smörgåsblogg
What is this a sign for? Anyone who knows Thai is ineligible this week.
Answer to last week: That thing goes on the back of a stroller for the kid to ride on who is too big to sit in the stroller but too small to walk so much or so fast. These things are everywhere around Göteborg. Katrina, you can get one if you come here! Jon, they should totally be repurposed for the back of a grocery cart as well.
We're back in cold, safe, sterile Sweden. This post is a tribute to the scariest ride we took in Bangkok; the canal boat (not to be confused with the river boat, which is bigger and slower or the long-tail boat, which is smaller and more peaceful). These canal boats are used by locals to commute; typically not by tourists. The captains are evidently frustrated Formula 1 drivers, as they find it necessary to operate at full throttle as much as possible. It becomes more like a race than a commute.
The mid-ship diesel engine is screaming under that read plywood box and the blue tarps keep (some of) the water out.
Ever wonder how they make anti-venoms? It all starts at the snake farm.
Where they 'milk' the snake by getting him to release some venom into a glass.
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Oh, by the way, snakes are cannibals (as we learned when this guy suddenly decided to eat another guy in his cage.)
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Room-mate wanted to share a clean, quiet cage with a friendly King Cobra. Non-smoker preferred, must be 3-4 meters long and tasty.
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Sam managed to chase down a wild turkey in the back alleys of Bangkok and roast it up to perfection (as well as fix all the trimmings).
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And Ava had her first thanksgiving dinner.
Yesterday, we took a bike tour through Bangkok. It's not the most pleasant place on the planet for outdoor activity, due to the traffic situation and the air quality, but it's very interesting once you're outside the busier parts of town.
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Ali races the mopeds.
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Riding through the market- carefully or you'll crash into a stack of melons, or a tub full of live fish, or a dude carrying a chicken, or a barrel of hot peppers, or some exotic prickly fruit, or...
And onto the longtail boat for a ride across the river.
The grand finally- riding on narrow elevated paths through farmland and between houses built on stilts.
We can recommend this place:
I think I've been making these too easy lately. Hopefully this week's won't be. What is this?
Answer to last week: Yes, it was a rug beater.
'Chevy Fish Tank' is the name of this display in Siam Ocean World, a Bangkok Aquarium conveniently located in a fancy shopping mall. I guess it's some sort of advertising that just screams: "If you buy a Chevy and it runs like crap, you can always make a fish bowl out of it!"
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We landed in Bangkok yesterday and walked around some of the choice neighborhoods. This one street has the same energy consumption as the entire country of Sweden.
What do you think this is?
Answer to last week: The Other Allison was indeed correct: That was a rack of scanners you use at the grocery store so you can scan the groceries you're buying as you put them into your cart. It makes checking out much quicker, as long as you aren't selected to be the person the store double-checks for honesty.
While today probably won't be my last day of Swedish class ever, it is my last day for at least two months--a much needed break. I thought I'd mark the occasion by sharing all of my least favorite Swedish words:
föräldrar (parents)
fåtölj (armchair)
följer (follow/accompany)
sjuksköterska (nurse)
om (about, round, if, of, by, again)
är (am/are/is)
var (where/were/was)
har (have)
I don't like the first four because they are difficult to pronounce; I don't like "om" because it has too many possible meanings; and I don't like the last three because even though they are not hard to pronounce, I ALWAYS say them wrong anyways: är should sound something like "air" but I tend to say "are," var should sound like "vaar" but I tend to say "vair," and har should sound like "haar," but I always say "hair."
My favorite Swedish words are:
smutsig (filthy/muddy)
mysig (cosy)
In other news, we had our first snow this morning! It only flurried, but it was lovely. Sorry, no picture.
No, pizza salad isn't a salad made out of pizza ingredients. It is basically cole slaw, and it ALWAYS comes whenever you order a pizza here in Sweden. I wonder how that started?
We had a lovely evening in the sea-side town of Kullavik with Stephan & Lotta. The intense glow from the kerosene storm lantern completed the enchanting atmosphere (and as a bonus, we didn't burn the house down).
Like so many men who have come before him, Tim stumbles down the Avenue, struggling to keep his balance, looking here and there, maybe drooling a little bit, tripping over his own feet and finally giving up and sitting down on the cobblestones in front of the Auld Dubliner.
Notice that it's Saturday and it's sunny. That's two in a row, not bad.
When you register a vehicle in sweden they mail the plate(s) to your home in a little cardboard box. And in the box is hardware to install them. And instructions. Imagine getting plates at the New Jersey DMV and asking them if they didn't mind throwing in some free mounting hardware. I think you'd get one of these responses:
1. What?
2. Que?
3. Security, line 7...Security, line 7.
4. GetouttamyfrigginlinebeforeIbreakyourfrigginneck.
5. Look everybody, we got ourselves a comedian here! Next!
6. Whatdya nuts or somethin?
5. Are you some kinda moron? This is the DMV, not Home Depot.
Extra Credit: You want some screws? Screw you buddy!
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I should also mention that you apply for the registration via internet, phone or mail from the comfort of your home, instead of waiting in line for hours in municipal building which hasn't been cleaned since the Cold War, just to be sent away because you didn't have the right form of ID.
...and one more thing about the hardware, if I may. This stuff didn't come from the Dollar Store. I'm talking about plated bolts that won't rust too easily, nuts with nylon locks & even little plastic caps to put over the bolt heads.
What is this?
Answer to last week: Katrina was right, then Ebba was correctly more specific. That was a picture of the roof of car one rather brisk morning. The bump is the car's antenna, referred to as the sharkfin (hajfenan). The photo was actually taken way back in the beginning of October. We've had quite a few frosty mornings already. Here's a different angle, slightly zoomed out.
A sunny Saturday morning at the kitchen table with a tasty breakfast.
