Wednesday, September 30, 2009

could have done better

I should have been in bed a while ago. I have an appointment with Gustaf tomorrow at 9 a.m. Which means I will have to leave home at 7:30 a.m. I love living in the countryside.

I must say I have not been as good as I was supposed to be according to the homework I got. Of course it only hurts me and not Gustaf. At least I have sent out 17 applications. Ok, that is not 20 as I was supposed to send out (one per day) but it will have to do.

Time for bed. My alarm rings in six hours.

miss you

Dear A. Was so nice to talk to her tonight and catch up. It has been too long. Of course we had a lot to catch up, a lot have happened and there has been plenty of changes for both of us. I have to take a weekend after Taiwan and go to the north and visit her.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

T – 13 days

In two weeks I will be in Taiwan!

tomorrow

Been postponing it all.

Two days have passed by.

Tomorrow I have to deal with it.

Monday, September 28, 2009

closing off

As a direct result of me feeling kind of lost, I am now feeling apathetic. I just want to lie here in my bed listening to music or watching a movie. Anything to keep me away from the thoughts that I need to think to be able to move on.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

yeah, i'm gonna have to move on



Jet - Move On

where do i want to go?

Honestly, I am not sure what to do. Or what I want. I had a plan and with that it is easy moving forward, I had a road to follow. I was on track.

But what happens when that plan is overthrown by certain events? When you remember your previous dreams that today is not part of your plan. When you realize that the road is not so clear after all. Intersections are coming up and you do not know which way to go.

made for a young woman like me

Relating to last night's show is this article in Aftonbladet, where many of the viewers are of the opinion that the show is made by old men for old men. Then of course the question of gender equality comes up yet again since the guests of honor have been men so far.

It never even crossed my mind and to question why there had not been any women as guests. It is not about the gender but what this person have accomplished and whether s/he is interesting. In my opinion I do not understand how you can question the choice of last night's guest and drag up the gender equality issue, when you have Jan Eliasson and Kofi Annan in the show. Two men who have been fighting for humanitarian rights which is a much greater problem in the world. In my opinion I do not think they will be able to top last night's show.

belated present

I have just ordered a belated birthday present on behalf of my family. Unfortunately I have to wait one to two weeks since they do not have it in stock. I ordered it from here.

Now we wait.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

what if this was my life

Tonight I spent one and a half hour of my life watching the Swedish program Här är ditt liv (This is your life) and I am really glad I did. A Swedish celebrity is kidnapped and becomes the focus of the evening, being presented with his own life and guests form the past and present. Tonight the guest was Jan Eliasson a Swedish diplomat.

I am really impressed with Jan as a person and what he has accomplished throughout his life. It is impressing to hear him talk about his experiences and philosophies. How only words can have a large impact on events. Even more impressing when you watch the greetings from international people and friends like Colin Powell, Madelaine Albright, and Kofi Annan. Kofi Annan who later even showed up as a guest in the show with his Swedish wife. (You can shortly see the episode here.)

It was incredible seeing Kofi Annan appear as a guest and as a friend of Jan Eliasson. These two men are both very impressing and inspiring. Now my surpressed dream of working in the UN again appears and I wish I could make a difference in the world as they have. If I could accomplish only ten percent of what they have accomplished I would be extremely satisfied.

One could only dream being a guest on the same show with that life, those experiences, and a friend like Kofi Annan.

re: the reason some girls stay single

I am totally hooked. And I am psychologically normal. I want this guy's number. So he can leave messages on my voice mail.

to eat or to pee?

I told my friend where I wanted my welcome dinner when I arrive in Taipei.


(Photo borrowed from here.)

The restaurant called Modern Toilet.

You can see more photos here. Does it make you hungry or sick to your stomach?

red eyes

I watched the first two-hour-long episode of Grey's Anatomy yesterday. My god I cried.


