swedzerland

Finance

2008-12-06T17:52:00.001+01:00

http://www.ft.com/cms/bfba2c48-5588-11dc-b971-0000779fd2ac.html?_i_referralObject=934892850&fromSearch=n

http://www.ft.com/cms/bfba2c48-5588-11dc-b971-0000779fd2ac.html?_i_referralObject=950743896&fromSearch=n

My own TV-channel,covering poltics and other fun stuff

2008-09-24T11:43:00.001+02:00

Video Gallery powered by Vodpod

Self-referential

2008-09-01T16:13:00.003+02:00

Apparently one of the surest signs of a blog's imminent death is a posting noting how long it's been since the previous post. This will therefore not be one of those posts, or will it?

Am I Leo?

2008-03-12T01:14:00.001+01:00

Penny: "Well, I'm a Sagittarius, which probably tells you way more than you need to now."
Sheldon: "Yes, it tells us that you participate in the mass cultural delusion that the sun's apparent position relative to arbitrarily defined constellations at the time of your birth somehow affects your personality."
- The Big Bang Theory (TV Show)

See clip below, just before the end

Plural of Anecdote

2008-01-29T16:39:00.000+01:00

Not often does random googling yield valuable insights, but when entering search terms ”Colombia Private Schools Slum” they do. Not because they are the center of my (everlasting) thesis work, but because of what I found on a blog by a guy who had spent some time in Bogota. Below is a quote from his post about the people in the Recycling District of Bogota

Do you see the blonde kid sitting next to me in this photo? I asked the locals where he came from. They explained to me that a German tourist met one of the locals a few years ago. And now there’s an extra mouth to feed in the Recycling District.

I’m not making this up. I didn’t photoshop the little blonde kid into the photo. There was really a half-German little boy growing up in this ghetto

This quote struck a cord in me, since one of my strongest memories from my time in Nigeria was the sight of a five-year old blonde girl with pale skin, whose only visible company was three Nigerian ladies of dubious reputation. That sight really wrecked my brain, since I could not understand why any responsible parent would entrust their child to those women. The conclusion was pretty obvious. But having solved that riddle, I found myself left wondering about what kind of life would that girl lead? What kind of identity would she have? I, of course, could not answer this question, but neither have I been able to forget it.

Now I add a new question on which to ponder: how prevalent is this fate? Considering that sex-tourism is on the increase (or, at the very least, the media coverage of it), the answer is probably quite depressing.

Thought Provoking Stuff

2007-12-28T20:20:00.000+01:00

"What percent of our ancestors were women?

It’s not a trick question, and it’s not 50%. True, about half the people who ever lived were women, but that’s not the question. We’re asking about all the people who ever lived who have a descendant living today. Or, put another way, yes, every baby has both a mother and a father, but some of those parents had multiple children.

Recent research using DNA analysis answered this question about two years ago. Today’s human population is descended from twice as many women as men.

I think this difference is the single most underappreciated fact about gender. To get that kind of difference, you had to have something like, throughout the entire history of the human race, maybe 80% of women but only 40% of men reproduced.

Right now our field is having a lively debate about how much behavior can be explained by evolutionary theory. But if evolution explains anything at all, it explains things related to reproduction, because reproduction is at the heart of natural selection. Basically, the traits that were most effective for reproduction would be at the center of evolutionary psychology. It would be shocking if these vastly different reproductive odds for men and women failed to produce some personality differences."

Read more (quite a lot more) at the author's own homepage on the topic of "Is There Anything Good About Men?"

Picture blogging 1: Milan

2007-12-07T16:54:00.001+01:00

One liter of Evian for the simple price of €15. Who can in their right mind refuse that?

Walking on top of the Duomo

Picture blogging 2: Swedish Fall

2007-12-07T16:48:00.001+01:00

Picture blogging 3: Florida stop-over

2007-12-07T16:37:00.000+01:00

The inside of a gated community

Grandma

Sunset at the white beaches of Siesta Key, Sarasota

Floridian humor, I guess

What language is this?

Meet ’n Greet

2007-10-15T19:29:00.000+02:00

One of the many positive aspects about being an exotic foreigner visiting parts not many others go to is that people are usually very surprised and happy to see you. Many small children just gasp and can’t believe what they see, others predictably point and scream. What I find particularly funny is the reaction of grown ups, who can blurt out “Oh what pretty eyes!” instead of saying hello. For some reason girls below 15 and women above 40 feel no inhibitions and are saying whatever they feel, whereas the age group 15-40 demonstrates complete lack of interest, something Joni says is solely because “Colombian women are great actresses”. Having watched my fair share of telenovellas I am not sure about the generality of that statement.

Once the greeting is done, the next amusing phase begins: Names. In the beginning it was tricky to learn how to spell and pronounce names such as Gerrardo or Jaime, but now the greatest confusion comes from names such as Edixon, Jhon, Yeison, Leidy, Stiven & Maicol. These names are all versions of English names, but with spanglish spelling. This struck me as funny, that is, until I realised that this must be how my own name; Patrik (without c), is perceived by non-Swedes.

Usually the next question is if Joni and I are brothers. When told “no”, some ask “maybe you're cousins?” Another popular theme is where we are from. When one kid was encouraged to guess he replied “the circus”. Sometimes my Spanish gets me in trouble, like the time with the girl who thought I was sick because I didn’t understand her whispers. In general though, I am able to communicate and enjoy the hospitality and warmth of the Colombians.

Mixed Pix from Agua Blanca

2007-10-04T08:30:00.000+02:00

Agua Blanca is less of a slum and much more just a rough area, but within an area of half a million people there are bound to be big differences.

Dangerous Colombia - Myth vs. (my) Reality

2007-09-25T07:50:00.000+02:00

That Colombia has a reputation as being somewhat unsafe is to understate the impression I’ve gotten once people heard I was heading to a land, which according to various sources is run by drug-lords, paramilitaries, kidnappers and/or corrupt politicians. Throw in the unexpected statistics, like that Colombia is the most heavily land-mined country on the planet and it seems miraculous that I have survived thus far.

How dangerous is it really? I can only tell what I and people close to me have experienced.

In all honesty, Colombia is probably the most dangerous place I’ve been to, but contrary to what one could think this has nothing at all to do with the current actions of the FARC or the land mines. Instead it is the prevalence of arms and drugs that makes it necessary to take certain precautions when being in Colombia. For instance, we (almost) never stay in Agua Blanca (our “slum”) much after 2 p.m.

Considering the measures that we have taken, I have only been on edge on 4 occasions thus far. Considering that I on a daily basis am moving about in a part of Cali which 90% of the city spends their lives ignoring this is a low figure. To state the obvious: it is entirely possible to be safe in Colombia, you just need to know how.

However, safety doesn’t attract news stories, nor is it exciting material for a blog, hence to illuminate what those 4 scary instances entailed (and maybe scare my mom) here are some brief descriptions:

4) A night-time party in Charco Azul
As part of our networking efforts to get to know people from all parts of Agua Blanca (inhabitants ca. 700 000) we got an invitation to a neighbourhood party in a particularly notorious part. I don’t remember the exact circumstances, but for some reason it was impossible to decline the invite and off we went. It turned out the street was full of music and children and we had a blast (though we really early).

