Livet på distans - from a distance

Thai food in Düsseldorf

2012-02-09T09:01:00.001+01:00

There used to be a place in Düsseldorf where I would stop now and then when passing through, to get a quick meal. A Thai place. A place where they would make real Thai food if you just asked them.
I would talk to them and ask for Thai Thai and not German Thai, and, just like they do in Thailand, they would cook it on the spot, and I'd get it served nice, warm and hot, Thai hot. The first time they were a bit careful, but when I again underlined that I wanted it really hot, that's what I got.

Just like in Thailand.

And the funny thing is it was so unexpected, it's a Thai place in the hauptbahnhof - main station.

But that was then. Now they refuse to make the food Thai style, the only food they now serve is German Thai, which unfortunately means totally without proper flavour. It's turned from an excellent fast food variant to totally boring, totally blend (and totally German style service too). So I can no longer find proper Thai food on the way somewhere. There are still some fairly good Thai restaurants around but also many that are rather blend. And all the ones that are good are a bit further away and require you to sit down and
take your time, it is not possible to get the food like you get it in Thailand. And it makes me sad. What they serve now is pre cooked - and very boring.

If I want Germans style "Thai food" I can eat that much cheaper in the canteen, and the taste is pretty much the same too. I cook better Thai food myself. So I guess that's what I will have to do.

No more special treats - I'll get a sandwish. Or a sausage - this is Germany after all...

Drying laundry outside

2012-02-08T19:23:00.000+01:00

My neighbours are still, despite -12 degrees, drying laundry outside. I am tryly impressed. I don't use a tumble dryer myself, but I hang the laundry in the bathroom. In Gothenburg, my home town, you can't get laundry to dry outside in the winter, there is too much humidity. But apparently, in Germany, you can...

I had to google it to try and find out at what temperatures you can still do this but it seems it can be well below freezing - see this Wikipedia entry about drying laundry...

Amazed.

Anna Ternheim on tour

2012-02-07T21:51:00.000+01:00

The amazing Anna Ternheim, Swedish sing/song writer is performing in Cologne (Köln) on Saturday, in Kulturkirche.

And I forgot to buy tickets...

Love Ternheim's voice and her music is amazing.

When I remembered to look for tickets, beginning of January, the concert was already totally sold out, so now I am monitoring to see if I can manage to go somewhere else where she is playing, but in the meantime I have her new record and there is always YouTube...

Ugly Naked Guy's wife

2012-02-06T18:27:00.001+01:00

Ugly naked Guy on the other side of the street has a wife.
Ugly naked Guy's wife washes her feet in the bathroom sink.

I could also tell you what ugly naked guy reads when he is using the toilet but I prefer not to. (Actually I can't at all, it is a little bit too far, but I can see that they are reading).

I have been contemplating sending them a blinder, anonymously. No "return to sender". There is no way they can have missed how visible they are, but they simply can't care. Clear glass in the bathroom window, and the brightest light ever. The other naked guy, who is in another flat, at least isn't aware of how visible he is when standing naked next to the window, at least it is one of those proper bathroom windows, with glass that isn't supposed to be fully see through. But having the shower next to the window is is anyhow a good idea to have a curtain or at least close the existing one... But again, he is at least not aware of it. Ugly naked guy straight across must be. He MUST.

German exhibitionism? But Germans are otherwise so careful with covering up their windows, to a degree that it gets ridiculous. They love being naked on the beach and other public places but they will not let anyone look inside their kitchens. Well, I don't know - I am also not going to try and figure it out...

Why don't German water freeze?

2012-02-05T15:09:00.002+01:00

It's fascinates me, why don't German water freeze? the big rivers with lots of water, with waters that never stand still I can sort of understand, but what about the smaller streams?

Spent the weekend visiting friends in the south of Germany, not so far from Stuttgart, and I was noticing, with amazement, that the waters were still open. The Schönen Blauen Donau - why doesn't the waters freeze. And not just the big river, also the tiny little streams were open. It is after all minus 16 degrees, and while my friend said that it hadn't been cold for very long, the extreme cold has still been here for a week, ever since the winds changed and the winds started to blow in from Russia.

And the same goes for Düsseldorf, our waters remain open too...

I've truly been enjoying the weekend though,despite the mystery of waters that never freeze and the cold cold weather, I may not be a good skier but I am very good at wearing ski equipment... Layers, layers, scarves, gloves, proper hat, proper shoes, and yes, ski trousers, and the cold is no longer hard to deal with, the hard part is getting in from the outside, before the layers have been peeled off...
I could get used to this if it doesn't happen too often....

Don't complain

2012-02-02T21:03:00.001+01:00

It is -10 degrees outside (Celsius that is), abeit sunny (which is of course very nice), but it is really biting cold. And there are more people on the streets without a hat than with one. And that's even if I include baseball caps and so forth.

And there are lots of people without a scarf.

And yet more people that aren't wearing gloves.

No wonder people are cold.

But if you don't have the common sense to dress properly, don't complain. It is one thing if you are caught out but in this case we weren't, it has been cold for a few days. I admit it, I don't like to stick my nose out the door either, but when I do, I dress accordingly. Who CARES about fashion and about hat hair?!? And even if I cared about fashion I don't look good when I have a cold so I thought avoiding that would be a nice thing - and starting with being properly dressed for cold weather feels like a great first step.

Meh! What was I thinking?!?

2012-02-02T13:28:00.000+01:00

Flipping cold today, although luckily I have been asked to work from home today - talk about timing.
But I is a bit chilly in the flat, or at least in the living room where I am sitting with work things).
Got a nice warm sweater and a big scarf - also because I like scarves and sweaters.

But I was worried about the temperatures. And then it hits me - I COULD of course just turn the heating up a bit... It's as if I hadn't even thought about that option. I am saving the max for when it gets really cold, so that there is always the chance to get it a bit warmer if needed - my emergency heating, if you like. But seriously, how many times in the winter is it going to be colder than around -10 in Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf where some of my friends were still biking last week, Düsseldorf that normally, in wintertime, is a few degrees above freezing? What AM I saving for?

Except that is in my nature, I was brought up with a father that saved everything - because you never know what will happen - and my mother is pretty good at it too. I can't help who I am, can I? But I can fight it...

So now the radiators have been turned up a bit. Still not to max though, I still have some margins, but still (and I don't want it to be too warm anyhow, if it is too warm I get sleepy.)

I'm ready

2012-02-02T08:15:00.001+01:00

I'm ready to be swept of my feet.
Now the only question is how to get that message through. And to the RIGHT person this time? :-)
And it's not just because it's cold and it would be nice to have something to warm my toes on, although I must admit that it would be nice to not have to worry that my hot water bottle will start leaking because i didn't tighten the lid enough...

And also, the hot water bottle doesn't buy me flowers ;-)

Although who am I to complain, I love my hot water bottle! See, hot water bottles, that's a thing we don't really do in Sweden - another unexpected life quality enhancer with not living there anymore - an easy way to get warm feet. Tried for the first time in freezing cold Belfast, now a commonly used winter companion. Adore my water bottle!

(And to be honest... I said no to a date this week just to stay in with my water bottle... It is a very faithful waterbottle)

Brussels sprouts

2012-02-01T21:11:00.001+01:00

I have developed an addiction. Until September 2011 I would have said it would be impossible, and now... It is a serious one too - Brussels Sprouts!

Until September 2011 Brussels sprouts was one of the things I just couldn't stand. I don't like them, I just don't - or I didn't I should say. They would be served now and then and at least lately I would be able to take a few just to be polite, and survive having to eat them, but I really found them horrible. Didn't matter how healthy they are, I seriously disliked them - although at least it had gone from hate to serious dislike, always a step forward.

And then I was in New Orleans and they were served in a salad, but not cooked, they were roasted/baked in the oven. And since then I am stuck. It took me a little while but after I got back I started to experiment, and now I do them at least once a week, sometimes several days in a row... Brussels sprouts made in the oven.

Cut them in half, sprinkle olive oil over, balsamico, a little bit of salt - and bake them in the oven, around 175 degrees (Celsius, that is), for some 40 minutes or until they are tasty, soft but not too soft. I keep making them, and I keep finishing them, most of the time they don't even make it to the salad that I prepared them for, I finish them straight out of the oven pan, while preparing the rest of the meal.

I just CAN'T STOP myself...

I go through BAGS of them...

And now I found how to make them even better - drizzle a little bit of honey onto them before putting them in the oven. HEAVEN!

Brussels sprouts. Who would have guessed...

I am bad

2012-02-01T07:29:00.001+01:00

I am really bad. I refuse to call people Herr Doktor or Frau Doktor. (Mr Doctor, Ms Doctor). I think it is ridiculous.

Maybe because we in Sweden don't really use titles at all - except for for the royals - read about how we lost the titles here - Sweden.se is a great source of information when you want to know about Sweden.

But I realise I have to use the Dr title here in Germany, and normally family name, at least when speaking German, so I do, but I really do refuse to add a "Frau" or a "Herr" as well, it shouldn't matter if he/she is a woman or a man, the person deserved a doctor degree and that should be all that matters. So I call them just Doctor. I pretend that I don't understand that you are supposed to add a Mr or Ms as well... Because I think it is very very silly!

(Update: But yes, I know, it is needed in German from a grammatical point of view. I still don't like the "but you are a woman before you are a doctor" kind of attitude it feels like it is bringing).

Language course

2012-01-31T21:24:00.000+01:00

I have signed up for a language course once a week. Thought it would be fun and that it is about time I learn a new language. Want to try something very different this time, something I haven't done before, a language that isn't one of the languages that "everybody" in the western world speaks. I wanted something far away from German.

Figured I will improve my German at the same time as the course will be in the foreign language but helped by German where needed. That way I will also get a better understanding of German, especially the grammar. I mean, I do speak German, but it is VERY far from perfect, and it takes time, especially writing. But I learn every day - and now I will increase that to include another language...

It will be fun.

Or just really scary.

But the good news is, I havent said anything about how well I need to learn the new language, quite frankly my goal right now is to get some basic understanding and learn to order a meal, anything else will be a very nice bonus.

We shall see, we shall see...