Friday, September 25, 2009

i did not know doctors could be nice

Today I have some reflections about the Swedish health care. I have through all my life gone to Vårdcentralen for health care which is run by the government. A few years back however, the rules changed and now you can get the normal health care from private practices. So the other day I was checking out where I could get my vaccination shot and found out a place in Arlanda that did this, a private practice.

Me and my mom went there and we both signed in to have this new practice as our husläkare (family doctor, the doctor and practice you visit whenever you get sick). I was called into a room by the nurse and then the man came that was going to give me the shot. He was quite young, entered the room in a pair of blue jeans and a white short sleeved shirt with a name tag on. He started talking and was very nice and even made jokes, several of them. Very nice people.

Here is the kicker: I was surprised by how nice they were. You get surprised when a nurse or doctor is actually talkative and nice. Why is that? Well, because I am used to my previous family doctor who never said anything expect from the necessary. Neither were they always that helpful, fast, or on time even though you had an appointment. What does this tell you about the public practices?

It is sad. That you get surprised when you meat a friendly nurse or doctor. I am glad I have switched, now it will not always be unpleasant to visit the doctor.

getting shot

Today I got my last shot for hepatitis a. Thought it was a good idea to do it now before my Asia trip. Good thing that I did, because it was almost three years ago I took my previous one, and maximum time between them is four years.



I thought I would not be spending much money moving back home. But now all these boring things are appearing that needs to be done that costs a lot of money. I also have to go to the dentist to do a check up. More money not being spent on shopping.

her morning elegance

I overslept this morning. I heard the alarm on my phone rang but I think I never completely woke up. I was in that state where you are half awake and half asleep.

What added to the confusion of dream or reality was the song I have as alarm signal. Her Morning Elegance with Oren Lavie. I think it is one of my favorite songs (and videos). When I heard it in my awakening daze, I just wanted to stay in bed listening to the song over and over again. It was like I was in the video.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

isn't she lovely

Isn't she wonderful.

That is not the song I am hearing in my head right now.

I should not make curls on my short hair. So this is how it turned out. I am glad that the pictures are a bit blurry, otherwise it would have looked even worse. But here we do not really care about the result, my sister needed the practice. Then I will happily let her do whatever she wants with my hair.

Ok, that might be a bit drastic, not completely whatever. But almost.



perm-guinea pig

I guess I have to get used to being a guinea pig now once in a while, with a sister studying to become a hair dresser. Today she had to practice her perm skills. And it was her first time doing anything on a real head. I feel honored (or?). Of course I am not getting a perm, just the curls. It will indeed be very interesting to see when it is all dry. My hair will be very short. It is not like I am going anywhere tomorrow anyway.

I might even let her color my hear in two weeks at her school. Although she needs to improve her service mind, not yell 'DON'T MOVE' to the customers. And not spray water into their faces.

I feel so pretty...









taiwan here i come!

I am happy. Tickets are booked! Countdown is starting. 18 days.


Wednesday, September 23, 2009

housewife

I am going to tell you about my day. Might sound like a weird day with odd things to do. But remember, I am unemployed and just sitting at home in front of the computer searching all day long. Anything is better than that sometimes.
  • Went for a walk.
  • Picked mushrooms. I do not even eat mushrooms.
  • Scrumped apples from our neighbor. Delish apples.
  • Scrumped mini cocktail tomatoes from another neighbor.
  • Made apple purée. I am like a housewife.
It ended nicely though with a bath in the bathing barrel at the end of the night. Sitting in nice warm water watching the stars.

Although a nice day with things going on, I have a bit of bad conscience. No searching. No applications sent.

no more

Why have I not seen this before? I am loving it. If you use Firefox and are a bit behind as I seem to have been, you should definitely install the add-on AdBlock. It removes the adds from webpages so you never have to see them again. Lovely.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

starbucks in sweden


thank you for taking my money

Woke up to find an email from my dear, sweet landlord in my inbox today.

