big sun

Today it was a beautiful day, very sunny and warm. When I woke up, I didn't need to put my music on because the birds were performing like Opera singers! This morning I did “almost jogging” for the first time this year (last time was August last year). Considering this long break, I set a 3km run-course (used to run 7-8km)and it was absolutely enough. To be honest, I could not run all the way, I sometimes walked, that’s why it’s “almost jogging”. And in the afternoon, my friend Sara and I sat on the balcony at my place. She asked me if I could prepare Japanese dinner for her, I made this with her, Chirashi-zushi (a kind of sushi without fish), kimpira-gobou (burdock/svartrot), soup and salad.

vigor

I’ve started doing some stretching in the morning, it’s just for 10 minutes but it gives me great energy for the day ahead of me. Other than this, trying less caffeine, less sugar, more vegetable and more smile!!
I have a mentor who always tells me the value of a smile & the power of a smile-“smile is important, especially on ladies’ faces”. I simply agree with her. Would be fun to find out if Swedish people or people being in Sweden too long think I am drunk, insane or an American (see my previous post) :-)

I found a sign of spring (pictured above).

a check-list of your "Swedish-ness"

To my non-Swedish friends in Sweden,

I found an interesting check- list. The original one contains more than 350 check items. This is just an extract of it. I enjoyed reading it, which means......

YOU KNOW YOU’VE BEEN IN SWEDEN TOO LONG WHEN...........

01. When a stranger on the street smiles at you, you assume:
a: he is drunk
b: he is insane
c: he's an American

02. You mutter "oy,oy,oy" continually to yourself even though you are the only one in the room.
03. You can use bra, fart, and slut in the same sentence without giggling (bra=good, fart=speed, slut =finished).
04. You start calling squid "black fish".
05. You accept that the best answer for a question is always "Jag vet inte" meaning "I don't know".
06. Silence is fun.

07. Sundays no longer seem dull with all the shops closed, and begin to feel restful instead.
08. You pass a supermarket and think "Wow, it is open, I had better go in and buy something!"

09. You no longer look at sports pants as casual wear, but recognise them as semi-formal wear.
10. You no longer see any problem wearing white socks with sandals.
11. Indoors you wear sandals with socks, regardless of the season.

12. You know the names of at least three different types of sill (pickled herring).
13. You know how to fix herring in 105 different ways.
14. You eat herring in 105 ways.
15. You no longer eat yoghurt, you drink it.

16. You think that riding a bicycle in the snow is a perfectly sensible thing to do.
17. You're complaining in January not because it's minus 10 degrees, but because there's no snow.
18. You regard it as sensible to eat ice cream when it is –15C.
19. It's May. It's 15C degrees. And you're stretched out on your balcony in your bikini trying to get a head start on your tan.

20. Your wife watches TV while you look after the kids.
21. You are no longer surprised when you see full-frontal male nudity in a commercial or on TV.

22. When offered a bottle of beer the first thing you look at is the alcoholic percentage.
23. You know the catalogue numbers of all of your favourite wines at Systembolaget.

24. While visiting England someone gives you directions and says, "It's about 5 miles down the road." You in turn ask, "Are you talking Swedish miles or English miles?"

25. A 25 % sales tax on just about everything is no big deal.
26. You don't find it strange that they add tax on top of the taxes.

27. You think everything in Sweden is good.

28. You think that reading this list is one of the most exciting things you have done for ages!!

new look

Hello again! It’s been a while since I updated this page last time. A lot of activities went on and my mind was busy and also lousy. After such a long silence, honestly I was falling into “quitting” mood but some of my friends kept asking me about my blog and I felt encouraged by them to restart it. So here I am, hello again.

Recently I am a bit into home decoration. I just feel like getting a new taste for my place where I get peace of mind. Here I am not trying to buy big pieces of furniture or change the wall paper but a new look can be gained just by replacing small things such as lamps, rug, bed linen, curtain etc. The lamp pictured above is my recent purchase. When I saw it for the first time, I didn’t know if I liked it or not. At 2nd look, I thought it was interesting and would suit my kitchen, so I bought it. Now I think I like it, but not sure….Anyway it is always exciting to have a new look on anything.