I am never hte less excited about it! What a challenge - and what a great new year resolution!

the heat is on

2012-01-31T14:10:00.000+01:00

Or at least the heating.
Because now the real cold is on the way, the cold from Russia is on the way, even if the temperatures are expected to be between 0 and -8 this week, it seems it is going to be windy. I am not impressed, not at all. Although as long as it is also sunny I guess I can (perhaps) survive.

Snow and ice and cold is so much better when it is somewhere else than at home...

That odd moment

2012-01-30T22:18:00.027+01:00

I really need to work on the signals I am sending out.

The good friend who really is a good friend, someone you thought you were really connecting with. On a friendship level. But really connected with.

And then that odd moment: "I think we should be just friends". And then the even more odd response, when I stare at him and spontaneously say "but... We ARE just friends?!?".

I really wish I could take that back and say "Oh, yes, you are right, I have thought about it and I think you are right", there was no reason for me to make him feel odd or awkward or anything, I should just have played along and pretended to be surprised or hurt or surprised or something. But to be honest, there was never any of that kind of chemistry - with this guy I only connected as a friend.

Which isn't to say that there aren't OTHER guys I might have some other interest in but not THIS guy.

Although to be honest, I value friendships tremendously, especially the friends I am getting close to. Probably more than anything else, because friendships tend to last. I adore the male friends who I know well and that come to me with all kinds of problems they may have - with women, with work, with everything. I thought this guy was one of them all along. But I think there is a difference in cultures, to be honest. In a way it was so much easier when I wasn't single, because with the friendships that I built when I was in a relationship there were never any doubt, when I was in a relationship it was always 100% clear that we were friends even if we came from different backgrounds, me and my new friends. Now all of a sudden I am making friends with guys who may not be so used to having friends "of the other gender" And guys who are used to women, or singles in general, being out there "looking". I am not. If Mr Right would come along, fine, but otherwise, I am perfectly happy and content.

Well, hopefully my friend doesn't have a problem with me not being devastated and hopefully we can really be friends, because that's really all I want from this guy. No awkwardness, no nothing else, just friendship. A good friendship. A good and sound friendship, because we have a lot to talk about and we really get along well...

It is really that strange to be happy having good friends and not be searching, and is it really that strange to have both female and male friends, married, single, with kids, without kids?

And on a separate note

2012-01-27T18:46:00.001+01:00

And on a separate note I never understood why Ivanhoe picked the blond girl - but then again men seem to normally do that. Pick the blond chick, that is...

A general wednesday

2012-01-25T18:30:00.000+01:00

Well, today at I am anyhow going to the cinema. What are you doing today?

I am quite excited about the cinema actually, I haven't seen a film in the cinema since... Well, since - and here I was about to use one of those sayings that we use but are really quite silly, it is enough to say it's been a while. A long while. Always so much else going on and when the weather is nice I don't want to go sit in some dark cinema, I want to be out and enjoy the light. Plus I sleep really well in front of a film, but I don't want to sleep in the cinema.

Today I am watching a dubbed film, something that normally is against my principles but sometimes a gal must make exceptions - and this time I do, because it is the only way I can see the specific film in the cinema, it is not shown in English here in Germany - so it is the only opportunity I have. I refuse to travel abroad just to be able to see films! Hollywood drama we can catch in one of the cinemas, far away from the city centre, but other films? Only the day before the premiere, then they are shown in original language.

OH, can't wait to go to the cinema! That I am looking forward It's not because I go with someone special, because I don't. Or well, I do, it is a special FRIEND. But a friend. A female friend, A good female friend. And she wanted to see the film.

Feels good that I am actually going to see a film. Me! I! I am going to the cinema!!!

(I still don't understand why they insist on dubbing everything in Germany though, I think it is really bad, the sound is as much a part of the production as the photo, if you ask me. Some of my German (male) friends despise subtitles but I despise dubbing more. Subtitles you get used to and you may even learn a bit of language...)

Oh well, enough ramblings from my side, lets just summarise by saying I am looking forward to seeing a film!

Funny how things change

2012-01-24T18:11:00.000+01:00

up and down, here and there, and I am totally confused and at the same time I have never been more sure, as me tomorrow what I feel and it may be a world different than what I feel today and where is life taking me and where am I going?

I think someone needs a bit of space and air and time to think - but then again I was just away and had a lot of space and air and time on my hands, and did that help?
Perhaps what I need is going away with a close friend and just go on and on and over and over, and then start fresh with fresh thoughts. Or even go away and not think about anything at all.

Travel to someone, allowing someone to just take care of me, control things and make sure I just do what I never do - follow.

Fact is that I am pretty sure that that is exactly what I need.

But at work everything is great!

Cooking

2012-01-23T22:12:00.001+01:00

Practising...
:-)

Update January 24:
Too funny... I learned this morning, after having read an article about the big furniture shop and their food, that one of the biggest exports, from a food perspective, from Sweden, is actually Tex-Mex food?!?
Interesting. I checked several articles and found information that supported that. Most in Swedish but here is a link to an English news article.
Who would have thought! Seems the Swedish Chef knew what he was talking about?!?

Pin codes are not secure

2012-01-19T21:37:00.000+01:00

Pin codes are not secure when you get one billion pin codes to keep track of - to have a chance to remember the ones you don't use every day you have to write them down. And as soon as they have been written down they are not very safe anymore...

And dear credit card companies: Great that you want to identify me when I am calling in, but getting me to give them a date that is "especially important" to me, when I come from a big family and have plenty of experience and hence plenty of important dates: Well, guess, what, I am not going to remember which of the important dates I picked, when I have to call you once every second or third year, just to activate my card.

And don't tell me to use the birthdate of my mum or dad. First of all I would still have to remember that I picked that, and which of my parents I actually picked, and second: That is pretty unsafe too, as that at least in Sweden is official information and anyone can find out when my parents were born.

Chubby

2012-01-19T16:26:00.001+01:00

Promise to myself: Never work from home when there are still biscuits from Christmas in the freezer.
There are no bisquits in the freezer anymore...

Just saying...

(Update: I am not chubby. But if I often work from home when there are biscuits in the freezer I may soon be... )

Peculiar

2012-01-18T19:09:00.000+01:00

The Germans are very peculiar when it comes to smoking. Now, there IS a different between different cities and different states in Germany and NRW has a ridiculous amount of smokers do it may be worse here. But never the less I am going to generalise.

Show a German a bar and he will claim his right to smoke. Germans smoke in bars and many restaurants are so smoked in that the food taste of it... They may have a smoking ban but as soon as the kitchen closes everybody will light up.

When they tried to ban smoking on a country level it just lead to everybody coming up with exceptions and after two months everywhere were totally smoky again.

OK, there are a few exceptions but compared to the rest of EU, this land is foggy. At least from cigarette smoke. No one tells a German where he/she can smoke.

As long as its in a bar or possibly a restaurant that is.

But in the train station it is different?!?

Outside, on the platform, smoking is allowed only in certain areas, areas marked only with a yellow line on the asphalt.

And here it works, here the Germans manage to stick to their little corners. Here they don't seem to have a problem being told where they can smoke and where not? What's up with that?!?

Why in the open air and not in a restaurant? Beats me, I wonder if I'll ever fully understand this country?!? I like it, but understand it? No. I don't know if it's even possible...

There is a Swede living here

2012-01-17T00:20:00.001+01:00

I realised Sunday that my mission is almost complete, you can now see that there is a swede living here...

Got lights in almost all my windows now... Because that is what we do, we Swedes, we like our lights. I even have timers for some of them so that there can be a sign of life before I get home, I don't like it when the flat is completely dark when I get home, but I don't like to leave lights on when it's bright outside either.

The Germans, on the other hand, have very little lights, very few lamps and very little lights.

The real hard core Germans could even skip having windows all in all because in Germany they like their curtains covering their windows 24/7.

German villages don't give a very lively impression. They may be, but they don't give that impression...

2012-01-16T23:40:00.002+01:00

It is a "funny" video, but it is an important message never the less. There is no such thing as picture perfect, we are all humans... A friend posted it on Facebook, as a joke, but I personally think it is a pretty good message if you get hte irony.

Tell or not tell

2012-01-13T13:11:00.002+01:00

I am kind of getting close to someone.

Who blogs.

And I haven't told him that I do too.

How long can I wait until it gets really awkward that I didn't say something? If it is long enough I will end up in the strange zone where I can't tell him at all.

(Actually I kind of like that zone. Perhaps I will just stay there. I really don't think everybody needs to know everything. Just saying.)

And by the way, I am blogging anonymously (kind of) anyhow, he isn't.

Out of sync

2012-01-12T08:50:00.001+01:00

After four years in Germany I still haven't figured out why the traffic lights never seem to be in sync. Nor have I been able to find any kind of pattern. If you are walking you can bet that you at most crossings have to stop and wait in the middle, because when your side turns green that other one soon turns red. And it there are three parts to cross, one may be green and the other two red. And which one is green seem to be a lottery.

And it's not that it works swell for the cars either, they have to stop and start and stop and start and stop and start too.

Wonder how much CO2 could be saved if they managed to get the green wave right, i.e. get a working system with as many green lights as possible in a row.

Not to mention in how much better shape many people would be if they could walk without interruption...

2012-01-11T20:07:00.000+01:00

No, I don't like stupid jokes about how women are, and men that joke about marriages being such a bad thing shouldn't get married. It is really that simple. If something is bad, and you have a choice, don't choose it. It is that simple.
OK, women can joke about women, it is OK to joke about yourself, but stupid jokes (not any joke, but the stupid ones) about how bad someone else is are not funny. They are just stupid.

And that is all I wanted to say.

And it is equally bad when women do nothing but complain about their guys not being able to do this or that, when in reality it is because we don't trust them with it or try to keep the task to ourselves. That is not funny either. It is just stupid and makes us stick to ridiculous preconceptions on what a man is "allowed" to do vs what a woman is "allowed" to do.

No wonder we don't get anywhere when it comes to equal rights.

Can we please try and allow each other to be individuals now?

German toilet lids

2012-01-09T20:22:00.000+01:00

Things I don't understand: Why can't German women close the toilet lids? What do people think the lid is for? Decoration?

I don't say anything at work, but I think it. And no, can't blame the men for this one, it is in the ladies room, and there are never any men in there, even though I know the men often get the blame in other countries and other locations, but here it is really only the women using the bathroom.

