The Bird Section at the Zoo

I live in the bird section at the zoo. I go to bed hearing HUNDREDS no...THOUSANDS of birds. At first, when the snow was melting I was grateful to hear the chirps of birds. It means spring. Now I just want them to shut up! They chirp untill 10pm, when it gets dark. They start chirping at 5am, when it gets light! I've really never heard so many birds in my life chirping at once. I think of the movie "Birds". And not only is it birds chirping, it's owl's hooting, woodpeckers pecking and bumble bee's constantly buzzing around my head! (I know bumble bee's aren't birds, but they are big enough to me to be considered a bird!) Either way, I'm still grateful it's spring and I love sitting outside with the sun on my face. But once the bee's start really buzzing around I go in! Fredrik thinks it's ridiculous, but I am terrified of bumble bee's! I even kicked on the other day and of course, ran away like a little girl.

Aside from the birds and bee's there is other amazing wildlife going on here. We have 3 deers that live right behind my house in the forest. They are always walking around eating and stuff. There is something growing here called "vitsippor" which is White Cyprus. It grows everywhere. It's gorgeous. Along with "påsklilja" which is Easter lillies and of course, Crocus is growing everywhere. It's really amazing the amount of things that grow out of the forest ground.

This volcano situation, I think, is starting to get under control. Our local airport, Landvetter, was closed and is now open, I think. They close and open every other day due to the Icelandic volcano that won't stop erupting and is apparently going to erupt for 2 years of something like that. It doesn't really affect me, other than if there is an emergency, it might be a problem for me to get home or somebody to come here. So drive safe and use all other safety precotions!

This weekend, I have another 3 day weekend, like last week. It's SO nice to have 3 day weekends. I'm still putting in my 25 hours a week though. So hmm, without those 3 day weekends I'd be working overtime! It was a huge change going from 45-50 hours a week to 25. I don't mind it, but it will be nice to go back to a regular work schedule.

Sorry for this boring blog just about everyday life. I have been a bit uninspired to write about "Swedish" things, mostly because I've been here for 9 months and the newness has definitely worn off. Plus, there isn't much going on here. Once summer rolls around I'll have a ton to write about. The weirdo sun never going down, Midsummer and other great Swedish summer things. Leaving here July 27th, will be very hard. Especially going from the beautiful Swedish summer to the awful Kansas summer. But I will definitely be more than ready to be home!

The Swedish thing(s) of the day is my shoe rack and recycling containers.

I know this seems dumb, but in Sweden it's a big deal. Everybody has a shoe rack just like this one. Not everybody has one all to themselves, like me, but none the less, you must have one. Also, everybody MUST recycle. It's the law! Some houses are much more organized about it. Some are not. But, you must do it. The green is compost, the grey is non recycle items, and the red is recycle items such as metal, large plastic, newspaper, cardboard and glass. I really enjoy recycling and in the long run, it's not much more work than taking a huge, full trash bag out everyday! Plus, it's kind of fun to throw all the stuff in the right bin at the recycling station, except glass, it's really loud and breaks when you throw it in. ;) And yes, that's a pizza box sitting next to the red can. My cans are a little bit smaller than the average household. ;)

The Swedish word of the day is "recycle" which is "återvinna" and is pronounced "ohatervinna". In Swedish, if there are 2 of the same letter next to each other, you say it a little bit faster. It's like you emphasize the "i" and say the "nna" much faster. I really like the way it sounds, especially when Fredrik does it. It's one of the things that makes Swedish sound kind of sing songy. :)

Happy Earth Day från Sverige! :)