David's Blog

Some Photos of June

Moving to Tampere 01 June 2009

Juhannus 18-21 June 2009

The Quarterlife Crisis

Surely people would suggest that I am in denial; you see, I don't think I have a Quarterlife Crisis but the test results of Dutch public broadcaster AVRO suggest that I do. I would like to mention that the questions that were asked during the test may not be as reliable as some people may assume it to be. I think any granny's score will also result into a Quarterlife Crisis. I got maximum points for being interested in religion, wanting to see the world, being open for great new job offers, and not being able to make an instant decision in the video rental store. I think this is more of a personality thing than a sign of crisis, additionally I haven't rented a DVD (let alone a video) in ages.

So, the main thing with this Quarterlife Crisis is that we need to make an abundance of choice and decisions at this age. I am sure all of the people in the same age group face the same problems. I would not say it is a crisis, it is just that phase in life. Perhaps it is more difficult than a decade or so ago, more choices, more possibilities. I can understand that, a decade ago it was probably hardly possible to easily study in other countries and go on exchange. And I am sure today we have more choice in pudding than ever before, I ate pudding last night.

This scrumptious vanilla pudding (with whipped cream) was consumed while watching 'Samantha Who?' a series about a girl who was in a car accident, now has amnesia and gets to have a fresh start in life with the occasional intermingle of her past in which she was a really nasty person. She desperately tries to be the best she can be, to make up for her past and at the same time working on her future. There is a girl in a Quarterlife Crisis, and because of it she often just misses out what is right in front of her, probably the love of her life. Anyway, the series is a lot of fun, and Christina Applegate plays an excellent role!

Another TV show that caught my attention is 'The Taste of Life'. It is broadcast on the Dutch version of RTL and is probably one of those shows that in the end turns out to have been underrated. In this show 2 hosts, of which one is a chef, travel the world looking for different foods and trying to give reasonably easy to make recipes to some of the famous local dishes. Currently the 3^rd season is on, which has a slightly different (but better) format from the others. One of the destinations in this season turns out to have been Stockholm. They have been able to show Stockholm as a great, and wonderful city. Besides this it made me realize how little I know about Sweden and Swedish culture. Perhaps Jönköping has not been the right city to promote Sweden or perhaps it was my own fault not having taken more interest and looking for what Sweden actually is. See here, the 1^st part of the Taste of Life Stockholm (Dutch only, but images say more than 1000 words!):

The Taste of Life

If you would be interested in the second part as well, please make your way here: The Taste of Life Stockholm Part 2.

After these episodes I decided to take a look at some episodes related to my next destination: France. Well, of course they have episodes about Paris but it took them 3 season to get there. This show is so wonderful, it is inspiring both to travel and to eat! There are so many awesome places to see and to experience. Havind seen this (and another RTL favorite called Camping Life) I have to say that most of us Europeans really underrate the beauty of this continent. We are always looking for far away adventure and excitement, Asia has been really attracting many of us in recent years, but there is such a wonderful and interesting world to discover in our own backyard. Let's try not to forget that.

Now that I have seen this I want to scavanger around in my own backyard, see that what Europe has to offer. This is such a culturally diverse continent. I wonder if they consider that desire part of a Quarterlife Crisis as well.

P.s. for my folks and others: I still love the US as well (very much), also there is so much to see and discover there. It is just that we often forget to look around where we live :)

Festo is Missing!

Festo is missing, and I don't like it. Festo is one of the reasons why I felt attracted to this church and now he is not there. Before any confusion arises, I need to explain who Festo is.

Festo is the name of the lion that comes in every week to let the kids know it is time for Sunday school. It is always a treat to see the kids stampede towards him and hug the fluffy, smiling lion. I assume you understand that this lion is a character.

For several weeks now, Festo hasn't made his appearance up on stage. The happy tune that usually is his cue is still on every week, but the festive feeling is kinda missing. Isn't it strange that something so seemingly insignificant can make such a huge difference.
I had already wondered several weeks ago about our lion, and a church member only mentioned that Festo was on vacation, it seemed like an acceptable answer at the time for the abundance of reasons that could be behind his actual absence. However, today I started protesting. When I told a church member that I wanted Festo back he mentioned that Festo was temporarily suspended.

Back when, I had already suspected that some Christian may have protested against Festo's appearances in church and today I heard that this was probably the reason for it. Members from our own church may have complained, but also people from other churches. This truly is one of the only few ways to press my 'pissed-off' button!

It makes me sad that some Christians seem to think that this character is somehow unwelcome in church. You see, and please pay attention to this, kids are not like adults and that also counts for the way they see things and experience things. I believe Festo is an excellent means to get kids excited about what is going to happen! Festo is not taking Jesus or God's place, he is just taking kids along to discover about God and Jesus. I don't think adults need to worry about that.

