Glögger

A wrong call and the next 10 minutes

2016-03-18T20:44:00.001+01:00

"Hej, det är Lisa..." I'm sure that is not the proper way to answer my phone in Swedish, but that is my American-English-translated-into-Swedish greeting and it has become automatic—proper or not. "Umm, hallå. Det är ________ och jag har jobba i Tumba....<<undecipherable Swedish mumbling>>... (long awkward PAUSE)" My mind is racing and all of these thoughts ping through my

By the Baltic—an Insider's Tour of Åkersberga, Sweden

2015-11-12T08:20:00.000+01:00

Upon first glance, Åkersberga (pronounced like "oakers-bear-ya") is a rather unremarkable—some may even say ugly (wasn't me!)—suburb of Stockholm, Sweden. But if you spend some time here, like an onion, Åkersberga reveals its beautiful layers to you over time. We have lived in Åkersberga for 2+ years and continue to discover new hidden treasures. Åkersberga is a 48-minute tram

The robber of daylight

2015-10-29T14:35:00.000+01:00

One eye creaks open, stuck with sleep, and spies a bright star twinkling through my curtainless, naked bedroom window. The night (or is it early morning?) is like heavy velvet. Without my glasses on, the lone star is just a bright blur. What time is it? It can't be time to wake up yet, it is still pitch black outside. I check my phone. It is 6:05 am. It is late October and not even Daylight

Fall Snaps in Sweden

2015-10-23T10:28:00.003+02:00

Our favorite non-Halloween spooky books

2015-10-22T17:10:00.003+02:00

[UPDATED] It is so nice to get into the spooky spirit when the days are getting colder and darker. The gray skies are slightly more ominous and as the trees lose their leaves, a regular forest suddenly turns into a haunted one. There are tons of fun fall books on the shelves but these are just some of our family's favorite books for this season. They are not Halloween-based but are perfect for

Buying a Swedish house - eBay style!

2015-10-15T11:32:00.003+02:00

We did not want to purchase any property in Sweden until we thought we "understood" the market a bit better. I placed understood in quotation marks because I don't think anyone truly understands the Swedish housing market. After speaking with numerous real estate agents, they all shake their heads and say, "I don't know. It's just crazy." I guess that's the easiest way to describe it: it's just

Apologies for the identity crisis

2015-10-13T12:09:00.000+02:00

The name of this blog has changed from, "Life is Good Ferland," to "Life is Good," to "Glögger," to "Knocked Up Abroad," and now back to "Glögger." Thanks for sticking through all of these changes, if you've been following from the beginning in 2011. We originally started this little blog as a means to document our son's milestones without bombarding folks' inboxes and it transitioned into a "

Going Full Swedish in the Sauna

2015-10-13T11:56:00.001+02:00

Most Americans have issues with public nudity. I don't know if it is because we were founded by Puritans who were too tightly laced or if it's because our society loves to judge a person's worth by their body shape. Regardless, the fear of being naked in front of others is evident by this video where female best friends boldly drop their towels to reveal that they have the same body parts.

Physical and emotional closure

2015-08-26T10:37:00.000+02:00

Ten days ago, we sold our house in Atlanta. Maintaining the house for the past 3.5 years was an expensive and logistical headache. Coordinating home repairs and finding renters while living abroad was a constant burden. Fortunately for us, our current tenants enjoyed the house so much that they emailed us an offer to buy it. Unfortunately for us, negotiating all of the closing processes

My son thinks I'm a cold-blooded killer

2015-08-24T12:00:00.000+02:00

We had a minor incident where my son saw me clap-kill a fruit fly in our kitchen and since that clearly murderous moment, he's been eyeing my behaviors around animals very closely. I've been on my best behavior and have only been killing fruit flies after he goes to bed or is at preschool. As far as he's concerned, it was just an isolated incident for which I have already profusely apologized.

Embracing fredagsmys

2015-08-21T12:05:00.001+02:00

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The Sorriest Playground

2015-08-03T11:27:00.002+02:00

One of our favorite things to do with our children is what we've dubbed, The Playground Crawl. We love to explore new cities by going on a little tour of their playgrounds and hopping from place to place with random stops for coffees for the adults and ice cream for everyone. We've happily toured Stockholm and Lyon in this manner and were looking forward to discovering the plentiful

5 Ways Sweden Could Celebrate their National Day - if they cared

2015-06-07T10:45:00.000+02:00

Princess Estelle When it comes to celebrating patriotism, we are somewhat disappointed in the way that Swedes go about celebrating - or ignoring - their own national holiday. June 6th was deemed Sweden's Nationaldag only about 10 years ago, so it's a relatively new holiday. Even still, Swedes approach this day as they would any other normal day. There are no BBQs, no parades, no

Only in Sweden would I...