She does not agree at all. What a surprise. She claims that she did a lot of cleaning before I moved in and that I left it in worse conditions. Yeah right! The bathroom was nasty and the floors was not even vacuumed! How can you claim to have cleaned the apartment if you have not even vacuumed the floors? If you would do only a little bit of cleaning, vacuuming is the first thing you would do.

Then she goes on with the fact that I wished to have it rented out in September even though I had the contract until end of September. That she was so nice to try find a new tenant so quickly. Quick my ass, it took her 2 ½ months to find a new tenant after I canceled the contract.

She also tells me that she is being so nice to me since she actually spent two days cleaning the apartment, all by herself since her friend could not join, but only charging me for one. Oh thank you soo much! I am on my knees kissing your feet. You are being so nice to me.

Thank you for this lovely time together. Let's keep in touch.

Monday, September 21, 2009

do not even try ripping me off

I am pissed. Just received an email from my previous landlord in Copenhagen. She is deducting 1000 DKK from the deposit that I will get back. The reason being that she had to clean the apartment for eight hours. Sure, this might sound as a decent deal. If you do not know the story behind it.

The apartment was nasty when I moved in! The bathroom I think was the most disgusting since it had not seen a deep cleanse in a while. There was dirt and sand all over the floors, I could not walk barefoot since it felt nasty. There was paper, makeup pencils, and candies under the sofa. The floors had not been vacuumed at all. The kitchen was also quite nasty. Under a bowl I found gum(!) sticking the bowl to the shelf.

I emailed her about this just days after I moved in and she replied that: About the cleaning, then I am sorry that it wasnt done better. I just expect you to leave the apartment in the same condition as you found it. Thank gawd I still have the emails.

Like hell I am paying here 1000 DKK for cleaning the apartment.

instead of cocktails

Went to the town 15 kilometers away. I spent 800 SEK. And it wasn't even on something fun. Not fun at all.

But I did buy some cocktail tomatoes. That is my snack these days when I am trying to be a bit healthy. Instead of cocktails.


progress update #2

Job applications sent: 13
Interviews: 0
Rejections: 1

go, go, go

I managed to get up fairly early today. I have decided that this week is going to be a good week. Now I am going to kick in a higher gear. Search, search, search. Need to apply for a couple of jobs today.

Still, this is how I feel about searching jobs.


Sunday, September 20, 2009

top model next!

Sis and me had a lot of fun tonight. A lot. You can see by the pictures and understand. It started out so nice and innocent. Then it just escalated. Cannot say that I am surprised since that is what usually happens.






tired legs

My legs are totally dead. After a walk and washing/waxing the cars. Come on. Am I in that bad condition? (Oh, I do not want to go there...) On the other hand, I did the same walk some days ago and did not feel a thing. I blame the hot whether today that got me more tired than normal.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

kendra is cheering me up

I found something to cheer me up and keep me company. Kendra, the new reality show I started watching some time back and have forgotten to watch the new episodes. It shows the new life of Kendra Wilkinson, now Kendra Baskett since she got married, one of the girls from the reality show The Girls of the Playboy Mansion. It was sad when it all ended, but now we can see my favorite Kendra on her own. She can really cheer you up. I am watching it here.

cheering up

This one cheered me up a bit. It always works.

demanded: improved planning skills

Am a bit bored here out in the woods. Not much going on and spending a Saturday evening at home.

One thing that I really miss is all the spontaneous get-togethers I am kind of used to. In Jönköping and Copenhagen it was of course easy since I lived basically in the middle of the cities. Five or ten minutes and you can be somewhere in the city. Here, five or ten minutes will take me halfway to Märsta. Going to Märsta would not really help much anyway since I do not really have any friends there.

