Un-American Summer

Adrian and I are finally getting used to the fact that Sweden shuts down in July. Businesses stop, schools close, restaurants post signs saying "closed - happy summer!", and the cities empty out as Swedes run to their ubiquitous stugas in the forest or on some beautiful stretch of lakefront or coast. And in fact the shutdown really begins mid-June and work doesn't really get going again until mid-August. When you have a consensus-oriented decision-making process, you kind of need to wait until everyone is there to get things done.

This is so unbelievably un-American. I mean, first of all you'd never take 4 weeks off in one go because if you did people might notice that the world didn't end when you weren't at the office and then they might fire you because you're not essential. Secondly, it's just not apple pie to not be open all the time so you can make as much money as possible. Close your office or restaurant when a customer might need something?! But they might go to a competitor?! (But wait, the competitor is closed too ...). And finally, it's just not American to relax and enjoy your life. Much better to run around like a crazy person with your Crackberry beeping, picking up multiple children in your big SUV after working 50 hours a week while you drink your 50-oz iced latte from Starbucks. Sigh. I miss the U.S. Ha!

France - The Food

We spent a lot of time cooking, eating or shopping for food during our trip. This was partly because Emma, Amanda and I all like to cook (certainly we are gourmandes rather than gourmets) and partly because going out to eat with 5 children is just plain masochistic. So we spent lots of time around the big island in the kitchen (which you can see above with a morning's haul from the market in Carcassonne), chopping, chatting and handing out snacks to the kids who ran in and out constantly.

We stuck to French food (no surprise) and managed to hammer out boeuf bourguignon, duck confit, lentil stew with sausages, moules marineres over linguine, and couscous with merguez sausages and vegetables over the course of the week. I didn't get pictures of everything, but here are a few of the meals:
We also started every morning with a trip to the bakery for baguette, pain au chocolat, and croissant, accompanied by copious amounts of nutella, strawberry jam and strong coffee. Here's a shot from the market of the pastry booth, otherwise known as where I want to go after I die:
And since the Languedoc is cassoulet country, here's a shot of the very tasty cassoulet I had in Lagrasse. I have to say I couldn't quite bring myself to eat the duck skin or the big wedge of pork fat, but did enjoy the sausages, tender duck and cannellini beans soaked in the juices of the different meats and topped with crunchy bits of something quite a bit.

And that's the last of my report from France. Long live the Languedoc!

France - Part 2

I notice the pictures from my previous post are mostly of people, and I suppose that's what this trip was primarily about for us -- seeing old friends. BUT, we did visit some beautiful places, namely Carcassonne, Narbonne, Lagrasse and Toulouse, all in the Languedoc area of the "sleepy south" of France. Here are some of my favorite shots of those places:

Carcassonne
Known for its medieval (and nicely restored) Cite that you can see behind Adrian and Julian in the first shot, Carcassonne also has a lovely (breaking my own rule here using lovely as an American, but hey) downtown shopping district that spreads out from the Place de Carnot where the market is held 3 times a week. The visit to the market on Saturday was a highlight of the trip.

Narbonne
Narbonne is just a 30-minute train ride toward the sea from Carcassonne, and we basically went for lunch and a stroll. We had a nice meal, actually, right on the main square at the restaurant right behind Adrian in the 3rd photo:

Lagrasse
We loved this little town about 35 km south-west of Carcassonne. Really beautiful and not over-riden with tourists and not a souvenir shop to be had (hurray!). The day we were there was a "clean out your attic" day and the main road was lined with people selling everything from toy dinosaurs to antique linens. I picked up a cute bronze key rack with 3 horses for the house.

France - Part 1

We just got back from France and all I can say is long live duck fat and kir royales! We flew to Toulouse and spent an uneventful night there before heading down to Carcassonne, where we planned to stay in a rambling, gorgeous maison with the Smiths and the Bousheys (total=6 adults +5 kids) for a week. The trip from Toulouse to Carcassonne was more eventful than planned because the train, normally a quick, straight, 50-minute trip, was replaced by a meandering, curving bus ride, which took 2.5 hours and caused both children to vomit all over themselves, the seats, Adrian and me. So we arrived at the gorgeous Maison Juliette covered in regurgitation of various sorts. Despite the inauspicious beginning and some pretty drizzly weather for the first 4 days, we had a wonderful time.