When listening to pedagogues you often hear that kids learn in a playful manner. Switch on your TV, look at the children's shows, they are infused with characters helping kids learn about meaningful stuff. More than an obstacle to teachings, characters fulfill a role as being a helping hand. Apparently kids do not get confused by these characters. So, why not let Festo do his job?

OK, in all honesty I only know Festo as the lion the takes the kids down to Sunday school, I am unaware what happens downstairs but I think Festo just sits-in with the kids or just leaves after having dropped them off. I don't see anything wrong with that.

So, dear fellow Christians, instead of being Pharisaic, take into consideration that there is no 1 perfect way to have a church celebration, and ask yourself how God sees all of this. I think God loves Festo, since he is able to bring smiles upon children's faces and makes them excited about going on an adventure with God. Isn't that what it is all about? Getting excited about the journey to take with God!

Hereby I plead for Festo's return! I think the kids miss him, and so do I

N.B. This writing is not to offend people, it is merely a statement to get Festo back!

Northern Quest Photos

The 31st of January I had the opportunity to travel to the North of Sweden with some fellow students. A 22 hour train journey had taken us to Kiruna. Despite the journey seeming very long, it was not too bad. You see, we were on the night train, so you get to make some hours of sleep and almost everybody had brought a laptop along to watch movies.

I am sure the journey would have taken a lot longer if it wasn't for the movies and the card games we had played.

Of course the main reason, for me at least, was to try and see the Northern Lights which is supposed to be absolutely stunning. The day we arrived in Kiruna the weather was beautiful, and it appeared to be a good night for Light watching. After having settled in in our hostel, Point North, we cought the tail of the sunset. Of course when you are up North you need to eat Reindeer so I had a reindeer pizza. Absolutely delicious!

At night we walked to the other side of the hill so we would have an unobstructed view of the North. It took hours, but no Lights. Despite that, I must say I have probably seen the most beautiful stary sky in my life.

The next day we wondered around the town of Kiruna for a while. Did you know Kiruna is sinking? Too much stuff has been dug from underneath the city (Iron Ore) and now they are working on moving the city. Quite interesting! After learning about this and visiting the Kiruna church we took off to the Ice Hotel in the neighboring town of Jukkasjärvi. To get there you need nothing special, we just took the bus.
It may not seem all that interersting or impressive, but a building made out of ice is impressive after all. The carvings that are made in the ice to design the different rooms and buildings was truly amazing. Somehow it is hard to imagine it melting in the summer, all the works that have been created are gone forever, perhaps that is also the beauty of it. You get to start over every year.

That night we tried to see if we could see the lights again...hours in the cold, but this time with plastic bags so we could try and sleigh on the hill, which worked out quite well. Unfortunately the sky was cloudy, no chance we were going to see it. We went back to the hostel, got some sleep.

The next day we only had the morning left as we out train back to Jönköping was departing around 14:00hrs, so we decided to learn something about Sámi culture. I have to say this was very interesting and I would be interested in learning more as well.

After the Sámi exhibit I had my last reindeer meat before we went back to the south, this time in complete luxury with a berth on the train. That was truly great!

Despite not having seen the Northern Light it was an exciting, fun, and beautiful trip. Down here are the photos for you to enjoy!

Kiruna 31 January - 04 February 2009

December in Brief

How did I spent my lasts weeks in Jönköping before my vacation to The Netherlands...well, here it is; December in Brief:

 

CHL HV71 - Espoo 03 December 2008	Snow in Jönköping 11 December 2008

Jul på Liseberg 13 December 2008

And to top it off, here is a clip of the ice-show at Jul på Liseberg...

Back to Finland

Sometimes it is amazing how something can be so close and yet, further. If I'd travel from The Netherlands to Tampere it would take me some 8 hours, now the travel from Jönköping took about 10 hours. Amazing but true, and the place is halfway closer to Finland as well.

Despite the travel time, it went really smoothly and it didn't feel as 10 hours. I guess this was due to the transfers: train, bus, airplane, bus.

When the train arrived in Gothenburg, I was astonished...I had forgotten what a city was like and yet I missed it, the hustle and bustle, the nice looking buildings and connections to the rest of the world in no time. I loved it! I should not be complaining about my choice for Jönköping, I knew what I had signed up for. I did the research, and I had found the picture on picasaweb of other users who had visited or lived in Jönköping.

This little drive through Gothenburg with the bus did make me realize the importance of cities for entertainment and arts, just like what we had been discussing in class last block. It all makes sense now, something that you might take for granted if you live in the big city. By the way, Liseberg Theme Park looks amazing from the outside, I can only imagine what the 'Jul På Liseberg' celebration is on the inside!

