Winner bicycles!

In Sweden you can buy an ice cream treat that is similar to a Choco-Taco, but it is called a Winner Taco. I had been talking about it to Greg for a while, and the whole time he thought it was called a Winter Taco, which I was just pronouncing sloppily. But now every time I intend to say Winter, in my head it just sounds like Winner. Hence, the Winner bicycles.

Hooray for the fortuitous things in life

I am a commuter now, and I feel pretty proud of myself for that. My commute originally consisted of a twenty minute bike ride, a half hour train ride, and then a fifteen minute walk. Inverse and repeat to return home. With planning to arrive early enough to not miss my train (has happened once already…) this ends up being about an hour and a quarter each way. All in all I really enjoy the time, but I was thinking that it might be even more enjoyable to turn that fifteen minute walk into a six minute bike ride. I had been thinking about starting to search for a used bike that I'd be able to keep on the other end.

Two bikes in Sweden. I am just really living large!

I wasn't looking forward to starting the search process, so I was dragging my feet a bit. Used bikes can sometimes be stolen bikes, and I wasn't sure how I was going to go about that process. And then I went to the astronomers' pub night, and I met a guy who lives in the city where my school is. We chatted a bit about the long, straight, flat walking path (used to be a railway) between the train station and town. I mentioned that I was thinking of buying a second bike to keep there. He mentioned that he had a bike there that he shouldn't be riding because it is too small for him and gives him pain in his knees. Four days later I bought his bike from him(:

And in case you were wondering, I did check to make sure the bike was a nice color (silverish-blue) and more importantly, well-named (Bellevue by Logan), before buying it.

7QT: bike names, allergies, dance, vals

1. I love the names of bicycles. Mine, for example, is the Viking Elegance 3. I actually saw another Viking bike just the other day, but the name was not quite as good as mine. The most favorite bike name I've seen is one that parks near me at the office. Are you ready for this? The Silver Apron. That's right. Do you have a bicycle? What is it called? I need to start a list of these.

2. Yesterday I went over to Greg's part of the building to water his plant. The first person I ran into saw me and said, "Greg's not here! You should know that!" It was pretty funny. I wish, instead of explaining my real reason for being there, I would have said, "Well I've been looking for him for five days now!" Next time…

3. I might have a cold, but I think it is more likely that I am being allergic to whatever it is that is spreading pollen right now. The pollen report says various grasses. Okay. Last year at this same time of year, I had been thinking I had a long-lasting cold. Eventually I started to realize that it could be allergies, and now it seems to be happening again.

4. Lots of dancing in a week = lots of joy in a week. That is how it has been going for me. I went to Ransäter for my second year in a row, and for now I'm still planning a post dedicated entirely to the event, so I won't write more just yet(:

5. Looking way into the future, I just found out that it will be possible for me to go to the next two Ransäterstämmans… stämmorna? Greg has been working on a proposal to host a science meeting in Uppsala in two years from now, which we just found out was accepted! The meeting takes place at the exact time of Ransäter, which is pretty convenient for me!

6. Now it is evening and I picked up some allergy medicine on my way home. I got a pill and a nasal spray. So far I've only tried the pill. We'll see what effect it has. Here's to hoping for positive results.

7. Right now I'm obsessed with this waltz. Why are waltzes just so lovely?!

____________________________

The End & The Link-Up

7 Quick Takes: bicycles, beer, and dancing with Bill Nye version

- 1 -

I saw a game of Segway Polo in action the other day. That's right. Who needs a horse when you've got a segway. And if you were thinking, 'What other crazy things do people do with segways?' here is a short list.

- 2 -

Did you know there was such a thing as dining in the dark? I was just told about a restaurant in Paris where all of the waiters are blind, and the dining room is completely dark. Apparently one of these restaurants exists in San Francisco also, and I laughed so hard reading about a review that said a person lost a piece of food on the table and had to spend a really long time finding it.

- 3 -

Our bicycles are in working order as of writing this! Last weekend Greg and I decided it was time to fix those bicycles right up. We each worked on our own, and we managed to fully change a tire each in about one hour. (I am really happy about that time, plus it was the first time I fully changed a tire on my own with no help.) My tire wasn't technically flat, but it had this hole where the tube was bubbling up and sort of pushing through. So I decided preventative action was necessary, and I changed the tire so that I would be able to save the tube.

- 4 -

I love it so much that Bill Nye is on Dancing with the Stars. So much! It bothers me that there doesn't seem to be a clear explanation of what percentage of the final standings is due to the judges and what is due to the peoples' votes, but I just had to vote anyway.