3) Walking (with guide) in the “Invaciones”
As a rule, when Joni and I are walking around in the Agua Blanca we have a local person with us as a guide/facilitator. On one recent occasion I and my guide walked into a recently “settled” area (a.k.a. “Invaciones”). I was acting totally cool because I thought she knew most of the young men eyeing us, only later to hear that she was scared but found comfort in my relaxed demeanour.

2) “Ride of the Valkyries” into Retiro
The two best pieces of travel advice for anyone going some place exotic is to

a) Eat your malaria pills

b) Stay away from motorcycles

The last piece was ignored last week when we wanted to visit a school in the area called Retiro. All our contacts in Agua Blanca said that this was a very dangerous area and when they strongly suggested that we ride to the school on motorbikes, we agreed. Good thing that we did. Most parts of Agua Blanca have good pavement and the people on the streets are usually old ladies or small children. As we neared Retiro we noticed that the buildings were in a very dilapidated state and that on most corners 2-3 men in their late teens or early 20’s were hanging. Most of them only managed to catch a glimpse of us before we were gone. It felt almost like being in a war movie; zooming through the streets, reaching our destination, jumping off, calling in our rides when we wanted to leave, jumping back on as soon as they appeared and driving off in a different direction than we came. The adrenaline was pumping and the only thing missing was some Wanger turned up loud.

1) A visit to the Jail.
You are probably most scared when you are surprised by something, and neither I nor Joni expected that we would end up in the municipal jail when we were visiting the coordinator for the local schools. In fact, her office was at the back of the main municipal building and to get to it we were lead into and through the municipal jail. This was without a shadow of a doubt the scariest scene thus far in Colombia. Jail cells so stuffed that arms are sticking out, reaching for us as we walked by. A boy standing in a corner, shaking his legs intensely and screaming. This was the closest thing to Dante’s inferno I’ve ever been.

Needless to say, afterwards we counted our blessings and were overjoyed to be leading the lives we do, getting the chance to see such things but not having to suffer them. Some however are not so lucky, which is the topic of the next post.

The illustrative lack of school boys

2007-09-25T07:47:00.000+02:00

From the previous post it should be clear that even though I sometimes am in highly unusual situations, the level of danger is under control. For the inhabitants of Agua Blanca, such easy tactics such as leaving the area shortly after lunch are not available, and the nights there are by all accounts terrible. One of your guides was robbed twice in a period of 3 days. A principal told us that when school starts on Mondays they often have to clear a corpse lying in front of the building. Some schoolchildren simply go to the nearest school (as apposed to a better one 50 meters away) because the danger implied by the extra distance.

The clearest indication that something is fundamentally wrong with the situation in Agua Blanca is that at every one of the schools we have visited girls make up about 2/3 of the pupils, and this ratio increases with the age groups. Boys from a very young age leave school and lead a different life, according to local sources, involving crime, drugs and death. Our guide/friend who was robbed was done so by a twelve-year old nervous kid with a gun. Suddenly professional robbers don’t seem so bad, or at least as dangerous. A university professor, who also runs social projects, told us about an armed gang called “Los Ochos” (The Eights), which has a (maximum!) age-limit of 8 years to be a member. To repeat: an armed gang of below nine-year olds!

The effects of this do not only show up in the classrooms. Statistics show that boys outnumber girls by 4-5% until the age of 10. Around there the boys begin to disappear so that by the time they reach 20 years of age the girls are 15% more numerous than the boys. A full 20 percent of the boys die during their adolescence. That is frightening statistic.

Turning Tragedy into Economic Theory

2007-09-25T07:42:00.000+02:00

The situation described above is of course utterly tragic, but as chance would have it, if an economist like me think long enough about something, a theory/idea will in the end pop out.

I female Colombian friend pointed out to me that since there are so few men, a shortage of 10% across all age groups for Cali in total, this shifts the equilibrium (she did not use that term) in the marriage market. It is not obvious that a small disruption of supply (as in this case, 10 percent) should markedly change a market, but since most women who are looking for someone to marry are unlikely to accept any substitutes (whatever that may be) such a reduction does have a high impact. Economic theory then postulates that men will feel free to do things that they otherwise would expect to get punished for (cheating, being general idiots, etc) since many women would apparently prefer a moron husband than no husband at all.

This is not a new theory. I’ve heard it before in the context of societies after wars (

USSR

after WW2 or

Britain

after WW1) in which the ratio’s were even more skewed. I instead connected it to an idea pushed by Steven Pinker, that human society used to be much more violent. If that is the case and if I am allowed the assumption that men historically did most of the fighting and subsequent dying, then there would have been a constant lack of men. Could that fact explain while so many cultures have evolved macho tendencies? The exception that would prove this rule would of course be a country without war and the associated lack of men, which would then be markedly less macho. Does anybody see where I am going with this…?

Shaking things up

2007-09-10T04:58:00.001+02:00

I wanted to update this blog about how my and Joni's field study is going, and to give brief glimpses into what other stuff I did during the last 6 weeks (omg, has it really been that long?). Stuff like, hiking trips in the mountain ranges, parties, excellent food and weekend excursions to Quito (you get the picture). Then, just as I am about to put these things into words I feel a tremble. And it is not my fingers trembling from all the exciting stuff, but the laptop, the table, the chair, the room and in fact the entire half of Colombia that is shaking.

My first EARTH QUAKE!

Rocking!

As things would have it, a 6.8-magnitude shake took place just outside of the coast, causing minor trembles across the Pacific parts of Colombia.

Since Cali was not very close nothing fell from the table, shelves or got damaged in any other way. Some friends of mine were however concerned, but I guess that's because they live in high-rises (I don't).

To calm things down, I recommend some nice Colombian music.

Colombian Cacophony – Entre mascotas y cometas

2007-07-31T18:35:00.000+02:00

As usual events happen quickly and all nearly at the same time, hence it is now time to step back and summarize what has happened during the two weeks since I left Stockholm.

First, I took a trip

(click on each pic to see more pics and read shortly about it)

Eventually I reached this place

And live here

Surviving by consuming this

All this so that I can spend the days slowly moving my thesis forward by having meetings with professors at the local universities, or with the education office in City hall or get guided tours of the slum by locals. No prizes for guessing which is the most exciting.

However, since things move at a relaxed pace I am also finding time to learn Spanish, read books, try to learn salsa (Cali is the Capital of Salsa) and general just hanging around in the sun. And sometimes I also visit a local gym, which is not quite what one would have guessed.

