A bargain is something you don't need at a price you can't resist.

I went to the gym a couple of times this weekend. A girl on my floor has a membership to a really nice health club just down the street and because she is out of town this weekend, she offered me her card. I decided to do a class the other day and besides fumbling with swiping the card and checking in to the class, it wasn’t too apparent I’d never been there before. I walked away from the front desk but didn’t know which of the 4 doors lead to the ladies dressing room. I stood there for about 5 minutes until an older lady finally walked by, opened the correct door, and I followed. I went into the class a little early to stretch as it’s been a while since I’ve attended a Zumba class. In comes the male instructor, bouncy and vibrant, just ready to shake his tale feather. I was wondering if they would teach the class in Swedish… he did. I didn’t understand a word but it was more fun that way. I some how managed to sprain my elbow about 15 minutes in. Of course every move consists of waving your hands in the air so I just looked like an unenthusiastic, half-ass participant. Then it was hot tub and sauna time. This consists of a common area shared between both men and women. Greatttt….. I slide into the hot tub with an older man and women. They said something in Swedish to me and I politely responded, “Pardon me?” Immediately the man goes, “Ahhh, American?” We had a nice conversation whilst our legs awkwardly collided into one another under the bubbles. Then, when he left, 4 more old ladies and 1 pregnant woman came to enter the tub. That’s when I decided it was maybe time for me to go. It was so tiny and hardly warm. Not what I had in mind. Off to the sauna room. I was alone a first but I saw a mid-30, slightly balding, somewhat overweight man watching my every move and as soon as I walked in the sauna he got up to join. He was nice and our conversation lasted about 30 minutes until I finally said I had to go and I’d see him around later. His name was Pear. Physically fitting. Won’t have a problem remembering that one. My favorite class to attend at the gym is BodyCombat. The next day I decided to give the class a try and Oh My. The sexiest Swedish guy I’ve ever laid eyes on was the instructor. I haven’t taken the class for over three months but pushed myself as if I hadn’t even missed a class. I am currently so sore I can hardly move. Good motivation to work hard when your trying to impress but oh how my poor body is paying the price.

The weather has actually been very nice the last couple of weeks. People flock to the decks by the lake and sit in the sun for hours, drinking coffee and hanging out. They certainly appreciate when its sunny because the days are few and far in-between. I’m glad it has been an unusually warm winter (still freezing none the less) because I don’t know if I would have been able to handle a winter like they had the last few years. Tons of snow until mid April, no thank you.

It took me a minute to adjust but I’m certainly enjoying being a bit more social. Everyone loves to go out and dance and the clubs here are much better compared to home. I sang karaoke for the first time the other night. It was really fun! Singing is not an area in which I have much confidence so it was nice to get over the fear. I think I’ll hit up karaoke night more often when I get back. Dancing is of course a blast, but I learned quickly I need to watch myself. My first night out with everyone we all danced the night away having a great time but the next day I had coined the nickname “Horney dancer” and was told they had only seen dancing like that on MTV. The part I found most hilarious was that I hadn’t even noticed I was dancing different than everyone else. In North America, that’s what we do; Bump and Grind. As R.Kelly says… Ain’t nothing wrong with a little bump n’ grind… Unless you’re in Sweden and people dance next to each other not ass in crotch.

Btw, Jersey Shore really needs to be canceled. The Situation and Pauly D are polluting the minds of even the sweet Swedish guys who are idolizing these douche bags. Note to males across the world: these egotistical, womanizing, meat heads are not respectable role models and if you watch the show and think its cool to emanate their behavior, you too will be considered a douche bag. 

