Anniversary Dinner

It is sooooo expensive to eat out here that Chris and I had not been out to dinner, yet.  June 5 was our 4 year anniversary and the start to a 4 day weekend.  We struggled with whether or not it was worth paying $100+ just for dinner and of course the answer was NO!  But we did feel a bit obligated to celebrate, so we decided on tapas.  Chris had discovered a place a few weeks prior that looked interesting.  We agreed we would have a few tapas, and then head home for a sandwich if we were still hungry.

Here we are at the bus stop ready to go!

Chris was wearing his fancy shoes.  You may also notice the very European black jeans with cuffs.  Oh yeah, we fit in.

That's right ladies, I decided it was time to wear heels.  There are a lot of challenges.  Not having a car means only walking, and cobblestone means Chris is ready at any minute to carry me to the hospital =)

It was cold that night, which is why the first picture was with my coat on, but I had dressed up, so I demanded a picture without my coat.  I was chattering the whole time!

The restaurant was in Lund near the hotel we stayed in during the interview so it was easy to find.
It was very quaint and quite cute!

We decided to get the deal, which was 4 tapas for $30.  We got two charcuterie plates, calamari, and fish stew.  It was excellent food, and well worth it.

In the end, we didn't need snacks when we got home, my ankle didn't get broken, and we were happy we went!

Swedish Dinner

A few weeks ago I was invited to go to a dinner with a guy I met in my Swedish classes. His name is Matt, and he is originally from Portland, Oregon. He lived in Copenhagen for a couple of years and met is wife there. She is from Lund, and they both live here now. She did all of her schooling here in Lund, and several of her classmates also still live in Lund. They all have stayed in touch and get together often for dinner and things.

The guys in the group try and get together once a week on Tuesdays and have a "Guys Dinner." They always have a theme for the dinners. The theme for this particular week was "budget." This meant that the host had to prepare a three course meal (appetizer, entree, and dessert) all for 40 SEK (Swedish money) per person. This meant the budget for each person was just under $6. I was really excited to do this and so was the host. Since I was joining the group that meant there was going to be two Americans so the host wanted to do a traditional Swedish dinner for us. Now I was even more excited!

The first course was Whiskey Pickled Herring. It was served on a thinly sliced dark bread, maybe pumpernickel, then topped with sliced hard boiled eggs, whiskey pickled herring, and crème fraîche. It was surprisingly good. I won't be rushing out to buy any pickled herring, but if I was served it again I would be OK with it. 

The entree was Pea Soup with Braised Pork. This is very Swedish and was usually served on Thursdays. It was a meal served often during times of war since it was hearty and cheap. And yes Sweden does have a military, Switzerland is the neutral country. Anyway, it was really good! The soup had good flavor and the pork fell apart in the bowl when you touched it with your spoon. One thing I found odd was that they added mustard to the soup, not when its cooking, but after its been served in the bowl. I thought it was strange but of course I had to try it. It wasn't bad. It was a brown mustard which I like much better than a yellow mustard. I would definitely eat this again. Oh, and the host was quick to apologize that it wasn't Thursday. LOL 

For dessert he made Swedish Pancakes and Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. A Swedish Pancake is very much like a thick crepe, at least that's what I think. Traditionally you would serve Swedish pancakes with whipped cream and fresh strawberries. The ice cream was delicious and was fine by me! The Swedish love the ice cream. You would be surprised to see how many people we see standing in line to by ice cream when it's 50 degrees outside. Something else that is different, the Swedish word for ice cream is glass. Could you imagine telling someone in the states that you just enjoyed a bowl of glass with whipped cream and a cherry on top? It's the little things. Anyway, dessert awesome! We also had coffee and the host broke out two bottles of Scotch. 

   

I had a great time! There was a total of 6 of us. Matt and I were the two Americans and the rest were native Swedes. I look forward to the next dinner and can't wait to host one at my house and do a Southern American dinner for the Swedes. 

Katedralskolan, Lund

I think it's fair to say that a large majority of the people in the world have no idea what goes on at neutron research facilities, and it's no different in Lund.  They all know that ESS is being built, and they are all very proud to have it here, but they aren't exactly sure why or what.  So the local highschool asked if someone from ESS could come and give an educational talk on neutrons; where they come from, and what we will do with them.  The someone asked to do this was me.  I have no problems with public speaking, so I was happy to agree, but I had never prepared a lecture on neutrons - I'm not exactly a physicist.  I have had plenty of classes along the way that would help, and having just done my research at ORNL where research was performed that led to a Nobel Prize in neutron scattering, I figured I could at least tell some stories.

The name Katedralskolan means Cathedral School.  I asked if it was catholic, and someone said no, they it's just on the same road as the big cathedral.  I looked it up and they think it used to be a seminary for catholic priests.  It is the oldest school in Scandinavia and possibly in Northern Europe.  It was founded by a donation from a Danish king, Canute the Saint, in 1085.

A view from inside the courtyard

The auditorium I spoke in was in this building

I asked someone in the courtyard for help and the pointed me toward this door.

