I know I haven't posted any posts recently, that's because I've been pretty busy. Hopefully that trend will change soon.
Anyway, just 30 minutes ago I experienced my first earthquake ever. Almost immediatley the information was updated on the Internet and told us that is was a 3.4 Richter magnitude, which isn't very much, but when we looked at the map we saw that it happened litterally right under our neighborhood, wit a depth of 7 km.
At the time of the earthquake we were sitting down having dinner, and it struck us with surprise. The windows were shaking and the ground vibrated. My first reaction was shock, and my intuition told me to search shelter under the dinner table, since that's what we've learned in school. But everything happened so quickly that it was over before I reached under it, and I sat up again with a fast beating heart.
After this earthquake it is easier to understand the panic people get in situations like these. If it would have went on for a longr time I don't know what I would have done. Anyway, I'm fine and it was an interesting experience!
Friday, January 23, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Some recent pictures
Our lovely christmas tree, decorated with every ornament we could find in the house, everything from balls and lights to ginger bread men and sugar canes. As many gifts as possible were put under it, the rest were on the side.
The Ginger bread house was bought at IKEA, allready baked and in ready pieces, we put it together and decorated it with icing, M&M's, marshmallows, sugar canes etc. Really pretty! 
The Ginger bread house was bought at IKEA, allready baked and in ready pieces, we put it together and decorated it with icing, M&M's, marshmallows, sugar canes etc. Really pretty! We often light a fire in the fire place, it gets really warm and cozy.
Mary Sue, Josh, Kieran, Mary Sue's sister Chris and her family, Dick, Sarah and Julie went to a restaurant, owned by a friend of Mary Sue and had breakfast. Kieran and I had one of those delicious German apple pancakes with creme fraiche and strawberries (and maple syrup).
During the entire break, Kiearn and his friend Richard (a new made friend from across the street) were out skatebording all day long, they barely eat during the day because they wre so busy. Kieran showed me some cool tricks.
I ended up at the beach when I went for a walk. Lovely weather and the water didn't feel too cold. I definatley want to go back there soon, hang out, maybe have a picknick. 
Have you ever heard of Toms shoes? For every pair of shoes you buy another pair is donated to a child in need in Ethiopia. They are very simple, fabric shoes, but I love them. I've got a pair for christmas, like those in the middle of the picture. If you want a pair you can either buy them in the pop-up store on Abbot-Kinney until the end of January, or order them online. My shoe size is European 39 which is equivalent to the American 8.5.
Have you ever heard of Toms shoes? For every pair of shoes you buy another pair is donated to a child in need in Ethiopia. They are very simple, fabric shoes, but I love them. I've got a pair for christmas, like those in the middle of the picture. If you want a pair you can either buy them in the pop-up store on Abbot-Kinney until the end of January, or order them online. My shoe size is European 39 which is equivalent to the American 8.5.Friday, January 2, 2009
Christmas 2008
Because of the diverse population with a broad variation of cultures and religions you have to be careful to not offend any of them by openly express your opinion. For example no one of my teachers were allowed to have Christmas decorations in the classroom in view of the other religions that don’t celebrate Christmas, such as the Jews and Muslims. Another example is the stores that wish the customers “Happy Holidays” rather that “Merry Christmas”. Among the families that do celebrate Christmas it is celebrated mainly on Christmas Day. But my host family (who doesn’t celebrate it for any religious reason, but more as a cultural tradition) spent both Christmas Eve and Day to eat the traditional food and open gifts.
At Christmas Eve I woke up and my first thought went to my family in Sweden (I feel like I have to clarify because I call my host family “family” as well). I didn’t know what time it was when I woke up but since I my body is set on a certain time from when I was going up to go to school I assumed it was about 7 am. 7 am here would mean 4 pm at home, “Donald Duck’s Christmas Eve” had just passed, and they were probably watching the first half of “Can you whistle Johanna” before they would have to leave to go to church. The whole morning I followed my family’s Christmas celebrations at home and I felt really homesick, more that in a long time.
