I think three months of no web-logging is a new record for me. But I'm always bound to return eventually.
Folk dance school ended in May. I might be a bit desensitised to saying goodbye to people. It was sad to leave everyone, but since the end of the year didn't come as a surprise to me, it was not devastating.
Now I am unemployed. It is a comfortable situation though, a situation made by choice. It is surprisingly easy to be quite busy even while not working. I do really appreciate having the time to hang clothes to dry on the line outside. Normally laziness would win and everything would get thrown directly into the dryer. I also took the time to harvest some flowers of the elder bush in our yard to make fläderblomssaft. I think this officially makes me Swedish?
Last week I spent the week with a friend going to plenty of folk dances during Musik vid Siljan. I got to reunite with some dance friends and make some new friends. And I got to spend every evening dancing either until sunrise or until the mosquitos were just too much to handle.
I should also document, for posterity's sake, that it is possible to order a "hawaiian burger" in Sweden, which comes with a slice or two of pineapple on it. Not surprising, coming from the country that puts banana on pizza…
This has been sort of hodgepodge, but I never claimed my return would be spectacular(:
Showing posts with label dance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dance. Show all posts
Saturday, July 11, 2015
Sunday, November 30, 2014
7QT: swedish, and jumping on trees, and posture
1. I think these are the most important Swedish words I know. First, fika. Second, lagom. Third, jantelagen. These mean, approximately and respectively: coffee and sweet treats, everything in moderation, and don't try to stand out above any others.
So pretty much Sweden suits me just fine(:
2. Just two short weeks ago I wrote that I really wanted to make an effort to just speak Swedish at school. I just have to be honest and say that is not really happening. I am doing a good job of hearing Swedish, but I am starting to develop the habit of responding in English. I'm really slow at formulating things to say in Swedish, and I also find it nearly impossible to express myself in Swedish. So for now, English dominates. le'sigh
3. I think it is safe to say that making friends at folk dance school is pretty much nothing like making friends at the office of a job in academia. Guess which one shared this link on fb and which one shared this link. And to be honest I didn't even read the first article, but definitely enjoyed watching the video from that second link. (And apparently 50 years is not enough time to change the fact that NASA is dominated by white men with moustaches…)
Anyhow, I didn't start this intending to go that route. I intended to make some comments about how unusual it is for me to feel so close to people that I haven't known for very long. For one thing, we are physically close because we spend all our days dancing together (and also, that general strong affinity for hugging). But there is also an emotional closeness that comes from spending all day, every day interacting with the same small group of people. You quickly move on from discussions about the weather to topics with a little more heft, which suits me and my introversion just fine.
4. Greg and I were laughing about how our facebook feeds exploded with halloween costumes on halloween. I commented about how strange it was that there were at least four alligators, surprised that this was the most popular costume choice of the year. He kindly pointed out that I was probably looking at mostly dinosaurs. Good point, my friend, good point.
5. I really like this video.
Ever since watching it, I've been thinking about how I'd like to be able to jump onto a tree like that (go ahead and skip to 2:30 if you don't want to watch the whole thing). So the other night I just tried it out. My tips for those wanting to try this: choose a tree with no low branches, and just commit!
6. Apparently posture has become such a central concept in my life that I am now dreaming about it. My posture needs improvement, and now I am just thinking about it all the time. Plus maybe we all read this already, but I am coming out of ten-ish years of being hunched over a computer screen full-time. So I've got some correcting to do.
7. The other day Greg was watching some MJ videos. I commented that Smooth Criminal was probably my favorite song of his. But then I had to quickly correct myself, because that and the song from Free Willy are both favorites. Just so good!
Fun fact: I've gotten into the habit of writing these posts over a timespan of… weeks maybe? So every time I would open a yet-to-be-finished post and read the takes I had already written, I'd find that I wrote a reference to 'yesterday' almost every time. For example "yesterday Greg was watching some MJ videos." So I'm trying to learn to just type "the other day" because it keeps things more honest around here.
So pretty much Sweden suits me just fine(:
2. Just two short weeks ago I wrote that I really wanted to make an effort to just speak Swedish at school. I just have to be honest and say that is not really happening. I am doing a good job of hearing Swedish, but I am starting to develop the habit of responding in English. I'm really slow at formulating things to say in Swedish, and I also find it nearly impossible to express myself in Swedish. So for now, English dominates. le'sigh
3. I think it is safe to say that making friends at folk dance school is pretty much nothing like making friends at the office of a job in academia. Guess which one shared this link on fb and which one shared this link. And to be honest I didn't even read the first article, but definitely enjoyed watching the video from that second link. (And apparently 50 years is not enough time to change the fact that NASA is dominated by white men with moustaches…)
Anyhow, I didn't start this intending to go that route. I intended to make some comments about how unusual it is for me to feel so close to people that I haven't known for very long. For one thing, we are physically close because we spend all our days dancing together (and also, that general strong affinity for hugging). But there is also an emotional closeness that comes from spending all day, every day interacting with the same small group of people. You quickly move on from discussions about the weather to topics with a little more heft, which suits me and my introversion just fine.
4. Greg and I were laughing about how our facebook feeds exploded with halloween costumes on halloween. I commented about how strange it was that there were at least four alligators, surprised that this was the most popular costume choice of the year. He kindly pointed out that I was probably looking at mostly dinosaurs. Good point, my friend, good point.
5. I really like this video.
Ever since watching it, I've been thinking about how I'd like to be able to jump onto a tree like that (go ahead and skip to 2:30 if you don't want to watch the whole thing). So the other night I just tried it out. My tips for those wanting to try this: choose a tree with no low branches, and just commit!
6. Apparently posture has become such a central concept in my life that I am now dreaming about it. My posture needs improvement, and now I am just thinking about it all the time. Plus maybe we all read this already, but I am coming out of ten-ish years of being hunched over a computer screen full-time. So I've got some correcting to do.
7. The other day Greg was watching some MJ videos. I commented that Smooth Criminal was probably my favorite song of his. But then I had to quickly correct myself, because that and the song from Free Willy are both favorites. Just so good!
Fun fact: I've gotten into the habit of writing these posts over a timespan of… weeks maybe? So every time I would open a yet-to-be-finished post and read the takes I had already written, I'd find that I wrote a reference to 'yesterday' almost every time. For example "yesterday Greg was watching some MJ videos." So I'm trying to learn to just type "the other day" because it keeps things more honest around here.
__________________________
The End!
Sunday, November 23, 2014
flood of consciousness
Hej there you old blog, you old pal. I think I want to be one of those people that keeps track of some daily details of life. These people exist, right? It started when they installed this new bike counter leading to central station. Realistically, there are probably over five main ways in which bicycles can arrive at central station. On the one that I use regularly, they just installed this bike counter. It is amazing. I don't know how they can even do these things. Not counting people. Not counting too many bikes. It works through a sensor that is installed under the path, and what happens when a unicycle goes by? These are important things, but from what I've seen, it looks accurate. So then I decided to start writing down which bicycle number I was each time I passed. This is at least once or twice a day, depending on whether I go directly home or go in some other direction. I've got big plans for making some sort of plot with this information once I've gathered up a good collection.
