From Canada, with (azn) love

From Canada, with love!!

What does the BEST package from home include? Pocky, Hello Panda, pork floss, dried shitake mushrooms, century egg, Japenese green tea, and glutinous rice balls with red bean filling!  

That's right, suckas, my awesome parents lovingly sent me a gift from home: a package filled with some of my favourite "azn" foods that I'm currently missing.

Sooooo happy that I've been re-united with century eggs!

It's funny how there are so many things that you take for granted back at home, but when you're in a totally different continent where the gastronomical preferences are slightly different from those in Vancouver, you really appreciate a gesture like this!




I can't wait to freak out my friends with the new goods, make a real pot of congee, and enjoy some glutinous rice balls for dessert!

How do you know what you want to do?

For the past couple of years, I've been asked the following question: "Do you know what you want to do?" And no, this doesn't refer to when me and my friend are trying to decide what to do on a Friday night (although that does happen often), but more so in the educational context.  I guess I'm at that point in my life where I'm so close to graduating and have to start to seriously think about what I plan on doing next year, five years or even ten years (scary!).  As my year on exchange progresses, I find myself being asked that question more and more often.  And I always have the same answer: "I don't really know.." *nervous laugh*"

But it's time, isn't it?  What do I want to do?

Some of my friends are already graduated and working - as in working in real grown-up type of jobs.  With sixteen consecutive years of school under my belt, my natural instinct kicks in - I don't feel ready for that yet, for that responsibility, not being a student anymore.  My life revolves so much around school and my friends at school.  Not taking classes, having (study) parties, and even stressing over the dreaded exams is, to be really honesty, hard to imagine. 

In that case, it's easy, you tell me.  Go for grad school! Get a Masters! Further your education!  It's a rather tempting idea - remain a student for at least two more years, get a nifty M.sc on my diploma...but what for?  Is it a necessary thing, having two extra years of school? Will it really "further my education"?  And to answer that question, I need to find out what kind of career I want.   

I'll very likely end up applying for grad school (mental note to self: check application deadlines!) but need to start coming up with my options: jobs to apply for, internships, and all that fun stuff.  

So I leave with a couple questions for you: how will I be able to find out what I want to do? How did you know? 

Or maybe a sudden revelation will happen while I'm in Scandinavia. Wouldn't that be nice..

What do Swedish people (students) eat?

Today's topic will require several blog postings in order to ensure a thorough discussion and understanding of food, the Swedish-Way.

As a quick analysis, let's take a look at the average student's refrigerator - note that each students has just two shelves to his/herself (Swedes don't eat THAT much!)...

The following pictures seen here are fairly accurate depictions of the typical Swedish diet: dairy, pastes in tubes, dairy, vegetables, and more dairy.

The middle shelves are mine, actually!

You'll first notice on the top shelf a tall bottle with orange-coloured stuff - that's a Thousand Island salad dressing.  I really have no idea why this dressing in particular is so popular.  It's used extensively on hot dogs.

Aside: The ziploc container on the second shelf, to the right, is the pumpkin coconut curry I made tonight. It's really good. Recipe coming soon!

On to the second refrigerator...

Bregott, Bregott, everywhere!

So the previous picture was not exactly "Swedish," since they were mostly my shelves and Sam's shelves, and he is not Swedish either.  But, this one is 100% Swedish.

Do you see all those "Bregott" containers? These bright orange containers are margarine.  It's very important/good when spread on the somewhat dry and bland knäckebröd (don't forget a slice of cheese on top).  On the right of the third shelf, there's a bottle of ketchup quietly hiding behind the glass bottle. Don't let its inconspicuous position on the shelf fool you; have you heard of pasta + ketchup? Well, in Sweden, that's how it is, and it's a very common thing to do!  

Let's move to the refrigerator doors, which are probably much more exciting than the rest of the contents in the fridge.

The second shelf is mine.

Look! Another ketchup bottle on the top shelf!  Heinz must be making a fortune.

Did you know that Tetra Paks were invented in Lund, Sweden?  This makes sense now, and you definitely notice it; everything can be put in Tetra Paks: dairy products, beans, soups, juice concentrates...

Tetra Paks and tubes, what more do you need?

This is the all-Swedish refrigerator.  The Swedes seriously looooooove their dairy (sometime I'll take a picture of the dairy section in the supermarket, which includes Costco-sized blocks of cheese, and you'll see what I mean). But do you notice something else in this picture?  Just take a look for sec..that's right, the tubes!  If food isn't put in Tetra Paks, it'll very likely be found in tubes.  Everything ranging from Kaviar to tomato paste, and mayonnaise to chocolate icing, are packed into toothpaste-like tubes.  

And today, the food product that I would like to highlight is...

Axa Muesli + Strawberry Filmjölk = perfect breakfast 

Filmjölk.  In the simplest of terms, this is a cross between milk and yogurt, being thick but still runnier than yogurt so that it can be poured out.  I don't think we have anything like this in Canada!  What makes this a rather special (or perhaps unpleasant) experience for a Filmjölk newbie, is if you taste the plain variety.  Ok, you won't die or anything, but the sourness of it might shock your system (temporarily, just for a few minutes, or until the taste in the mouth dissipates). It tastes almost as if it's past its expiry date.  Sounds delish, huh?  Consequently, many Swedes add jam or sugar to offset the sourness and eat it with muesli in the morning.  I am not a fan of  mjölk (milk), nor do I want to keep eating Filmjölk with the nose half-plugged (offsets the sourness so that I don't have to add extra sugar).  And then,  a few weeks ago, I discoverd the wonderful world of Filmjölk Jordgubb, which has strawberry flavouring added to it.  It's delicious, sweet, and I now look forward to eating it before I set off for class.  

