fredag den elfte januari
yes, i write my post titles in swedish. it's really pretty boring. all that the titles mean are the dates of the posts. "fredag den elfte januari" simply means "friday the eleventh of january". boring. but not so boring to me, because i love swedish. i love the scandinavian languages, though i CAN'T STAND spoken danish. i can't. i can't stand how danes speak. sorry. yes, it sounds to me, like it sounds to many swedes and norwegians, like danes talk like there are potatoes in their mouths.
let me tell you a story. i was travelling ALL OVER scandinavia in 2003. ALL OVER. okay, i only got as far north in norway as tromsø, and as far north in sweden as kiruna, and as far south in denmark as ribe, but i was ALL OVER DAT SHIT. i didn't know much of swedish or norwegian at the time, but in either norway or sweden, if i was on a bus and knew the name of the stop i had to get off at, i would recognize that name when the driver called it out. in denmark? listen, when i was in århus, i was looking for "den gamle by" (a really quaint, pretty, little preserved medieval town in the middle of that city) and i missed the stop by over a mile and was headed to the outskirts of town before i realized i must have gone too far. similarly, i was in odense and listened to the bus driver's calls of each stop as i was on the way back to my hostel, but did not recognize of his calls for the stop i needed. i can't fucking understand spoken danish. i love denmark very much, but i can't understand what danes are saying when they speak. god love y'all. it must be like british folk trying to understand valley girls.
i love scandinavia, and if i were banished there for the rest of my life for being a "bad" american (i.e. believing that ALL americans deserve to have health insurance and a living wage), i would be banished there with a smile on my face. i know, damn socialist that i am. i'm SOOOOO "un-american" for believing in the true ideals of the country i was born in (the U.S.A.). i mean, how could i actually want to follow through with "justice for all", and "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" by wanting ALL americans to have a decent life with NO exceptions?
anyway, i am going to iceland, which i've TECHNICALLY "been to" before, seeing as i stopped in the airport at keflavik three or four times whilst on my way to "mainland scandinavia". i am going to do a VERY small exploration of iceland (going around reykjavik and its environs?) as i head over to sweden this summer, in order to see my family over there. i don't think i have the money to visit my family and friends in norway as well. my best friends in norway live on the island of smøla, while most of my cousins live around oslo (drammen, asker), though one cousin lives up in alta (a place i wish to visit, along with hammarfest, nordkapp, kirkenes, vardø, vadsø, and a jaunt over the country line between norway and russia). if anyone wants a true adventure, try to traverse norway in the WINTER (without the help of hurtigruten) all the way up to kirkenes). i had an amazing adventure just trying to get up to tromsø in late september, and my personal "sir edmund hillary" moment will be to go all over norway someday IN THE WINTER, from lindesnes to kirkenes, and all the way between the two.
ANYWAY, my friend from chicago, whose ancestors most recently hail from hong kong and perhaps guangdong province nearby (i need to pick her brain about the specifics soon), is COMING BACK TO LIVE IN NYC, AND I AM SO HAPPY!!!! yay, the gurl has an open-door invitation to stay in my lair as long as she needs to as she gets herself situated (which is not easy in this crazy city). i am so glad she's coming back! i've prayed that she'd be able to come back!
another plan, which i am so excited about: getting to go down south for a visit to my friend in decatur, and meeting her precious newborn son!!! i can't wait to meet him!
so now, i'm here, on a friday night, reading the golden compass, which makes me feel even more longing for "The North", dreaming about traversing the north from all the latitudes it contains, dreaming about chicago friend coming back, dreaming of holding georgia friend's child in my arms. life is good!!!
i will shut up now, and go find some dinner.
let me tell you a story. i was travelling ALL OVER scandinavia in 2003. ALL OVER. okay, i only got as far north in norway as tromsø, and as far north in sweden as kiruna, and as far south in denmark as ribe, but i was ALL OVER DAT SHIT. i didn't know much of swedish or norwegian at the time, but in either norway or sweden, if i was on a bus and knew the name of the stop i had to get off at, i would recognize that name when the driver called it out. in denmark? listen, when i was in århus, i was looking for "den gamle by" (a really quaint, pretty, little preserved medieval town in the middle of that city) and i missed the stop by over a mile and was headed to the outskirts of town before i realized i must have gone too far. similarly, i was in odense and listened to the bus driver's calls of each stop as i was on the way back to my hostel, but did not recognize of his calls for the stop i needed. i can't fucking understand spoken danish. i love denmark very much, but i can't understand what danes are saying when they speak. god love y'all. it must be like british folk trying to understand valley girls.
i love scandinavia, and if i were banished there for the rest of my life for being a "bad" american (i.e. believing that ALL americans deserve to have health insurance and a living wage), i would be banished there with a smile on my face. i know, damn socialist that i am. i'm SOOOOO "un-american" for believing in the true ideals of the country i was born in (the U.S.A.). i mean, how could i actually want to follow through with "justice for all", and "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" by wanting ALL americans to have a decent life with NO exceptions?
anyway, i am going to iceland, which i've TECHNICALLY "been to" before, seeing as i stopped in the airport at keflavik three or four times whilst on my way to "mainland scandinavia". i am going to do a VERY small exploration of iceland (going around reykjavik and its environs?) as i head over to sweden this summer, in order to see my family over there. i don't think i have the money to visit my family and friends in norway as well. my best friends in norway live on the island of smøla, while most of my cousins live around oslo (drammen, asker), though one cousin lives up in alta (a place i wish to visit, along with hammarfest, nordkapp, kirkenes, vardø, vadsø, and a jaunt over the country line between norway and russia). if anyone wants a true adventure, try to traverse norway in the WINTER (without the help of hurtigruten) all the way up to kirkenes). i had an amazing adventure just trying to get up to tromsø in late september, and my personal "sir edmund hillary" moment will be to go all over norway someday IN THE WINTER, from lindesnes to kirkenes, and all the way between the two.
ANYWAY, my friend from chicago, whose ancestors most recently hail from hong kong and perhaps guangdong province nearby (i need to pick her brain about the specifics soon), is COMING BACK TO LIVE IN NYC, AND I AM SO HAPPY!!!! yay, the gurl has an open-door invitation to stay in my lair as long as she needs to as she gets herself situated (which is not easy in this crazy city). i am so glad she's coming back! i've prayed that she'd be able to come back!
another plan, which i am so excited about: getting to go down south for a visit to my friend in decatur, and meeting her precious newborn son!!! i can't wait to meet him!
so now, i'm here, on a friday night, reading the golden compass, which makes me feel even more longing for "The North", dreaming about traversing the north from all the latitudes it contains, dreaming about chicago friend coming back, dreaming of holding georgia friend's child in my arms. life is good!!!
i will shut up now, and go find some dinner.
posted by Blåbär Björn at 19:26
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