Sometimes I think I only write about bicycling so much to give myself more dimension. It doesn't feel bad to me to be so enthusiastic about folk dance, but I can see other people register my enthusiasm as overzealousness. Overzealousness doesn't win hearts, but neither does an awkward attempt at hiding my enthusiasm or making it seem less. I'm not bothered by my love of folk dance, but I'm so sensitive to people having a negative reaction to it. I don't expect people to match my enthusiasm (or even be anywhere close to it). I sort of expect that the majority of people would have a neutral and open opinion about folk dance. Even if they don't share the same enthusiasm, they understand what it is like to be enthusiastic about a thing. Sort of a "That's cool that you are really into a thing that you love. I'm like that about [insert enthusiasm of your choice]." But it makes me sad when I'm made to feel like it is a bad thing. I don't want to hear people tell me that I shouldn't want to dance more in the evening if I already danced all day long. I have so many feelings about this, but it is not so easy to put words to it. The words really help to sort through the feelings, so I'll keep thinking on it and perhaps come back with more later.
Sometimes I think I only write about bicycling so much to give myself more dimension. It doesn't feel bad to me to be so enthusiastic about folk dance, but I can see other people register my enthusiasm as overzealousness. Overzealousness doesn't win hearts, but neither does an awkward attempt at hiding my enthusiasm or making it seem less. I'm not bothered by my love of folk dance, but I'm so sensitive to people having a negative reaction to it. I don't expect people to match my enthusiasm (or even be anywhere close to it). I sort of expect that the majority of people would have a neutral and open opinion about folk dance. Even if they don't share the same enthusiasm, they understand what it is like to be enthusiastic about a thing. Sort of a "That's cool that you are really into a thing that you love. I'm like that about [insert enthusiasm of your choice]." But it makes me sad when I'm made to feel like it is a bad thing. I don't want to hear people tell me that I shouldn't want to dance more in the evening if I already danced all day long. I have so many feelings about this, but it is not so easy to put words to it. The words really help to sort through the feelings, so I'll keep thinking on it and perhaps come back with more later.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
A day in the life: Tobo edition
06:30. Alarm. Last week I was waking up before the alarm. This week, not so much… o'well.
07:10. Coffee needs to either be made or in preparation. Today Greg actually was awake at this time too because he had an early class to teach. Even though he is not a morning person, it is still good to have a bit of extra time where we are both home and both awake.
07:40. Leave home. Get on bicycle. Cycle to the train station. You know in Super Mario Kart where you could race against the ghost of your own driving from the previous game? Sometimes I wish I had that so I could compare my pace from one day to the next. Some days I feel strong and feel like I am riding fast. Some days I feel like all the wind is against me, and there are all the cars in the way never leaving a gap big enough for me to cross at that one intersection. But then I get to the train station, and I seem to end up arriving within the same couple minutes every day.
08:00. Arrive at train station. Search for bicycle parking. I have an ideal row where I would park. It is primarily the ideal so that I can actually find my bike again in the evening when I return to town. After my first day of class I got back to Uppsala and spent a solid five minutes wandering through the bikes looking for my Elegance 3, so now I try really hard to make a strong mental note of where I park every day.
This photo is over two years old, but that is me on my bike and I don't think things have changed much.
08:09. Train departs. I usually spend my time on the train reading, taking notes, or talking with others from the school who might happen to be commuting on the same train as me. This morning I read six (!) pages from a book I am reading that is written in easy Swedish.
08:38. Arrive in Tobo. From here I take my second bike (owning two bicycles is a sure sign of riches, let me tell you) to the institute. This is just a quick seven-ish minutes, including unlocking and re-locking time.
09:00. Class starts! We have two teachers, but usually only one of them is leading the course each day, and they alternate days according to a schedule. Today was an unusual day though, because we had both teachers, and also a guest who was a former student of the class who came to observe and will be teaching us tomorrow. When I moved to Sweden two years ago and took a beginners' course in Swedish folk dance, he was one of my teachers. Today I told him that it will be good to have a lesson with him where I actually understand some of what he is saying. Such a novelty!
Today we did a lot of observing of our two teachers dancing together, and taking note of different things and discussing those things. Then two pairs worked together, with one pair dancing behind the teachers and trying to mimic them exactly, and the other pair observing and giving feedback about what looked the same and what maybe didn't, or how to try to make it look the same. All in all this amounted to more sitting than a typical day, but it was a really interesting way to explore some details in the dance.
10:40. Fika! Stina baked chocolate cake!
11:00. Back to dancing/observing/discussing.
12:25. We were having some good discussions and no one realized that lunch had started ten minutes prior. We kind of have these ridiculously good meals every day, but I don't want to talk it up too much or Greg will be jealous of how good I'm actually eating every day. Today we had salad, coleslaw, and bowtie pasta with sauce.
13:10. Back to dancing/observing/discussing.
15:00. Fika! Still some cake left. Plus we've had baby oranges lately, but combining them with coffee is a little unfortunate.
15:20. Back to dancing/observing/discussing.
16:15. Class ends. I stay and dance for a little bit more. I really really like dancing after class, but so far only a couple of my classmates are enthusiastic about more dancing after a day full of dancing.
16:30. Wash my hands. Change back into civilian clothes. Take bicycle to train.
16:49. Take the train back to Uppsala. There seemed to be some issues with the trains today, so ours was on the opposite track from normal, and the northbound train was super delayed, but luckily no delay in my train:) I spend the train ride home taking notes from the day. Actually I wasn't even able to finish taking my notes, so I'll have to continue that on my train tomorrow morning.
17:25. This train always seems to get in a bit late. Depart train. Locate bicycle. Ride home. (bicycling during commuting times is madness)
17:50. Get home. Start laundry. Make a list of four items to get from the grocery store. Check email, realise that Greg is probably going to be home any minute. Greg arrives. We go to the store and buy eleven items. (Our little shop next door has had kale for the past few days! I couldn't be more excited, so we express our gratitude by buying large quantities! Which only explains one of the seven additional items, but I'm done blogging about the details of my grocery shopping for today.)
18:15. Return home. Wash dishes. Make dinner. [Have dinner made for me.] Eat dinner while watching youtube videos of Dancing with the Stars clips.
And so here is a thing that is not at all related to my day-in-the-life. Why the heck do they keep making the stars on Dancing with the Stars dance a waltz to music that is in beats of 4 and not 3?!?!? This makes me so super incredibly angry. I just cannot even! Don't try to claim that you are teaching these people about dancing. Music & dance. Dance & music. If you want the two to go together, there needs to be a connection between the two. Dancing a dance that is designed in beats of 3 to music in beats of 4 makes ZERO sense. Rant Rant Rant. You are doing a BAD job of teaching non-dancers about dance, DWTS!
Anyhow. The rest of my evening has been fairly uneventful, mostly revolving around laundry. And DWTS anger, apparently. And blogging this super narrative! My favorite part is that I included just one photo that was taken over two years ago. Better luck next time. Thanks for reading along!
07:10. Coffee needs to either be made or in preparation. Today Greg actually was awake at this time too because he had an early class to teach. Even though he is not a morning person, it is still good to have a bit of extra time where we are both home and both awake.
