her.  In this photo
you can see the butt of one male

One of the coolest things to do here in Grimsö is to go and watch the black grouse during the lekking season.  Leks are the display ground for many bird species (grouse and crains etc.)  This is where the males gather together and they will dance and put on a display for the females that hang out in the trees and the surrounding landscape.  The females watch the males strut around and make a big fuss of themselves.  To watch this behavior, you have to be out there before sunrise because you need to sneak under the cover of darkness to be able to sit there and watch the display.  My first attempt was unfortunately too light already at 5am.  Being that it's Sweden and you know...spring it already started to get too "bright" by 5am.   

With my lack of bird biology knowledge, I decided to go home and try again another day.  From what I hear, if they are really in the fever of display, the birds will come back - you just have to be patient and QUIET.  So, 3 days later I returned, earlier and made it into the observation blind.  I went at 4am and fell asleep.  However, I set my alarm for 5am.  At 4:40 I awoke to hear the birds calling.  I shut off my alarm and was waiting for the light to come out better.  Although the sun was up, it was not bright, it was still dusky.  So I leaned back and was listening, waiting and trying to watch.  The little shed had benches in it, but my bench was far away from the little window.  So, at 4:50 I didn't even realize what I had done, but I reached down and scooted the bench forward.  POOF! all the birds were gone.  Spooked by the scraping of the bench across the wooden floor.  Again, I was told the birds would come back - but I think I was still too early in the season cuz by 6:30am they had not returned so I left.

So, one more try right?!?!  A week later, I had to get out there even earlier because of the light and this time I set the bench right next to the window when I arrived.  Success!! and even the little noises I did make - the birds were so inthrawled in their display dance that it took quite a bit of noise to flush them away.  By 8am they were still dancing and I was bored.  (GASP!)

However, the behavior was pretty cool up till it became redundant.  The males would stand on their little mounds, fan out their feathers, make some noise and then hop down and wander over to another male's mound.  When close enough, the males would puff up, look big and charge each other.  

Easter + Urban Ninja = broken leg

So, many of you already know the story, but for those who don't, this past weekend I broke my leg in Uppsala.  I was visiting Stockholm and Uppsala over Easter weekend because I wanted to get out of the village for a while.  I've been to both places quite a bit now and am checking museum after museum off my list.  Some Id recommend and others....well, unless you are REALLY into the subject, you should totally avoid.

Me and Mari-Caroline (french) and Melanie (German) heading to the big city on Thursday after work.  I had just traveled the weekend before to Stockholm to visit the Tax rep person (who was a total ass and complete waste of my time), so I felt very confident and was kinda familiar with "central" Stockholm.  But, the girls and I actually caught a ride to Uppsala and then we took the train down to Stockholm.  Now, if you are under the age of 26 OR have proof that you are a student (Thank you U of A for not putting an expiration date on student ID cards) then you can get tickets in Sweden for the same price as Old people.  Even cheaper if you are under 12. I didn't know this until after 2 train ticket purchases dang it!  The train from Uppsala to Stockholm is ~45 min.  During this car/train ride I come to find out that Caroline or MC (pronounced "em-ka") REALLY REALLY REALLY likes Burger King.  She had never had it before 2 weeks ago and was now obsessed.  I had not eaten anything since lunch and we didn't get into Stockholm till 7ish.  Over the entire weekend I think we ate Burger King 4 times however, it seemed like we were eating it for every meal.  Sad to say, that if you want "cheap" food then the ONLY option is fast food or sandwhiches at cafes.  It is actually a toss up if you make a meal for yourself at a hostel vs. eating at fast food place as to what would be more expensive.  At least your home made meal would be healthy and you could potentially save some for later.  The girls had picked out a hostel that they felt was very cheap and clean.  Which it was clean(ish) and cheap I guess (I elected not to care cuz I didn't want to take the time to find something else). it was however, totally PACKED.  It was a 10 minute walk from the station and holy crap was it full with LOADS of beds...so, there really wasn't a lot of free space to eat and always a line in the bathrooms.