It even happened to me that I was yelled at, in a club, because I had closed the toilet lid. The person coming in after me got really angry with me. Odd thing to be angry about. And I continue to close the lid, also so that I don't drop anything and it falls into the toilet, because that would be really awful, I definitely don't want to try and fish something out, and flushing, as a friend's father did when I was young(er) and he had accidentally dropped the toothbrushes into the toilet (yes - brushES, they were in a glass that toppled over) is not a good idea, it is so expensive to have the plumbing fixed because something got stuck...

But there are many reasons to close the toilet lid - apparently all reasons not got enough for the Germans because I have never seen so many unclosed lids as here.

On the other hand they also love to keep their bathroom windows open so that it is freezing cold in there, plus the warmer air, the "old" air from the bathroom if you like, is pressed into the rest of the flat/house/what ever shared space there is. A bit of air never hurt anyone but the Germans take it to extremes. Mid winter, and sure enough, the bathroom window is open...

Well, at least they most of the time have the common sense to switch of the radiators.

My address - is this a Harry Potter moment

2012-01-09T12:12:00.000+01:00

Builders were supposed to arrive this morning at 7.
Five minutes past the phone rings, when I pick it up it is them, the builders. Telling me that my address doesn't exists.

And the weird thing is my address also doesn't exist on Google Maps, nor in some of the systems that Deutsche Post uses. The house next to mine is there, and the one on the other side too, but not my address. Somehow my house is invisible. You can see it on pictures, you just can't find it in any systems. It sometimes worries me.

But maybe it is a positive sign, I live in a fairytale world where nothing is real and I can let my imagination take me anywhere. My world is magical and I just have to remember that it is...

Although the builders manage to find their way in the end, after we start talking about what's on the other side of the street they realise they are on the wrong street and they do indeed manage to find my door and my doorbell, and it doesn't take many minutes, and then they are there...

Getting lost

2012-01-07T20:22:00.000+01:00

I don't like shopping. And I really really don't like shopping in big malls. I get a bit claustrophobic and people are in the way. If I can go into the shop from the street at least there is fresh air just before I enter the shop.

But from there to actually getting LOST in a shopping mall?!?

In Egypt I could understand it, there I ended up in a huge mall where some entrances were just entrances and some of the exists were locked, plus there so many different levels and it was built like a labyrinth of sorts.

But today I actually managed to not find my way out of a small mall in Düsseldorf?!?
I stopped paying attention and just wanted to get out and home with all my bags, full of things I had picked up because I needed them (see, I do shop, I just don't see the fun in it, and I am a very efficient - fast - shopper).

Oh well, no more shops for me in a while, obviously I can't handle it.

Light!!!

2012-01-06T17:31:00.001+01:00

Can't with words describe how great it feels to leave work at 17 (5pm) in the beginning of January, and it's not even dark yet.

Definitely remember some of the reasons I prefer Germany to Sweden... ;-)

It's only in the western world...

2012-01-04T19:57:00.001+01:00

I have no problems with the food when I am travelling - stick to local foods, eat in places where they serve a lot of customers (so that the food isn't sitting for long), and don't eat the European type of food that can be difficult for the locals to know how to handle - heck, even in Sweden and Germany it is the mayonnaise that very often makes people ill - and the same rules that they write about every year for buffets you need to adhere to when you travel. I don't eat buffet food at all, normally, not if I can avoid it. And if I do, I certainly don't touch the mayo, and also not cream and milk and so forth, as I can't handle lactose very well - actually that is how it all started, I wouldn't eat food that could potentially contain milk products on the buffet, and therefore I was lucky and never got ill when having for example the typical Swedish Christmas buffet in a restaurant before Christmas.

Anyhow, I have written about that before, so I am not going to bore you with it.

But I really don't have any issues, despite eating street food, also in Indonesia and Egypt, two countries that they say you need to be in for a little while, getting used to the food, and the bacteria specific for that area/region, before you can start enjoying the food. I go straight for the streetfood, just following my own simple rules (OH, and yes, I do carry some antibacterial gel or so so I can "wash" my hands before eating, as soap and water isn't always availabe.
And I never have any problems.

And then I get to Germany and start eating canteen food, and my whole body starts protesting. Not the way other people's bodies are protesting in Egypt and elsewhere, but the German canteen food really doesn't appeal to me, and I really don't feel happy after eating it - I can't explain the feeling but it is as if my body gets semi depressed by the lack of flavours and the greasiness and the saltiness. Yuck!

My New Year resolution for 2012 really must be to cook and bring more lunches myself! I had forgotten how bad bad food is for me. At least the people working in the canteen are very very sweet but it doesn't help much when the food isn't...

Why do we try to create templates and put people in these?

2012-01-03T22:40:00.000+01:00

I never understood the templates that people create, I never fitted into them. God knows that there were times I WANTED to fit in but I didn't - and now I am happy I didn't, I am what I am and I am who I am and I am very proud of that.

I am and always was a very stubborn girl, thankfully, so it wasn't very easy to label me, I would go my own way anyhow. I was a bit shy when I was younger, but learned to work with that (even though that took longer than needed, but that was due to other factors).

I am also very happy that my mother stopped trying to get me to dress in certain ways very early on, she would say that I was the one who was going to be comfortable with what I am wearing so I was allowed to dress myself from a very early age - probably a good idea, you need to know which fights to pick! I never wore dresses (or at least very seldom) when I was a kid, I was more comfortable with clothes that would let me climb my trees and discover the forest, and so forth. Which didn't mean I didn't like to dress up from time to time, I remember, with love, still, a beautiful shiny skirt, black background, and bright flowers, that flew beautifully when I was whirling. It was, looking at it now, a pretty hideous dress, all synthetic, but I loved it, I had gotten it from my second cousin, who had outgrown it years before. The thought of that skirt still makes me smile - the feeling of everybody watching when I was spinning round and round and round, admiring the skirt flowing.

But anyhow, this was not going to be about me but about labelling in general...

Got this very well written article from a friend, it's from "Rethinking Schools" - the title being "It is OK to be Neither". Now, I don't really like the title of the article, because at first the title gave me the impression that it is about not being a boy OR a girl, but reading the text the theme of the article is more around not putting certain expectations onto a person just because her/his gender. A girl is a girl regardless if she wears clothes that some people associate more with boys, and the other way around - and it is very important that we are aware of the stereotypes we unfortunately have in society, because only when we are aware we can challenge them, and only when we challenge them, can we get somewhere. When we in the western world fool ourselves to think that we are so equal, and that people in other parts of the world are the only ones that need to change, we are in thin ice. Obliviousness is not OK - we need to be aware. If we aren't aware, how are we ever going to reach equal salaries for the same job, how are we ever going to reach a state where everybody is free to make their own choice, and be who they are?

I have always felt very much like a girl, I am a girl - well, now a woman, but a female, never the less, but I was never comfortable with the labels and with the expectations, the things I "had" to like just because I was a girl/woman. I'm still not, but now not fitting in is something I am very proud of. And I DO fit in in many ways, just not in all. I guess it is what is called social competence and it needs to be practised.

What I really wish for 2012 is a year when boys and girls, gals and guys, ladies and gentlemen, men and women, female and male can be who they are, regardless if that means guys wearing nail polish and women going to Formula 1, or women wearing skirts, and men top hats. We are individuals, aren't we, not a gender?!?

I know I am...

Germans and their windows

2012-01-03T07:36:00.000+01:00

There have been times here in Germany when I wondered why they have windows, as the average German always have curtains covering the full window, to stop anyone from seeing someone. Being Scandinavian I need my light.

But where I live now I wish that some people would have curtains closed all the time. Or at least when in the bathroom, when the toilet is right in front of the window. It bugs me, I really don't like to see my neighbours in the bathroom, especially not on the toilet. That is a bit too much. And we are not talking about a tiny little light either, we are talking lights so bright that they could have been used where surgeries are performed... How rude, on a scale, is it to send a blinder over, anonymously? Because this is what I am contemplating...

Or a small light that gives them some cosy light instead of the sharp and very bright light that almost allows me to see WHAT they are reading in the bathroom...

Children and colour

2012-01-02T18:32:00.000+01:00

A friend sent me this link, I wish I had been in Brisbane to see it myself - the artist Yayoi Kusama created a room all covered in white and then gave children stickers and they helpded decorating... You can read more about it in Colossal, a magazine (online) that writes about art and design.
I love it, it is such a strong expression, but then again, the stickers are coloured stickers, not the stickers that you find here and there and that would make a much messier impression.

I'll keep an eye open for this artist, I want to learn more about her!

The Citadel, Cairo

2012-01-02T12:31:00.000+01:00

After having been to Cairo, and seen a lot and done a lot, I have some ideas what to do and in what order - I'm a semi skilled traveller by now and prefer to make my own itinerary, often depending on what I feel like that specific day. But I also learn with every trip I make. Luckily, because life would be boring if one didn't learn and didn't try to develop, wouldn't it?

For Cairo I would really recommend that one starts with what I had last on the sightseeing part of my tripo, namely the Citadel. Cairo is a big city- much bigger than one may understand when one is there. You hear it, and you see the hectic traffic, and you hear the numbers - but you don't really understand it. I spent a lot of time walking around, crossing the Nile, walking here and there, strolling around in the bazar (the Souks), looking around, meeting people, and so on. I understood that it was big. But not how big.

And then I went to Citadel, and then I understood. The Citadel (link to Wikipedia), built to defend Cairo from the crusaders (and one really had to have defence against the crusaders, they were not exactly friendly, there is an interesting book called "The Crusades according to the Arabs" by Amin Maalouf, that I would really recommend everbody to read, gives you an interesting view into the whole era, but from another angle), is placed on a height, overlooking the city. While the citadel in itself is interesting, as its a part of the history and very beautiful, especially with the mosques, and there are some museums up there too, the most interesting part may well be that you get up a bit and you get to see Cairo from above - a magnificent sight! I was also lucky enough to actually have blue sky when I was there, and that's when I really realised how vaste the city is!

I could see places I had walked, areas I had tried to reach, and I almost got dizzy from seeing it, it is just so enormous, and goes on for block after block after block, and it seems to be in a form of chaos, but it is an interesting and fascinating chaos, a chaos I could stand and watch for a long time...