07:40. Leave home. Get on bicycle. Cycle to the train station. You know in Super Mario Kart where you could race against the ghost of your own driving from the previous game? Sometimes I wish I had that so I could compare my pace from one day to the next. Some days I feel strong and feel like I am riding fast. Some days I feel like all the wind is against me, and there are all the cars in the way never leaving a gap big enough for me to cross at that one intersection. But then I get to the train station, and I seem to end up arriving within the same couple minutes every day.
08:00. Arrive at train station. Search for bicycle parking. I have an ideal row where I would park. It is primarily the ideal so that I can actually find my bike again in the evening when I return to town. After my first day of class I got back to Uppsala and spent a solid five minutes wandering through the bikes looking for my Elegance 3, so now I try really hard to make a strong mental note of where I park every day.
This photo is over two years old, but that is me on my bike and I don't think things have changed much.
08:09. Train departs. I usually spend my time on the train reading, taking notes, or talking with others from the school who might happen to be commuting on the same train as me. This morning I read six (!) pages from a book I am reading that is written in easy Swedish.
08:38. Arrive in Tobo. From here I take my second bike (owning two bicycles is a sure sign of riches, let me tell you) to the institute. This is just a quick seven-ish minutes, including unlocking and re-locking time.
09:00. Class starts! We have two teachers, but usually only one of them is leading the course each day, and they alternate days according to a schedule. Today was an unusual day though, because we had both teachers, and also a guest who was a former student of the class who came to observe and will be teaching us tomorrow. When I moved to Sweden two years ago and took a beginners' course in Swedish folk dance, he was one of my teachers. Today I told him that it will be good to have a lesson with him where I actually understand some of what he is saying. Such a novelty!
Today we did a lot of observing of our two teachers dancing together, and taking note of different things and discussing those things. Then two pairs worked together, with one pair dancing behind the teachers and trying to mimic them exactly, and the other pair observing and giving feedback about what looked the same and what maybe didn't, or how to try to make it look the same. All in all this amounted to more sitting than a typical day, but it was a really interesting way to explore some details in the dance.
10:40. Fika! Stina baked chocolate cake!
11:00. Back to dancing/observing/discussing.
12:25. We were having some good discussions and no one realized that lunch had started ten minutes prior. We kind of have these ridiculously good meals every day, but I don't want to talk it up too much or Greg will be jealous of how good I'm actually eating every day. Today we had salad, coleslaw, and bowtie pasta with sauce.
13:10. Back to dancing/observing/discussing.
15:00. Fika! Still some cake left. Plus we've had baby oranges lately, but combining them with coffee is a little unfortunate.
15:20. Back to dancing/observing/discussing.
16:15. Class ends. I stay and dance for a little bit more. I really really like dancing after class, but so far only a couple of my classmates are enthusiastic about more dancing after a day full of dancing.
16:30. Wash my hands. Change back into civilian clothes. Take bicycle to train.
16:49. Take the train back to Uppsala. There seemed to be some issues with the trains today, so ours was on the opposite track from normal, and the northbound train was super delayed, but luckily no delay in my train:) I spend the train ride home taking notes from the day. Actually I wasn't even able to finish taking my notes, so I'll have to continue that on my train tomorrow morning.
17:25. This train always seems to get in a bit late. Depart train. Locate bicycle. Ride home. (bicycling during commuting times is madness)
17:50. Get home. Start laundry. Make a list of four items to get from the grocery store. Check email, realise that Greg is probably going to be home any minute. Greg arrives. We go to the store and buy eleven items. (Our little shop next door has had kale for the past few days! I couldn't be more excited, so we express our gratitude by buying large quantities! Which only explains one of the seven additional items, but I'm done blogging about the details of my grocery shopping for today.)
18:15. Return home. Wash dishes. Make dinner. [Have dinner made for me.] Eat dinner while watching youtube videos of Dancing with the Stars clips.
And so here is a thing that is not at all related to my day-in-the-life. Why the heck do they keep making the stars on Dancing with the Stars dance a waltz to music that is in beats of 4 and not 3?!?!? This makes me so super incredibly angry. I just cannot even! Don't try to claim that you are teaching these people about dancing. Music & dance. Dance & music. If you want the two to go together, there needs to be a connection between the two. Dancing a dance that is designed in beats of 3 to music in beats of 4 makes ZERO sense. Rant Rant Rant. You are doing a BAD job of teaching non-dancers about dance, DWTS!
Anyhow. The rest of my evening has been fairly uneventful, mostly revolving around laundry. And DWTS anger, apparently. And blogging this super narrative! My favorite part is that I included just one photo that was taken over two years ago. Better luck next time. Thanks for reading along!
Sunday, October 5, 2014
How my folk dance life looks
Lately I can't even grasp (or put words to) how good my everyday life is. All of it is just so so good. Even on the days when I am frustrated because I can't understand how I'm doing some step incorrectly. Or even when I understand it is incorrect, but can't figure out how to fix it. Or when I can't sleep because my mind won't let go of wrapping itself around a dance.
Even the negatives start to sound like positives.
I can't imagine many other things that could be as beautiful. To me, this is complete luxury.
A foggy morning at the train station in Tobo. Have I mentioned my school is in a very small town?
Paparazzi(:
My favorite is the two matching dance legs in the foreground.
Not Swedish, but still lovely to watch.
That's more like it(:
And a parting shot of the Tobo train station by night.
Even the negatives start to sound like positives.
I can't imagine many other things that could be as beautiful. To me, this is complete luxury.
A foggy morning at the train station in Tobo. Have I mentioned my school is in a very small town?
Paparazzi(:
My favorite is the two matching dance legs in the foreground.
Not Swedish, but still lovely to watch.
That's more like it(:
And a parting shot of the Tobo train station by night.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
On my new endeavor
Soon I will be taking up my new post as a full-time student in a Swedish folk dance course. I guess I don't have too much more to say on the topic, actually.
I am really super excited.
The culture of the folky world is sort of the opposite of the culture of the academic world. This was an important change I wanted to make for myself, and I seem to have done so to the extreme.
There are many things I'm looking forward to, and also a few things I am nervous about. I hope I can keep it a place where I commit to speaking mostly in Swedish and seldom in English. I haven't had many opportunities to make first-impressions while only speaking Swedish, and I'm curious how I will come across. Mostly I don't want people to think that my bad Swedish skills mean I am unintelligent.
To be honest I hope the course improves both my dance skills and my language skills. I am interested to see which has greater improvement after the year is over.
So that is the new endeavor. I was a physics post-doctoral researcher, and now I'm becoming a Swedish folk dance student. Ta Da.
I am really super excited.
The culture of the folky world is sort of the opposite of the culture of the academic world. This was an important change I wanted to make for myself, and I seem to have done so to the extreme.
There are many things I'm looking forward to, and also a few things I am nervous about. I hope I can keep it a place where I commit to speaking mostly in Swedish and seldom in English. I haven't had many opportunities to make first-impressions while only speaking Swedish, and I'm curious how I will come across. Mostly I don't want people to think that my bad Swedish skills mean I am unintelligent.
To be honest I hope the course improves both my dance skills and my language skills. I am interested to see which has greater improvement after the year is over.
