my july

I just want to shortly mention what's going to happen after I left Sweden. A lot of stuff to do and a lot of things to see:

• 3.7. Stockholm, Sweden
• 4. & 5.7. Berlin, Germany
• 6. & 7.7. Stendal, Germany (picking up my furnitures)
• 8.7. journey from Stendal to Bad Saulgau, Germany
• 9.7. Bad Saulgau, Germany: Home, sweet home!
• 10.-13.7. Milano, Italy
• 14.-29.7. Bad Saulgau, visiting friends in Southern Germany
• from 30.7. Graz, Austria

my july (Graz is missing)

a sommer day in Sweden

A day with thirty degrees, yes, it was in Sweden!
The day started with a wake-up-coffee on the balcony of our accomodation.
After we walked to the lake,had breakfast there:Later, in the afternoon, we drove to the place we already were for midsommar. Because of several cars, we continued driving till it happened that we were close to Pottskärsvägen again so that we decided to go to that place. There we had a barbecue, swam in the lake, fished more or less successful but at least for fun, slept, took pictures and else...

for more pictures click on the photo

7 days in Sweden left...

Maybe I should better not write that post now... Sitting here, alone, knowing that in exactly 7days I'm already in Eskilstuna, all the stuff with me, ready to fly to Germany. Physically ready at least, maybe, probably, definitely not mentally.
But that's what's in my mind now...

I met nice people to who I don't want to say goodbye, but people always meet twice in their life! That's my hope. And the first person I'm already going to meet again in Berlin, right after leaving Sweden!
Thanks for all the nice people I met and thanks for the time I had here!
And: nobody can delate the memories of that year!

Midsommardagen i Sverige

Midsommardagen, one of the most important events in Sweden. But where are all the Swedish people? Driving through the town, seeing nobody not even one single car? But right, dancing around the maypole (in Swedish: majstång or midsommarstång) is not possible in the city, so every person moved to the countryside.

midsommarstång
(source: http://www.noresten.se/midsommar2008/)

Our plan was similar and different: Go to a nice place and take pictures the whole night long. The reason: 21 of June is the shortest night. And because we already were amazed by the brightness and night. We took a car, drove from Västerås to Eskilstuna and stoped somewhere in between. It was a maybe even magic place. No noise at all... Just the lake and the sunset and sunrise. And it was cold, unbelievable cold, till we managed to get some spirit and coal.

time 22:46
(click on the photo for more pictures)

Dating in Sweden: sex, booze and mobile phones

As American blogger Kommissarie F. Curiosa prepares to wrap up her almost seven-year sojourn in Sweden, she shares her revised reflections on Swedish mating and dating with The Local. This guide may not help you find your Swedish Valentine, but it might just shed some light on the tantalizing mystery known as the strong, silent Nordic type.

With one of the highest birth rates in Europe, the Swedes seem to be pretty prolific when it comes to making babies, but even after six plus years of living in Stockholm, I'm still not sure how Swedish relationships actually happen.

The only obvious explanation seems to be massive quantities of alcohol. In other words, Swedish babies wouldn't exist without Finnish booze cruises and Systembolaget.

In recent months, The Local has reported that Swedes are much less inclined than their European counterparts to spend vast sums of cash in their efforts to find a mate. This didn't surprise me at all. That's because they spend it all on alcohol trying to get themselves drunk enough to talk to a member of the opposite sex.

I know that it will seem ungrateful to be accusing my host country of being a nation of stingy alcoholics, and I'll be the first to admit that a few drinks can be a fantastic social lubricant. It's probably also a case of “it's not the Swedes, it's me,” but Swedish mating and dating rituals (and usually in that order) appear to be a very slow process that go nowhere (except the bedroom) fast.

In a nutshell, it goes something like this:

A) Meet at a mutual friend's party.

B) Get really, really drunk.

C) Make out. Sex is optional.

D) If you're lucky, you are sober enough to save the other person's telephone number in your mobile, AND to put it under the correct name.

E) Send a text message along the lines of "last night was nice. Shall we have a coffee sometime?"

F) Spend hours analyzing the various ways in which aforementioned text message could be misinterpreted. Get your friends involved.

G) Have a "fika." *(see below for an explanation of this uniquely Swedish institution)

*A "fika" is a Swedish word for an ambiguous meeting that may or may not be a date, or better explained as a non-date, or a date that is pretending-not-to-be-a-date.

It is also worth mentioning that one can also have a fika with a friend, colleague, family member, or neighbor. Hence the ambiguity of the whole affair.

During this "fika" Swedish non-date, things are a little stilted and awkward as both parties pretend that nothing happened last Saturday night, and politely and awkwardly ask questions about the other person, usually beginning with "Where do you live?," descending into a discussion about the difficulty and frustration of the Stockholm housing market, and complaining that you have had to move seven times in the course of six months.

Now, where were we...oh yes:

H) At the end of this date pretending not to be a date, give each other an awkward hug, or possibly a handshake, ended with the statement, "Vi hörs!" or "Hoppas vi ses snart!" ("I'll talk to you soon." or "Hope we see each other soon!")

I) Spend the entire next week pondering over who should make the next move. A WORD OF WARNING: It is not assumed here that the guy will take the lead. More likely, the opposite is expected. If the Swedish guy is brave enough open his mouth and say something at all during this date, he may feel that it is now the girl's turn to put herself out on a limb.

