25 Random Things (part one)

Inspired by the viral Facebook notes thing where you're supposed to list 25 interesting things about yourself, I decided to write my 25 random things about Sweden. I only have about a month left here in the land of Svea, and I'm feeling a little bittersweet about it. On the one hand, I'm going to miss my friends and my exciting job and the cool restaurants and bars, and the pretty green spaces, and on the other hand, I'm ready to get the eff up out of this miserable weather. Ah, but Sweden, you're so naive and safe and gentle. I'll miss you.

25 Random Things:

1. I love the orange bouncy mountain at Vasaparken, and I go there to jump on the trampoline sometimes when no one's looking.

2. The Stockholm canal boats have the most boring audio tour I've ever heard.

3. Finding an adorable new shop filled with a well-edited selection of super design-y things is a more regular occurance in Sweden than anywhere else I've ever been.

4. Cloudberries. Even the name is magical.

5. People in Stockholm have incredibly lousy public etiquette. I can't even count the number of times someone has refused to let me pass on the sidewalk, let a door slam in my face or jumped ahead of me to get on a bus or subway car. It really is infuriating, even to other Swedes. Maybe Stockholm needs that lady who tried to teach the Chinese manners prior to the last Olympics....

6. Vete-Katten, and Bonnier's relentless sponsorship of their business: So wrong, yet so right.

7. Aw, Niklas. I'm gonna miss my buddy. And his wife and kids. By the next time I see Elton, he will probably be able to say something other than the gruff, Viking-like "Där!"

8. It's probably a bad idea to go naming names. Then I'd have to name all the people I've met and will miss in Sweden. But if you've read this blog before, you may notice that Niklas is one of the few characters that I actually name. That was a little stylistic thing I was trying to do, like in the Peanuts, where all the non-children just say "wah-wah-wah-wah-wah."

9. I'm really sick of my apartment. It's kind of crappy to begin with, and I've spent way too much time in it by myself.

10. God, I love Djurgården. If I had long evenings filled with daylight, I would just spend all my time there.

11. I am very jealous of Ganda, who gets to fill the next spot in the job rotation after I leave, and will be here for the very best possible span of seasons.

12. I wish I had gone out and partied more in Stockholm. I may have missed the true essence of the city because I never really did any big nights out on the town. I'm not really hanging with the right demographic for that, unfortunately, since most of my friends have small kids. Hopefully when John comes to town, we'll have at least one late night at the clubs.

13. On Friday, February 13th, while John's here, I'm getting a group of people together to sing karaoke at a place that's stumbling distance from my house. I have a long-standing bet with my boss in New York about whether I can get Jonas Bonnier to sing karaoke with me. We'll see what happens!

14. I wanted to go up and see the north of Sweden, but I never got around to it. I think it would be better in the summer. There's an indigenous people who live there called the Sami, who are analogous to America's Eskimos, since they continue to live in the traditional way of their ancestors. They breed reindeer, make all their own tools, clothes and homes, and speak an ancient language. I'd really like to meet some Sami someday.

15. I also meant to kayak around Stockholm's canals and then skate on the frozen-over canals, but both seemed kind of sketchy for a foreigner to do alone (okay, it's not about being a foreigner—I have an appalling sense of direction), so I never got to go. Dang, I'm a loser!

16. Speaking of water, Sweden's is so clean you can just carbonate it and serve it as a soft drink. We have a faucet at the Bonnier building that dispenses seltzer water. Amazing!

17. Dang, it's tough coming up with 25 things! Plus, I'm still at the office a couple hours after everyone else has gone for the day, so I think i'll come back with things 18 through 25 tomorrow.