swedes...and norwegians!

I just spent the last week and a half or so in Stockholm as a guest researcher in the Department of Linguistics at Stockholm University. Sigh. It was so lovely. I didn't want to come home. Seriously.

Swedes + Springtime + Signed Language Linguistics + Beer = Good Times. 

Stockholm, Sweden.
*Disclaimer: This photo is actually from 2005. But I promise the view is the same. Well, maybe that speedboat wasn't there this time around.

I even managed to meet up with a friend from high school. Yes, high school. She plus two other foreigners are probably the only three people I still know from high school. Take that as you will.


In other, also Scandinavian news, I have accepted a position as an associate professor at Høgskolen i Sør-Trøndelag (HiST) in Trondheim. That's right people. Lindsay (and Vincent!) are moving to the middle of NORWAY!

Oh, so, pretty.

More photos here.

Another international adventure. Norwegian! Norwegian Sign Language! And apparently salmon, although I'm not as excited about that.

Full steam ahead.

food.

Lately it seems the only fun stuff I have to talk about is food. I mean I did just spend a few weeks in good-ol-Georgia (where I visited family and bought lots of stuff ...and ate heaps of Mexican food) and then went to Nijmegen to see my super-clever friend defend her super-awesome PhD (Go Nina!). But back at home in Massy, my life always takes a turn for the not-so-interesting. Except for food.

I've been trying out heaps of new recipes, because, well, I have time. And then, last night I decided to try to make some spinach ravioli from scratch. Now, mind you, I've tried to make ravioli before. Let's just say, it didn't end well. And everyone involved was a bit traumatised from the experience. But, while I was in Georgia, I got a fancy ravioli stamper thingy-ma-bob (thanks mom!) that looked like it could be the solution to all my problems, well, the ravioli-related ones at least. And I must say, it worked like a charm!

Yummy spinach+béchamel sauce filling!

All wrapped up in a nicely cut-out pasta!

Served with a cherry tomato sauce, that was just a little bit spicy, and some more béchamel sauce. 

They were--if I may say so myself--delicieux! I think Vincent liked them too, because he ate them all in about five minutes. I had to stop him when he wanted to move on the linguini I had made from the leftover pasta dough. Yay ravioli!

Now, it's back to it.  I have many not-so-fun immigration-related tasks that need my attention, along with a few linguistic-y papers (which are way more fun than the immigration stuff).

I also still have a few weeks before I know whether or not I'll be moving to Norway.  Fingers crossed people; I need all the good mojo I can get!

valentine's day.

Today is Thursday. And I didn't realize it was Valentine's Day until like yesterday. The whole Vincent-asked-me-if-he-could-go-to-a-handball-game makes more sense in this context. Yes, that's right. He forfeited a valentine-filled night with me for a handball game with his brother and father. French people.

Anyhoo.

I had a pretty big cauliflower in my fridge. And I wanted to make it into something delicious and awesome.

So, I had a quick meeting with my cook's companion (thank you oh so dear friend) and decided to give some middle eastern cauliflower fritters a go. I mean how can cauliflower + fritter + middle eastern be bad, am I right?

And yes, that's a beer. Not a Leffe, but something as equally satisfying. Stop judging. 

I got to use my mortar pestle; I got to shred some vegetables. I got to use chili powder. Where has this recipe been all my life?!

I made these bad boys and accompanied them with a bit of mâche and a lovely yogurt sauce. And some more beer. 

Like I said. Happy Valentine's Day.

weather madness

The other day Vincent and I (and lots of other people!) were in Sydney, Australia. And an interesting climactic event happened. It was the hottest day on record, ever (in the city at least). Temperatures hit 46 degrees Celsius (about 115 degrees Fahrenheit). Luckily, we were on vacation so we could go enjoy the heat in style...by drinking heaps of beer while catching up with friends. (Don't worry--there is so much water in Australian beer, there was no way for us to become dehydrated.)

Vincent noticed that in Massy that day it was like -5 degrees Celsius (23 degrees Fahrenheit) and was getting dumped on by snow.

That's a 51 degree difference (or 91 degrees in Fahrenheit--which, let's be honest, sounds much more impressive).

Let's just say I was happy we were in Sydney.

Now, however, we're not--and Massy is cold and dark and ... cold. But that's nothing, because next week I'm going to Trondheim, Norway where it'll probably even colder...and even darker!

adieu.

2012 is over my friends. Thank Earth's rotational orbit around the sun!

Seriously. Thank it.

And tomorrow, Vincent and I will be starting the New Year in style. We've got two weddings in two weeks on two different continents. Wahoo. Bring it. Friends. The sun. The beach. The oh-so-cheap-good-food. The birds. The snorkeling. The elephants. The booze. I am extremely looking forward to a change of scenery. Did I mention there's sun where we're going? And like, summer? Numnumnumnumnum.

See you later Internet. I'm not taking you with me this time. I'm also not taking my phone, so don't try to call me either. I'll be back when I'm back.