If, no, when I return to Cairo, and if I come with someone who hasn't been, I will be visiting the Citadel again. The citadel, and then down to the river, the Nile, the Nile that is the reason why Cairo is where it is, the Nile that is the very reason Egypt could live and bloom the way it did in the past, before modern transport and watering systems...

An addiction - Turkish coffee

2011-12-29T11:46:00.001+01:00

I have a new twist to my caffeine addiction:Turkish coffee. Thick as tar, boiled with sugar if you want sugar - never add it after. In Greece it is called Greek coffee, in Egypt (and of course in Turkey) it goes under the name Turkish. Here it is with cardamom as well. And it is hard to resist, especially where the alternative often is the cafe Americano, some watered down espresso (if you are lucky), that hurts your tastebuds as well as your belly.

The Turkish coffee is thick, hot, with a strong aroma and it makes my senses sing and my happiness index to hit new levels. Turkish coffee is prepared with love. Turkish coffee, thanks for bringing me back to life!!!

Cairo museums

2011-12-29T07:17:00.002+01:00

Call me a blasphemer, but I don't like them. The Cairo museums that is, I'm not impressed. And it's not because of the guards following you around trying to practice their English, that bit is actually kind of cute, if slightly annoying after a while.

But, just like many museums also in Europe, they miss an opportunity to tell a great story. The museums here basically just put everything in monsters and then there is a little sign saying what it is in as few words as possible.

I find it boring and not money well spent, old rocks I have seen before, it's old rocks. Or church doors or sarcophaguses or whatever it may be. What I want to see is not that, what I want to see how the things were used, hear the story about a potential use, see the families before me, maybe even smell the smells, hear the sounds from the streets, the master addressing his slave, the dinner being cooked, the funerals prepared, the mummies being wrapped. Or the grave diggers and plunderers climbing up the pyramids, hearing the bats swooshing around their heads, a lonely dog howling somewhere in the darkness, far out there, on a late and slightly cold night, when you hear the wind swooping between the pyramids making that special sound that sounds like a humming...

In Hong Kong I visited the Historical museum, and that is an amazing experience, and 1000 times more interesting than what you see here, Hong Kong have a lot to teach us. It's no wonder so many people find museums boring. There is no LIFE. And how can you miss the life in a country so full of history, like Egypt?!?

Tell me the stories.

I don't need listings, I need drama!

Swedish food in Cairo

2011-12-27T19:35:00.001+01:00

When I travel I normally never ever go do Swedish food, why would I, I can eat that at home. Except now I don't live in Sweden anymore so I can't get everything Swedish anymore, so I guess can agree with myself that it's OK to eat Swedish food from time to time. I never ever plan for it, and I haven't done it so far (IKEA meatballs doesn't count). But I'm no longer against it.

And imagine my surprise (or "dream about my surprise" as we would say in Swedish) when I get to Tahrir square in Cairo, the square where they have had so much trouble - all the demonstrations, and so forth (don't tell my mum that I have been staying not far from that area...), and I run into a restaurant called Tahrir Table, a Swedish restaurant.

So in Egypt I am sitting down, eating Swedish Christmas food! OK, not the ham, but turkey is as good as the typical Swedish Christmas ham.

Really enjoying it!

And the staff as well as the owners are wonderful too! I like this place!

And I admit it, the view over Tharir square is also pretty exciting!

But need to come back here regardless - curious about all the dishes!

Earplugs

2011-12-26T08:10:00.002+01:00

Earplugs, warm socks and good walking shoes. Three very important things to put on the list when going to Cairo.

Oh, and a warm pyjamas, as many hotels don't have heating. I came prepared, I have my hot water bottle too.

And I'm fascinated with the city and haven't slept this well in weeks!

It may be done partly as a joke---

2011-12-22T22:07:00.002+01:00

It may be done partly as a joke, but this guy really has a lot to say - he is pretty spot on, despite some of his language.

AND DON'T WORRY - you can click on it, there are no pics of women in the video, it just looks like it on the introoduction screen

Except for one thing, he says that women know that we look good and therefor you don't need to point it out. This is not right, there is nothing better than feeling appreciated.

Take his advice on overkill though...

And confidence - yep, that is good, but it needs to be on the right level. But there really isn't anything as unsexy as a man who appologises for everything and is afraid of making a mistake all the time. On the other hand it is a total turn-off with a man who also never listens.

When it's not raining

2011-12-21T19:09:00.002+01:00

...it's pouring.

althought you can't quite see it on the photo...

Typical Gothenburg Christmas weather here in Germany, except we don't have the same wind, the wind that goes through everything.
What we do have though is a few degrees above freezing, and dark and cold and rain, it's like a thick wet rug that has been pulled over the city, making everything miserable.

Although one should not complain in Germany, we also have the wonderful Christmas markets and Glühwein (mulled wine).

And even if it's dark and miserable - today is the darkest day, the shortest day of the year, and already tomorrow it will start to get lighter again. Step by step, little by little the light is going to slowly return, and I am longing!

Waiting waiting waiting waiting...

2011-12-16T11:25:00.001+01:00

And once you do go to the doctor, they keep you waiting and waiting and waiting. Germans seem to do nothing but to sit around waiting for doctors? The German health care system is so full of bureaucracy that it's mad.

Dear God, never let me get ill in Germany! I don't need to get my money worth of health care, I'd rather pay and never use - please!!!

You KNOW how impatient I get when I have to wait for ridiculous things. It is far better for world peace if I never have to use the system!

(glasses, going to the dentist, these are exceptions that I can take. But don't let me ever have to go to the doctor for anything else! Especially not when they have to cut you, I learned today that for that you also have to go separately to the doctor to sign a note that you don't have any allergies... One would have thought they could combine the two, especially when it's just a tiny little thing and not something you need general anaesthetic for...))

Oh dear me. Germany. Where everything has to be complicated (although to be fair: I've been very good at avoiding the worst, my German colleagues keep being amazed that I can get some things done so fast - but I guess it's because I don't expect to wait. And therefore don't settle with it...)

May have gone slightly overboard?!?

2011-12-12T23:31:00.001+01:00

Having some friends over tomorrow for some Christmas celebrations. I may have gone slightly overboard? Just realised I have seven different kinds of home baked biscuits, cakes and buns. In total that is. 7 kinds.

Ooops.

Must learn to take it easy but among things I don't do so well is cook for one...

How do the Germans have time to be ill?!?

2011-12-12T22:20:00.000+01:00

Now I understand why the Germans are running to the doctor all the time (OK, I know, not everybody, sorry, but I have to generalise, I can't write about every individual, can I?)

Germans are seriously using their health care system (which I can in a way understand as it is so darn expensive, and it is a cost that is ADDED on top of the tax - at least in Sweden we pay much tax but everything is included, in Germany we pay as much tax (or more) and then we have to pay extra for a lot of things. So I guess it makes sense that they run to the doctor all the time, you want to get value for your money, right? But I also have the feeling that the Germans always think that they are dying, because it seems many of them have a subscription for doctor's appointments... I really don't get how they have time. (OK, in some cases you have to, because you have to have a doctor's note if you are ill more than 3 days, so if you are ill ill then you need to drag yourself to Herr Doctor, but otherwise?!?).

Anyhow.
I have never used the German health care system, as I was never ill. Well, I have been to the dentist for my checkup and cleaning, but that's it. But now I have a little thing on my leg that I want removed, I thought it would be a simple process Go in, cut it away, and it is done with. Don't EVER think that it is that simple. I just want to call someone and go and have it removed. NOT in Germany.

I asked the "hausarzt" - the general practitioner if you like - that I didn't even have, just got for this - if they could do it and the receptionist said "yes of course". Obviously she didn't get what I meant, it apparently didn't even exist in her world that someone could even ask about the process being fast and simple. The german way IS the way to someone who never saw anything else. I used to be the same with Sweden, we are all biased.

When I got to the doctor he more or less laughed at me, and wrote a little note for me to go to a specialist. Took 2 minutes. And that was including the questions the doctor has to ask - any allergies, any medicines and so forth (although to be honest I don't get why he needed to know that considering he is not removing my little spot anyhow).

And now I have to call this other doctor to get a time. Turns out that also not that doctor will be able to do it straight away, but he will have to take a look (less than 10 minutes), and I will have to sign some paper and then I have to book another time to go and have it removed.

Sod it, the thingy stays. three doctors' appointments for a couple of little knots in my skin - I don't have time to waste on such stupid things and I don't have time to sit and wait on the phone for a time either. Because of course there is no automated system, there is no email and no web booking. There is only telephone. And my time is more valuable than that!

And my little knots are cosmetical, in the way but no danger, nothing hindering me, so they stay.

Or maybe I should just sterilize a knife and cut it off myself... ;-)
(No, I'll have it done when I am somewhere else where they can fix it straight away).

HOW do you do it, Germans, how to you have time to go to the doctor? How do you have time to be ill?

The little details - cooking in another country

2011-12-09T19:41:00.000+01:00

The devil is in the details, or so they say...

Strange things about cooking in other countries, or even more so: Baking.

The ingredients are not always quite the same, or the packages aren't. Where the Swedish package has one size, the German may have another one. Yeast for baking is one example, a Swedish package of yeast is 50 g, while the German standard seems to be 47 gram. Or was that 37? I don't remember, used up the yeast ye(a)sterday...But you have to adjust accordingly.

A package of saffron is traditionally 0,5 g in Sweden. In Germany it seems to vary, where I got mine the last time it was 0,125 (not that it mattered, I had some of the Swedish, although still didn't remember to put enough of it in). Yes, I was making the traditional Swedish saffron buns, the type you do for Christmas, yesterday.

Other examples: The salt is more finely grounded in Sweden than in Germany, while the sugar is more finely grinded here, typically (caster sugar that is - "strösocker" - the German version is more powdery, although of course there is powder sugar too, just like in Sweden). None of it really matter from a cooking perspective, it is just different. Although in the beginning I couldn't be sure if it was sugar or salt just by looking at it, as the sugar crystals are too small here, in Sweden I could see that with the bare eye. And yes, I know, you can just taste it and you will know, but it is FUN to be able to see it too.

And I don't normally follow recipes very well anyhow, but go on feel, taste and smell, but still, it causes confusion.