What a great person though. I think at one point he says something like, "Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn sometimes." That it does, Bill.

- 5 -

The evening after writing number 3 up there I had my handlebars come loose while rounding a turn on my bicycle. I've always had issues with my handlebars being a bit wobbly or turned crooked, so I am often tightening and adjusting. Well I didn't do a very good job I guess. Somehow I managed to get enough control of my front wheel to not slam right into the curb at a speed at which one would not want to be slamming into a curb. Kind of terrifying.

- 6 -

Maybe I've written about Humans of New York before. I really like it a lot. Maybe I've even linked to this exact post before, but I just like it so much. Such incredibly practical advice.

- 7 -

Greg has been in Belgium this past week. He returns home this evening, and I'm pretty sure the first taste test of our beer is going to happen. Hopefully it is delicious. When we were bottling it, I thought it had a very strong banana flavor and considering I do not really like bananas, I did not consider this to be a good thing. So here's to hoping that flavor mellowed out.

- The End and The Linkup -

Transportation breakdown

That's right. The bicycles, the bus system.

The first to go was my back bicycle tire at the end of July. Luckily, I was able to repair it with a little help. The second to go was my back bicycle tire. Again. That happened on the 15th of August, which was too close to the first flat to be fair. And due to various reasons it didn't get repaired until last Sunday. And you know what happened on Monday on the drive home from the office? Greg's back bicycle tired blew out. It was a big pop and everything. We had to replace the whole tire (not just the tube) due to a large hole. The sad part is, I can tell my back tire is about to go again. A bubble is forming on the side, where the tire was a bit compromised and the tube is pushing out. It is only a matter of time. The bike shop people are making a killing on us. Although, we have only been buying parts and doing the repairs ourselves. But I'm pretty sure I'll be in there again soon buying myself a tire.

Oh. And the buses, well they got a new card system. No one told me though. I mean, I did see signs saying that there was a new card which combined the bus cards with the train cards, but I didn't realize that meant my old card would no longer be valid. My ignorance got me a free bus ride accompanied by a large amount of guilt for not paying attention and being on top of the game. At least we managed to sort out this issue by waiting in line for a half hour to get our cards changed over yesterday. yay.

7QT - bicycle repair, cooking, and other fun things

- 1 -

Here is an unexpected thing that I miss about my husband. He is pretty good at keeping me informed of big current events. I have always been terrible at current events. The weekly current events quizzes we were given in seventh grade were the worst.

So when my husband is living in a different country, I miss out on so many little conversations, including the ones about current events. Maybe I should care enough to seek out that information on my own, but I honestly don't see that happening.

I think if there was a blog that posted several times a week with the briefest of brief news summaries, that might be good for me. The other problem is that biased reporting really gets me down.

- 2 -

Although I do prefer to watch hockey games that have a sportscaster who is a fan of my team. It just makes things better than an unbiased sportscaster when there is agreement with me and the tv.

- 3 -

- 4 -

I got a flat tire on my bicycle this week. Punka is the Swedish for that, apparently. Punka, indeed. I watched this video on youtube (as well as a few others, but this one most resembles my bicycle) to learn what I needed to do to fix it.

Even if you don't watch the video, notice that it took this man less than ten minutes to complete the task. It took me about one hundred minutes to do the same exact thing. Not bad for my first tire change though! Although, full disclosure, I got a lot of help from my landlord. My progress would have come to a full stop at least once if not for his assistance.

Now I need to decide if I want to try to patch the hole in the tube or just throw it out. Does anyone have any experience with this and want to give me advice?

- 5 -

This is one of the more interesting blog posts I've read in awhile. It discusses the topic of the first known music video to feature contra dancing. Oh how I love the spirit of contra.

- 6 -

I also learned from that article the "electronic duo" The Knife is Swedish. I have been told several times that music is Sweden's biggest export, and that it happens so often that you find out a band or group is from Sweden, which you may not have known for years and years. I was slightly skeptical about the latter part, since that had never happened to me. Then I read the above article, and now I get it! And for reference, one of the greatest songs in the world, compliments of The Knife:

- 7 -

Last night I made a dinner that was inspired by this coconut chicken recipe. I changed a lot of things though, just because the original recipe is not possible for me in my current circumstances. For one I don't have a dutch oven. For two I'm not about to turn on my oven and leave it on for such a long time (my apartment is small and using the oven is like using a space heater... in the middle of summer). For three I just made this all in a frying pan on the stove and used two chicken breasts instead of a full chicken. For four I just noticed that it only wanted half of the pepper, but I used a whole one and it was yellow. For five I was not able to get cilantro. For six I somehow had it in my head that bok choy was leeks, so when I headed to the store I was planning to buy leeks (even though my list said bok choy). When I got to the produce section and saw the leeks I realized then that they were not bok choy. Somehow when I saw the Swedish word for leek, it dawned on me that it was not bok choy, even though I don't know the Swedish word for bok choy and could not tell you the word for leek.

