What we do during the day

People have been asking me what the kids and I do during the day so I figured it was a good subject to post about.  I made up a slide show to go with the post.  First of all, we spend time at home playing.  Lucas likes to taste anything and everything he can get his hands on and Annalise loves to take care of her bubu and play dress up.  Lucas and Annalise pretend that the laundry basket is a boat; okay Annalise is pretending it's a boat and Lucas just loves to be near Annalise!  One of Lucas' favorite things to do is to pull all of our shoes off the shoe rack and chew on the laces and soles!  Annalise and I have also been doing lots of art projects and making cards for all the people we miss in the states!
Sometimes we walk Ray to the bus stop and then take our own bus to Kulen, which is an open preschool in Lund.  Lucas usually rides in the stroller on the bus and Annalise sits in a seat by herself sometimes and rides in the stroller sometimes.  In the picture below Annalise is holding on to her bubu but a few minutes after the picture was taken she left bubu on the bus!  It was a big drama but we got bubu back thankfully!
Kulen is one of my favorite places in Lund so far.  Open preschool is a really neat concept.  Even though it is called preschool the majority of the kids there are under the age of two.  It is a school that parents bring their children to and the parents stay.  There is two teachers and all the typical preschool like activities.  Because of the great parent leave here there is usually more dads with kids than moms with kids! There is an art room, a gym room, a room with lots of toys and a slide, a kitchen area with a large table, and a large area to gather for music time.  Lucas loves to taste all of the toys at Kulen and Annalise loves to get her face painted!  We like to get there in time for music at about 10:15.  I love to sit in the circle and listen to to the swedish children's songs.  The ones that are repetitious and have gestures are somewhat easy to understand.  They have their own version of Itsy Bitsy Spider and another one where you clap different parts of your body.  There are also some simple dances that we participate in.  The other day I overheard Annalise singing one of the swedish songs to bubu; it was very sweet.  After music there is play and fika.  Below is a picture of Lucas in a high chair at Kulen.  Fika is awesome!  It is a coffee break that the whole country participates in.  I'm probably not describing it as well as I should.  You should just come visit us in Sweden and experience it.
Another activity we do during the day is play at the park.  There is a great park called Stadsparken, translated The City Park, that is about a 20 minute walk from our apartment.  We have met some friends already so sometimes we meet friends there and sometimes we just go by ourselves.  We also go to the library, called Stadsbiblioteket, where there is a great children's section with books in English and many other languages as well. Below is a picture of Annalise pointing to the Engelska sign.  I have heard that there is also adult books in English but I have not had a chance to explore that part of the library.
Annalise started school yesterday and so our days will change a little bit.  From now on she will be in school from 9-2 and Lucas and I will be going to Kulen and exploring the city on our own.  It will be great for Annalise to have a chance to play with kids and learn Swedish and it will be great for Lucas and I to have some time to enjoy each other one on one.
Although there are still ups and downs we are getting settled and we are all very happy to be in Sweden.  But we miss all of you and think of you often!  We wish is was a little warmer here but we are happy.

Sending love and hugs from Sweden!

The first month!

I cannot believe we have been in Sweden for one month.  Sometimes it feels like we just arrived and other days it feels like we have been here for a lot longer than a month.  Here is a short list of the most important things that Ray and I have learned in our first month in Sweden.

1. Reliable and safe public transportation is awesome but takes patience.
2. Never leave home without a rain jacket and the rain cover for the stroller.
3. Despite the worrying Annalise and Lucas love sharing a room and both of them are sleeping well.
4. If it is sunny get outside and enjoy it.
5. You cannot do squat without a personal number.
6. When you are a foreigner it is easiest to meet other foreigners.
7. A steady diet of coffee, pastries, and cheese makes for beautiful people.
8. No matter where we live we will always fika.
9. Road bikes and cobblestone streets do not go together.
10. Always keep potty money on hand, usually you need 5 kroner to go.
11. Swedes like to use the phrase, "no problem" but I'm not sure they know what it means.
12. I will get back to you in 5 minutes could actually mean five hours or five days.
13. Bicyclists rule!
14. Foggy days can be warm and pleasant.
15. Everybody speaks beautiful fluent English even if they say they say they only speak a little bit. Although all adults speak English kids who speak English are rare.
16. Swedes separate their recycling into multiple categories.
17. The washing machines aren't broken; no laundry after 8 pm.
18. Despite hearing that Swedes are reserved there are a few outgoing ones!
19. We will meet wonderful, friendly people wherever we go.
20. The Swedes know how to celebrate the successful defense of a dissertation.
21. Don't worry about customs.
22. Traveling by train is really fun.
23. Lund is an awesome city and that will be so fun to explore.
24. Spend good money on waterproof shoes and outerwear, it is worth it.
25. Things will go wrong (stroller breaks, computer charger doesn't work, sweater and sweatshirt rip, breast pump charger gets fried when it is needed) but it all works out somehow.
26. Ryan Air is so cheap!
27. Life without a car is a big adjustment.
28. "Slut" has a very different meaning in Sweden.

Here is a compilation of photos from our first month.