And if you are baking in America it is supposedly even more tricky, specially with yeast, as yeast may die if it is too draughty - and with air condition it may just not work! Plus there is that thing about temperatures, and sometimes the air pressure may also make a mess out of your baking, especially if you are on high altitudes, as water (and other liquids) boil at different temperatures and sometimes you need that chemical reaction to be started through boiling etc.

Oh well, it is an interesting topic! I'd love to hear about your experiences of differences between countries and regions!

Got to love 'em - callers

2011-12-08T18:35:00.000+01:00

"I tried to call you but your line was busy, which other number can I reach you on".

Got to love it.

SERIOUSLY? If my line was busy it is probably - since it is my own line, my direct line - because I am talking, right? And seriously, if I am talking, do you really think another number would help? I may have two ears but I only have one brain and one mouth, I am not going to try and hold two conversations in parallel...

Call me later, that is all I can say. C A L L me L A T E R.

On the same number, preferrably.

Seriously, I find this very amusing...

Love love love Christmas

2011-12-08T00:45:00.002+01:00

I love love love Christmas, especially nowadays when I don't feel stressed about it at all but just do exactly what I want.

I am not too bothered specifically about the Christmas days (24-26) but more about the whole month.

Getting the lights up for 1 of advent, the rest of the decorations for December 13, seeing friends for Swedish Glühwein - Glögg, being cosy and warm at home. Adore if. I love the smell of cinnamon, love the smell of oranges with whole cloves pinned through the peel, love the wonderful feeling that something big is coming. Chrismas has become what I always wished it would be, something nice, peaceful, lovely.

But then again as I have gotten a bit wiser I have learned what really frustrates me and makes me miserable, and I have learned to avoid it. I don't shop, I don't throw myself head first into the crowds, I only cook and prepare what I feel like cooking and preparing, and that way I really get to enjoy Christmas. And I like to spend time on my own, I am surrounded by people so much of my time that it is really nice to sometimes just get away, sit with a good book, something good to eat, and just - just ENJOY. And that is what I plan to do Christmas eve, the most important day to a Swede, traditionally. And it is important. It is not just any day, it is an important day, and I will celebrate. I will just celebrate MY way, and not someone elses way. And I don't care if people go out partying. If there is one day I will never ever ever party, it is Christmas eve. Christmas eve is is my day. Christmas eve is a peaceful day. Christmas eve is not a day for going to the pub getting drunk. Christmas eve is a sacred day for me, Christian or not, on Christmas eve I want to relax. And just BE!

I need a bright coat

2011-12-07T08:35:00.001+01:00

I need a bright coat, preferably a red one, the grim looking people on the train every morning - as well as myself - needs to be livened up!

Because we are not talking "tired", not even "tired so my face says nothing" or the next level "I'm tired and lost my face so I may look a bit annoyed", we are talking "If you so much as look at me I'll bite your head off and feed the rest of you to the wolves"-grim.

Yes, I know it is winter and I know it is dark, and I know it's not all that uplifting. And I miss all the lights you have in the windows in Sweden from December 1 or 1:st of Advent, which ever comes first. The Germans have the Christmas markets but not much changes in terms of lights in the windows (unless the Germans have been to Sweden or at least to IKEA). But life gets so much easier if you can at least smile from time to time.

Everybody must have at least something good in their life, something that they can smile about? I'll do my best to find a reason, and if I can be the reason for someone else to smile, then I'll be happy.

We need colour, we need smiles, we need to get through this dark season!

A special kind of torture

2011-12-05T12:45:00.004+01:00

On the way to work this morning I stopped by my favourite coffee place and got coffee. I buy freshly ground beans - nothing beats the taste. Normally I get my coffee on Saturdays because the silly opening hours weekdays but this Saturday it was pouring down so I forgot it - and I can't have a home without coffee, now that I am back on my addiction, and I can also not have instant coffee, now that I have gotten used to the real stuff.

(Side note: Keep your coffee in the fridge and buy small quantities but more often, the beans have some fat in them and the taste stays better if they are in the fridge - but still, small quantities and more often instead and you get the best coffee. Or freeze it, that works really well too).

Anyhow: Had to get to the coffee shop this morning so I worked from home until they opened, and then I headed down.

Great.

Except now I now have to go through a special kind of torture... My whole office smells absolutely adorable of this fantastic amazing coffee - and in the office the coffee is something very different from what I just bought. AHHHRRRRRGGGG

Activities just for me?

2011-12-05T07:54:00.000+01:00

I was in Hong Kong earlier this month, as you may have seen in earlier posts. Had a great time, perfect mix between my own time and seeing friends.

When I got to Hong Kong I was met by this, turns out that in Hong Kong, November is the Wine & Dine month, with various events across town. It's different events at different times, so it's not a monthly festival that goes on everywhere all the time - but it is really a collection of various events here and there.

One could almost think that it had been set up specifically for me, right? Much better then when I ended up in Dubai for the Shopping Festival, which is in January, and everywhere. I don't like shopping, shopping is advanced torture for me (not that I don't buy stuff but I do it out of necessity, not as a pleasure). But I AM a foodie, so Wine and Dine was perfect for me.

Now I did mainly stick to local food this time around but I plan to come back and do the fancy side of Hong Kong eating too - this city has so much to offer! And November is a good time to visit, later on it will be too chilly and earlier it can be really hot - and Hong Kong is humid, which means its even tougher.

Yes, Hong Kong I'll return to, after such a welcoming. A festival suiting me perfect. The only issue is, I guess, that you had to know about it and go look for it, or you would have missed it, but then again I met people in Hong Kong that hadn't been able to find any good food. But guess what, they were westerners that hadn't dared to step out of their comfort zone. The westernised chains will be as uninteresting in Hong Kong as elsewhere.

My first rule: If the restaurant doesn't seem to have any locals, don't go there.

My second rule: If you can't see any of the food on someone's plate: Don't go for food, just have a drink, the others probably know what they are doing.

Third: If you can see others eating, look and see if what they have appeals to you or at least looks appealing. You don't need to have the same thing that they are having (although when no one speaks a language you understand that may sometimes be the solution), but at least you will know if the restaurant is serious about food or not.

And then there are a bunch of other tricks too, but start above and you'll soon get the knack when it comes to finding good places!

Oh, and remember the street food! The locals normally know how to prepare the street food. It's the European style food that can be trickier....

Still don't get how people manage to be in Hong Kong without finding good food?!?

Germans and their best friends - who is a good friend?

2011-12-01T20:36:00.001+01:00

If you move to Germany, you need to, especially as a foreigner, be prepared to make quite an effort to get integrated in society, at least if you move to a city where there are few other ex-pats.

I am very lucky, I have a mix of friends, both international and Germans, but almost all my German friends originally come from another part of Germany, and not from here, not from the Düsseldorf area. Germans that have lived abroad, or at least changed areas. My German friends are all amazing. But there aren't that many or that easy to get German friends.

The reason is simple. Germans move a lot less than people in many other parts of at least western Europe. When the Germans buy houses they buy for life, and if they move they often rent it out, it is rare that they sell - but most of the time they stay for life. Yes, you are right, there are Germans that move, but I am talking about the average German. Germans stay in the same place, and further more, they stick with the friends they have known since they were little kids.

sometimes I get the feeling that the Germans stay friends with their childhood friends just because they feel obliged to though. Sometime I consider to be a close friend but I have only known for a few couple of years talks about his best mate, his best friend. But when I ask about the best friend I am told that they see each other around 5 times per year, and that they live totally different lives.

In my world the best friend is the person you can more or less share everything with, the one person that you would call in the middle of the night if you had a problem, the person you can sit and be quiet with a whole evening without feeling that it is awkward, the person who sees you when you have problems and still loves you like a brother or sister. The person who accepts you for who you are, the person who you would do anything for and the person who you are not afraid to share your pain with.

Not the person you have known the longest.

But it is clear that I won't ever have a German best friend. I wonder if a German will even ever call me a close friend? I call some Germans close friends.

About Düsseldorf

2011-11-30T17:56:00.001+01:00

Amazing Düsseldorf - yes, I know it is! But there is a website with that name too, a website that lists a little bit of this and a little bit of that of what's going on in Düsseldorf. Worth checking out if you are interested in the city. Normally I don't link to companies or websites like that unless it fits into the post but as I stumbled over the page today when I was looking for some specific information, and I don't have time to write a "proper" post I thought I'd just add the link.

And for the record, I am still alive. Although getting used to the cold is not easy - I miss wonderful Hong Kong.

so much to say, so little time

2011-11-28T18:01:00.000+01:00

So much to say, so little time, having many blogposts in my head doesn't help much. They need to get out there, on paper. Maybe now that I am back commuting to work via train I'll be able to gather my thoughts and get some blogging done.

But in short: Been to Sweden, been to Hong Kong. Loved Hong Kong. Ate a lot of great great food, saw a lot of interesting things, walked a lot, especially the feet and legs were eaten by mosquitoes (although they nibbled on arms too, just not as much).

Will have to write more and later but right now all I can say is

I am well, I am home, I am happy!

And I WILL be back!

Hong Kong - arrived

2011-11-20T20:31:00.001+01:00

Arrived safely in Homg Komg after a long journey that was, despite of it's length, very painless. I did what I always do: I slept.

It's hard to know what to say about Hong Kong yet, I am hear to visit someone who to me is so special, a friend who moved here, an amazing woman who is like an extra sister to me. So for natural reasons I haven't really been focusing on Hong Kong, but on spending time with my friend, and on catching up.
So I have not yet made it to touristy Hong Kong, the bustling metropole, the energetic, the intensive, but there will be time for that too, eventually.

But what I have already started to explore is the local cuisine, the street food, and the snack. And I have seen some of the local areas.

What first struck me when I arrived in Hong Kong was how incredible, compared to my last visit to Asia, clean it is, to a point I almost felt it was sterile, there is no rubbish, no garbage on the streets out in the quarters where the locals are. It is something I remember from parts of Beijing too, from when I was there, but then, there I had the feeling that it was due to all the people that were busy sweeping the streets, in a country with 1.3 billion people (then, more now I assume) it's no wonder there can be someone on every meter in the special areas.

