Klart som korvspad!

24 Oct.
Gamer:
Played billiards with Håkan, Björn and Zakie in Karlskrona while Malin was at the spa with her sisters.

29 Oct.
Risk Taker:
Took train to Göteborg for the day. Met Erik, my Swedish tour guide. Beautiful time.

1 Nov.
Socialite:
Did not go out for Halloween. Stayed in to work on Truman application. Exciting, huh?
Met Madeleine, my new Swedish buddy. We had coffee and talked for a couple hours.
Went over to Madeleine's apartment to use the Internet for several hours. I had research that needed to be done for my application. It was Allahelgonsdag so the library was closed. Stupid Internet.

2 Nov.
Noctural Wanderer:
Stayed up all night working on application and packing. Gunnar drove me to bus.
Got on bus and went to Stockholm to catch ferry to Tallinn, Estonia.

2-4 Nov.
Globe Trotter:
ESTONIA VIA CRUISE SHIP!!!
I sang karaoke. Can you believe that? Queen of course.

7 Nov.
No Name for This One:
Application went in on time! YAYAYAYAYAY!

8 Nov.
Gutter Shot:
Went bowling with the family in Karlskrona. I sucked. Horribly.

9 Nov.
Pyro:
Helped Håkan start fire to a giant branch pile on Östraön. Slept all weekend. Computer did not accompany me to Jordö.

Friday: I was biking home after my class at ProCivitas (which was amazing - I did a really cool exercise with the students - ask me about it later) when my waterbottle must have spilled inside my schoolbag, soaking everything from my scholarship papers, camera, completed voting ballot, teaching schedules, and my COMPUTER. Malin and I took my computer to the "sjukhuset" for the weekend then caught the bus to Jordö.

Saturday: A cow was sick because there is not enough grass now at Jordö and she ate too many acorns. Unfotunately, acorns have a poison in them which shuts down the liver. : ( Malin and I carried bales of hay all the way out to Östraön which was quite a job. We about died laughing at our attempt. Next time we will take the tractor instead. I worked most of the day on homework for Swedish class and we watched Som Så Himmlen (sp?) that night, followed by Unbreakable and I Am Sam. (I watched that one alone while I worked on my scholarship applications.)

Sunday: We ate lunch at Farfar's house (Gunnar's dad) and afterwards rounded up two cows with their calves. Malin talked a little about Gunnar's family on the drive home and I learned also that Malin used to watch episodes of Little House on the Prairie in Swedish here. She seemed interested in the Native Americans in Minnesota and the grasslands. We ran around Jordö twice, but I was not tired yet so I went a third time. Then we took a quick swim again. It was actually COLD this weekend. Perhaps the water may start to freeze soon, but until then I think I will take my suit with me to Jordö. I watched Bonde Söker Fru with Håkan in the evening and a little on the news about Americans. We had risgröt for dinner, which is much like rice pudding. For topping, instead of cinnamon we had cherry jam. I almost broke a tooth on a pit, and Malin and Gunnar started laughing hysterically. Apparently they had just been talking about how Håkan had gotten one in his cereal and how it means that you will get married before the end of the year. When I got one, Håkan looked at me and said, "Så det är dig!" Which means "So you're the one!" Everyone of course but me started laughing then; I hadn't been listening, so this all went on without me. They laughed even harder at how oblivious I was. A minute later I got another pit. Stupid cherry porridge! Hahaha. Swedes are so superstitious about love and young people. They always want to be matchmakers.

Monday: The cow died. So sad. We got home and went to get my computer right away. It works, nothing lost, but the screen is really messed up. It's sort of grey. When I asked the man how much it would cost he said in Swedish, (sorry this conversation will take too long to explain in English now)...

Man (Malin's former student of course):"Vi fikar ofta här."
Malin: "Ja, så?"
Man: "Så vi kunde använda lite kakor för kaffet."
Malin (to me): Give him a hug LeAnn.
Me: "Vad?"
Malin: "Han sade, 'Det är gratis'!"
(I hug the strange 36-year-old man who has had my computer all weekend with access to all my pictures and essays and say a gracious yet cautious thank you...)

Outside conversation...
Me: "Malin, all I heard was you say something like 'date' and 'bra' (which, family, means 'good' in Swedish, not brasierre). Did you promise that man that I would go out with him as payment for the computer or something???"
(Malin starts to laugh herself to tears.)
Malin: No! He asked for us to bring over some cookies for the office!

Lesson learned. Always pay careful attention to conversations referring to how much money one owes.

Rest of Monday: I also went to Teleborg Centrum. There was a big mix-up there, but it's not worth talking about. Kickboxing class was a beast. We were all sweating so much that we couldn't see our targets. Pretty picture, I know.