I have a new SIM-card if anyone wants to send an SMS: +57 30 12 72 91 65

Shortcuts: Main / Trip / Cali / House / Food / Gym

Trip: Sthlm – London – Miami – Cali

2007-07-31T18:14:00.000+02:00

Having gotten the pleasant surprise of a 46 kg baggage allowance (easily filled with, among other things, a 5 kg Kubb-set) I was quickly about to discover why Heathrow has the reputation it has as one of Europe’s worst airports. Flights to and fro were delayed, causing me to land so late that I considered skipping the plan to visit a friend in London (i.e. crash on his couch). In the end I arrived 3hours later than planned in my designated bed, but was still happy for getting the pleasure of 4 hours sleep, sharing a relaxed breakfast and conversation before heading back to Heathrow for my flight to Miami.

Killing time in the underground at 1 A.M.

Already when I was queuing for boarding I noticed that most people were speaking in Spanish. I’ve been told that Miami is the unofficial capital of Latin America, and by the looks of that crowd it was easy to see why.

Bahamas from above. Next destination, perhaps?

Miami’s airport was a positive experience: U.S. migration was much friendlier than I remembered, plus it was very cool to hear so many people switch perfectly back and forth between Spanish and English.

Miami from above

On board I chatted with my fellow travelers, who were surprised to find a Swede next to them and even more surprised when they heard that I was heading to the slums of Cali. They did teach me some useful slang though.

Once safely on the ground, I thought my 42 hour journey was over, but apparently my luggage had other plans. One bag was missing, the other was missing its pad-lock. The second mystery was solved when I opened my bag and found my stuff slightly rearranged and damaged plus a note from TSA saying that my baggage had been searched.

Shortcuts: Main / Trip / Cali / House / Food / Gym

Cali

2007-07-31T18:01:00.000+02:00

Colombia’s third biggest city, with a population of about 2.5 million is situated in a valley in the Andes. The valley floor is at an elevation of almost 1000 meters, guaranteeing a very nice climate which is never too warm or too cold, but instead constantly 26 degrees Celsius. One could almost call it eternal summer, and I don't mean this kind of summer. In addition, the high mountain ranges (up to 4000 meters) protect it from much rainfall.

The valley is pretty wide (30-50 Km, I guess)

The city itself sits just at one of the sides of the valley, meaning that certain parts of the city are stretching up along the side of the hills adjacent to the mountain range.

The city seems to be doing well economically, the streets are mostly clean and there is a multitude of shopping centers. The city authorities are also almost done with upgrading the city with a new public transit system. In addition, the real estate sector is booming like crazy.

I said "almost done", certain areas are still under construction

Right now is the season for flying kites, mostly due to the brisk evening breeze in July and August. Hence the sky is full of big and small kites. I know that this is a common phenomenon in many countries, and maybe used to be popular in Sweden too, but my upbringing was pretty kite free so I find it fascinating to watch the birdlike shapes climb to up into the sky until they are mere dots, then elegantly veer left, right, dive, spin and then return to a graceful glide.

Shortcuts: Main / Trip / Cali / House / Food / Gym

Accommodation

2007-07-31T17:45:00.000+02:00

Joni's room has a hammock

Cool house, where my thesis partner Joni lived during his previous stays. The owners, a family of three, also live here and they are very nice and helpful. Also nice are the two dogs of the family. I have never seen any two dogs equally apt at detecting people approaching the house. Once one steps even close to the house, regardless of noise from the street, they will run to the door and welcome you with some barking.

Joni and Ivan (the son of the family and Joni's best Colombian friend)

One of the dogs with some books (reading?)

The house also has a roof which it is possible to climb and use as sun deck, or just to observe Siloe, the nearest slum, creeping up along a hill a stone throw away from the house. In the evening, when the lights in the slum dwellings are on it looks as if a galaxy has landed on the hill. It is simply mesmerizing.

Siloe in the daytime

The only tiny drawback with this accommodation would be that I don’t have internet in my room or that the shower has warm water, but considering that I get to use Joni’s computer (to write this for example) or that the weather is such that all I want is cold showers anyway, these are truly insignificant problems.

The neighborhood is very relaxed and nice, as you can see.

I just love the fact that bananas are hanging over the parking space

Shortcuts: Main / Trip / Cali / House / Food / Gym

Food and Beverage

2007-07-31T15:31:00.000+02:00

¿Se puede tenerlo sin cilantro?
Is it possible to have this without coriander?

For some reason this is the first phrase I learned in India and in Colombia when it comes to food. Almost any vegetable dish here includes it, and I just can’t stand it.

Mmm, breakfast.

Other than that, food here is nice and varied, though perhaps a bit too chicken centric, but there are alternatives I am sure, it is just that I haven’t spotted them yet.

The fruit selection is wide and of good quality.

When it comes to famous local specialties I haven’t much to report. Coffee I never drank before and am not planning to start now either. The closest thing I have gotten to coca was some tea made by its leaves, sold in supermarkets. It didn’t have any bitter taste nor any tangible effect whatsoever. Quelle surprise!

Shortcuts: Main / Trip / Cali / House / Food / Gym

The Gym

2007-07-31T15:20:00.000+02:00

I am not writing about this in order to make anyone believe I’ll come back 10 kgs heavier than I left, but to share with you the strange clientele my gym has. Of course this gym has its share of body-builders and blokes just trying to get in shape (count me to the latter :-), but this gym is something special. At least half of all the people there are what can best be described as trophy wives for people with dubious sources of income. These women stick out for two reasons.

1) They each have so much silicon that I am surprised that they don’t fall over forwards.

It is truly insane how these women look. I knew that Cali is famous for having the best plastic surgeons in Latin America, and offering the best “value” for such services in the world, but still, to see that every second person has lips, chest and a rear that appear so unnatural really stuns me every time I go there.

2) They mostly, but not always, have their “personal trainer” (this is code for body guard) with them all the time. These are truly huge guys, but you never see them work out, they are instead constantly at the side of the women.

Sadly I have not yet dared to take pictures inside the gym. I don’t know how to, even though I guess most of the trophy wives are actually very proud over their physical demeanor.

Shortcuts: Main / Trip / Cali / House / Food / Gym

Wazzup?

2007-07-12T22:27:00.000+02:00

Honestly, things have happened so quickly the last two weeks that I myself am a bit confused about what has happened and what is about to happen. My internship is over, so is my time in Germany. I have many memories and reflections and I will post them in the coming days and weeks.

Currently I am in Stockholm fixing, cleaning, washing and doing all other necessary things for the next adventure. Hopefully, technological circumstances permitting, I'll be able to blog frequently about that starting on Tuesday next week when I land in Cali.

New roads

2007-06-21T11:45:00.001+02:00

Today my internship has reached its end

Back home

2007-05-30T12:29:00.001+02:00

As if a conspiracy was in place, Sweden today is damp and cool (compared the Germany I just left) and the headline in the newspaper screams out 'Swedish youth - depressed egoists'. Luckily, inside there was an amusing interview with the Swedish foreign minister. Plus no amount of headlines can detract from the joy of seeing friends and relatives.

Colombia warm-up

2007-05-28T14:41:00.000+02:00

Interestingly, both The Economist and BusinessWeek have visited Colombia recently. Most pleasing to the eye is the web-presentation by BW, but their main article (+ podcast) is also worth a minute of your time. This is of course also true about what the Economist’s correspondent wrote.