The rest of the trip went quite smoothly, even though the airplane was delayed with half an hour. Arriving at Helsinki there was no snow yet, but 2 hours up North in Tampere there sure was. I understand that in the darkness of the winter season snow is vital especially in the Nordic countries. It just gives that the extra light that brightens up those dark moments.

Oh yeah, please don't try to compare Tampere and Jönköping...it is too different! Tampere is a city, Jönköping (though it has city status) is a town!

The days in Tampere were a happy few. It is always great spending time with Jarno & Miia, and Harri & Henna. We did some fun activities like bowling and we saw the movie 'Burn After Reading' which was hilarious in a very strange ways.  The point is, it was good!

I also had a chance to talk to someone from Särkänniemi adventure park about my thesis. This could work out great, at least I hope it will! Now I have to talk to my lecturers at school about it, but I am excited. It was very nice to have had lunch in the the park's tower restaurant, it was really good food and a great atmosphere.
That night when I returned to Harri's place and talking to him and Henna about it all, it just seemed like a lot of doors opened up to work on my thesis in Tampere. I don't know how all this will work out, but it seems like there are some interesting twists and turns up ahead.

The next day we traveled to Lahti which is Henna's home town. In the night we saw some fireworks and a water-organ show, that you can admire all year round. The night was concluded with grilling some sausages in the fireplace in the living room of Henna's parents house.

The morning after we went to Henna's grandmother's birthday. Honestly I was quite nervous, my Finnish is not exactly top notch...actually it is pretty much "hi" and "bye" stuff, but it turned out great it was a nice celebration. Henna's mom gave me a pair of woolen socks to stay warm in Jönköping.

It had been snowing quite a lot in Finland, and it was not going to stop anytime soon. We drove to Helsinki in the blizzard to the boat that was going to take us from there to Stockholm. Unfortunately the fourth person that was supposed to come with us didn't make it to the ship. Her train got delayed due to the winter storm. On the boat we took the buffet which was really good and we enjoyed it for as long as possible. After we had spent some time in the tax free shop we played some card games...Henna won 5 out of 6 times! I lost majorly 5 ouf 6 times. It was fun though. After listening to some karaoke and a midnight snack, it was time to sleep in our comfortable cabin.

When we arrived in Stockholm we went to the old city. Stockholm turned out to be quite a nice city. If you are a fan of Zurich you are surely going to be fan of Stockholm as well. The blizzard was also in Stockholm, so it was very cold and snowy. Which of course calls for a re-visit to Stockholm in the future. Despite all that, it was very enjoyable and very christmassy.

The day in Stockholm was quite brief, the boat leaves back to Helsinki quite early. I said good-bye to Harri and Henna at the bus stop. Saying good-bye is never happy, I was sad. Our ways parted once again. I made my way to the train-station thinking about all the things I am thinking about (do you still get it? somehow I ended up with a lot of food for thought). I also noticed I had collected a huge amount of pennies in the last year ('a penny for your thoughts, david?'), and it is time to give those pennies out to others as well.

Here I am sitting in the train from Stockholm to Jönköping, woolen socks on my feet, new memories richer, new challenges up ahead, new doors to walk through, and sad about having parted once again from people I have come to love (shoot, this is going to happen in January as well!!).

Tonight, my bed lies in Jönköping once again...perhaps Jönköping is the best place for dreams (wishes and goals) and the chance to keep moving forward. There is always something to aim for since it is probably not in Jönköping.

An Expected Culture Shock...is Still a Culture Shock

This morning I left my residence to take a look at another one, which I can proudly say is going to be my home from 1 January onwards. As I walked through the city center, just realizing the temperature was zero centigrade I see this guy walk over the street wearing a t-shirt.

Was I expecting something like this, yes. Was I shocked, no. But I still it struck me as strange, once again realizing there is a difference between cold and cold. Cold in The Netherlands is usually nasty, even though it is around 5 celcius. Here the chances of it being like that are a little smaller and freezing point can still be an acceptable temperature, still I don't see myself walking around in a t-shirt with these temperatures. But hey, this is Northern Europe, so it is perfectly fine!

Back to my new room! It is about 20 minutes away from the city center and less than 10 from the A6 shopping mall. The beach area can be reached in 5 minutes and a bus stop is right around the corner. The room has a toilet and shower, and the kitchen I will share with 2 others. The building also has a sauna! I am happy, it feels like Januari will be a new start in Jönköping. Woohoo!

The Knights of Sweden

The day I arrived in Sweden I found this guy sitting across from me in the train. He was working on his mail armor putting it together ring by ring. A job that seemed to last forever and probably a good way to get through your train journey. It did make me smile because somehow it felt Nordic, not that it is unheard of in The Netherlands because there are plenty of events where medieval knights and mysterious creatures (or at least the people dressed up as that) have a good time and of course we are not unfamiliar to medieval history either. Still, it did feel like it fitted in the picture even though we were sitting in a train.

