Day 7 (Posted a day late): Last day in Stockholm

Sitting in Stockholm Skvaska Airport, past check-in and security, in the one café area of the airport. No wifi here, so I will post this when in London. One little anectdote about this airport- I can seek at least 10 people near to hwere I’m sitting having beer or wine. It’s 8:15am.
So after spending two full days in Stockholm, I was already set to head on to London. While I really enjoyed the museums, the attractions, the café culture and all the Swedes that surrounded me (and being spoken to in Swedish and being mistaken for a real Swede all the time), it was a little lonely being a tourist by myself for two days. I had planned to meet my cousin Martin at 2:30 for coffee. I wasn’t sure what to expect, as I had hardly heard of the man before this trip, however, I was looking forward to doing something other than sightseeing by myself.
I spent the early part of the day at Skansen, an open-air museum with old houses from all over Sweden, brought to Stockholm. Also, it includes a mini-zoo of Scandinavian animals, like bears, seals, wild boar, etc. Also, as I was entering the museum, this random girl approaches me and starts asking me questions in mediocre English, thinking that I’m Swedish. We ended up seeing the museum together and chatting for an hour plus. The best was when, after telling her that I’m from New York and American, she asks how do you ask “what’s your name in Swedish”. My heritage, yet lack of actually being Swedish really confuses people in this country. Every person at stores or cafes always speaks to me in Swedish, and when I get to the point of the conversation where I cannot continue without blowing my cover (usually when they say the price) they always jump a little bit, like I duped them a bit. Hilarious.
My second event of the day was visiting the Royal Palace, specifically the Royal Treasury where they keep the Royal sparkalies, such as the crowns, scepters, orbs, and baptismal pools. Ver interesting and a little bizarre. Definetly a very foreign thing for an American.
At 2:30, I met up with Martin by the train station, and we walked to go meet his wife. Both work for a major TV station in Stockholm. When we finally met up with Anna, we sat down at a café, but coffee quickly became a pint, as Martin was finished with work for the day and it was a nce day outside. We sat for maybe an hour, when Martin asked what my plans were for the rest of the day, and that I should come over for dinner. I ended up going with Martin to pick up his adorable 7 year old daughter from kindergarten, and going grocery shopping with him before we finally went back to the family apartment. They have a beautiful apartment overlooking Lake Malern. I ended up spending the rest of the evening at their appartement, chatting with Martin about all sorts of things (like his tattoo of the family crest on his arm!), splitting a bottle of Austrian wine (definitely not my plan at the beginning of the evening as I had to get up at 5AM this morning to catch a bus to the airport), and watching the Swedish hockey championship. He also made a very good mushroom risotto, and after not having very much Italian food at all in several months was a delicious meal. Anna resturned later because she had a meeting, so I stayed a little later than her return, but I left their house at around 10:30 PM, very happy to have spent the eveing with them and getting to meet another part of my father’s side of the family.
My grandfather was one of six children, and he was the only one to move to the US. The rest all stayed in Denmark or Sweden, so there are still plenty of other family memebers to meet when I return to Scandinavia. However, this was definetly one of the best and most interesting trps I’ve ever done. Meeting or getting reaquanited with family is so much fun!
On to London and part 2 of spring break. London-Dublin-Nice in the next week plus.

Day 6

Today- City Hall, Prince Eugene's Museum, Sodermalm (and Millenium Trilogy self-tour!) and lots of coffee and pastries.  Wonderful day!

Day 5: Stockholm

So, after arriving late last night, I did not have any time to explore Stockholm.  However, today I spent all day exploring the city.  Can definetly sense the difference between here and Denmark (And it's not just that if feels like it felt during February in Paris here...).  Went to three different museums today.  Started by going to the Vasa, then the Nordiska Museum of Swedish culture.  Had to return back to my hostel to register for classes for next fall, but had lunch before that at a cute cafe.  Then went back out to the Historical Museum, then walked around for a bit.  Long day, as I walked a lot between places, but very pleased with what I got to see.  The Vasa Museum and the Historical Museum were both very cool.  Also, hoping to get coffee with my cousin who lives here on Thursday.
Topping the day off by watching The Girl Who Played With Fire and eating a Swedish pastry.  Also- they sell Marabou Chocolate in vending machines here.  WIN.

Spring Break Day 3 and 4

So, things I left out from Day 2.  Asa made swedish meatballs for dinner.  It was delicious.  Also, we had a sort of Funen Island birthday cake, a gooier coffee cake.  And we talked a lot about the family tree!  Oh and dinner day 1 was a very Danish fried fish with potatoes.  Very very good as well.

Day 3:  Pancakes for breakfast, biking around Odense.  I borrowed Olaf's bike while he and Asa used their tandem bike.  It was too cute for words.  We went to Funen Village, a place where they gathered different old farm houses from around Funen Island to display in a sort of outdoor museum, complete with cows, chickens, and a brewing demonstration.  Also, it was a beautiful day for being outside, which made the experience even better.  We ate at a Jensen's Bofhus for dinner, a nice and inexepensive steak house, sort of reminded me of Applebees, but Scandinavian.  In the evening, Olaf cooked a pork roast (very Danish, as Denmark provides the UK with all it's pork and still has lots left over), then he showed me many old family documents and photos, and even the family coat of arms!