So that is the new endeavor. I was a physics post-doctoral researcher, and now I'm becoming a Swedish folk dance student. Ta Da.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Musik vid Siljan
I have recently returned from Musik vid Siljan, which is a sort of folk festival that takes place over a week. Each night there is a different dance in a different location, all near Lake Siljan in Dalarna. It was my first time going to this event, and I couldn't be more pleased. I even took some photos, because I wanted to be able to show Greg some of the things I saw. Although none of the photos are of dancing, because this girl doesn't have time for taking photos when there is dancing to be had.
A group of people who are members of my same dance organization go every year and rent a centrally-located cabin. Here is the itinerary we followed:
Sunday: drive from Uppsala to Dalarna
Monday: Svabensverk
Tuesday: Vikarbystugedans
Wednesay: Bingsjöstämman
Thursday: Östbjörka stämman
Friday: Bodastämman
Saturday: drive home
My two favorite nights were Thursday and Friday. They weren't too big, and there was a lot of nice dancing to be had. Actually there was a lot of nice dancing on all of the nights. I was given some wise advice to resist the urge to dance until dawn every night until the final night. That way I would have enough energy to dance every night of the week, without feeling super tired and having sore muscles. So most nights were concluded at around midnight or 1am. On Friday we danced until 4am I think. It was awesome. Commence photos.
A group of people who are members of my same dance organization go every year and rent a centrally-located cabin. Here is the itinerary we followed:
Sunday: drive from Uppsala to Dalarna
Monday: Svabensverk
Tuesday: Vikarbystugedans
Wednesay: Bingsjöstämman
Thursday: Östbjörka stämman
Friday: Bodastämman
Saturday: drive home
My two favorite nights were Thursday and Friday. They weren't too big, and there was a lot of nice dancing to be had. Actually there was a lot of nice dancing on all of the nights. I was given some wise advice to resist the urge to dance until dawn every night until the final night. That way I would have enough energy to dance every night of the week, without feeling super tired and having sore muscles. So most nights were concluded at around midnight or 1am. On Friday we danced until 4am I think. It was awesome. Commence photos.
Isn't Dalarna beautiful? Every day we explored a new place, and every time I was surprised to find that, yes, Dalarna can get even more beautiful. I think my enthralment reached a peak when I saw noctilucent clouds on our drive home from the dance on Thursday night. I was skeptical that I was even seeing what I thought I was seeing, but after returning home I saw this notice about a noctilucent outburst. Wowza.
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Folk Festival, Round 2
I had the opportunity to go to Ransäterstämman for the second year in a row. I really embrace that time, being outside of the normal, living in a tent in the wilderness, and dancing until dawn. This year was just as wonderful as last, which I had written a bit about here, but I wanted to write down a few details specific to this year that I know I'll enjoy re-reading in the future.
I think my favorite moment of Friday night, and possibly (probably) of the whole festival was that at some point, I think even before the 1am break, one of the musicians said something (in swedish, so just consider this a loose translation, which might be totally wrong) that we are here in this place dancing and our roots go back to the hambo, so we should dance a hambo! In the big hall the hambo is Never danced, so that was a really special treat. I expected a lot of people to leave the floor due to a lack of interest, but the majority stayed. And the most amazing part was that it just worked so perfectly, despite how crowded the floor was. Or maybe because of how crowded the floor was. It was just a really lovely moment of togetherness, and it made me glad to see that the people in the big hall can enjoy a hambo too.
That night I managed to stay dancing until 4:30am (aka sunrise). When I got to my tent I made sure to use some facial cleansing wipes in lieu of a shower. Greg predicted that one cloth could basically clean an entire body, and he was right. I was still pretty warm from dancing, and also since it had gotten to be so late/early, I missed the super cold part of the night, and slept comfortably without freezing or overheating.
During the day on Saturday, there isn't any dancing so I just stayed in my tent, having an introvert's dream day of seeing no people for 8 hours. I spent my time reading and sleeping, and it was just so lovely. It also worked out perfectly that at just the time when I started to get really warm and think I needed to get out of my tent, a gentle rain started and cooled the air to a perfect temperature. Oh it was just such a nice sleepy, dreamy day.
I had a slow start to dancing on Saturday evening. Maybe I was slow to warm up to dancing, or maybe just slow to warm up to people again. Plus I don't always have the courage to ask people to dance. Most of the time I don't actually. I would feel bad if someone felt obligated to say yes and then ended up hating dancing with me. There are some obvious things a person can do in order to get invited to dance, and I usually take that approach. Unfortunately, it wasn't working super well. I think this was largely due to other dynamics (aka usually older men will just never ask younger women to dance, despite the fact that I wouldn't be hanging out in the dance hall with all the old people if I didn't want to dance with them).
Eventually I had to give up and head to the overcrowded dance hall, and on my way I ran into a friend who said he would dance with me. We agreed to go to the big hall and dance together a bit. That was good and helped get me out of my funk. And then somehow I just was in a mood to ask people to dance. And I just asked anyone I happened to see, the only criteria being that they were wearing dance shoes. I actually got consistently good results and was starting to have a better and better time.
Now for a twist in the story!
I went to the back of the hall to get some water, and as I was enjoying my water and thinking about who would be the next person I'd ask to dance, the guy next to me said something to me. I thought he was asking to dance, but then he was with a friend and he was trying to get the friend to dance with another girl who was standing on the other side of them, but the friend wouldn't. So this was a sort of funny and interesting situation, and I definitely had to switch to English to figure out what was going on.
It turns out that these two guys lived in the area and just stopped in to check it out and see what the stämman was all about. They were completely unaware of all things relevant to folkdancing in the present day world. It was really entertaining for me. I think they were both sort of shocked because it was just such a new and strange world to them.
The three of us ended up standing in the back talking for a long time, while they asked questions and tried to wrap their minds around what was happening. It was SO interesting to me to see an outsider's reaction. I did eventually get each of them to dance a tiny bit with me, despite the fact that they insisted it was 'not their thing!'
All in all, the weekend was just so lovely and enjoyable. I hope there will be many more in my future!
Friday, June 13, 2014
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?!
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
Friday, April 25, 2014
7QT - food, ballet, and needing new pants
1. Earlier this week I reached the epitome of Uppsala residency - I was about to put on a pair of pants when I realized the butt was nearly worn through from riding my bicycle. I'm a little sad that I can't wear the pants anymore because I really liked them, but I feel proud of myself too, like I earned a badge.
Then I spent some time reading about commuter pants, which are specially designed to look like normal pants you can wear at work, but are built with reinforced fabric in the bike-seat-regions. (The really cool ones also have some reflective material that is on the inside of the legs, so that it shows when you cuff your pants!) Unfortunately, most of the available commuter pants are made for men only. I don't know what is up with that. I'd like some commuter pants please. Although I'd probably have better luck getting the men's pants to fit than any option they could come up with for women…
2. I've gotten so much better about not letting myself get needlessly stressed out about work since my days as a PhD student. This week I had some things that absolutely had to get done by the end of the week, and I was not entirely convinced they would get done. Luckily they are done, and now that I am past this I realise that I was more than a little stressed about them.
