Aug
20
Donald Duck
Filed under Sweden 2010
Göteborg is home to Chalmers University where Fredrik went to school. Tuesday marked the first day for first-year students who participate in quite the spectacle. We took the bus down to the heart of town to see the students gathered at Götaplatsen, a large town square, in their department groups (e.g. electrical engineering, industrial economics, applied physics) with some upper-class students leading them. Each group was wearing a different colored shirt to distinguish them from one another. One of the groups was actually a student group called Elektroteknologernas Kalle Anka Kommitté, a.k.a. EKAK, or in English “The Electrical Engineers Donald Duck Committee.” For whatever reason, Sweden has this weird obsession with Donald Duck. But anyway, the upperclassmen of this group had outfitted a van with a wooden sauna complete with rocks roasting over a heat source. Why? Beats me.
The students were soon led away toward Chalmers, and Fredrik and I began a slow walk down the main avenue. We stopped in at the city library where they have a pretty good Engelska (English) book section plus more shelves of many other languages. Fredrik took me to Saluhallen, a large, indoor hall filled with shops selling specialty and delicacy foods like fresh and dried meats, cheeses, olives, preserves, and fish, plus bakeries and cafes. Then we headed over to Fiskekyrka, or “The Fish Church,” another hall that sells only fresh seafood, and indeed it is located in an old church. We walked back to Saluhallen to meet Fredrik’s friend Magnus for some lunch. More importantly, we went to a specialty chocolate shop afterward for a fika of amazing hot chocolate (the lady broke off a piece of chocolate and then proceeded to melt it with steamed milk) and handmade truffles. Yum!
After satisfying ourselves, we parted ways from Magnus and hopped on the tram and rode to some outer suburbs and back. Upon returning to the apartment, we went upstairs to have dinner with Peter and his family. He was in the midst of grilling meats out on their 5th-floor balcony. The meal was so good, and the company even better. I always find it hard to warm up to kids, but I found a way to engage Matilda and Elin. I started by introducing them to English tongue twisters (unique New York, and She sells seashells by the seashore), and they stumbled and giggled their way through some Swedish ones (Sex lax är i en lax ask, or Six salmon are in a small salmon tin). Then, as Matilda was crocheting a hat, I borrowed some of her string and started showing them how to do Cat’s Cradle.
Part of our dinner conversation led to desserts. I learned that JELL-O and chocolate chip cookies are rare in Sweden, as are cupcakes and sweets with peanut butter. Actually, muffin tins are not found in Swedish homes. I found this out when Fredrik and I made cornbread muffins back in Halmstad the following day. Instead, we just filled paper muffin cups with the batter, and the batter oozed its way out during the baking process. We talked about many other things before calling it quits for the day.
