Go Red!

Dear D,

The past three days have been "Sports Day." The whole school, including the teachers and janitors, is split into four teams (red, blue, green and yellow) which compete in cheerleading and running. I'm proud to say that I helped my team (red) nab a victory in the teacher's 1600 m relay! That was on the second day though....

On the first day of Sports Day, I was put on cheerleading duty, except I didn't know any of the Thai cheers or the choreography. So there I was stumbling along through the cheer dances while being shown up by a ladyboy in Santa drag and a pack of Japanese school girls....

Ouch.

Wish you could've seen it. Three days of screaming, dancing, running and kids passing out in the heat!

Love,

L

A Student Dressed Up As A Water Buffalo

Merry Christmas!

Dear D,

It's a little late, I know, but Merry Christmas!! The internet in my office broke and today is the first time I've been online in many days.. so much to catch up on!

My family is here now and we've been having a lot of fun; I took them to my favorite markets and food stalls as well as my beloved surfing beach ;)

For the week leading up to Christmas I made my classes don Santa hats (...and a red witch's hat) and sing carols! They had a good time I think.

I also had them make paper Xmas stockings which we put up on the blackboard since that's the closest thing we had to a fireplace's mantle.

Then I set up this little cutie in my bungalow:

And on Christmas day my bro and I surfed at Memories while I accidentally ordered my mom shots... (B-52s, on fire, to be specific).

Ho ho ho!

Love,

L

Bus stops, benches, and construction sites

Dear L,

A bus stop on the 201 line.

 This one was most likely bought at IKEA.

 Someone really wanted to sit down on this bench.

A construction site at night.

Love,

D

God jul! (Can you spot all of the tomtar?)

Dear L,

God jul!

 Note our conferring tomtar in the front left there.

 A Christmas puppy.

"Traditional Christmas baking, from your local bakery."  Marzipan stars, orange-flavored chocolates, saffron buns, huge cinnamon rolls...

...stone-oven baked Christmas bread, sourdough bread, fruitcake, boxes of chocolate, and...

...the olde traditional edible piggy banks, for storing your chocolate coins.  Hmm.

I passed Andersson's Flower Shop on the way home from signing up for Swedish lessons last week and couldn't help taking a couple of photos.  It's the gardening store in Lidingö Center where I bought my tin lacrosse ball bucket.

 Andersson's.

Can you spot all of the tomtar?

There they are.

 A Swedish office building showing its holiday spirit.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Love,
D

Messing around

Dear L,

From beach week 2010, edited with PS Express.

Love,
D

Party pics

Dear L,

Some photos from Friday's house party:

Paul, Maya, and Auré(?) posing against the wall.  They're French.

Photos in the kitchen.  Beer pong in the foreground, Javier in the back-.

Love,
D

Coldest Swedish December in 100 years

Dear L,

According to The Local, Sweden is in the middle of the coldest winter in over a century!  It has been blizzarding since November.  The heat is on full-blast and it's still very cold in the apartment.  I managed to grab the last roll of bubble-wrap at the local shop to use as insulation on the windows (and to relieve your tension! - I hope you got to enjoy some satisfying pops on a stressful day) and have been resealing any window or door edges that are letting in cold air.  That, and enjoying a lot of hot tea and warm blankets.  I hope the snow lets up a bit before you visit.

 

Snow everywhere - looking down the road from my office.

 Back up at the office building.

Love,

D

Julpost

Dear L,

The Swedish government is doing its part and has subsidized all domestic Christmas mail!  You just have to make sure to give it a cheaper Christmas-themed stamp and drop it off in one of these red julpost mailboxes.  Looks unfortunately like some free-market enthusiasts with spray paint found the box.  Text: "Christmas post with Christmas stamps. Mail collected daily."

Love,
D

The Guardian takes his post

Classroom Shenanigans

Dear D,
From yesterday:
Confiscated another broken syringe from gecko class. Several boys also running around with holes in the crotches of their pants. One boy ALSO had a hole in his boxers, so when he stood on a chair to show me and the other teacher the issue with his pants I also got an eyeful of adolescent testicle.
*gags*
And from today:
One of my juniors got completely pantsed at the front of the classroom during a spelling contest.

