SERENE SURVIVES FIRST DANISH SNOWSTORM
She will now retire to her bed to cuddle with pillows (audience: BOO) and watch some downloaded 30 Rock (audience: YAY). And this concludes your news update.
Monthly Archives: November 2008
Sverige
I’m off to spend the weekend in Göteborg, Sweden. To celebrate the great country to the north and what some (*ahem*Timm*ahem*) may call my first foray into REAL SCANDINAVIA AND NOT THE FAUX-EUROPEAN VERSION, I present to you First Aid Kit, a super cute Swedish band (on The Knife’s Rabid Records label for the music nerds out there), covering Fleet Foxes “Tiger Mountain Peasant Song.” Let this song warm your feet, spoon you to sleep, and gently stroke your hair.
(h/t to Carrie Brownstein and her radtacular NPR blog)
MEMEMEMEMEMEME
I am desperate for a break from Norman Fairclough and Critical Discourse Analysis. Plus, two of my favorite bloggers did it, and this bandwagon is winking mighty flirtatiously with me.
1. My uncle once: took me out dancing with his boyfriend, their friends, my friends, and my Grandfather.
2. Never in my life: have I craved pho so much.
3. When I was five: my mom passed away.
4. High school was: confusing. My identity was always in flux. Was I an academic? Was I political? Was I gay? Was I straight? Oy, I’m so glad that is all over with.
5. I will never forget: the feeling of warm sand between my toes.
6. Once I met: Kate Hudson at Slim’s in San Francisco during Chris Robinson’s set.
7. There’s this girl I know: who is so amazing and inspiring and makes me think motherhood is totally doable. (This applies to a couple amazing people, actually)
8. Once, at a bar: in Paris I started smoking after a two year break. Thankfully, I quit again.
9. By noon, I’m usually: antsy from too much coffee.
10. Last night: I fell asleep listening to Mogwai.
11. If only I had: an ability to secure a rad, cheap apartment before returning to Seattle.
12. Next time I go to church: I will probably shift uncomfortably and mock everyone in the safe recesses of my mind.
13. What worries me most: is making sure I find a decent apartment to accommodate my partner-in-crime.
14. When I turn my head left I see: a small wooden stool.
15. When I turn my head right I see: my portable hard drive of DOOOOOOOM.
16. You know I’m lying when: I say “uh” a lot.
17. What I miss most about the Eighties is: my bright pink and neon green striped polo shirt. It was rad.
18. If I were a character in Shakespeare I’d be: Mercutio. I can be a long-winded prankster, and someone mucking things up for others. Plus, I like being a background player.
19. I have a hard time understanding: pedagogy at RUC.
20. If I ever go back to school: Tough titters, I’m already there.
5:30 am, November 5th
I’ll always remember where I was at 5:30 am on the morning of November 5th. I was sitting on a slightly damp, very stinky couch that is like every other couch found in college dorms across the world. And on this couch, surrounded by other American study abroad students at this University located in the middle of a field that looks like every other Danish field, I cried. Like most folks back home, I watched the countdown to the West Coast polls closing with anxiousness. Next, I expected a projection for California, but instead was told by CNN that Barack Obama was the President-elect.
We all looked at each other with stunned expressions for a solid ten seconds before it sunk in. Simultaneously we all stood up and cried and hugged, for in that defining moment we reclaimed our national pride and faith in our system. We cried out of relief that the president who was never ours will soon to be gone and that a new era of leadership, one characterized by patience and intelligence and integrity, would be ushered in. We cried because we, as a country, finally progressed to a point in history where an African-American could be elected by such overwhelming numbers. And some of us cried because we just wanted to be at home, celebrating with all our friends and family.
All in all, our experience was like yours: lots of anxiety and nervousness followed by exaltation and happy tears. It was nothing spectacular or unique, but those tears that rolled down my face as I watched MY next President speak in such an eloquent and powerful way made those 8000 miles of distance between me and my loved ones feel a lot smaller than they have ever before.
How to have the best day ever
Step 1: Have a long phone call with a loved one.
Step 2: Take a sunny, snowy photowalk.
Step 3: Pick up a care package from home (thanks Ludie and family!).
Step 4: Ooh and Ahh over contents of care package. Particularly swoon if the contents are hot, spicy, and/or green chile.
Step 5: Cook with contents of care package.
Step 6: Stuff your face with tastes from home.
Step 7: Rub your belly in comfort and relax by watching episodes of Arrested Development.
There you have it folks. Don’t you wish everything in life were so simple?