Joanna Shmoanna

You know you had a successful vacation when...

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 11:40:54 +0200

Poetry was written about it!

—

Though the wonders of Heaven are legion,
Only two of them, mountain and sea—
One by height, one by depth—suit a region
To a fancy unboundedly free;
And in only the Landscape Norwegian
Did God suffer BOTH marvels to be.
Where the Bible says, “Who is like thee, Lord?”
I would add: “—Who created the fjord.”

—Ben P.

At least for the time being, this is the link to see my new apartment. (I bought it!)

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 15:37:14 +0200

At least for the time being, this is the link to see my new apartment. (I bought it!)

Because everyone likes to blog about what she had for lunch

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:55:00 +0200

I have been generally underwhelmed by the variety and freshness of the produce in Stockholm. No Bartlett pears, only Bosc?!—Ok, ok, you know you’re a yuppie when… Anyhow, I’m not going to defend my love for and bizare preferences on produce. My basic understanding of produce in Stockholm is that Sweden is not a particularly good climate for growing vegetables and therefore Swedish cuisine doesn’t use a lot of vegetables, therefore Swedes don’t use a lot of vegetables. I hear that you can get better produce in the suburbs where the imigrant populations are larger, but I’ve never done that. If you want something badly enough and it’s in season, they will have it in the basement of Hötorget, but you might end up paying an arm and a leg. That I’ve done a few times. Here are some other observations about Stockholm’s produce.

The good news:

The berries are amazing— strawberries are reveared and currants are very popular.
Rhubarb is available all summer long.
The chantarelles are everywhere this time of year, and they are very, very tasty.
Kolrabi is common (I haven’t figured out quite what to do with this vegetable yet, suggestions?)

The bad news:

I don’t know why, but sometimes it’s absurdly hard to find scallions among the piles of chives, leaks and onions.
Sweet potatoes are 5x the price of white potatoes.
Although they can be grown in the Swedish climate, winter squashes are rare. Pumpkins are around. I’ve seen butternut squash a few times. I don’t think I’ve seen acorn or spaghetti squash, ever.
Dark leafy greens (kale, collard greens, bok choi, etc) are extremely rare.
Fresh corn on the cob in Sweden— if you don’t have anything nice to say…

Swedish naming
According to the Swedish naming convention most vegetables are either an onion or cabbage. Some examples:

Onions
white onion— garlic
grass onion- chives
spring onion- spring onion/scallion
purjo (?) onion- leek

Cabbages
flower cabbage- cauliflower
green cabbage- broccoli
rabi (?) cabbage- kholrabi

cabbage root— turnip

rose cabbage- brussel sprouts

The scientists I met there were lovely. And nothing says...

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:16:43 +0200

The scientists I met there were lovely. And nothing says “Nobel” like a champagne cruise at 9am.

At the Lindau meeting of Nobel Laureates, the scientific...

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:13:00 +0200

At the Lindau meeting of Nobel Laureates, the scientific presentations were a bit of a grab bag. Actual contact with the Nobel Laureates was minimal. But I did ride a swan.

Saw a lot of Moomin on the boat cruise to Finland. Unlike every...

Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:05:21 +0200

Saw a lot of Moomin on the boat cruise to Finland. Unlike every story I’ve ever heard about a Finnish boat cruise, the one Naomi and I went on was very kid friendly.

Because in Stockholm a slam isn’t quite violent enough.

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:15:10 +0200

Because in Stockholm a slam isn’t quite violent enough.

Zurich has square dancing downtown— perfect for an expat...

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:14:34 +0200

Zurich has square dancing downtown— perfect for an expat who wants to celebrate fourth of July weekend.

paradise illustrated

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:23:14 +0200

paradise illustrated

Corsica is wonderful

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:21:06 +0200

Sara: How is it over there?
me: It's paradise
Sara: Protein paradise
me: Well yes, though i think the lipid people here might take issue with that
Sara: Fat fantasy?

My top 10 things to know when trying to navigate Tokyo.

Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:34:00 +0200

On the street
1. Almost no streets have names in Tokyo. When trying to find your destination, the address is a code of three numbers, X-Y-Z.
X is the ward number
Y is the square block (all 360 around it)
Z is the house number

2. There are lots of informational maps on the streets to help you navigate. The maps are oriented such that up is the direction in front of you as you look at map, NOT necessary north.