One of the famous knight stories here in Sweden is about a guy called Arn. It is to some extend related to this area of Sweden, for example the island of Visingsö which is part of Jönköping is one of those areas where events from the book took place. What exactly happened, I am not going to tell just yet as there is a chance you may read about it, or see it.

The books have been made into movies, which is great if it weren't for the fact that they are in Swedish...or at least so I thought. I was given this copy where somebody was kind enough to subtitle the movie in Dutch (!!!) It was amazing to see such quality movie from a European country. It was interesting, exciting, and well done. Besides that it is more of an international movie anyway, Swedish, English, French, and Arabic are all included. Arabic??? I hear you ask...yes Arabic! Because it doesn't just limit the story to Sweden but also to the Knights Templars and their activities in the Holy Land.

The story probably mixes historical fact and fiction, though I don't know where and how. I am not educated enough in either the history of Israel or that of Sweden to make that distinction but it sure does speak to the imagination.

I was excited learning something new about Sweden and this region, and actually getting to hear something about where I have been, Visingsö. I would recommend watching it, unfortunately the DVD in the stores here is only available with subtitles in Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Finnish. As far as I know there are no other releases.

Actually it is kind of stupid that they haven't made this movie more accessible, at least to the rest of Europe! It is a good movie, it speaks to the imagination, it involves history in which probably the whole of Europe had some kind of role in through Rome. More importantly, it could have been an incredible promotional advantage for Sweden and particularly this region.

Oh Europe...why art thou like that???

Anyway, part one Arn: Tempelriddare is on DVD and the second part is in movie theaters right now...really wish I could see it!

Bankruptcy and Waterfalls

Everything was planned, I was confident everything would be okidoki without any big problems along the way. Yesterday I got pointed out to the fact that the airline with which I would be flying home went bankrupt. Apparently it was backed by Icelandic money, we all know what happened there.

Somewhat shocked, but at the same time thinking the situation was somewhat funny in an awkward way. The airline's website said that I should contact my credit card company to see if I could get my money back, so I called my bank straight away. After having been from switchboard to switchboard my bank was going to send a form which had to be filled out and sent back within 10 days. Chances are that the money spent on the ticket aren't lost, that was surprising good news.

Then I called my parents bringing them the news of the situation. You see, it is quite funny how different people are, my parents reacted both quite differently to the situation. At the same time I had found another deal online which would still take me home on the same day, just a little later. I'll still be home for Christmas ;)

Last year when I suddenly had to come to The Netherlands to attend my grandmother's funeral, SAS was the lifesaver that offered a well priced ticket last minute from Zurich via Copenhagen to Amsterdam. I guess SAS did the same thing for me this year. Actually, it is the same flight from Copenhagen to Amsterdam, just on a different date.

My return flight will also be on SAS, I'll have to wait for a couple of hours at the airport but that should not be a problem. After that I can travel in luxury back to Jönköping. The Swedish Railway Company (SJ) has this interesting price-discrimination thing going on. Just like booking an airline seat, the prices of SJ fluctuate over time which of course I am not used to as Dutch Railway Company's prices are fixed. If you have time to plan your travel, it is very beneficial to use the system of SJ. All my train tickets are amazing deals, on the way back from Copenhagen to Jönköping 1^st class was cheaper than 2^nd class, and these were already the lowest fares.

So, what is the big deal with the 1^st class? Well, most of the journey will take place with the SJ's X2000, Sweden's high speed train. All first class passengers will be treated to free coffee and tea, fruit, and Swedish news papers. More importantly is the fact that it also provides you with free WIFI. So, I am happy!

You know that I tend to forget my camera when venturing into stuff, well, I did it again. The discovery of the last week or so was the amazing fact that Jönköping has a waterfall. Yes, a waterfall. It is not a big one, but it sure is nice! The biggest drop is in an amazing setting and feels so Scandinavian. Though it is in the city, in that area you kinda feel away from it all to a certain extend. Besides the falls and the stream is a path that will take you down towards the lake. It is not that long a walk, but it sure is nice. The occasional wooden building really gives a sense of the nordic area you are in. Of course at the end of the path you disappointingly walk into a gas station and the railroad tracks that block the view of the lake, but just try to forget about that little disturbance.

It is really funny how the Eastern part of the city has such a hugely different character from the Western part of the city. I really hope Jönköping is going to use the strengths of all those parts in the future to make it a better place.

So, for next time, I hope that I won't forget my camera.

HV71, Sunsets, and Parks

Last Thursday I finally got to see a hockey match here in Jönköping. Actually HV71 was last year's Swedish champion, this year does not seem to go as well though.
The owner of the building (not the school!) had given all the residents tickets to this game, and well...that what is free is attractive, of course. Well, it turned out not many went to the game in the end, but those who did had a blast.

vs.