Now I'm just basking in the post-task completion (and trying not to think too much about how this all sort of has to be repeated once I get more data). My current activities include things like cleaning my computer screen and installing updates on my computer, both of which I had been putting off for far too long. Having a fresh computer makes me feel so fresh by proxy(:
3. Even if I already said this, it is worth saying again. For Easter I made homemade Reese's eggs following this recipe from Natalie. The recipe was such a completely perfect match. Just so much deliciousness. I can't even make sentences about them. I also sprinkled a tiny bit of sea salt on the top, so I have to say, these were even More amazing than the original.
4. On my last day of my third decade I get to go to the ballet! Ballet fascinates and amazes me, and I'm really excited to see something other than The Nutcracker (which I love, don't get my wrong, especially the Swedish interpretation).
5. This reminds me that there is a new ballet documentary that is out or soon to be out called Ballet 422. I really really need to not forget to see this when I figure out if/when it is released.
6. All week I've been really lazy about cooking (a result of #2, being stressed about not having enough time to finish work tasks). Last night I decided I better eat something more healthy than frozen pizza. I had some salad greens already, so I decided I'd make some hummus to put on top, plus add some chopped carrots and tomatoes, and call it a meal.
However, when I got home I started to dread the amount of time it would take to actually make the hummus properly with the immersion blender. This is when I realized that I could just dump the chickpeas on my salad, and make a dressing from tahini + olive oil + lemon juice. Same ingredients as hummus, just a different presentation. It wasn't as tasty as hummus, but it was a passable substitute. Most importantly, I didn't feel like I was wasting any time with food prep. Some days are just not for prepping food.
7. This final take is made possible because I just started cooking dinner and decided to go ahead and let my onions and garlic rest after chopping and before cooking. I read about this on Kate's blog, and normally I'd enjoy doing more reading on the topic instead of blindly trusting, buuuutttt…. what have I got to lose? So my onions are resting!
Then I spent some time reading about commuter pants, which are specially designed to look like normal pants you can wear at work, but are built with reinforced fabric in the bike-seat-regions. (The really cool ones also have some reflective material that is on the inside of the legs, so that it shows when you cuff your pants!) Unfortunately, most of the available commuter pants are made for men only. I don't know what is up with that. I'd like some commuter pants please. Although I'd probably have better luck getting the men's pants to fit than any option they could come up with for women…
2. I've gotten so much better about not letting myself get needlessly stressed out about work since my days as a PhD student. This week I had some things that absolutely had to get done by the end of the week, and I was not entirely convinced they would get done. Luckily they are done, and now that I am past this I realise that I was more than a little stressed about them.
Now I'm just basking in the post-task completion (and trying not to think too much about how this all sort of has to be repeated once I get more data). My current activities include things like cleaning my computer screen and installing updates on my computer, both of which I had been putting off for far too long. Having a fresh computer makes me feel so fresh by proxy(:
3. Even if I already said this, it is worth saying again. For Easter I made homemade Reese's eggs following this recipe from Natalie. The recipe was such a completely perfect match. Just so much deliciousness. I can't even make sentences about them. I also sprinkled a tiny bit of sea salt on the top, so I have to say, these were even More amazing than the original.
4. On my last day of my third decade I get to go to the ballet! Ballet fascinates and amazes me, and I'm really excited to see something other than The Nutcracker (which I love, don't get my wrong, especially the Swedish interpretation).
5. This reminds me that there is a new ballet documentary that is out or soon to be out called Ballet 422. I really really need to not forget to see this when I figure out if/when it is released.
6. All week I've been really lazy about cooking (a result of #2, being stressed about not having enough time to finish work tasks). Last night I decided I better eat something more healthy than frozen pizza. I had some salad greens already, so I decided I'd make some hummus to put on top, plus add some chopped carrots and tomatoes, and call it a meal.
However, when I got home I started to dread the amount of time it would take to actually make the hummus properly with the immersion blender. This is when I realized that I could just dump the chickpeas on my salad, and make a dressing from tahini + olive oil + lemon juice. Same ingredients as hummus, just a different presentation. It wasn't as tasty as hummus, but it was a passable substitute. Most importantly, I didn't feel like I was wasting any time with food prep. Some days are just not for prepping food.
7. This final take is made possible because I just started cooking dinner and decided to go ahead and let my onions and garlic rest after chopping and before cooking. I read about this on Kate's blog, and normally I'd enjoy doing more reading on the topic instead of blindly trusting, buuuutttt…. what have I got to lose? So my onions are resting!
__________________________
The End & The Link-Up!
Friday, January 24, 2014
7QT: Are these starting to sound the same each week?
1. The Sushi Bazooka, alternately titled The Sushezi.
I don't have this or want this; I just think it is amazing.
2. I love the public library so much. Normally I like to plan out what books I'll look for before I actually go to the library. This way I can check off a book that I've actually been meaning to read. Greg often likes to just browse to see if he finds anything that looks interesting. Every time this happens, I end up finding books too (or sometimes I find books and he doesn't). For example, did you know that Lauren Graham (of Gilmore Girls fame) wrote a book?
The other great thing about library books is that I'm more motivated to actually read them. I don't like to leave a book unfinished, and I am not a huge fan of renewing the books (because obviously I pick the best books and other people are surely waiting for them). Also, I like to have the book I'm reading, plus one on hand for when I finish. Sometimes, I'll get a surprise email saying a book I was on the reserve list for is available for me, and those you have to pick up within a limited time and you do not have the option to renew. All this adds up to reading rates that I am quite satisfied with:) Thank you, Library.
3. I feel like I write about Anki, the electronic flash-card program, quite often. A thing I really like about it is that you can look at a nice display of graphs and stats. Normally I just look at the stats of individual 'decks' but the other day I checked out the stats for all the 'decks' and there were some interesting things there. I found out that on average, I am studying Swedish vocabulary for about an hour each week, and normally this is done with 20 minute sessions on three days of the week.
In my mind I have this goal of studying vocabulary for twice this amount of time. I really wish I would only skip one day of studying per week, but that never seems to work out for me. It is sort of a mixed bag of feeling glad that I am studying vocabulary for so much time (compared to the nothingness of the majority of my time living here) and feeling disappointed for not doing more. I can really tell that it makes a big difference in my Swedish skills, but somehow that doesn't give me the motivation to do more.
4. In Swedish you can sing an alphabet song to the same tune as the english alphabet song. There are three extra vowels at the end of the Swedish alphabet, so once you get the 'lmnop' section, there are really no pauses and you also never say 'and' before the last letter. Also, people of my generation do not include w in the Swedish alphabet, but when a 3 year old sings it, he includes it. Just some Swedish alphabet facts for your friday.
5. Here is a fun fact about the northern lights: If you are seeing a really faint glow in the sky, near the northern horizon, and you are wondering if you are seeing aurora or clouds, check to see if you can see a star through it. You can see stars through aurora, but clouds block out the stars.
6. The northern lights are called norrsken in Swedish, which sounds like norr-when but you have to imagine the person pronouncing the when like a person who has a strong h sound when they pronounce the word white. Norr means north, and the only other place I've seen 'sken' is in the word solsken, which means sunshine (sol = sun).
7. Folk dance tomorrow, and folk dance next saturday too! It feels lucky to be me!
I don't have this or want this; I just think it is amazing.