Swedish people are funny. They have some general personality characteristics that I can certainly appreciate. They are a bit reserved but good conversationalists once you get them talking. Maybe because I’m American its different and we have more to talk about… I know when I’m home and I meet someone with an accent I’m a little more interested just because I know they’re from somewhere else. Maybe that’s it. But it’s so fun nonetheless! I love having conversations about the differences between cultures. I always ask people I meet to tell me something about the people from their culture and it’s a great way to learn. It seems the Swedish are honest people, a bit reserved and maybe somewhat conservative. I was speaking with a Swedish girl at the bar one night and we were discussing socialism in Sweden. She said the only reason it works is 1. Because the Swedish people are honest and don’t strive to cheat the system and 2. They collectively agree that a comfortable lifestyle for all is best instead of a large gap between those with a lot and those with a little. You don’t tip at the bar and restaurants because even the bartenders and wait staff make a good wage that they can live comfortably on. They play by the rules and tend to listen to authority. When you come to a crosswalk, even if there are no cars coming, they still wait until the light tells them to walk. I don’t. They are kind of closed off in that they tend to run together and not let many “outsiders” in their circle. Once you get to know them they can open up and are wonderful, but generally speaking, don’t expect them to approach you wanting to be friends.

After my final next Monday I am leaving to Krakow, Poland. I am so excited! It was the cheapest trip I could find to book and a bit south so I’m hoping for some warm weather. I have booked a hostel for 4 nights so I hope that goes well. It will be the first time I’ve done the hostel thing. 10 visitors to a room… fingers crossed it works out ok. Beside my plane ticket and accommodation, I have no plans. I’ll figure it out when I get there I guess.

Hej då

L

Peanut Butter and Baseball

Peanut butter and baseball. Two truly American crafts and in my opinion, two of the greatest inventions of all time. For weeks I’d get up, go to the kitchen, throw some toast in the toaster and then slather on a heaping knife full of chunky peanut butter. I always got some strange looks but I didn’t realize the raised eyebrows were directed at my toast topping of choice. They don’t understand it. I don’t understand them not understanding. It tastes so good!! As for baseball.. I played throughout my entire childhood, find it to be the best way to spend a Saturday afternoon, and is my favorite live sporting event. The rest of the world is deprived! 

How is the economy in Sweden? I’d say pretty dang good based on the number of current construction projects going on. Everywhere I go, there is banging, hammering and pounding. There have been a couple of lectures where mid-way through class, pounding of steel beams into the ground will begin. The entire overhead projector shakes as poor Mother Nature is being worked over, one continuous blow after another. Approximately 8 am every morning a loud drilling begins just outside my window. Not even my music can dull the construction site sounds when running around the lake. Which, btw, I ran a little over two miles the other day for the first time since my surgery. The pistons are soon to be back!

My Bulgarian neighbor knocked on the door the other day with a gift. His mother had sent him a few bracelets that are white and red striped. Everyone in Bulgaria wears them during the month of March to signify the beginning of spring. You take them off at the first sight of a stork, or the beginning of April. So sweet, I love it! Maybe our weather bracelets are working because the climate is FINALLY becoming tolerable. The sun has shone the last couple of days and I couldn’t welcome it more. My skin has officially turned a light shade of blue as I’ve lost any tan I might have had coming here. It really is amazing at how much better I feel, and how much more energy I have, on days that are sunny. Last Saturday it was beautiful out so I decided to go on a walk. I walked out of my housing accommodation and turned right. I just kept walking and turned where I felt compelled. It was so much fun!! I was out for probably two hours just walking and discovering areas of Jonkoping that I hadn’t seen. Its fairly hilly here so after a very steep incline I decided to go left into what looked like a park area. It was almost, and I emphasize almost, like being in Central Park. The woods surrounded me and the walking paths seemed endless. 

I came across an Alpaca farm with tons of little baby Alpaca running around. I saw what I thought was a Moose, but now that I look it up, I have no idea what it was. A male something with crazy looking antlers and all of his many female companions.  I found a triple waterfall that was beautiful and the stream wound down the mountain beside the walking path. I can’t imagine what it will look like in a couple of months when things are blooming. 

However, my favorite part was walking through the neighborhoods. At one point I got a woof of what smelled like a grill cooking hamburgers and hot dogs, with the sun shining, and the sound of men working the chainsaw and doing lawn maintenance. It’s amazing when the senses get to work what kind of memories they recall. It completely reminded me of a weekend day with my family, just hanging out, cooking, while all the neighbor kids played outside. Happy times.