Finally, HV71 won for a change! It was a fun game, and well 2-1 was a good score in the end. Actually those who were there I think all caught a little hockey bug. Everybody wants to see more games, and well, since they have student offers for almost every game (almost 3 times a week) I am looking forward to watching some more games. Accept, those tickets are standing-area tickets and the owner of the building got us luxurious seating-tickets. I am pretty sure it won't hurt the fun though!

Friday was a beautiful day here in Jönköping. Blue skies with the occasional cloud drifting through. When I left the school to do some groceries we had a stunning sunset. The lakes made such a beautiful scene for the sunset, I hope we'll get to see some more of those.

Saturday I met up with Erwin and Maria for Lunch. They were visiting Bankeryd/Jönköping for family and some parties. It was good to see them again and it made for a wonderful and fun Saturday.

Sunday after church I decided to go for a walk. The day before Maria had advised me to go to the Stadsparken, which is just a little walk away from the center. I think I have favorite place in Jönköping, and it is definately that park! What an amazing view of the Vättern lake from there! The combination with the beautiful weather and the tranquility of the park (though close to some important roads) made it wonderful. I am pretty sure I will go back there a couple more times.

I didn't bring my camera to the park, but I did take some shots from the hockey game. So, here goes:

HV71 - Timrå IK 16 October 2008

Peanut Sauce and Colored Leaves

I know, I know...it is that time again where I lack writing blogs. Don't harass me for it, there is just not that many interesting things going on that should be mentioned.

Of course the autumn has set-in here as well. The leaves are changing color, and slowly the descent to the ground. Interestingly enough people complain about the weather here; sure, we've had some rain and wind but it is nothing compared to the weather in The Netherlands when it comes to autumn. To me, it is like a gentle transition into the winter, which I expect to be a little bit more fierce than what I am used to. Important point though is that the lake will probably prevent the winter from becoming really bad compared to other places in Sweden.

Still not being able to speak Swedish, not having tv, and still not having internet in the accommodation helps me miss a lot of current affairs stuff. I do see the news headlines, but what exactly is going on, I don't really know all the details. So, basically in my little world there is no credit-banking-crisis, just because I don't pick up the vibe. Sure I have read the headlines, I know it is there...but somehow I don't feel it at least not like usual when something big is going on. Maybe it is a good thing not to have to bear it, but I am not convinced.

What most of you didn't know is that the last month I have joined the Pakistani's in our house with their meals after their daily fast for the month of ramadan. Boy, I have had some delicious foods, and it is very interesting to me that food in Europe is so very different. Sure we have good food, rich in flavor, mouthwatering even! But, boy do I love spicy food, and they produce lots of it. Of course I haven't only been eating it, I have also made meals to share with them. One experimental meal, that worked out quite well in the end on the second try, was my own version of saté (or satay).

Interested in the recipe for when there is no ready made saté sauce around, well, here goes:
First I fried the onions (really big one), and garlic (4 cloves), and ginger (3-4 cm) (all finely chopped) and some dried chillies (2 teaspoons).
Then I added the chicken, with some all spice (but some pepper & salt would do fine I guess)
When the chicken was done (about 700 grams), I added 1-2 table spoons of soy sauce
Then I added about 3-4 dl of milk
Peanutbutter, about 1/3 of a jar
Sambal 2-3 big table spoons (sambal is Indonesian hot sauce in this case)
And to top it off about 1-2 table spoons of sugar and 1-2 hands of peanuts.

It worked surprisingly well, I mean it is not perfect, but it was still good.

I think it is about time to head on home to help out with the cooking, so I am going to see y'all again soon!

It is the law, when the R is in the month

It is that time again. The biggest difference between August and September is the R in the name of the month. Usually this comes with trouble, at least for me it does. September 5th was the day I found myself with a soar throat...realizing which month it was I knew what was coming. A cold!

The next morning I found myself with an even worse raw throat, almost really painful. I got up, went to the pharmacy and got some pastilles for throat relief and, because this only heralds what I should brace myself for, a new bottle of nasal spray to prevent my head from getting congested 24/7.

This morning the throat ache had seriously gone down, but that just meant phase 2 was there. I have a cold, it is strike 1 for the months with the R. And boy am I glad I got some nose spray to help me survive!

King of the Cheap Groceries

Some people live by having a reputation, it is not really something I care about a lot but also I appear to have one. I never thought it would follow me for 2 consecutive years, but it did. I shop cheap! That doesn't mean I look for all the offers in the store, it means that I buy most products of the cheapest brands available, and people notice.