2. I love the public library so much. Normally I like to plan out what books I'll look for before I actually go to the library. This way I can check off a book that I've actually been meaning to read. Greg often likes to just browse to see if he finds anything that looks interesting. Every time this happens, I end up finding books too (or sometimes I find books and he doesn't). For example, did you know that Lauren Graham (of Gilmore Girls fame) wrote a book?
The other great thing about library books is that I'm more motivated to actually read them. I don't like to leave a book unfinished, and I am not a huge fan of renewing the books (because obviously I pick the best books and other people are surely waiting for them). Also, I like to have the book I'm reading, plus one on hand for when I finish. Sometimes, I'll get a surprise email saying a book I was on the reserve list for is available for me, and those you have to pick up within a limited time and you do not have the option to renew. All this adds up to reading rates that I am quite satisfied with:) Thank you, Library.
3. I feel like I write about Anki, the electronic flash-card program, quite often. A thing I really like about it is that you can look at a nice display of graphs and stats. Normally I just look at the stats of individual 'decks' but the other day I checked out the stats for all the 'decks' and there were some interesting things there. I found out that on average, I am studying Swedish vocabulary for about an hour each week, and normally this is done with 20 minute sessions on three days of the week.
In my mind I have this goal of studying vocabulary for twice this amount of time. I really wish I would only skip one day of studying per week, but that never seems to work out for me. It is sort of a mixed bag of feeling glad that I am studying vocabulary for so much time (compared to the nothingness of the majority of my time living here) and feeling disappointed for not doing more. I can really tell that it makes a big difference in my Swedish skills, but somehow that doesn't give me the motivation to do more.
4. In Swedish you can sing an alphabet song to the same tune as the english alphabet song. There are three extra vowels at the end of the Swedish alphabet, so once you get the 'lmnop' section, there are really no pauses and you also never say 'and' before the last letter. Also, people of my generation do not include w in the Swedish alphabet, but when a 3 year old sings it, he includes it. Just some Swedish alphabet facts for your friday.
5. Here is a fun fact about the northern lights: If you are seeing a really faint glow in the sky, near the northern horizon, and you are wondering if you are seeing aurora or clouds, check to see if you can see a star through it. You can see stars through aurora, but clouds block out the stars.
6. The northern lights are called norrsken in Swedish, which sounds like norr-when but you have to imagine the person pronouncing the when like a person who has a strong h sound when they pronounce the word white. Norr means north, and the only other place I've seen 'sken' is in the word solsken, which means sunshine (sol = sun).
7. Folk dance tomorrow, and folk dance next saturday too! It feels lucky to be me!
__________________________
The End and The Link-up!
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Malory visits Sweden
This year we had a visitor over the holidays, so we spent our vacation doing all sorts of adventurous and touristy Swedish things.
We prepared a (mostly) traditional Swedish Julbord for Christmas Eve (which we ate again on Christmas day) consisting of the following things: a Christmas ham, Christmas porridge, cheese, herring, crackers and bread, brussels sprouts, mashed sweet potatoes, beet salad, and a tomato salad.
On Christmas day we also baked gingerbread cookies, shaped as ninjas, satellites, Christmas-themed things, and animals.
We visited Stockholm a few times, which consisted of twelve hours of walking every time we went there. Here are some of the things we saw.
Those last two are of the Stockholm Opera House.
That's right.
If we leaned waaaaaaay forward we could see almost 58% of the stage! The right half of The Nutcracker Ballet was phenomenal. The mice were particular favorites, and also there was a sleepwalking dance which I found delightful. That was also the first ballet I've seen with men on pointe.
And train snacks, as seen below, became our tradition.
Another day we had a really lovely afternoon tea in Uppsala.
And yet another day we took the obligatory trip to gamla Uppsala. I really enjoyed how these photos taken during the early afternoon sunset turned out.
Thank you for coming to visit Malory! We had such a wonderful time exploring more of Sweden with you!
We prepared a (mostly) traditional Swedish Julbord for Christmas Eve (which we ate again on Christmas day) consisting of the following things: a Christmas ham, Christmas porridge, cheese, herring, crackers and bread, brussels sprouts, mashed sweet potatoes, beet salad, and a tomato salad.
On Christmas day we also baked gingerbread cookies, shaped as ninjas, satellites, Christmas-themed things, and animals.
We visited Stockholm a few times, which consisted of twelve hours of walking every time we went there. Here are some of the things we saw.
That's right.
If we leaned waaaaaaay forward we could see almost 58% of the stage! The right half of The Nutcracker Ballet was phenomenal. The mice were particular favorites, and also there was a sleepwalking dance which I found delightful. That was also the first ballet I've seen with men on pointe.
And train snacks, as seen below, became our tradition.
Another day we had a really lovely afternoon tea in Uppsala.
And yet another day we took the obligatory trip to gamla Uppsala. I really enjoyed how these photos taken during the early afternoon sunset turned out.
Thank you for coming to visit Malory! We had such a wonderful time exploring more of Sweden with you!
Thursday, November 14, 2013
folk music and dance
A few weekends ago, we were lucky enough to have two evenings in a row of wonderful folk dancing. I no longer even attempt to bring a camera with me, because I know that even if I'm not dancing, taking photos is the last thing on my mind. Plus there are loads of other people (seemingly) with cameras, so it is often the case that photos and videos show up on the interwebs shortly after any given event. And not to brag or anything, but I'm not terrible at google searching. Here are some of the fruits of my work.
I'm in the above video, although I think it took me several watch-throughs to notice. I'll leave my time of appearance a mystery in case we want to make a game of this, and I'll make a note at the bottom of this post for those who don't like guessing games.
And here are two more videos I found from the concerts that I wanted to see but did not get to. Youtube saves the day.
At midnight, a band that seems to be quite popular with the Swedes (or maybe with the young folks?) started playing. It was pretty much the point of the night where you think your smiles cannot get any bigger but somehow they do. When the music started there were easily four times as many people on the dance floor as earlier in the evening, which made for a crowded, but high-energy dance. I was quite fortunate to be dancing with someone who was very adept at handling a crowd.
Unfortunately, this is where I must admit that my googling skills have produced no video or photo from this time of the night, despite the fact that I am so sure I saw more cameras pulled out at that moment than at any other.
But I don't want to leave you without knowing what this band was about, so I'll include a video that was taken at a different time/location of one of my favorite tunes. Enjoy!
**2:50
I'm in the above video, although I think it took me several watch-throughs to notice. I'll leave my time of appearance a mystery in case we want to make a game of this, and I'll make a note at the bottom of this post for those who don't like guessing games.
And here are two more videos I found from the concerts that I wanted to see but did not get to. Youtube saves the day.
At midnight, a band that seems to be quite popular with the Swedes (or maybe with the young folks?) started playing. It was pretty much the point of the night where you think your smiles cannot get any bigger but somehow they do. When the music started there were easily four times as many people on the dance floor as earlier in the evening, which made for a crowded, but high-energy dance. I was quite fortunate to be dancing with someone who was very adept at handling a crowd.
Unfortunately, this is where I must admit that my googling skills have produced no video or photo from this time of the night, despite the fact that I am so sure I saw more cameras pulled out at that moment than at any other.
But I don't want to leave you without knowing what this band was about, so I'll include a video that was taken at a different time/location of one of my favorite tunes. Enjoy!
