Monday, December 29, 2008

importer of cheez doodles

Now I have been home in Stockholm for about three days in total. Tomorrow at noon I will be heading back to Copenhagen for New Years. A lot of flying around here. I have had no day to just chill at home doing nothing. It will not happen when I come back to Cph either so I have to wait for the weekend after New Years I guess.

Back at home in Stockholm I had a few things I needed to do, such as see my friend and her new apartment she bought in Sthlm. Today sis and me went shopping in Sthlm with all the sales going on. Too much people in some stores so did not really have the energy to do it all. But I sure did find a few nice things. And there was some things I needed to buy that I have not found so far in Cph and it is also cheaper here.

What I am importing to Denmark is: Finnish bread that I love (Fazer), Klippoteket hair spray, tooth paste, OLW cheez doodles, and some good Swedish liqourice. Maybe some odd things considering it is a neighbor country but they do not have the things I like.

french christmas

I have had a little bit of a break over Christmas. Even though I brought my computer with me to Nice I just wanted a break from everything and just chill. The Christmas in Nice was really nice. We had some nice weather with around 12-14 degrees Celsius and sunshine during the days. Much nicer compared to around zero in Copenhagen. And we got to see the sun! Long time no see, I must say.

Some good food, although I appreciated the Italian restaurants much more than the French we went to. Of course some shopping as well. It was a Nice town and we also went on a one day trip to Monaco which was also really nice.

Unfortunately though, my sister got some sort of food poisoning and only one or two days later I got it too. I seem to have some really bad luck since I had it in Alicante during Christmas last year. What is up with that? At least it was easier on me this time compared to last year. The day after the evning/night being sick I had to get up packing, head to the airport to fly home. Not much fun with no energy in your body whatsoever. But I made it home to Stockholm in one piece.

Monday, December 22, 2008

early christmas

The family came this evening after work. Staying here one night before we fly on. We headed out for some dinner and went to a Italian restaurant at Nyhavn. It was really nice, some good pasta. However, not as good as the Italian place we went for lunch with work. Then we headed home and popped a Champagne bottle and opened Christmas presents. We did not really feel like dragging all the presents down to Nice. Well especially not me since I had a few quite big and heavy ones. I want to fill my bag with booze and clothes and stuff on the way home. Well, if I am lucky. However, we are going to be there only from Tuesday to Saturday of which many days are holidays. So I am not keeping my hopes up. But I do have some shopping to look forward too since I am heading to Stockholm right after. With the Swedish crown so cheap compared to the Danish it will be a bargain shopping in Sweden.

swedish tin

So the weekend came and went. Not much happening. Sunday was spent cleaning the apartment since I have guests coming for New Years. I had to make the place look decent. It took some hours. Otherwise I was quite bored on Saturday. But I managed. Oh yeah, almost forgot. I did do something interesting on Saturday. Since I did not have any plans I figured I need to get out of the apartment for a while to not go crazy. So I looked up some second hand shop areas and went out looking for them. The weather was nice and I found a few really nice stores. I found some really nice things as well. Two really cool belts, a cool leopard shirt, and a nice blue tunic with silver threads in the fabric, really nice maybe something for New Years. Love second hand shopping. Need to do some more. Need to find a lamp for the living room. The problem is that I know exactly what I want. Doubt I will find it. I want a lamp from Svenskt Tenn with Josef Frank fabric. Usually quite expensive though.

Thursday, December 18, 2008

so long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye

Nice relaxing day today. A Swedish co-worker of mine is leaving (unfortunately) and we had a goodbye lunch today. She does not like smørrebrød (open sandwiches, which is typical for Denmark) which has been more common for these lunches, so we went for an Italian restaurant called La Tombola A'Smorfia close to work. I love Italian food and this restaurant surely did not disappoint me. It started with two rounds of different antipasti which was delicious and then continued with three kinds of pasta and you got to have a little bit of them all. Really a good deal, I love it when you are able to try many different things. On top of that some nice red wine and some panacotta for desert. I wonder whether companies would order wine for lunches in Sweden?

After a 2.5 hour lunch we headed back to work. Did not really get much done with tummy full of food and we only had two hours to work until next stop. In the end of the working day we had a get together with the other sections to say goodbye, with speaches and presents for our collegue. And of course some beer.