Sending hugs from Sweden!

City of Lund in the fall

I wanted to share some pictures of Lund.  Ray and I love our city!  It is so beautiful here.  I will write more about the city later but here are some great pictures.

Ikea trip

About two or three weeks before we left Denver an Ikea store opened.  I really like Ikea.  I have only been to the store a few times but I like the style.  As we shared our news that we were moving to Sweden everyone kept saying, " have you gone to Ikea yet?"  I decided that I was going to wait until we moved to Sweden to go to Ikea.  For one thing, even if I did go I wouldn't be able to buy anything.  We were trying to get rid of everything, or almost everything!  For a month and a half our lives were literally ruled by craigslist as we rid ourselves of all our stuff. But I think another reason I didn't go to the Ikea in Denver was because I wanted to have something big to look forward to when we arrived.  My wonderful friends and coworkers gave us a very generous gift card to spend at Ikea when we arrived in Sweden so we would be able to buy some things to make our home feel more like home.  Our trip began with a borrowed car and some nice weather.  Ray got to drive in Sweden for the first time.  We had also borrowed a gps system but spent almost the entire drive trying to figure out how to change the language to English!  We arrived to the huge store just outside of Malmo and the parking lot was virtually empty.  I took a picture of it for our Denver friends who have told me that there is 50-60 people parking cars at the Denver Ikea (like at a concert!)  We dropped Annalise off at the childcare and with sleeping Lucas started through the upstairs maze.  It was a lot of fun!  And we were able to pick up loads of stuff including a crib and mattress, picture frames, things for the kids' room, kitchen stuff, and some stuff just for fun!    Then we went to the cafeteria for some yummy and cheap food.  Ray took a picture of me eating my first swedish meatball in Sweden!  Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone for the gift card.  We had no trouble using it and (we think) we got a pretty good exchange rate :)  

Tivoli Halloween Festival

We have made some fast friends here that have been mostly international like us which has been wonderful.  We have met only one other American family who is here for just 11 months.  They invited us to a Halloween festival in Copenhagen so we of course went!  We have heard that they do not celebrate Halloween in Sweden so we needed to go to Denmark to experience a little Halloween fun! We took the train to the Tivoli in Copenhagen and conveniently the Tivoli is across the street from the train station. The Tivoli has an amusement park, performing arts stages, restaurants and bars, carnival games and a few small gardens. It was packed with people who were there to enjoy the sunny weather and festivities. We enjoyed a theater show performed by a five witches (all in Danish but nonetheless very entertaining), a parade through the park, a hay bale maze, lots of carnival food and a ride on a double decker carousel.  Annalise loved the good witch and talked about her for days after the festival.  Here is a link to some of the pictures: Tivoli Halloween Festival We will definitely go back another time for the adults rides and beverages.  Although we didn't get much of a chance to see Copenhagen we will go back soon because even the little we did see was amazing.

Dissertation Party

We went to our first Swedish party tonight.  It was a dissertation party.  Apparently in Sweden when someone finishes their dissertation they get an awesome party!  During this large fancy dinner party people get up and make toasts and everyone sings songs before taking shots of schnapps.  We had a wonderful time!  Annalise acted so grown up tonight.  She was sitting across the table from me because she wanted to sit where her name card was and next to her was a woman from Spain.  Annalise asked her if she spoke Swedish and this woman said no.  She told Annalise that she was only going to be in Sweden for about nine months and so she was not going to learn any Swedish.  So my sweet and smart little girl decided to teach her Swedish.  It felt good to watch Annalise teach this woman some of the Swedish words she knows.  Annalise has been going through some big transitions lately and honestly there have been some hard times.  I know it is all to be expected but there have been a few moments recently where I have been unsure about whether we were being fair to our daughter. The truth is Annalise is going to have a different life than if we had stayed in Denver.  Not necessarily better or worse but just different.  We have to enjoy the highs (like tonight) and life through the lows.  Tonight Annalise not only had fun but she also made lots of international friends and charmed the pants off of two woman from Spain.  Today was a good day.

Beverly Hills 90210

I am curious about Europe's fascination with this show.   As some of you know I spent a summer in France when I was 15.  I remember the first week with my host family and I was feeling a little homesick and they turned on the tv and there was Beverly Hills 90210.  It is a little silly but I remember feeling a little less homesick watching an american tv show.  I learned in the time I was there that reruns of Beverly Hills 90210 played frequently and that it was a very popular show. Now at that time Beverly Hills 90210 was also a popular show in the US.  People I met asked me how close I lived to California when I was in France and I wondered if they were thinking about the show.
Now, many years later (18 years; I can't believe it!!) I find myself living in Europe and everyday reruns of Beverly Hills 90210 are on tv.  Now it is important for me to add here that there are lots and lots and lots of american television shows.  In fact, Ray and I have noticed that at any given day or time there is about 4 or 5 american shows or movies to choose from. And thankfully these are not dubbed; they just play with swedish subtitles.  Which, by the way, is helping our understanding of written swedish a lot.  We have heard that all the american tv that swedes watch is part of the reason why they speak such great english.  Makes sense :)