Show & Tell: What I Have Collected Over the Years...

...but stopped collecting years ago. I'm sure I have some saved in my parents' attic though, hope so at least as it would be fun to show Belly Dancer and her/his siblings in the future.

First out is Garbage Pail Kids trading cards. Do you remember them?! Apparently they still exist! They were a parody on the Garbage Patch Kids dolls - I really wanted a doll but my mum thought it was a hype and also that they were expensive. My friend Maria had one and I was soooo jealous! I don't care now of course but I was pretty mad at my mum back then!



Second, so-called luktisar, i.e. smell stickers, or scratch-and-sniff as they are also called. Weren't they fun! I think we traded these too. Speaking of things that smell, I also had quite a lot of smell rubbers too. They weren't great erasers really but I guess that wasn't the point of them!



Third and last, manicklar - I have no clue what they're called in English. These were little figures - letters, numbers or objects such as bicycles - in various colours that you were supposed to link up in long chains, the longer the better of course.



This was Musikanta's final theme. It looks like Erica will take over the relay stick for the final stretch of this Show & Tell year.

Images borrowed from the Internet today

Day 2: My First Love

In 1st-3rd grade I used to play "house" with a boy from school (H.) but we didn't just play house, we also played how to make babies that lived in the house! We kept our clothes on but my friend J. has told me she played the same game with H. and that they got butt naked! I think I was too prudish for that, despite Per, Ida & Minimum :)

But H. wasn't my first love. My first love was S. who went to school with me in 4th-6th grade. As customary at that age (you know, fråga chansen), we were sort of on and off and S. had other girlfriends in addition to me over the years, including my friend Malin, but he was the first person I kissed (not just a peck on the cheek...) and I remember several slow dances (tryckare) with him class parties.

But my first real love was J. who was in my class in 7th-9th grade. I was so desperately in love with him but nothing ever happened between us despite us hanging out in the same groups and being really good friends for a couple of years. I got my "revenge" though, as years later, in our late teens and early 20s, it was J. who was interested and me who was like no way! :)

J. - If you happen to read this, don't worry, you're a nice guy but you just didn't have "that"

Show & Tell: Borders

Apologies for another late Show & Tell... A busy weekend is my excuse; it started with girls' dinner on Friday, followed by a much needed sleep-in on Saturday, shopping and a 40th surprise party on Saturday, and Sunday we had apartment viewings, flying and dinner at Peter's uncle on the agenda.

For this week's Show & Tell Petta has chosen gränser, i.e. borders or limit(ation)s. The first thing that popped into my mind was Borders bookstore, and not Borders in general but the Borders in Oxford, which is probably the Borders I have spent most time in (even if it was some years ago now; early 2000s). As many Borders around the world it became a victim of the economic crisis and was closed down, but the memories always remain.



I don't think I actually bought that many books in there (so maybe I contributed to its demise?); actually I probably bought more coffees than books, even though it is likely I spent more on books than coffee, given books tend to cost more than a latte (unless it's one of those 3 for the price of 2 deals perhaps). Most visits to Borders actually entailed spending time in the Starbucks at the back of the store, usually with my friend Kim.



My standard order was a regular latte in the winter and a frappucino in the summer. Now I can't drink frappucinos any more, at least not with cream; instead I prefer a simple iced latte without sugar.



And then we sat there for hours reading gossip magazines! :)



Now when I visit Oxford (not very often but it happens - Kim still lives in the area with her family) we go to what is probably the best bookshop and the one that counts as the "real", i.e. University bookshop, namely Blackwell's. They also have a café where you can sit for hours, though it's more frequented by students actually studying than reading gossip :)



Reminiscing about my time in Oxford also reminds me of one of the first things I learned as a political science (and especially international relations) student related to borders, namely the fact that you have a fundamental right to leave a country (even if it doesn't always apply in pratice) but not to enter another one. I understand that's how the modern world is organised* and that there are lots of (practical) reasons why you cannot allow people to migrate freely across the world, but I wish it wasn't so.



* That said, the nation state is really only 400 years old so does not necessarily have to be a given or a constant at all...

Show & Tell: A Comment/Remark I Will Never Forget

Time for Olgakatt's last theme and it's a tricky one. I can't remember anything "major" that I can focus on so I think I will just list two sweet memories I have.

Both memories involve my American aupair children who are no longer children, but young adults (one just turned 21 and the other one is turning 23 next month). Both comments were made in the summer of 1996; the children were almost 7 and 9 then.

We were talking about an aupair friend of mine and her medical condition (though nothing she suffered from), which meant her organs were reversely positioned inside her, i.e. her liver was the left instead of right side. Etc.)

Nine-year old K. thought about this for a long time before she asked:
- "So does that mean her belly button is on her back?"

