Live now

"Looking back you realize that a very special person passed briefly through your life- and it was you. It is not too late to find that person again."

Robert Brault 

 Can it be said in a better way? Don't be bitter. Do something about the situation. There is always something that can be done. As long as there is life, there is hope. 

Break the routine, 

Get rid of the baggage - or repack if if you really have to drag it along.

See the little things and notice how a smile can change the day. 

Value the important things.

Get angry if you really have to but don't sulk. Let it pass! Don't hang on to frustration, hang on to hope and warmth and the good people around you. 

Love. Love is everywhere and love come in different shapes - accept and embrace it!

And take care of yourself. Love yourself, and do what makes you feel good, because when you feel good, others around you will feel good too.

Keeping up to date

One thing I really like about Germany is the availability of newspapers. It's a country of some 82 million inhabitants, and through that there is also room for a lot of selection. Sweden is a far bigger country from a landmass perspective, but we are only some 9 million - inhabitants that is, suspect we are more citizens as many citizens also live abroad.

Anyhow, thats not my point bur my point is while Sweden basically have two major morning papers - DN (Dagens Nyheter) and SVD (Svenska Dagbladet), and a lot of local ones (GP, Göteborgsposten - "my" newspaper being from Gothenburg, being my favourite local), Germany has tonnes. And with modern printing you don't need to wait for them, they are ready available everywhere. Yes, you can read online too and I do that, but not everybody has that as easily accessible.

Keeping up to date with what's going on in the world always was important to me.

And even if I sometimes lack it's the possibility that I endorse, that I adore, that I see as key. And I do buy newspapers. Not every day but I buy them, because I want to sponsor the industry but also because I like the feeling of a paper newspaper, something where I can mark and circle words and cut out articles from.

And last but not least because I firmly believe that having access to - and keeping up to date - with news and seeing things from different perspectives is important for democracy. A place where people don't know what is going on in the world around them is not a true democracy.

If I had a child

If I had a kid, I am pretty sure this could have been the story about my kid...

Hibernating

I never see the leaves fall. They are there, nice and green and lush, and then all of a sudden they have a different colour. And then, without me understanding what actually happened, they are in piles on the ground, and I am as surprised as I was last year or the year before. Every year it is the same and I try to promise myself that next year, next year I will really watch it happen, and yet the year after I have missed it again. It is a mystery every time, but the fact that I rarely go out in the daylight of course helps, this time of year it tends to be dark already when I get home, as I have a bit of a commute. I love my commute, it gives me time to relax and de-stress - and I can't go anywhere, I am sitting there with my book, or reading hte news, or sleeping, or listening to a pod cast - but I do not see the leaves slowly falling to the ground.

And it doesn't matter that I outside my office window have a marvelous old copper beech, and that I make an effort to study it, the leaves are still there, until one they they aren't anymore - and  that is when I know that it is time to hibernate. When the trees go to sleep, so do I, during the winter season I am out far less, I have a lot less activities, and I spend a lot more time at home or with small groups, while in the summer I am outgoing and active.

The winter me has woken up, and the summer me goes into hibernation...

But on a beautiful sunny day, I do really love the autumn, and I don't mind the winter. When the air is high and the trees still have some colours, when the sun is warming my face - and when I have good gloves - then I really love also this part of Europe in the winter. The only disadvantage is that we don't have that many days like this - but when we do, then winter life is good, also outside!

And then all felt better

And then all felt better again, the issues I had with my flat are partly fixed I've slept well, amazing what good sleep can do.

I have the feeling that Germany right now is tired of me, trying to chew me up and spit me out...
Our love for each other is fading, although it could of course be the winter.

I have an Asia fever that is burning and I am not quite sure what to do about it.

I am feeling slightly confused.

And pretty frustrated.

from time to time.

And I suffer from the lack for sun and warmth.

HOW is your week?

Home - no, not me

Just realised that I won't be home a single weekend in November, and that feels great. I don't deal well with November, it is the worst month: It is dark, it is cold, it is wet in this part of the world, and I try to make sure I have  things to do, or I go mad.

November is the worst simply because it is when you REALLY see how dark it gets, in December you at least have the Christmas lights - even if that is less here than in Sweden, where everybody have lights in their windows. In Germany there are some, but not that many. We have the Christmas markets though. And the Christmas markets in Germany are quite nice, and that is how I survive December.

And January and February may be cold and wet too but in January and February you know that the light is slowly returning, and the mere thought of that is great, just knowing that it actually gets better - it saves me.

