Och så har man skaffat Skype

Så har man skaffat Skype efter att ha stått emot i det längsta och så finns det ingen som man kan provskypa med... :-( Och inte har man några adresser heller... 

Cravings

When I skip meals I get cravings for other things. Today I am DYING for Swedish candy... Not for Ahlgrens Bilar or Gott och Blandat though, the things you can find at IKEA, I want fizzy bottles and Swedish fish and "Lakrisal" and so on.

The Swedish cheese I have almost finished...

Very unexpected I found that the place around the corner had "Scandinavian evening" this week, so even though I didn't have a proper lunch, only junk food plus some yogurt etc yesterday I had a big meal in the evening, consisting of among other thing Swedish pea soup. Very nice! And again, very unexpected, there were several groups of older people (I was early) enjoining the Scandinavian "light days". Not that I understand how the words "Light" and "Scandinavian" fit together in January... In June, sure, but in JANUARY???

Berlin

Berlin, here I come! So looking forward to see the German capital again, it has been a while, indeed. Over 10 years. And this time it was very unexpected, some friends are going over from Sweden and all of a sudden I find myself being on the way too! Well, not on the way yet, so far I just ordered the tickets, but on Saturday I am!

That is the advantage with being in the middle of Europe, it is really close to EVERYTHING. I am taking the train and it takes me four hours, four relaxed hours. And the ICE is normally on time too (the ICE is the InterCity Express).

It will be interesting to see it with new eyes, this time I have other expectations and a different understanding. It is the first city outside of Nordrhein-Westfahlen ("my" German state) that I go to "for real" since I moved here, and since Germany is very much "state by state" driven, I expect there to be differences. If it is in how they force the anti smoking laws (Düsseldorf doesn't seem to care about it at all), in the shopping hours (no shops open in Düsseldorf on Sundays) or in something more subtle that I don't quite understand yet remains to be seen, however.

Observations will follow, I'm sure...

Cheese please

I have a big matured Grevé (Swedish Cheese) in my fridge. Or I had. It is getting smaller and smaller. The good thing with not having constant access to the fabulous Swedish cheese is that when I do (thanks to someone dear bringing it from Sweden, I haven't made it to Köln yet), I can, without feeling bad about it, bring out a knife and just sit and enjoy THICK slices of it...! (The cheese that is, not the knife)

German train system - let's do it like they do it in England or Sweden???

There was a time when you could set the clock after the German trains. That was then. It has changed...

I don't know why I keep running to the train from home. I always have the feeling that I am late even though I know I have plenty of time. And then the train that I want to get on is anyhow always late. It hasn't arrived on time since sometime last year, as far as I can remember. It could of course be that I have blocked it out or that it arrived on time when I wasn't chasing a specific train but whenever I am really waiting for the train that takes me all the way to the office it is late. It is even so that 5 minutes after the time table is "on time" because that is when it always arrives. And still I keep running to the train station...

Heard the excuse the other day; The trains in Germany are nowadays so bad so they have decided to go for the English system, which happens to be the same system that the Swedes so "successfully" adopted, i.e privatise and ensure that the tracks are owned by one company while the trains are owned by someone else and then they can always blame each other for delays...

But you know what? I am not going to let that get to me, because taking the train in Germany is anyhow more efficient than taking the car, and the system is more cost efficient with far more offers for special weekend trips etc. Plus the simple fact that you can get to anywhere from here! That is worth a lot!

(And now I am going to book a ticket to go to Berlin...)

Nej, jag tycker inte det är OK att vara elak

Nej, jag tycker inte det är OK att vara elak, inte på andras bekostnad och framför allt inte för någonting de gör privat för att det är kul. Bloggande har blivit STORT i Sverige, det ska delas ut bloggpriser och det debateras. Fint, det har jag ingen problem med. Min blogg är dock annorlunda. Jag har den för att det är kul att uppdatera familj och vänner och låta dem veta vad som pågår, och ibland för att diskutera saker som jag snubblar över, på samma sätt som jag hade diskuterat om jag hade haft personerna i samma rum. Jag står alltså utanför och bortanför den andra typen av blogg, som jagar läsare hysteriskt, man har tävlingar, det debatteras vilt sinsemellan bloggare och det går att läsa i alla skallerblaskor (läs kvällstidningar) i Sverige om den ena efter den andra fadäsen och bråket och så vidare som bloggare haft. Min blogg kommer aldrig finnas med i den typen av sammanhang, det intresserar mig inte och är inte syftet med den här bloggen.

