  It’s been intermittently warm here since mid-March but I haven't yet been able to retire my winter coat. Today it felt like spring finally won the battle—the cold won’t come back in any real sense for another five months. Erik and I had plenty of work ahead of us when we woke up but it seemed almost inhuman to stay inside. After a fairly productive morning, we left the apartment to join Fredrik and Sara-Lisa on the beach. One of Malmö’s best qualities is that the coast is actually part of the city. When you are at the beach, there’s no sense of having left Malmö. Our apartment is only a bike/bus ride away. The beach was crowded and lacked the usual whipping Malmö wind. Erik and I had on jeans and long-sleeved shirts but their were plenty of over-eager topless sunbathers (all lying on their stomachs). Yesterday Erik and I popped into our new favorite store, Miracle Priser, to check out the bargains. Aside from the usual crap (ugly candles, cheesy underwear, and placemats), we found a few good buys: a blow-up globe, which we gave to Nils later in the evening, some miniature Swedish flags (used for holiday tables), and best of all, a bocci set, which we brought to the beach today.
Bocci, not being physically strenuous or mentally complicated, seems like one of those games that anyone should be able to win at. And yet, it’s not. Someone who will beat you at basketball or risk will probably also beat you at bocci. For Erik and I, Sara-Lisa and Fredrik are these type of people. It’s not that we can never win games against them; just this Friday I beat Frederick at Mafia (a party game). But winning against them feels like a fluke, like a moment of weakness on their part, not talent on mine.
Besides making Erik and I feel like the weaker couple, bocci was fun. We even futilely challenged the winners to a re-match. After the beach, Erik, Frederick, and Sara-Lisa all went to their respective soccer practices and I came home and finished 1984 . The last few days spent reading it have been a pleasure—it was at both creepier and more engaging than I expected.
Reading, beaching, and bocciing are nice ways to spend a Sunday. I hope this portends a week more enjoyable than last. Friday was not a nice day. After my oral exam in the morning, I went straight to Malmö Högskola to post a schedule of meeting times to discuss the students’ final projects. After two hours of wrestling with Excel and three different computers, I finally managed to print out my schedule. During this two hour annoyance, I encountered other smaller irritations.&nbsp; I tripped and fell flat on my face in front of a few stunned people while trying to write a text message and walk up stairs at the same time. Possibly more embarrassing, I yelled “Berndt!” and ran after some guy who turned out not to be Berndt at all. To top things off, I got a call for Andreas when I got home, which rendered all my struggles pointless. A class outing that had been postponed until May 15th was back on for this Wednesday. This means I am, in fact, not free for meetings on Wednesday and must redo the schedule before the students have a chance to see it.
Aside from the schedule annoyance, Andreas's news was good. Our class is going on a day-trip to Österlen together. I’ve been to Österlen a bunch (most recently with my parents) but it will be fun to see the area with my classmates, whose dreadful company I missed all last week. Ice cream and popcorn on the beach do not a satisfying meal make. Now I must cook dinner. &nbsp; Wallpaper: War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength 
