Monday, December 27, 2010

mellandagarna

the middle days. In Sweden, there are HUGE sales this time of year. The days in the middle of Christmas and New Years. So Fredrik did some research and we went out and bought ourselves a new LED suuuuper flatscreen TV! We love it! We put it in the living room for now, so everybody can enjoy it! Fredrik's dad says we can leave it behind once we find an apartment, though!

Speaking of apartments, Saturday Fredrik and I did some research and found some nice places, emailed the people, and I was feeling really good about it. One of them is already given to somebody else and the other one we haven't heard from. It's REALLY frustrating! We just want our own place to live! But here in Göteborg there just aren't enough places to live compared to the amount of people who need places. It really sucks, when we can afford to live on our own and DEFINITELY want to live on our own. Oh well, just have to be patient and maybe something great is headed our way.

Christmas was great. We celebrated Julafton at Maria and Pontus house, Christmas day at our house and Annandag at our house. Yesterday I made a turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, corn, cornbread and Kansas dirt cake. It was delicious! I love making that food! I know the Swedes usually aren't too impressed and usually like to stick to their traditional food, but it sure does make me happy to eat it!

We don't really know what we are doing for New Years yet. Last year we went to Anton and Sofias, and I think we might do that again! I hope! It's really fun!

Hope you all have a great New Year! 2011, hopefully, has great things in store for you and me! I know 2010 was wonderful! ;)

The Swedish words of the day are 'gott nytt år' which means 'happy new year' and is pronounced 'gott nytt ohr'.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

a person again!

with a person number! I have been waiting on my Swedish person number and it finally came yesterday! This is basically Sweden's version of a social security number, but it's WAY MORE IMPORTANT! You have to have this number to...breathe!! It really is quite an important number and now that I have it, it opens a lot of doors for me. I opened a bank account last night, and I will be able to get my contract from work, etc. So I was quite relieved to get it!

Not much is going on around here. Just anticipating Christmas! I have been working out HARDCORE because I know there are at least 3 days in a row I won't work out. It will most likely take away all the work I have done in the past week! I have lost 4 kilos! Which is about 8 pounds! I can hardly believe it! I hope it continally goes down and isn't just some first week water weight thing. ;)

I'm getting very excited for Christmas. It's so fun because we actually get to celebrate 3 days! Julafton, Christmas Day and Annandag (boxing day). Annandag is my day! We get to make turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and all that good Thanksgivingy stuff! I think Swedish Christmas food is...ok. But it isn't Christmas food to me! I need my turkey!

The Swedish word of the day is 'kalkon' which means 'turkey'.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Mer jul ge mig

give me more Christmas! Cause I love it! Mer Jul, is one of my favorite Swedish Christmas songs. It's a little creepy sounding, but it's so good!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23gu1Oxw6gA

Give it a listen!

Today we decorated our fat Christmas tree! I've only had a real Christmas tree a few times in my life, and I really like having one. It's so fun to have a different shaped tree every year! Last year we had a pretty skinny tree, this year it's nice and fat!

Things are starting to get really Christmasy around here. The snow is falling, it's REALLY cold and the shortest day of the year is a few days away! The sun will go up around 9;30 and go down around 3 and the sun only goes a little bit above the horizon the whole day. It makes for a very short day!

This week we will celebrate Julafton (Christmas eve day) with Fredrik's family at his sister's new house. In Sweden, you celebrate on Julafton not Christmas day! It's weird, but just means we get to celebrate 2 days! And we get to eat a Julbord (Swedish Christmas table) and traditional American Christmas Day food! Of course, I always make Fredrik watch The Grinch on Christmas eve and A Christmas Story on Christmas day!

AND Friday at work went great! I got to know some of my fellow teachers and get to know the school a little bit better. We did a lot of lesson planning and I learned about some of the things they do in the school. There are so many interesting people working there! People from all over the world! Poland, China, England, Mexico, another American, a lot of Swedes and a lot of Swedes who have lived abroad. It's so interesting to met people who have experienced life aboard, as well! Hearing other peoples opinions about America is also an interesting thing. Most of the time it's pretty postive! Which is nice to hear, because as an American, we often hear a lot of crappy crap about our country!

I want to wish all my readers a HAPPY HOLIDAY WEEK! This is one of the best weeks of the year! Leading up to Christmas is almost better than Christmas itself. It's such a great time to smile a little extra, hug your hubby a little more, appreciate what you have and be excited for what you might get! It also is a time for me to REALLY appreciate my home and my family. I miss them so much, so so very much!