I spent some time cleaning my room, listening to music and just hang out. The previous Sunday, when I talked t my family we decided that I would call them at 9.30 am PST because church would be over and they’d be home again. So I had a long talk with my family, we talked both before and after they opened gifts and to my surprise, my packet with Christmas gifts had arrived a couple of days earlier!
In the afternoon I helped Mary Sue to cook, as anyone else who has to be in charge of a Christmas dinner for over 25 people she was very stressed and appreciated a couple of helping hands. Before dinner Chris, Dick Julie and Sarah Dewitt, Mary Sue, Julie and I went to two different homes for the old people to sing Christmas carols. There were some songs that I had never heard or I didn’t know the lyrics, but I did my best.
Later on the guests started to come. There were Grandma Ruth and her friend Barry, Julie and Jack, Mark, Theresa and Jena, Chris, Dick, Julie and Sarah, Diane and her two kids, Susan and Liz, Anne, Annette, Dave, Casey and Nolan and two other people I didn’t know. This was quite unusual for me since I’m used to a Christmas Eve with only my closest family, and my aunt and her husband. And unlike the “smorgasbord” at home we were served cheese fondue, bread, grilled shallots with a dip, fresh oysters, smoked oysters, shrimps, crackers and cheese, artichoke, and long “king crab” legs, each at least 40 cm long. So seafood was the main staple of the meal.
After dinner, at about nine or 9.30 pm we started to open our gifts. They did it differently that I’m used to, not one at a time but a couple so everyone could open at the same time and be more efficient. I got a Clinique face wash from Chris (my old one I lost in the security on the airport in Washington DC when we were there because it contained 3.3 fl. Oz. instead of the allowed amount of 3). She and Dick also gave me new slippers, soft and cozy, which I love! I got two pairs of shoes, a sweater, gift card from iTunes, a check with 75$, two books and a couple of other things. In the end the living room was completely filled with wrapping paper and ribbon and the kitchen was a mess after the dinner party. Declan and I helped Mary Sue and Josh to clean up, I went to bed and felt asleep right away.
On Christmas Day morning Santa had come during the night and filled out stockings with more, smaller gifts, and we all opened ours.
Additionally there were some gifts under the tree, obviously too big to fit in a stocking. Among them there were two gifts for me, it turned out they contained a pair of vans shoes and an old digital camera. This second hand camera was a symbol of the camera that was being shipped to me, ordered from the internet, but was delayed of some reason. The camera was from mom and dad and I thanked them as soon as I spoke to them again, but Thank You again! After the breakfast, bacon and eggs for each one of us, Swedish glögg and my saffron buns (which didn’t turn out as they were supposed to, but everyone described politely how wonderful they were) we (family and relatives) went to Jack and Julie’s house to have Christmas Day dinner. Yesterday Jack had been recording when we practiced our Christmas carols and he had interviewed both Sarah and Declan about their job respectively school, so we watched these recordings. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to see my self and hear myself in a recording like that, it’s embarrassing. I made the Yorkshire pudding for dinner, a popular and traditional part of the English Christmas meal. It tasted a bit like Swedish pancakes, and pretty much similar ingredients. At night we watched two movies, The Day the Earth Stood Still (the original from 1950) and Men in Black 2.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is always on the 3rd Thursday of November. That automatically turns the following Friday into a holiday as well which gives us a four day weekend. I extended my weekend and started on Wednesday instead. I decided not to go to school because I had a dentist appointment at 11.00 am and it was a short day in school, so I didn’t feel it crucial to go to school. Instead I went with Mary Sue to the Farmer’s Market in Santa Monica to purchase all the greens and vegetables that she needed for the big Thanksgiving dinner.