**2:50
Friday, October 25, 2013
7QT: language learning, dancing, and the existence of mint-fig ice cream!
1. Long live flashcards! I had been thinking a lot about how a key element to learning a language is learning vocabulary. And in high school when I was taking Spanish classes, the only way I passed my vocabulary tests was to study using flashcards. So then I was thinking that there must be a new 'modern' way of doing this, and that surely a flashcard program (or 'ap' (or is it app) as the cool kids say) must exist. Well well well. Much to my luck I had a couple to choose between. I was immediately sold on Anki when I saw a youtube video demonstration, which showed that decks are shareable. This means I can go to the Anki webpage and search Swedish/Svenska, and immediately have a deck of flashcards (more than one actually) ready to go. Amazing! Even more amazing is that someone has shared a deck of the vocabulary list from the textbook I am using in my class. Bonus!
2. Greg and I have two beers fermenting right now. The first is our Christmas beer, which is now in a secondary with vanilla and cinnamon, and I have such high hopes that those flavors will really be present in the end product. The second is a pale ale, which is our first hoppy beer and also our first beer that we designed (as opposed to following a recipe). I have some brewing photos to share as well, so at some point in the future I might write a post dedicated to the topic.
3. Tonight and tomorrow are full of Swedish folk dance! I am really super excited, especially since the concert/dance tonight is free. Even though I go to our regular dance session every Wednesday, I feel like it has been awhile since I've gone to a proper dance event. On Wednesdays we usually focus on learning a new dance, or trying to improve a particular aspect of a dance, or things like that. So while there is plenty of dancing, it is geared toward instruction and learning. The dance events are more like a party where you just go and dance all the different dances!
I really have to work on making my words about folk dance sound as enthusiastic as I feel about folk dance. Just adding an exclamation point doesn't really help much.
4. In two weeks Greg and I are spending a weekend in Denmark. For a dance weekend of course:) A Contra Dance Weekend! Basically Sweden has no contra dancing, but Denmark has quite a lot. So we will travel there for the weekend. Contra dancing has been in Denmark for 25 years now, which also means that the group of people who enjoy the dance have aged by about that much. It is often said that the popularity of contra dance sort of goes in waves, and sometimes it gets really popular with younger people and sometimes it sort of fades away. I guess in Denmark right now there is a big lack of young people, so we'll be bringing down the average age of attendees. If people only understood that they were missing one of the greatest contra dance bands and two of the greatest contra dance callers, they would regret not going. And for the record, I have no familiarity with the other band, so I can't claim that they are a favorite.
5. They make mint-fig ice cream here. Mint-fig! I found this out the way I find out about a lot of good things you can buy in Sweden - someone was reusing the container for their lunch yesterday. And clearly I have not been paying enough attention to the ice cream section of the grocery store, because if I had seen this I just would not have been able to pass it up. I cannot even imagine what this would taste like. My new goal in life is to find this ice cream.
6. Shall we talk about the weather then? It got below 0°C a couple days ago. The outside temperature likes to surprise me, although it is not too difficult to do so. Our apartment is always very warm now that the heat is on, and it never occurs to me that I should be expecting the outdoor weather to have changed drastically in just one day. I'm bored of talking about the weather now.
7. I found this really nice flickr photo stream called Beautiful Uppsala. Such a nice reminder that I really live in such a beautiful place. This also makes me want to take my camera out more. Plus I love seeing this city in all the different seasons. Here is a particular favorite (note this is not my photo, but clicking it will take you to the photo stream).
2. Greg and I have two beers fermenting right now. The first is our Christmas beer, which is now in a secondary with vanilla and cinnamon, and I have such high hopes that those flavors will really be present in the end product. The second is a pale ale, which is our first hoppy beer and also our first beer that we designed (as opposed to following a recipe). I have some brewing photos to share as well, so at some point in the future I might write a post dedicated to the topic.
3. Tonight and tomorrow are full of Swedish folk dance! I am really super excited, especially since the concert/dance tonight is free. Even though I go to our regular dance session every Wednesday, I feel like it has been awhile since I've gone to a proper dance event. On Wednesdays we usually focus on learning a new dance, or trying to improve a particular aspect of a dance, or things like that. So while there is plenty of dancing, it is geared toward instruction and learning. The dance events are more like a party where you just go and dance all the different dances!
I really have to work on making my words about folk dance sound as enthusiastic as I feel about folk dance. Just adding an exclamation point doesn't really help much.
4. In two weeks Greg and I are spending a weekend in Denmark. For a dance weekend of course:) A Contra Dance Weekend! Basically Sweden has no contra dancing, but Denmark has quite a lot. So we will travel there for the weekend. Contra dancing has been in Denmark for 25 years now, which also means that the group of people who enjoy the dance have aged by about that much. It is often said that the popularity of contra dance sort of goes in waves, and sometimes it gets really popular with younger people and sometimes it sort of fades away. I guess in Denmark right now there is a big lack of young people, so we'll be bringing down the average age of attendees. If people only understood that they were missing one of the greatest contra dance bands and two of the greatest contra dance callers, they would regret not going. And for the record, I have no familiarity with the other band, so I can't claim that they are a favorite.
5. They make mint-fig ice cream here. Mint-fig! I found this out the way I find out about a lot of good things you can buy in Sweden - someone was reusing the container for their lunch yesterday. And clearly I have not been paying enough attention to the ice cream section of the grocery store, because if I had seen this I just would not have been able to pass it up. I cannot even imagine what this would taste like. My new goal in life is to find this ice cream.
6. Shall we talk about the weather then? It got below 0°C a couple days ago. The outside temperature likes to surprise me, although it is not too difficult to do so. Our apartment is always very warm now that the heat is on, and it never occurs to me that I should be expecting the outdoor weather to have changed drastically in just one day. I'm bored of talking about the weather now.
7. I found this really nice flickr photo stream called Beautiful Uppsala. Such a nice reminder that I really live in such a beautiful place. This also makes me want to take my camera out more. Plus I love seeing this city in all the different seasons. Here is a particular favorite (note this is not my photo, but clicking it will take you to the photo stream).
_______________
As always, that is all from me for Friday Quick Takes; thanks for reading!
Friday, October 4, 2013
7QT - tiny cup photo, reading, dancing, and food (and working all night long)
- 1 -
Oh yeah.
Stylish Bruins players who must be thinking 'why is my cup so tiny?'
- 2 -
Alternatively, in the above photo, you might have noticed that nice outdoor wooden dance floor. I certainly did.
- 3 -
I'm not really proud to admit it, but right now I am reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Two years ago I tried to read these books, only I messed it up and accidentally read the second book thinking it was the first. As I was reading I figured out my mistake after realizing that the author was writing as though the characters had already been introduced to me. So then after reading book #2, I basically already knew what happened in book #1 and figured it wouldn't be as exciting, so I just went on to #3.
So now, two years later, I figured that since I couldn't even remember what happened in the books I did read, hopefully that would mean I had forgotten any spoilers to the first book. This way I could essentially start over. Except that once I started reading I sort of remembered at least one big outcome. Although I don't know how the outcome comes to be, and that almost seems to make it more thrilling? I don't know. Either way, I hate being so engaged by a book that is sort of a cheap thrill, but engaged I am.
