Sweden on Kelvin Nicholson

Glögg

Thu, 16 Dec 2004 10:30:00 +0000

I just had some wine called glögg with Malin; you put almonds and raisins in it. The day was quite successful overall, but I’ll share just one story. This morning, Ben was supposed to catch a bus downtown at 9:00. I woke at 9:00 because of drilling in the room next to me, wandered into the living room, and saw Ben asleep on the sofa, shoes on and otherwise ready to go. His plan had been to stay up all night, although I said goodnight at 5:30, so “all night” wasn’t going to be that long. Somehow, he ended up on the couch and crashed. He had to be at the airport by noon, and reaching it required a 45-minute train ride downtown followed by an 85-minute bus ride. The timing was impossible; the next bus left at 11:00. He called a taxi and, I think, took it all the way to the airport. It cost 1,000 SEK, which is quite a bit of money: our round-trip bus tickets to the same airport were 199 SEK, and seven SEK was about one dollar. So, that was the story. Other than that, we wandered around for most of the afternoon. Well, The Simpsons is playing, so I’m going to have some water and eat some peanuts. Wish us luck tomorrow on our mission to Milan! Casey and I both overshot our budgets here in Sweden, but not having to pay for hostels helped a little. Cheers to the entire group we went out with last night: Asa, Sara, Josephine, Anna K, Ilian, and Billi. You gave us an excellent impression of your city!

Holy Sandwiches, Not You Again!

Mon, 13 Dec 2004 10:30:00 +0000

Howdy, all. Kelvin checking in. I'm writing this shortly after Casey on Ben's computer, hence the legible keys. I'll give a rundown of the day; while it will be similar to Casey's, it will also be different. I woke up quite early, around noon. No, wait. Casey woke up quite early and then shook me awake because I was out cold. I had leftover peanuts for breakfast while sitting in the kitchen, drinking espresso and talking with Ahyan about life in Stockholm. Jeez, that stuff is strong. I left and jumped on the subway back to Central Station. I wandered around for a while and made my way to a square with a church. Descriptive, I know: a square and a church. Okay, I'll write the names down next time. Afterward, I met Ahyan at home. He left and gave me a key, so I slowly walked across town to the more affluent area. I sat on a bench and discussed the countries I most wanted to live in and visit, then walked through a muddy park toward the city centre. I stopped at a coffee shop, had a small three-dollar coffee, and chatted for a few hours. Casey had an incident in the bathroom, but you'll have to ask him about that. Eventually, I meandered to the T-something-or-other, also known as the subway, and went to a little island south of Stockholm. I had to take that line home anyway. I stopped on the island, where there were some inexpensive bars and a casino that required patrons to be 25. I think they just didn't like me, although I was dressed reasonably well! While looking for the "casino," I badly needed a bathroom. I went into Burger King, but they charged to use it. Being a cheap American, I thought, "I'll find a tree," and left. While walking, I spotted a little courtyard below street level and jumped down. My apologies to any Stockholmers reading this, but I found a very dirty corner and relieved myself. I'm generally respectful, and this was as appropriate a place to be inappropriate as I could find. Eventually, I looked up just in time to see Ben and Casey taking pictures of me. Great, there goes my political career. Anyway, as I was walking out of the casino, a woman with an English accent said, "Cheers, this is some cheap wine," while holding a bottle. I replied, "Cheers. This is some cheap beer!" and held up my grocery bag. They then invited me to the bar they were visiting, which Ahyan had also recommended. When I walked in, Casey and Ben sat down. Ben was talking to Eilan, whose name I have probably misspelled, and Casey was talking to Anna K, whose last name I couldn't pronounce. Regarding the aforementioned fountain comment, I was thinking I should toss in nine coins, based on what the number of coins in that fountain is supposed to mean. People who have visited that fountain and know basic maths might find that amusing. Shoot, it is already around 4:00 a.m. as I write this. So what was I to do? I walked to the other side of the table and asked about drinking songs, since learning them was one of my missions. Unfortunately, Swedish is a little complicated, but I got the gist of a few. I ended up talking for the rest of the night with Layla, a nurse; Stirling, like the silver, a kindergarten teacher; and Billi, who worked with older people like the rest of the group. Stirling's boyfriend eventually arrived, and since they had to work at 7:00 a.m., the two of them left. We traded plenty of compliments, and Billi and I shared a few good laughs. Eilian eventually came over and sat down, and the three of us talked. We particularly enjoyed analysing body language and explaining it to Billi. At around 12:30, I realised I had to leave because my train was departing shortly, so I ran to the station and had to pull Ben away. I boarded the train, where Eilian, Billi, and two other people joined us, lo and behold. We finally made it home, debriefed on the night, and have been talking, mostly Ben and me, ever since. He is petting what we unanimously voted the coolest cat ever. Well, bedtime calls, since I am getting up in five hours. I am trying to be as quiet as possible because Ahyan and his housemate have graciously let me stay in their apartment, and she, Malin, is asleep and wakes early. That concludes the evening! Tonight is my night on the couch. Tomorrow promises moose hunting, attempts to kiss under a bridge, and, hopefully, another meeting with this group. Until next time, adios.

PS

Mon, 13 Dec 2004 10:30:00 +0000

My future posts most likely won’t be so long. I’ll try to tell only the best stories, but today was one long good story, so it might be the exception!

Bad Keyboard

Sun, 12 Dec 2004 10:30:00 +0000

This entry may be brief because I am writing on a PowerBook with an unfamiliar keyboard at Ayhen’s apartment. Our flight was enjoyable, and there is plenty to record, but I also want to rejoin Ben and Ayhen’s conversation.

We left Portland at 7:30 in the morning and flew to Cincinnati at 10:30. A woman named Carson was sitting behind Casey, and we exchanged smiles. After arriving in Cincinnati, we found some food and saw her again. We slept through part of the long onward flight and watched Elf. At one point Casey noticed that Carson was on the same plane. When we reached baggage claim several hours later, I finally introduced myself. She was also studying at SOU and planned to be around Frankfurt until 1 January, just like us, so we discussed possibly spending New Year’s Eve together.

Relaxation Defined

Mon, 25 Aug 2003 10:30:00 +0000

Good morning! It has been five days since I last wrote, and they have been among the most relaxing five days of the entire trip.

I somehow made all my connections, and because Falun is not very large, Maria, Kerstin, and Maria’s father were waiting for me at the station. We jumped into the Audi, laughed about the fact that I was actually in their town, and drove to Kerstin’s house. A few of their friends were there when we arrived, including CC and another person whose name I no longer remember. I was a little sick, so I had only one beer before we all went to a bar called Marians, or something similar, where I had another drink. We laughed and talked, and I met several more people that night. We eventually went our separate ways, and I wandered back to Kerstin’s house. A spare bedroom had been prepared for me, and I slept extremely well. Kerstin left early to see the doctor and woke me around 11:00am when she returned. We had breakfast on her balcony and then met a few more people. Maria, Kerstin, CC, and I went to a cafe and then to the lake just outside town. I finally had waffles, which were delicious. We also saw the cottage that Kerstin’s family had recently bought before returning to town. Back at the house, Kerstin and I ate moose for the first time. It was served in a stew and, for all I knew, could have been beef.