But before getting to the hostel, I was at a very very very low blood sugar level and needed food.  Unfortunately for MC we didn't get to BK as Max the Swedish version of McDonalds/Burger King came first on our walk to the hostel.  15kr for a Jr. Burger isn't too bad...except that the burger is about the size of a coffee mug in diameter and its just bun meat bun.  So, a $2.40 burger and a 35kr ($5.40) small milkshake was what I had for dinner. The milkshake tasted off and it was ~8oz.  Max is considered "expensive" for Swedish fast food.  But I can't say by much, considering BK has their 25kr ($3.86) menu so the burger of the day is one of 7 which aren't all "smalls" or "jr" burgers - but they aren't the Premium burger either.  If you want to make a meal of the burger of the day and sm fries sm drink then its 55kr ($8.50).

Ben and MC are 1 row behind the Free part of the FreeTour sign.
The guy's head is in Ben's stomach and MC is to Ben's right.
Im just above the free tour sign with the orange scarf, 2 rows
back just off Ben's left shoulder.

It started out as a Grand weekend.  MC had a school mate who is studying in Copenhagen come up to meet us for the weekend.  His name is pronounced like Boonwa, but Ive no idea how to spell it and he's french so beh!  When he was in Canada they called him Ben.  So, Ben, MC, Mel and I toured around Stockholm for an afternoon till Mel left for Germany.  Again, me exploiting the student rate, we went into the Museum in the Castle, the Royal Apartments, and the Royal Treasury (~70kr).  Not bad, but - eeh.  That evening was so much cooler.  We did a free walking tour of old Stockholm.  It was way way way interesting.  The guide did a great job being clear and understandable in her english.  it was a very large group too.  I totally recommend it.

The next day Ben, MC and I went to this lookout thing which you could walk up to the top or pay to ride up to the top...we walked.


We went back to Old town to watch the changing of the guards.  Which is always fun.  Byron, Bryan and I did that the last time we were in Stockholm in 2007.  It hasn't changed.

We then went to the Biological museum - A museum I actually feel pity for.  It was 40kr to get in if you were a student (90 if you weren't) and HOLY CRAP - it was just 2 floors but 1 large room that you walked a circle in and around the periphery is this glass window that just has stuffed taxidermy animals behind it.
Yet it is soooooooo old that most things are totally faded in color or were so poorly stuffed in the first place that the animal doesn't look real.  It would be fun to go in and quiz myself if I were learning birds again - but really???  The second floor was just so you could see the tops of the trees and look down on the other birds from above.

The Aquarium was just around the corner and we thought - yeah! live fishes...lets go check it out!  That was 90kr to get in no matter who you were - and it was worse than the Biological museum!!!!  OK, at least the stuff was alive, but the displays were so pitiful, and Ive never actually felt sorry for a fish till now.  At least the tanks looked clean....So, we took the ferry back to Old town, ate some Ice Cream (its 28F out or  -2C) and decided to head to Uppsala.

In Uppsala we meet another french person.  I can't remember her name. Its something like Mona? Monica? but trendy and rather English sounding, probably why I can't remember it.  Too normal for a french person.  She didn't seem to be too happy to see me.  She was the stereo-typical french person of all three, she was the worst.  We were staying at her place which was a shock to me.  (not that we were staying with her, but what her place looked like).  In Sweden housing is a HUGE problem.  Student housing is even worse.  So, they have dorms - which is what we were in, only they have anywhere from 5-15 rooms that all share 1 kitchen and 1 living room (you only have a living room if >10 rooms).  She was in a 5 room flat.  I think what threw me was they kept referring to an apartment.  This is not an apartment.  The kitchen is about 6ft wide and maybe 12ft long?  We could squeeze 4 of us around this tiny table and then there was space for the oven and sink.  That evening was an event at another students place (they had 15 rooms).  Tiny is all I can say.  The event is a completely different story not really worth telling except MC should have broken bones more than I with the times she fell trying to get home with a bike drunk in the dark.

Plaster casts of the 8 people they
dissected in the university

The autopsy theater

The next day after a LOoooooong slow morning we headed out into town.  We went to a really great Museum that I totally recommend in Uppsala.  Right across from the main church, on Saturdays and Sundays they do 1 free tour for English speaking people.  It was perfect timing.  So, got to see the history of Uppsala university, some viking stuff and some neat stuff about human Dissections back in the 1800s.  It was way interesting.  I want to go back - so someone has to come visit me so Ive an excuse!

