1920s Party, Dutch Food Night

Thursday
Went out to Stockholms Nation. Despite trying to leave early to beat the line and paying the entrance fee Nick and I had to wait for about 40 minutes before getting in. It was a good night and many of our different groups of friends were there. It was a busy night overall as many students had just finished taking exams and were set to receive their monthly stipend from the Swedish government the next day. (That’s right they get PAID to go to school here!)

Friday
I did some work on my group paper for Sustainable Design during the day before suiting up for the evening. At the Systembolaget (state owned liquor store) I went all American with my 4 beer choices. I got a Sam Adams, a Brooklyn Brewer beer, and even cooler a brew from of all places Durango, Colorado! It was an IPA called Modus Hoperandi from Ska Brewing, which is a Durango local favorite that I had been treated to on one of my trips to Durango to see Logan, Reece, and Cody. All of these beers were delicious and I really look forward to having so many choices of great craft beer for cheap (compared to Sweden) back home again.

Ska Brewing, Durango, CO

I purchased these American beers because they seemed to fit the theme of the party I went to that night, The Roaring Twenties. As I said I suited up in my pinstripe jacket and donned a black fedora I got at H&M for the occasion. We had our American beer and oh yeah we also had bought Cuban cigars (not illegal in Sweden! Stupid outdated trade embargo) to put a finishing touch on our classy 1920s attire.

Nick and I left for the party in Kantorsgarten, another student housing area, but one we’d never been to. Kantors is about 3 km from Rackarberget so we set off in our suits and fedoras looking like guys from the mob, or FBI agents in the early to mid 20th century. After getting to the general vicinity of where we thought Kantors was we got lost and were pointed in the wrong direction once, ignored by another group when we asked for help before finally a helpful Swede finally directed us in the right direction. At the party people were very well dressed for the theme with guys in suits and girls dressed as flappers. We enjoyed our cigars in the cold of the balcony and came home smelling strongly of the fine tobacco. It wasn’t a big party and ended rather early, but it was a good time.

Saturday
Slept in and took it easy. In the evening Franzi came over and Nick and I walked over to Flogsta with her to go to Dutch food night. As I’ve mentioned before a group of about 10 of my international student friends are taking turns hosting dinners themed for their home country and tonight was Dutch night put on primarily by Anneloes and Laurie with a little help from fellow Dutchmen Ezra, Marten, and a girl who arrived mid-semester, Sara. Nick and I represented the US, while Franzi was the only German there as Julian couldn’t make it, and Guilia from Italy rounded out the group. We enjoyed a potato, apple mash with seasoning and ground beef with bread and cream cheese for the meal and then had a delicious chocolate-biscuit cake for dessert. It was a nice evening of eating and socializing and we are all looking forward to the next meal, German food night put on by Franzi and Julian later this month.

Sunday
I worked a lot on finalizing my group’s paper for Sustainable Design. It was kind of tough getting the paper to flow because 9 people had helped write it and only 4 of the group members are native English speakers. I finished the paper and submitted it by email that night content that it was a good piece of work and that I had contributed to the group work as I will miss our 10 minute group presentation on Wednesday as I head to Croatia.

Monday
It was a very nice day and the snow is really receding fast now. I had a group meeting for our Sustainable Design class before having a seminar for Actors & Strategies where we were to look into specific examples of corporate social responsibility. I found that many of the Swedish companies are leaders in the field of CSR and that the small ICA grocery stores I frequent have a reputation of being one of the most transparent and progressive companies in promoting sustainability and CSR so I can shop there knowing I’m supporting a decent company. We also worked in groups to propose ways consumers and companies can work to improve sustainability and social responsibility.

Tuesday
I somehow managed to sleep through my alarm and slept passed 1PM when my climate change leadership class starts. I have had good attendance in the class though and needed to do some other things before heading to Croatia. I printed off my tickets for the flights to and from Zadar, Croatia and paid my rent for April. At night I stayed up way too late again and heard the first half of the CU Buffs NIT semi-final game that they lost by one point to Alabama. Good season though! Hopefully Alec Burks stays in school for another run next year in the new Pac-12!