So, despite the name of this blog, I’ve had traditional Swedish meatballs twice already since I’vebeen here. At 9 AM on the 22nd, a bunch of us international students got on board a charter bus that drove us about an hour to the first IKEA ever in existence. Some “fun facts” about IKEA: It was founded by Ingvar Kamprad who was born in 1926. He registered IKEA as a furniture store when he was only 17 years old! The name IKEA is a combination of the first letters of Ingvar’s first and last name and of the farm and village he grew up in, Elmtaryd and Agunnarydrespectively. Today, there are over 250 stores in more than 35 countries. Every year, more than 450 million people visit an IKEA store.
Well, this was the first time I had ever been to an IKEA. It was very interesting how they have you snake around the showroom and different furniture set-ups they have before you get down to the warehouse and area where they actually sell things. I bought a large doormat to keep our entryway clean(er), a bathmat, a small hand towel, and a red wastepaper basket for my room. I kind of wish I had bought some larger squares of carpet for my room and maybe for the kitchen.Oh well. Then after we were done shopping, we of course had to go eat some Swedish meatballs and boiled potatoes with lingon berry jam! I was actually kind of disappointed with the food though. Grandma JoJo’s meatballs are still far superior to the small, bland meatballs they served here. Of course, add enough gravy and jam to anything it will taste good. But still, Grandma’s are just much more flavorful and moist.
So it was a successful trip for the most part. I didn’t have to go buy pots and pans because I had found an ad the night before posted in the library by someone who needed to get rid of their kitchen stuff. I managed to get two pots with lids, two pans, and a bednight stand for 100krowns! Score! And of course at this point, I’m still desperately searching for a George Foreman grill, or something similar to it.
Saturday the 23rd was the night of the VIS exchange student dinner and that was an absolute blast! They had a small program for us. The MCs gave us a small introduction to Swedish life and some advice on how to survive and make friends around campus. The dinner consisted three courses. First was some bruschetta with garlic cream cheese. However, the toast was nearlyuncuttable and rather grating on the inside of the mouth, though it was pretty tasty. The main course was a roast chicken breast with roasted vegetables and cake of fried hashbrowns with a creamy mushroom sauce. It was quite good, but a little cold. For dessert was some panacottatopped with raspberry jam. Pretty good, if a bit bland.
After dinner, they gave each nation represented amount the exchange to perform a short five minute skit, song, dance etc. I would have to give the humor award to the Germans. They put on a skit making fun of typical German stereotypes: Getting to the hotel pool at 6am to reserve deck chairs, then keeping their stuff the all day so no one else can use them, drunkenly singing in groups, getting to breakfast right at 7am when it starts, stuff like that. Award for most enthusiasm would go to the Greeks. They performed a traditional dance, but what put it over the type was the lone Greek guy that was going NUTS the whole time. He was throwing in all kind of crazy spins and dips and standing in the center of the circle, all kinds of stuff. Of course, I think I did hear him say he had consumed a whole liter of wine before the dinner had even started . . . but nonetheless, it was awesome. But Best in Show would have to go to South Korea.They blew the doors off the place doing a choreographed performance of some South Korean pop song. It was really great. They were all in sync. After the dinner, we headed over to Stallarna, one of the student pubs on campus and danced until 2am. It was a lot of fun, and we got to meet a lot of the other international students.
Dennis from Eau Claire had a great idea for us to experience food from other countries. With the help of some wonderful Swedish gals here at the university, he planned and prepared a traditional Swedish dinner: Swedish meatballs with gravy and lingonberry jam and boiled potatoes and a traditional Swedish apple cake for dessert. The meatballs were very delicious, but I still think Grandma JoJo’s recipe is the best!
On Wednesday, I went over to VUGI to play some basketball. VUGI is like the sports club here on campus. They have floor ball, aerobics, basketball, and core strengthening classes. I didn’t do so well. I pretty much only bring three things to the basketball court: hustle and two elbows. But I did manage to score a few baskets and grab some rebounds without hurting myself. “Finesse” would not necessarily be a word I would use to describe my basketball skills though. I do set a pretty wicked screen though. The first time you play is free, then after that you have to pay 250SEK for the semester. I’m not sure I’ll go back though. Once the snow starts to melt and the rugby team in town starts practicing, I probably won’t want to play too much basketball.
I’ve been making my way into town a lot. It’s a really awesome city. Very quant. I’ll take the bus on occasion, but the walk isn’t too bad, especially on a sunny day when it’s a balmy 28o F! I made my way over to a store very similar to Best Buy, and I finally got an electric contact grill so now I won’t starve to death! It ain’t no George Foreman, but she’ll get the job done. I can fit like two burger patties or a large chicken breast on it.
I started my Swedish language class finally. It’s from 5 to 7:30 PM on Tuesday and Thursday nights. It seems pretty difficult right now but I’m hoping once I start putting in some time outside of class it’ll get a little easier. Right now I’m having a hard to mastering all the vowel sounds. I’ve got English and Spanish in the back of my head right now and it’s kind of difficult to make the switch. So many of the vowels sound so similar! We took a little in class quiz and I didn’t do so well . . . Oh well, I may just have to have some of my new Swedish friends to give me a tutoring session or something. But I do really want to learn the language. Hopefully I can continue studying it at the American Swedish Institute once I return home.
That’s all for now. Some of us were thinking of taking a weekend trip to Stockholm in the near future so look forward to hearing about that!
Kram och Puss!
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