Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Snow?

Maybe. Tomorrow's forecast calls for some of the white stuff across all of Sweden... except Skåne, of course. See that southern tip of Sweden? Yep. Rain.


Not that I would be prepared for the snow if it did come. I have flip-flops, rain boots, and some grubby tennis shoes for footwear, and I'd have to scrounge up change for the bus -- I don't think I am brave enough to ride my bike to class in the snow!

Still, I can't wait for the excitement of our first snowy day, though it's difficult to anticipate given the wonderful weather we've had over the last few weeks. Swedes have warned me that this is not typical. Between the wet and rainy summer and the warmer-than-average fall, the weather has been very unusual. So I will just wait and see.

This, by the way, is what my the area near my dorm looks like when it does snow (so pretty!):


Snow or no snow, the Swedes are already combatting the cold and the darkness. Since late October, stores have had Christmas ornaments, dishes, decorations, and Santa (tomten?) hats up in their window displays. Same goes for the groceries stores -- I spotted Christmas items in the checkout lane over a week ago. And my Swedish friend told me that her mom has already baked her first batch of gingerbread cookies. Lights... candles... Christmas is coming. I love it.

In the meantime, I am snuggling up in my blankets inside my cozy little room. I turned on the overhead light in my room today and *POP* -- there went the bulb. So, at around 4:50PM, I plugged in the lights on my Golden Gate bridge... homemade decorations left over from a korridor party we had in September.


I've been thinking about how wonderful and warm the weather in California must be right now. And imagine... Americans still have Thanksgiving to think about before they dive into boxes and start untangling strands of lights.

I've got a wintry playlist going on iTunes, and now if I can just motivate myself to get some reading done, it will be a pretty good evening.

Much love,
Linnea

7 comments:

Atom Salad said...

There's a great word in Swedish that captures the description of your room and fresh-baked gingersnaps. Mysigt!

So, I had to look up 'mysig' in the online Swedish-English dictionary to make sure my memory was correct. It translates as "cozy"---I guess that's about right. But, look below for the second translation! (Maybe the dictionary hasn't been updated in a while.)

Swedish entry word
mysig [²m'y:sig] mysigt mysiga adj.
trivsam

English translation
cosy

Examples
* en mysig tvårummare med kakelugn---a cosy one-bedroom flat with a tiled stove

Swedish entry word
mysig

English translation
groovy

All that being said, I guess I really should pack the long underwear.

7 days to go! I'll be there soon.

Carlotosway said...

Starting to get cold out here finally. High today was 51. Snow might start in a few more weeks...

Linnea said...

I remember NYC in December last year... brrr, it was so cold! The worst was when Max and I went out for a jog in Central Park and all I had was shorts! That was bad enough, but then we got locked out of your apartment for 30 minutes. :-) Fun stuff.

Unknown said...

If it makes you feel any better, not so warm and sunny here. I got wet biking to work yesterday. You and Kate can commiserate about your inadequate wardrobes. What do the Swedes and English wear to stay warm?

Atom Salad said...

I got to speak Swedish for fifteen minutes or so with a woman at work today. She's retired but still works part time at the Lab. It was great fun...might have had something to do with the fact that she complimented me on my Swedish!

Anyway, she suggested that we look for a "julbord" at a restaurant to get a taste of a Swedish Christmas dinner. Doesn't that sound good?!

Six days!

Atom Salad said...

Milena-
If you're reading...any suggestions for a julbord?
Thanks!
Sally (The Mom)

Anonymous said...

*Thinking*. No, sorry, unfortunately not. Mostly that's something that is offered to employees by their company; going out together to celebrate, and not something everyone goes to. So I'm sorry, I have no suggestions. But check out Sydsvenskan, there are plenty of advertisement on restaurants offering julbord right now. Pick something that says "traditional" :-) And I definitely think you should try it, it will give you a taste of Swedish Christmas - and you will recognize some of the herrings since Midsummer :-)