Last year in Switzerland I lived mainly by buying products from M-Budget from the Migros grocery stores, or if I shopped at COOP they offered their cheap brand Pr!x Garantie. You get a lot for a little price and that is just very nice. Of course, sometimes you can not get around buying the a-brands, or b-brands, but mostly c-brands got you quite far in surviving.

As for Sweden there are three different chains of stores. First there is ICA, the offer the Euroshopper brand as their c-line. Secondly they also have COOPs (not related to the Swiss ones), and there you can save money by buying x-tra though I believe that the x-tra brand is quite limited. Thirdley in Sweden you can shop at Hemköp with El Dorado. As my favorite store at this point is the Maxi ICA I have most of my products from Euroshopper. It is cheap, and mostly good as well.

So, now I have a reputation to live up to. The cheap shopper. When I bring down my box with foods for breakfast or when cooking dinner I am expected to have the little shopping cart logo on there. A reputation I don't mind to have.

Back from Göteborg

This afternoon I returned from Gothenburg. I had a wonderful time exploring the city and staying with Erwin and Maria and their little girls in Floda.

The city of Gothenburg is very nice, especially if it is nice and sunny. I had quite some rain, but still the city was fun. Some of the highlights are in the pictures. Something I found very interesting was that the city was designed/built by the Dutch. There are still several reminders to that like a couple of streets and the (typical Dutch) structure of the old city is still visible from the canal that runs through the city.

A very nice place to visit is one of the defense towers and the area of Haga in which it stands, the steps are quite a challenge, that is if you want to do them in 1 go :). Admittedly Erwin told me that he saw an athlete do it in frog-jumps...I hope it says more about the condition of the athlete than it does say over mine.

I was very grateful for this little break, and I am very happy I could spend some time amongst old friends.

Göteborg 26-28 August 2008

P.s. Liseberg was closed, I didn't go to the theme park but I do think my new study should organize some field trip to this place. It truly appeared to be an entertainment complex. I did walk around it though...it is quite big, at least bigger than I thought.

Nature-Candy Combo

Thursday I registered with the Migrationsverket, for those of you who are at all interested in the location...it is right behind the H&M :D. So I can legally live for extended time in Sweden. Both Thursday and Friday I have had to take part in 4 seminars, each lasting 2 hours, about cross cultural issues and research. All compulsary, but most people didn't show up and this was for all master students.

Saturday turned out to be a lazy day for the most part. Visited the Maxi ICA, Sweden's equivalent of a Walmart-ish store. After that we celebrated someone's birthday in our building.

I was quite nervous for the Sunday morning because I decided to try out this church in the city. When I arrived I was happy to see more nervous faces of new international students who were also looking for a new church. Even more surprised, and happy, was I when they told me they'd translate the service into English. The church I had entered was the Pentacostal Church of Jönköping. All of it was a little different from what I am used to in The Hague, but they were very warm and welcomeing to all of us. After the 2 hour service we were invited for some "fika" which is Swedish for coffee, pastry, and company, and probably one of the most imporant words to remember when you come to Sweden.
After this we were invited to join a tour of the church. The building reminded me of the Willowcreek Church in Illinois, of course on a much smaller scale and with a different denomination housing the building, but still. It was very nice, and I must not forget to mention that they gave me a Gideon New Testament Bible with linnear translation Swedish-English. Study material!

Walking back home I felt satisfied that I did go to this place. Walking through the streets of Jönköping I got another Winterthur reminder "...I hope you had the time of your life..." Why do these songs pop-up? Anyway, of course it left a big grinn. :D
Next up I walked to the beach, it is about a 20 minute walk from where I live and it is just very nice walking along the lake. Beautiful! I mean, Swedish nature is beautiful. At the beach I met up with the other from Alpha House who had been there already for a little bit and just chilled at the beach.

In order to inaugurate my 10 day weekend today's destination was Gränna - Visingsö. From the city it is an hour bus drive to Gränna and then another 20 minutes on the ferry to the island of Visingsö. The island, which 5 other people and myself wanted to see, was once home to castles/fortresses, but all that is left now is ruins.
When we arrived on the island we rented some bikes to get around, with the beautiful weather of today it was so very much worth it. Again enjoying the beautiful nature of Sweden. We spent the majority of the afternoon there.
After taking back the ferry to Gränna we spent some time in the town, capital to the candy-cane. Here you can watch the candies being made by hand, of course we were late in town so they had stopped doing that for the day and besides most of the stores are already done making candy-canes and entered into their winter stop. We still managed to buy some canes though, perhaps not surprising but there was an enormous variety of candy-canes available all over the place. It reminded a little of christmas, which is not exactly around the corner yet though out of the sun the temperatures are already quite low.

