September 12, 2004
Another Week
Sunday night and I am worn out. I spent all of yesterday engrossed in my new book, and didn't finish it until 2 a.m.—definitely the latest I've stayed up since I've been here (by a couple hours). I highly recommend it to everyone—it has love, adventure, poetry (much of which I skipped over), illicit sex, literature, etc. Bravo to Ms. Byatt.
So there went Saturday, and thank goodness I made myself finish the coursebook reading before beginning, or I would be in a world of hurt. So today, I slept in until 11 a.m. (that's more like it!), then ran to Willy:s and got ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, in preparation for my group event at 3 p.m. We had decided to make a double batch—one to thank the people at International Reception for all their help, and one for us. It was quite an adventure trying to decipher the right kind of flour (there are unfortunately no pictures of "flour" on the box), the right kind of sugar, and the right kind of brown sugar. Don't even get me started on identifying baking soda. But after a mentally exhausting ½ hour (and the help of a very nice Swedish man trying to buy cereal) I was set. The only problem was that there was a sale on baking flour this week, and all the 2 kg packages were sold out, so I had to buy the 5 kg one (11 pounds, mind you). Combine this with 2 kg of sugar, 1 kg of brown sugar, eggs, 500 g of margarine, a liter of yogurt, a jar of curry, a 2 kg bag of frozen chicken, etc. and I was loaded down with nearly 40 pounds of groceries. I stumbled under the weight of my stuffed backpack and two bags to the bus stop, where I gratefully caught the bus the two stops back up the hill to my place.
The cookie-making event went splendidly. We ended up making 4 batches of cookies—or rather "blondies". I realized that I didn't have any cookie sheets, so instead I bought a bunch of disposable baking tins and spread the cookie batter out like brownies. Yum.
For the baking part of the day, Mandy, Siti, and Birte came over. Later in the day, Archie came over for dinner (and last minute cookie-eating), bringing ratatouille to contribute for dinner. We added his side dish to my main dish of chicken curry (I'm now addicted to curry) and salad. And, of course, cookies/brownies for dessert.
After dinner, Mandy and I tried to go to Kristoffer's apartment for a movie night, but we couldn't seem to find his apartment, despite seemingly obvious directions. So we wandered around in the blustery wind for about 15 minutes, then gave up and parted at the bus stop. Now I'm back at home, trying to avoid eye contact with the remaining plate of cookies, which I will bring to class tomorrow.
And now, I'm off to bed, to begin reading "The Natural Step Story: Seeding a Quiet Revolution". I had a horrid fear that it will be another repletion of what I've already heard in lecture and read in the coursebook. But maybe not—I'm trying to keep a positive outlook on things.
Tomorrow, I'm meeting my project group at 10 a.m., then going with a smaller group to present our cookies and flowers to the International Reception people. During the afternoon, I plan on doing massive email responses, since I've fallen a bit behind, and finishing the compilation of our group's "Welcome Guide"—our response to the shoddy information passed out to incoming international students this year. Well, it's what I am told was passed out with the acceptance packet—since I never received my packet, I don't know firsthand…