I have a few friends in Stockholm and to go there it takes one hour. One way. So there is no room at all for any spontaneous meetings. And I hate planning. I need to get a bit better at that. Because now I am sitting here a Saturday evening, bored, and perhaps wished I would have organized something fun to do.

day of baking

Here is the baking day in a whole lot of pictures. It was fun and it all tasted very good. Of course all freshly baked bread tastes good. It was also a nice environment to be baking in, a typical old Swedish little house.









preview


We are baking. It is a lot of fun to try out. A whole lot of bread and soon we will start baking them in an old oven.

me and the ladies

Today I am joinging my mom and this village's ladies to bake bread. Of all the things to you can do on a Saturday. We will be baking 'thin flat unleavened bread' was the translation that came up or simply 'tunnbröd' in Swedish. Sometimes the English language is not simpler at all.

Anyway, I like baking and when I heard mom was going I thought 'what the hell, I'll go too'. Sure, I will lower the average age a lot by attending but it will be fun to try out. I like baking and it is always fun to try new things, and now we have someone to teach us.

Friday, September 18, 2009

soothing night

Finally my dear old 'painting' (in lack of another word, what do you call a framed piece of fabric?) is back up. Strangely I did not buy it during my Southeast Asia period, although I always regretted buying that piece I saw in Bangkok.

This one I actually bought in Alicante, Spain one Christmas. Of all places.



I love it. It kind of soothes me having it in my bedroom. I wish I knew more about it though. I should find that out.

friday evening

There was some bad ones in Idol tonight as well. And of course some really goods ones also. Unfortunately from now on, we will see no more awful singers. From next week we will see all +100 selected talents being reduced to 16.

Yeah you see that I do not really have anything better to do a Friday night than watching Idol.

laughing material

Idol in five minutes. Let's hope for some more bad singers, shall we? Some more people to laugh at and feel embarrassed for.



where to look

Today I am searching for jobs. Although I did sleep in a bit. I found a few, but those employements are located in Stockholm. I need to find some other good country job sites. But that is tricky too. I should make a list of countries I would like to work and live in. It should make it easier than having the whole world as a play field.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

give me

I have been checking out my destinations on Lonelyplanet.com. Getting more excited every day that passes by. I also noticed that they have a really good promotion going on at the moment. You can buy three books and only pay for two. Of course I could not really resist that offer. Especially since I have three destinations on my trip. I decided to buy the Lonelyplanet guides for Taiwan, Philippines, and Japan.

To my disappointment I realize that the the Japan-guide is out of stock/11th edition will be released in October. October! Since I want them now! I bought the guide for Tokyo instead. I will survive.

Cannot wait! I just want to start planning. Can you believe that? Me planning? Me who hate planning.

just another day

Unfortunately today followed the same track as yesterday. No job hunting just ticket hunting. Been checking a bit more prices since I could fly into several different locations. Then also been checking prices for flying around. All places I am going to are not on connected to the mainland so flying is the only option.

I am getting really excited. And just trying to ignore that I might have interviews coming up for some of the jobs I applied for. But I will contact most of them as well (as Gustaf told me to), and get information about when they are planning interviews and etcetera. Then I might be able to have some input on time and date.

As said before, what happens, happens.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

taiwan. wanna join?









(Pictures borrowed from Fishtail@Taipei on flickr. Thank you for the inspiration.)

job hunting? ticket hunting!

Just because I was a bit ahead, how do you think my day was? Exactly.

I was searching. Just not for jobs. But for flight tickets and locations. Even before I got laid off I had my thoughts on going to Taiwan since several friends are there now. Of course now when I have all the time in the world I have more of an urge to go.

I have the time and money so why shouldn't I? Who knows when an opportunity like this comes along again. It is perfect.

Sure I am looking for jobs and have applied. I have mentioned that I can start right away. But I cannot just sit around waiting, I might not even get a new job for months. Who knows. So I am just going to book the tickets and what happens, happens. If I do get a job I just have to tell them that I will be gone for a couple of weeks.

I am so looking forward to it. New countries. New experiences. That is what I am all about.

ikea heights

Maybe the next big thing?