I hope to head to Gothenburg somewhere tomorrow or the day after and enjoy some big city life and maybe, some theme park as well :)

My Room in Alpha House, Jönköping, Sweden

Gränna - Visingsö, Sweden 25 August 2008

Babysteps towards connectedness

Today has been a long day, not that I have had so many classes or activities, but it felt sooooo long because of that one computer class where they were explaining about how to use the school's systems. Sure, you need that, you need to know your passwords, you need to know where you can find stuff, etc... But to spend an hour and a half listening to someone who just doesn't seem to get his message through because of students not understanding was not pleasant. But it did result in this glorious moment where I am now writing my blog inside the school using my own passwords. As you may understand, still no internet connection in the apartment.

Speaking of the apartment, it is only day 5 that the building is in use and already the kitchen and bathrooms are freakishly disgusting. Not that I am the biggest neat freak in the world, but still nobody likes things disgusting. I wonder if this is the forecast of things to come since most people have been eating pizzas and McDonalds the last couple of days thus haven't made such a big mess. Thankfully I have also managed to survive on other foods that are probably more sustainable.

Yesterday was a fun day, of course those first days are filled with information so a little brain overload is acceptable. From what I have remembered I believe I have signed up for a fun program. C'mon what is not to love about the entertainment (or experience) industry. On top of that we have the opportunity to go on exchange for a while as well. Awesome!
I share my class with many different nationalities, there are some Germans, some Chinese, some Americans, a Finn, a Greek, and others of nationalities I don't remember...so that should be interesting as well. It is really cool to have all these people together from different backgrounds, some have done theater or music school and don't come from a business background. That should give some fun mixes.

Part of Swedish traditions and ceremonies around welcoming and graduating were displayed yesterday as well. That was very different from The Netherlands where traditions and ceremonies are basically reduced to...zero. Something of which I am not sure is Swedish tradition is the messiness. I would say Sweden is organizationally challenged. The way they have organized the arrival, the apartments, the activity groups for the welcome week, the registration, the presentation on steps to finalize registration, and the class on computer use. Everything was so very messy, though everything they have put up is in essence good and works out just fine. It is hard to explain. But it was just funny.

Last night we had a welcome cocktail party. It was fun, but not as abundant as from what I am used to in The Netherlands or from the experience in Switzerland. They had a glass of bubbly for everyone...that was it, no other beverages. As you can imagine, that party didn't last very long. I think it has to do with the alcohol prices here, but they didn't provide any soda's either. They did have someone playing the guitar and someone singing. When I arrived they did: "Why do birds suddenly appear..." Well, that triggered Switzerland memories, haha! Thank you Feeney and everyone who ever sang (or read: shouted) along with him. Isn't it funny that we connect sounds, smells, flavors...I guess any sense, to certain emotions, feelings, thoughts, and memories. Well I had a good laugh in this case! I do now however realize that some of us in Switzerland were in this family-away-from-family situation, which I do not expect to see that happen again here. Oh what a song can't do? :D

Today I also managed to get my registration completed at the tax office. Now I still need to get registered with the Migration office, get a student card, and finalize opening the bank account. I also got my Swedish phone number working (I think...all info is in Swedish) and I patiently have to wait for internet in my room. You see, babysteps towards connectedness.

Now it is dinner time, I am going home!

P.s. Thanks for all the SMS's and the replies here on the blog. Please keep doing so, it is nice to get that feedback! Tack to all!

Can't write

It has been a rollercoaster ride up till now. Not that I actually sat in one, but you know what I mean. So my mood has been going up and down, one moment I like it, the next moment I am not to sure about all this. But let's just give it a while. I had written down about every bit of the trip but so far I have not been able to post it here on the blog because there simply is no internet in my apartment :(. I am happy to report though that I have already met a lot of nice people.

About those many ups and downs in the last couple of days, crazy! From saying good-bye to my family at the airport until today it differs continually.
My room is fairly small, and I share the floor with some 30 other students of which most are accomodated in a double or even tripple room. I am really thankfull that I have a single room though. On the floor there are 2 bathrooms, which is not a whole lot for 30 people and kitchen, refrigerators and what not are located on the ground floor...and a half. Not convenient at all. At first I thought I was being a spoiled brat by my initial reaction, but as it turned out I have heard a lot of nationalities complain about the whole set-up of the building, for example: Chinese, Pakistani, Mexican, Iranian, and Russian-Finnish. I was very happy that it was not just me having these feelings. But it may not be so bad after all, lets just try for a bit. The school just bought several buildings and they had to move fast to turn them into accomodations (they were offices before). So let's wait and see, maybe some change will happen. The best thing is that the apartment building is located right next to the city center and some 5-10 minutes from school by foot.
For those of you who did the Swiss experience a year ago and are looking for some comparisson material, the apartment complex is much less than Adlergarten!!! Though we should be getting internet in a couple of weeks.

