Wednesday, August 27, 2008

i have one nice neighbor

I always have to walk up three stairs to reach my apartment. Now I do not really count it or anything, it goes by routine. That is why I got a little bit confused when I got home on Sunday after dropping off my sister at the airport. When I reached what I thought was my floor and my door I did not recognize it. This because there were two doormats, one by each of the two doors. I was sure it was my door but I do not have a doormat. I even looked down the stairs to be sure I had walked three stairs up.

And I had. So someone had actually put a doormat in front of my door. Kind of strange and surprising. Not a fancy doormat or anything. But still it is a doormat. At least I have one nice neighbor.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

newbie

Work, work.
A quite boring day. Well, learned about Microsoft Access today. The previous guy made this whole database which we did not really understand since neither me nor my boss know Access. But now we got some help so it will probably make my job a little bit easier.

Yeah, my boss is back now from vacation. Which feels good. It was kind of funny at the end of the day. I was supposed to send out these two emails and I sent copies to my boss. Then he made a comment about the emails being short and maybe the recipients would not really understand what I am asking for. Since they do not have the background information as we do.

What I did not, or could not, tell him was that I did not really understand what I was supposed to ask them. Well, the basics. But it was not like I got the whole picture and could explain it well. I am thinking that they will both probably be confused about the email they received. Whatever, if they do not understand my boss will probably take care of it. Or the worst case scenario is that I have to write replies and he explains it once again and I still do not really understand. That is how it has been feeling quite many times since I started.

Whatever. I am new. For how long can I use that as an excuse? At least the good thing is that I learn from every occasion. Hopefully.

Monday, August 25, 2008

miss sis

My sister came and left. Good to have her here. On Friday we just walk around in my hood and checked it out. Which was good since I have not had the time to do it myself. Really a lot of stores around here on the street, all I can ever need.

Unfortunately on Saturday morning we woke up to the rain. But we go dressed for the bad weather and headed out with our newly bought umbrellas. We made it for a couple of hours and after gotten quite wet we gave up and went home to have dinner and watched some movies.

The luck changed and on Sunday and the rain had stopped and we got some sunshine and really warm weather. We saw all the main attractions in the city, Den Lille Havfrue (The Little Mermaid), Nyhavn, of course we stopped by my work, and then we ended it with a tour in Christiania. A very interesting place I must say.

bureaucracy

When I registered living in Denmark I read that I do not have to deregister in Sweden when moving to a Nordic country. But just to be sure I called the tax office in Sweden. They had received the info about me moving to Denmark and I specifically asked if there was something more I needed to do. She asked me to hold and then told me there was no additional things needed to be done.

To my surprise (or maybe not...) I got a letter from the tax office in Sweden last week. Telling me that I have not deregistered and if I could please send them the attached form. Great. That is Swedish bureaucracy for you.

Friday, August 22, 2008

lil' sistha is here

Today at work I was so bored. I did not really have anything to do since both bosses had the day off. Then I was also so uninspired, in my mind I had already left for the weekend. I looked at the clock all the time only to notice 10 minutes had passed since I last looked at the watch.

Then I left a little bit early to meet up with my sister. We had a nice evening. And I got some more stuff from home. Now I got all my scarves, all my jewelry, and all my tea and spices. Lovely.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

my sistah

Soon has another week passed. I have had some things to do at work. Tired of Excel though, been doing all kinds of templates that takes forever. Of course having them done makes the work easier later on. Today I managed to make it to breakfast at work. Well, I got there five minutes before closing so took with me some stuff to my desk. It is quite nice. All kinds of things for breakfast.

Tomorrow is sis coming. Yeay. I guess we are going to be all touristy. It will be nice, since I have not had the time or energy to see the city yet. And she is brining me some more of my stuff from home. Nice. My spices and teas. Lovely.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

at work

I do not have that much to do at work. My boss is on vacation and did not leave me any tasks. I have one task but need the help of the other boss. But he has been quite busy with some report which is due today so no point in asking him. So tomorrow. So now I am just doing nothing. Reading the news and keeping updated with the Olympics, which is not going so good for Sweden so far. Stefan Holm just came in 4th, just like the previous World Championship. Poor guy.