Det hindrar dock inte att jag tycker det är roligt att följa en del bloggar. Heja Abbe, http://www.hejaabbe.com är en av mina absoluta favoriter. Sedan finns det en del andra som jag följer av olika anledningar, som "Vimmelmamman" exempelvis. Markus Birros blogg för att han skriver så oerhört bra, oerhört språkkänslig. "Finnjonna" för att hon skriver så utlämnande. Hon är ibland väldigt enkel i språket men det är inget fel med det, för hon får med sig läsarna och engagerar - hon har förlorat två barn, ett sent missfall och en liten pojk som dog i samband med förlossningen. Nå, jag ska inte brodera ut mig om det, det är bloggar jag följer, och ganska många med mig. Och några bloggar skrivna av vänner blir det också, även om det inte är så många som bloggar vad jag vet. De är väl upptagna med att ha ett liv... ;-) Och så är det den här andra bloggen. Nej, jag tänker inte nämna den vid namn, ser ingen anledning att ge personen läsare.

Personen har roat sig med att recensera bloggar. Mycket vasst, en del kanske lite väl elakt. Jag ser inget problem med att recensera "officiella" bloggar på ett stundtals ganska elakt men väldigt "roande" sätt, bara det inte går över gränsen - det är trots allt människor som bloggar, inte robotar. Med officiellt bloggar menar jag då exempelvis de som lever på bloggandet, de som är kändisar och har gjort en grej av det, som en del av sitt publicitetssökande.

Nu har dock bloggaren - en välläst blogg, har jag förstått - kommit på den dumma idén att han ska leta upp dåliga bloggar och skriva om dessa och hur dåliga de är. Jag tycker faktiskt inte det är OK! Vad är det som säger att de här personerna - det är för övrigt många ungdomar som bloggar - är ute efter många läsare? Eller för att "göra en skillnad"? De kanske bara skriver för att de tycker det är kul, och då ska de baske mig inte behöva utsättas för elakheter. I alla fall inte organiserade sådana, det tycker jag bara är fånigt. Att sedan låta läsare öppet "nominera" andra tycker jag är än värre. Hade karl'n gjort det på egen hand och valt ut kommersiella bloggar hade det varit en sak men det är inga unga tjejer eller killar som ska behöva upptäcka att de blivit "nominerade" i en sån't här "tävling". Urdumt! Så ja, där försvann i alla fall en läsare från den siten, nämligen JAG. Synd egentligen för bloggen är skriven av en kille som emellanåt blixtrar till och är riktigt duktig, och annars är hans blogg lite småcharmig, eller var i alla fall. I alla fall ibland. Det var i alla fall tillräckligt för att man skulle komma tillbaka, men nu har jag gjort mitt där.

Att via bloggar vara elak mot andra människor tilltalar mig helt enkelt inte. Inte det minsta!!!

Att vara vass är en sak, att vara ironisk är en sak. Att vara elak med mening är bara korkat och dumt och det vinner man knappast någonting på, speciellt - och jag vet att jag är tjatig - när man ger sig på privatpersoner, som sagt.

I really should be unpacking the last boxes

I really should be unpacking boxes and getting a bit organized (and do some work) but instead I am surfing the Internet, reading news, reading various articles and reading blogs. It's been a long weekend or a way to short one. I have spent to much time being tired instead of being productive, and that is always quite frustrating at the end of the day. And because I have been tired it feels like it has been a long weekend... On the other hand that is the price I have to pay nowadays when I stay up to late... My body has decided that it is great to wake up at 6 am regardless of where I was and what I did the day before. So if I go to bed at 3 I only get 3 hours of sleep... I may be able to force myself to go back to sleep but most of the time I end up being a zombie instead. Although yes, it has been worth it this weekend, it has been a good weekend. And that I got to listen to bagpipes yesterday certainly helped! Burns Night (with fish and chips, not haggis as it should be I guess) - and yes, of course there were kilts too! Brilliant band that played most of the evening, the bagpipes were there only for a little performance. 

And I won! I won tickets to an upcoming art show that I really want to see - plus the catalogue. Splendid!

(And talking about shows - Albert Watson. That is all I say. Albert Watson. Google him! Saw his show here several times. Brilliant!)

Köln

Köln is on my list of places  to visit. Have been given a tip - there is a good cheese shop with cheese from all over the world there... :-) Needs to be investigated. And it is the same distance between Köln and Düsseldorf as it is between Düsseldorf and where I work.

WOW!

