New arrival

There was a celebratory handing over of a tablecloth this evening. It was as unexpected as it was unusual. It was presented with the correct amount of pomp and circumstance by Jason, the newest addition to the Trosa Aussies.

Mirinda saw the tablecloth and proclaimed it as excellent.

As you can see, Jason, having arrived from hot and steamy Queensland, was feeling the drop in temperature. At one point, he left the house to go and sit in the sun.

He arrived this morning at around 10:20, and Mirinda picked him up from Vagnhärad station. I, of course, was at SFI class which, I have to say, was pretty dire.

The one highlight was when Arij asked Alexandra and me if we had enjoyed our trip to the rikstag yesterday. After we both said we did, she then asked if we understood anything the guide said. When we both responded with a resounding “Nej!” we all laughed. By ‘all’ I mean the three of us, the others were all talking loudly in a mixture of Arabic and oddly accented Swedish.

While that was a highlight, the worst thing about class today was that the snorter was sat directly behind me. All class I had an almost constant phlegm recital. She really needs to see someone about it, if you ask me. No human should have so much gooey stuff up their nostrils. And who knows what it’s doing to her stomach.

The problem today was the size of the class. It took so long to go around the room, asking each person to answer a question that, by the time Arij reached me, I’d forgotten my name, where I was and why. It was all very frustrating. And loud.

The room was an almost constant cacophony of chatter, with students helping one another in a volume that was so far beyond 11, that it could be heard in Stockholm. I’m not being facetious. It was really hard to concentrate.

When the Tig hove into view outside, I happily left class for the day to join Mirinda, Jason and an unplanned pizza for lunch. It was the beginning of a much better second half of the day.

And the view wasn’t bad, either.

There was a lot of excited chatter as Jason recounted his journey. Apart from the horrible kids kicking the back of his seat and the man caught smoking in the toilet, it was pretty smooth flying. On landing at Arlanda he rather enjoyed knowing where he was and where he was going. Not to mention the how.

The rest of the day was spent in a lot of conversation and a walk. We then had a French omelette for dinner.

I am currently beta testing a French woman’s new cookbook, and the omelette was the first one I tried. I now have to provide feedback and a photo. Mirinda and Jason also provided their feedback. The consensus was that it was lovely, but not cheesy enough.

All in all, an excellent ending to the day following a rather ropey start.