Plus you can go skiing and you can do other things. In November the skiing season hasn't really started, it is just wet and icky.

But it doesn't matter this year either because I am keeping myself busy!

By the way - japanese population in Düsseldorf

By the way: People have asked me in the past why there are so many people from Japan here and why there is such a strong bond between Japan and Düsseldorf. I don't know the answer to that but I always used to think that a lot of it is from after the war. I was wrong. Düsseldorf and Japan and the connection celebrates 150 years this year...

And WWII may have been a long time ago but it is certainly no 150 years ago...  :-)

Tomorrow it is Japan day

Tomorrow it is Japan Tag - Japan day - here in Düsseldorf. Normally it in the spring but this year it was moved to the autumn due to the horrible earthquake and follwing tsunami that hit japan in the spring.

I have written about Japan day several times before - use the search function to find more - and it is always a great event in this town with the very very strong Japanese connection and big japanese population.

The program is massive! I am looking forward to see what is going on on town! And the big finale - the fireworks, as always, and I expect that they will be as impressive as every year!

This time the big camera is coming with me out - just need to remember to check the battery!

So what are you doing this weekend?
 

Och så slog det mig...

Jag har bott i Düsseldorf i 3,5 år, snart 4. Många vänner i Sverige pratar fortfarande om hur kul det vore att ses, och många har också sagt att det vore kul att komma ner.

Och under mina 3,5 år här nere kan jag nog sammanlagt räkna mina besökare från sverige på mina två händer. Med tanke på att bara min närmsta familj kan räknas på två händer kan man räkna ut resten. Nej, svenskar reser inte, och om de reser är de andra platser som gäller, åtminstone för mina vänner, eller så kallade vänner.  Att en del inte kan komma ner kan jag förstå, som student är det inte alltid lätt, eller sjukskriven, men vi pratar om 3,5 år, inte 3,5 månader, så det har ju onekligen funnits tid att spara. Och ja, det stämmer, inte ens min närmaste släkt har varit nere, i alla fall inte alla. Det finns andra saker som prioriteras högre.

Det förväntas efter 3,5 år fortfarande att jag alltid ska vara den som kommer till Sverige, ett land jag lämnade. Jag har konstant dåligt samvete när jag är uppe för att jag inte hälsat på alla som jag vill hälsa på och jag springer omkring som en skottspole. Ja, jag åker bara upp över en helg när jag åker upp så kanske får jag "skylla mig själv", men i ärlighetens namn, under veckorna jobbar folk. Vad ska jag göra under veckodagar i Sverige? Annat än att göra slut på sememsterdagar? Stirra på väggarna? Det finns alltså bara helgerna att spela på oavsett - jag känner Göteborg, jag har varit där förrut, finns ingenting direkt för mig att upptäcka.

När det gäller Düsseldorf och Düsseldorf-området finns det däremot massor, de flesta har inte varit nere, så även om jag jobbar under veckorna kan besökare hitta saker att göra - jag skulle hjälpt dem, på samma sätt som jag gjorde när mina föräldrar var här - eller så kan man åka ner en helg. Husrum finns ju så det är bara resan det handlar om. Resan som jag måste göra till Sverige med jämna mellanrum är inte heller gratis.

Det är nog bara att inse att vänskapen helt enkelt inte var speciellt stark, för hade det funnits ett genuint intresse, så hade folk fått ändan ur vagnen och kommit ner, föreslagit en tidpunkt och frågat om det passat, och sedan bokat. Jag vet inte hur många gånger jag sagt till "vänner" och släktingar att det bara är att komma ner, och jag vet inte hur många gånger jag också talat om att jag har gott om plats. Men ingenting. Det är väl som de säger: Out of sight, out of mind.

Det räcker nu.

Det är dags att sluta ha dåligt samvete och dags att sluta springa runt som en tätting när jag är uppe.

Kan inte påstå att jag känner mig enormt motiverad att fortsätta åka upp till Sverige. Och fanns det någonsin någon tvekan, så understryker det här det ännu tydligare: Jag kommer aldrig någonsin att flytta tillbaka till Sverige. För i ärlighetens namn, vad ska jag göra där?

SWEDISH

Sweden is not my home, but on a day like today I am really Swedish - when it comes to sports.

Sweden qualified for Euro2012 yesterday, European championships in football - the real version, not the American "rugby" type, but the one with a round ball where we play with our feet... The one we on this side of the pond call football but the Americans use another name for.

