Jubilation!

Yay! My passport arrived. On time. With a new entry visa to the U.S. in it. This has been a source of considerable anxiety for me since I decided to take this trip so, yay! Woohoo! Now I can proceed to Germany and Israel without worries.

Of course the hardest part about getting the visa turned out to be picking it up at the “post office.” I use scare quotes because we don’t really have post offices in Sweden anymore. That is, they decided to save money by having supermarkets take over post office functions like selling stamps and package pick-up. Predictably this is a big pain in the butt.

The woman at the counter very nearly wouldn’t let me pick up the package containing my passport because A. you need a Swedish ID to pick up a package and my only Swedish ID is my passport. B. I had written c/o my mom on the address so the woman claimed I needed to come with my mom to pick it up. Gah!

After about 20 minutes of arguing and calls to various bosses she admitted she had been wrong and I could pick it up.

Also: I am deeply indebted to my sister for saying to the cashier, “Legally speaking c/o means that only the person it is addressed to, not the person who is c/o can pick it up.” I need to start using teh phrase “legally speaking” more often.

Dinner in Hökarängen

Last night Tina and I had dinner at Maria’s and Pelle’s commune in Hökarängen. Here are some pics:

(Clicking the photo will take you to my Flickr set for this trip)

White Nights

One of the most amazing things about Stockholm is the white nights in June. Even though I grew up here I am blown away by the beauty of it every time. It is one of the few things I deeply miss about Stockholm, besides my friends.

This photo is from Västerbron last night at 11 p.m. I was on my way from Maria’s in Hökarängen to Melinda’s on Kungsholmen. I think Ulf Lundell, a Swedish author once said this view always gives him the same feeling as when he hears “Mr. Tambourine Man.” Me, I think of Monica Zetterlund’s “Sakta Vi Gå Genom Stan.”

(Clicking the photo will take you to my Flickr set for this trip)

Cafe String and a Visit to the Embassy

What’s that quote… I keep getting older, the high school girls stay the same?

That’s sort of how I feel right now. I’m writing from the venerable Cafe String. Anybody who has been to Stockholm with me knows String is sort of a favorite of mine. It is a rather unappetizing cafe full of used furniture and high schoolers in vintage clothes. Still, I can’t help myself. They have couches and free wireless access. The place was probably 10 or 15 years old back when I was in high school and well, that’s 10 or 15 years ago by now. I saw a girl I could have sworn was my friend Ellen, then realized she probably looks 10 years younger than the real Ellen. Weird.

(Clicking the photo will take you to my Flickr set for this trip)

The weather just keeps on being wonderful. I spent the weekend meandering across Stockholm by foot and on bike meeting various people for coffee and drinks. If I could export all my friends to New York life would truly be perfect. For me at least.

This morning I had my appointment to apply for a visa at the U.S. embassy (I have the work permit but need a new entry visa.) Always an odd experience. The embassy is a heavily fortified brutalist cold war structure by Gärdet. You wait on line on the sidewalk for 1.5 hour to clear security (no cell phones or other electronics allowed). Then you come in, wait on one line, hand over your stuff, sit on another line and eventually get called up to a window. A uniquely American style of bureaucracy. Not saying Swedish bureaucracy is less maddening, just different. Swedish bureaucracy has no air-conditioning, pastel walls and “nummer lappar” (numbered tickets).

This evening I am having dinner at Maria’s and Pelle’s in Hökarängen. Tomorrow I take the late evening train to Lund. I’m supposed to be working on an article there so perhaps I will have more exciting stuff to tell in a few days.

Hasta Luego

Stockholm Slide Show

Photos from Stockholm so far. I want to figure how to embed a slide show, until then here's a link.

It seems wordpress won’t let me embed an actual slide show. Instead click the photo below to get to the set.

Flag Day

Writing this from my Dad’s and Hephzibah’s kitchen, watching my sister and Hephzibah cook Shabbes dinner.

Today is the Swedish National Day, or flag day. For my American friends that’s sort of like independence day except not, since Sweden used to be a colonizer not a colony.

It started out on a not-so-great note. On my way down into the subway I found there was a minor racist/nazi rally at Karlaplan, a small square (or a circle actually) close to where I am staying. The place was pretty much on lockdown and the cops seemed very annoyed at having to allow these guys to do their thing, which somewhat redeemed it. Nonetheless it put me in a pretty foul mood. I’ve been having a lot of conflicted emotions lately so it was nice to experience very pure anger for once.

Anyhoo, the day got much better when I arrived at my friend Rebecka’s birthday party, held in her mom’s garden. All my Swedish friends were there and it was sunny and perfect. Spent the afternoon sitting in the grass drinking mimosas. Babies everywhere. Photos to come.

Schweden – Hölle oder Paradies?

Switched on the TV shortly after arriving and got a true only in Sweden moment.

It was some C-Span type live coverage of the Swedish parliament. It turned out to be a special session with “the five national minorities.” Like a little delegation of Jews, a little delegation of Roma etc. Each with a sign in front of them reading “Romska Minoriteten,” “Judiska Minoriteten,” and so on.

They each stepped up and did a show and tell, sung a song, explained their/ our history in Sweden, problems faced and plans for the future. Then a scheduled kaffepaus and an admonition to be bqack on time. “We are so glad to have our minorities; they make Sweden so much more colorful and interesting.” Incredibly bizarre to watch, fresh off the plane from New York. Watch for the upcoming web portal “minoritet.se”

Also, given the current demographics of Sweden, why are there two Finnish-speaking “national minorities” but no Arab or Muslim ones?