Every day in Sweden so far has brought its own set of challenges and rewards. I set out each day with a to do list, and by the time I get back to my flat and prepare a meal or put things away and tidy up, I am wiped. I believe my body is registering the calibration to this new environment. A truly lovely environment to find myself in, but continual work nonetheless.
As it turns out, international students had to buy tickets to attend the majority of the orientation sessions in Lund and around Scania on official Arrival Day. That day, I barely made it to the registration after my dental emergency and consequently didn’t have the wherewithal to stand in the long line to figure out which sessions to attend, then plunk down more money to do so.
So, I have decided to make my own orientation schedule and started by buying my bus and rail pass for a month’s travel in Sweden. A bit steep, and the travel/ticket app is in Swedish, but I decided to jump in! And so far so good; I haven’t ended up anywhere I didn’t intend to go - yet! As I make my way to various destinations between Lund, Malmö and beyond, I am finding that I am retaining words relating to travel and location. I am trying desperately to absorb spoken Swedish from those around me, but this is proving difficult as so many in this region are speaking various mother tongues from around the globe. I will see how this compares to my Stockholm trip this coming week!
Another major calibration topic is food. Many of you know that I cook almost everything I eat. This started for health reasons, and has turned into one of the main joys in my life. I even started writing a cookbook from the furiously scribbled recipes I conjured before leaving the US. It is my hope to continue the cookbook project supplemented by inspiration I pick up here in Sweden. So far I am challenged to find the equivalent ingredients here in Lund, but am determined to search out every market until I understand what I have to work with, both familiar and foreign! Accordingly, the other category of written Swedish that seems to be sticking are food related words.
An example from a recent IKEA shopping trip. I was starving, so I went ahead and bought it, translated the label, then ate some. “Healthy” or “fresh” mousse from cottage cheese, almonds and lingonberry. Not too bad for a cafeteria treat!
And for us Oregonians who are used to going into the market and buying the little packages of fresh herbs, here is the interesting Swedish equivalent. It’s a plant that hangs out in your window until you have eaten it alive! You can see I have already started using the “organically farmed sage”, and it will make it’s way into my sage and wild blueberry breakfast sausage this weekend.
Lastly for this post, and I’m glad to say a first for my cookbook, are some ridiculously simple and delicious no-bake peanut butter cookies. Pretty good for my first go!
