I’ve been living in Örebro for more than a month, and I now understand how appealing the city was to Russell when he first visited last September.
For someone who has always lived in cities where driving everywhere is the norm, walking to stores just around the corner is a welcomed change. And, since we don’t have a car here, we regularly walk and bike to longer distances on the other side of town, which can only mean good things for our health.
History: Örebro was founded in the 1400s. Interesting, unique buildings fill the city, which is paved with cobblestone streets. A 13th century castle sits in an islet in the middle of town. We’ve come a long, long way from McMansions and celebrations for 100-year-old sites.
Strawberries: This is seasonal, but right now there are several outdoor vendors selling this delectable fruit all over town. You can smell the fresh hint of the berry everywhere you go.
Kaffe: There has got to be one coffee (kaffe) shop for every 100 people in this city of 150,000. As an admitted coffee addict, I couldn’t be happier. The best part is, none of them are Starbucks.
Nature: A river runs through the city and a beautiful, peaceful nature preserve and lake are just a 30-minute walk from our apartment.
Shopping: I’m still discovering the various kinds of stores here. There have been a couple times when I’ve walked into a store and realized it’s part of a bigger mall I hadn’t seen before. Russell says since Örebro is the county seat, many of the surrounding cities come to this town for shopping, making it a marketplace hub. I’m not complaining.
Recycling: As I mentioned in a previous post, an apartment dweller has no problem finding a place to recycle here because it’s downstairs in our building. In fact, it’s expected that you separate your paper, plastics, aluminum, compost, etc.
Language: One of the best experiences is learning a new language. Yes, it’s easier for us because most people speak English. But I have no desire to be the lazy Americans who never knew the little nuances of the culture because we couldn’t communicate in the native tongue or read the local newspapers. Every time I talk to someone in English and the conversation is semi-confused, I get a twinge and wish I could say what I want to in Swedish. I’m working on it.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
The cereal aisle is judging us
Don’t expect to find Lucky Charms or many other sugary cereals when visiting a Swedish grocery store.
Most of the cereal is Muesli, which is crunchy, unsweetened oats with raisins or another dried fruit. There are several varieties of this stocked on the shelves. Other than Muesli, you can find Special K, corn flakes, multigrain Cheerios or high fiber selections.
Yes, there are Coco Puffs and Frosted Flakes, but these are typically in a small box, and there are very few of them on the shelf compared to the healthier choices.
I went shopping with Christine, our Swedish language teacher, so she could help me differentiate between the various kinds of cheese, flour, spices, and so on. She said Swedish people tend to frown on eating too many sweets, especially when it comes to their children.
Now this is of course an admirable thing. In the U.S., there clearly is a major childhood obesity problem that Michelle Obama and others are trying to solve.
What’s interesting, though, is Swedes must really love gummy because there are aisles dedicated to many different kinds of this sweet in grocery stores and movie rental shops. Christine explains that kids can fill up bags with this once a week.
Russell’s co-worker Peter says he will get ice cream with his children, but only every Wednesday.
Now, it seems Swedish people are eating in the healthiest way I know: having good-for-you meals most of the week, but allowing yourself sweets in moderation. All the fad diets where you cut out everything sweet just don’t seem to work. We can certainly learn a valuable lesson from the Swedes.
Most of the cereal is Muesli, which is crunchy, unsweetened oats with raisins or another dried fruit. There are several varieties of this stocked on the shelves. Other than Muesli, you can find Special K, corn flakes, multigrain Cheerios or high fiber selections.
Yes, there are Coco Puffs and Frosted Flakes, but these are typically in a small box, and there are very few of them on the shelf compared to the healthier choices.
I went shopping with Christine, our Swedish language teacher, so she could help me differentiate between the various kinds of cheese, flour, spices, and so on. She said Swedish people tend to frown on eating too many sweets, especially when it comes to their children.
Now this is of course an admirable thing. In the U.S., there clearly is a major childhood obesity problem that Michelle Obama and others are trying to solve.