So what else. Not much really. Had a quiet weekend with just relaxing. Which was quite needed after a tiring week at work. Did some shopping, but unfortunately no fun shopping. Just some cleaning stuff and boring stuff for the apartment.

I did not realize it at first, but the apartment was quite dirty. The floors had not even been vacumed since there was things and dirt under the sofa. Nasty. And I do not even want to think about the toilet. It looked like it have not been cleaned in quite some time. Nasty. I have not taken on the kitchen yet. I feel like I need clean all corners and dish everything to make it feel clean. At least I have told her about this so she cannot expect me to leave it clean. I will leave it as I found it.

One and a half hour before I can leave. What should I do now...

Saturday, August 16, 2008

first weekend

One week has passed. It went quite ok at work, still so much to keep track of and learn. On Friday it did not really feel good. My boss told me to do some tasks, and it basically came in through one hear and out the other. I did not really know what to do. Was just a total mess, but it was just before 5 pm so I dragged out the last few minutes and just take weekend. I have to take on the tasks on Monday instead, and my favorite part is that my boss will be on vacation. Or not. It is not like I know what to do. But there is another boss that will probably help me out.

So the weekend came and I let go of the worries. At least until Monday. I went with some coworkers to this wine tasting and had a really good time. Some lambrusco, champagne, and a bunch of red and white wines. I guess it was about 10 bottles for 9 girls so we had enough to drink and tapas to that. A good night but when I got home just after twelve I fell asleep right away. So tired and slept until 11. Working is exhausting.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

tired

I hope I get used to this working life soon. Getting up at 7 am is not a problem. In the evening however, I am always so tired that I fallen asleep twice in the sofa in front of the TV. I guess you get tired of concentrating and at work and stuff. On the other hand it is not much happening at work since I do not really know what to do. When my boss is away at meetings and doing things I do not really have anything to do. But I am getting there. It has only been three days and it takes a little bit longer to get used to the programs and what to do. Tomorrow I plan to open a bank account and get a tax card. I hope that I have time to do both.

Monday, August 11, 2008

first day at work

My first day of work came and went.
It was all good, started out with some general information for new employees. Apparently there are many starting now. Then I got introduced to my group and my own desk. The Center Finance department is quite big but my group, called Statutory Accounts if I remember correctly, consists only of six people. My boss who is Danish, then we have an Indian guy, a Polish girl, two Swedish girls and then me. So half of the group is Swedish, who would have expected that.

They all seem very nice and it is a relaxed feeling with the group. Which is good since I was afraid it might be a little stiff there. But no need to worry. I got introduced to many people that I cannot remember the names of, and then most people are still on vacation. It was quite empty. I also got a tour and they have a fitness center, masseur, dry cleaning and a really nice breakfast and lunch place. Big salad and lunch buffet with all kinds of things, and then fruits and sandwiches if you do not have time for a big lunch.

Then finally I got introduced to what I am supposed to work with. So I will be working with administration costs and keeping track of the numbers and doing reports of weather the reported budget is the same as the actual numbers. Financial Controller. It will of course take some time before I get all into it, since they have not really had a person working with this for a while. But I will be fine. It think I will like it.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

new chapter of my life

As of today, I am living in Copenhagen, Denmark. This is the fifth country that I am living in. What is different this time is that I also will be living her officially. It is time for the chapter of my life in which I start to work. Tomorrow is my first day at work. It will be interesting. Been studying for my whole life and I am so used to the student lifestyle. The flexibility, the freedom, random parties in the middle of the week, late mornings, late evenings etc. On the other hand there are some negative aspects as well with the student life, constantly no money, and even in the evenings you are not free from school. It will be nice now to actually have some money left and to not have to bring work home with you.

moving to copenhagen!