But here: Here I don't see anyone cleaning the streets, I just see the streets being, compared to what I expected, incredibly clean. I know that can't be the case everywhere, but here and right now, it is.
And I do also recognises that Hong Kong seems more organised, not quite so, what should I say, not so, hectic like some other Asian cities, this is like a photoshopped version of Asia - but a very well photo-shopped version.

I can truly say that I feel very comfortable here, even though I really like the kind if semi-chaos we inexperienced westerners can sometimes feel in other Asian cities. It may not be there, but we are experiencing it as chaotic, simply because we don't understand the patterns - the same way I am sure many people from the outside experience Europe, or even the north European feel about South Europe - its all wonderful and magical but confusing sometimes just because it's different.

But Hong Kong has a strong European flare to it, and it's not better or worse, it's just different, and, in a way, what makes Hong Kong Hong Kong, I guess.

Another trip

2011-11-18T19:25:00.002+01:00

I meet people who tells me that I'm always on the road, and wonder how much holiday I have. To which I say: The same amount as most Germans. And considering it's mainly Germans that ask they should know.
The difference is that I use my time efficiently. I never take holiday to stay at home. And when I moved here I made a promise to myself to make sure I explore while I can. So now I try and travel once a month - although most of the time that's obviously over a weekend.

And often I do like today: I fly out after work. Today my plane leaves in the evening - I sleep well on planes so I'm actually looking forward to the flight.

No need to waist an evening, I fly out in the evening so I can make the most of the day after.

Except this time I'm off to another time zone so I'll get there Saturday evening (after a good flights sleep).
About to board for Hong Kong!

Dear spammers spamming my company addresss

2011-11-17T12:53:00.000+01:00

Dear "professional" companies spamming my work address with things that I haven't requested.

If you are going to pretend that I signed up for the things myself, and that you are only "spamming" me because I asked for your newsletters and so forth, here is a suggestion:

At least bother to registrer the correct information. I never registrer with just half my name.
And I don't registrer with a title I never had.
I certainly don't registrer with a phone number I haven't had in about 3.5 years.

It is pretty easy to spot that you took the information from somewhere, possibly bought it from a shady company stealing addresses. You know that you are not compliant with European data laws, don't you?

And you know what? I tend to remember your company name and believe me, spammers end up VERY low on my priority list if I am looking for someone to do business with....

Just saying...

It's all about light

2011-11-15T21:15:00.000+01:00

I was in Sweden the last weekend, and while it was nice to see the people, it really hit me this time, how dark it is in November. November was always my toughest month. January and February may be dark, but in January and February you know that it is at least getting lighter - in the middle of November it is still going to get darker and darker for a month and a half, almost. In December it is also getting darker still but at least then you have all the amazing Christmas lights that the Swedes decorate their homes with.

At 15:00 it was already starting to get dark, at 16:00 - 4 pm - it was pitch black.

And I am even from the south of Sweden, what it is like in Stockholm and higher up north I don't even want to think about.

I have always known that it is dark in Sweden in the winter but never had I really seen the difference like I did now; I have a decent amount of light coming in to my office, and I have a light and relatively spacious flat, so I really get to see the light, especially at home, as Düsseldorf is a really flat city on the banks of Rhine there are no hills or mountains blocking the light, it is only buildings, and Düsseldorf doesn't have that many high rises.

I don't think it is until you actually move away and come back to visit that you REALLY realise just how dark it gets in the winter, and how it impacts you - at least that's what happened to me. And the first times I was visiting in the winter I didn't even have time to think about it, as all my time in Gothenburg is normally spent running around trying to catch up with as many as possible. I still do that, but now I never the less noticed the lack of light.

I could never go back even if I wanted to. Which I don't.

(And while I adore the bright summer nights, they are not enough to compensate for the long, dark autumn/winter...)

Sweden

2011-11-11T22:13:00.005+01:00

I am soon going up to Sweden. I am going to buy a few things when I get there:

Yellow peas. Dried yellow peas. Really difficult to get your hands on in Germany, just like in France they mainly have greey peas here. But I am Swedish so I need my yellow peas for our traditional pea soup - which I make big batches of. Every time it is a struggle to find the peas, one shop I know have them but they are slightly remote, and the other shops either don't have them at all, or I have to order separately. Hassle! So instead I am going to buy a couple of boxes from Sweden, it is just easier, if I am in the shop anyhow.
(In Sweden it would be more troublesome to find green peas, I believe, at least the dried ones, different cultures...)

Punsch. Swedish Punsch. An alcoholic drink that can be had warm or cold. In the winter it tends to be served warm with the traditional Thursday Peasoup dinner. Just one little glass, but it really warms you up.

And then, least but not last: Swedish books. I want many books but I am also after a specific book this time: "Döden på en Blek Häst" by Amanda Hellbom, the woman who writes one of the blogs I follow, "Alla har en bok inom sig".

I need something that challenges my imagination, that makes me look over my shoulder... I have finished the books I had by John Ajvide Lindqvist, an author I very much appreciate - and now it is time to find something new, something interesting, something perfect for chilly November nights crawled up under a blanket, with a mug of hot chocolate in my hand...

Man with moustaches

2011-11-11T21:21:00.000+01:00

Men with moustaches...

If a man you know is all of a sudden starting to look a bit... scruffy...
Have patience.

He may just be participating in Movember - awareness month for men's health and especially for cancer. See http://www.movember.com/ - or ask the man you know. He may be looking for donations.

There are womens campaigns too, but they tend to consist of funny little games that shuts men out - because schhhh, it is a secret - and that doesn't do anything concrete except confuses people. I am not sure how it raises awareness when you aren't supposed to say something? No, then I prefer the campaigns that the men are involved in - let's talk about it, raise awareness, and lets collect.

Because if we are going to solve the cancer puzzle, we are going to need money. And all types of cancer are horrible, weather they are "female" cancer types or "male".

Movember
Pink Ribbon
Cancerfonden - Sweden
Bröstcancerfonden - Sweden
Barncancerfonden - Sweden

Every country has differnt funds.
And often you can donate as a gift too - the perfect Christmas gift for he/she who has everything? A donation in his/her name? Just an idea... We all benefit from it...

Too intensive?

2011-11-10T21:30:00.007+01:00

I am really worried that I am becoming a little bit too intensive... I am not a huge fan of being outside this time of year - well, I go out for walks and so on, but when it is rainy and windy and cold I don't socialise much outside. I like the cosiness of a home. (Plus the bars etc. are often really smoky and when it is cold and wet it is not that easy to get rid of the smoke, can't hang everything outside, can I?)

And I like to cook.

I can cook much with little.

And rather than going out I prefer having friends over, but I am afraid I am getting a little bit too intensive. I keep inviting people over and I keep fearing they will get tired of it. I try to spread my invitations to different people - also because I like to hang out with different people and I don't have room for EVERYBODY at the same time. But another reason is I don't want people to grow tired of me and my little events.

(Of course that means that some people instead get upset - why did I have an event and didn't invite so and so - but space is really an issue, I have a relatively big flat but the table space is limited and also, cooking for 20 people takes some other coordination than cooking for 8... I have to try and be a bit fair too...)

Anyhow...

At the moment I have various different little events in the pipeline but I am really thinking if I need to scale back. Not because I want to but because it needs to be socially acceptable, I also don't want others to feel that they never have a chance to organise anything because I do it all the time? And I also don't want people to feel they can't invite me because I always have something else going on. Or that they don't dare to invite me because they compare their events to my events?

To be fair though, I tend to have my events on weekdays, so I don't block my weekend, or the weekend of others.

And others tend to do other kinds of events.

But still, I worry about these things. Perhaps silly?

But it is so much FUN to have people over, I love hearing the sounds of other people in my home!

Another reason I wouldn't ever want to move back to Sweden again

2011-11-07T22:03:00.004+01:00

I don't ever plan to move back to Sweden. There are many different reasons and I am not going to go through them here. But one of the reasons is that in Sweden, the people love to group people into different categories. OK, it is done everywhere, but in Sweden we like to do it just based on your age. JUST based on your age.

Aftonbladet, one of the evening papers in Sweden (not a very serious one, but a big one) has an article today on "how to dress your age" at work. It's such utter bull. How you dress at work depends on what you do for a living, what the dress culture is at the company, how the others dress - and, last but not least, what you are comfortable with.

Not what year you have in your birth certificate.

OK, Germany is very fixated on age too, but in Germany I am anyhow not fitting in, I am not German, so I don't have to try, in Sweden I am still seen as a "local" - I am a Swedish citizen after all. In Germany we are all different ages, there are other things that unite us: Interests, experiences, (sometimes being "lost" in a foreign country) and so forth. And to me, that is the way it should be. If you click with a person, it doesn't matter where he/she is born, or when.

Fishy

2011-11-06T11:34:00.002+01:00

Hmmm, it sounds like someone is walking around one floor above my bedroom. A d moving furniture. As I live in a flat there is nothing strange with that.

If it wasn't for the fact that the floor above mine is my floor too, and my guests have left so it's not them. And there is nothing else up there, I'm on the top floor?!
Weird.

Something apparently transports the sounds from one place to another in this house?!?

Beautiful morning, beautiful weekend

2011-11-05T08:48:00.001+01:00

I love early mornings, early mornings when the city hasn't really woken up yet, when the day is hardly a day yet but still close to being night. There is a certain silence, a peacefulness that I absolutely adore. It's hard to describe, but there is even a certain smell in the air, a spell of... Of anticipation and hope, I would say. It's a smell of magic. It's very subtle, but yet I smell it, or more, I sense it.

I think I always felt it, felt strongly for mornings, because I was always an early bird. It doesn't mean I get up early, necessarily, but I wake up early. I may not have slept enough and I may go back to sleep, or have a nap in the mid day, but I do wake up early.

Living alone I have also taken to tiptoe out of bed - especially mornings I don't have to be somewhere - and have a cup of coffee and sit and watch the morning turn into day, slowly.

It's the best time of day.

And what's even better: There is another one, next morning, and next, and next. Because no matter what happens in life: Tomorrow is another day!

Life is such a wonderful thing and I am grateful I have time to stop and smell the flowers, I have time to appreciate it.

Live now

2011-10-27T20:44:00.001+02:00

"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

2011-10-27T09:14:00.001+02:00

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

2011-10-26T22:34:00.001+02:00

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

Hibernating

2011-10-25T22:16:00.001+02:00

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

2011-10-20T23:58:00.001+02:00

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.

