What I miss about America

First, I would like to qualify that, although these are things that I miss, I'm not saying that I prefer them or that they are better.  I'm just saying that I miss them.
Although some of them are definitely better.

1. Dollar Stores
Dollar stores are incredible.  You can go shopping for hours and spend less than $50, and you come away with such great stuff!  They don't seem to have dollar stores here, and that makes me sad.  You know, sometimes I just want a cheap piece of crap that will get the job done.  I'm only here for 4 more weeks!  I don't want something quality; I want something that some Asian slave labor cobbled together just well enough to last long enough for me to lose the receipt.  Is that too much to ask?
2. One stop shopping
I love department stores.  You know, stores with different departments.  Walmart is even included in this.  I want to go one place and buy everything that I need without having a clerk give me directions to 3 other stores that may have what I'm looking for.
3. 24-hour shopping
I realize that this is turning into a shopping-themed list, but when I discover at 3:00 in the morning that I want something, I want to know there is SOMEWHERE that I can get it.
4. Cheap
To continue the shopping-themed spree, I can't wait to get back to a place where gas is under $6/gallon, fast food is that magical combination of fast AND cheap, and I don't have to choose between having another drink or eating tomorrow.
5. English
I knew when I moved to Sweden that not everyone would speak fluent English.  In fact, unless you are talking to someone over the age of 30, you can communicate just fine with people in English.  I just miss English being the default.  Usually when I'm not paying attention it's because I'm not interested.  Nowadays, I don't pay attention because it's in a different language.  I hear 3 words of Swedish and I head straight for imagination land.
6. The ability to read
I can cook as long as they have helpful pictures and numbers to tell me "put it in the oven at 200 degrees".  But when I learned to read in 1st grade, it was like a whole new, fantastical world opened up to me.  I could read ingredients on the cereal box.  I could read books, I could read directions, I could read the signs at the store telling me where to stand in line.  Now I can't do any of those things
7. Driving
I miss driving.  I miss traffic jams, I miss finding parking, I miss being able to travel to a place further away from me than the distance I can walk.
8. Commercials
I can still get most of the TV that I watch via torrent.  The problem is that all the commercials have been removed.  I know lots of cool products must have been released in the months I've been gone...but I don't know what they are!
9. $1 Bills
In Sweden, the smallest bill they have is the 20 SEK note, which is about $3.  For 10, 5, 1, and .5, they use coins.  Now, In America, if you lose a coin, it's no big deal...In Sweden you actually have to keep track of them.  Their smallest common coin is the 1 Kronor coin, worth between a dime and a quarter.  When people get a .5 coin (50 öre, half-way between our nickel and dime) they throw them away like we throw away pennies.(at least I do.  Throwing pennies on the groung isn't littering, is it?)
10. Basic American products
Did you know that Baking Soda is an American product?  Sure, you can get it here in Sweden...a small envelope of it for $1. In America, you can get a box the size of a loaf of bread for like $2.  Bicarbonate Soda, is that really so hard to sell?  it absorbs odors, helps in cleaning, can probable remove some stains (sorry, I left my "Martha Stewart Housekeeping Handbook" back home), makes great science class volcanos...but you can't get it in larger than a 30 gram bag.

King Gustav is on Facebook (shhh, don't tell anybody)

King Gustav wants to become computer-savvy.  He jumps on my computer and hops around on it while I am asleep.  He wasn't getting much done, however, so I helped him create a Facebook page.  Here's the problem...I didn't show him how to update it.  Now put yourself in the shoes of a rabbit...a rabbit who wants to update his Facebook page.  You know that Facebook is on the internet, which is something outside the computer.  But how do you get on the internet?  Well, what would you do?

King Gustav's solution was to chew through the ethernet cable.  That's logical, right?  I imagine his thinking was something along the lines of, "Hmmm, I know the internet is around here somewhere.  Maybe it's in here?!"

So that's why I haven't bee able to update my blog in a while.  Don't worry, I'll try to explain the internet concept to the rabbit a little better soon.

By the way, rabbits are in no way allowed to have a facebook page.  I couldn't call him "King Gustav", I had to use his original name "Moomin".  Since nothing is really official until it's on Facebook, I think it's reasonable to believe the converse is also true.  Therefore, King Gustav's new name is now Moomin King Gustav.  So, until somebody tells on us to Facebook and they remove him, feel free to add him as your friend!

Best. Hat. Ever.

I'm going to steal this sign

I caught a hedgehog

Last week, I was standing outside VG with some friends and we saw a hedgehog.  I'm not sure if I've ever seen a hedgehog before, but there it was, scurrying along the ground.  Well, I wasn't about to let this opportunity pass me by, so I whipped a towel out of my backpack (Arthur Dent would've been proud) and scooped him up.  Here are pictures:

I've never caught a wild animal in the US, except for turtles and toads.  I've certainly tried to catch small creatures like squirrels, rabbits, ducks, etc., but I've never succeeded.  In Sweden I've caught a duck and now a hedgehog.  I assume this is because the Swedish people are more peaceful and the animals therefore are more trusting.  I'm probably destroying centuries of behavioral conditioning and disrupting the fragile balance of the wild animal population.