Surfin’ USA

Swedish crayfish party

Earlier this week our friends Kristina and Ramzi hosted a crayfish party — Kristina is Swedish and wanted everyone to enjoy this Swedish tradition. We had a ton of crayfish and lots of fun, but see for yourself.

Weekend in Chicago

Last weekend Teiko and I flew to Chicago, where her sister Misuzu lives. We flew in on Saturday morning and met with Teiko and Misuzu’s parents and Misuzu’s fiancé Steve and his parents.

Since it was the birthday of Misuzu and Steve’s father, we celebrated with a nice dinner at a fancy French restaurant (where I got to wear a pair of nice new cotton pants that Teiko found at a store around here and hemmed to my inseam). On Sunday Misuzu got baptized and we had a nice brunch afterwards. Later Teiko and I and her family went on an architecture tour (they have some nice buildings where Misuzu lives), followed by a delicious Italian dinner.

Monday morning, after the parents had left town, Teiko and I checked out downtown Chicago. We went to the top of the Sears Tower (the tallest building outside of Asia), took a guided boat tour and walked around downtown Chicago for a bit. It’s quite impressive, with all the skyscrapers.

All in all it was a great short trip, although I had to drag my sprained ankle around town (which I had hurt the Thursday before). Many thanks as well to Misuzu for her hospitality and arranging the get-together!

European pictures

Here are some selected pictures from my vacation in Europe, part of which I got to spend with Teiko. The pics are mostly from our trip to Sweden, but I also include some from my cousin/friend Robert and Tina’s wedding (where I had the honor of being the best man), and some from my parents’s place.

Update: Robert’s homepage has some more pictures from the wedding.