Day 4:  Said goodbye to Asa and Nils in the morning.  Very sad, as I had a wonderful time getting reacquainted with them.  Olaf and I took the train to Copenhagen, then up to Helsingor, walked around the town for a bit, took the ferry to Helsingborg, walked around and had lunch (a beef stew like my mom makes) at a nice restaurant, then travelled to Lund.  In Lund saw the university, the cathedral and heard about the story of Finn the giant, learned about "fika", and heard many stories from Olaf's past in Lund.  Then parted ways in Lund, as he headed back home and I made my way up to Stockholm, where I will be staying until early Friday morning.

Spring Break Day 2: Copenhagen

So today has been a very long day.  Started at 7am, figured out how to use the shower (Scandinavian design is fantastic.  So much more livable than France, but some things are not exactly intuitive in how one uses them, like the shower, or the faucet, or the spray bottle for oil and vinegar...), then had a typical Danish breakfast of various types of rolls and cheese, jam, or flat chocolate!  Delicious! (even the gouda with stinging nettles).  We got on the road by around 8:30 and were off to Copenhagen, arriving in a little over an hour and a half.  First we stopped at the house where my grandfather and great uncle (Olaf's grandfather) grew up in Hellerup, a very nice residential district on the north side of Copenhagen.  After that we went to small memorial garden where many of my relatives are buried.  Seeing my last name on a grave stone is very odd (even more so for Olaf' and his son, who were named after relatives buried there).  However, it's not as uncommon of a last name in Scandinavia, and there are apparently many other Svens here, including many unknown ones living in Denmark (however most are not related).  

We then proceeded south, visiting the very famous Little Mermaid statue (nice but not incredibly impressive), then proceeded to walk around the old town, climbing the Roundtower, eating lunch at Nyhavn.  We then walked around and saw more sights in the old town like the City Hall, Parliament, and a very interestingly redesigned waterfront on the harbor, and major modern architectural redevelopment that has occurred over the past 10 years or so.  After this, we walked back north along the harbor, took the very new driverless metro system (you can watch out the front as you go!), then back to the car to drive home.  

Right before lunch, we passed through the square where the main palace of the Queen is located, and this was right at the time of the changing of the guard, however, today is an important day in Danish history, as April 9th was the day the Germans invaded Denmark in 1940.  It is still remember as a day of mourning, as before noon, all the flags are at half mast.  However, when the guard changes, they symbolically raise the flag.  One thing that fascinates me about Europe is how the war is still very much in the public consciousness, even with 65 years of peace and "European Integration".  It was a moving and powerful sight to see the guards, marching from a long distance away in silence, with only a drum to keep the pace of the march.

Another issue that I have talked about with my cousins quite a bit is the legal and widespread abuse of alcohol by teenagers here.  Apparently there is no drinking age, only an age to buy (16) and this results in Danish teens drinking at twice the level of their Swedish counterparts (legal drinking age is 20).  Something you wouldn't know about Danish culture from the outside, but a HUGE problem here (saw some of it going on in Copenhagen on the side of the canals.  Very strange sight).  

Sleep now.  Biking around Odense and Funen tomorrow.

Odense, Denmark

Long day of travel- waking up at 7AM to take the Metro, to take the RER, to take a plane, to take a train- but I am in Odense Denmark!  With other Svens!  And it's awesome!  They are incredibly nice, and made a nice typically Danish meal for me, then showed me around Odense a little bit (saw Hans Christian Andersen's boyhood home today!) and then we had tea and conversation for a long time.  It's been tons of fun, as they are very nice and incredibly funny (if you want to know a bizarre story, ask me about the cat and what it does to sweaters...) and friendly people.  Also, they do an incredibly amount of genealogy, so I now have a 62 page document to read about my ancestry!  PSYCHED!

Tomorrow we are driving to Copenhagen, so it should be a good day for sightseeing, both typical and Sven-specific.  It's also a very important and somber day for Denmark, as April 9th was the day that marked the beginning of the German occupation during World War II.  It should be interesting to see what kind of memorials or tributes I see in the Capital.    Will post tomorrow when I get the chance.

The French Way

So after being here for almost 3 months, it's strange to look back on my attitudes towards certain things at the beginning, and how many French customs i've adopted.  While there are the obvious, like the cheek kiss and saying bonjour and au revoir whenever you enter or leave a shop, there are certain small things that I'm used to know that would be super bizarre in the US.  Here, when one has bread with the meal, one puts their slice of bread on the table.  Not on the plate, but right on the table. In the US that never happens (also we don't eat nearly as much bread in the US).  At first I was kind of thrown off, but now I do it by instinct, and at the end of each course, rip a chunk of bread, put on in my plate, stick my fork in it and sop every bit of what's left on plate.

Also, no one is in a rush here.  Sunday, I spent 2 hours just sitting around with friends  after lunch, just because.  And it didn't matter either, because the wait staff will (generally) allow you to sit for as long as you like.  Very different from New York, where if you sit for a while after your meal you will be prodded to leave.

However, the odd thing is that if you don't follow the relaxed norms, you get starred at!  Eating while walking is considered eating "comme des Américains".  Eating on the Metro is considered "dégueulasse"!  And if you don't say hi or goodbye, or offer something at dinner, no matter what or how smal, to the person next you before you serve yourself, is considered "mal élevé", or poorly raised.  All of these additional social norms and customs can be a bit tiring for an Ameri-Sven living in Paris, especailly considering how American culture is, while rushed, very laid back. You can wear what you want, do what you want, and be how you want so long as it doesn't effect others.