An old lady called me Santa Claus this morning. I was heading into Trosa when she stopped me in Church Alley. She said something in Swedish and, when I replied saying I didn’t understand her, she repeated it in somewhat fractured English. She then told me, if I intended to live in Sweden, I should learn the language. I told her I was learning, but it was painfully slow because I had to prepare lots of presents for the good children. I don’t think she understood. She told me she used to be a teacher.
A little later in the day, my new teacher, Nicoline, dropped by the house with four Swedish books for me to read out loud to her. We have started doing this at our språkcafé sessions nearly every morning.
We have been reading a Disney version of Snow White, but it’s all a bit basic in that sanitised American way, so Nicoline suggested we try some proper Swedish books.
When she popped in, I was busy fixed wheels to the bottom of the TV cabinet that the removalists broke last year. In their mad dash efforts to be the worst movers in history, they forced the legs to bend and buckle. The cabinet has been sitting on the flattened legs ever since.
Mirinda wants to get a new TV, but, before we do, has insisted that the cabinet gets some wheels. I did that today while she was at uni.
Today marked her first day at Stockholm University, and she set off while I was in Trosa. When she returned, she was full of beans about her day. She sat and spilled the beans about the things she enjoyed and those she wasn’t so keen on: like the general lack of places for students to sit. Which was odd.
Still, overall, she enjoyed her first day at Swedish Uni.
And the weather was lovely, though the temperature has been slowly dropping as we grow closer to the Ho Ho Ho Season. In fact, this morning, Lena warned Nicoline about the possibility of ice on the footpaths. Nicoline then passed the warning onto me and I subsequently told Mirinda.
And, while my walk into town was a bit chilly and I could see where the ice may have been earlier, my feet remained firmly on the ground. Well, in the wobbly way they tend to these days.
Likewise, Mirinda reported that there was no skating. She also reported using the Tunnelbana, which was a big thing for her. She said the experience was perfectly fine and meant she could get the early train home.
I don’t know what Stockholm looked like today, but Trosa was as beautiful as ever.
Speaking of wheels, I bought a new shopping trolley yesterday because my old one has been falling apart. This was most notable in the wheel area, where the rubber had started to fall off unexpectedly. My new trolley performed beautifully and spelled the end for the old one.
Being a Wednesday, it managed the beer run perfectly.