A group of people have made a soap shot at an IKEA department store in USA. Guerrilla style. I love it.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

a little bit of progress

I have actually passed the quota of one job application per day. I am now up in eight days and nine applications sent. (Which means that I could theoretically take tomorrow off. But no I need to keep this up.) I feel like I have done a good job. Especially since I was just lazy assing end of last week. (That I have not done some of the other homework is something that we do not have to discuss...)

Now I have been going through several large job sites and found nine. When you start thinking, nine is not that much. There must be more interesting jobs out there.

I guess I just need to continue signing up for other job sites. There are plenty out there. But that is probably the most boring thing of all. Filling out all these forms. Maybe I should be happy that I do not have that much working experience, otherwise it would take even longer to fill those out.

You have to see the advantages in everything.

progress

Job applications sent: 9
Interviews: 0
Rejections: 0

it is not easy being grandma

I cannot stop laughing.

precious moment


A delicious salad for lunch, with my book in the sunshine. It is in the middle of September and I am sitting here sun bathing without a t-shirt on. Who would have known. I thought I had to wait until next year or go abroad for a clear blue sky. I am enjoying every bit of this precious moment.

you had the time of your life

Patrick Swayze lost the fight against cancer. He will be missed among many.

As all other girls I have seen Dirty Dancing more times than I can count.

Monday, September 14, 2009

what happens, happens

Interesting. I might have found a job. Maybe even a perfect one. Maybe I even have a chance (although I really wish I had improved my language skills as was the plan).

What if I am back within a couple of months?

Let's see what happens.



hot n cold

Background information: the kitchen here at home is in a remodeling phase so one of the two sinks are now gone.

The sink that is gone had the crane where you could get really cold water. So now I can only get room temperatured water from the crane. Not so pleasant when you are really thirsty.

Life's a bitch isn't it?

highlight of the day

Soon I will have finished two new applications. I need to catch up with the promise to Gustaf of sending out one application a day. With these two I will have five in total. Another two and I am up to date (up until today).

However, at 8 pm I will have a break. (With my laptop in my lap to continue the searching. In reality it is just to ease my conscience and it will all be very inefficient.) I will be watching the new TV3 show with Simon and Tomas 'Sweden's Ugliest' (Sveriges fulaste hem) hereafter followed by 'Swedish Hollywood wives' (Svenska Hollywoodfruar).

Been looking forward to Swedish Hollywood wives with all the snobbish, spoiled wives that got married to rich and successful American men. Entertainment on a high level.

got motivation?

I have a really bad conscience. Last week started well and I spent most of the daytime to search for job ads. Towards the end of the time spent searching became less and less. I promised myself to give it another honest try this week. But 'accidentally' overslept and woke up at noon.

But now I am sitting here with my laptop making an effort. Getting tired of it by the minute. Searching and writing cover letters is some of the most boring tasks.

Tried to have Spotify keep my motivation up with the great 90's nostalgia playlist I found. But the motivation is still decreasing by the minute. And I have barely done anything so far. Have two applications that I need to fill in, I should at least be able to accomplish that.

Go, go!

Sunday, September 13, 2009

roasting

A friend had watched 'Roast in Berns' (Roast på Berns) the other day, which I unfortunately missed. Sometime ago SVT (Swedish state television) tried on the Roast format and called it Grillad. It was a total failure and barely funny at all. (Although I liked some part of the episode with Gudrun Schyman, her comeback in the end was outstanding.)

However, my friend she said that this one (on channel five this time) was really good so I decided to check it out. I am grateful for the tv channels having their programs online these days, check it out here. So easy to catch up if you happen to miss something very important.

It was all the young girls' favorite Björn Gustafsson who was the man to attack this evening. A very successful roast I must say. I am waiting with anticipation for the next episodes.

like yesterday

When I got my first stereo I got a couple of CD's and Lisa Loeb with Stay was on collection CD. I rediscovered that song today, I still like it. The video is very interesting since it is a one-take video (actually made by Ethan Hawke).