Anyhow, on a day like this, I am really proud to be Swedish, and when it comes to the game, I am Swedish all the way through. I am only German when Sweden aren't in the game...

(Such a relief that we qualified, last time, in the World cup, we didn't - and that was the first big tournament we didn't qualify for in many years, so that was hard. But now we are back in the game!!!)

Advantages with visiting Sweden though

Advantages with visiting Sweden though:

I can get "Swedish Punsch" which is a kind of arrac that I need for the autumn Thursday dinners - yellow pea soup!

And I can get more yellow peas. Dried yellow peas. I can find them here in Germany too but it is not easy!

what is home

I got a message today saying that "I heard that you are coming home".
Took me a while to understand what they meant. I go home every evening, except if there is something very special going on elsewhere, or if I am out travelling.

And then I realised that there are still people who refer to somewhere else as my home. Sweden. The place that hasn't been my home in a very long time and hasn't felt like my home in even longer.

I do wonder how long it will take for people to realise that home is where my heart is, and where my suitcase is. And that is not in Sweden.

Atlanta - food city

Atlanta again. I wrote this post when I was flying back but didn't get around to posting it until today - it was on my "other" device and I hadn't syncronised.

There are few cities in US that offers what Atlanta offers in terms of food. San Francisco and New York are both amazing food cities but I always feel a bit rushed there, everybody is hurrying to the next spot. The bill comes in before you had a chance to even put down your knife and fork (or just fork, we are in US after all...).

In Atlanta, people takes the time. Food is important. It seems the world in a way circulates around food, and you can plan your day around what you are going to eat - an attitude that suits me. I'm a true foodie, I love to eat (luckily I also love to dance and to move in general so I kind of have the figure of a Californian (except for the chest) and the appetite of a southerner. Except my sweet tooth is not quite as bad.).

I have been visiting a very dear friend in Atlanta for a few days and I have eaten some fabulous meals. Including some marvellous seafood, slightly odd since Atlanta isn't on the coast but that doesn't matter, the seafood is fantastic. Over all I got to try some really good places. For seafood I can recommend Six Feet Under. Apparently the first of the restaurants was located across the street from a cemetery and hence the name "Six Feet Under". But the food is to die for too... We were all very pleased with out meals, and tried each others meals - tried the mussels (in tomato sauce - yummy!), the oysters Rockefeller (gratinated), the Aligator bites (mmmm!) and the clams with white beans and the Louisiana spicy sausage (my dish), after we had a starter of fabulous oysters. And we stayed long, and much of our discussions revolved around food.

I am so happy to have food friends all over the world. Good friends who understand my passion for food and who in many cases shares it. Food is fabulous. I refuse to eat to survive, I live to eat.
And we didn't just go out for food, we also cooked and ate at home.

And apparently I can cook too because I even had Atlantans asking me for recipes. That is a fantastic compliment. If a southerner asks for a recipe and really mean it, you are good. I even know men from the south who tells me they have dated women because of their ability to cook, and I also know men from the south who tells me they wouldn't ever marry anyone but a woman from the south because only women from the south can cook. I know that's not true, but again, the attitude towards food IS different, in general, in the south of US.

The south may still have many other faults - but food they understand. (OK, deep fried food is not my thing, but the attitude, the attitude I love!)

I'll be back in both Atlanta and New Orleans.

Facebook. Again. Now with location

And that, just there, may have been my last Facebook update on my own profile. It was up for three minutes and then I removed it. Because now Facebook is even listing, automatically, where I am when I am posting. No thanks.

You CAN remove it but if you don't pay attention you miss it. And how? Well you have to really search for it in the help, and there is no setting you can set to just not allow it. Facebook picks up when your IP address is coming from, and publishes it.

Instead of a specific place, you can choose to include the city or area you’re in. This will appear next to the timestamp of your post. We’ll suggest where you’re nearby. If we’re off or you don’t want to say what city you’re near, you can remove it by clicking the “x” that appears when you hover over the location tag.

I have no intention to have that info on my profile, just like I don't have the city I am living in under "info", nor where I am from or where I studied and so forth.

Planning on where to go next

Travel planning again, there is a restless soul in me...

I try to go away at least once a month although often - mainly - just for a weekend. It doesn't have to be far, but I need to get out of the house or I drive myself (and everybody else) crazy.

Plus I'm in the middle of Europe with easy access to everything, I'm not going to be there, the day I move, on realising I haven't seen anything, really. I want to take the opportunity to see and explore when I can, who knows what happens tomorrow?