Oh! My favorite part is that living in Sweden for a year has taught me some cultural context which I never would have picked up on before. For example, when the guy goes to live in a cabin that is not very well equipped, the author writes that there was not even a cheese slicer with the kitchen appliances. The essentiality of the cheese slicer to Swedes is a thing worth knowing.
- 4 -
Here are some thoughts on dancing, because a week wouldn't be complete without it. (Except for last week, because I had to miss dance to go to my first Swedish lesson.)
At the weekly dance sessions, I would classify several regulars as extremely good dancers. It is really nice to be able to dance well with someone, and it is interesting to see how certain dances work better with different people. When I first started dancing I was told that the best dancers will make you feel like you are doing everything right without any help from them. So when I end up dancing with certain people (ahem, like perhaps the person doing the instruction for the dance) I automatically know that if things aren't working out, it is really most likely to be my fault. Sometimes it is easy to start thinking that I've got the hang of a thing, and then we rotate and I start stepping all over the next person. Plus, even before the dance starts, just knowing that my partner is far better than I am makes me nervous, which causes me to be less good than I ought to be.
So, that is an interesting thing that I like to think about.
- 5 -
Have you ever bought a vanilla bean? I just bought the first vanilla bean of my life. Technically I got a pack of two. I should take a photo maybe, because they came in this long skinny tube. I feel like I just joined an elite club. The vanilla bean buyers. You should seriously try it.
- 6 -
Today is the Swedish National Cinnamon Bun day - kanelbullens dag. While still a fairly young holiday (introduced in 1999), it is certainly much loved by the people.
- 7 -
I'm running out of topics here, so let's talk about work. I am finally one of those physicists who uses a computer program that takes hours upon hours to run, so I can set it running, and just walk away (or go to sleep or whatever) and then I can brag about how I worked All Night Long! Seriously. 6pm last night until 6am this morning were incredibly productive.
- The End and The Linkup -
Friday, August 30, 2013
And then there was a nun dancing
So. Our hotel overlooks this square, and last night, for the second night since we have arrived, there was entertainment in the square. From what we can tell it is all done by the youth group from the church that is just outside of the shot on the left side of the above photo. At church on Sunday they led the music, so you see, we know it is the same people. So the night's entertainment starts with the marching band, pictured above. There is a priest playing a trumpet there. Probably their best hit is "When the Saints Go Marching In". On Monday night, they opened and closed with that one.
Last night there was more variety to the show, with several different people singing or playing or dancing. The crowd was slowly drifting away before the last performance of the night started: a nun doing interpretive dance. Nuns are amazing.
Plus we had a great view from our balcony of the nun dancing, and her shadows were pretty picturesque. So with that, I shall join the Theme Thursday: Shadow photo linkup.
Friday, July 19, 2013
7QT - I wasn't expecting the ducks!
- 1 -
I spy...
- 2 -
"When is ikea the least busy?"
That is what I googled yesterday. That led me to this nonsense. Then I realized that Swedish shopping habits don't really resemble US shopping habits, so the googling is fruitless unless I translate to Swedish, which would probably be more effort than just sucking it up and going to the ikea.
- 3 -
And also this. Horsemeat scandal. ruh roh.
- 4 -
Yesterday I had a headache, and I was thinking that it was the first non-caffeine-related headache I had had in as long as I could remember. Then this morning I went to get coffee and it came out of the machine with no coffee, just water and milk. The coffee cartridge needed to be replaced, which could very well mean that yesterday's coffee was a reduced version as well.
And then I thought, let that be shared with the world via my blog.
- 5 -
Have you heard of Humans of New York? I just read about it on another blog, and I have quickly fallen in love. I mean, honestly, this lady? "I wasn't expecting the ducks!" is going to be my new life motto.
- 6 -
My 2013 book count is on track. About a month ago, I discovered that I was way behind if I wanted to even approach my book and page number counts from previous years. Thanks to Anne of Green Gables, I have now doubled those numbers, which puts me back on track. Plus I still have the two Chronicles of Avonlea books to read. Plus I love the public library, so I am really motivated to finish the books I currently have checked out so that I can go get some new ones.
- 7 -
For the past two weeks there have been no more than 5 people in the office (normally we are around 25). In Sweden, it is very very typical for people to take the entire month of July (also maybe some or all of June and August) off of work for holiday. At first it seems so strange for every single person to be on holiday at the same time. But recently someone was describing to me how it is a pretty good system actually. At an office in the US, where people are taking vacation whenever they please, it can often happen where there is at least one person missing every time there is a meeting, which can delay decisions or whathaveyou. In Sweden, if everyone is off at the same time, then that just doesn't happen.
- The End -
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Lovely summer evenings
On Wednesday evenings in the summer there is folk dancing in "Old" Uppsala. The past two Wednesdays have provided us with perfect weather for an evening of music and dance. Also, there are waffles. This week I did even better than last because I brought my picnic blanket, so I could claim a sunny spot on the grass. I didn't expect to know anyone this week, since many from my group are at a special dance thing further north. But there were still a handful of people, so I got to do some nice dances without stepping into the world of asking strangers to dance. A perfect way to spend a summer evening, if you ask me:)
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Fantastic Folk Festival Fun
Over the weekend I went with the folk dance group to Ransäterstämman. One of the others told me he was surprised to see me there since usually the foreigners don't invest in a full weekend of dancing. I'm all dedication. And gladly so! The weekend was filled with amazing dancing, and spectacular music, and beautiful weather, and lovely camping, and a freezing river. I borrowed such a great green ridge tent. It did rain a bit on Saturday, and the tent held up wonderfully. Also, across the river there was a pasture with cows and apparently it is mating season, so those cows were making a lot of loud calls to each other at really early times of the day.
The dance was held at the Ransäter Homestead, and such a great little homestead it was! There were always plenty of little packs of musicians playing in every spot you could find. I never took any photos during the busier times, because I was plenty occupied with dancing or watching concerts. I just had to take a photo of that one sweet couple who was playing though. I danced to their music at least three different times throughout the weekend, and I was told that they show up every year. The last two dance photos show the inside dancers and the outside dancers who were listening to the music and trying to teach/learn the basic dance steps.
Each evening the dancing started at about 6pm, and then it continued until past the sunrise. It was really nice to be dancing and having it get darker and darker and then start to get lighter and lighter. I've never experienced a summer at such a high latitude. The full night of twilight is quite surreal.
On one of the evenings at 2am, one of the most popular Swedish folk bands started playing. Often in the dance halls the music was done by a playlist where anyone could sign up. I had been told that sometimes the big musicians will sign up using pseudonyms just to surprise the dancers. I was never checking any lists since I don't know any of the bands yet, so if it was a surprise that MP3 was playing, the word sure spread fast. The musicians were so super amazing, and the dance floor was completely packed.
Lastly, because I'm really good at the internet, I'll include some items that I found on the web.
(My fame and glory starts at about 00:28 (looks like just walking, but I promise, it is dancing).)
(My fame and glory starts at about 00:28 (looks like just walking, but I promise, it is dancing).)
I found some really great photos on this blog, and I am 99% convinced that I am in this photo (dancing with the tall guy in the white t-shirt who is a fellow philochoros dancer).
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