Vecka 40

Hejsan allihopa! Thought I'd finally post the last of the things I needed to catch up on, from Week 40. I have a bit of free time before a nyckelharpa lesson, so I am uploading the photos and writing a bit here.

I apologise to those of you who are arachnophobic, but I thought I'd share the picture below that I took (actually a couple of weeks ago) when the morning dew highlighted the edges of a large spiderweb on a children's swingset outside. I was out for laundry room duties, and happened to pass by. I wish I'd had my camera with me, but I only had my phone with which to take a photo.

Once more during the week, I walked around Stockholm on my own- S:t Eriksplan to Fridhemsplan to take some photos and explore some of the shops (and find a decent haircutter at some point).

I like trying out all the expensive guitars at the music store, since there's no way I'd buy them although they are of high quality. I tried the twelve-string guitar as well, which has a great sound to it (I have one at home in the US), and accidentally popped a string. Luckily, the store workers weren't concerned at all and told me I didn't have to worry about paying for it.

I also found something like a thrift shop or overstock/surplus store. I'm not really sure what it was, but I finally got myself a doormat and a few other things for decently low prices.
There was a shelf of random tin boxes, as well. They didn't seem to have anything in them, and were likely only for small storage purposes, but I took this photo because I thought it was funny.

I went to the Swedish language café a bit later in the evening, once I'd dropped off my belongings in my room.

With another day of extraordinary weather, I set off early- for the laundry.

A lot of leaves are changing colours now, although most are concentrated in certain areas (may be an urban warming effect...?).

I am honestly disappointed in all the things we don't do in Swedish class. Our teacher is nice enough, but the way we worked in August- perhaps because it was an intensive three-week session- was much more efficient. Sure, we all agreed that we didn't have enough listening exercises in that class; but in our current class, we haven't had any since the first week or two. We also don't have group oral practice very often. Seldom do we have any sort of assignment other than simply listening to our mumbling teacher and writing those dreaded fill-in-the-blank-without-a-word-bank texts (which, we have been told, resemble our final exam scarily closely).

Come November, I'll have far more work to do (since Period 2 is where the bulk of my courses lie) and unfortunately less time to go to these language cafés for practice. So I'm trying to get the most out of them for now, while I still have the opportunity. I bought the German textbooks for A1 and A2 and have been working away at them to see how far I can get before the spring semester, as well as my occasional attendance at the German language cafés, in the hopes that I can continue with German in the spring. Since I've already taken a semester in the US, I should be around A2 level. However, it's been two years since I've spoken German more than sparingly, and so I've got quite a ways to go before I regain any sort of fluency. At least my understanding is mostly where it was before, but I can't always remember the right words off the top of my head. Surprisingly, I seem to recall grammar rules, so hopefully I can build off that preexisting knowledge.

Tuesdays always seem to end up as sushi nights, and my penguin has decided to pretend that the chopsticks are skis. :P

On Wednesday, I took advantage of the weather again and went for a stroll beginning at S:t Eriksplan, and then to Fridhemsplan, Odenplan and Rådhuset.

Someone parked their puppy outside with a pink bow tied to its leash. :)

I will admit that the Swedish Office Depot puts our American selection to shame in more than a few ways.

The Rådhuset tunnelbana station is full of French posters on boules (a sport/pastime which includes pétanque and Bocce ball as subsets, among others) and pastis, from what I saw.

Passed through Central Station just for food.

Spent most of a day studying at KTH in the library again. Besides some Swedish work and Matlab work, I also have been shooting out emails nonstop to various coordinators/administrators and other people to secure my place for the next semester- which, by now, mainly involves gathering documentation that is needed for the migration board (Migrationsverket).

I decided to try to find somewhere else for food in Östermalm with a pricetag under 100 SEK (which is not the easiest thing to look for, mind you, but it's possible).

The sushi place I ended up at actually had good food, but the server shorted me a piece, and so I'm going to go back to demand that I be served an extra piece of sushi next time. Considering that four pieces of dumpling and four pieces of sushi come to a total of 80:-, that's 10 crowns per piece if we assume everything else is included in the price. So he's going to hear from me again.