Off course I couldn't resist switching the TV on when I came back yesterday evening - daytime in Washington DC. Seriously, I got tear eyed and sentimental. The new president of USA is giving all the world hope. Obama and all the people that voted for him - because let's not forget it, a democracy is a democracy because of it's voters.

If you have the right to vote, use it, and we can make things happen! And this shows it!!!

No, I am not watching the show

I'm not going to follow the inauguration of Obama today. I am fully convinced that they will do a great job me watching or not. The most interesting part starts tomorrow, when the real work starts! I have high expectations when it comes to the new US president. It gives hope to the rest of the world, really. Not that he is black - fact is I didn't even reflect on that until it was pointed out to me, I am not very good at "seeing" colours in people, but this guys seems to be so different from many other politicians. He is well educated, seem to be very intelligent, has rhetorical skills that are many levels above some other politicians (I look at some politicians in Sweden and wonder...), and, most important, he seem to be prepared to listen! And that is a VERY important quality, one that is hard to master - we have all been there, I believe...

Had I been in the states I am sure I would have been watching it, and I know that many Americans and others living here are too. There is even a big party but in Wuppertal of all places, not in any of the bigger cities where most Americans are living.

I am for sure going to watch some of it, especially the speeches, afterwards, on a rerun. What ever opinion you have about politics, I don't think anyone can deny the fact that Obama himself is a great speaker. As someone here said to me "He can certainly carry a message through". And that I don't want to miss, I very much admire people that have a way with words.

But me, today? No, as mentioned I am not going to follow, instead I am going out for dinner and drinks with some friends. Not bad either :-)

Train ride

Taking the train to work. Driving actually would take longer than taking the train as long as the train decides not to be too delayed. Also much more comfortable to take the train: I can read, I can sleep, I can talk to people if I want. So why would I take the car? The parking spot is anyhow as far away as the train stop... (And I work right next to the station in the other end...)

But it is also interesting to take the train, just observing people makes it worth it. (And I improve my German by listening to conversations - it is not that I am TRYING TO but I can't help it, unless I listen to something on my iPod.) I also get involved in many conversations. Today I was chatting with a beautiful woman originally from Jamaica who works here, as a gym instructor. Not the first time, we have had many good discussions, several of them around politics - first met her around the time for the US Elections. She is the kind of person you immediately like.

Every time we have been on the train together I blame myself for not asking for her phone number, we could possibly go for a coffee or so. And every time I meet her again I forget about it until she gets of the train. Again.

So now I just have to hope that she will soon be on the train again - but she goes in much later than I normally do, so I have to combine her being on the way here with me being late...

Cheese

Crazy about cheese. Miss the Swedish cheese, can't find it here and I can't find a website that has it either. OK, IKEA has cheese but I want good quality well matured Swedish Greve, Herrgård, Västerbotten, Prästost and so on. The cheese I get to try in the shop. But as mentioned, can't find that here. 

Also can't find an internet page that delivers cheese to Germany. I can find if for US but hey, I am not in US. An American friend has offered to order cheese online - Swedish cheese - and then send it over to me. Very nice thought but it is more cost effienct to just get a Ryan Air ticket, fly up to Sweden, buy cheese and then fly back again. Or I could potentially rely on people in Sweden to perhaps send me now and then??? On the other hand the post office in Sweden is gone so no one knows where to go to send things. At least I never got my head around that new service. No wonder the amount of letters etc sent from Sweden is going down. And anyhow I don't think they offer the service to sell things in special package for food etc, unlike services in other countries. 

Well, well. Today I have loads of French and Italian cheese as well as some Spanish so I am pleased anyhow :-)

Confusion

How confusing! Today I got lost in my new hometown, Düsseldorf... The tram I was taking was supposed to take me almost all the way home (on a weekday, not to late, it would, but on weekends and in the evening after 20:00 it stops two stops or three earlier. No problem, I can still walk..). Anyhow, I was on my tram, when it all of a sudden obviously changed number. I was sitting there, reading, when I all of a sudden realised that the names of stops that were announced were not known... 

Got a taxi the last bit to get home. Very confusing! I could have taken the tram back and then tried again but quite frankly I didn't have the energy.

Back in the cold

I came back home to Germany yesterday, only to be greeted by snow tonight, it is about 20 cm deep and it is freezing outside. I can't even pretend that I am happy to be back. I loved Malaysia and I am certainly not keen on cold in general...
Think happy thoughts. At least it is already getting lighter and soon spring will be here.