We, the adults, couldn't help laughing, but in a way, a perfectly logical question, especially from a child who doesn't yet have a view of how things are supposed to be and who is meant to question things that we have started taking for granted.

The other memory involves K's younger brother D.

We were watching Sound of Music and I commented that if you lived in such a big house (the house of the von Trapp family), you would need lots of help (i.e. people). D. looks at me and says sincerely:
- "No, just you, Anna."

I thought that was so sweet and the comment went right into my heart and stayed there. (We yelled at each other too that year, especially that summer, as we were both sadly aware that my year was coming to an end, but most of time we loved each other :)

Pettas will take over Show & Tell in October!

P.S. At work right now so only tell today as I can't upload pictures from here.

Show & Tell: When I Was Little...

I'm going to be a bit boring and just show a few photos as my interpretation of Bejla's second theme of the month. I started scanning old photos a few months ago but didn't get very far (so far I have only scanned random photos kept in boxes but I will tackle my albums soon), hence I don't have much to show you (in addition to those you've already seen). Here are a few you haven't seen yet.

Age 2½, not sure where it is taken exactly but I think it's in front of one of the houses we rented (in Dalarna?) in the summers when I was little

My fifth birthday but I have no idea who the other children are. I think this is taken at pre-school. Maybe my mum can enlighten us :)

Skip to age 15 or 16; I travelled to France by train together with the church youth group I became a member of following my confirmation. We spent a night at the Swedish church in Paris* before we headed to our destination, Taizé, an ecumenical Christian monastery, which has become perhaps the site of Christian pilgrimage**. Taizé is a place for prayer, Bible study, sharing, and communal work, but for a teenager it's very much (mainly?) a camp for young people from all over the world. One of my favourite moments in Taizé were the twice-daily prayer/song sessions in the church:





A blurry picture of my beloved cat Kitty Tigera who's no longer with us, Someone (me?) has put a napkin around her neck, poor thing!

Check out my outfit at the Christmas celebrations at the Norwegian church in New York in 1995 (together with Norwegian aupair friends)! What was I thinking??!!

Here I have recently returned to Sweden (a few pounds heavier...) after my aupair year in the US. I think this picture is funny as we're all wearing blue and my grandmother's curtains also happen to be blue :)

* The Priest who was our "tour guide" is a very kind but a bit naïve and a scatter-minded man, so there are quite many stories from these annual trips (I only went on one) ranging from kids (well, teenagers) left on the platform in Hamburg (this happened to my friend on the trip I was one and, I have to say, was really my friend's fault) as the train to Paris leaves in front of their eyes to the group getting lost in Paris's redlight district to a girl (another friend of mine, the year before I joined) tripping and breaking her arm.

** If you haven't heard of Taizé, you may have heard of its founder Brother Roger, who was tragically stabbed to death by a mentally ill visitor in 2005

MJ Memory

I watched "This Is It", the Michael Jackson movie, with my friend Jenny tonight. We reminisced about the 1992 concert we went to together - and I told her about the 1997 concert that she unfortunately missed.

We also talked about how our mutual friend Maria and I, at age 12 or 13, repeatedly rang J. S. - the boy three classes up whom we were all in love with - and played "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (he hung up every time). I thought it was Jenny and I who terrorised J. S. with MJ music as Jenny and I sent him a diploma for being the greatest guy ever* (or similar) in the post (wonder if he kept it??) but apparently it was Maria and me :)

Good times!





* Like many guys who were cute and cool at that age, J. S. did not turn out to be the kind of guy we would want to be with now...

Show & Tell: Tea

Sparkling's last theme is tea (thanks for great topics!!).

I love tea! I drink several cups a day! My routine is tea in the morning, then coffee when I get to work, a cup of tea at 11ish, coffee after lunch and then tea in the afternoon around 3-4pm. Then a cup of tea again before bedtime. Sometimes I drink coffee after dinner but then only decaf unless it's the weekend. I don't worry about the caffeine in tea though because black tea has thirty times less caffeine than coffee (and red and green tea even less). I always drink black and red tea (and white) with milk but never take milk in green tea or infusions.

My absolute favourite tea is called Sir Williams. We always get ours at Sibyllan's tea shop in Sibyllegatan in Stockholm, but you can buy it under the name Mittens rike at Kahl's tea shops as well. It has a slightly smoky taste*, bergamot, hibiscus and a hint of jasmine. It contains seven different Chinese teas, e.g. Earl Grey, Jasmine, Lapsang and green tea.

Sir William's looks like this when you buy it from Sibyllan (image borrowed from Snor & Glamour - great name for a blog by the way!

Another favourite of mine, which I buy from the same tea shop is Earl Grey Cream, an Earl Grey tea flavoured with vanilla and bergamot. There's a Lady Grey Cream too but it's a bit too flowery and sweet for me (the combination taste sweeter somehow).