Long story short, it was very tasty, and I am glad I have leftovers for three more meals!

- The End -

Linking up with Jen!

7QT - the joy of no screens on my windows edition

- 1 -

Earlier this week I was awoken by the sound of a rapid fluttering inside my bedroom. I quickly realized that a bird in my bedroom was not ideal. Probably I said out loud, "Nooo." And I sprang out of bed and ran out and shut the door to keep the bird from moving any further into the house. Luckily it left in no time, because my plan didn't really extend beyond the action I had already taken.

- 2 -

Then a bee/wasp/buzzing creature decided to come on in. I repeated the successful move of running out of the bedroom and shutting the door. The bee wasn't so quick to leave, but luckily he eventually did.

- 3 -

I can't imagine I'm the only person in this country with animals letting themselves in through my open windows. Maybe the people of Sweden should reconsider the concept of putting screens on windows.

(I nonchalantly slipped this story into a conversation at the office, and based on the complete lack of responses of the --OMG! A bird! Inside your apartment?!?-- variety, I am guessing this is just standard procedure, no big deal.)

- 4 -

My grocery store added an American section! This week I got a creme soda and peppered beef jerky! Next up: vanilla coke, jumbo marshmallows ($8 for a normal-sized bag), and reese's peanut butter cups. If only they would bring in graham crackers, then my stereotypical delights would be so much more complete.

- 5 -

On Tuesday I saw a man riding a bicycle whilst wearing a suit. And then. I saw a second man in a suit on a bicycle. Same day, same trip, two suit-clad bicycle riders.

- 6 -

My cousin sent me a scarf with little cute bicycles on it!

I was just grabbing my scarf to model for a blog photo, and I was thinking to myself, "Oh I need to go do this in front of the mirror because every time I put a scarf on the ends always look silly somehow."

And then.

I realized that it is one of those fancy loop scarf things with no ends! I could not be any more lucky!

- 7 -

I went to Ransäterstämman this past weekend (major folk dance festival, it will get its own post soon, with a couple photos even). And I intended to post this the morning before leaving, but there was no time, hence the super huge delay in my Friday Quick Takes.

---- The End ----

And linking up, of course.

7 quick takes, of course

Well I'm a day behind with the Friday quick takes, but I'm not too bothered by that.

- 1 -

Here satsumas are basically the color of lemons. They are also nearly as sour as lemons, or maybe I just got one that wasn't quite ripe?

- 2 -

I love rain pants SO much. In my Liebster award post I said that my most cherished possession was my wedding rings. Well. My rain pants handily take second place. Actually it is probably the combo of rain jacket + rain pants, so we'll say my rain gear is second.

Thursday morning I had an amazing bicycle commute in a steady, moderate rainfall. I don't know what it is about riding in the rain while wearing proper gear, but it is just so good!

- 3 -

Speaking of bicycle commute, I think I already mentioned that I was back on my bike this week. I had stopped riding during the winter because I didn't want to fall on ice, so I am really quite glad the snow and ice are all melted. Bicycle commute is so much faster than walking, and so much more fun than riding the bus.

- 4 -

At my hotel in Vienna there was a complimentary breakfast, which included little packets of nutella (like little packets of jam, only nutella). Unfortunately, most days I was eating sandwiches for lunch so I never was in the mood for toast for breakfast. I've kept the thought in my mind though, so I just had some toast with nutella for lunch. Yum.

- 5 -

Sometimes I have to eat foods that seem fancy (nutella toast is completely fancy in my book, probably because I toasted my bread on the stove with a bit of olive oil (who needs toasters?)) because otherwise I feel too much like I am living like a bachelor? I think this is the problem with living in a different country from my husband. The only good example I can think of right now is eating a bowl of cereal for dinner. I am pretty sure that is a thing a bachelor would do.

