Geir's blogg

On Friday afternoon AnnSofie and the kids finally got to Sweden. It's been a very long six weeks so I am more than relieved that they're here now. We spent a weekend doing basically nothing. I used to be obsessed with doing tons of things, but It's so much more relaxing to just talk to people I think...

Anyway, on Saturday we walked around town a bit and did some shopping. I bought some more expensive, swedish pants and then we had a delicious dinner at "Blaa Doerren." The next day, Sunday, we took a boat out to Vaxholm. Vaxholm was very quaint, but the visit would've been better if it hadn't been raining.

I finished my article last week and sent it in, so I don't even have that to worry about at the moment. I should be getting a version bloody with marks shortly....

/geir

This past weekend I got away from sweden for a bit and flew to Berlin. My friends Marcus and Alicia are presently living there. Marcus is a physicist and is researching at the Max Planck institute in Potsdam. Alicia is studying German and thinking about the future move to Sweden: they're moving here in September.

I had an excellent time and we hardly did anything. I did get to eat at Mommseneck twice (Haus der 100 Biere: http://www.mommsen-eck.de/). Here are some pics from the weekend...

  http://www.sjurseth.net/pics/v/Berlin_2007/

So, Berlin is an interesting city. It's the center of German government but relatively east, as far as location is concerned. It would also appear to be at the top of German unemployment... Having said that Marcus informs me that the methods for determing the official unemployment rate differ dramatically between counties. I was only there for a few days but I actually managed to hear jokes about the Swedish statistics while I was there (Something on the radio where they mentioned statistics and Sweden in the same sentence and laughed). Berlin is also the original location of the Love Parade and I gather is the height of Gay and Techno pride. Even the Berlin mayor came out and said, "Ich bin schwul, und das ist auch gut so!" I love the way that sounds and I can say that it became an oft repeated quote throughout the weekend. Though in fact, I am not schwul :) As gay as it is I never once saw an army of "Tio tusen tyska boegar!" Here here to another place in the world where it's ok to be gay!

While we were in Berlin we managed to have a lengthy discussion about nursing. Views on nursing vary and I gather some people are quite bothered by people who nurse in public and others feel that it is the most natural thing in the world and still others may do it as publicly and offensively as possible to make a point. It was a good dialog, though I'm not sure we finished with any solid decisions made about the whole deal.

I still haven't finished the article........ I wrote in an apology and request some more time. Unfortunately I'm gonna have to work this whole weekend, so I'm not sure when i'm gonna get time, on the other hand I'm spending time now writing this blog entry............

This weekend I promised myself that I would stay in the hotel and work on an article I'm writing. As it happens, however, on Friday evening Gunnar (Ann Sofie's  sister's husband) called asked if I wouldn't mind coming out and helping them move. I was more than happy to oblige, because the only then worse than not accomplishing writing goals is spening loads of time thinking about how your not accomplishing them.

Saturday morning I got up, ate breakfast, and ran an errand. I had bought a bluetooth headset a couple of weeks ago which I wasn't at all satisfied with and I had been wanting to go and return for quite some time. Unfortunately I had also lost the receipt. Expecting the worst I returned to El-Giganten retold my plight and was immediately referred to the back where they found my purchase based on my credit card. I've seen this in the US at target and Home Depot (yes, I lose receipts all the time), but I was surprised to see this in Sweden. Maybe I shouldn't be though. Record keeping and banking are two strong suits in scandinavia, but service isn't.

Anyway, upon completing this I hopped on a train and headed out to Enkoping. I'm reading this terrible book at the moment about the scotch-irish which makes it plain that common american ideals come from a group of emigrants from Ireland who had first emigratated from Scottland.... I'm not convinced. I'll give the book credit for enlightening me to what the term scot[ch|s]-irish means as well as providing some historical account who these people are. I take issue with glorifying red-necks as the misunderstood and misrepresented minority in the US. He does make a case for it, but it's weak... Anyone read this book?

After carrying box after box after sofa after bed after bag yesterday and today I'm back at the hotel taking a break from worrying about the article. I'm up to 2000 words now, only 4000 to go :)

So, I've been in Sweden now for what seems like an eternity, but all is going well. Let me recap real-quick-like exactly what's happened so far.

* 03/24/2007 I left Austin, TX to travel to the homeland of my wife and daughter to work on an IBM project for Ericsson. It's a bit strange to be here without the comforts of my swedish wife, though I feel like i'm adjusting rather nicely.

* 03/26/2007 I showed up bright and early to start working on my project slated to be four weeks in length in what by all accounts is a horrible eye-sore. This is significant, because Stockholm is normally quite beautifull... Here is a link to the location where I'm working for anyone who is the least bit interested...  http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=tellusborgsvagen+90,+stockholm,+sweden&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=44.793449,62.490234&layer=&ie=UTF8&z=16&ll=59.300154,18.003008&spn=0.007088,0.015256&om=1&msid=109050211174259880838.000001120b4b894fcedce&msa=0
I'm in dilapidated building surely built in the '60s surrounded in rubble. In fact I was told that one of the buildings (it sports busted out windows and walls that have caved in) was actually used as a military training ground not too long ago. When I asked how the ericsson renovation project was going I was told, "Well, I haven't seen any signs of construction. The building only seem to be going down." Anyway, my work area is not attractive. The bathroom closest to my desk is inside a closet, which is well, weird.

** some time passes **

* Easter starting around April 4th, 2007
I spent a delightful weekend in Lingonbacken visiting Ann Sofie's Mother and step-father. I enjoyed a typical swedish easter-dinner (usually served in the afternoon and on a Saturday). I also got see Ann Sofie's grandmother again who has now moved into an "assisted-living facility." She's seems to be getting on quite well and was thrilled to tell me that noone had died in her bed yet. She's a spry old lady :) On Sunday I traveled by train to Gothenburg where I visited one of the founders of our partner company: Zystems. They were very nice and cooked a fantastic dinner (Chris's chicken) and  the next day, Sunday, we went to Nääs slott, a nearby castle, and took a rather pleasant walk in the rain. There was some sort of horse-riding competition going on I recollect... All in alll a good time...
Here's a link there...
  http://naas.vastsverige.com/templates/default____2165.aspx

* Weekend starting April 13, 2007
The next weekend I spent the night in Nyköping and joined in the festivities celebrating Ann Sofie's father, Leif Ericsson ;-), 60th birthday. He took everyone out to a wonderful restaurant in Trosa where we had a great dinner. The next day I went and visited a former colleague of mine: Felix Reychman. He is evidently married now and had a very cute little son, Laban, that I got to meet. He, Becca, Laban and I spent an afternoon in the spring sun talking about living in the US vs Sweden and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This week has proven eventful... My contract was just extended until the end of May and I'm beginning to see real possiblities for being here beyond that date as well. I do, however, feel a need to go home. I miss my family immensely, but I can bring them here. My house, on the other hand, is more complicated and I feel a need to visit it again soon and just be home for a couple of days.

We'll see how it goes....


/geir