Even though it is years ago you still know the songs like it was yesterday.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

big city life


Waiting for the train to Stockholm and this is my view. I have a twenty minute car ride to this station. Then only a thirty minute ride to the city. It is really close.

prime time embarrassment

Been catching up with Idol and the episodes I missed this week. I have to see all the people making fools out of themselves. Of course there are some good ones too. But as always it is much more entertaining sometime to see all the awful ones trying to be part of Idol. I do not understand how so many persons can go there, stand in front of the jury and actually believe that they have a talent. Have they ever heard themselves singing I wonder?



When I sit in front of the TV watching all these bad singers, I feel embarrassment on their behalf. I just want to hide my face in my hands and not look at the TV. But of course you cannot stay away and I just peak through my fingers.

Then of course we have some really good ones as well. Thank god. Those who by the first glance does not look much of an artist but then really surprises you.

Friday, September 11, 2009

dying

Tonight I took the car and went 15 kilometers in one direction to buy hair dye to color my hair. (Yeah mom and dad, it was perhaps a bit unnecessary but I just had to.) I was just home alone and felt the urge. Also since I will be going into town tomorrow to meet some friends. Since I will be spending time among people I wanted to do something to my hair since it looks bad.

A few days ago I went to a new hairdresser in Sigtuna since last time I cut my hair was in May. I have been quite lucky with hairdressers in the past but I guess it took a sharp turn now. She did not do a good job on my hair. At all.

I tried to fix it a bit the next day by myself. It got a bit better, but there is still something with it that I do not like. Cannot really pinpoint it. So this was the last chance to make it look descent.

So that is why I drove 15 kilometers in one direction to by hair dye.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

ross can

One of my top favorite scenes with Phoebe in Friends. Who is probably my favorite character in Friends by the way.

soon

I am not doing all my homework as I should. Today I woke up at around 9 am (ok not that late), but so far I have not done anything search-for-a-job related. Soon.

But now I need to check if we accidentally locked in the neighbors cat the small cabin/storage space. Who says life in the countryside is not eventful?

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

officially unemployed

Sitting at Arbetsförmedlingen at the moment. Have to come and sign in and make it official that I am unemployed. Soon I will be one increasing the statistics. 
So now I am sitting here waiting in what looks like i hospital room. It looks like when I had to visit an anestisia (if that is the correct spelling) nurse prior to my surgery. Sad place to be working at. 
I doubt they will be able to do much for me to find a new job, I am glad that I have Gustaf to help me. I am lucky that way.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

organized mess

I realized I have been a bit out of it lately. But can you imagine that I have actually been busy? Well, busy might be the incorrect word but I have had things to do.

I have been organizing my new room with new furniture and all my things from Copenhagen. It takes time I tell you. It is great with a dad working for a construction company, where they have showroom apartments where he is located at the moment. So the employees get to take what they want out of the furniture in the apartments they have furnished. So now I have a new bed/divan, a shelf, and a chair.

And on Sunday me and sis took a short roadtrip to Eskilstuna where L's parents live that took care of my stuff from Copenhagen. With a filled trunk and backseat we headed back home. So now I am trying to organize it all which is not the easiest task. My sister and I tried to go through my clothes and see what I can get rid off. I thought It would be a lot of stuff that I can throw out, but it was not! Maybe I have to do another round and go through it again.

When I get it all organized and fixed, it might actually feel like my room.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

imagining

In beginning of the summer I got totally addicted to the, new to me, show Greek. I basically watched the first two series in days. I could not stay away, it was truly an addiction and I almost felt like running home as fast as I could from work to watch another episode. (Yeah I know I have issues. Trying to theraputize myself it might have had something to do with my unhappy state and just wanting to disappear into someone else's (fake)life.)

I got so caught up in the series since I was watching it all the time. (And kind of got a small crush on one of the guys but lets not dig deeper into that. As said, I have issues.) I was just waiting for the day the season three would have its premiere.

