Homeward Bound and "Stuff"

When I talk about going to the US when I'm in Denmark/Sweden, I always tell people I'm "going home." When I am in the US and talk about returning to Denmark/Sweden I tell people I have to "go home." The same was true when I lived in Ithaca and Canandaigua. "Home" has always been both the place I live and the place I grew up. I'm not sure that will ever change.

So on Sunday I'm "going home" for three weeks to visit my family in Massachusetts and my friends in Ithaca and Kjartan will stay in Denmark/Sweden to work and spend time with his family and friends before baby grabs onto our world.

Baby has to some extent taken over part of our world already. In addition to the three months morning sickness and all the other pleasures of pregnancy, we have learned that Baby needs a lot of stuff. Part of this trip will involve amassing as much of the stuff we need for as little money as possible. I have grown up with the "buy used save the difference" theory and plan to continue to use that motto with my own children. Already, Darwina has about 30 items of clothing from Swedish and American (thanks mom!) thrift stores and we have bought a beautiful like-new wooden rocking chair from the Swedish equivalent of Craigslist. Speaking of Craigslist, I already have 3 appointments set up for next week to meet up with folks (in public places, have no fear) to buy tons of nice new baby clothes, baby stuff that still has the tags on it, and a "Boppy" pillow that everyone tells me is a must-have for any mom. Darwina will also have my Christening dress, baby quilt, and stuffed clown. Everything so far is in great condition and I'm pretty sure Darwina won't notice that things are "gently used."

But don't get me wrong, the main purpose of my trip is to visit with my family and friends in America.

But back to the stuff-gathering:

Most of my expat blogging friends have pre-made "to buy" lists for their trips to the US and I am no exception. Mostly I'll be stocking up on maternity and nursing clothes, cloth diapers, a sling/baby carrier, English baby and adult books, and new shoes. Aside from gravy master to make my mother's "brown spaghetti" recipe, there really aren't any American products that aren't available in Sweden/Denmark that I absolutely must have.

To accomplish this stuff-gathering expedition, one must be very skilled in the art of packing and must think ahead. My strategy is to bring next-to-nothing with me to the US except gifts that I will leave there and take two almost-empty suitcases. So for all you Americans who I will see in the next three weeks, sorry that I am wearing the same thing every time you see me. I have to sacrifice style for stuff.

There are, of course, things I must do in the US that I miss here in Sweden. Since I've been pregnant pretty much since I left the US last time, these things often revolve around food. I've started to learn to cook Thai and Chinese food because it's pretty much impossible to find anything even close to the quality that Ithaca has to offer over here, I miss Applebees, and I can't wait to eat steak and lobster without breaking the bank too much. Speaking English, having strangers ask "how are you today?", watching English television shows that aren't 10-years-old, and giving my legs a break from biking are also things I'm looking forward to.

So it's off to the USA for me. Hej då Sweden, see you in a few weeks!

Week 24 Bump Cam: Thar' she grows!

Baby is growing quite fast (or at least my stomach is) and is kicking so much that sometimes I wonder whether I am actually the next Octomom and the ultrasound technician somehow missed seven other babies in there. Still, life is good and I feel great to finally start to look pregnant and not just lumpy. I also enjoy fitting in with the rest of the women around here. Our region of Skåne currently has the biggest baby boom since the 1940s, so baby bumps are the "in" thing and seem to be sported by every other 20 or 30-something woman you see.

When in Rome . . .

Cheers to us!

"A happy marriage has in it all the pleasures of friendships, all the enjoyment of sense and reason - and indeed all the sweets of life."
- Joseph Addison

Lund Botanical Gardens - June 20, 2009

Today we celebrate ourselves.

One year ago today Kjartan and I officially started our life together in a little chapel in Amherst, MA. It's been a year filled with love, wonder, excitement, transitions, and surprises. Life together so far has been an incredible adventure.

Cheers to an amazing first year and to the many more milestones that have yet to be reached.

Midsummer Extreme

Ah the Swedish Midsummer celebration! It is a time to celebrate the Land of the Midnight Sun, to rejoice in the beautiful landscape and the abundance of beautiful weather. We sing, we dance, we picnic all in the name of summer, beautiful summer:



Yes, that's a traditional midsummer dance that was done here in Lund this afternoon. It was a very happy celebration, with children running around with flowers in their hair, a big flowered cross in the middle of the square, and dancing and singing by all. If you didn't know otherwise, you would have sworn you were at a Hare Krishna expo.

But then 10 minutes later:



Oh Sweden, why must you toy with my emotions like this?

(For video see http://kinchfamily.blogspot.com)

Deep Freeze

It's still cold here. Too cold to swim.

My husband doesn't think so:




I think so:



(Subscribers: For videos go to http://kinchfamily.blogspot.com)

Crisis Brewing

A crisis of possible epic proportion is brewing here in Sweden and the results could be catastrophic.