- 6 -

I got called on for my expertise in the English language again yesterday. Pretty much, my coworkers all speak perfect English, so if they are sometimes looking for a word, then it is a word that I can't even come up with. Yesterday's question: what would you call the points of a triangle or a square? "Hmmm, good question... maybe just points? As opposed to the edges, right? Hmmm.. OH how about corners? Yeah I think I'd say the edges and the corners!" Phew, passed the test. Almost had to make him walk up a flight of stairs to consult the real English language expert who is from England.

- 7 -

Here is a thing that I much prefer about American English though. We never use the expression "half eight" when referring to a time. In England you say "half eight" and (I'm pretty sure) it means half past eight. In Swedish you say "halv åtta" which translates to "half eight" but it means half to eight, or 7:30. So confusing. Let's just always use clarifiers here people.

Fun fact: I typed halv åtta into google translate just to make sure I was getting the spelling correct, and the translation? Half past seven. Google is SO smart.

Weird fact: I was proofreading this post and noticed that one of the half's was written as have. How did that happen??

quick takes

- 1 -

These images of spacey objects are so amazing! Easily my best internet find from the week.

- 2 -

One thing I wish I remembered to do more often is to put leftover foods into the container upside down. So like, first put the stir fry, then put the rice on top. When I eat foods like this, I like the grain to be on the bottom. So if I package them upside down, I can easily dump them onto a plate for re-heating, and they are already in my preferred order.

Probably a lot of people aren't so particular about food things, but this is something I always pay attention to. And yet, more often than not I forget as I'm putting away leftovers, and then I get it wrong.

- 3 -

In the book Quiet I am learning about the trait of being high-reactive, or sensitive. I am SO fascinated by this. I wanted to read the book because I love reading about introversion/extroversion. And I had no idea that there was a trait such as sensitive. In our everyday world, I feel like being sensitive is generally considered a negative thing. But guess what. It is a biological trait (to some extent, I'm no expert, I just read things and interpret them to my liking). And it survived the gene pool.

I am a sensitive type, and I am evolutionarily important.

- 4 -

Uppsala must have a graveyard of lost mittens and gloves. Just the other day I counted three lone mittens on my walk between home and the office. They are just everywhere, stuck on top of poles, perched on fences or other high places sticking out of the snow.

- 5 -

And it happens on occasion that I hear a bicycle approaching me from behind, and I can hear that the man on the bicycle is singing. Immediate thought? That is rather strange. Then he passes and I see that there is a kid in the kid seat, and it is just a dad singing to his kid, and my heart melts a little (but my face is scowling because winter bicycle riding with a child in tow scares me (at least if the kid is in the seat on the back. those chariots that get pulled behind a bicycle don't bother me so much, because I imagine they have some sort of release mechanism for if the bicycle falls down)).

- 6 -

This is probably the trendiest item you could own in Sweden.

Seriously.
I didn't even know what they were called. I just googled "cool Sweden backpack" and all of the top results showed them instantly. Apparently they are made in Sweden and also quite expensive (but what isn't, really), and very very cool.
In all honesty, when I first started noticing them, they often look like a grown man was carrying his child's backpack. But the look is kind of growing on me, and I have to admit, the people who carry these look pretty cool to me.

- 7 -

Today I had champagne before 10 am. It was not the most complementary food item to coffee, that I can say for sure. Usually a full glass of champagne is a sure way to give me a headache, so I made sure to take the least full glass. But maybe the real problem is that I had previously only been drinking champagne in the after 10 am hours. Amateur!

- -

And to read the quick takes of the other quick takers, head over here.

The Bikes of Uppsala

The city of Uppsala has more bicycles than a person can reasonably fathom. My brother likes riding his bicycle to work in a place that is not very bicycle-friendly (as in, not many bike paths and cars are not friendly to bicycles on the road). He came to visit me and was astounded by the number of bicycles. He said something like, "I know you said there were a lot of bicycles, but I never imagined this!" And from a brother whose speech usually doesn't necessitate exclamation points, that really means something.

And even though I've been living here for awhile, I just keep being amazed by the bicycles. Last week we were getting maybe two inches of new snow each day, so there was a lot of loose snow on the paths, making them a bit more difficult to pass with bicycles. But that didn't stop people from trying! No, it certainly did not!

I heard a story about seeing a bicycle do a full 360 in those kind of conditions, and then proceeding to continue on her way. That doesn't even happen in movies!

So for awhile now, I've been thinking about how I'd like to start taking pictures for a photo series I'd call The Bikes of Uppsala.

The number of bicycles around would make it easy. And I just love seeing the different people on the different bicycles, in their different outfits, and carrying their different things. I'd love to document that with photos.