I'm still in a great mood though! The sun is out and I just finished crossing things off my to-do list. I'll be on the bus to Bangkok tonight and by tomorrow morning hopefully enjoying a roof top pool with my family!

love,
L

Cow on the ice

Dear L,

I'm writing you from a hotel room in Örebro, 200 kilometers west of Stockholm.  Professional workshop teaching a team of customers about our software system all day today, followed by dinner with them in town.  The conversation turned to proverbs, and one customer Anna-Helena made the point that we have the same sayings in English as they do in Swedish.  Everyone at the table agreed.  I wasn't sure, so I asked for examples.  The group obliged:

1. (sports) "We'll show you where the locker room is!"
...  Not sure about this one.  It's by far the most polite sports taunt I've ever heard.  Will definitely not intimidate in English.

2. "There's a cow on the ice."
Hmm.

I still disagree.

Love,
D

Christmas concert: Santa Lucia

Dear L,

Just got home from a Christmas concert, which celebrated the coming of Santa Lucia day (which is tomorrow, the 13th).

It. was. awesome.

To begin the concert, all of the lights were turned off.  It was dark as pitch inside the church.  The organist pounded out melancholic, terrible chords (chords? or random dissonant keys?) that were so loud and satanic I felt my fight-or-flight instincts fire up, as a chorus of vocalists scattered throughout the black shrieked eerie harmonies and the young girl chosen as Lucia spun across the room afire with burning candles in her hair between descending, unlit chandeliers.  Absolutely awing.

Don't let this picture fool you.  There are no saffron buns or glögg.  Just ancient rituals, fire, and terror.

Would love to take you to one sometime.

Love,
D

A sad Christmas in Stockholm

Dear L,

Christmas gnomes discussing life's finer points in a shop window.

There were two bombings in Stockholm tonight, one car bomb and one suicide bomb.  Luckily the bombings were failures, killing only the suicide bomber and injuring two civilians.  It seems that the purpose of the bombings is to punish Sweden for its silence in response to Lars Vilks' cartoons portraying the prophet Mohammed as a dog.  It's unfortunate that the method of response chosen was a violent attack on Drottninggatan, the street in central Stockholm known for its markets and window-shopping, especially now during the Christmas season.  The general feeling here is shock.  I personally fear for Sweden's Islamic community, with these suicide bombings coming just months after the polarizing, far-right Sverigedemokraterna gained their first seats in the Swedish parliament, a consequence of anti-Muslim sentiment within the general public.

This is proving to be an interesting holiday season.

Love,
D

BROTHERS

The bridge to Lidingö

Dear L,

 

I like this picture.  This is the bridge from Stockholm to Lidingö, as seen from Lidingö.  Pedestrians and the Lidingöbanan (local tram) cross on the lower, snow-covered bridge.  Cars cross on the upper bridge (which splits as it gets to the island).  Notice that the sea is starting to freeze over!  Speaking of trams:

An oncoming Lidingöbana!  Causeway for cars is on the right.

 

I found a paper heart on the railing.

 

Jag älskar total ärlighet (I love total honesty), it said.

A snowy abandoned dock behind a bridge support.

I miss you.

Love,

D

Skype date

Bird's eye view

Dear L,

I noticed an illuminated glass pyramid on the way home.  I decided to see what was inside:

Something yellow...

Bananas!

Love,
D

New look

Dear L,

Do you like Motorbike's new look?  Do you want to go back to the old one?

Love,
D

Birthday Weekend i

Dear D,

I had an excellent birthday if you don't count the one big suckiness: you not being there...

Went to dinner at Rusty Pelican, where I had ceviche! (Not as good as Ecuador...) And two tacos and numerous drinks!

Decadent brownies provided by Sam, yum.

And a Doraemon cake from C!

Fat Mexican: tequila, lemon, ..tabasco

S and B blew up a bunch of balloons, I was treated to a few games of pool as well as dinner and everyone was wonderful. Sigh, I've found a good group of cats here in Bangsak.

Love,

L