It took about 3.4 seconds for the kids (Ava, Everett, Miles, Julian and Cate in descending age order), to start going everywhere hand in hand and running like crazy people around the house, building forts, making "yuck soup" in the garden, and playing Sleeping Beauty (Ava=princess). They were pretty much in heaven with playmates, hot chocolate and chocolate croissants around all the time. Plus they got to watch a movie every night. Ava wants to move to France.It was a treat for me to get to spend so much time with the other families after not seeing them for 14 months. We spent a lot of our time cooking, hanging in the gorgeous kitchen drinking wine, walking to the medieval Cite or shopping district, and chasing the kids. Here's us at dinner in the more formal dining room (L to R: Emma S., Amanda B., Geoff B., Alex S., Adrian and Julian): And here's us doing what we are all so good at now: schlepping children on shoulders, backs, hips or in strollers around town, in good weather or bad: And here's me and Emma in the backyard, probably drinking a kir royale while the dads chased the kids through the bushes:

One Year

Our one year anniversary of being in Sweden was May 1. What a difference a year makes, my Lord! When I think back on the first few months I realize how far we've all come since them. I'm remembering:

• Ava crying in the park because no one would play with her (because they didn't know what the heck she was saying)
• Me desperately searching for canned chicken stock in the grocery store only to find there's no such thing in Sweden (they use "fond" instead - a high-potency liquid chicken base that you mix with water to make stock)
• Adrian saying that maybe we made a mistake coming here because it's so expensive AND salaries are so much lower
• Julian doing nothing much except crawling around and grunting

And now Ava is a master of getting kids who don't understand her to play with her, I see the many benefits of fond (make just what you need! no tin cans!), Adrian has come to terms with the cost of living and Julian is a running, jumping, chatting, kissing bundle of cute boyhood. Chaos has settled to peaceful and happy Euro existence.

Perhaps the best lesson of our move has been the reminder that there are lots of nice places to live, lots of nice people who live there, and lots of nice ways to do things. San Francisco is not, (blasphemy!) the center of the world (except maybe for Internet jobs, the burrito, and graphic facilitation ... but you get my point), and the American approach to work is not the only way to get things done. Sometimes, in fact, it's the way not to get things done.

The biggest emotional roller coaster for me over the past year has been about work and the very real possibility in the beginning of not working while we were in Sweden. My initial stabs at finding work were somewhat mortifying (I'm remembering a couple of embarrassing calls with a woman at Volvo) and downright depressing, so I can't believe I'm getting to do the work I am now and am so thankful for stumbling onto Lorensbergs and Malin and Trevor.

So year 2, we're ready for you! Nu kör vi!

Nana's visit

Adrian's Mom, Jenny, came to visit us for a few nights last weekend. She picked the first really beautiful, warm weekend of the year to come, so well done, Jenny! We went out for a nice dinner together at a restaurant called Frågetecknet (Question Mark), which was slightly stressful due to the fact the kids' pasta was spaghetti, which always means our table looks like an abattoir after we leave, but was very tasty nonetheless. Then she got the full tour of Ava and Julian's Göteborg: ABC preschool, Slottskogen playground, Universeum, and fika at the quaint Villa Belparc, where you can eat cinnamon buns and run around and feed ducks and your parents don't mind. Also, Adrian and I took the opportunity to go see Slumdog Millionaire in the theater, and Adrian tells me this was the first time he's been to a movie in 2 years, so good thing it was so good. Anyway, we enjoyed having the company and as always it's great when the kids get to spend time with family members other than us!!

Chalmers Cortege

Thursday, April 30, was the 100th anniversary of the Chalmers Cortege in Göteborg. Chalmers is the technical university in town and the Cortege is a yearly parade of (mostly satirical) floats created by students that weaves its way through town with lots of clanging metal, putting vehicles, shrieking students and marching bands. Julian and Ava were enthralled I tell you. In fact, Julian, who sat on Adrian or my shoulders the whole time, was so anxious not to miss a single "big truck" that he became very adept as grabbing our ears and turning our heads in the direction of his choice. Very reminiscent of the way Remy the rat steered Linguine in Ratatoullie, actually.