They both say that the country has improved enormously, even though rural areas a bit less so.

Update: German

2007-05-28T14:03:00.000+02:00

It is the year 2007 and Germany has just finally gotten around to completing its alphabet. When I first heard this I was stunned. Apparently there is no capital version of the letter ß, that is, until now. With both approval from the EU and a new law from the German parliament, order has now been established.

It is tempting to advice Germans to update their numbers as well. For instance, hardly anyone says "zwei" for the number 2. Since it sounds similar to "drei" (3) it is preferred to say "zwo". And don't get me started on the fact that numbers above 20 are said with the last number first, i.e. 45 would be said 5-and-40.

More Kyiv

2007-05-27T21:54:00.000+02:00

The week in Kyiv was, as previously said, great. Our schedule gave us access to professors, diplomats, business people, NGO’s and students who were all keen to share their views on Ukraine’s political and economic development. This was a great learning experience, even though we left more confused than we arrived. In addition, for a history junkie like my self, being in a city which has been at the cross-section of Vikings going south, Mongols going west and German tanks going east was most interesting. If you don’t know what the following things are, just click and discover: Poltava, Holodomor, Babi Yar.

The best thing however was our reception and interaction with the locals. A week full of sun and without clouds, and 25-30 degrees was perfect for exploring a city full of nice parks, bustling city centre and a big river (Dnipro) crossing it all, and thanks to Ariadna, Tanya and Dasha it was all the more enjoyable. These sweet ladies (all related to AIESEC in one way or another) were the best guides one could have asked for. Many thanks to you.

Pecherska Lavra is a monastery in Kyiv, so impressive
that it is on the UNESCO list of World Heritages

Monument in remberance of HolodomorMonument of the Red Army recapturing Kyiv.
Massive, in fact quite brutal. As one of my fellow students said: it is funny to think that these structures will probably stand here forever, since nobody will ever contemplate moving them

Kreshchatyk is the main street in Kyiv.

On the Wednesday evening we went on a party-boat, going up and down the Dnipro while at the same time enjoying Ukrainian music and a great party atmosphere.

Thirst for more

2007-05-20T23:39:00.001+02:00

Kyiv exceeded my expectations and was much greener, relaxed and hospitable than any other East European Capital that I have visited.

Political temperature

2007-05-20T22:44:00.001+02:00

The main business paper put the text 'Constitutional Anarchy' on the front page

Netherlands Weekend

2007-05-11T20:59:00.000+02:00

Last week I and three other Swedish interns in Cologne and Düsseldorf took a train to the Netherlands. Primarily because Henrik (the one who is an Architect) promised us a tour of cool buildings in Rotterdam, but also because it was a nice opportunity to see the country next door. After a 2h train ride we arrived in Amsterdam, where we spent 4h sight-seeing (2 of which at the Heineken Experience)
Thereafter we took another train to Rotterdam, which didn't disappoint with its Architecture.
This is a view of the central Erasmus Bridge and some of the high-rise buildings in Rotterdam. It is said that the Dutch are not only very liberal on social issues, but also on experimental designs and daring additions to the urban landscape.
Three of us at the observation deck of the Euromast. Later we enjoyed a dinner watching the sun set over Rotterdam's enormous harbour.
Our accommodation was very central and cheap, but a bit lacking in space. Hostel Boat The Clipper was money well spent and something I recommend to anybody going to Rotterdam on a student budget.Last but not least (although one should see it last, since it is very relaxing) we took a boat trip to the worlds biggest harbour. As luck would have it we saw a Swedish ship unloading paper products just as we went by. It is said that in the old times, when you wanted to grasp the basic concept of en economy you could just visit the market place and watch the buyers and sellers haggle. In the modern global economy I would say that a trip to Rotterdam Harbour would be advisable for anyone who wishes to grasp the amazing forces at work.

PS All of next week I'll be in Kyiv on a study trip.

Sun Trip

2007-05-01T23:26:00.000+02:00

Waiting for bad weather in order to blog turned out to be a bad strategy in April. It has been the driest April since 1951 and the warmest on record. As a friend of mine said: Someone has stolen April and May, taking us straight to June. To which one can add: Hope we get them back in October/November.

Köln seen from an observation deck I visited today

Watching German news about the weather, it again became clear to me how deeply history affect things in this country. The forest-keepers interviewed said that most of the fires start because old WWII ammunition self-explode in the heat(!). There are of course other (non-weather) examples, such as the issue of pensions for former DDR-guards vs. pensions for former DDR-prisoners (no prices for guessing who gets more), or just about any funeral will bring up memories of the past. And some signs are clear for all to see, like the fact that almost all of Cologne is made up of new houses. Virtually everything was destroyed during the war, leaving a scar that looks set to remain for a considerable time.

Köln, 1945

But things do change. Last Friday I did quite a tour of the Ruhr Area. Starting with Wuppertal, home to a wonderful monorail and birth place of Friedrich Engels. Then I went to Bochum, which lies smack in the middle and is a town, which no German I’ve met can say a nice word about. Final stop was Dortmund, the largest city in the Ruhr. During the this trip, which I must admit was also done in perfect weather, it was hard to get much of my prejudice against this area confirmed. Much greener and nicer and more modern, than I’d hoped for. Some optimism should therefore be warranted.

Map of the Ruhr Area

P.S. next weekend I'll visit the Netherlands.

Family Matters

2007-04-14T16:52:00.000+02:00

For Xmas my sister and I posed for some pictures we gave as gifts to relatives. Since they are so nice (both the relatives and the pictures) I thought I'd share them online (only the pics). Partly as a means of wishing my sister good luck with her Manhattan Project :-)

Marvellous, Fantastic, Super

2007-04-04T00:13:00.000+02:00

I realise that I am most likely inviting disaster by stating that things are VERY well right now.

After a rough patch, where at work demands were a bit high and with my housing situation far from ideal, I am now on a roll.

First I got a new much better place to stay. Then I got a visit from Sweden. It is always nice with some fresh eyes to help you rediscover a place; they also serve as an impetus to discover new things (which we for sure did). Do I need to mention that both weather and circumstances were conducive for an excellent time? An indication of how much fun we had was that the earliest we came home was 5 a.m.

Then on yesterday I received notice that my thesis partner and I have been granted the scholarship we needed to conduct our thesis work! This means that I will be in Colombia for about 2-3 months, starting in the late summer!

Uppdate: I wrote previously about the research behind our topic. Very good videos, lectures and articles are just two clicks away.

Ich bin ein ”Head-hunter“

2007-03-25T17:25:00.000+02:00

For two weeks now, and for coming 3 months, I’ll be learning the ropes as an international head-hunter. (If you are wondering “What is international head-hunting?” click here)

I am doing an internship with Kienbaum Executive Consultants (more about Kienbaum). Our corporate headquarter is in Gummersbach, a short drive outside of Köln, where I live. (more about Gummersbach and how I get there every day)

They are very good at keeping me busy, with increasingly challenging tasks. So far I have been doing Client analysis, Created target lists, Worked on Ads, Identified candidates, Vetted said candidates, Interviewed references, and well pretty much everything else (except things that require me getting on a plane, such as Direct interviews, but maybe that will change also).