J) Spend many more hours analyzing your feeble attempts at text message"flirting," agonizing over whether you should or should not use the word "mysig" (cozy) or "trevlig" (nice), fearing the former may be too much, and the latter may not be enough. Once again, enlist the help of your friends.

K) Repeat Step A.

L) Repeat Step B.

M) Repeat Step C, all the while pretending it never happened the first time.

N) Sometime after several more renditions of Steps B and C, go out to dinner.

O) Since it's a little harder to pretend you are not on a real date in the formal atmosphere of a restaurant, drink massive amounts of the house wine.

P) At the end of dinner, closely examine the bill to make sure each person pays for his or her appropriate share, including the extra five kronor for dressing on the side.

Q) Get kicked out of your way-too-expensive second-hand rental contract because the person you were subletting from didn't take 10 study points and lost his/her contract for student housing.

R) Get drunk again, and commiserate on the horrors of the Stockholm housing market.

S) Move in together.

T) Go shopping at Ikea.

U) Take a romantic trip to the Canary Islands.

V) Move to the suburbs, buy a Volvo and start collecting “Vuxenpoäng” (see Stockholm Sydrome for more on the ‘adult points’ systems).

W) Have a child.

X) Name it Johan, Erik, Fredrik, or Henrik if it’s a boy or Sara, Anna, Lisa, or Emma if it’s a girl.

Y) Two months after you go back to work after having Johan/Erik/Fredrik/Henrik/Sara/Anna/Lisa/Emma, repeat Step W.

Z) Enjoy an additional 18 months of parental leave.

Å) Get married for your 20th wedding anniversary.

(Retrieved on 22. June 2009 from The Local)

Highschool Graduates in Västerås

out of Junior window

Finishing Highschool means in Sweden following:

1. write last exams
2. drink, drink, drink
   
3. rent or organize a truck or tractors with tumbril (driver included)
4. get dressed: females wear white dresses (in Sweden and with the actual in-fashion: very short); males "suit up"
5. drink
   
6. climb on the trucks, tractors and else
7. put the music on whil dirnking
8. drink
9. drive through the town and drink and party and drink

one truck after the other...

young brown bear hustles baby buggy

A Swedish woman is for a walk in the forest with her 19 months old daughter and a dog when a young brown bear comes and hustles the baby buggy. While the mother dees not know what to do, screaming, running to the next house, the daughter reacts much cooler. She just follows the bear with big eyes when it left doing anything more.

Here the two articles:
Hela Hälsingland (in Swedish) and
Spiegel Online (in German)

four days in Stockholm

heart over the royal appartements

Thursday to Sunday in Stockholm thanks to a friend, having a room there but not needing it!
The weather could have been better, but I have never seen so many people on the streets, not even in Stockholm. The reason:Probably whole Sweden meeting in Stockholm for celebrating the National Day of Sweden on June 6.We walked around, enjoyed seening so many people even after 7PM, ate huge amounts of unbelievable tasty, hand-made cornets, drove t-bana, visited the royal appartements, met Niki de Saint Phalle's sculptures,...

Niki de Saint Phalle sculptures at Moderna Museet

and more fotos here

turning one year older

Getting one year older... In this post I just want to say thank you to Aurora, Cem, Batu, Burak, Jane, Inta and Cihan for a great evening! Thank you so much!

vegetarian life goodbye

Thanks to a wonderful barbecue cook, I ate meat yesterday. I myself still can't believe it. Already in the car, when I saw the meat, I started to rethink about my vegetarian life. Why?

The Past
How did it start? On a boat to Helsinki. It was gammon, which was smelling delicious but I resisted. I even didn't recognize how close I was to eat it. Cihan told me after.
Then, again I was close. Somebody went to McDonalds after partying and bought a Happy Meal. On the way the three not vegetarian people started to eat the french fries. When coming to my place, the fries where half empty, I was hungry and this somebody asked me: "Are you hungry? I brought you something from McDonalds. I asked for a fish burger, but they said, they don't sell it at that time. So I bought a cheeseburger for you." Should I say thanks now? But I was close to eat it, because of being hungry and too lazy.
The Present
And then I saw the meat in the car, it was Irish meat (which maybe also was a reason to finally eat it), looked delicious. Later, I saw it on the barbecue, it was marinaded, smelled good, everybody eating it liked it.Then I was asked: "Do you want to eat?" I know Cihan was just joking, he always tries. But his and Buraks face was totally astonished when I said: "Yes". Cihan didn't want to be responsible if I maybe would regret it the day after. Burak also asked: "Are you sure" I was! And I tried a small piece, and I ate another piece, because it was delicious! Thanks to Burak the barbecue-master!The Future
I know that I'm not going to eat all kind of meat now, I just choose,.. Chicken maybe, some very low fat meat, no burger-meat... We'll see... Or better: I'll see!

summer at the lake

pictures see here!
25degrees, sunshine, no clouds, and no lectures anymore. So what should we do? Go to the lake, forget about thesis, papers and else which maybe has to be handled in, and enjoy a summer, which none of us expected to be like that. At least not in Sweden...

barbecue

should we go swimming?

yes!!!