2017.03.11: A mellow Saturday

The big plan for the day was to go shopping. I don’t like shopping, especially at busy times. However, I needed to get some things at the “Clas Ohlson” store, like printer ink and paper; Anya wanted dry-erase markers, and I wanted a micro-fiber gym towel, as it is smaller and can fit easily in my gym bag. I also had my 10% off grocery store reward coupon, which is only redeemable at the mall, with their larger “Kvantum” store. (Reminder: I not only needed a personnummer [like social security number], but I also needed a Swedish ID card–not just a residence permit card–to get the store membership card.)

However, Anya is using my bike with the studded tires, and while her bike has studded tires, it isn’t as good to ride as the “Elenn” or guest bike, and I don’t really know if my tightening of the handlebars on Anya’s bike is adequate (there is an problem with tightening the hexbold on the headset). With all the extra weight for a shopping trip, I wanted to take the Elenn bike. So, yesterday, I strapped a plastic crate on the back of the Elenn bike for all the stuff, as the bike paths were clear of snow and I could take the non-studded-tire bike. But it froze overnight and the slushy puddles and wet areas could be a bit slick. So, I waited for the temperature to get above freezing and for Clas Ohlson to open. In other words, the mall was very busy.

During my first week in Sweden, when my host, Christina, took me to the Kvantum grocery store, she commented how so many people make it a Saturday family event to go grocery shopping. So, there are a bunch of kids adding to the congestion. Yesterday, one kid wanted the Star Wars cereal. (Anya likes this cereal too!) But shopping is a bit crazy in a busy store where I don’t know my way around.

In my wanderings, I saw the transfer of semla pastries onto the shelf. So, yes, the Fat Tuesday delight is now available during the fasting time. even though Lent here is called the “fastan” time.

I still can’t find tapioca. I couldn’t find any barley, as I was going to try to make a beef barley soup. That just sounds good right now. I made two trips through all the varieties of toilet paper, varieties of paper towels, and varieties of baby wipes looking for facial tissue; nothing. Don’t Swedes blow their noses? I went to the cosmetics section and found one kind of boxed facial tissue with small shelf space. They also have the travel packs of tissue, but again in little shelf space. This makes me curious, but it is an awkward question to ask. I supposed I would have to start, “Do Swedes blow their noses? If so, how–as in–into a tissue, cloth, or else-wise?” Swedes are very pragmatic, so perhaps toilet tissue makes sense. It is quite readily available.

With my 10% off coupon, I stocked up on a few things. Sales tax is 12% on food and 25% on non-food items, but 10% off is nothing to sneeze at. So, I stocked up on Nutella and shampoo, as well things that are not carried in our small, neighborhood grocery store. I have to prioritize, so everything will fit in my backpack and bike baskets. With about 15 pounds extra in the handlebar basket, I had to be more careful steering and navigate around some puddles that didn’t quite look melted, but I got home safely with my cautious pace.

I did some piddly fixing (finally fixed the spice drawer bottom) and little tasks, like putting paper to “file” in binders (Swede’s don’t use file cabinets, they put everything in ring binders). These are not 3-ring binders, but I think they are called a four-ring “fork” binder, with two wide prongs on the left and two narrower prongs on the right. The pages have 4 holes. When you close the binder covers, the prongs on each side have to align with the holes on the other side. It seems a bit inefficient, but perhaps there are some benefits I have yet to figure out.

While there were some things accomplished, like paperwork, boots waterproofed, laundry put away, and clean sheets and duvet cover on, (we are going Swedish with just a duvet–no top sheet), but it was a rather low key day. I did some Swedish, but I know I could have done more. I usually try to have a “carrot” at the end of each lesson, such as watching a 6 minute episode of “How Its Made” in British English on YouTube (I find these fascinating), but yesterday I had more episodes than lessons.

In the back of my head was all the things I should be doing, as I think that things are going to get a bit crazy now with work. There is the crunch of getting all the literature revised for all the syllabi for next year. There are always more books to read for my new courses. Soon, there will be lots of essays to read (in Swedish) and grade. Fortunately, I only have to discern between unsatisfactory, good pass, and very good pass. I should be able to do that adequately evaluating the content (not the Swedish grammar), but very slowly!

My musings today are just on the stuff of life, nothing dramatic. But these are part of what takes energy here.

With blessings,

Beth