I have been both busy and lazy lately. I plan to write a post with awesome photos of our new year’s visit with Kostia’s Aunt Tamara, but haven’t felt like it between doing a full-time master’s program, working what amounts to a 30% post at the university doing administrative stuff, teaching my Business English students, substituting at the high school, taking high school Swedish for Foreigners, and doing the odd editing and translation jobs. I still seem to have plenty of time to waste on Facebook, but not so much energy for blogging.

Below are some pictures from our little overnight in Stockholm last weekend, and from Frosty Frosty Falun. Regarding Stockholm, we thought it would be romantic to stay in Gamla Stan, the old city, but we heartily do not recommend the Best Hostel Gamla Stan, which managed to lose our reservation, forcing us to stay in their windowless “last resort” room (it wouldn’t have been easy to find last-minute accommodation in Stockholm otherwise), and which seemed to cater to the drunken youth crowd (which not all hostels do, believe it or not).

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The Young Left protest the privitization of public services

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Soup of the day with sandwich, and a helpful translation into Russian with, what else, a bear.

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Window at Akademibokhandeln’s big store in downtown Stockholm

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The Odyssey, “retold by Erik Eriksson”. This is a “light Swedish” edition aimed at those for whom Swedish is a second language. If Swedish wasn’t your first language, why the hell would you want to read The Odyssey in Swedish rather than your native language? If you’re looking to practice your Swedish, are there not enough books written by Swedes?

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Falun was very frosty yesterday

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The “blue hour”, as they call it – this is Borlänge, not Falun

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A desktop wallpaper for ya.