When I got to the dentist he looked at my teeth and he established, after a couple of X-ray’s, that I have a fracture in one tooth in my lower jaw. It happened at a soccer game last Sunday. The doctor claimed that he normally doesn’t treat anything like my injury, but advised me to be careful when I eat and cut everything in very small pieces and chew on the other side, if possible. As soon as I came home and had lunch and forgot his advise and hurt myself again, but I don’t care if the fraction breaks and my tooth chips, because I don’t want to feel old and handicapped by the age of 17.
My host family has a tradition when it comes to Christmas cards, which certainly seems weird to some people – it did to me at first. Every year, since my older host brother was little, they’ve made Christmas cards with themselves in it, all naked but with something to cover their private parts. The point of traditions is to keep them alive, so the same thing was to take place this year. On Thanksgiving Day, when everyone in the family was home, it was time for this year’s photo to be taken, and I would be in it! It was entirely my choice to participate, and I’m glad I did it. I felt nervous and awkward before, just by the thought of it, but it wasn’t that big of a deal since they were all used to it. A friend of my host parents who’s a photographer took pictures, and I’m looking forward to see how they turned out. The rest of the day I spent playing guitar and working on my own, hand made, Christmas cards.
The guests for dinner became to show up at 4.00 pm and we were totally 17 persons how ate of the delicious creations that Mary Sue and her chef friend Bob had made (with a little bit of assistance from the rest of us). There were turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce etc. One of my favorites was the green salad with lettuce, pomegranates, walnuts, shelled oranges with a dressing. For desert there were three different kinds of pies, of which my favorite was the pecan pie with ice cream.
After dinner I went back with Julie and Jack to their house in Palmdale, about an hour and 15 minutes with car from Culver City. Palmdale is small village with about 1500 inhabitants. The scenery is impressive, mountainous and dramatic. It reminds me of the geology in The Sims, a computer game that I played a lot with my friend Ebba when we were younger. Julie and Jack’s back yard is huge, a previous ranch. They have a dog, Daisy, which is really sweet and she got a lot of my attention, since I miss my own dogs from Sweden she consoled that empty place.
The following Friday after Thanksgiving Thursday is called Black Friday because it’s a holiday, everyone is off from school and takes the opportunity to go shopping for Christmas. The stores start their sales early in the morning and people are just crazy. Julie and I went shopping in Antelope Valley, where the Mall opened at 4.00 am! We were there before 7.00 am and it was already crowded. Almost the entire parking lot was filled so we had to park far away from the entrances and walk. Despite the throng in every store I found gifts for each and every family member and because my family (mom and dad at least) are the most devoted of my blog followers I wont reveal what it was here. Later that day when we watched the news the news caster had some terrible news as a result of the egocentric people that were eager to make the best bargains. An employee at Wal-Mart was trampled to death by a stampede of customers who rushed into the store as soon as the doors opened in the middle of the night.
After a couple of hours of shopping, we were done at noon and went to have lunch at a “cowboy-western” diner. I had a Buffalo Burger which is typically American. Tired after the shopping and the early wake-up we spent the rest of the day watching movies, firstly Moulin Rouge, secondly Smilla’s Sense of Snow and thirdly Superman Returns.
Saturday morning Julie and I went on a walk in the mountains, something I want to do when my family gets here as well. It’s very beautiful view and a refreshing activity. After that we went in their sauna and hot tub which made me really tired whereupon I took a power nap before it was time for me to go back to LA, with the train. Saturday afternoon I had soccer practice since our coach made clear that we would not be able to have a four day break from soccer AND eat loads of food for Thanksgiving at the same time.
On Sunday I had to finish a lot of homework that I had been putting off as long as possible, which is typical for me and my scheduling. I didn’t let it be as overwhelming as it can be sometimes though, and I decreased my ambition a little bit and sent in an essay that wasn’t perfect. I felt like I could have done much better by putting more effort in it, but I’m totally fine with that. It might reflect my grade, but so what? I spent my time doing other, more fun things. And after all, that’s the main reason I’m here, to have a lot of fun. Instead of spending more time than necessary doing the homework, I and Kieran went to the Westside Pavilion looking for things to put on our Christmas lists. Meanwhile, Mary Sue and Josh went to the movies and we met up later on.
