Thanks for all the “happy birthdays”. I had a great day! It started out early in the morning. Sam sounded a bit disappointed when he asked me “are you getting up NOW?” and I said yes…. after hitting snooze twice already. Sam got up fast and while I was getting ready in the bathroom he was getting breakfast ready. He even lit candles. He walked with me to the bus that I take to work every morning.
When I got hom from work he had been busy all day long. He was doing about 5 loads of laundry while darting from store to store through the town of Jönköping trying to figure out dinner. When I got home he had set our table. It was great. About 7 different bowls of veggies, 5 different meats including shrimp, 5 different cheeses, and 4 or 5 sauces. In the center of the table was our Raclette table grill. He had brought out the cloth napkins and bought 2 different bouqets of flowers. Surprize…. my brother his wife and their children came over too with cake and gifts.
We had such a great time together!
I am in Stockholm this week because my next set of classes do not start until Monday. Mirjam is coming up on Friday, I am very excited! We were apart for too long this last spring. Anyway, I have been hanging out with Mirjams dad and last night we took a walk through Stockholm so I thought I would post a couple pics of Swedens capital city.
So I discovered another difference with Swedish culture. People in Sweden love using cell phones for everything! They do not talk too much on them but they use SMS (text messaging) pretty constantly. I took the bus to Stockholm today and was surprised that you can just buy your bus ticket with your cell phone. After you buy the ticket, you get a text message with a confirmation number. Then, when you get on the bus you just show the bus driver your cell phone and thats it! Pretty simple! I also heard that many Swedes pay income taxes using their cell phones! Now that is brilliant! Apparently the government just sends you a text message on what they figure you owe and you decide if it sounds right and text them back!
One thing that I love about this move is finding all of the little differences between our cultures. For instance, pizza in the USA is quite different than pizza in Sweden.
The pizza that I had growing up was the Chicago inspired deep dish, the kind that had the long strings of cheese that followed the slice from the box to your plate. 1 or 2 pieces nearly put you into cardiac arrest, but it was SO worth it!
Sweden loves pizza! We have many immigrants here from Italy, 
Greece and the Middle East. Consequently we seem to have lots of pizzarias! Here in Jönköping, we have one on just about every block! Pizza here is baked in giant ovens and is very thin. It is so thin that it is very easy to eat an entire pizza by yourself. I think that is the idea anyway.
Toppings!
Here is where things get a little interesting…It is common in Sweden to have 80-100 different pizzas on the menu. My eyes were awakend to a whole new world of food experimentation. Of course the classics are here too… pepperoni, ham and pineapple ect. But why try those when you can have…
Pizza #44 The Cyrus: mushrooms, onion, pineapple, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, FRENCH FRIES, kebab sauce and kebab meat
Pizza #47 Milano: chicken, banannas, curry
Pizzas #50-56 all have some variation with shrimp, mussles, and TUNA FISH?
Pizza #18 Amadaus: Ham, bacon, eggs, onions
Pizza #29 The Batman: Bannanas, Mandarins, beef fillet, curry and Gravy. Mmmm…Gravy…
Please do not take this the wrong way. The pizza here is amazing! You do not HAVE to order a tuna and gravy pizza. They just want you to know that they will gladly make one for you if you get the craving.
When I first moved here my Swedish was pretty rough and I ordered the wrong pizza by mistake. So if you are wondering… sour cream actually tastes pretty good on a pizza!
My husband looked at me with part shock and part desparation. Pleading eyes begging me “NO”!
I bursted out laughing. We were just taking a Sunday stroll in the sunshine in Jönköping talking about life, finances, future, jobs, classes, and some more finances. We were talking in Swedish and I asked my husband “Du får kolla valutakursen”. This is when Sam asks confused and scared “I have to take ballet classes….(pause)… I have to watch ballet classes” he corrects with more desperation in his voice. I laugh even more. Of course what I was asking was for him to check the currency rate. Kurs in Swedish can be either rate or course/class……
Life in a new culture and a new laungage can be very funny if you allow it to be!