For your information, I have found the IKEA here. It is only a 15 minute ride with the bus, so that is pretty good! Also they have a COOP Forum there which is basically a Walmart like store. ICA Maxi is the same, but they sell Euroshopper there :).

Unfortunately I still don't have a phone number (or at least not one of which I understand the operations) and they may have printed the wrong address on the contract, so I don't want to give that out yet. Plus I wouldn't know where to pick up my mail.

Jönköping itself is quite small, but nice. The lake is beautiful and well, thankfully we had sun the last couple of days. The language...well, that is going to be tricky but everybody speak English here so that is not too bad at all.

Tomorrow everything will start, let's see what that will be like. Should be good fun. I will keep y'all posted on what will happen..even if it means going back to this internet place in the train station :D

I'll try to keep you up to date as much as I can. To all who want hugs, I give you hugs. To all who want a handshake, consider your hand shook :).

P.s. My Dutch phone number works just fine. Calling works in and out, I've been talking with my family a lot and I of course receive text messages for free.

Then...it finally hit me

In 2 days I am moving to Sweden and I have to admit it felt 'normal' probably because of the previous two experiences of moving to the US and to Switzerland. The big difference is that I will be in Sweden for 2 years instead of 1 semester. To make it even more of an interesting situation, this appears to be the move in which I "spread my wings".

As soon as I am out the door, my brother will move into my room. He was done packing for that a lot sooner than I was with my stuff. If everything goes according to plan my dad's home office will move to my brother's old room and my dad's old office will be the guest room. So where does that leave me? Exactly...I will have moved out! Exciting, strange, and somehow quite right.

Of course I will have first right to the guest room. I believe that the only thing that will be present from my old room is my bed, the rest is all in boxes.

All of this didn't hit untill yesterday actually. Of course you know what's going on, but for the click to be really truly made I had to be packed, boxed, and ready to move. I think I am there. Two more sleeps in my own bed, and I'm off to Sweden.

Vi senare!

Miraculous Encounters

Some days strange things happen. Today was definitely one of them. As I made my way to the train tracks of Rotterdam Central Station I pretty much ran into a friend from high school. We have never really spend a lot of time together, but I like the guy and the conversation went well pretty much instantly. He usually wasn't in Rotterdam, he was there today to register for the armed forces.

As we were chatting I saw another former friend from high school walk up the stairs. Also never spent a lot of time with her, but also a great fun person. And she tells us she got married 2 weeks ago.

Now the strangest thing may actually be that the other 2 didn't know each other and that all of us were there under abnormal circumstances and we all picked the same side of the entrance to the tracks.

So, we all took the same train to The Hague, chatted the whole way, it was good...nothing strange although the experience was wonderfully ackward.

On top of that, I have found this clip about the Jönköping University (pronounced as Jönshöping by the way)...enjoy!

How Sweden Came To Be

Of course I am not talking about how the country came to be, I am sure wikipedia can do a much better job on that than myself.

As sudden as the announcement may have been for you, it was also very sudden for me.

It all started a couple of weeks ago at the Master and Career Event in Utrecht. Together with several others I went there to see if there would be anything interesting out there for when I would be done (I still aim to be done by the end of July).
The biggest disappointment of the fair was that they hardly handed out any pens or other 'gifts', it was not the most exciting event. However, I did collect some stuff...mainly brochures. One of the brochures I took was from the Jönköping University. I guess I fell for the Nordic-connection there. When I came home that day, I just threw the pile of -what was mostly junk to me at that time- on the floor.

Then the day came I decided to clean up my room (in babysteps, always just a little bit). I sorted out the pile of junk from the career event and ran into this brochure again. I opened it up, saw the master for Economics, Management and Technology of Entertainment and Arts Industries and was interested. So, I put away the brochure...and discontinued thinking about it.

Later my mom started asking me questions: "Have you figured out what you want to yet after you are done?" That was the excellent opportunity to bring up what I had found. After a short examination of the brochure by my mom she decided: "Just register, if you don't like it we can always cancel it later."
I went upstairs, informed my dad who instantly agreed with my mom...I went up further to my room...and registered. This was 2 weeks ago.

Thinking about it seems like it was a brainless action, a wave of stuff just hapening, a flow that was just moving this action into place. So I've had my days of uncertainty, but in general I am very much satisfied with the decision to move to Sweden in August.

So this course is in the Swedish city of Jönköping[wiki] (which proudly exclaims being the 10th largest city in Sweden...) and is in the Northern part of the South. Basically I don't know anything...but I have been looking up some important websites to help me get to know where I will be. So if you are interested, just click on the links.

Sweden Tourism
Study in Sweden
City of Jönköping
Jönköping Tourism
Jönköping Student Information

Swebus Coach Service
Jönköping Airport
SAS Airlines
Skyways Airlines
Swedish Train
Studentenkortet