onsdag 2 januari 2008

Happy New Year 2008

To all our friends around the world.


Happy Birthday to Laura, 15 years Jan. 3 ! Go Girl, Go!


//Sandelowsky family

måndag 31 december 2007

Happy Birthday, Tanja!

Tanja is 18. Happy birthday, and have a safe trip from now on. Looking excellent so far!

fredag 21 december 2007


God Jul och Gott Nytt År

Hyvää Joulua ja Onnellista Uutta Vuotta

Fröhliche Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr

Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année

Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo

Vesowe Boze Narodzenie Wesolych Swiat i Szczesliwego Nowego Roku


Merry Christmas and Happy New Year


måndag 10 december 2007

Susanna


Having your best friend fly 7000 km to see you makes you humble and touches you to tears. Well, she came, and I'm beyond words. We had a great time both at home and in Chicago. Look at http://picasaweb.google.com/Sandelowskyalbum/Chicago45122007


//Hanna

torsdag 29 november 2007

Thanksgiving - late report


Forgot to write a few lines about Thanksgiving Day which was a week ago, Thursday Nov. 22. For those who don't know, it's an American holiday celebrated in honor of the early European pilgrims, their first time in the New World, and their contact with the native Americans from whom they learned a few very useful hints about surviving in the new surroundings. People get together with their families to have a traditional dinner. Simply a nice, peaceful time with your folks - hopefully, at least.



Living in an apartment complex, our neighborhood was extremely quiet and empty. It was just us foreigners and a couple of other families here. We decided to get together with our Brazilian and German friends, and made the whole kit with turkey, mashed potatoes and apple pie. Plus some South American flavors as well as an European touch. Not to forget a respectable amount of wine and beer and groovy Brazilian music, of course. It was also Elisa's 1st birthday! Happy first one, Cutie!!


Oh yes, early in the morning I took part in the 98th Annual Thanksgiving Day Race in downtown Cinci. More than 12.000 runners on a 10 km, beautiful path over the bridges of Ohio River. Fun but cold. I finished 8th in my category.



//Hanna

tisdag 27 november 2007

Don't Walk!

It ain't easy being a pedestrian. Today, at noon, Maja and I went for a walk in the neighborhood. Crossing the street is a close-to-death experience, and some streets you just don't cross. Now, in the medium sized intersection close to our house there are traffic lights for both wheels and legs, which is a very good thing, although not very common. The very bad thing is that these lights are coordinated after the intensity of the car traffic; that is, if the traffic is heavy the pedestrians get to wait. And wait . And wait. I've done it a couple of times. (Dad, you know what I mean!) Maja and I did just that for almost 20 minutes today. Freezing our butts off. After some curious looks from the car drivers, one friendly soul even asking if we were ok, having seen Benke with his boss driving by (they were on their lunch), and having turned down his boss' nice offer to give us a ride, I finally gave up. Called Benke to pick me up at the intersection. After 5 minutes he was there - and it still said "Don't Walk" on the pole.

I mean, if you can't walk when the traffic is heavy, why bother having a traffic light at all? When there aren't any cars you will be able to cross the street anyway. Unbelievbly insane, in my pedestrian brain.



//Hanna

torsdag 15 november 2007

Fall Update 2: Hole In One in Cincinnati?

Just heard that it's snow in Sweden and Finland already. Well, check out these pictures, and start to plan a trip to visit us next fall, maybe?!
This is one of the few reasons why I wait for the snow. The golf cart paths open up for pedestrians as they close the golf course. There will be a whole new wonderful park for non-golfers like me!
Nice... "Are you an Annika fan?" I get the question quite often.
Just yesterday it was +20 C and a T-shirt day. Have a great fall over there!

Happy birthday to Marc, 15 years! (It was nice talking to you on the phone:)


//Hanna