The country is running out of alcohol.

First a little background information:

All of Sweden's wine, beer, and liquor sales are controlled by the government. In order to buy alcohol you must go to a place called System Bolaget, or "The System," and buy it. These stores aren't open on Sundays and have limited hours on Saturdays. Given that they're run by the government, goods are taxed at astronomical prices. Since it's the only place to buy booze and Swedes have a particular fondness for that good, it's a popular place. Kjartan and I went to a mall in Malmo once and saw a really long line near a book store with a security guard letting people in one at a time. We thought someone famous was there signing books, but as we got closer to the front we realized that "The System" was next door to the book store and people were stocking up for the weekend.

Uh Sweden - George Orwell called, he said he wants his plot to take over democracy back.

So what happens when the state-controlled warehouse that provides the state-controlled liquor to the state-controlled stores has a few state-controlled employees that don't like their end of the deal?

Chaos.

And what happens when it's only one week away from Midsummer Night, a holiday that simply can not happen without copious amounts of alcohol?

Terror.

Swedes can simply not go through the LONGEST DAY OF THE YEAR without schnapps!

Horror.

Lucky for Sweden, friendly borders and a privately owned liquor business in Denmark should help remedy this situation. While the current exchange rate means that liquor is just as expensive in Denmark as in Sweden, it's a price Swedes will have to pay for celebration. Midsummer night happens this Friday in Sweden, which is a week earlier than in Denmark, so they'll be able to slurp up what they want with plenty of time for the stores to restock for the just-as-booze-thirsty Danes to celebrate the longest day of the year.

DENMARK TO THE RESCUE!

Partying with the pirates

Democrats? Republicans? Who needs them! I live in a country where 7 percent of the population votes for "The Pirate Party." You really can't top that.

Swedish Pirate Party headed for Brussels

Published: 7 Jun 09 21:58 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/19928/20090607/

Sweden's pro-file sharing Pirate Party is on its way to Brussels having secured more than 7 percent of the country's votes in the European Parliament elections, according to early exit polls.

Scenes of wild jubilation broke out at the party's election headquarters when state broadcaster SVT announced a projection likely to give the party enough votes to claim two seats in the EU parliament.

"The polls beforehand had us at between eight and nice percent, but everything over four percent is a political sensation," party leader Rick Falkvinge told news agency TT.

12 percent of men and 4 percent of women plumped for the Pirate Party, according to the SVT survey.

Among voters aged under 30, some 19 percent are believed to have cast a vote for the Pirate Party.

"They are the biggest party among young people, bigger than both the Social Democrats and the Moderates," said politics professor Sören Holmberg.

Pirate Party voters said they considered the freedom to file share by far the most important issue when deciding their party allegiance.

The party was founded in January 2006 and quickly attracted members angered by controversial laws adopted in Sweden that criminalised filesharing and authorised monitoring of emails.

Its membership shot up after a Stockholm court on April 17th sentenced four Swedes to a year in jail for running one of the world's biggest filesharing sites, The Pirate Bay.

Sunday's election attracted more voters than in 2004, the last time Europe went to the polls. With 80 percent of the votes counted, projections showed a 42.5 percent turnout this time round, up 5 percentage points on the previous European Parliament election.

Aside from the Pirates, the Greens were Sweden's other big winners, scoring a sensational 11.5 percent in exit polls and becoming the country's third largest party behind the Social Democrats (25.1 percent) and Moderates (18.5).

"It's fantastic. If this is how it ends up it is better than I dared to dream of. What's fantastic is that I don't think we got protest votes, I think we got votes based on our own programme and our own issues," Green Party spokesperson Maria Wetterstrand told SVT.

There was a strong showing too from the Liberal Party, which is set to claim a projected 11.4 percent, just behind the Greens.

For the Left Party on the other hand the election proved catastrophic, with Lars Ohly's party predicted to drop to 5.7 percent, compared to 12.8 percent in 2004.

The June List too would seem to have seen better days. Rising stars last time round, with an incredible 14.6 percent, the relatively new party has come back down to earth with a bruising bump: SVT's exit poll gives the June List a 3.6 percent share of the vote, not enough to gain a parliamentary seat.

Gudrun Schyman's Feminist Initiative, buoyed by a late donation from Abba legend Benny Andersson, achieved an unexpectedly high 3.2 percent, according to SVT's polling station survey.

The survey puts the nationalist Sweden Democrat party at 2.4 percent, up from 1.1 percent in 2004.

The Centre Party (5.8) and the Christian Democrats (5.1) both appear to have performed slightly worse than in 2004 though both comfortably surpassed the 4 percent threshold necessary to qualify for a seat.

TT/AFP/The Local (news@thelocal.se)