But seeing all the exotic places on the board in the airport I realise that I will have to start exploring other areas too, more, and that I have so much more to see.

I try and experience one new county every year but now I am running out of new areas in the nearby... Guess I eventually have to find myself a new "nearby".

Facebook is free?

Oh, by the way, in all these discussions around Facebook and the data etc? Quite a while ago I posted a blogpost about how Facebook is free and always will be, according to Facebook themselves (Screenshot included).

But of course this is not true. You may not pay with money, but you pay with your data... Facebook need to get their money from somewhere, and selling your data, contact network and so forth is of course one way, the direct marketing channels are happy to be able to reach you through Facebook. It is not a secret and nothing strange. It's just the way it is.

But this, my friends is a reason as good as any to really think about what you click on and which articles you "like" and so forth, because the more of that you do, the higher the value for Facebook. And the more you actually pay, even if not with Dollars or Euros...

Personally I am wonder if the price we pay is actually an overprice. But it is up to each and everyone to decide which price they are prepared to pay.

Distracted

Everybody who knows me well, knows that I am a foodie. Well, a lot of people who don't know me well probably knows I am a foodie too...

I take the train to and from work. It is perfect, sometimes I read, sometimes I sleep, sometimes I just sit and relax and listen to a podcast. I never slept so hard that I missed a stop though. I sometimes was too deep into a book and missed getting off - happened a few times.

And today, today I was really distracted. I was thinking about food and fantastic restaurants I had been to recently - and I just missed getting off! I didn't react until the train got to the end station! Very happy that it was a train that only went a few stations after my stop or I could have ended up in a totally different city from the one I was supposed to get off in! How about that for distracted!

Hmmm...

Facebook tip again

OK, about Facebook and Facebook settings... Sorry for being repetitive...

First one thing: Don't leave Facebook on in the background while you surf on other websites, Facebook are about to release an update where your websites may be displayed. I have a link to further info but it is just in Sweden, I'm afraid, so there is no point in posting it here.

(All I can say is I always log out - also protects me from people logging on and updating for me, or checking information that is not for them to check.)

But the main purpose of this blog post  was to share a little something that I found out and tested yesterday... And it has to do with a previous blogpost, also around Facebook.

I used to always share with specific groups, including a group containing all my friends, to avoid having companies that I liked etc seeing my information - I never ever shared with "friends" or "freinds of friends", as pre defined by Facebook but I shared with a limited group, I prefer to chose whom to share with rather than whom not to, and I would only share with my lists. With the current change I am however revealing my friends that way, if I share with a list everybody who can see the post can also see exactly whom I shared with (on Google Plus they do something similar, but there they just display the full names of some of the users and then says "And xx other people". On FB you can see everybody, written out, even if I have set my settings to not show friends. So it kind of defeats it's purpose, and was something I complained about in the previous post.

But I found a kind of work-around.: The new way of doing it is what many people already do: To allow Friends Only and then just block the lists you don't want to share with. That way I can for example block people from Germany from seeing posts that are just relevant for people who speak Swedish, or I can post things that are only relevant for Düsseldorf users. BUT! Now that I share with "friends only" also people that have not yet accepted a friend request can see all the info posted to "my friends" so I am adding people to a block list until they have accepted.

There are some things I don't like with the new setup but I can't do anything about it except use Facebook less - which I already do. 

But I find it disturbing that Facebook chances the approach completely from on a regular basis, and that I have to opt out rather than opt in, which would otherwise have been the more fair solution.

OH! And don't, I repeat, DON'T use the Facebook Family list nor the Local list, it seems, the list of users that you work with. Seems all these new special lists that Facebook have created for us also adds information to the other person's profile, just like when you try and list that you are in a relationship with someone etc.  Create your own lists instead of using the default, don't make it easy for Facebook to take your information and categorize you. I dislike being categorised by friends and even more so by companies.

So: As I can't chose a list of people to share with (due to reasons above), just whom to block it from, I also share with non-personal accounts that I "liked" or follow, they are having the same access as my "friends". So therefore I have deleted all the things that I "liked". And I will not allow any applications etc in the future either. Fact is, I have deleted all personal information from Facebook, and most of my albums as well. And I go in and clean up my "wall" too, on a regular basis.

My advice is really that everybody does the same. I am not leaving but I am becoming more and more restrictive with my use.

Facebook is of course not a charity, they are making money on selling our information but I still don't see a reason why we should make it easier than necessarily...

(But then again I was always difficult...)