so i stumble off of the plane zenned out and trying not to focus on the fact that my bag is packed poorly, my flight was delayed which would probably throw off my already tenuous meeting with my couchsurfing host, i was in a new country all by my lonesome, and i was about to be drenched in a languageimmersion whose intensity i couldn't predict.
so i deplane, get ye ole passport stamped, head through to get my backpack, do a post-9-hour flight-change-tooth-brush-face-wash, go through customs, change money, buy a ticket for town, find a phone card, try and call my host, get a fax line, worry, hop on the train to central station, wander out of the train, walk to the rendevous point, ask a stranger if they are looking for a couchsurfing host, make a friend, find wireless access, email couchsurfing host, meet an american-indian family on vacation, goggle at the massive amounts of swedes aimlessly waving swedish flags (more on that later), wait for an hour and then voila! she appears. i get a big hug, we go find a subway pass for me which for three days is....90 US! get on the subway, sit on the subway while train officials try and clear someone who is sitting on the tracks, talk about her recent 6 month stay in iceland, head to her house in the sunny suburbs, and drop my poorly packed bag in a sunny, happy, wonderful apartment.
so phew. i have arrived. and it only gets better. i arrived on a "red day" or national holiday. meaning that all of the swedes in the train station frantically waving flags weren't creepily nationalistic, but were celebrating the national holiday that i can only compare to the fourth of july. i meet a friend of my host, eat some couscous, lightly pass out in the sun in the back yard, and then we head to the grocery to buy materials for a bbq my host is throwing that night in honor more of everyone's day off than any holiday. a short walk and interesting foray into swedish groceries later, we get back and get to chopping, and surf google for pictures of cilantoro which they hae never heard of*. the three of us make a spinach-potato-balsamic salad (the local potatos were some of the best i've ever had), kebabs with veggies marinated in soy sauce and chilli peppers, hummus, guacamole, soy dogs, couscous, and a weird soya meat corn concoction.
i get to meet another couch surfer staying with my host who is a funny american with a great sense of humor. he's in school at the college of william and mary and is traveling for the summer. he envies my life. haha!
i begin learning some swedish language principles and then slowly, my hosts friends arrive. they are all amazing! smart, funny, amazingly articulate in english, great music tastes, engaged and engaging, trendy (really trendy), and all round fantastic. i look at my watch thinking it is around five and its eight. the sun still high in the sky. we hang out, grill out, veg out, pig out, talk, laugh, sit in the sun that seems fixed in the sky, and have an all´round good time. the sn sets at ten, but the light doesn't fade from the sky until 12:30. my oh my. i wouldn't ever sleep if i lived here. but i guess i'll have to figure it out, as i'l live here soom enough.
so i got a great introduction to swedish life, am hitting the downtown today with johanna, made some good friends who i will for sure stay in touch with when i move to oslo, and have recovered decently from the jet lag. if you just pretend that you haven't gone from southern california to the arctic in 18 hours, the adjustment can be mastered. i say this through cracked out, sleepy eyes, dried out and looking at a computer screen at 7:15 am. oh, and the sun rose at 4. so i'm going back to sleep....
*this is not strange to me. not only is cilantro used mainly in south american and mexican cooking, it is mostly grown there, in fact, i am blown away, and we discuss this at length, that we live half way around the world from each other and we eat all the same foods. its kind of weird, and sort of scary how much effort and energy goes into food globalization and that just as we expect avocados to be available in december from brazil, they expect avocados to be avaiable in the winter from israel. johanna points out that she can often choose between organic fruit grown in south america and industrial food grown locally: which is better? is it better to buy for our bodies, or for the level of eco-friendliness?
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