Tuesday, May 22, 2012

A New Feeling and Swedish Cuisine


Hola!

The last few days have been very uneventful, much like every day in Enkoping.  The only thing I’ve done is sit at home watching Netflix and Hulu.  Not to knock on-demand video websites, they’re a lifesaver.  However, it doesn’t make for great blogging, hence the lack of posts.  If you care to know, I’ve been watching “How I Met Your Mother” on Netflix, along with various TED Talks and documentaries.  On Hulu, I watched the entire first season of “The New Girl” in a day and a half.  I also caught up on some of my favorite shows, “Family Guy”, “American Dad” and “South Park”.  In other words, I’ve been living a very productive life.

In soccer-related information, it’s been a very different atmosphere this week so far.  As you know, we got our first win on Saturday.  We had Sunday off and then got back to work on Monday.  Training was pretty short as it often is, but the training itself was different than before.  We were much more lighthearted and laid back than we’ve been the past three or four weeks.  We started the session by playing handball, or as I call it, “International Competition Handball!”  That’s supposed to be read with a very grand voice and, yes, the exclamation point is part of the name.  Handball was fun, but I have to say that Swedes have absolutely no grasp on handball tactics and strategy.  I don’t know how a soccer game would go between Harrisburg or CPB vs. Enkoping SK, but I know for a fact that a game of International Competition Handball! would be a slaughter in favor of the Americans.

Today however, training went in the exact opposite direction.  We trained at our alternate site which is rare and Siggi was super-intense.  It seemed kind of like he felt that we were too laid back and he wanted to light a fire underneath us.  Siggi yells a lot in the matches, but rarely yells in training.  Today though he was in a yelly mood.  The training itself consisted mostly of fitness related games.  We played a large area possession game, then ran actual fitness, then played a 9v9 match.  Afterwards, Siggi yelled at us for not working hard enough and kind of resting on our laurels.  To be fair, we were pretty much just walking around during the early stages of the scrimmage.  So much so that I took it upon myself to get vocal and tell the guys to pick it up.  For people who know me, they know that I rarely yell at the collective group.  I talk a lot to people individually both on and off the field, but to talk to the whole group is not really my thing.  We got a dressing down by Siggi at the end of training and it was well deserved.

Back to non-soccer stuff.  As I assimilate myself into Swedish culture, I’ve learned how to make one or two Swedish “dishes”.  I put dishes in quotes because the food I’m going to show you is not really a complicated meal.  It’s more a snack.  Anyway, here goes it.  This is like a sandwich, but using a bread/cracker hybrid food.  I don’t actually know what it’s called, but it’s similar to like graham crackers but without the taste.  You start by spreading butter on the bread/cracker.

Then you add cheese.

Then meat.

And you get a nice little lunch or snack!

I am looking for new, actual meals to prepare that are unique to Sweden.  I know there’s probably not many.  I mean, these people were Vikings.  You know, the people who raped and pillaged their way across northern Europe for hundreds of years?  I get the feeling that they didn’t take too much time to create fine cuisine.  If they did though, I’ll find it and try to make it!  Maybe soon I can show off my cooking skills!

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