In thirty minutes I am heading to the airport. I have packed my bag and my carry on is not yet ready, but soon. Then I am off. So now I just need to get dressed and get ready. Hurry, hurry.

late graduation party

Yesterday I had a graduation party for friends and family. Unfortunately many of the family could not come but of course I had fun with the ones who came. And my dear roomie from Singapore came. Have not seen here since early spring and we had a lot to catch up. We had a lot, a lot of good food. Mom had taken home food from the hotel where she works so of course it was all great. Yummy. We got really lucky with the weather since it has only been gray and yesterday we got some lovely sunshine. Long time no see. In the evening we jumped into the 'bath barrel' all nice and hot.

Friday, August 8, 2008

08-08-08

So it is the day of Stockholmers :)
'Nollåttorna' is celebrating today.
08 (nollåtta) is the area code to the Stockholm area. So there are all kinds of activities and stuff going on. Some stuff is free, some stuff costs only 8 SEK. If your birthday is today you can get in to the amusment park in Stockholm for free. But even better, if you are born today you will not have to pay for the rides for the rest of your life.


Together with the Stockholmers I guess the Chinese is celebrating. Since the number 8 is seen as a lucky number. Perfect day then to have the first day of the Olympic Games. They planned it well.

accommodation: check

When I came home from Germany it was just to start searching for an apartment in Copenhagen. With only two weeks left of freedom I really needed to find something. And fast. I put up ads at two free websites and emailed a whole bunch of ads. But barely got any replies. Since no luck there I decided to buy access to boligportal.dk which seemed to have many ads of apartments and rooms that people want to sublet. Good thing that I did that. Started to send out a bunch of emails and as soon as new ads popped up I sent them emails.

After only three days I had some apartments and rooms that I could check out. So I decided to go to Copenhagen over the day to check some apartments out, and since people rather rent to people they have actually met. I had four apartments I could check out and a couple of rooms in shared flats. I only checked out the four apartments since I knew I could get one of them. I had two apartments that I decided between. One was quite nice and rather close to where I will work which is a big plus. On the other hand, the other apartment was a lot nicer but a little bit further away. In the end I decided to go for the nicer one which I could also rent for just six months to start with. The best part is that I can move in already on Sunday, so I do not have to stay with my relatives in Malmö in the beginning.

So I am happy. Everything worked out fine in the end. I got an apartment which I really like, and only five days before I start working. I am a firm believer of that everything works out in the end. Like here, it worked out. I do not have to become a homeless bum living in a tent at the lawn in front of the office.

germany

Maybe it is time for an update. I guess I have had kind of a vacation from the blog. I just get like that sometimes. The trip to Germany was just great. First I flew down to Munich and spend one day in the city with A, a friend from Helsinki, who met me at the airport. Then we went on to his hometown and his family's house. Seeing some Bavarian cities, trying Bavarian food, and of course beer. It was really nice. A also had his birthday so we celebrated it and partied with his friends. They were not at all to Bavarian and conservative haha.

Then I took the train to Cologne and met up with a friend I met the first week in Singapore staying at a hostel. She lived outside of Bonn and it was really cool seeing her again. The next day I headed back to Cologne and I really enjoyed the city. The weather became great and it was more than 30 degrees and sunshine. Lovely. I stayed with A, another friends I got to know in Helsinki. I also met three other exchange students from the time in Helsinki so it was quite a reunion. I was lucky so many was in and around one city. I really liked Cologne, a cool and nice city. We went to some nice bars and I loved the cheap beers and cocktails. 3.50 euros for a cocktail is not bad at all when you come from expensive Sweden. Yummy.

Then I continued to Münster to visit my dear old flatmate from Singapore. Had such a great time with her as usual, so much fun seeing her again. Talking all memories and of course a lot of talking about food in true Singapore spirit. She knew the good places and took me to have some great food. Just like Singapore times when we planned the day around eating. Love it. Then I was lucky once again that another Singapore girl was close and met us up the last day.

All in all I had a great vacation. I met eight friends from the exchange students in eight days. Quite good rate. So once again I was surrounded by Germans, but this time in Germany so it made sense.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

enjoying real champagne

Don't you just love it when you live at home and your parents come home from vacation in France and especially Champagne? :)