Bob: It gets a whole lot more complicated when you have kids.
Charlotte: It’s scary.
Bob: The most terrifying day of your life is the day the first one is born.
Charlotte: Nobody ever tells you that.
Bob: Your life, as you know it… is gone. Never to return. But they learn how to walk, and they learn how to talk… and you want to be with them. And they turn out to be the most delightful people you will ever meet in your life.
Charlotte: That’s nice.

(From “Lost In Translation“)

The last time we were in Sweden, Dr. O’C’s sister looked after Baby Z for a night so we could get a much needed night out together. It was such a relief – a few baby free hours – that we thought we would try to replicate that experience this time around. We planned to go see the Oscar winning “Once” at one of the city center cinemas.

Well, I’m slightly chagrined to say that my normally flawless sense of direction failed me and we got slightly turned around in the streets of Göteborg. So much so that we couldn’t quite find the cinema. Dr. O’C suggested asking directions, obviously not realizing how laughable a concept this is to any man worth his salt. Our luck seemed to change for the better, however, as we found a second cinema that was showing “Flyga Drake” – the Swedish title for “The Kite Runner“. Both Dr. O’C and I had really enjoyed the Khaled Hosseini book and probably would have gone to see the film earlier if not for, well, you know. We rushed to buy the tickets and almost as an afterthought I asked the clerk:

“It is in English?”

To which she replied:

“Yes, yes, English.”

Dr. O’C astutely pointed out that all of the films for adults in Sweden are in English with Swedish subtitles. Except, apparently, for those that are in Dari Persian, with Swedish subtitles.

I wonder what our fellow cinema goers thought as we slunk out of the theater ten minutes into the film.

Image: I’ve no idea what this statue in the center of Göteborg represents nor what that man is doing with that knife, as I don’t read Swedish. But I love the vandalism/artistic statement.

Popularity: 11% [?]