The Swedish word of the day is 'familj' which means 'family' and is almost like we pronounce it! Faimly is universal. :)

Thursday, December 16, 2010

you know you're out of shape

when you are REALLY sore after 2 workouts! I used to work out everyday and go about my day like nothing happened. These past 2 days, yikes! I'm really really sore! Holy cow. But, it feels good! It's that good kind of sore. I know my body is shaping back up!

Tomorrow is the teacher work day, so I'll be working out at night. We will see how that goes. I usually get to the gym about 10am and it's very empty and around 12 is when it starts picking up, and that's when I leave. So tomorrow, we will see how the gym looks at 6pm!

Last night I made some snickerdoodles (not very smart when you are trying to get into shape)! Tonight we are going to just relax, eat cookies, and watching The Santa Clause and Home Alone. I'm excited! Tomorrow night is Fredagsmys, so we will have another cozy night. Fredrik is REALLY tired at the end of the week, getting up at 4:30am can do that to ya! So we will watch Home Alone 2 and Christmas Vacation! I am excited to watch all my movies! Still waiting on A Christmas Story, but I don't need that until Christmas day! ;)

The Swedish word of the day is 'muskel' which means 'muscle'.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

healthy and sweaty

that's the name of my new gym! My wonderful husband bought me a year membership there! In Swedish it's actually Friskis & Svettis. It's ridiculous for a woman to WANT a gym membership, but I do! I look back at pictures of myself from 2 and a half years ago and I was in the best shape of my life, and I owe it to my gym! It was a place I could go and be inspired to run, walk, work out and listen to some good music. Everybody else is doing the same thing in a gym, so I find it really inspiring! And when you are paying for it, you better go! I'm not necessarily out to lose a whole bunch of weight, I just want to feel better about myself. I want to put an outfit on and FEEL rockin' in it! So today will be my first work out day, and hopefully it will just be more and more after that!

Friday I will go to the school and partake in a teacher study day. It will be a good day to talk to the other 2 teachers in the classroom and get a lot of info on the kids and the way our classroom will run. I'm really excited! A little detail about what I'll be doing. I'll be working at a school that is about a 45 minute bus ride from our house. It's a bilingual school, so my job is to only speak English. The other 2 teachers are Swedish speaking. The kids speak both languages, and it is my job to get them to speak English more and more. My group will only consist of 4-5 year olds. So it's right up my alley! From the sound of it, my job in the classroom will be in charge of the academics. The other 2 teachers are more interested in craft and art projects. So I will be making sure the kids are learning math, language and science. Whew! That's a big responsibility! But, I am so excited! I haven't really taught or been in a classroom for almost a year and a half, so I AM READY!

I also forgot to mention some big news! The 'adventsmys' we went to on Saturday at Hanna and Andreas' house was actually a wedding party! They got married earlier on Saturday and surprised us all! To be honest, here at our house, we were expecting it! But, it was still fun to be 'surprised'. In Sweden, marriage is much different than in the US. It's very normal for a couple to 'elope' and then tell their family later. I'm not sure why Swedes don't make SUCH a huge deal out of marriage as we do.

Also speaking of Hanna, she is expecting a baby in April, so I have taken it apon myself to throw her a babyshower! They don't have them in Sweden! I was like ¨so how do you get lots of presents!?¨ So there are a few things I think I need to introduce to my new family! Thanksgiving and babyshowers! So Fredrik's other sister, Maria, and I will be in charge of a babyshower, probably in early March. What are some of your favorite babyshower games? I want it to be fun and a very typical babyshower.

The Swedish word of the day is 'gift' which means 'married' and is pronounced 'yift'. Unfortunately, this word also means 'poison', I'm not even kidding.

Monday, December 13, 2010

hot dog hot dog hot diggity dog

I'm feeling so good! I got the job! I start working January 10th! I work from 8:30 to 5 everyday. So a full time job! Yea!

I'm also happy because I found the " ' " on this crazy Swedish keyboard! I've been using the " ´ " which is actually what you put over an " a "! Gosh, it's been a great day! ;)

See what I mean, I need a job, I'm slowing losing my mind!

The Swedish word of the day is 'arbete' which means 'work'.