Of course, I have already developed some deep insights into this headhunting thing ;-)

Three things have struck me so far.

1) How incredibly open Scandinavian companies are. It is extremely easy to get access to people, whom we want to lure away.

2) God bless the Americans! One of the best sources of people is companies recently taken over by US Corporations. Disgruntled managers are more than willing to make a move.

3) Sometimes the most unlikely people will aid our efforts. One company’s HR manager even supported our recruiting of her CFO. Strange, to say the least.

Headhunting ABC

2007-03-25T17:17:00.000+02:00

The Economist recently published a survey on the ”War for Talent”, highlighting that with globalisation (and the increased fragmentation of business) the value of good management has increased substantially, and is set to continue its rise. There are simply too many business opportunities with high demands and too few qualified managers.

So what are companies to do, in order to recruit and retain these scarce and valuable people? Increasingly they turn to companies specialized in the art of tracking down and recruiting business leaders. This is especially true if they are about to expand into unfamiliar terrain (such as a new country of operations). These companies are nicknamed Head-hunting firms, but are formally known as Recruiter firms.

Meet the Kienbaums

2007-03-25T17:14:00.000+02:00

Germany is the leading export nation in the world, and they have many international companies. Some of Germany’s biggest companies turn to Kienbaum to help them with international recruitment. Kienbaum was founded in 1945 by Gerhard Kienbaum and has now grown into Germany’s largest recruitment firm. In addition, Kienbaum has a Management Consultancy. All in all, Kienbaum is active in 15 countries and counts over 600 employees. Most of these are however in Gummersbach, where our headquarters are located.

More info at www.kienbaum.com

Going to Gummersbach

2007-03-25T17:08:00.000+02:00

Every morning I meet the colleagues from Kienbaum who also live in Köln and ride with them to Gummersbach. (route plan)

It takes about 25 minutes, during which I can either get depressed by seeing the endless traffic jams on the roads heading into Köln, or I can get inspired by the beautiful scenery as the road makes its way up into the hills. I never cease to be amazed by how hilly, and therefore scenic, Germany is. Regarless of view, it goes by pretty quickly since my most frequent "driver" likes speed (I usually tell him to go a bit easier on the gas when we hit 185 km/h).

The downside with this car pool arrangement is of course, that I am to a large extent bound by the schedule of the driver. This has so far meant that I leave Köln at 8 a.m. sharp and usually return around 8 p.m.

Frei Tag

2007-03-23T10:39:00.000+01:00

Fridays are (almost) free days. Today I'll be part of a study trip to Europe's largest Steel Plant which claims that it's
approximately 3250 employees produced 5.47 millions tons in 2005 - about 12% of the crude steel manufactured in Germany.
Could be very interesting. We have been instructed to wear clothes completely covering our bodies, so my expectations of something exciting happening are high. If I don't get to see some boiling/flowing iron, I would be most disappointed. ;-)

Compare this with last week's Friday, when I was visiting the Picasso exhibition in Düsseldorf.This self-portrait (made only a year or so before his death, at the remarkable age of 91) caught my eye, but other than I only really like one more painting (and for some mysterious reason it can not be found online and shared)

Much better were the paintings in the permanent exhibition. Who cannot like Dalí or fall for these two Magritte paintingsThis (La Modèle rouge) is actually one of my favourite paintings, and I did not know it was here in Düsseldorf.

This picture (Le Plaisir) prompted all kinds of thoughts: is this human destruction of nature, or perhaps a comment on that even sweet things have a dark side?

Rivalry

2007-03-11T16:53:00.000+01:00

I am switching sides. As mentioned before I am now leaving Düsseldorf (partly) to have my new base in Cologne/Köln. The cities aren’t too different but for several reasons there is a strong rivalry between the two (perhaps because they are much alike?)

Köln is much bigger and older. It has more prestigious university and is the predominant Media-city of Germany. So when Düsseldorf became the regional Capital Köln started having a grudge. Trying to order a beer from Düsseldorf when you are in Köln is considered very rude. Strangely this attitude extents a bit further than the bar. Our teacher told us that for many years, if you were driving from the north along the highway there would not be any signs indicating the Düsseldorf exit, so many drivers ended up in Köln. I actually noticed something similar when riding the airport shuttle bus to Düsseldorf. There was only one sign, just before the exit, so if you aren’t paying attention you’ll still miss it.

How the Düsseldorfers wish that their road sign looked like
(Statt means "instead of" but is pronounced similarly to "Stadt",
which means City and is very common on road signs)

The Economist and I

2007-03-11T16:27:00.000+01:00

On previous occasions when I have been abroad I have found myself with some extra time on my hands, which I have used to among other things sink deep into my favourite newspaper, The Economist.

Sadly, my subscription is to a mail-box which I have not had access to for the last month so I have started reminiscing about wonderful pieces I read before (clearly a sign that I am addicted to this paper-based “mind expanding substance”).

This might sound strange but I still remember how stunned I was when I saw this graph:

To quote from the article

In an article in Science magazine in May 2002, the two demographers argued that the four-decade increase in life expectancy since 1840 is so linear that it “may be the most remarkable regularity of mass endeavour ever observed”.

I also remember when I read this:

People in very poor countries are, on average, less intelligent than those in rich ones. Some readers may be shocked by this statement, so let's rephrase it.

Some 800m people do not have enough to eat. Without proper nutrition, the human body cannot develop properly. That includes the brain. Those who are ill-fed tend to end up both physically shorter and less mentally agile than they otherwise would have been. Hunger also spurs millions of children to drop out of school in order to scavenge for food, and those who manage to attend school despite empty bellies find it excruciatingly hard to concentrate.

Few papers would be so bold in their choice of words.

(Higher) Frequency

2007-03-09T10:34:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I was in Cologne, checking out places to stay. I know that it is a bit late in the game to look for an apartment less than a week before I am about to start work, but since the housing market in Germany is liquid and functioning (as opposed to other places I know) this actually works fine.

Most students and interns share apartments (called Wohngemeinschaft, or simply WG). Renting a room is then a process in which I must convince the owner of the room that I am responsible enough to return it in good condition, but also convincing the other flat-mates that I am fun enough to hang with.

After having checked-out my latest WG, I took a short walk over to the AIESEC-Köln Stammtisch (i.e. the weekly get-together-over-beers). I am always amazed how AIESEC enables young people to quickly find friends in pretty much every corner of the world. The risk of me being lonely or not speaking enough German can now safely be said to be zero.

The main event however was who I ran into at this Stammtisch. In 2004 I did an internship in Nigeria, and a Mexican girl who interned after me (but whom I so far had only seen in pictures) was at this Stammtisch! Wow! A person who has almost the same Nigerian experience as me, and we by chance happen to meet in Cologne. As I've written before, this tendency to run into people is unbelievable.