The problem is that I am incredibly hesitant about taking pictures of strangers. What if someone gets really upset and yells at me in Swedish? (Although typing that makes me realize that it is probably highly unlikely because Swedes never complain about anything.) I'm going to try to ease my way into it though. I can at least start out trying to take pictures in very not-obvious ways. And hopefully, the more pictures I take, the more I will lose that hesitation in order to get some superb shots. That will be the goal.

And now I present to you, my first paparazzi shot.



I had my camera hanging from my neck and hit the shutter button. I juuuuust barely got the bicycle in the frame. Here is the original, sans cropping.



I would describe this bicyclist as pretty far to the 'practical' side of the spectrum, as noted by her warm winter gear, waterproof pants (the winter slush on the roads can make things less than pleasant if you don't wear waterproof pants), tires that were probably studded, and a seat low enough to be able to get your feet on the ground if necessary.

7QT

More quick takes with Jen and friends.

- 1 -

There is such a thing as a Swedish mile. It is 10 kilometers.

- 2 -

I was reminded about Reese's Christmas trees (and other specialties, like pumpkins, hearts, and (most importantly) eggs, for that matter) after reading this post by the latest random blog by a stranger that I'm enjoying reading. We'll go ahead and add those to the top of the list of Foods That I Miss Being Able To Have Since Moving To Sweden.

- 3 -

On Wednesday it snowed something like 30 cm? After the storm was over I realized that it was actually quite a big storm. I was just kind of operating under normal mode all day. It wasn't until I tried to take a bus and a bus never came that I realized it was a fairly big deal. I guess it is not typical for the buses to stop operations more than once or twice each winter.

- 4 -

And even though the buses weren't running, no amount of blowing and drifting snow can stop people from riding their bicycles. Seriously.

- 5 -

I've been in a bit of a shoe crisis lately. I sort of ran out of shoe options and found myself with only my hiking boots as wearable. I finally managed to order some shoes online, and then I spotted a (possibly nearly identical) pair in a shop yesterday. So I bought those too. I don't remember ever being so frivolous with shoes, but the shoe crisis has been keeping me in panic-mode for too long now.

- 6 -

I forgot to water my plant, which I normally water on tuesdays. I keep remembering at times when I can't water the plant, so really I am just typing this with the hope of being able to remember to water the plant at the next possible opportunity.

- 7 -

I had a really cute plant with tiny orange balls on it. Unfortunately it is so dry here and I am really only good at watering plants once per week (or less). So that poor guy died.

Before & After...

Ups and Downs

Normally I like to stick to the 'ups' because they seem more significant in the long-run, but sometimes I can't help but write about the 'downs' too.

So here you go, the ups and downs of my week so far.

U: On Sunday there were fireworks that were choreographed with (comically terrible) music!
D: It was bitterly cold. Too cold to be standing still outside, for sure.

U: There has been tons of snow which looks beautiful and makes everything a bit brighter during these dark days.
D: I haven't yet equipped my bicycle for winter, and walking or bussing everywhere is taking a lot more time than riding my bike ever took.

D: At dance class on Monday I danced with a Very rude girl. I know a good dancer when I encounter a good dancer, and I also know a dancer who believes themselves to be the world's greatest dancer when I encounter such a dancer. Unfortunately she was in the latter category and was actually quite mean about it. I know it isn't worth dwelling on, but it was actually quite hurtful, and that is quite real to me. It also sucks all of the fun out of dancing.
U: Luckily we change partners a lot, and I got to dance with a lot of other really wonderful people. One of the dancers I would classify as 'exceptionally good', like the kind of dancer who makes me look super good too. Another I would classify as 'quite good'. And a third I would classify as 'a surprising pleasure'. The third is a guy who has been in the beginner course from the start, and he always looks like he is struggling a bit. From the outside he doesn't look graceful, and the rhythm doesn't seem to come naturally to him. BUT I had a really fun time dancing with him, because he was trying really hard, and he was getting it (and it was one of the more complicated dances). It was also a good reminder to me about the types of things I need to do in order to adjust my style to match/compliment the styles of others.

U: I made a new friend! Similar to last week, when I was leaving dance class, I had a little conversation with a girl I had been talking with earlier. This time the conversation was in Swedish, and she asked me where I lived and if I was walking there, and I understood what she said! (super proud svenska moment)

D: In Svenska class, we were working in small groups and I had absolutely zero idea what the others in my group were saying. Ever. For at least 15 minutes. And vocalizing that didn't change anything. Up until then, Swedish class had always been a really fun activity that I happily looked forward to.

