Baking Kanelbullar, listening to Veronica Maggio and building IKEA furniture

Does it get any more Swedish than that? And then later on we'll be running in the dark, cold, frozen Swedish woods and then enjoying a warm sauna. Although, it's true that running around in the woods at night with a headlamp is as foreign to some Swedes as it is to most Americans. One of the girls I tutor once said to me, "You say orienteering is popular here, but you are the only person I know who's crazy enough to run around in the woods at night!"

The days here have been clear and sunny this week, which is beautiful, but it also means it's colder than it has been. Will be about -6°C when we head out tonight to run this.

I have been taking Swedish classes on Monday and Wednesday evenings, and I feel that I have learned a lot about verb conjugation. I still can't remember what form of the verb to use when I'm speaking, but I'm getting there! I haven't been speaking Swedish enough, so I must force myself to practice more. Maybe I'll write my next post in Swedish. That will guarantee that it will be short.

Two weekends ago we went away on a 10mila training and club bonding camp :) It was great to run on some new terrain and to start thinking about one of the biggest relays of the year. We enjoyed good weather, food and company.

Boris and Ross at the 10mila training camp

To be honest, the reason I haven't written in awhile is because I don't know what to write about! In the beginning, everything was strange and different, but now it feels more like home. It's an awesome home, but I'm running out of silly things that Swedes do. This weekend we're heading up to Orsa for the Linné ski weekend! We have had snow cover here for a long time, but not enough to really ski on (although everyone has tried to). I'm exciting to spend a weekend with fun people, relaxing and skiing!

Frying dinner while still in training clothing leads to painful splatters.

 Maybe I need an apron.