Another favourite is Rooibos tea. But it has to be plain Rooibos, not flavoured ones that unfortunately seems to be the only versions Swedish cafés serve. Very few Swedish tea brands (or teas sold in Sweden) do Rooibos well so I try to buy mine in the UK. But the kind my South African friend, living in the UK, brings from her home is the best!

In terms of tea in general, I like most teas unless they are too sweet or too fruity. It feels wrong for me to throw out tea I don't like that much. Unless it's awful I will drink it eventually, or bring it to work since others may like it (except the Brits I work with are like most British tea drinkers; they don't have a very sophisticated tea taste buds so prefer English Breakfast or PG Tips type tea**).

An early tea memory is drinking tea at my (maternal) grandmother's who was the one that introduced milk in my tea (if I remember correctly) and dunking cookies :) Another tea memory is having tea with my other (paternal) grandmother while watching House of Eliott on TV every Monday (think it was Mondays?). She usually had hers with lemon while I stuck to milk. Good memories to have now when one is no longer with us and the mind of the other is not so with it anymore.

Show & Tell themes for February coming later today!!


* But not that smoky cause I don't like smoky teas such as pure Lapsang
** A funny story about the difference between Swedish and British tea drinkers: In my work I often accompany British delegations on visits to Sweden. They often gets a searching look in their eye when going through the selection of teas at a Swedish meeting or a Swedish café. They are quick to ask "don't you have any normal tea?". "Of course", says the Swedish meeting host or the Swedish waitress, "here you go", and presents some Earl Grey tea bags. "No, regular tea", the Brit replies, because Earl Grey, whilst being the default tea in Sweden, is considered fancy in the UK. A little example of culture clash :)

Show & Tell: Walpurgis Eve/30 April/1 May

Promised to tell (and show) you about our Valborgsmässoafton/Walpurgis Eve* party last Thursday which also doubled as Peter's birthday celebration (his birthday was on 16 April so he doesn't share a birthday with the Swedish King on 30 April). But before that, I just wanted to share a few Valborgsmässoafton as well as 1 May (May Day/Labour Day) memories with you.

- The neighbourhood I grew up in used to be my grandparents' neighbourhood - we moved there when I was 13. But because farmor and farfar lived there I spent quite a few Valborgsmässoaftnar by the neighbourhood's bonfire. But the best part was not the actual bonfire, as in the burning of the fire, but playing in the slowly growing pile of garden waste, greenery, branches and other random rubbish the weeks preceeding Valborg. We used to build a hut at the top of the pile. Sometimes people had put tyres or an old armchair (even though that's not really authorised bonfire waste) on the bonfire so we could even furnish our "house". We were actually quite sad that our special playpen would eventually disappear.

- That said, the day after the bonfire was pretty exciting too. The ashes were still hot and slightly smoking. I learnt that lesson the hard way when walking too close to fireground with my new wellingtons. The soles were never the same after that. It must have been a cheap brand or maybe all kinds of wellington would melt of that kind of heat?

- As an adult (well, young adult) I've had the opportunity to take part in the very special Valborg celebrations held in Uppsala (I spent a year there before continuing my studies abroad).

The strongest and most traditional spring festivities are also found in the old university cities, like Uppsala and Lund, where both current and graduated students gather at events that take up most of the day from early morning to late night on April 30, or "sista april" ("the last day of April") as it is called in Uppsala. Modern Valborg-celebrations, particularly in Uppsala, consist of having a light breakfast including champagne and strawberries. During the day people gather in parks, drink alcoholic beverages, grill and generally enjoy the weather, if happens to be any good. (Source: Wikipedia)

I was there in 1998, which happened to be a very good year weather-wise; it was 25 degrees! As far as I remember we didn't see a Bonfire; instead we went to a formal dinner at one of the nations.

- As far as 1 May or May Day (Första maj in Swedish), the Swedish workers' or labour day, is concerned I grew up in an active Social Democratic family and remember being pushed in my pushchair while my mum (can't remember if my dad participated?) and (paternal) grandmother walked with the other demonstrators, singing the Social Democrat hit song The Internationale. Making the placards and banderoles was also fun! I took part in the demonstrations - then with the Social Democratic youth wing - until my late teens but since then I haven't, mainly because I moved abroad and stayed abroad for a while and "got out of the habit". Sometimes I miss it, especially all the fun and the sense of community, but mostly I feel that it's not my thing. I'm still a Social Democrat but I prefer showing my political colours and working for my causes in different ways.

But now to the party photos**!!

Posing with my wonderful friend Maria who's finally feeling better and was well enough to come to the party, her first party or get-together of any kind since she fell ill in early January. It was so special to have her there.


Another great friend, Suvi!

Peter and Johan being silly, a tradition that must be upheld.

