FET-tisdagen, New Hair Cut, and New Family
Well this should be a very eventful journal entry I think...hopefully it will get lots of comments...although people have probably given up on reading my journal after I havn't been updating so much recently! Bad Grace...
Alrighty...on with the journal entry...item number one is FET-tisdagen. Yes that is right...today was FAT-Tuesday! Hehe I am sure you can tell right now that this is a day that I quite enjoyed ahah. On FAT-tuesday we get to eat this very very yummy easter treat called Semlor (although now you can buy them all year round). There is a picture of the second semlor bun that I ate today (and yes I only ate two...I think any more and a person would be sick!). In one of the free papers, Metro, there was this little add on one of the pages and for those of you that can read Swedish it said this...
Lite fett till kaffet? Ja tack!
I dag är FET-tisdagen och då får man äta hur många semlor man vill.
Vi ska äta ungefär hundra.
And then for those of you swedishly challenged I will translate (please note this is not a direct translation I am going to add a little so it sounds better...when you directly translate it just doesn't sound as nice :)
A little fat with your coffee? Yes, please!
Today is FAT-tuesday so you can eat as many semlor as you want.
We will eat about a hundred.
The best way to describe semlor is as an oversized creampuff but way way better. Well let me see now...I will steal a proper description off the internet and get some history on these yummy things.
Almond & whipped cream stuffed buns, fat Tuesday buns, cream burgers: All plausible English translation options for semlor, buns spiced with cardamom, filled with fluffy whipped cream and aromatic almond paste.
The name semla originates from the Latin word simila meaning fine wheat flour.
Historically, it was the extravagant food in which the people indulged during the Shrovetide - the final straight before Lent. All gluttony came to an end as Fat Tuesday turned to Ash Wednesday and the beginning of 40 days of fasting.
Nowadays, though, just as Christmas gets going in October, semlor are in hot demand in cafés and bakeries from January to Easter in Sweden. People eat them when they can get them.
So there you go...if you want to read the rest of this article click here: Semlor: cream buns and cultural icons It is actually quite interesting if you have the time to read it. I am hoping to get the recipie for Selmor so I can make some next year at home for FAT-tuesday...I think it is a tradition that I could quite enjoy celebrating every year!
Enough about food for now...look I got my hair cut!! This is my first hair cut since I have been in Sweden and it was about time to have one! My hair was so long...and driving me nuts. I was resorting to the infamous 'ponytail' all the time so I knew I couldn't wait any longer. (However it was a more 'Swedish ponytail' at that nape of my neck...so not my classic sporty ponytail.) Now you may ask why I waited 7 months to have my hair cut. Well let me tell you...at $45 a hair cut I am not jumping up and down to go for a hair cut! Now I am just hoping that I got it cut short enough that I can wait until I get home to have another. But with summer that might be hard. Maybe hair cuts are cheaper in other countries and I will be able to get it cut again while I am on my Euro Tour.
The puppy in the picture is Camillo. She is Mormor's dog. Mormor is, directly translated, mother's mother (Eva's mother). In Swedish with relatives it is always like mother's father (morfar) , father's brother (farbror), child's child (barnbarn), that type of thing with relatives. There is no Grandma, Uncle, Aunt type thing. It is kind of an interesting way of doing it because then you know exactly who the person is talking about. It is funny when I am talking about my family though cause I have to think about it...it is mother's mother or father's mother...and then sometimes I get confused...haha.
This is a picture of my 'new' host family. Well they aren't really 'new' since I have been living here for a month and a half now but they are new to all of you. This picture is for you Dad... :) Hopefully it helps so you all know who I am talking about :) From L>R: Mormor (Eva's Mother...she doesn't live with us but that is okay), Eva (host Mom), William (host brother, 11), Camillo (Mormors puppy), Louise (host sister, 19), and Peter (host Dad). I also have a host brother in Australia, Alexander 17. He will be coming home the 14th of June (and my first host brother Filip will be coming home too) so I will get to meet him before I leave which will be cool.
Well that's it... that is all! For tonight anyways. I have quite a few more updates to do this week but it is probably best if I go to sleep now. I've started to get sick this week...all sneezy and stuffed up. So in order to get better lots of sleep, rest and relaxation. (Oh and thanks Uncle Ivan for the Halls that you sent in the big Chirstmas box...they are coming in handy right now with my sore throat!) However after eating all those Semlor and with the whole FAT-tuesdayness I think I might have take a run around the block and make a trip to the gym tomorrow! No rest for those that love semlor...but don't want to look like one...haha. And plus...don't tell anyone...but there is another semlor waiting for me in the fridge for tomorrow! Peter brought 4 to Mormor's house tonight for dessert but only 3 got eaten and since I like them so much I got to take it home! Oh me oh my...FAT-tuesday will be the death of me...darn you selmor that are so good!
Nightly night all!