Another thing that's interesting is that the Swedes here do not seem so much obsessed about how much fat is in their dairy.  Back at home, when we think of dairy, we often think about how "bad" it is for us and our weight.  "Don't eat so much cheese," "Choose skim or 1% milk."  Even the Eating Well With Canada's Food Guide tell us to do so.  But here, the people are still slim and they are eating lots of cheese and 3% milk and yogurt!  Even their whipped cream has a higher fat content than ours!  This may sound ridiculous and unfair to us Canadians (whose rate of obesity is gradually becoming at par to the obesity rates in the States), but the lifestyle here is different.  Many students bike around town, exercise, and eat a fairy well-rounded diet (excluding the ridiculous amount of candy!).  Maybe this means that there's still hope that I might be able to fit back into my prom dress when I return!

Now that my housemates probably think I'm a creep for taking pictures of their food (and no, I don't plan on going through their cupboards..), I will save the other food products for another posting and call it a day.  God natt!  

Swedish Quirks: "Yes"

I know that the Sverige that most of you know about is a simple country with ABBA, Pippi Longstocking, Ikea, and Örnsköldviks, but once you start living here, you start to learn more about the country...in addition to picking up on their slightly odd manners and quirks that Swedes carry with them on a daily basis...

Swedish Quirk #1: Northern Sweden's Yes

I was on a field excursion a few weeks ago, and was sitting in the front seat of the car beside Stefan, one of my classmates, and who is Swedish.  It was a long drive, so we were enjoying small talk and conversations about what he is studying, cooking (of course), how he likes Uppsala, etc.

And then I started to notice something peculiar...

Me: "So I guess you will have to decide after you graduate what you want to do as a career."
Stefan makes a really weird breathing noise, something between trying to catch one's breath and hyperventilating
Stefan: "I am fairly certain I want to teach and be a professor."

Me: "Do you think you will stay in Uppsala and teach?"
ANOTHER WEIRD BREATHING NOISE 
Stefan: "I am not sure yet where I will teach, haha!| *chuckles*

The conversation went on, and on, and ON like this! Me talking, him doing his hyperventilating and talking, me wondering what was going on...

That was a really, really weird day. Still, I totally forgot about this strange Stefan-breathing phenomenom until the following week when Martina and I made kanelbullar with Lina, our other classmate.  While we were sitting with her friends, we somehow started talking about Swedish people.

It turns out that the further north you go in Sweden, the less the people speak.  I don't know why, maybe because it's so cold they don't want to talk so much, or there are so few inhabitants that they forget how to use the language (?!), or they are just less social because they're "colder" people??

It doesn't matter, because now I don't feel like a complete confused fool!

Swedes, especially those from Northern Sweden, tend to respond with a "yes" by making that weird breathing noise, which sounds like they are sucking air through their mouth inwards, or in Stefan's case, hyperventilating.  That's right, "Yes," or "Ja" does not exist in their repertoire!

I end this post with the conclusion that although Swedes may be superficially stereotypically quiet and reserved, they are just as weird as you or me.  I have a feeling that this Swedish Quirks topic is going to become many posts by the end of the year :)

Also, we had our very first snowfall (as in bit of snowflakes which melted instantly) yesterday - but still, it's getting cold and I'm getting my long johns out. It's only October!!!

Thankful

See the maple leaf? Beautiful table setting by Martina.

I have so many reasons to be thankful, especially during this year.  I am thankful for:

1. My family, especially my parents.  Despite (occasional) disagreements that we may have, they constantly support me, and are there for me (literally! They're logged on skype almost 24/7) whenever I need them, haha.
2. My sist-ah!  I really do miss you, especially our random phone chats, high-fives, and all other things that only make sense to us.  Thanks for your long email updates, and for the algorithms, I've solved the Cube three times since I've arrived.
3. My friends.  I am so thankful to all of you who made sure to hang out with me before I left, make experimental Japadogs and watch the fireworks (in the rain), organize summer hikes, play Ginseng, give me my very own mini Teddy, introduce me to the Foundation (might be just as good as the Naam!).  Keep up with the skype and gmail chats, letters, and doodle horses...cause I miss you all!

<3

What I'm also thankful for this year are the amazing new friends I have met through my exchange here. You guys here in Sweden have become like family...

Thanksgiving 2010!

Thanksgiving 2010 (aka Turkey Fest, aka Chicken Fest, seeing as how I opted to prepare chickens instead)

A few weeks ago, it occurred to me that Thanksgiving was coming up, and I wouldn't be in Canada to feast.  The horror of not being able to eat all of My Favourite Things (insert Julie Andrews singing): cranberrry sauce, gravy, stuffing, pie, and of course, turkey....the thought of not having a Thanksgiving brought a tear to my eye (ok, maybe not quite - but it was a rather depressing thought!).

Fun times being had!

As it turned out, Canadian Thanksgiving came to Uppsala this year!

A total of 22 guests packed into my corridor on Sunday night, enjoying a night of food and games.  Dare to ask what we feasted upon?  Bread rolls, lentil hummus, chicken, gravy, lingonberry sauce, bread stuffing, mashed potatoes (two kinds), mashed sweet potatoes, corn pudding, mixed veg, brussel sprouts with bacon, tarte au sucre (sugar pie), sweet potato pie, chocolate cake, chocolate mousse, whipped cream and vegan whipped cream, and vegan ice cream!

Here is a sampling of some amazing food prepared by equally amazing friends.

Bread, stuffing, carbs, oh my!

Chicken!

Brussel sprouts sauteed with bacon, beside
Martina's potatoes with onions and spinach

More sprouts! Plus the gravy.

Too much pie? Never!

Wishing everyone a very happy Thanksgiving!