Subway
3. When buying a single subway ticket you must find how much it will cost to go from your current location to your destination location. There are charts and machines to help you with this. If you estimate too low there are fare adjusting machines that can add money to your ticket. If you estimate too high, you lose the money. There are 3 different types of subway lines. If you transfer between types of subway lines you will need a new ticket. You can get a whole day pass, which is good for 2 of the types of subways, but not the JR lines. In my opinion the easiest way to go is to get a “passmo” card . You put money on the card and then the proper amount of money is removed when you exit at your destination. Unfortunately, you need to pay a 500 jpy to get the card, and I’m not sure if you can ever get that back.

4. The subway has many exits some of which are very far from others. The exits are numbered. The cars of the subway are also numbered. There are charts in the subway that tell you which subway car you want to be on for each transfer or exit you might want at every other station on that subway line.

5. On escalators, stand on the left, walk on the right.

6. You can use the subway machines to condense some of your change. Add your change as if you are going to buy something, then ask for your change back. It gives it back to you in the highest denominations possible.

Shopping
7. The Japanese love saying Hai (yes). When navigating a dietary preference you might want to use a negative control. For example, if you are a vegetarian and you find that the sales help answers, yes, everytime you ask if something is vegetarian, try asking if something you know contains meat is vegetarian.

8. When shopping for clothes you are expected to take your shoes off in the dressing room. Sometimes you are also expected to wear a face shield (provided) when trying on clothing that goes over your head.

9. Most ATMs do not take foreign credit cards. The two places that reliably do are Citibanks and post offices.

10. You are not expected to tip.

"Tonight I went to an onsen (Japanese hot spring bath). Can an onsen function as a mikvah? As far..."

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 17:20:00 +0200

“Tonight I went to an onsen (Japanese hot spring bath). Can an onsen function as a mikvah? As far as I can tell the difference between an onsen and a sento is that an onsen is mayim chayim.”

Tokyo fish market, 6am, Friday, June 5, 2009.

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 16:56:00 +0200

Tokyo fish market, 6am, Friday, June 5, 2009.

Tokyo: After the final conference dinner, some hip scientists...

Sat, 06 Jun 2009 16:49:00 +0200

Tokyo: After the final conference dinner, some hip scientists headed out to find cheap drinks. We ended up at a cat-themed bar. Embarassingly, we had all left our cat-ears at home. The bar was gracious enough to lend us their spares.

Pod hotel, schiphol

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 17:19:28 +0200

Pod hotel, schiphol

I got new glasses in Jerusalem. I think they are very funky,...

Thu, 28 May 2009 16:10:37 +0200

I got new glasses in Jerusalem. I think they are very funky, though I imagine many of you will disagree. They have lenses that turn to sunglasses outside!

my mom looking out at the western wall and dome of the rock

Thu, 28 May 2009 15:58:32 +0200

my mom looking out at the western wall and dome of the rock

Swedish children learn Yiddish folk songs

Sun, 10 May 2009 22:11:00 +0200

A couple of my friends here have told me that children here learn Yiddish folk songs. Specifically— though perhaps not exclusively— “Oyfn Pripetchik”, “Tumbalalaika”, and “Bei mir bistu shein”. The friends who learned these songs are not all Jewish and did not all grow up in urban metropols like Stockholm. So, though difficult for me to believe, some Swedish, Christian, country-dwelling children are learning Yiddish folk songs. And although “Tumbalalaika” and “Oyfn Pripetchik” are taught with their original lyrics, “Bei mir bistu shein” is taught in Swedish homophone version, “Bär ner mig till sjön”— carry me down to the lake. I found the lyrics

Swedish text:

Bär ner mig till sjön
Bär ner mig till sjön
Jag känner att jag måste i.

Och när du badat mig,
så ska du torka mig,
och när du torkat mig,

så vill jag i igen

Crazy right? No one I’ve spoken to about this (ok, only three friends) knew how it came to pass that these songs got (at least somewhat) incorporated into the Swedish children’s cannon. Do you?

part 1

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:41:00 +0200

part 1

part 2

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:38:00 +0200

part 2