When I got to the dentist he looked at my teeth and he established, after a couple of X-ray’s, that I have a fracture in one tooth in my lower jaw. It happened at a soccer game last Sunday. The doctor claimed that he normally doesn’t treat anything like my injury, but advised me to be careful when I eat and cut everything in very small pieces and chew on the other side, if possible. As soon as I came home and had lunch and forgot his advise and hurt myself again, but I don’t care if the fraction breaks and my tooth chips, because I don’t want to feel old and handicapped by the age of 17.
My host family has a tradition when it comes to Christmas cards, which certainly seems weird to some people – it did to me at first. Every year, since my older host brother was little, they’ve made Christmas cards with themselves in it, all naked but with something to cover their private parts. The point of traditions is to keep them alive, so the same thing was to take place this year. On Thanksgiving Day, when everyone in the family was home, it was time for this year’s photo to be taken, and I would be in it! It was entirely my choice to participate, and I’m glad I did it. I felt nervous and awkward before, just by the thought of it, but it wasn’t that big of a deal since they were all used to it. A friend of my host parents who’s a photographer took pictures, and I’m looking forward to see how they turned out. The rest of the day I spent playing guitar and working on my own, hand made, Christmas cards.
The guests for dinner became to show up at 4.00 pm and we were totally 17 persons how ate of the delicious creations that Mary Sue and her chef friend Bob had made (with a little bit of assistance from the rest of us). There were turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce etc. One of my favorites was the green salad with lettuce, pomegranates, walnuts, shelled oranges with a dressing. For desert there were three different kinds of pies, of which my favorite was the pecan pie with ice cream.
After dinner I went back with Julie and Jack to their house in Palmdale, about an hour and 15 minutes with car from Culver City. Palmdale is small village with about 1500 inhabitants. The scenery is impressive, mountainous and dramatic. It reminds me of the geology in The Sims, a computer game that I played a lot with my friend Ebba when we were younger. Julie and Jack’s back yard is huge, a previous ranch. They have a dog, Daisy, which is really sweet and she got a lot of my attention, since I miss my own dogs from Sweden she consoled that empty place.
The following Friday after Thanksgiving Thursday is called Black Friday because it’s a holiday, everyone is off from school and takes the opportunity to go shopping for Christmas. The stores start their sales early in the morning and people are just crazy. Julie and I went shopping in Antelope Valley, where the Mall opened at 4.00 am! We were there before 7.00 am and it was already crowded. Almost the entire parking lot was filled so we had to park far away from the entrances and walk. Despite the throng in every store I found gifts for each and every family member and because my family (mom and dad at least) are the most devoted of my blog followers I wont reveal what it was here. Later that day when we watched the news the news caster had some terrible news as a result of the egocentric people that were eager to make the best bargains. An employee at Wal-Mart was trampled to death by a stampede of customers who rushed into the store as soon as the doors opened in the middle of the night.
After a couple of hours of shopping, we were done at noon and went to have lunch at a “cowboy-western” diner. I had a Buffalo Burger which is typically American. Tired after the shopping and the early wake-up we spent the rest of the day watching movies, firstly Moulin Rouge, secondly Smilla’s Sense of Snow and thirdly Superman Returns.
Saturday morning Julie and I went on a walk in the mountains, something I want to do when my family gets here as well. It’s very beautiful view and a refreshing activity. After that we went in their sauna and hot tub which made me really tired whereupon I took a power nap before it was time for me to go back to LA, with the train. Saturday afternoon I had soccer practice since our coach made clear that we would not be able to have a four day break from soccer AND eat loads of food for Thanksgiving at the same time.
