fun facts at the foreign ministry

Got some fun facts today at work. We were sitting in the lunch room at 10.15 am for the early coffee break and talking about the Eurovision Song Contest. The oldies (most are +40 or even +50) were reminiscing old eurovision hits. Apparently they had a bet some years ago about who the winner will be in ESC, and who won the bet? No other than Jan Eliasson (that I have written about before). Evidently very interested in ESC and good at picking the winner.

Apparently they have had some empty offices at the department where I am at and plenty of interesting people have had their office there. One being Jan Eliasson. To bad I never got to shake his hand and say hello.

where the action is

Went to another questioning at the Riksdag yesterday. This time it was really interesting to listen to because Anders Borg (Minister for Finance) and Maud Olofsson (Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden and Minister for Enterprise and Energy) was there to answer quesions. Both did really well and answered convincingly, I like them both.

Then there was also a bit of commotion here when the news came out that the government kicked the Director General of Sida (the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency). We work quite closely with Sida at my department on the adminsitration level. So we just have to wait and see if and what kind of effect it has on the work of this department.

It is also a really interesting work place here when you take part of events like this in a different way than you would just reading about the news. We are in the middle of the action.

salem

He should have won in the first place. Then we could have had a real chance in Eurovision Song Contest.

I cannot say I am surprised that Anna Bergendahl did not go to the final. Never liked the song really.Why send a experienced and talented artist when you can send a nervous, young girl not even graduated from high school.

Salem Al Fakir - Keep On Walking

...

how transform a night owl into an early bird?

It is difficult when a night owl need to change the routines and start waking up early. A night owl that almost always went to bed at 2 am now has to go to bed at preferably 11 pm. To be fit for work the next day that is. Last night the night owl fell asleep at midnight and was dead the next morning. Not so nice for a night owl to wake up at 6.30 am for work.

kimchi

I made kimchi some two weeks ago and have forgot it there in the fridge. Kimchi is a Korean dish many times served as a cold side dish to almost everything. In Taiwan we had beef fried with kimchi, so this time the kimchi was warm. Warm kimchi was so much better in my opinion.

Remembering that really good dish, I started looking for a kimchi recipe and found one that seemed good. And it was. Today I fried some beef and added the kimchi, really spicy of course because of all the chili, but delicious. Like being back in Taipei. Well, not really, but at least a good effort.

the perfect company

I think I have found the company for me.

A problem though, it is a quite big, international company and there are probably many out there thinking the same as me. I just need to convince them that I am what they are looking for.

Now I just need to send in an kick-ass application for the trainee program and write the most awesome 500 word assignment that they require.

Then it is a done deal.

not down that road

I happened to see that you can apply to the Maersk trainee program. I also entered the website to check out the job listings. There is actually an opening to Center Finance at Maersk Line and I recognized the contact person in the ad as he was a colleague of mine and he has become a manager. I guess they have started to hire some people again now, there was several openings at Maersk in Copenhagen.

Of course I would have an advantage if I would apply, either to a normal job or to the MIFP (trainee program, previously MISE), since I am already in the system and have worked there. You remember I got fired last summer? Or I guess laid off is the more correct term to use. I did not mind really and had the best summer I have ever had, 'vacation' in Copenhagen during summer with salary.

Maersk salary check. Those were nice.

It would be an easy way out of this unemployment and I have friends there, but I do not know if I even want to go down that road again. I am not even sure if I want to apply just to give it a try, since I am concerned what my decision would be if I was given another chance. I do not think I want another chance at Maersk.

Or is it just my bad (really bad?) memory that is clouding my view. But that time I did not listen to my gut feeling and see where it took me. I promised myself to listen to my gut a little bit more in the future. But still...

dn's utrikesdag

My lunch today was spent at DN's utrikesdag, Foreign Day, at the concert house in Stockholm (DN is the largest news paper in Sweden). Listening to different correspondents living and reporting from different parts of the world. A fascinating life being a correspondent, meeting people and then writing about it. Seems like a nice life.

They had interesting stories to tell too from the areas they are reporting from.

Stockholm Concert House.

fotografiska

The weather switches from one day to another. It is like you could get sick from the temperature changes of 20 degrees. That is why I took advantage of the sun yesterday and just lied outside in my bikini enjoying the sun. Because I knew the gray, rainy weather was about to march in. And so it did today, crappy rainy weather destroying the days.

Even so, I decide to fight it and headed into Stockholm to go to a museum with sister. Fotografiska just opened on Thursday and have exhibitions of photos of different photographers. Since both me and my sister and interested in photography I convinced her to go with me. Well, it was not really that difficult since I offered to pay.

Fotografiska, museum in Stockholm.

It was a really nice exhibition where Lennart Nilsson and Annie Leibovitz being the main ones. Lennart Nilsson famous for taking photos of what was until then seen as unphotographable, human embryos at different weeks during a pregnancy. And Annie Leibovitz, a portrait photographer known for many famous celebrity magazine covers. This one of Nicole Kidman was one of my favorites. It was a nice exhibition that I really can recommend. If I had to pick one bad thing, I wished it had been more photos from Annie Leibovitz professional career, more of the magazine covers and shoots. But still, go and see it if you are in Stockholm.

dancing on my own

I love that Robyn is finally releasing some new music. It has been way too long. I have loved her from the beginning. Her first CD Robyn Is Here, was also my first CD. With songs like Show Me Love for example, she has changed quite a bit since then. Well, now she has her own record label and can make any music she wants instead of other people telling her what to do.

What is not to love about her. Great music. Great sense of style. She is cool. And her new songs coming up are great. I really hope I can make it to Arvikafestivalen (the Arvika festival) this year since she is one of the artists.

Here is Dancing On My Own.