Peter sipping one of his concoctions.

Valborg + hot dogs = true

Peter sister arrived late and showed how much she loves her brother :)

Alex reaps the benefits of the only bonfire of the evening

There was some dancing...

...and chair guitar.

It looks like I had had enough at this stage....but I can re-assure you I was smiling a second later!

Choosing music takes at least two people

At this stage it was getting a late...

Leftovers...

Oh, I almost forgot, Musikanta is in charge of the themes for May. See all five themes in the right-hand column.

* Scroll down for the part on Sweden

** More photos on Facebook. Don't want to post too many photos of friends who may not want to be "public" on my blog

Show & Tell: If I Were a Time Traveler, I Would...

I got the idea for a time traveling theme for Show & Tell from the book The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger that I read a couple of years ago and consider one of my favourite books. It's about a man with a strange genetic disorder that causes him to unpredictably time travel, and his wife, who has to cope with his frequent absences and dangerous experiences. Because of his time travel he knows his wife throughout her life (almost) while she of course does not know that she will marry him in the future. He also knows when he is going to die. The book has been filmed - and will be out at cinemes in December. A must-see for me!

I also like the books about the literary agent (detective) Thursday Next by Jasper Fforde. The first book in the series is The Eyre Affair where Thursday Next is chasing a criminal by moving back and forth between an alternate 1985 and the pages of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre. Not really time traveling in the true sense but traveling between the real world (well, in this case the author's made-up 1985 and the years preceding it) and a fictional one. So far I have actually only read the first book but I have bought some of the others in the series and they are sitting there on my shelf waiting to be read...time permitting.

When I was little I had a recurring dream that I was sick in a hospital back in the 1920s or 1940s or something and my mum was a nurse in the hospital but did not have time to care (only) for me due to all her other patients. For some reason it took place in England. Probably it was just an effect of me dealing in my own little way with having a brother and having to fight for my parents' attention and devotion, but I like to think that perhaps there is a little chance that I had memories of sorts from an earlier life. I don't really believe in that stuff but at the same time I cannot see how I at the age of 6 and 7 could have imagined an English hospital. Or perhaps I had seen too many Forsyte Saga episodes with my parents...

In a way this theme sits very well with this weekend since we (at least in Europe) are changing the clocks this weekend. I didn't know that back when I came up with the themes so it is really a fun coincidence. Spring forward, fall back is how I remember whether we lose or gain an hour though in Sweden they usually illustrate it with whether you're taking out the grill for the summer or putting it back inside :)

As I'm writing this I've just got back from a dinner with three childhood girlfriends. This particular evening we didn't talk at all about the past but some times when we meet that's all we talk about! The old days and common memories. One of my friends, Jenny, remembers everything; we call her our collective memory. Sometimes I wish I could go back to certain experiences, events or feelings, but most of time looking at photos or having an evening of reminiscing will do fine. I don't think anyone of us want to go back to those early teenage years when we had ugly haircuts - of course high fashion for the time - and pimples. The school photos from those days sure provide a good laugh!


I guess this post doesn't really answer the question what I would do if I could time travel but is rather a summary of whatever comes to mind when I think about time traveling, but it will have to do!

Images from Amazon and January Magazine.

Show & Tell: Colourful

Désirée in Alabama has created this month's Show & Tell themes. And anyone can join in the fun!

2 May: Colourful
9 May: Breakfast
16 May: Coolness, refreshing (weather and temperature)
23 May: Shoes (YES! says the shoe fetishist!)
30 May: Books

Since Désirée said to be very creative with today's theme I thought I'd just blog about something colourful that I remember from my childhood. Not brightly coloured perhaps but a specific colour scheme, albeit a pale one.

It's a jigsaw puzzle that was a big favourite of mine, especially when I was sick and had to stay home from school. I used to play with it at an age where I was way too old for it (as a teenager), but it was cute and a nice pastime when you were ill and bedstruck. I used to have a tray on my lap (a red one in wood) on which I practised my creative skills (though I could probably do that particular puzzle in my sleep).

Anyway, the puzzle was a set of three with different motifs portraying the life of a cat family. It was just a mother and her kittens I think; I guess fathers are not too present in the cat world :) I think there was one kitchen scene, one outdoors play picture and probably some sort of tucking in/nap scene though I could be mistaken.

The puzzle was - and this is where the colour theme comes in - pastel-coloured, a lot of baby pink and blue, although the cats were black I think. What I also liked about the puzzle was that the pieces were really thin and sort of rounded along the edges so theye were really soft to touch.

I hope the puzzle is still in my parents' attic somewhere - so I can take it out and see whether my memories are completely wrong and also, once I hade kids of my own, pass it onto them. (Maybe my mother who reads this blog and never comments *hint, hint* can confirm whether the puzzle is still around?! :)