On Sunday I had to finish a lot of homework that I had been putting off as long as possible, which is typical for me and my scheduling. I didn’t let it be as overwhelming as it can be sometimes though, and I decreased my ambition a little bit and sent in an essay that wasn’t perfect. I felt like I could have done much better by putting more effort in it, but I’m totally fine with that. It might reflect my grade, but so what? I spent my time doing other, more fun things. And after all, that’s the main reason I’m here, to have a lot of fun. Instead of spending more time than necessary doing the homework, I and Kieran went to the Westside Pavilion looking for things to put on our Christmas lists. Meanwhile, Mary Sue and Josh went to the movies and we met up later on.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
New York Tuesday
Tuesday was Veteran’s Day. It's a holiday meant to honor the war veterans from all the wars that the USA have fought – as well as the one they’re fighting right now. 
An imposing parade, (which reminded me of the Euro Pride Parade last summer, only that it was veterans instead of gays) took place on Manhattan, from Central Park south on 5th Avenue. For security reasons some parts of the town was closed which led to extended traffic chaos. Fortunately we were walking…
Having explored this part of town in the last few days we now knew where we were going. Firstly we headed for a shoe store, aiming for a pair of shoes matching my homecoming dress and a pair that I could eventually wear the same night at the charity dinner. I found a pair for $7! They might not be the best quality, but for one or two occasions they were more then good. Secondly we passed a vintage store and I tried on a white leather jacket, I loved it but since it was a tiny bit too small I didn’t buy it. The advantage with shopping in vintage stores is that you can find something that is totally unique, but in contrast, the disadvantage that comes with it is that there is a limited range of seizes. I guess I’ll just keep looking! Thirdly, we went to an Indian boutique to get some accessories for my homecoming dance since the theme was “Bollywood”. We bought shiny bracelets, a tattoo, earrings and one of those spots for the forehead, which “Idol-Kishti” used to wear.
With a cultural interest in mind we chose the Empire State Building as our next pastime. In the long line to the elevators that would take us up to the 87th floor we met 4 gorgeous Australian boys in the age of 23-29 years old. They just arrived the the previous day to NYC and had me guess their age, which I always hate because of the risk to be offending or insulting. I guessed 19 on the 24-year old, he looked like an identical copy of my friend Sebastian, but older. Really handsome...
From the top of the Empire State Building there was an incredible view. You could see the entire city from up above, how NYC is built on islands, like Stockholm.
You could see the Statue of Liberty, all the beautiful bridges and you realize how big Central Park is and how dense and compact the city is.
When we kept on going north and reached the richer and more expensive area, we past shop windows that had already started with the Christmas decorations which made me think of how fast the time here has past. I’ve been here for almost three months.
The main event, the charity dinner, later that evening took place at Caroline’s Comedy Club, right on Time Square. We were entertained by a number of famous comedians and I had a great time. When it ended we went to an after party and went to bed at about 3.00 am to be ready for the flight the morning after!
An imposing parade, (which reminded me of the Euro Pride Parade last summer, only that it was veterans instead of gays) took place on Manhattan, from Central Park south on 5th Avenue. For security reasons some parts of the town was closed which led to extended traffic chaos. Fortunately we were walking…Having explored this part of town in the last few days we now knew where we were going. Firstly we headed for a shoe store, aiming for a pair of shoes matching my homecoming dress and a pair that I could eventually wear the same night at the charity dinner. I found a pair for $7! They might not be the best quality, but for one or two occasions they were more then good. Secondly we passed a vintage store and I tried on a white leather jacket, I loved it but since it was a tiny bit too small I didn’t buy it. The advantage with shopping in vintage stores is that you can find something that is totally unique, but in contrast, the disadvantage that comes with it is that there is a limited range of seizes. I guess I’ll just keep looking! Thirdly, we went to an Indian boutique to get some accessories for my homecoming dance since the theme was “Bollywood”. We bought shiny bracelets, a tattoo, earrings and one of those spots for the forehead, which “Idol-Kishti” used to wear.