U: Tonight is my first "night off" in awhile (excluding a small task that I must accomplish that I definitely will photo-blog about (cliffhanger...)). I have been on-the-go quite a bit lately. Mainly in my attempts to force myself to be social and outgoing, because I need to find some friends. So tonight I will study some Swedish, and hopefully the next class will be a bit better.

Sju skrivkort

Another week of linking up!

- 1 -

I don't know if a "quick take" is actually a skrivkort, but that is the best I'll be able to come up with.

- 2 -

On Monday I got to ride my bike home with my new friend! I don't even know her name! But we live in the same neighborhood, so we rode bikes home together after dance class! This is the highlight of any six-year-old's day!

- 3 -

I really like my co-workers. I realized I don't write much about work on this here blog, but I am okay with that. Or at least I'm okay with not writing my about the details of my work. Especially since I have to keep it on the DL since I just found out that someone at another university may or may not be doing a very similar project. Anyhow. I do appreciate that the majority of people here do not take themselves too seriously and can joke around a bit. I feel that with scientists, that is not an easy trait.

- 4 -

Snow!
It started snowing Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, and has been snowing since (ish). I need to get my bike into winter-mode. My plan is to get studded snow tires and then lower my seat so that my feet can touch the ground while I'm sitting on the seat. So many others do not seem phased by the snow on the ground; they just merrily ride their bikes along. (Although I did see at least one blotchy spot in the snow with sliding tire marks leading up to it.) Here is a gratuitous animated gif.

- 5 -

The snow also means that things look much less depressing around here. Everyone had said that November is the worst month because the days are getting shorter and there is no snow yet, so everything is really dark. But with snow on the ground the small amount of sunlight has a lot of good reflecting surface, which really makes a nice difference.

This photo was taken well after sunset, but it was the first night of snow, and I thought it was quite beautiful.

- 6 -

We have an advent wreath* in the office kitchen. Like I said last week, really good at celebrating religious holidays, this secular country is.

- 7 -

In other religious news. Maybe you know (or maybe you don't) that the English translation of the Catholic Mass was revised in order to be a more accurate translation of the Latin Mass. The new translation was implemented last year at the beginning of advent. When we got to Sweden, we were happy to see that they had a Mass in English every Sunday. The first time we went, it was a surprise to find the old translation. Well it turns out that there is no requirement for countries that do not have English as the primary language to use the new translation (or something like that, trust me, I asked a priest). So, it wasn't wrong to be using the old translation, just kind of unfortunate (in my opinion). So, luckily (!), the church here is going to start using the new translation. And now that I have un-learned the new translation just after I was feeling comfortable with it, I get to re-learn what I un-learned.

- -

*It is really just a candle holder with four candles in a straight line. But just the first candle was lit today for advent (or at least the anticipation of it).

TGIF - a listing

1. On Thursday we got the keys to our apartment. We like it a lot. In the bathroom there is a heated towel rack and a heated floor. I might have mentioned that once before, but it is worth repeating.

2. Somebody gets to spend his birthday moving. Unless of course we finish today. And in that case, somebody gets to spend his birthday shopping for things we might want in our apartment that are not already there.

3. I have ridden my new bicycle over 300 miles.

4. Our new commute is much shorter (maybe half the distance?) so my total mileage will be increasing more slowly now.

5. Greg and I are going to take Swedish courses. We've learned some of the language. Mainly, we can recognize food words (out of necessity at the grocery store). Pronunciation of words is tough though. I've been doing the Rosetta Stone course, which is helpful, but so far I've only been finding time to do that about once a week.

6. On Monday I get to go to a folk dance party! The student folkdance group at UU is quite good. You can read about the history of Philochoros here. The link is in Swedish, but google translate works wonders. So I've been taking their beginner course, which is open to more than just students. And on Monday, instead of our usual class, we are going to this cabin that is owned by the group. It is just outside the city, and it is quite rustic. There we will have a dance party! And sandwiches!

On weather and bicycles

Uppsala has gotten cold. This morning it was 3 degrees on the Celsius scale. I'm glad we are still above zero, because I'm not quite ready to try riding my bicycle over potentially icy roads. The good thing is that the act of riding my bicycle is a pretty good way to generate heat. Unfortunately, my fingertips, my feet, and my face don't really benefit from that. If I want to keep commuting in this manner during the winter I'm going to need some sort of face shield. I was in a store last weekend and saw these neoprene foot covers. They were pretty awesome, but probably a bit too nerdy for me to handle.