"Heaven and Earth"

2007-03-07T11:45:00.000+01:00

When Julia was visiting, we went out and enjoyed some of the regional cuisine. My dish was called "Himmel und Erde", meaning "Heaven and Earth". It is two big slices of Blood-sausage on an island of mashed potateo in a lake of beer-sauce. It tasted much like the Swedish blood-pudding, which I happen to like. Of course we washed this down with (the local) Alt-bier.

Frequency

2007-03-06T18:58:00.000+01:00

I just realized that I have had almost a 3-week break from blogging. Sure, I haven't got internet at home (a bit of a tumultuous home at that one could add), but that is no excuse. Henceforth I'll blog shorter and more often that I promise.

One cool thing is how serendipitous things have been. I knew I had friends in Düsseldorf and Köln that I could hang with, but it is amazing how many people I literally run into on the streets whom I know. On the second day in Düsseldorf I met Nadine, who works for the Swedish Chamber of Commerce and whom I know through AIESEC. Then, when I was exploring Köln one weekend, I ran into a Sandhya, whom I know from my exchange semester in St. Gallen. She is about to start her internship in Köln too, and will stay here about the same length as I. Then yesterday I, also at the Chamber of Commerce, ran into a Malin who started at SSE the same year as me.

Time to Move

2007-03-06T18:39:00.000+01:00

Next week I’ll move to Cologne/Köln and begin the internship phase of my stay in Germany. I have a place to stay for a while but will try to quickly find something better alternative. As I move from Düsseldorf it is not a complete good-bye. I’ll be coming back every second weekend for more German language training. One thing that I will look forward to on these trips back is the Mensa. Mensa is usually the student canteen, and this particular Mensa is the one at the Kunstakademie (Art Academy). Not only is it a steady source of wonderful

Germany

words (e.g. Kartoffelernteergebnisse, meaning potatoharvestyield) it also offers the best value in terms of food I’ve seen in any OECD country*. For about 1,5€ you can fill you stomach. Wonderful.

Moving also means saying goodbye to my “family”. They were nice and helpful but clearly had some internal issues. From what I understood the Dad in the family went to Dresden, on the other side of Germany, and tried to get a job there for a week. In the mean-time the Daughter (who I had the most contact with) moved to her paternal grand-parents in Duisburg, about 30 minutes away from Düsseldorf. And the mother rented out her room. Now the Dad is back in town, BUT does not stay in the apartment. In some sense I am glad to now be moving on. Hope they patch things up soon though.

*Nothing beats India when it comes to value for money at restaurants

Karneval

2007-03-06T15:55:00.000+01:00

A week or two ago Karneval took over this part of Germany. Already the week before I started running into people (of all ages) with strange costumes and painted faces. These incidents increased exponentially until, on Rosenmontag, it all came to a magnificent culmination. All the time people were partying; dancing everywhere, eating lots of sausages and of course consuming copious amount of beer.

Like before, I'll share some pictures my friends took of these eventsTypically (i.e., for Karneval) dressed-up Germans
Rosenmontagszug is a parade with certain political elements, but all in a very humorous way

Some costumes were clearly very elaborate

One thing that puzzled us Swedes were why the Germans had chosen to party at a time of the year which normally is pretty cold (however, we experienced optimal weather, with sunshine and 15 degrees plus). Perhaps the reason, as with Lucia in Sweden, is that when nature is at its coldest and darkest, that is when you need to have something fun to do.

Going Pippi

2007-02-14T19:04:00.000+01:00

News travel slowly, but it has now come to my attention that a proposal has been made to change the Swedish coins to feature the face of Pippi Longstocking, instead of the current image of the King. As a long-standing Republican I would of course offer my support, if I did not consider the issue some-what of a non-priority.

I do however feel that the Germans would offer their fullest sympathies. Check out the film below of some Football-fans (attending a match in Denmark) displaying their feelings for Pippi and really rocking the house. (Make sure your sound is on)

I cannot believe they made the stadium shake like that. Scary.

Equally scary are they eye-brows of Martin Walser. He is a German author who was the single voice of reason on a discussion programme I watched on Germany TV during my first couple of days here. The programme made quite an impression, not because of the topic (the pursuit and science of Happiness) but because one of the four participants would get to present their case, then the moderator would say “Good, lets reflect on that for two minutes” and then they dimmed the lights, started playing classical music and nothing happened on screen for subsequent two minutes. Amazing! That is how it is, in a Kulturland.

Picture time

2007-02-11T16:11:00.000+01:00

Since I don't* have a digital camera, I have poached some pictures of the websites of the ca. 30 other Swedes whom I hang around with here in Düsseldorf. I am sure they won't mind me sharing them with you. (PS I also updated some old posts with pictures)

The first week we did a small City walkabout

It seems that any German city that wants respect has to build a TV-tower. D’dorf has of course one. And in order to be a bit different this one has arranged lights along the outside. Through these one can read the time (during the night).

We of course posed in front of it. Can you spot me?

A preparty picture (at Sigrid's place). Afterwards we went to Mediahafen, where all the cool clubs are. Some of you might recognise the person just left of me, Julia, whom I was buddy for at SSE. She studies in Koblenz and was kind enough to come and visit and help me explore Düsseldorf. This picture was taken during a tour of one of the many small breweries in the Old Town. In this tub the beer is cooled in order for some very importance process related to the yeast to occur (don't ask, the guide had done his training in Bavaria so I only understood half of what he said). All in all it was a great learning experience as well as a wonderful culinary treat.

* If my mom happens to read this she might think that she did indeed buy one for me and my sister to share. But, for semi-rational reasons, my sister clings onto it.

Vilken historia - what a story

2007-02-08T14:28:00.000+01:00

Last Thursday our class visited Bonn, which is the former Capital of Bundesrepublik Deutschland, and has many interesting things to offer. Our first stop was the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung where lots of interesting books were on sale, most only for the bargain price of 2€ each. I again realised that the combination of Cheap and Books is dangerous for my wallet. Thereafter, with a somewhat lighter wallet and decidedly heavier backpack, we went to the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland and for those who understand German you can take the virtual tour. This is just the type of stuff I love.Here you see Lina from Lund in front of Beethovens house (and also in front of me :-)

Tuesday this week we did something similar, namely an excursion to Aachen. This is where the cultural heart of Western Europe is, at least in historical terms. We also made a short de-tour to the “Siberia of Prussia” and Monschau. Cute, but a bit chilly. On the plus side there were zero other tourists in the town as we made our walk-about.Here we have a typical Monschau-house and some equally typical frozen swedes (that alone should tell you it was chilly)

On an equally chilly note, my "adoptive" family’s relationship is somewhat strained. Not due to any fault of mine. Whilst in class yesterday I received the following SMS “Hallo patrick[sic.]! Lass bitte auf keinen fall alex[the Dad] in die Wohnung- habe ihn rausgeschmissen. Danke und sorry für lärm etc. Anna“. The translation would be “Hello P. Let under no circumstances Alex in- I have thrown him out. Thanks and sorry for the noise etc”.