Friday, December 10, 2010

sweetie pie

that´s what my husband is! He read my blog and fixed his computer so it isn´t so difficult to type on! He bought a new laptop less than a year ago and it was already on the fritz! The keyboard was typing letters it wasn´t supposed to and the charger wouldn´t charge! She he ordered new parts and fixed it all up! What a great guy! So I guess I´ll be expected to update a lot more! ;)

I don´t have REALLY exciting things to write about at this moment! I did adopt Fridays as my clean the house day! That´s pretty...fun. I guess! Incluedes recycling, vacuuming, dusting, laundry, dishes and opening the door to our bedroom, no matter how cold it is. I get all creeped out thinking about the element being on and no fresh air ever getting in! Haha! Although it feels great to have a clean house, for some reason, it makes me miss my mom and sister! Friday´s were our day to do stuff, since Emily had work off. I really miss having a glass (or bottle) of wine with my mom and sister.

Fredrik has been working 3 to 10 pm, he is here untill 1 in the afternoon. It has actually been really great. We get to spend alone time together and get a lot of stuff done! He´s such an amazing husband and helps me out so much! The only problem is he comes home at 11:30 pm, and neither of us are a big fan of that! But who knows, his schedule changes every week! Sometimes mixing it up is kind of interesting! But once I start working (hopefully REALLY soon), the night working won´t be so nice, we will never see each other!

Tomorrow we have ´adventmys´with Fredrik´s family, at his sister, Hanna´s, house. (that´s a crazy sentence). Everybody in Sweden celebrates advent. It´s not really a religious thing. It´s more about counting down until Christmas and lighting some pretty candles! It will be a lot of us in their apartment having lots of yummy food and coffee!

Also! 3 of my Christmas movies arrived! I watched Elf today with Fredrik as we ate breakfast (fried egg sandwiches with bacon! YUM!) I have to carefully spread out my viewing, I could very well watch all my movies in one day! I love Christmas movies! It takes me back to childhood and just makes me happy! The Grinch and A Christmas Story, of course, will be saved for Christmas eve and Christmas day! Right now I am listening to my Christmas playlist which includes some Manheim Steamroller, Santa Baby, and all those great songs that get me in the spirit! Good cleaning music, too! (did anybody notice I used an exclimation mark at the end of every sentence in that paragraph? jeeze).

The Swedish word of the day is ´älskling´which means ´honey´and is pronounced ´elskling´. This word is funny because sometimes it sounds like my name! So if somebody calls their spouse this to get their attention, sometimes I accidently answer!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Yeaa!

Just got a call from the school and I am going to meet them Monday at 9;30 am! That has to be a great sign! I´m really excited about it! Once I have a job contract it will be much easier for us to find an apartment! Hold your thumbs!

Yesterday I went to Ullared with Fredrik´s sister Hanna and Andreas. Hanna had just came from her ultrasound! The baby looks great! It never fails to amaze me to see an ultrasound picture! It´s just incredible there is a baby in there!

Anywho, Ullared is a huge version of Wal-mart. Only in Sweden, they only have one! So people come from all over the country to go there! It was really crowded yesterday! We were there for 4 hours! I got a lot of Christmas shopping done and got a few extra things for myself and Fredrik. My big buy of the day was picture frames! I bought 13 of them! Picture frames are really expensive here, unless you go to Ullared, you get them for a fourth of the price! I had a lot of frame! Including my lovely Montessori birds pictures from my dear friend! :)

Today I will finish the rest of our Christmas shopping with my friend Sofia, that should be fun! Spending some time with a girlfriend! Fredrik has been working the 3-10pm shift, so I like to fill my nights with something fun!

The Swedish word of the day is ´handla´which means ´shopping´ and is pronounced ´hahndlah´

Friday, December 3, 2010

chillaxin'

Yup, that's what I have been doing!

My interview went really well last week. They invited me back to obsere the next day, now I am waiting a few days for them to get their January staff all worked out, and they are inviting me back to meet with them again. So that feels like a good sign. It's hard to wait so much while my hubby is going to work at 4:30 am everyday! He's amazing!'

So I've been baking, cooking, cleaning, being a house wife! Ha!

We are busy starting this weekend. We are helping his sister and her boyfriend move into their new house. This should be interesting, as it is negative 10 degrees celcius and there is a lot of snow on the ground! We'll see how it goes. Then every weekend till Christmas and even after, we are busy! I like it that way! Especially this time of year!

Although I miss home like crazy, it feels good to be back!

Blogs will be few and far between till I get my new laptop. And who knows when that will be! Without a job, it's certainly hard to save money! And Fredrik's computer is a pain in the butt to write on! So I'm sorry, hopefully I can keep you entertained with what I got!

The Swedish word of the day is 'väntar' which means 'waiting' and is pronounced 'ventar'.