Saturday, June 23, 2012

Day 36: System

Denna gång på svenska, tror jag. Så ljuvligt att upptäcka att man är på samma våglängd som någon annan. Idag var det dags att anordna ännu ett sällskapsspeltillfälle. Eftersom jag bor för tillfället hemma hos Ingrid som är bortrest, blev detta tillfälle hemma hos henne. Och det gick som en dans.

Förberedelserna innan underlättades av att det var så himla lätt att hitta allt vi behövde för en lyckad afton. Glasen var liksom där de skulle vara, likadant med bestick, te, återvinning, skålar, kaffebryggaren, etc. Det är inte så att jag visste i förväg var de brukar vara. Det är helt enkelt så att Ingrids system är så intuativt. Mycket intressant, det där med ordning. Jag kommer ihåg att hon berättade för mig för inte så länge sedan att hon gillade ha "sin egen ordning". Vilket jag verkligen förstår. Det gillar jag med. Och att ha det som behövs för varje tillfälle. Extra roligt att upptäcka att vi tänker likadant. I alla fall om detta :-)

Gästerna (svenskar såväl som icke) var väldigt förvånade över att jag bor hemma hos en granne under den tid som badrumsrenoveringen pågår i min egen lägenhet. Men det är inte jag. Inte med de grannar som jag har. Jag tror att Ingrid skulle vara nöjd och glad att veta att lägenheten används för roliga ändemål. Och att den är bra omhändatagen. Visst är det så, Ingrid? Eller kommer du slå ihjäl mig när du kommer hem?


Friday, June 22, 2012

Day 35: Midsummer

It was a postcard Midsummer Day's Eve. Clear sky. Sunshine. Warm. Boat ride out to Tynningö where my friend Birgitta lives. It's a small community with about 500 year-round residents. Naturally there were many more people there today as friends and relatives, as well as people who have a summer cottage on the island, joined the locals in a truly traditional Swedish Midsummer celebration.

Against this view in Birgitta's backyard



we started with the traditional herring lunch


at the impeccably set table






 Stomachs full, we drove over to the Midsummer Meadow in time to watch the Maypole being raised


and to dance and sing around it.




Thank you to Birgitta and family, as well as to the weather gods, for a simply perfect midsummer celebration.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Day 34: Bomfaderalla lej

One by one the people who'd signed up for learning Swedish Midsummer and drinking songs at my place tonight changed their RSVPs to no. When we were down to just three people including me, I canceled the event. Soon after, I received a disappointed e-mail from one of the two remaining people. She'd been so looking forward to the event, had even told her friends and colleagues that she was going to learn some Swedish songs in time for Midsummer. So I thought, why not? and invited her to come by anyway.

We spent a couple of hours singing and chatting. A lovely young woman with an interesting international background. Reminds me a bit of myself at her age. She left a little while ago, three new songs under her belt, very excited to show off her newly acquired tunes. It all goes to show that when things do not work out quite as you'd expected, flexibility can really pay off. Now, I too am better prepared for tomorrow's festivities.

Happy Midsummer everyone!



Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Day 33: Vive la France...

...or at least le francais! For the first time in a least a decade, I attempted speaking French today. There is a language exchange group in Stockholm, started by a couple of people via MeetUp.com, that offers opportunities to practice a number of different languages on different days of the week. Each meeting is led by one or more native speakers and the current selection of languages includes Swedish, English, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic and French.

The French exchange group meets twice weekly and after weeks of putting it off, I finally made it to a meeting. It won't be my last! To put this in context, you should know that I studied French throughout junior high, high school and college. Eleven years in all. Before starting to learn Swedish, I spoke French fluently and could both read and write it. But the part of my brain that is the center for language learning simply could not handle two school-learned tongues. Swedish crowded out French, or forced it deeper into the subconscious and, voila! je ne parle plus le francais.

There were three of us in the beginners section plus native born Jonas our leader. I alternated between bouts of frustration and euphoria as more and more words surfaced. Sometimes, I just giggled in delight when out came an expression I didn't know I knew. Every time I got a preposition right, I felt like doing a victory dance. So perhaps it isn't all gone, just lying dormant waiting for me to exert some effort and fish it out into daylight. Oo-la-la. Can't wait for the next time! Au revoir mes amis!



Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Day 32: Reflections


A mirror is a useful tool. I spend way too little time looking at myself in mirrors. Most of the time, I'm in some inner dialog about the things I should be doing, or planning ahead, or reading a book or, let's be honest, playing some online word game :-)

Today, I started practicing for when I get my new bathroom. I took a long hard look in the mirror at Ingrid's. I looked and looked until I actually saw and could sustain seeing beyond a fleeting moment. I looked until I was simply there looking, neither critical nor pleased. I looked until my reflection looked back at me. It was a surprisingly relaxing experience, what I imagine meditation practitioners feel. A sense of presence. Followed by a sense of joy. Someday, I hope to get to know that person too. For now, I'm thrilled to be seeing her.

What the mirror saw

Monday, June 18, 2012

Day 31: Tummy full

A day I don't have to cook is a day I am happy. Mind you, I like cooking well enough, especially when I get to enjoy the meal with others. Living on my own, it's often hard to get enthusiastic about cooking for one. That's why I love having leftovers. Today's are from yesterday's group cooking adventure at Helen's with a focus on light, summery foods.

Spinach and spring onion pancakes with a side of Bulgar salad...yum!

Day 30: Singwalking

Finally found a form of exercise that I can stand behind. I call it singwalking and basically the name about sums it up. You create a playlist of songs that you love to sing along to. In my case, that also means learning how to sing them. Then you plug your earphones in and step out into the world. The idea is to sing along, loudly enough so that you feel your lungs working, while you transport yourself from point A to point B.

My current playlist is one that I put together for vacation with the Sweeties last summer and includes such diverse artists as Krishna Das, Maroon 5, Dixie Chicks and Jason Mraz, among others. Most of the songs have lots of lyrics...there's something I find particularly satisfying about mastering all those words. And the more words per measure, the more fun. The exception is Krishna Das which is all about sounds, harmonies and taking flight with others in song.

Singwalking is fun, requires a surprising amount of stamina and can also expose you to some interesting situations. It's interesting to watch people's reactions on the subway, for example, as I stand in the standing area of the car and continue practicing my song. Perhaps more interesting is noticing my own reactions. I am taken by how easy it is for me to get off track as I notice people noticing me. The antidote is focus and allowing my inner performer to come front and center. After all, I am not doing anyone any harm. All I'm doing is singing and what's so wrong with that?

In junior high school, I was in the school chorus. We were a close knit class who took chorus for three years running. In our last year, our teacher, Mr. Patterson, invited us to sing with another chorus he led. We traveled to rehearsals and the concert together and sang our songs on the subway on the way to Brooklyn. We always got applause. Such a formative part of my youth those three years were.

Singing at Jannike's Birthday Party

Somewhere along the way, I lost the spontaneity of singing while in public. Not performing, mind you. Just singing for the sake of singing. Time for my inner songbird to take flight. Who knows where she'll land next :-)