2011-10-19T13:19:00.000+02:00

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

2011-10-16T19:36:00.000+02:00

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

2011-10-14T21:33:00.000+02:00

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

2011-10-14T21:29:00.001+02:00

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...

2011-10-13T22:13:00.000+02:00

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

2011-10-12T19:01:00.000+02:00

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

2011-10-11T22:23:00.003+02:00

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

2011-10-11T14:56:00.000+02:00

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

2011-10-08T11:54:00.003+02:00

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

2011-10-07T21:31:00.000+02:00

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

2011-10-07T08:36:00.002+02:00

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?

2011-10-06T18:15:00.000+02:00

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

2011-10-06T11:47:00.000+02:00

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

2011-10-05T22:40:00.002+02:00

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...)

Royal Street Deli in New Orleans

2011-09-29T20:14:00.002+02:00

I should of course try out different places but sometimes that is just not possible. The food in one place is just so good that I have to come back, to try what else is on the menu. In New Orleans I have a real lunch challenge. I can't go to any other place anymore, as the menu is so interesting and I have to try more things on it.

Royal Street Deli, In the French quarter, corner Royal Street/St Ann. The official address is 801 Royal Street but just like in US it's easier to use corners to describe the way.

It's a simple place, with sandwiches and salads, but DEAR, do they know how to make salads!!! It's innovative and they surprise, it's inspiring. The cafe may not look much for the world, a worn stone floor, brown wooden walls and mixed chairs painted in various colours standing around simple cafe tables, and various colourful (New Orleans style) posters framed with simple (but gorgeous) wooden frames - but seriously, if you are in New Orleans, you have to check it out!!! The food is nothing but delicious, best salads I have had in US, I think, or at least I can't remember any better!!! So full of flavours perfectly married, and so fresh!!!

And the coffee is pretty nice too, and the staff is really sweet. I know I'll definitely come back here next time I'm in New Orleans!!!

Oysters in New Orleans

2011-09-29T06:13:00.002+02:00

I am a huge fan of seafood, all kinds of seafood, anything edible that comes from the sea.

Oysters are high up on the list. Didn't fall in love with them until I went to New York years ago, but there I got to try different ones and I loved it. Since then I have oysters whenever I can.

New Orleans is well known for the sea food. So of course I had to try the oysters as well! I had these darlings at Acme Oysterhouse in The French quarters in New Orleans - NOLA. It's supposed to be a classical American place for oysters and seafood (gumbo etc) so I decided to try.

I liked it. But it wasn't special special the way my previous New Orleans meals have been. I'm an avid cook myself and I could have made a much tastier Gumbo myself.

And to be totally honest Louisiana Oysters from the gulf are not bad, buy I do prefer other oysters, other oysters that are more distinct in taste. Seems to me - although I am not an expert, I'm just using my own experience - that oysters from colder waters have more taste. Or at least they are the ones I prefer. The crawfish from Louisiana is marvelous but the oysters are so so.

But again, this is not bad. It's just not... Not so interesting.
But the sauce served with the oysters. That is a great sauce, with lots of garlic and, I believe, some kind of chili.

And for the first time I actually feel that oysters are better with a sauce than just lemon. But that's more because the oysters than the sauce.

Sweet potato fries is on the other hand the best thing ever!

New Orleans - Big Easy

2011-09-28T06:37:00.002+02:00

After a great time in Austin and an interesting visit to San Antonio - I'll write more about that later - I've reached New Orleans. 40 degrees C in Texas is nothing to 30 degrees here, in Texas the air is dry, here it's so humid that it feels like a mini sauna.

And I love it.

Someone told me that New Orleans can be dangerous and I'm sure it can if you wobble around drunk and/or stupid in the wrong area, but so far I haven't had that feeling at all, instead people are open and friendly. As long as you keep a smile, that is. And an open mind.

It's hot, humid, vibrating, and yes, Bourbon Street, the tourist trap number one, is also full of strippers, ushers, big eyed tourists, and tricksters. For some reason I am always helped though and rarely have problems with the tricksters. Here they even came up to me and told me not to be on Bourbon Street, because of that reason: Its a tourist trap. No doubt. Still fun to watch though, if nothing else to see the reactions from fellow tourists. But I was told to go to another part of the area, where the locals go, and that's also what I did.

Travelling alone I have an easier time blending in, at least from a tourist perspective. In any other perspective I clearly don't blend in because I am getting a silly amount of attention. And I am going to enjoy it while I can, I love interacting with other people and as long as people want to chat, I'll chat.

And had I not been travelling alone, I wouldn't have met all the interesting characters I have met! I love to travel alone even though I have my moments of missing my food buddies!

Fantastic times

2011-09-27T16:31:00.002+02:00

Having a lot of fun on my trip, visited Austin and San Antonio, but I have no time to blog right now, enjoying it too much. I'll have to come back to blog posts later...

Facebook again

2011-09-27T16:23:00.001+02:00

Luckily I already set Facebook up so that whenever someone tries to add information that will end up on my profile I'll have to approve it before it shows up. I always lock down FB quite a lot when there are changes coming in, until I know how it will work. Good habit.

Because today it turns out that someone tried to add information about which city I live in onto my profile. I have left that information out on purpose. I have left a lot of info out on purpose.

Had NO idea that others could add THAT kind of info onto your profile, but apparently. God knows what other info one can add.

It's not just annoying, it's also really rude to try and add info someone else obviously left out. The person who did so was a person I had been contemplating disconnecting from for a while. It's someone I don't know that well, but it felt strange to disconnect, we have common friends. But now I disconnected. Call me silly but really, this makes me really uncomfortable.

Go in and lock down your own profiles if you don't want others to dictate what you have on your profile.
I really think Facebook lost it this time.

I'll keep the account for invitations etc but will most likely stop using it actively.

Dallas

2011-09-24T05:00:00.003+02:00

Dallas, Texas.

A huge city. And completely lifeless in the city centre. I have to say I'd find it very difficult to live in a city with so little life in the centre. I'm too European for that, simply. I like to walk around, looking at people, finding myself in random conversations, stopping into the book shop, listening to the local gossip. What triggers me is meetings with and interacting with people and when I travel that is one of the things that fascinates me the most.
In a city without pedestrians it is hard to find a soul...

I didn't dislike Dallas, I just felt... What should I say... I didn't feel much. That's the thing. It didn't talk to me...
I'm very interested to see what this trip will bring with it, I have a feeling there may be something unexpected - because I am off on a road-trip...

Can someone explain it to the Americans???

2011-09-23T12:58:00.002+02:00

I'm very sorry American readers, but something is horribly wrong when you always have to carry a scarf and a big sweater around.

You know I love to come and visit and I am in US relatively often, but there is one thing I always dread: Air condition. I mean, it's good to have it, to take care of some humidity and to cool things down a bit, but seriously, it's not healthy to go in from 30 degrees C to 17, or from the 80-ies to 60 ies to speak F.

No wonder many of you have problem with the heat, your bodies never learn to cope with it, and these constant switches? Not good. Seriously, use the air con but don't put it on full blast, just a few degrees lower than the outside and you'll already feel the difference.

And imagine all the money you could save if you didn't have the air condition on quite those temperatures...
Money, and energy...

And perhaps health bills too?

I have no problem with temperatures in Asia but here it is killing me. And it's the aircon, not the outdoor temperature . I'd probably have problems travelling around with someone too America or americanised because I could never share rooms with someone using the aircon like this. Madness. And the things are noisy too, I never travel US without earplugs, never. OK, the poor quality of many windows, letting sound in, and the lack of thresholds, which we also see often in Germany but not to this extreme obviously has an impact too, but it's mainly for the air conditions.

I'm in Dallas and I'm freezing!!! Before I have warmed up again I enter another building/restaurant/bar/shop and I'm turned into ice again...

OK, that's the whining for today :-)

Things I don't trust

2011-09-23T08:35:00.002+02:00

Dear Süddeutsche Zeitung

When you use the Swedish "Aftonbladet" as your named source, I'm sorry, but then my trust in you flies out the windows, I'll still flick through the newspaper now and then but I really suggest checking your sources. As should every critical reader, always.

International flights

2011-09-23T08:34:00.002+02:00

You know what, people complain about Delta, but for international flight, across the Atlantic, but I quite like them. OK, they don't have the individual screens in Economy, the ones that most SAS flights and some Lufthansa and many KLM/Air France have, but I sleep through much of the flight anyhow, or I read or write, or listen to music.

And their coffee is american which, I'm afraid, equals not very tasty coffee, like the one I am used to from Europe.
And you have to pay for your cocktails - but on the international beer and wines are complimentary, you just have to be over 21 - they are under US regulation. Not a problem for me though, I don't need cocktails and I am over 21.

But what they DO have are big proper cups for both hot drinks and for cold. No tiny tiny little ones like the European counterparts. OK, in a spilling incident the smaller ones may e more clever but otherwise, I really like proper cups where I can get a proper amount in. Saves me from refilling a billion times.

And I'm telling you, when I have flown Delta, they have always had really nice staff; Happy, cheerful, and with a sense of humour, not just following everything by the book, but joking and being a bit more relaxed.

I have no problem flying Delta and will definitely do it again! If the time and price is working for me, I have absolutely no issue flying with them.

And as I said, I mainly sleep anyhow...

The return of the travel blog

2011-09-21T18:14:00.000+02:00

I'll turn the blog into a travel blog again, for a bit, no more sad stories about friends heading out, not this time, now it is me heading out, if only for a while. The last few trips I made I didn't blog that much but now I will try and write a bit more again. I am going to be on a little trip which combines visiting friends with road trip on my own, and I suspect, as I'll be in areas I never visited before, that I'll have some new and exciting experiences to write about.

Plus it is really good for me to get away for a while!

And I am really really excited about it, not the least about my upcoming flight, I sleep so well on flights. Just need to remember to get new earplugs first. Because I am out of earplugs...

To say goodbye

2011-09-21T08:49:00.002+02:00

Saying goodbye is the hardest thing - and that's why I do my best to avoid it. I try to be away, or leave early, or do something else. And yet I know that often it's not goodbye, its just "See you later". But it doesn't really matter, it's still too darn hard.

