Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/12/23
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Daniel, The assistant that has been helping me for the past few weeks, Par, is from Stockholm. We have been enjoying reading your recent emails and he has been adding Swedish insight to your photos and words. I think your posts make him miss his home. Par told me to wish you " god jul" Thanks for sharing. Leo On Dec 23, 2003, at 9:52 AM, Daniel Ridings wrote: > Swedish children learn to count like that before they learn to count > numerically ... da'n före da'n före da'n före da'n (the day before the > day > before the day before the day ...) > > On the day before the day, the day being Christmas Eve, my wife and I > get > up early and go to the market as soon as it opens: > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2718.jpg > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2719.jpg > > Now mind you AND BE WARNED VEGETARIANS (I'll mark the shots you can > safely > look at), in Sweden Chrismas means we eat. We start on Christmas Eve > and > we make more food than anyone would possibly want and then we eat > leftovers until the 13th day of Christmas. > > People in Scandinavia were poor, extremely poor. It's no slump that > over > 50% of the Swedish and Norwegian population emmigrated to America in > the > 1800's. The major part of the population was just a few steps ahead of > serfdom, if any steps at all. (The Danes, Denmark being a farming > country, > have probably not had it as bad). > > So when the middle of winter came, they were getting pretty thin. > Christmas meant eating that fat that you needed to get you through the > rest of the winter. > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2731.jpg > > Those slabs are pig rinds with the underlying fat still attached. > > An interesting development stemming from the cultural enrichment due to > immigration (the US has had this benefit from the very start, Europe > more > recently) is that pig is no longer the only thing you can find in the > shops. Now we can by lamb all year: > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2743.jpg > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2720.jpg > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2738.jpg > > or kangaroo: > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2739.jpg > > or Irish crab, American lobster (alive or cooked), filé of cod or > salmon > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2730.jpg > > We started with the "head-cheese" (I think that's what it would be > called): > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2723.jpg > > Then there are all kinds of salami: > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2724.jpg > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2735.jpg > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2744.jpg (Polish) > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2750.jpg > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2752.jpg > > even in the form of a little pig: > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2726.jpg > > My favorites are the olives, fruits and nuts (vegan safe): > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2740.jpg > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2733.jpg > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2734.jpg > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2748.jpg > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2745.jpg > (That's my parmesan up there in the middle right) > > But there's also: > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2737.jpg (smoked shoulder) > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2753.jpg > (air-dried wild pig and deer steaks) > > and your basic ribs: > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2756.jpg > > Now by this time, she's was starting to wonder why she even bothered to > bring me along: > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2759.jpg > > But I insisted that it is impossible to take pictures if you have to > carry > all of those bags around: > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2761.jpg > > I figured she needed a break, so we drank some coffee: > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2766.jpg > > In the fish store outside you can order fresh (alive) carp: > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2769.jpg > > And yes, there is even something for vegetarians: > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2774.jpg > > but they might have to come back in May. > > We really torture out kids. Once they stop believing in Santa, we put > the > presents under the tree days in advance: > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2781.jpg > > but they can't open them until the evening of "The day" (da'n). So they > have to go the whole day just looking at them ... and the clock. > > Now you might wonder why on earth we would put the tree under the > stairs. > It's Christmas! and we have to create a pleasant atmosphere for the > whole > family, even the cat. This way he can attack it under controlled > circumstances: > > http://folk.uio.no/danielr/Jul2003/DSC_2795.jpg > > Merry Christmas/Season's greetings to all! > > Daniel Ridings > Lindome Sweden, Oslo Norway > > -- > To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html - -- To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html