What a lovely day. In the sense that I did not have to work that much and enjoy some really good food. Not in the sense that one in the Swedish mafia is leaving.

nice with nice

I am going to Nice on Tuesday :)
Which have caused somewhat of confusion when I tell my co-workers I am spending Christmas in France. They hear that I am going to Tunis when I say I am going "to Nice".

Apparently it will be all sunshiny and lovely there. 13 degrees Celsius which I am all satisfied with since it is ten degrees more than here in Copenhagen. Really nice.

Now I am just thinking whether it is worth it to go home to Stockholm after that since I am coming back to Cph for New Years. It will only be two days (max three days) at home in Sthlm. I will decide later since it also depends when we are coming home from Nice and if the family wants to stay in Cph for a day. But I really do want to go home to my town. And of course I need to do some shopping since the Swedish crown is not worth as much with the crisis and all. You got to love it.

Anyways, the vacation will be kind of eventful and not much of actual relaxing at home. 23rd to 27th will be spent in Nice, perhaps the 27th to 28th in Copenhagen or straight to Stockholm. The 30th I will be heading back to Copenhagen to celebrate New Years as well as meeting up with some ex-exchangers that are in town. Friday the 2nd I will be working and then I have a weekend to relax.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

public transportation and computers

What do they have in common?

Lately I have been kind of frustrated at the public transportation. Today there was something wrong with the metro and the station was packed with people. It took me about 40 min extra to get home. Yesterday morning the bus to work took me 15 min instead of 5 but I made it to breakfast at least.

Last week I was not very lucky, it was raining a little and I decided to take the bus to the metro instead of walking. Walking towards the bus stop I see two buses pass me. But I am brave and decides to wait for the next. Sometimes you are lucky and the next will arrive in a minute, otherwise you just have to wait about six minutes. Unfortunately not this evening. I had to wait about 30 min for the bus. When I could have walked to the metro in 15 min.

Everything seems to be working very slowly these last couple of days. Today at work the network was incredibly slow and I barely got anything done. What usually take me about 10-15 min took me 1,5 hours today.

earth quake

Yummy, yummy I got sushi in my tummy.
The other day I saw a sushi place not far from work so I decided to get some takeaway on my way home. A place called Sushitarian and I am happy to say that it was really good. It is just perfect with a place I can walk past on my way home.

And yes. I survived the morning. Coming to work a co-worker asked me if I felt the earth quake. I thought she was joking at first and then realized she was being serious. She live close to me and she had woken up by the earth quake. I know I was tired this morning, but apparently I was really tired. Since I slept through the whole thing. It is too bad. The worst earth quake in 100 years and I sleep through it. Frick.

cheap sweden

A picture says more than thousand words. Sweden is getting cheaper. Well, at least for us "foreigners".


This morning at work it was 1.47 SEK/DKK. Then the SEK just kept on falling. As said before, when I started it was 1.25 SEK/DKK. Holy moly. I should transfer some money to Sweden. Shopping will be cheap in Sthlm after Christmas. Yippie-ka-yay!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

no raise for me

Oh, and I got a haircut! Nice with shorter hair again. Well, it was not that long before but it had passed six weeks since the last one so to me it felt long. I found a hairdresser I really like, she does a good job. Feels nice to hit jackpot the first time. Although she is kind of rough with the hairbrush and drying my hair. Luckily I am not that sensitive.

But it does sting a little bit every time I go to the hairdresser here in Denmark. In Sweden in Jönköping I went to the place considered a little bit expensive and paid around 400 SEK. Here in Denmark you usually have to pay 700 DEK(!!). It truly stings. Especially now when the Swedish crown is what it is against the Danish crown.

My Swedish collegues is happy though. Since they have gotten quite a raise the last couple of months. I started four months ago and then it was 1.25SEK/DKK. It is crazy. Everything is a little bit more expensive here and now, if I compare to Sweden, it is even more expensive. But I actually stopped comparing. What is the point when I get my salary in DKK and live here.

But I have to shop a lot at Christmas at home in Stockholm so it feels like I am saving money since it is so much cheaper.

smelly, but good smelly

Finally.
I got clean clothes. It was in the very last minute. So now it smells softener in my apartment from all the drying clothes.

I can tell it had been a while. Carrying all my damp clothes back to the apartment was like carrying an extra person on my shoulder. You have to go through a lot of pain when waiting this long to wash your clothes. I almost dislocated my shoulder carrying back my blue IKEA bag completely full of damp clothes.