Over the years there have been multiple occasions in airports, train stations, bus stops, where I simply gave someone a hug and then turned around and walked away. There have been times when I have been called cold, because of it, but it's rather the other way around, shutting down is the only way I know how to deal with it. If it is inevitable, if there is nothing I can do about it, it is sometimes easier, short term, to just walk away. A horrible idea long term, missed goodbyes leave a thorn in the heart, but short term - and it's often short term that steers our actions. Rather than having to say goodbye I often make an excuse and find a reason not to go.

This time I am travelling, and when I come back, my very dear friend is already gone.

I would make a lousy film star, not just because I can't wear sunglasses inside or when it is dark, but especially because the film goodbyes, they are just not my thing, the tears, the white napkin through the train window as a last goodbye, the drama and sometimes romance - I don't know how to.

I'm much better at meeting people...

Facebook Settings - again. This time Facebook reveals all about whom you share with

2011-09-19T22:33:00.000+02:00

Yep, new Facebook settings again. Now Facebook has decided to tell everybody that you shared with who else you shared that post with...
In the last post about Facebook settings, I wrote that this was not the case. Well, that was true then but in all new posts, from today for me, for others probably later, you can also see exactly who has access to each post someone else posts. So now we can all see who is being excluded and who is being included.
I don't appreciate FB giving away my information to people. If I chose to leave certain things of of the loop, that is my business, not someone elses. And if I am stupid enough to share different things with people who talk to each other that is my problem too. But when I share things with the Düsseldorf group asking about Düsseldorf specific things I don't want to spam the whole of Sweden, but I also don't want my Düsseldorf friends to "figure out" who is in the group and who isn't, because it is irrellevant.

I am now looking at moving to GooglePlus instead, because Facebook is, in my eyes, getting worse and worse, and more and more difficult to keep track of, the old settngs had finally settled and everything was controllable, and then they switched the concept completely.

And now I have lost interest.

My friend who is leaving

2011-09-15T18:10:00.002+02:00

He has still not left and I swear, it's like pulling of a bandage, this goodbye, it's long and painful, and I don't want to but at the same time it's just as well to get it over and done with. Ahrg!!!
I am just not good at goodbyes and especially not with people I care a lot about. It's better that they leave and it's done and then I can pretend as if they are only away for a short little while and soon will be back with me...

Milan

2011-09-12T08:30:00.001+02:00

Milan... Milan, the north Italian metropole, the fashion capital of Italy, and perhaps also of Europe nowadays. Düsseldorf is the fashion capital of Germany but Milan is playing on a whole different level.
To get to the heart of fashion in Düsseldorf you need to know where to go, how to find your way to the showrooms, and you need to know where to look. In Milan the fashion is everywhere. No one wears the stilettos like Italian women.

No where are people as chic as on the streets of Milan. And nowhere is it more easy to spot the tourists. I don't know how Italian women in Milan always manage to, also in 30 degrees heat - 84-90 degrees - look so cool. It's like heat doesn't get to them.

I manage the heat quite well, but not like the Italians. They have their little dresses and their little suits - and suits of course goes for men, too - and they look like it's just the perfect office temperature outside.

I guess the trick is to avoid the direct sun, and in Italy, with all it's big stone buildings, that's not too difficult, there is plenty of shade to catch, and when it is really warm, you can go into the churches or museums, the buildings themselves closes out much heat - a trick I learned in Rome during a heat wave years ago. And considering I love the old buildings and the big churches, so filled with symbolism, it's easy to follow that advice. And Milan is no exception, I didn't spend that much time touristing in Milan as I had a busy schedule this time, but some I managed to squeeze in - and a visit to the big dome - duomo - was on the list.

If you don't have something against church ceremonies I would really suggest you participate in mass, vesper or just prayers, not just go as a tourist (although the building itself is magnificent too), because it is a beautiful experience. Even though I don't speak Italian and even though I'm not catholic - Sweden is traditionally a protestant country - I recognise most of the liturgy from the church of Sweden and what I don't recognise from Sweden I recognise from other countries I have been to church in. It's beautiful and very spiritual, and I come out from there feeling fantastic, uplifted and energised. And I have practised my Italian, too, because yes, you, no, I, do understand quite a lot. I may not be able to respond back, but I understand plenty, and not just in the church context.
Can't wait to come back yo Milan again!

10 years ago

2011-09-11T15:30:00.002+02:00

10 years ago today I was in northern California, wondering what on earth was going to happen next. It was one of the strangest weeks ever, and for days there was no air-crafts taking off or landing. After a few days the first military planes could be seen and yet a few days later the normal traffic came back. Or normal and normal, lots of flights were cancelled, among them my New York City - Stockholm flight three weeks later. For a while I suspected I'd be stranded in NYC - I had managed to get that far from San Francisco - but in the end I was rebooked over Prague. Longest flight ever, not because the time but because it was crammed with people and I had an old man sitting next to me, sneezing over me all the time, and there was absolutely no where to go, not a single seat available on the plane.

The days following September 11 were very strange, as we didn't know what to expect and what would happen. Being in a foreign country that was just attacked from the outside was very surreal, even if California is almost as far from New York as the western parts of Europe are. But the Americans never experienced anything like it before, well, no one had, not with air-crafts being used the way they were in New York and against Pentagon. It was just unheard of. Although I do remember that I had reflected upon the non existing security on the domestic flights before... And now I didn't even know if I'd be able to make it back home to Europe?!?

It was a horrible day and as the day went on we heard more and more stories - but luckily all the friends and friends of friends who were in New York were OK, including the guy who had an interview scheduled in one of the towers the very same day, a friend of a friend.

September 11 2001.

Will anyone in the western world ever forget what we were going that very day? I don't think so, I remember things people said, I remember glances exchanged, I remember the tea I was making while we were switching on the TV - we received a call from Sweden after the first plane crashed into the tower, but didn't realise how serious it was, we - I was visiting a friend - thought that the plane we heard about was some little one-seater or perhaps a Cessna that had crashed, there was no way we could have guessed anything else, and we were contemplating not even getting up to watch TV. It was 6 in the morning after all. But we got up, I turned the kettle on, my friend the TV - and then we watched in disbelief. By the time plane number 2 came crashing in we had woken up the other flat mates and we were all staring at the screen...

When the first building fell we didn't even realise it, we couldn't believe our eyes but thought it was an optical effect, the cloud was so thick. Because it HAD to be an optical villa, right, it couldn't be the building falling, could it? But yes, it was... I don't think we fully got it until the second one came down, I remember thinking when the first fell that "it looked like the building just came down", but I managed to convince myself that what I saw and then heard was just me misunderstanding the language, after all it was British English I was most familiar with, not American English... But I knew what I heard, and I knew what I saw, I just couldn't believe it.

And then we realised that no, it was true. It had really happened.

And since then, the world has in some aspects become a tougher place, where the trust has in some - many? - cases been replaced with mistrust. It's sad. Mistrusts and suspicion is not the way to build a peaceful world where we can all live and work together.

Garda, Lake Garda

2011-09-11T15:18:00.002+02:00

Some people know how to chose the settings...

Visiting Italy for a big event- no, not the Formula 1 at Monza, regardless how tempting THAT was, always loved F1, ever since I was little and I'd sit and watch it with my dad. There is something about Formula 1, and the plane from Düsseldorf to Milan was full of fans (a big group of them Swedes. Remind me to not travel with big groups of Swedes, the well-above-middle-age Swedish men didn't exactly make me proud to be Swedish). Anyhow. Monza would have been really interesting and one day I'll go.

But not this time. This time I flew in for another event.

It was an amazing event but even if it hadn't been, it would have been worth the trip. I headed out to Lake Garda and this has to be one of the most beautiful parts of northern Italy. The lake is big, and it's dramatic hillsides are steep, and the Italian little towns and villages are spread around the lake.

Sunday walking along the boardwalk I saw not only olive oils for sale, but balsamico from Modena, as well as local delicatessen, but also various mushrooms - including black truffles. I was extremely close to buying some but skipped it as I didn't know if it travels well.

I regret it now. Expensive or not. It is truffles!And with that I mean the mushroom, the special one that grows under the surface and is so difficult to find.

Lake Garda - I'll be back!

Being a woman sucks

2011-09-09T20:52:00.000+02:00

We don't just make less money, as a general rule, even when we do the same job as a man, we also get lower pensions even when we make the same as a man, and in Germany we pay far more for health insurance. I'm never ill and I pay more than my older male friends who has a subscription on going to the doctor. Ticks me off!

And no, it is not unique for Germany even though Germany has a lousy track record, you see the same pattern elsewhere, also in the Nordic countries where it is supposed to be less of it.

Only insurance where we paid less was car insurance but there some EU rule kicked in so we are now supposed to pay same as the men, but apparently that doesn't apply for health insurance.

Anyhow.

And then when it comes to things like clothes there is basically only one set of sizes while men have "short and chubby", "tall and slim", "tall and chubby" and so on. A woman who doesn't follow a "standard model" - and most of us don't - have to pay extra for a seamstress a lot of times, or have to have clothes that doesn't quite fit. I am lucky, most of the time it fits, except for trousers, here in Germany

I can never buy trousers.

And then the most annoying. Dry cleaning. Men's shirts. 1.6 EUR, sometimes 2. Sometimes less. Women's shirts. Not just blouses with strange fluff etc, really shirts: Add at least one EUR per shirt, often double the price. Or triple in some cases. Seriously. It is ridiculous!!! And then they claim that it is because it doesn't fit the doll. Well, I'd like to see that they say that to the small men that come in with shirts. They hardly pay more - fact is I know they don't. I have several male friends who are tinier than I am and they pay as much or as little as other men. We are punished for being women.

STUPID!!! There is a whole market segment out there but the dry cleaners don't see it.

Well, I am not going to pay twice as much as my male counterparts. Nor am I going to pay as much as I paid in Sweden.

I'll find another dry cleaner or go back to my old (I actually had one but that one is now further away, had hoped to be able to use the one close to home...)

It's not as if I don't have a lot of shirts so it's good business they are saying no to!

Earth quake

2011-09-09T00:39:00.001+02:00

I though I was just dizzy as it was getting late and I was hungry. But apparently what I felt on train wasn't just something I felt...

http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/neic_c0005r6w_l.html