After consuming BK we headed to the castle.  Id been there before, and Uppsala castle is no where as cool as Stockholm...and its not really open to the public.

 I ate dinner in the castle in 2007 for the conference banquet.  Well, wandering around Uppsala in the cold blowing air with lots of snow and ice ice ice made me very bored.  I just wanted to go somewhere - like Old Uppsala.  But MC wanted to go to Linnaeus's house...so we tried to find a way down from the castle.  Linnaeus for those of you who do not know is like the father of taxinomic nomenclature.  He basically gave us the system of latin names of Genis and Species like a grizzly bear is Ursus arctos or swift fox is  Vulpes velox.  Linnaeus was a botnist but dabbled everywhere in naming things.  Hes from Uppsala.  So, we were trying to find a faster path down the hill covered in icy snow.  We were walking so tentatively and carefully.  I then saw a break in the snow with a long patch of ground that was covered in long dead grass.  Remember it was a steep hill, when I hit this dry land I stepped too confidently and slid on the grass.  My shoes had no traction and the grass was icy and smooth.  I fell twisting and landing directly on my left leg.  I heard some popping noises that sounded like cartilage popping in rapid succession.

All I could think was - what do they do/say in the movies????  If you can put weight on it then its not broken right????  So, I stepped on it....and I didn't crumple directly in pain.  I could put some weight on it and not be in pain like they are in the movies....so it must be OK right?  Like what - I twisted my ankle right?  OK...so I half scooted, stumbled, and limped my way down the rest of the hill.  Getting to the bottom of the hill MC called her friend asking how far it was to her house from the castle (about 10 min walk)....There was no way I could do that.  For the first time in my life I didn't think about being a poor student and that I needed to toughen up and walk - I thought - Hey! I can get a bus....NO wait!!  I can afford a Taxi!!!  So, I walked about 200 m to the road - yes, whimpering the entire way.  At the road my heart sank cuz there were no cars.  I thought - shit, Im gonna have to walk back into town to catch a car/bus out of town...dang it!  I also recall thinking - Im so lucky to have a smart phone so I can look up taxi services in Uppsala on the internet.  My travel companions were completely lost and had no clue what to do.  Looking back it was rather funny at how they fell apart at knowing how to help someone.  Lucky for me, within about 3 minutes (seemed like 10) a taxi came by and MC waved it down.  Back at the 3rd floor apartment, I b-lined it for the room where I promptly put leg up on some pillows and blankets.  No one helped me, none of them checked in on me, none offered to help get water or food.  If I wanted/needed anything I had to get it myself.  So, they were all eating dinner when I hobbled out to the kitchen to find food.  I then hobbled back to the room without offering to clean up.  I decided it was bull that I was sticking around Uppsala in an atmosphere of unwelcomness and being injured and so I got online to re-book my train ticket for the next day to leave bright and early.  I called and booked a taxi pick up but was ready to go 1 hour before I originally intended. So, I called the taxi earlier and left the house to wait at the bus stop for my bus to Enkopping.  I then took 2 other trains to make it to Lindesberg by 12:00 on Sunday.

I know you are asking why didn't I go to the hospital in the big city of Uppsala....I really thought it was just a bad sprain, and didn't go to the hospital in Uppsala because I had hoped the swelling and pain would go down during the night.  When I awoke I just wanted out of there and to be back "home" and again maybe I just needed more time to heal and I had already purchased 2 tickets to travel back home, why purchase another?  While traveling, the pain didn't go down nor away and so I started thinking maybe I ripped a muscle or ligament.  So, I started googling it (again thankful for a smart phone).  It was 2 things that finally convinced me I should go to the hospital:

1. the webMD.com site said how to diagnose a ligament tear - had one bullet point that said, "if you heard any popping during the accident you should get it checked out"...I heard popping.
2. while my foot was propped up on a chair on the bus, this guy's bag just ever so gently grazed my foot sending shooting pains up my leg making me cry out and startle the other passengers.....so maybe it was worse than I thought. 

Getting between bus stop, train station, and 2nd train station and on and off these vehicles was a pain, but when I got to Lindesberg I was starving....sort of.  There was a Subway open on Easter Sunday 1 block away from the train station...so I walked there and got me a sub...then walked back to the train station to take a taxi to the hospital.  The taxi driver was quite confused as to my behavior cuz he could see me the entire trek across the lawn to subway and back again.