And on Monday 31st (my birthday, it is a sign!) it happened. The episode is airing and I am watching it (although not live since I do not live in US...). Then I have to wait a whole week for the second episode. And then another week for the third. Life is hard, no?

Please imagine a teenager being a bit love struck. Not a 25 year old living with her parents with no life.

Friday, September 4, 2009

soundtrack of my life

My new soundtrack.

Perhaps not the best soundtrack to have when going in for finding a new job.


(sorry non-Swedes)

day number two

I started my diet yesterday. Now I am focused. I have let myself go really bad the last two months after I lost my job. I have just been living life and enjoying everything. Drinking and eating. Now it has come to an end.

My problem is that I have no discipline when it comes to candy, snacks and similar and can eat the whole bag of candy instead of only a few pieces. So in my case it is better to stay away from it completely. At least now for a couple of weeks.

So I am going to be healthy now. It is going to be difficult now and then. Especially since I love food (well some candy too).

But I have my trick, when I have cravings I make myself a cup of tea. Maybe a smoothie once in a while.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

exhausting time to come

My third meeting with Gustaf. Now it is the real deal. I got a whole lot of homework. He demands that I have my working hours from 8-17, calling and meeting with recruitment firms, uploading CV's everywhere, applying for one job everyday. And a few more tings. It is going to be exhausting. Then again, looking for a job is itself a full time job. I guess it is time to get in charge of my life again. But this is a period I am not really looking forward to.

Now I am on my way home again. After 45 min spent at Skatteverket to register myself as a Swedish resident, and some sushi lunch at the central station. You get hungry at noon when you go up at 6.30.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

no comparison please

How hard can it be to write a decent cover letter? Apparently very difficult today. So instead I am taking another break. To show you the nice birthday cheesecake I got yesterday when I got home.


Here you can see how good you look after running around packing, hurrying to the train, carrying 40-50 kilos of your belongings, being totally sweaty, and a six hour train ride.


My birthday card from sis. This is how good you look after loosing six kilos in Singapore and with a very nice tan.

I am going to have that birthday card as inspiration now when I seriously need to get fit again. Tomorrow it starts. So I should finish that birthday cake today.

advance planning? what is that?

I strongly dislike working on my cover letter. Especially when I need to have a very general letter. I need to have a new one for tomorrow for my third meeting with Gustaf. Yes, I am very good at the so called advance planning.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

countdown begins

The weather in Copenhagen has not been the best the last few days. Yesterday, in honor of my birthday, it was really windy and rainy. That is why I am very disappointed today, with supposedly 25 degrees and clear blue sky. Of which I can enjoy through the window of the train for six hours.



Then, who am I to complain that have had vacation the last two months.

Moving back to Stockholm I will be able to enjoy days with less than 20 degrees. Fall, you are not welcome.

The countdown begins, only ten months until next summer.

on the road again

Slight change of plans. Was supposed to use dear mommy's staff ticket to fly home as I always have done. However, since yesterday I cannot use the tickets. I thought I could use them even though I turned old but that combined with dear mommy's status as 'retiree' it is a no no.

I found out that this morning when I gave them a call. So I just had to book a train ticket, a lovely six hour ride.



The tour of south Sweden started at the airport in Copenhagen. Now we just stopped in Nässjö. The train station I have seen so many times before when traveling form the university in Jönköping. At least it is very nice with a direct train from Copenhagen to Stockholm. The only change is in Stockholm to the regional train and my final destination in Märsta. Well, at least the final destination with the train. Then we have another 15 minutes with the car to the house in the middle of nowhere around 50 km north of Stockholm.

My home for who knows how many months.

birthday sushi

In some ways this year’s birthday was spent similarly as last year. Last year I had just moved to Copenhagen and had only one close friend and I went out partying with. This year, I also had basically one good friend in town which I had dinner with. My bad luck that most of my friends have left the city due to exchange semesters abroad.

But I got to have some delicious sushi in Nörrebro and had a good time.