Happy Holidays and a Foozer kitty update

Happy Holidays to everyone. We are off to Spain tomorrow morning at the unheard of time of 3:30 AM. But, we will be sauntering the streets of Barcelona when we get there so it should be worth it. There is a Children's Festival while we are there so we will go to that one day. Also, we are planning to check out the zoo. On Christmas we will go to the Gaudi Cathedral, Sagrada Familia, or the Barcelona Cathedral in the Gothic Quarter for services and singing. Also, I guess Barcelona is into the nativity scene and have recreated it in a large way so we wil go check that out.

On a sad note, two days ago, Foozer, our dear, loveable, outgoing, white cat passed away from kidney failure. He has been with Rob's mom since we moved. She was concerned and took him to the vet. After tests, they said his kidneys had almost completely shut down and the best thing was to put him to rest. So, we are sad, but feel the irony in his time with us. We found him in Seattle at my friend, Heather's, moms house just before Christmas 2000 and now he left us in Seattle, Christmas of 2006. I think there is something to that. So, we will miss him and the entire neighborhood in Eugene will miss him.

I will check in next year here and fill you in on our adventures in Barcelona. I hope everyone has a happy and relaxing and warm holiday and a festive New Year!

Yasmiene

Swedish Exports

You know you love it.

Nobel Priset

We watched the Swedish Academy Awards last night and it's called the Nobel Banquet. All the information you could ever hope to know about the Nobel Prize is here. It is broadcast on the Swedish public TV channels and you get to see it all. From stunning dresses, tiaras, nerdy scientists, and even a king and queen. The fashion is rated the next day in the papers. You also get to see them eat. It is a banquet afterall. It is mostly in Swedish with a little English. There is also some dancing in the gold room at the stadshuset. Very exciting stuff.

Roger Kornberg, the nobel prize winner in Chemistry, visited our lab today and got to hear about some of the stuff we work on. Unfortunatly his time was short and I didn't get to discuss my specific project as was planned.

I also noticed that there were students at the banquet. You can see them wearing their mössa (hat). We noticed these our first month in the city and thought everyone was going yachting. As I understand it they get to wear these upon graduation of High School and as long as they're students they wear them to formal events.

A couple examples for you



Saniya is sick and has been throwing up all over the house. Apparently, this is a common thing that happens to you for a day in the winter. Hopefully, it will be gone tomorrow. If you need some medicine you can't run to the closest grocery store. You have to go to the apoteket. Most close quite early and there are a couple open 24 hours in the city. So I was there tonight picking up some stuff. You take a number and then wait to go request what you need from the pharmacist. You can't even browse at night. During the day you can check out the over the counter medicine. A little different than in the US.

There are also differences in celebrating Christmas that I'll discuss in a future entry.

Rob

As the Darkness draws near

We have crossed to the darkside here in Sweden. We are almost to the darkest day of the year, which is in a week or so. It gets light around 8 am and twilight is 3 pm. I find the darkness hard to deal with, but not unbearable. If I knew I were to live here for 20 years it would be, but being here temporarily it is interesting, a bit annoying at times, but really not horrible. To compensate the Swedes are really into candles. There are different kinds of candles in every store. Also, they really celebrate the "coziness" of winter. Cozy in Swedish is "mysig", and that I know this word shows how this sense of being in the winter is present in their culture.

Another interesting impression is the importance of tradition for Christmas, but none of the buying. I won't dwell on it because I talked of it before, but it does continue to amaze me how different their holiday is. It makes me feel like we don't really know why we are celebrating Christmas because our country is so new. So, the advertisers taught us that buying was the way to do it, so that is what we think Christmas is.

Saniya and Rowan went to a playgroup in our complex. As the complex is all visiting researchers, the children are all from outside of Sweden. So, there is a different theme each week. A woman from Germany sent an email about what Christmas is there and we celebrated it in the playgroup last week. Here is her description:

"Saint Nicholas is the common name for Saint Nicholas of Myra who had a reputation for secret gift-giving. He lived in the 4th century in the Byzantine Empire,which today is in Turkey. This historical character was the inspiration for a mythical figure known as Sankt Nikolaus, which in turn was the inspiration for Santa Claus later on. Traditionally, "Nikolaus" (as we just say in Germany) has always been celebrated on December 6. In most parts of the Christian world, the celebration of Saint Nicholaus (or then later Santa Claus) got shifted back to December 24 or 25, but in Germany we still also celebrate December 6. However, it is usually celebrated on a small scale. Many children clean and put their boots outside the front door on the night of December 5 to the 6th. Nikolaus fills the boots with gifts, and at the same time checks up on the children to see if they were good. If they were not, they will have charcoal in their boots instead."

So, a great reflection on how other countries celebrate because of a long tradition from so many centuries prior. We do not have this piece with our celebration as it is such a new and heterogeneous country. This is not to bag on what we do celebrate, it is just to notice why we have certain traditions and be aware of where they came from and why we continue them. So, I guess I am still dwelling on the holiday differences. Ahhhhh.

Saniya is adjusting with school. She is beginning to say words in Swedish. Her favorite word right now is "titta!" meaning "look!" Rowan is saying a few words. His is "hhhhooooottttt" in a really breathy voice, "mama", "dada", and "all done" which he says constantly.

Yesterday we went to the Museum of Architecture and there was an exhibit of Gingerbread Houses. It was very cool. One was of "two houses humping". Can we say hilarious. I wish I had the camera and took a picture. Also, I love that most museums have a play area for kids so while one parents looks at the exhibits the other plays, and then switch so that the parents actually get to see everything. It is such a kid and baby friendly city. It really never ceases to amaze me how accommodating it is to live here as a family.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Yasmiene

Lucia Day

Lucia Day is on December 13th. As it is approaching, we are learning more about it. It is a day to celebrate the darkness of Winter and a Saint is honored. It is an Italian Catholic saint and most of the country is Lutheran so I don't think religion is a big part of it. So, the children dress up for the day. They can chose to wear a long white dress, a Santa outfit or a gingerbread outfit. We go to her school in the afternoon. The parents come and sing traditional holiday songs together with the kids. The parents present a gift to all of the teachers. Then we have coffee and treats. Sounds festive. Then in the evening there is a procession through the city that ends at Skansen (a big outdoor living history museum and cultural area) where there is singing and dancing. The procession is candlelit and I guess people hold candles and also where a halo of candles on their head. It is cool to have a new holiday to celebrate and learn about. We'll fill you in after the fact of more details. Saniya decided to wear a white dress. I think that means she is an angel or the saint.

Ok, so I just read about it in a Stockholm website and thought I would just copy it for you all:

Lucia - Queen of Light
When winter is at its darkest, Lucia and her white-clad entourage arrive with light. Lucia Day, 13 December, is celebrated in the traditional manner at many locations in Stockholm.
The Lucia celebration is a tradition that is said to have come to Sweden as far back as the middle of the 1700s. The first Swedish Lucia procession was organized in Stockholm in 1927. Lucia is observed on December 13 to honor the Italian saint from Sicily. The chief reason of the tradition being so popular today is presumably because Lucia and her retinue evoke deep and spirited feelings with their candles and beautiful singing in churches, schools and day-care centers. Lucia is the occasion for eating lussekatter, a kind of wheat bun seasoned with saffron and found in all the cafés. In the past 50 years, the Lucia tradition has grown ever stronger and become a prelude to the Christmas celebration. Lucia processions are popular at day nurseries, schools, places of work, senior citizens' homes and other homes in greater Stockholm and nation-wide.