Every time this happen. And every time I promise myself that I should do washing more often with less clothes. It is the same with my dishes actually. And the cleaning of the apartment.
I see a pattern.

Monday, December 8, 2008

to work or not to work

I like my work. I just do not like working.
Can you combine those two?

The optimal solution would be the student life with the flexibility and all: late mornings, late evenings (i.e. parties), and doing a everything as you feel like it. Preferably without the two weeks before the exam and the exam day. Then we also need to add parts of the working life: the money, the never-having-to-bring-work-home part, the paid vacation, and the work parties.

How do one accomplish this?
At 24?
After working for four months?

I need to keep working on that...

Sunday, December 7, 2008

my boys

Was just reading a little about my favorite Lenny Kravitz and some tour dates. He is playing in France and Holland next year. I just wish he would head up north. Then I happen to come across this page with dates of concerts this year. He played in Denmark the day before I moved here to Copenhagen. What is up with that...

There are two artists I have always wanted to see but events happening just seem to be keeping me away. It is Robbie Williams and Lenny Kravitz.

Some day. Some day.



Me like.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

toilet wash

I can take a shower in my bathroom again. Well, it cannot really be called a bathroom since it is just a toilet which I happen to take showers in. It is really small and I shower in front of the toilet and washbowl. The drain to the washbowl and when I take showers is the same and now and then I need to clean it from my hair and stuff since it makes the water go away more slowly. On Thursday the water was running out very slowly and there was basically no hair which could hinder it. So I bought some caustic soda to fix it.

However, it made it worse. The water was disappearing more slowly and slowly. Not good at all since I needed to wash my hair for the party. So I ended up washing my hair over the toilet. To keep the toilet from flooding. Felt quite weird. But a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do.

Quite frustrating as well since the weekend was coming up and I had to wait to contact a plumber. But to my surprise when I got home from the Christmas party on Friday it was all working as it should. It took more than one day to make the plug in the drain disappear. I am happy that I do not have to worry about that and take showers somewhere else.

time for bed at this hour

It is past five. Just settling down after coming home from the Christmas party. Walked a short part by myself to Norreport to get to the metro. Was quite calming walking there in the dark and even hearing some birds twittering. Very soothing actually. Then I just wanted to get onto the metro to reach my bed and head into it as soon as possible

But of course that did not happen and I happen to end up in front of the computer writing this message to however that is interested in a somewhat drunken message in the middle of the night. But sometimes I just need to let it out even at the oddest times.

Getting home to my apartment I am listening to 'Supermassive black hole' by Muse and I just wish I had my L hear and a dance floor so we could just go crazy. You know what I mean. Maybe you all know if you know us or the beat of the song.

However, it was a really nice evening. At the end we left to head for a club, ended up at Mc Donalds and I guess did not really have the energy to move on. I think it was a good idea, I need to get some sleep. And here I am. Still awake. Come on, time for bed.

But a nice evening, and some good dancing with the guys as a good substitute to all my girls.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

weekend in ireland

Back in town after a nice vacation. Although, it would have been nice to have just one more day to relax at home. It is like you need vacation after the vacation. At least when it is a weekend one and you come home late on Sunday evening. But it was all worth it of course. It was a really nice weekend in Dublin. And it is interesting to see how vacations can be different depending on who you are traveling with.

So us girls went to visit the girls working in Dublin. Unfortunately it was a quite cold weekend, not colder than Copenhagen but apparently the coldest in Dublin for years. The weekend started with lunch at Google where K works. Very interesting to see how different offices can be. My company is much more old and traditional and Google is very young and modern. At Google you would assume people wearing suits are visitors and at my work it is the opposite where somebody wearing jeans is in for a visit.

We of course made it to some bars, many many to choose from. We also paid a visit to Jameson distillery and had a tour finishing it off with a glas of their whiskey. I tried it with cranberry juice, which may sound weird but was actually very nice. And of course we made some shopping. I did not find much, but a few things that were quite a catch. A pair of grey ancle boots from Clarks on sale, really nice. Just need to get used to walking in higher heels. Then a gorgeous coat from one of those stores you do not really want to admit you boght something from, but is okay over here since no one else has it. Unfortunately it is more of a spring coat which means I have to wait forever until I can use it. Crappy, cold weather over here.

Now I just need to plan for my next getaway weekend destination.