What’s interesting, though, is Swedes must really love gummy because there are aisles dedicated to many different kinds of this sweet in grocery stores and movie rental shops. Christine explains that kids can fill up bags with this once a week.
Russell’s co-worker Peter says he will get ice cream with his children, but only every Wednesday.
Now, it seems Swedish people are eating in the healthiest way I know: having good-for-you meals most of the week, but allowing yourself sweets in moderation. All the fad diets where you cut out everything sweet just don’t seem to work. We can certainly learn a valuable lesson from the Swedes.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Caught by the super
We have an amazing recycling system at our new apartment, unlike at my old Texas residence where this service wasn't offered and fairly difficult to find around town.
Instead of just a big dumpster, our trash room (or "soprum") downstairs has a different bin for paper, plastic, cans, compost, newspaper and even old appliances. If you don't separate your garbage in the separate containers, and someone finds out, you'll supposedly get in some kind of trouble. I assume a hefty fine.
And so, when all of our belongings arrived after the voyage from Texas to Sweden, we had a ton -- and I mean a TON of paper that was wrapped around every piece of furniture, picture, you name it, to keep it safe during the long trip. We've already taken down at least five loads of this stuff plus boxes and jammed it into the bins.
Each time we've gone back to take yet another load, we're amazed at how fast the last over-stuffed containers have been cleaned. We think, "wow -- they are really efficient here."
Today, however, as we brought even more of the never-ending paper to the soprum, we met the sweet old man we've run into many a time at the apartment that we now know is the super. The first time I met him, he told me a detailed story about when he went snorkeling near Florida after he found out I was from the USA.
When he saw us with all the paper, he said, "Oh, I was wondering where all this paper was coming from." Apparently this poor old man has been loading his car up since Friday with our paper and taking it to the recycling center or whatever they call it since the trash collectors don't come during the weekends. He said he was so happy to see us so he could explain the issue.
He also translated a note he posted near the soprum's exit that said everyone must tear down their boxes or the rent will go up -- apparently because of how much more work the trash collectors will have to do.
With guilty looks on our faces, we told him we'd take our paper back up to our apartment until after the trash collectors came. But he was still such a nice man and insisted repeatedly that he'd take care of it. I still feel a little guilty.
It really was better the super was there so we could get this explanation for yet another Swedish thing we didn't know. Learning all the little nuances of living here is what keeps things interesting.
Another day in Sweden, another important lesson learned.
Instead of just a big dumpster, our trash room (or "soprum") downstairs has a different bin for paper, plastic, cans, compost, newspaper and even old appliances. If you don't separate your garbage in the separate containers, and someone finds out, you'll supposedly get in some kind of trouble. I assume a hefty fine.
And so, when all of our belongings arrived after the voyage from Texas to Sweden, we had a ton -- and I mean a TON of paper that was wrapped around every piece of furniture, picture, you name it, to keep it safe during the long trip. We've already taken down at least five loads of this stuff plus boxes and jammed it into the bins.
Each time we've gone back to take yet another load, we're amazed at how fast the last over-stuffed containers have been cleaned. We think, "wow -- they are really efficient here."
Today, however, as we brought even more of the never-ending paper to the soprum, we met the sweet old man we've run into many a time at the apartment that we now know is the super. The first time I met him, he told me a detailed story about when he went snorkeling near Florida after he found out I was from the USA.
When he saw us with all the paper, he said, "Oh, I was wondering where all this paper was coming from." Apparently this poor old man has been loading his car up since Friday with our paper and taking it to the recycling center or whatever they call it since the trash collectors don't come during the weekends. He said he was so happy to see us so he could explain the issue.
He also translated a note he posted near the soprum's exit that said everyone must tear down their boxes or the rent will go up -- apparently because of how much more work the trash collectors will have to do.
With guilty looks on our faces, we told him we'd take our paper back up to our apartment until after the trash collectors came. But he was still such a nice man and insisted repeatedly that he'd take care of it. I still feel a little guilty.
It really was better the super was there so we could get this explanation for yet another Swedish thing we didn't know. Learning all the little nuances of living here is what keeps things interesting.
Another day in Sweden, another important lesson learned.
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