With a cultural interest in mind we chose the Empire State Building as our next pastime. In the long line to the elevators that would take us up to the 87th floor we met 4 gorgeous Australian boys in the age of 23-29 years old. They just arrived the the previous day to NYC and had me guess their age, which I always hate because of the risk to be offending or insulting. I guessed 19 on the 24-year old, he looked like an identical copy of my friend Sebastian, but older. Really handsome...
From the top of the Empire State Building there was an incredible view. You could see the entire city from up above, how NYC is built on islands, like Stockholm.
You could see the Statue of Liberty, all the beautiful bridges and you realize how big Central Park is and how dense and compact the city is.When we kept on going north and reached the richer and more expensive area, we past shop windows that had already started with the Christmas decorations which made me think of how fast the time here has past. I’ve been here for almost three months.
The main event, the charity dinner, later that evening took place at Caroline’s Comedy Club, right on Time Square. We were entertained by a number of famous comedians and I had a great time. When it ended we went to an after party and went to bed at about 3.00 am to be ready for the flight the morning after!
New York Monday
The main reason we went to New York right now, was the charity dinner that Mary Sue was going to cook for. The dinner would take place on Tuesday night but Mary Sue had to work on Monday too, preparing for the 400 guests. Julie and I took the advantage to go shopping, since Mary Sue is not a huge fan of that. We walked down 5th Avenue and stopped in any interesting store every now and then. Julie got me a vintage purse from Urban Outfitters made out of leather, dark blue and brown – perfect seize. We kept going south, down to ground zero, where the World Trade Center used to be until the terrorist attack of 9/11. Standing there, I could feel the intense essence in the atmosphere. After some momentous minutes we lighted up the serious mood by entering “Century 21”, a huge store with four floors similar to NK or Åhléns in Stockholm with clothes sorted by brands in different divisions such as “every day clothes”, dresses, sports and athletics, skincare, shoes and jewelry. I got a couple of underwear, 2 bras, socks, and a homecoming dress (!). I haven’t been shopping that much in a long time! It made me feel excellent!
Julie and I then took of together to Chinatown and the area called Little Italy. It consisted of a couple of blocks and where two of the streets crossed each other there were four Italian restaurants in each corner. Not knowing anything about the menus or of the food quality we decided to go to the one we thought of as best appearance, but our decision turned out to be insignificant because we were “drawn into” another one by a waiter, probably a result of their competition.
On our way home we walked uptown again and we past shop after shop in block after block with jewelries, followed by shop after shop in block after block with lighting and the same thing with stores selling restaurant supplies (there are more that 13000 restaurants in NYC)! It is unbelievable how many stores can endure with such competition! That is New York!
Monday night I spent working on my comparison and contrast essay that was due the same day, while Mary Sue, Declan and his friend Nick had dinner on The Spotted Pig. Julie met a couple of friends of hers, had oysters in a bar and helped me finish my essay later on.
Julie and I then took of together to Chinatown and the area called Little Italy. It consisted of a couple of blocks and where two of the streets crossed each other there were four Italian restaurants in each corner. Not knowing anything about the menus or of the food quality we decided to go to the one we thought of as best appearance, but our decision turned out to be insignificant because we were “drawn into” another one by a waiter, probably a result of their competition.
On our way home we walked uptown again and we past shop after shop in block after block with jewelries, followed by shop after shop in block after block with lighting and the same thing with stores selling restaurant supplies (there are more that 13000 restaurants in NYC)! It is unbelievable how many stores can endure with such competition! That is New York!
Monday night I spent working on my comparison and contrast essay that was due the same day, while Mary Sue, Declan and his friend Nick had dinner on The Spotted Pig. Julie met a couple of friends of hers, had oysters in a bar and helped me finish my essay later on.
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