Neutrons at ESS: where they come from and what we do with them

Apparently ESS doesn't want us to connect neutrons with the atomic bombs, but the research reactor at X-10 was key to developing neutron scattering, so being a proud Tennessee girl, I of course talked about it.  I gave two lectures with about 75-100 students each.  They seemed to really enjoy it, only a few sleepy heads.  The second group even asked questions!

International Food Festival

Chris has started his Swedish lessons, so he is in the city center everyday.  A few weeks back he had seen that there was an international festival of sorts.  On the Friday of that week we decided to meet there when I got off work.  It was awesome!  A number of countries were represented and it was mostly food they had to sell.  There were both prepared items to eat right away and things to be bought for later.

The first tent I saw was fudge from England. Mmmmmmm, fudge!  I definitely took some this home.

dried meats from Italy

There was a non-specific Mediterranean booth with olives, nuts, and baklava! 

Here's a little shout out to all the Northern Exposure peeps.  Pierogis!!

This guy was British.  He was selling cheese and jams and various other types of sauces.  He was giving out samples of cheese and telling stories to go along with.  He asked us Swedish or English when we walked up and of course we said English, which then he asked where we were from.  We said the states, and he said, yeah I get that, but where in the states.  I talked for just a minute and asked him if he could guess.  All the Swedes I talk to can immediately pick out that I am from the South; it made me wonder if all Europeans could.  Sure enough, he guessed it!  We bought some stilton and some scorcher cheese.  The scorcher was cheddar with a lot of peppers.  The flavor was REALLY good, but it was way too hot for me.  Chris says he would give anything to get his hands on some more!

Even Australia made it to the international market.  Now, that's a long trip.

Holland

Spain

France

It was a lot of fun to see the different kinds of food.  My favorite part was seeing the giant sauté  pans they were using to prepare the food.

Science Day

The neutron directorate at ESS had a "Science Day" where we took a short trip to the countryside and talked about science.  There were about 30 of us who presented and about 40 in attendance.  The task was to give an 8 minute talk and leave 2 minutes for discussion.  I think the plan was a bit aggressive, and not hardly possible for most scientists.  I know when I had finished, I felt like I had sprinted through it!

It was the first day I had dared to leave the house without socks.

They hired a bus, which dropped us off and we walked up to the venue.  It was a beautiful walk.

It was a spa retreat named "The Lodge" with the tagline "...an American getaway"  I'm not sure what was American about it, but it had a great deck with a fantastic view where we took fika.

Michela is enjoying some sun!  She is Italian, but has probably lived in Sweden as long as she did in Italy by now.

For the afternoon break they had these snacks set out for us.  The little glass jars had lemon mousse in them.  It was to die for.  I ate two!

It was a lovely place, that I could see visiting again.  If you have to spend 8 hours listening to science talks, might as well enjoy it in style!

Graduation Part 2

Here are a couple of other fun pictures from our graduation visit.  These were on my phone, so Chris didn't have a chance to add them.

This is Sunspot.  I insisted we sit out on a patio somewhere before it was time to walk across the stage.  I had to get in sun when I could!

This is Carla.  She "runs" the Materials Science Department.  She certainly kept me in line and looking good.  

This is my group, Claudia in the middle, and Sabina on the end.  Sabina started very shortly after I did. We studied together and graduated together, and became good friends along the way.  I believe she is back in Nigeria now.  When I first met her I told her I'd come visit her one day, so look out Sabina, I'll be headed to Africa!  Claudia was, of course my advisor.  She got me through those 5 years smashingly!  I'm lucky to have had such a caring and dedicated advisor, who is now a very good friend.  I imagine we'll se her and her family in Sweden one day!

Jared and I studied together when he was an undergrad.  Now here we are!

I'm glad I went back for my hooding.  Not only because I missed TN, but it was an experience I'll not forget.  All that hard work felt worth it to have my family and my best friends (both in the audience and watching from the other side of the world) share such a rare moment with me.

Quick Catch Up

Well, it sure has been a while since I posted anything. Have I been that busy? Not really. Lazy? More likely the answer. So here is a quick summary of things I've seen or done in my lazy days.

I've been doing a lot of biking and walking. The fresh air and exercise is quite nice. I also see things I would otherwise miss while driving the Jeep and trying to change the song on the iPhone. Like spring flowers. Now that things warmed up a bit... cough, cough, we see them every where. And since the temps are lower, the blooms stick around longer than they do back home.

Even Charlie has been with helping point out some of the spring flowers.

Charlie SMASH!!

Charlie Photo-Bomb

Michelle's work threw an ESS Euro Vision 2013 Karaoke party. If you're not familiar with Euro Vision, don't feel bad I didn't either. Basically it's a singing contest, think American Idol, for all of Europe. More on Euro Vision in a later post. The idea for the karaoke that night was that each country at the ESS get a team together and have them compete.  It was good fun. Here are some pics. 

Michelle got up and sang. 

This is about the time she realized her mic was off. 

Random German in a Tennessee shirt. Go VOLS!!!

We took a trip home for Michelle's graduation. Michelle had her graduation on May 9th and it's now official, she's a PhD! YAY, CONGRATULATIONS BABERS!!!! It was AWESOME to see our friends and family again.  We had a fantastic visit!