2015-05-27T12:12:00.007+02:00

Inspired by fellow expat blogger, Life with Baby Kicks, I wanted to write about the things that I would have never ever thought of doing if we still lived back in the States. Swedish society is remarkably different and I think that over time, I've integrated in unexpected ways. Since integration happens gradually, it's only when you pause for a moment - maybe when reheating

I have two driver's licenses now!

2015-05-06T11:01:00.000+02:00

Our American driver's licenses were only valid for a year when we moved to Sweden. Even with a valid license, driving in this country is difficult to do if you don't understand the road signs or have awareness of the right hand rule (yield to cars approaching from your right if you are not on a "main" road as designated by a road sign). And let's face it, none of us worked very hard to

Vad heter du?

2015-03-25T09:53:00.002+01:00

"Vad heter du? Vad heter du?" - I was always asked this question, "What's your name?" by a group of children every time I walked past a Swedish preschool/daycare. I would smile politely at the group of school children pressed against the chain link fence and give them my answer. What they did with that information, I'll never know. In fact, it seemed like something of an icebreaker/greeting

Getting a Swedish Driver's License

2015-03-05T12:59:00.000+01:00

I've heard tales of horror from Americans trying to get their Swedish driver's licenses. The theory test is difficult, the slippery course is fun and the driving test is brutal. Now that I'm actually going through the process myself, I'll share it in all of its gory detail. Before you even begin... Buy the books and begin studying Seriously. This is no joke. Begin studying immediately and

The more things change, the more things stay the same

2015-01-30T14:21:00.002+01:00

It was three years ago that we left the safety and comfort of the familiar and ventured into the unknown, then frozen landscape, that was Sweden. In those three years, this country no longer feels foreign but feels like home. We have explored other countries but return each time to feel at ease in our adopted land. As the newness has worn off over the years, we have slipped comfortably into

You know it's Winter in Sweden When...

2015-01-08T13:18:00.003+01:00

You know it's Winter in Sweden When... There is no discernible difference in darkness between 3pm and midnight You cover every inch of outerwear in reflective tape and invest in reflective vests You will deliberately go out of your way and cross the street just to walk in the sunlight during the day You can count the number of hours of sunlight in November on one hand +1C is the worst

An Amerikansk Thanksgiving in Sweden

2015-01-08T13:11:00.000+01:00

We hosted our second American Thanksgiving in Sweden this year and it was met with great success. At first we figured we would limit the guest count to prevent excess chaos and maximize conversation but then we realized that Thanksgiving is meant to be chaotic, noisy and full of friends and family. We ended up with exactly what we aimed for. In total, we had 14 guests and all of the children

How an extended parental leave changed our lives

2014-11-12T11:19:00.002+01:00

When Jon started his parental leave for 6 months we really had no idea what type of journey this would take us on as parents and as a couple. Would we hate sharing the same living space? Would we judge one another as parents? Would the house be a complete mess all of the time? Long story short, men taking parental leave for an extended period of time changes everything. We've each walked a

La vie en rose - a weekend in Paris

2014-08-21T14:43:00.000+02:00

After our amazing trip to Lyon for a few days, we headed to the city of lights, Paris, for a few days before heading back home. Being in full-on "travel mode," we were traveling pretty lightly and were fairly oblivious to the people around us. Paris in early August was fairly devoid of Parisians and we had the place to ourselves and a few other European tourists. We had Jon's cousin, Melissa,

Efficient packing tips for family travel

2014-08-20T18:00:00.001+02:00

We have been traveling a lot recently and some people noticed that we travel light and asked us to share our tips. If you are a seasoned traveler, then these aren't really tips for you but rather no-brainers. However if you are undertaking your first trip with little children, some of these might help you reduce your stress a bit. We generally never pack clothing for more than 5 days and

Roman ruins, water fountains and incredible food - Lyon, France is perfect

2014-08-10T15:55:00.002+02:00

Ahh, Lyon. Only Lyon. I sigh every time I think back to our time in Lyon, France and can't help but smile as I reminisce about Calvin exploring the Roman ruins with boundless enthusiasm and squealing with delight as he splashed in the fountains with the other children - all running around in their underwear. We were fortunate to have the most perfect weather imaginable - around 29C, sunny

Fjording in Bergen, Norway

2014-08-09T21:06:00.001+02:00

Bergen, Norway is known for being extremely beautiful, extremely rainy and extremely expensive. Somehow, we didn't let reasons 2 and 3 scare us off from experiencing Bergen's natural beauty and we booked a quick (4 day) trip with the plan to picnic our way through Bergen to save some pennies. Bergen is right on the water and for the weekend we were there, its harbor held beautiful tall