Looks like I have found my self in the middle of some family drama. Yesterday I also spoke with the family member with most reason (Mascha, the daughter) and she said that she will move to her grandmother (in a town just 30 min away) but would expect to come back sometime soon. Apparently it is not the first time this sort of thing happens.

All in all, a fairly exciting week with a mix of History and Drama (plus a lot of fun and partying, but that I’ll talk about next time).

Auf Wiedersehen!

Discovering Düsseldorf – part I

2007-01-30T14:54:00.000+01:00

Most who don’t know much about D’dorf (until recenty this very much included myself) think it is in Ruhr-area (it isn’t) and thus in the middle of coal mines or huge petrochemical industries. What most Germans however point out is that this city has little industry but more corporate headquarters than any other German city. The one word everyone uses to describe D'dorf is "Rich". This means that there is no lacking of luxury and fashion stores, but also plenty of culture. The city is full of art (many galleries, museums, installations in public spaces, etc). Which comes in handy, because on Sundays everything else is closed

Düsseldorf also offers unexpected cosmopolitan touches. For instance, one of the city’s central streets is completely taken over by the Japanese (people, businesses & restaurants) since they for some reason have chosen D’dorf as a European base. There is even a Japanese festival in June. The reason for all these German and international headquarters is because this place can rightly claim to be in the heart of Europe (especially in terms of GDP). Take a quick glance at the map below: Almost every major European city (except, of course, Stockholm ;-)) is easily reached from D’dorf.

New Home

2007-01-27T19:20:00.001+01:00

After a full week in Düsseldorf, Germany I can now rapport that I have begun to get some sense of the place. It helps that I got a friendly introduction to the city (thanks Hanna), but also that I have been lucky enough to been “adopted” by my new family. More on this later.

I am in D’dorf to do a 7-week course in German, and along the way deepen my knowledge and understanding of Germany culture. This in order to prepare me for my subsequent internship. The posts henceforth will concern my:

Struggle with the grinding German (language)
Serendipitous discoveries in Düsseldorf
Anything and everything else

As a mere formality I should also post some new contact details:
Cell-phone (operational as of Monday): +49-177-720 68 97

Address: Akerman C/o Vogel
Linienstr. 53
40227 Düsseldorf
Germany

Now, my new „family“. Since I decided to shun the dorms where most other Swedes chose to live I had to find a place to stay on the open market. I found it bit scary to move to a city without having housing arranged but I quickly found a wonderful, artistic family (father 35, “mother” 30 and daughter 12) with whom I feel most at home. This way I get to speak much more German and I have a far more social environment than in a dorm. Plus, the daughter can help me with my homework :-)

Xmas and a new year

2006-12-21T16:33:00.000+01:00

Only three days to go (in Sweden we celebrate on the 24th) and I am already filled with tranquillity. The weather has been warm, or rather, less cold than expected and school has gone well. Meeting relatives again is something I am really looking forward to. Even despite all the things that can go wrong during Xmas.

I look upon the next year with the same joy and optimism, partly because of the time I'll spend in Germany but also because prospects for my and Joni's thesis have brightened. However, since nothing is finalized yet I dare not reveal too much about it. For those who want to get a broad idea I can recommend a BBC documentary (video), this article or this presentation. Then add a touch of Colombia and you should have a pretty accurate picture.

May you all have a wonderful holiday season!

Old News

2006-12-09T00:00:00.000+01:00

About a month ago or so I, and many others (for instance my sister, to the left) participated in the Stockholm Model United Nations. Here we are, posing together with the former Foreign Minister of Sweden, H.E. Mr. Jan Eliasson, who also recently held the position of President of the United Nations General Assembly, i.e. he is pretty much Sweden's foremost diplomat.

Enough said about him, I mainly posted the picture because both my sister and I look so nice in our Nigerian outfits. I am beginning to grow more and more interested in Nigeria and Africa. Hopefully I can get my African friends in Sweden to come over for dinner soon (we are always postponing it). Did you know that Nigeria is having elections in the spring of next year?

And oh, by the way, both my sister (representing Mali) and the Nigerian delegation (which I advised) received distinctions from the organizing committee for their performance during SMUN. (and so did I :-))

In Pursuit

2006-12-03T15:39:00.000+01:00

Jägermeister can be seen as an illustration of foreign cultures. The outside looks a bit strange but you are sure that there is something cool inside. Then you taste, and get your first culture shock. Then you realize that cultures are destined to blend and mix. The question then is what to mix with. This was the question some friends and I tried to solve yesterday.

To give you a very short answer: Red Bull (or also, if you have access to a Swedish foodstore, "Hallonsoda") works best.

Why, one might ask, am I writing about Jägermeister. Well, yesterdays tasting was intendend to mark an auspicious occasion, namely that I been offered to spend the first half of 2007 in Düsseldorf, to improve my German and do an internship.

I'm alive

2006-11-19T19:14:00.000+01:00

Pssst, just wanted to tell you that I am not dead, although my internet absense could be taken as a sign of my demise.

And I can promise that the time between this post and the next will be shorter than that between this and the previous one.

Take care

Post-Mania

2006-05-05T14:08:00.000+02:00

I got an e-mail asking if I am alive. I have never felt more so! Switzerland is too much fun! Every week something wonderful happens (or more often than that). The following 8(!) posts will try (with many pictures) to clear the back-log. Hopefully also clearing any doubts of how I am fairing.

If you like chronological order I recommend that you start reading at the post entitled "Introweek" and work your way up.

PS this weekend I am attending an AIESEC conference so the fun doesn’t look set to stop

Landsgemeinde

2006-05-05T13:59:00.000+02:00

Have you ever in an election voted openly in front of all other members of your community? Well that is how direct democracy works in Appenzell Innerrhoden where twice per year at the Landsgemeinde all citizens eligible to vote gather in a square to (by show of hands) cast their vote. Very fascinating and a huge magnet for tourist. Hence we had to squeeze a bit as we tried to get a glimpse of the proceedings.

At 11:00 sharp it started, with a march of dignitaries to the square, led by a marching-band.

The voters waited respectfully
After the march there was a (too?) long swearing in ceremony
Then the voting begins!
How to best have an "after party" once the voting is over? The Swiss buy sausages and so did we.

Uniball

2006-05-05T13:56:00.000+02:00

The same day as we won the competition the UniBall, a ball for UniSG students and alumni, took place. We of course went there as well (to celebrate). Since I had known about this ball for quite some time I had managed to bring some appropriate clothing from Sweden.
Me, entertaining the Ladies (Astrid & Bea)
Joni (fellow exchange student from my home university) at his happiest moment in Switzerland thus far. Look how he is glowing :-)

Competition

2006-05-05T13:51:00.000+02:00

Together Martin (Czech Republic), Astrid (the Netherlands) and Bea (Hungary) I constituted a team in a strategy competition that was arranged last weekend. Surprisingly (considering that it was done completely in German) our team won!

What we won was a trip (transportation and housing included) to Freiburg (Germany) where the next leg of the competition would be held. Sadly I have now received the news that this part (due to lack for funding) is postponed to October (by which time our team will be scattered across Europe). We will try to change this, since the team that came second will go to the second leg as well (but their leg is in Stuttgart and is NOT cancelled) but maybe we can arrange a switch. Cross your fingers, please.