"I'm heading to the office!"
"Don't forget your foot booties to keep your feet warm!"

At any rate, the wind chill factor is not a factor to ignore while riding a bicycle. This is what I've learned.

I am also spending these days getting more acquainted with my bicycle. If you were wondering how much I can haul on my bicycle, it is quite a lot. Last weekend Greg and I survived a trip to Ikea, and we had our bikes loaded up with pillows, blankets, and towels. The need for our own linens and things is due to our upcoming move. We will finally have our own apartment, which we are pretty happy about. Finding an apartment in Uppsala is completely ridiculous, so I am glad we found one we like, and I am also glad that our temporary living situation has been as good as it has.

The new apartment is in a neighborhood that does not require riding my bicycle up a large hill to get to the office. I would say that is my favorite feature, but really, my favorite is the towel heating rack and the heated floor in the bathroom. What a great European delight!

Bicycling in the rain

Before today I always opted to ride the bus to work on rainy days, rather than taking my bicycle. Today however, today was a day for riding a bicycle in the rain. A quick check of the weather forecast made me realize that the afternoon and evening would be clear and nice. Plus the rain wasn't coming down too hard. I've been prepared to ride in the rain. I have a rain jacket now that is actually waterproof, plus I have rain pants. Combine that with my hiking boots and I become fully waterproof, with the exception of my face and my hands.

I used the technique of putting the hood of my rain jacket under my helmet. It blocked out some of my hearing, but it also kept the visor of my hood in place, so I didn't have to look like this:

That is not me, by the way. But it is what most people look like while riding bicycles in this town. Another popular technique is to wear a poncho that covers the handlebars and anything you might be carrying on the back of your bicycle. Like this:

That is also not me. The other option, which seems the most ridiculous and ineffective is to hold an umbrella. There might be a time and a place for this, like if you are riding a tandem bicycle on Mackinac Island, but otherwise, I just wouldn't recommend it.

All in all, I didn't mind riding my bicycle in the rain. The really unfortunate part was that it was also incredibly windy, and the wind was against me. The wind never seems to be blowing in the direction I am going. Either way, I am glad to have gotten past my first bicycle ride in the rain. Now the only thing left to look forward to is riding my bicycle in the snow!

Sweden purchases so far, and other things

Aside from food and beverage, these are the items I (we) have purchased in Sweden so far:
- rain coat
- umbrella
- pack cover
- bicycles
- helmets
- bike lights
- bike locks
- bike basket
- alarm clock
- a cell... ahem mobile phone

Other observations:

Greg spotted a wild hedgehog! It was awesome and adorable.

Here they call cilantro koriander. Which I suppose makes sense, although I didn't know for a long time that coriander is the seed that makes a cilantro plant.

I also made progress with getting a bank account, which is good, since I need one to be paid.

Despite the fact that people might be advertising hallways for rent, we are also making some progress on the apartment-finding-front. We updated our ad to say that we are 'scientists' looking for an apartment to rent instead of just a 'couple', and we also changed the photo to one of our engagement photos. Updating your ad also bumps you back to the top of the list. So some combination of these factors is contributing to more housing options than we had previously.

Welcome to a life of helmet hair!

One of the things I was most looking forward to when it was decided I'd be moving to Sweden was not  having a car. Luckily, Uppsala is a city with a very good bus system. But even more luckily, Uppsala is a city with a very good system of bicycle routes! (Seriously, check out the bicycle routes on the google map.)

Greg and I have gotten pretty good at taking the buses. So far we haven't had any issues with not knowing which direction is North and which is South (which happened in Barcelona after getting out of the underground train). We have also gotten pretty good at showing up at the bus stop just when our bus is driving away. The timetables are all online, but sometimes I just need a break from Swedish webpages, so I rarely check them before we head anywhere. The wait is never too terrible, only 10 minutes during busier times and 20 minutes during less busy times. But lately we were getting more and more aware of how we could have walked halfway to town in the amount of time we spent waiting.

And so we bought bicycles! My bicycle is the Viking - Elegance 3. I don't know what Greg's is called, but it is neat. We also bought matching helmets (I asked the poor worker who was helping us for about an hour what the cheapest helmet that would fit my head was.) which are not required by law. And we bought lights and reflectors, which are required by law. Our bicycles also came with bells, which is apparently also required by law. Today Greg got me a basket for my bicycle, so now I am fully decked out. Oh and we got these rear wheel locking devices, as well as a rope lock thing.

