I'm thankful for multiple kitchens

My sister, Chrissy, arrived in Stockholm on Wednesday morning, and proceeded to sleep several hours. I eventually had to wake her up cuz you see the funny thing about living up north...the sun sets at 3:30, and its getting earlier everyday. So we did the tourist thing, walked around Gamla Stan, went to the National Museum where we saw lots of modern furniture (its like IKEA in museum form). That night I thought I'd give her a taste of the European night life, so we put on our best clubbing attire and went to Cafe Opera. So we danced and drank expensive beer and listened to Swedish rap and left in time to take the last tunnelbana home.

The day after that was Thanksgiving, and I woke up in a panic. I don't know why I thought it would be a fun idea to share "American culture" and cook Thanksgiving dinner for my floor, but I did, and there was no backing out at that point. I scoured the city weeks before for a turkey, which I eventually found, although it cost quite a bit of money. We cooked all day for the 16 other people I had invited. After the turkeys were actually in the oven, I calmed down a bit and tried to enjoy the day. In addition to the turkey we made stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. There was only one other American there besides my sister, and he thought I did a good job, so it must have been ok. The others wouldn't have known any better if I messed it up- The turkey is raw? Yeah umm, thats how we eat it in America. It also helped that each apartment on the floor has its own kitchen. At one point I had something in 5 different ovens. So the day was stressful, but I was also very proud of myself. All those hours of watching the food network back home must have paid off....

On Friday we spent a considerable amount of time shopping. Chrissy didn't bring any money, and her credit card didn't work over here, but that didn't stop her from buying a new coat, a scarf, a sweater, shoes, tights, ice scrapers that look like tiger paws...and guess who paid for it all. But I suppose you're only in Sweden once. That night we went out to dinner at a nice Swedish restaurant and I got a moose burger. Moose is better than reindeer in case you were wondering. We went to another club, this one was called Medusa, and it was a rock club on Gamla Stan. It was two levels, the basement looked like a cave, and that is where all the dancing took place. DJ in a cage, fog machines, laser lights- you know, typical Ames, Iowa. We sang along with all our favorite System of a Down and Disturbed songs. They even played a rock version of Rihanna's Umbrella. I think the hard core head banger types there were not happy about this. We were forced to go home early because Chrissy's new shoes were hurting too much. "I wouldn't have worn them if I knew we were going out dancing" she said. Always expect dancing, Chrissy.

Saturday we went to the open air museum, Skansen. Its like one of those old timey villages we used to go to for field trips in elementary school. There are lots of old houses and shops, like the glassblowing shop, pottery shop, blacksmith, bakery, hardwear store. And everyone was in traditional costumes. It was the first day of the Christmas market (oh boy!) so we bought lots and ate lots. I tried glögg, which is a warm spiced wine-my new favorite. That night we went to a hockey game but Djurgården (the team I assume we were suppose to be cheering for) lost, so the Swedes were sad.

Chrissy, looking like she's having a fun time, at Skansen

On Sunday morning, Chrissy and I took a bus out to our relative's house, the same ones I had visited before- Björn, Kajsa, and Jerker. They had really wanted to meet my entire family, but my parents were not in Sweden long enough to see them, so my younger sister was all they got. Again, we ate and drank lots. More glögg, more traditional Swedish food. We did a smörgåsbord, a buffet with lots of food but no main course, and had christmas porridge, called risgrynsgröt. Supposedly you have to leave out a bowl of porridge for the christmas gnomes if you dont want to have bad luck fall upon your family. I never knew. The next day we drove around the area and looked at some places having to do with our family history- the train station from which our great grandfather used to transport people to town, the inn where out family would sell milk and butter, the old school my great grandfather went to, the lake my great great grandfather would fish in, my great great grandmothers gravestone, which is still there. We also visited the town of Loka where my great grandfather once worked. The town is known for its water, which is the cleanest in Sweden I'm told, and has special healing powers. This was extra exciting for me, because there is also this bubbley water they sell everywhere here, called Loka, which is made from the water at Loka supposedly. Anyways, I like the citrus flavored Loka water, and I buy it here a lot. I found all of this very interesting, although I think my sister is less enthusiastic about family history.

The family farm (photomerge!)

My sister left this morning, so I have a day and a half of free time before I leave for Kiruna, up north. Maybe one day I'll have some time to study for my exams. Perhaps that what I'll do on my 16 hour train ride tomorrow....ugh.