Saturday was another walk day, this time in Nacka starting from Nacka Kvarn bus stop (where Nacka mill lies, after which the stop is named). The skies weren't as clear, and the clouds soon rolled in, but the temperature was still well-suited for a hike (and this time, it really was more of a hike than previous walks).

Below: Nacka kvarn.

Into the thick of the forest we went, plunging through the foliage and clambering up the smooth, rocky slopes coated in moss and twigs. Fallen leaves were strewn about at our feet, and many of the trees had begun to tire of their green hue. Some of them glowed a late gold colour, while others had hastened to the crimson stage.

Below: One bright red, crushed poisonous mushroom. On a side note, mushrooms are known for absorbing radioactivity quite easily, and so the reindeer in Norway who consume mushrooms have been experiencing dangerously high levels of radiation, such that humans shouldn't eat them until the levels dip again. It's a remnant of Chernobyl still, and it will take another number of years before the levels of caesium are down to half. It is because of the long half-life of the element, and as such, scientists must regularly monitor radiation levels in reindeer. (Source: thelocal.no)

An unusually large number of people were on this tour. It took three separate busses for everyone to join as intended, and so the last bus of people arrived and met up with us somewhere along the path.

I didn't take as many photos while walking up Hammarby Backe (Hammarby Hill, but it's close enough to a small mountain in my opinion if one isn't used to walking straight up steep slopes). Because I was afraid I'd slip and fall back down the hill, I decided only to stop sparingly to shoot photos. And the photos I took of the landscape came out better from the peak, anyhow, so those are the ones I'll post.

"Skistar.com", read the letters on the side. I can understand how this is a good place to ski down, although it's not so nice to climb when there isn't snow covering it.

Here you can see how steep the other side of the hill was as we descended. It's not ridiculous, but several people panicked when their feet began to slide in the mud. Mine did, too, and I duckwalked down for about a meter before standing again and continuing to the bottom. If the ground hadn't been damp enough for mud to form, it would likely have been a lot easier.

As you can see, we passed by a number of residential areas in Hammarby as we went to catch the boat toward Södermalm.

A two- or three-year-old girl was running after her parents on the walkway above where I stood, so I snapped a quick photo as she darted by. I fiddled with some settings in Photoshop and masked all of the background to bring out the vivid pink the girl was wearing. You can see the edited photo at the end of this post. (I got my digital graphics tablet working, so editing was a lot easier since I didn't have to use my touchpad the entire time.)

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The clock that stood at the boat dock. I don't know why, but I thought it picturesque, and so I took a couple photos of it, too.

We finally got on the boat, and for once, I found myself with an available spot toward the front where I could take more pictures.

Our boat, from the dock where we got off. It's free transportation, since the other systems weren't really built up as expected for commuters to travel between Hammarby and Södermalm easily.

Walked to a children's park and blew bubbles. This was probably the creepiest thing we saw.

We regulars have become wedding-crashers, it seems. This was the second time we ran into newlyweds having a photoshoot. I suppose they picked a good day to have their wedding, considering the weather.

A few of us went chasing madly after a squirrel with our cameras, and scared the poor thing up a tree.

And from here, we split. Some went to the subway, while the rest of us tagged along with the promise of food.



Below, I've uploaded some panoramic shots I took from the hillside/top of the hill in Hammarby.

And finally, we stopped for food. Upon realising that twenty of us would not fit in a small café, some of them went elsewhere.

It was also cinnamon bun day (yes, that's a Swedish thing, kanelbullensdag). As such, cinnamon buns were on sale everywhere, and the local grocery where I live had freshly baked ones which were still warm from the oven. So I bought a few kanelbullar to last me for a few breakfasts.

They were a lot bigger than my penguin, so I told him not to eat a whole one :P

Last but not least, you have the photo I edited of the girl in pink. Vi hörs!

/The Swedish Fish