tabouleh

I love Indian food, but Middle Eastern food runs a very close second. I'm currently having a passionate love affair with fresh mint, so of course, I've got to have tabouleh!

Some people make tabouleh with couscous, but I prefer fine ground bulgar. Some versions use fresh coriander or fresh parsley. I'm not a fan of either, so I just use plenty of fresh mint.

2 cups bulgur

2 cups boiling water
3 green onions, sliced
1 bunch fresh mint, finely chopped
1/2 cucumber, chopped
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
4-6 T lemon juice
1 T tamari
salt
pepper

Mix together the bulgur and the boiling water in a large bowl, and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. If you're not using fine grind bulgur, you may need to adjust the water/grain ratio and sitting time.

Add the green onions, cucumber, tomato, and mint. Mix to combine and fluff the grains, then add the rest of the ingredients, one at a time, stirring after each addition. Chill it, then fluff it before serving.

I cannot get enough of this and I love that if I had a garden, I could, in the height of summer make this from mostly things out of my garden. It doesn't get any better than that!

With this post, I'm off to fulfill another dream... the "Love Boat" sails tomorrow and I've got to get packing. I'll see you next weekend with photos of the Norwegian Fjords!

I wish my American readers a lovely Memorial Day weekend :)

the one year mark

Last Friday, it was one year ago that Opie and I boarded a plane out of Boston on a one-way ticket to Denmark.

Living and working in Europe is the experience of a lifetime. This past year has been exciting, amazing, scary, fun, overwhelming, frustrating, and so many other things.

On the subject of work...
Even though I worked for the same company back in the US, the corporate culture here is pretty different. The work week is 37.5 hours and I'm not expected to work more, though if I do, I'm allowed comp time later on. I get 6 weeks of vacation and I'm expected to use it. If I'm still at the office at 3 PM on Friday, people start asking why I'm still there and encourage me to start my weekend soon.

I share a work area with my boss and we bounce ideas off each other throughout the day. The organizational structure is a lot less hierarchical than I'm used to, everyone gets a say on what seems to be pretty much everything, and the environment is very casual. Quite often, issues are resolved on the fly in impromptu meetings over rugbrød, cookies, and cappuccino.

English is the "company language," but I'm working in Denmark with mostly Danes, so unless someone is speaking to me or another foreigner, the chatter around me is all in Danish. In larger meetings they usually ask, "should we do this in Danish or English," though sometimes it inadvertently switches back to Danish. This happened last week and when the meeting organizer apologized, I said, "that's ok, you're talking about whether or not to break for lunch. I'm starving, so what's the verdict?" Everyone had a good laugh and it felt good to actually be able to catch the gist of the conversation.

On everyday life...
I assume there comes a point where a new country feels like "home" for some people. Though I think for others, that point never comes. Or maybe it comes more easily with a partner.

I love living here, but aside from times that I'm on a trip somewhere, not a day goes by without a little pang of homesickness.

Somedays, it's just a craving for something silly like Lucky Charms or Tater Tots, things I never really ate back in the US, but that seem super delicious now that I can't have them. Or wishing I could have a conversation with a native English speaker who grew up with the same pop-culture and similar experiences to mine. Or trekking to the bus stop in wind and sideways rain, remembering my sweet little silver Roadster with its heated seats. Or wishing I could go out and understand all of what's going on around me. Or missing the stability of a house, a husband, and an established path.

It seems impossible to buy clothes and shoes here. I'm a solid 7.5 in shoes, but most places don't sell half sizes, so the shoes are usually too tight or falling off. The clothing styles are a lot different from what I'm used to, and they're mostly designed with a different, much taller body type in mind.

But there are tons of things I love. Like bike lanes, the beautiful countryside, and how Coke comes in little glass bottles, and how there's no corn syrup in anything, and the ketchup is so sweet and delicious. Warm days in the park and in my garden and how I live close enough to the beach to bike there! And how Rome is only 2 hours away by plane and how all of Europe is at my doorstep. How everything seems slower and simpler, and a little more elegant than back home.

On the future...
In another year, I'll need to start planning. If I want to stay in Denmark, I'll need to renew my work contract and reapply for a visa. If I decide to leave, I'll have to put my flat on the market and hope for a buyer with flexible timeframe. Then there's the whole daunting task of rebuilding a life somewhere else. I'd love to spend more time in Europe, possibly the UK, but I just don't know if I'm up for another solo international adventure of this magnitude. Maybe this is my "gap year..."

making a home

I've never been a "that will do" sort of person, I need to love everything in and about my home.

Moving continents was a feat in and of itself. Trying to make a home in a place where I don't know the shops, don't have a car, and most places close early on weekdays, open for a few hours on Saturdays, and are closed on Sundays has proven to be an even bigger feat.

Last week, karma smiled at me and I was able to borrow a car. My evenings were a blur of trying to choose curtain rods, curtains, rugs, lamps, picture frames, plants, table linens, bed linens, a chandelier, return the stuff that didn't quite work, and track down stuff that does. By Friday, I was exhausted.

As I was sleepwalking through Ikea (How Scandinavian!) with photos of my rooms and a detailed list of their deficiencies, my friend said to me, "relax, you will have a beautiful home but it takes time and effort." Once upon a time, I'd known that, but somehow it had gotten lost in the suburban race for conformity and perfection, and it was spilling over into now.

I was 26 when I bought my first house. It was a beautiful house, more than most 26 year olds could dream of, but it wasn't the house I wanted. In the beginning, I had pretty much the same philosophy as I do now... "love it, or wait for it."

But being 26, I was easily bullied into doing and accepting things that didn't make me happy. Slowly my house filled up with things I didn't love. A sofa we bought in a hurry because we were hosting Thanksgiving, a couple of chairs because the living room was still "too empty", a lamp here, some kitchen stuff there, and it never did feel like home to me. I love the beauty and aura of imperfect things and all the Pottery Barn stuff in the world wasn't going to nurture that.

Now, I do have the house I wanted and I'm free to make it my own, in my time, free of judgment, disapproval, and snide comments. It's not happening as quickly as I'd like, but as I look around, there's nothing here that will just "do". I buy what I love and slowly it's coming together in a way that's so pretty that I find myself just standing back and looking. It doesn't take a lot of money to make a beautiful home. Like my friend says, it takes time and effort. Money helps, but you will see in upcoming posts that it doesn't have to cost a fortune.

There are still a lot of loose ends, but I can show you my bathroom. I love this room. Seems kind of silly to say that about a bathroom, but I do love it! The only thing it's missing is a clawfoot bathtub, but bathtubs in general are not in vogue here :(

I begin and end my days at my dressing table. The chair was part of a vintage bedroom set I picked up at auction for $70. I found the Buddha at the Chiang Mai night market for less than $5 and I love that he's one of the first things and last things I see everyday. The sink is set atop an antique cabinet and it was one of the things that made me certain that I had to have this place. And there's tons of storage! The floor is heated, in the shower, too and it's one of Opie's favorite sleeping spots.

A few months ago, I had the opportunity to be on House Hunters International, but I decided to pass on my 15 minutes of fame. In 2002, I was featured as a success story on a fitness infomercial and I'll never forget the loss of privacy I felt everytime I saw myself on TV. When the House Hunters opportunity came up, I seriously considered it, but in the end, it didn't feel right to open up my home like that. But I do plan to share more of my space here, on my terms, soon.