I’m kind of doing an experiment. The first week I was here they took us on a tour of Jonkoping. We went to this really sweet, quaint park that was perched at the very highest point of the city with an amazing overlook. It reminded me of the movie The Secret Garden, a film I watched literally hundreds of times as a little girl. I want to find that park again but, here’s the kicker, I want to find it without a map or being told. My goal is to set out every weekend and just walk and explore like I did last Saturday, to hopefully come across this park again. I’ll keep you posted.

The last couple of weeks have been such a whirlwind. I wrote a blog a week ago about love and blah blah but since then, things have completely changed and I’m glad I spared you all. I started out this week feeling so baffled by my continuous struggle in this area of my life. I knew I had two choices. One. I could feel sorry for myself and continue to relapse. Two. Watch a million motivational Youtube videos. I choose the later, and shits working. I watch three or four 5-30 minute videos a day. They range from Earl Nightingale- The Secret to Success; No arms, No legs, No worries; George Carlin- The Earth; Advice to live by, etc.

Focusing your attention in the correct, or most positive producing places, can completely change your life. Your life could be a pile of miserable shit and with an instant shift of thought; you can be living in the most glorious moment. It was brought to my attention, by someone I love and trust very much, that I am always a bit discontent. I kind of knew this about myself, but thought coming to Europe would fix it! Aw hell naw. If you’ve got restlessness in your soul, that bitch isn’t staying home if you’re going to Europe. She’s burying herself deep inside your spirit, lying dormant until you’re convinced she’s gone, only to slowly creep her way back into your life as you settle in to what you thought was a content experience. My mom, and probably my grandmother, always said, “Wherever you go, there you are.” So, my dear friend was so kind to point out this restlessness while I was spewing “but, if this” and “well, if I had that” all over my skype screen. I remembered something I did a few years ago. Its an exercise were you put a rubber band or bracelet on your wrist and anytime you think negatively, whether in your head or out loud, you move the rubber band or bracelet to the other wrist. This trains you to actively notice when you’re going into winey mode and you can stop yourself. New neural pathways are created when thoughts come to mind and you literally train your mind to take the positive route, rather than stomp around in the negative. To prove I'm not full of shit, there’s an article I found written by Janet Callaway called “What do Astronauts & New Habits Have in Common? Here’s a snippet below:

“Back in its early days, NASA designed an experiment to determine the physiological and psychological effect of the spatial disorientation the astronauts would experience in the weightless environment. What NASA did is outfit the potential astronauts with convex goggles, which flipped everything in their field of vision 180 degrees. In other words, their world was turned completely upside down. The potential astronauts were required to wear these special goggles 24 hours a day—even when they were asleep. The scientists then sat back to observe what happened. Initially, according to elevated blood pressure and other vital signs, the potential astronauts suffered from extreme stress and anxiety—hardly surprising since their worlds were upside down. As time went on they gradually adapted to some of the stress though not all of it. On the 26th day, something amazing happened for one of the astronauts. His world turned right-side up again even though he continued to wear the goggles 24 hours a day. From days 26-30, the same thing happened for each of the astronauts; their worlds turned right-side up. What the scientists discovered is that after 26-30 days of this continuous stream of new input—think new habit—the astronauts’ brains created neural connections to “rewire” their brains. What the scientists discovered is the brain needs about 30 uninterrupted days for new neural connections to form. Next time you are ready to develop a new habit, learn a new skill, start a new diet or implement your action plan for success, remember the astronauts. Allow your brain the 30 days for the new neural pathways to be built and keep your commitment to yourself.”

Habits are a muscle that need to be strengthened. Its exciting to know the power to finding unconditional happiness lies in my own ability to keep my focus on the positive things and achieve contentment in my life now, exactly as it is.

One thing I know for sure is that if I can’t be happy in Sweden, as a young, intelligent American female getting an education, with the ability to do as I want, say, and please every morning I wake… I’ll surely end up living a tortured existence.

Much love until next time folks.

L