At the hospital they had me walking everywhere until they saw the x-rays....I don't know why these are upside down, but they are.

The fracture is up near my knee. 

Waaaaay Back to December 2012

Bath House

I never did tell anyone what I did for my Chrisrmas vacation.   I went on a mission to find a hot spring.  according to a lovely travel App in my Ipad on touristic stuff in Sweden, it says that there is a hot spring in Umeå....Every person I mentioned to this to prior to my departure very politely without actually saying I was wrong, told me that this was something they did not think existed.  As a matter of fact, there are no hot springs anywhere in this country or the neighboring countries. Yet, the Swedish way of saying "No you crazy fool, there is no such thing" is to say - "wow, I didn't think there was a hot spring in Umeå"....Yeah - no hot springs.   This was the closest I got...

A nativity Scene or our Christmas Tree

At the time, it was such a very very very nice trip, even the lame ass train rides.  I was starving for interactions with something familiar, with food, people, company, friends - anything that wasn't Sweden.  For people who I could relate and lament with and for anyone to understand my sense of humor.  I needed to be around people who understood pop cultural references and where I didn't have to explain every part of the joke or memory.  I was so happy to leave this area even though I was heading farther north, farther into the darkness of winter.  It was way colder and really dark.  It had been a while since Ive experienced a Fairbanks winter.  This place was similar.

Sami hut

Paulina was such a wonderful host, making sure I saw parts of her city even though it was winter time and everything was closed.  Which reminds me.  Everyone takes the holidays off.  Meaning, if you expect places to be open while you are on Christmas vacation - the places you are going, those people are also likely on vacation too.

Down town

 Most of the activities that could be done or that were scheduled - they were all done/open up till Dec 23 and didn't resume till Jan 2.  But I got to see the Sami market place that is right behind her house (closed Dec 23), one of the museums, a sculpture park that is part of some campus outside of the city, and went skiing in and around her back yard.

I know Ive told lots of people this when they asked about how my Christmas break was, I will say it again.  The best word to describe it was Eclectic.  Christmas dinner was spent with 11 people and they were from all around the world, with the Russians out numbering the rest of us with 2 people from that 1 country.  Granted it is a big country so I suppose its allowed 2 representatives.  Natalia was from Moscow and Phillip from St. Petersberg.

Cool church

Most of the other people I do not remember their names or am too embarrassed to try to spell their names.  But there was 1 Armenian, 1 Argentinian, 1 Swed, 1 Canadian, 1 Ecuadorian, 1 Japanese, 1 Latvian  1 Mexican, 2 Russians and me.  Dinner was great because there were so many different dishes.  It was also great because we all had similar frustration stories of how we tried to cook a traditional dish from where we were from, but because we didn't recognize the ingredients or couldn't find the same things or somehow had to massage the recipe to fit the Swedish system...how the dish should really be.  (example of a lamentation)

I went to midnight mass with Paulina and Kenichi in this really cool looking church.  It was not as melodic as listening to mass in Latin, but it was still interesting to see the rituals done in this church and of course to not understand a word of it.

This was painted that morning and plowed
by the next morning.  Snow Graffiti 

We had a great time watching the fireworks from the hill behind Paulinas house.  It was so foggy out that you could barely see anything, but still, it was fun.  The hill overlooked a major portion of the city and you could sort of see fireworks from different sections of the city.  We ate the grapes at midnight 12 grapes in the last minute.  One grape per month = one wish to come true.  So far its been 2 months and neither of my first 2 wishes have come true!!  Silly tradition.

One of the strangest and coolest things in the bigger grocery stores in the bigger cities are these scanning machines.  You check out these little scanners and as you put items into your cart you scan it and it automatically creates your bill for you.  You can basically "check out" as you shop.
 It really is based on the honor system to a point.  They do randomly check various people so you could be stopped at any point.  But basically when you get to the check out counter, you go through a special line that all you have to do is swipe your card for payment and go.  Don't really have any photos at the moment.  Will have to remember to bring in my camera the next time Im in a big city.
Some silly signs:

This is a meeting place for people to hold hands?

I think outfart would be more releving

Wow, somebody loves Patrick!!!