Interesting fact about the bicycles here: the front brake is controlled with a hand lever, but the rear brake is controlled by pedalling backwards. I am still getting used to this. I had a bit of trouble today, due to that as well as the fact that my turning radius is large, and I sort of fell over, but I didn't scrape a knee or anything, so all is well.

Interesting fact about the helmets here: they have this mechanism to easily adjust the size, for the purpose of being able to wear a hat under your helmet whenever you want.

For the bicycles we pay up front, but I figure that if I ride my bicycle for 100 days, it will have paid for itself in the money I save from not taking the bus. Also, I highly recommend Cykelringen; it was a superb shop with really helpful workers who can mimic the sound of a zip-tie when they can't think of the English word for it.

Also, I enjoyed looking back to see the last time I wrote about riding my bike, which was possibly the last time I even rode a bike. I also found it really funny to read about former bike-riding ambitions which failed miserably. Luckily this time I don't have a car to make it easy to back out of my plan.

Above and below are photos of bicycles outside of the lab. This is taken just as we were leaving for the day. During peak hours there are more than twice this many bicycles.

Bicycle parking near the river. Also, the road pictured has one-way traffic on half of it, and a luxurious bike lane for the other half of it, as demonstrated by the person on the bike.

Riding my Bike!

About three years ago I purchased a bike from Craig's list. It looked a little like the one above, a Giant hybrid, only mine is plum colored and I have a crate on the back to carry things, as well as a rack on the front, but so far I haven't used that to carry anything. I also have two cup-holders, which hold my travel mug really well, so I can bring my coffee. In previous years I always intended to ride my bike to school instead of driving, but I never seemed to stick with it. This year I'm going to try to be more serious about that.

Here are my reasons for wanting to ride my bike more:

1. It makes me feel healthy. I definitely am one who hates exercising for exercise purposes alone. This doesn't mean I hate physical activity. I just hate going to the gym. I love doing things like hiking or gardening, or even running outdoors with a group of friends, because the primary focus is not 'getting fit', it is just an added bonus. So biking to work fits right in this category. It gets me to my office, but also gives me a bit of a workout. Also, since I only live 5 miles away, it only takes me slightly longer to get to the office by biking than it does by driving, since I have to walk about 10 minutes from the parking lot to my building. And I think if I start getting better at biking (aka not using the brakes on big hills because I'm scared of going fast) then the times should be pretty equivalent. Plus biking is easier on my knees than running.

2. I am all set up to ride my bike in a variety of conditions... or at least I have the ability to be. I got bike lights for my birthday from my mommy this year! A front white light, and a back red light, and both have various modes of flashing or pulsing and whatnot. Very Cool! I still have to get batteries in them and put them on my bike though. Also, I have a really nice rain jacket as well as rain pants, so even the weather shouldn't stop me.

3. This is my sneaky plan to save a lot of money. The cost of gas alone for driving to and from work is somewhere between $.80 and $1.00/day. That is nearly $30/month, just for the gas to drive to school. If you add in other car expenses, like oil, maintenance, tires, etc., the national average cost of a small sedan is around $.50/mile. Obviously this average changes depending on the source, but I went with that number as it is the amount Dartmouth reimburses for mileage on expense reimbursements for work travel. That is $5 per day that I would be spending if I drive to school, which is a LOT of money.

4. Opting for riding my bike over driving is the green thing to do. I have been a Vermonter for almost three years now, so it is about time I started actively trying to be more environmentally friendly. This seems pretty self-explanatory, although I did just find this disturbing article that basically justifies driving, since walking requires more calories, and food production has become so energy-intensive that the pollution from a car is actually less than that of additional food production. There were also some other odd facts* on things like how organic cow's milk is worse than non-organic because the cows produce less milk, making their methane emissions higher because more cows are needed. I feel justified in not buying organic milk, but I'm still going to ride my bike.

Anyhow, I kind of got off-track there, but I am Super excited for my new plan to ride my bike more. This is the third spring that I have said that, so I hope I actually stick with it this year. I have hopes of having bike-riding become my natural choice for getting myself places, and having my car be the backup plan. Plus I want to ride my bike to all sorts of great places, like the farmer's market, the local contradances (I'll still need to drive to the far ones, but at least I can carpool), The Chutes by the Union Village Dam, Isabell's for delicious breakfast, the Whippy Dip for delicious ice cream, and probably other places as well. Ta Da.


*I use the word "facts" loosely, as I don't really know the source for this info.