Polish Dinner

2006-05-05T13:48:00.000+02:00

There are many house parties where you meet up and chat over a drink before going out (Wednesdays is the big party day since many regular students aren’t from SG and go home over the weekend). Some parties stand out, and the lovely homely event that Malwina hosted (and prepared with help of Kamila, and maybe also Bea) was such an occasion.

The hostess with the mostess sitting the closest

Hiking

2006-05-05T13:46:00.000+02:00

BuddySystem® together with the MBA program at Uni S.G. arranged hiking trip in the nearby hills. We started by visiting a cheese-making factory/museum and the proceeded to trek for 3-4 hours up and down green hills and into valleys and canyons until we reached our destination: a water park. Oh, the water was so nice and there was so much to do that I think I stayed for almost 4 hours.
Taking a well deserved rest after some serious walking

Easter

2006-05-05T13:27:00.000+02:00

What could be a more appropriate way of celebrating Easter than chocolate bunnies? Not surprisingly I went skiing this (third consecutive) weekend as well. Still so lovely.

However, since the weather is getting warmer I have begun enjoying my bike (which I brought with me from Sweden) and am exploring the surroundings of St Gallen.

Luckily Easter is such a long break that there was also time for some genuine sight-seeing. Together with Astrid (exchange student from the Netherlands) I explored Switzerland biggest roman ruins

The place was much bigger than I had expected and very welcoming with a full-size replica of a roman nobleman's house, where we could relax and play a game with utterly confusing rules.

Since these ruins were in close vicinity to Basel (and we have 4 hours to spare) we went into town and walked around. We also climbed to the top of the Cathedral to get a good view of the city.

No prizes for guessing what type of weather we got the following two hours, but the dark clouds do give me an omnious appearance. Looks cool in a Darth Vader kind of way, don't you think?

More Skiing

2006-05-05T13:24:00.000+02:00

This is another picture from Laax (pronounced as the Swedish fish with a similar name) where I went skiing.

It is so nice to have the Alps (where the snow is plentiful and the slopes are amazingly long) just around the corner. I have literally made a split-second decision of going for a alpine weekend, something that is impossible (or at least very expensive and cumbersome) in Sweden.

Introweek

2006-05-05T13:20:00.000+02:00

Yes I know that this happened almost a month back but we nevertheless had a lot of fun; one evening chatting at a pub/club, another one we went bowling and yet another the BuddySystem® had arranged a pub crawl.

Can you see me behind the Nargile/shisha/hookah?

The week after we went to Zürich for some night-time sightseeing.
No comments/pictures :-)

Böögg Burning

2006-04-25T23:13:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I was in Zürich, visiting an old friend and joining the locals in their celebration of Spring’s arrival. It is called Sechseläuten and involves a parade of various guilds of the city, as can be seen in the pictures below.

The highpoint was however the burning of a snowman-like figure filled with explosives and placed on top a big pile of firewood. Supposedly a rapid explosion (less than 15 minutes) heralds a warm and long summer. It felt as if the entire city was on the move, luckily we managed to squeeze ourselves into a position where the Böögg at least partly was visible.

The Böögg burnt very well and exploded after 10 and a half minutes (thus giving me high hopes of warm and sunny weather). Maybe this was due to the 23-degree sunshine on this day or because this wasn’t the real Böögg, but a replacement. The original one was kidnapped.

Achtung: For those who like chronological order the coming posts will be confusing as I try to catch up with events since Easter.

Deutschverständnis

2006-04-13T19:38:00.001+02:00

Now that I have been here a while you might wonder how my German is faring. I’d say I'm at the stage where, in order to understand 99%, I need people to speak at a moderate speed. Nonetheless I was surprised during a lecture about Swiss history and politics that I understood almost everything, even the jokes. Outside of lectures it is trickier. Swiss-German is so different that even native Germans who have been here for several years don’t understand it. Luckily most people in SG are happy to speak German-German (Hochdeutsch) when asked. In addition everything is written in Hochdeutsch, giving me ample opportunity to increase my vocabulary. The exceptions that prove this rule are the SMSs. These are, more often than not, in Swiss-German and to make them utterly unintelligible they follow different spelling rules depending on which part of Switzerland the sender is from. Speaking of words, here are, in an expression of my weird humor, my two new favorite words: Kartoffelstandort and Schwalbenkönig.

Skiing

2006-04-10T23:43:00.000+02:00

When I first arrived, the sun was so sunny and it was so warm that I thought Summer must have arrived with me. As a consequence I left my winter coat in the car heading home to

Sweden

. This was slightly optimistic. As my Swiss flat-mate said "April macht was er will" (trans. April [weather] does what it wants). After those Summer-y days I have experienced snow, a mix of rain and fog, more snow, more fog, more rain and today it has snowed most of the time.

This has had one major consequence. Skiing. When there is precipitation in SG (elevation 600 m) it is almost guaranteed that it is snowing at the alp tops. And since there is no sweeter combination than ski slopes covered with fresh snow and free of tourists (we are now in the post-season) I am one happy (and now slightly tanned) exchange student.

But besides hitting the slopes every weekend so far I have also done other things, like...after-ski. Local beer is good and the view is just terrific. It really does help me find the energy needed for my studies.

Last week also entailed an episode that gave me some deeper knowledge of the habits of my host country. At the university canteen I saw a bottle of the local brand fruit juice. I checked the label and it said something about blood orange. Since I was feeling sleepy I thought this might be just what I needed. I was right in my assumption that I would get a jolt from this drink but pretty much wrong about everything else. As I began to drink my newly purchased beverage I quickly discovered my mistake. I had bought Molke, which is not a fruit-based drink but one whose main ingredient is a bi-product of cheese making. Even though it is supposedly extremely healthy I will wait a long time before sipping that stuff again.

Of widerlüge!

Sunshine and a cloud

2006-04-03T09:53:00.000+02:00

All signs point to an excellent time here. People are friendly and outgoing; courses seem cool and there is a gazillion fun things to do. I am worried I might get too carried away in my optimism.

I can confirm the impression that everything here is expensive, ridiculously so. The thing that best illustrates this is the tendency of many places to charge for the ketchup for the fries. On the plus side (or negative for my studies) beer and alcohol is marginally cheaper than at home.

Something that is harder to spin positively is the course selection system at UniSG. It is very complicated and it takes forever to check if two courses have a scheduling conflict. But the mere fact that this is my biggest problem here speaks volumes.

Introweek

2006-04-03T09:50:00.000+02:00

In a simplified form I can say that everyday last week looked like this

08:30-12
German classes
13:30-16
Intro to Uni, SG or CH. Sometimes this took the form of lectures, other times it came in the guise of bureaucracy.
16:00-18
Nap (I actually needed it)
20:00-02
Meeting other exchange students for bowling, pub crawl or a city walk
08:00
get up and start all over

Climate Change

2006-04-03T09:39:00.000+02:00

When I arrived in SG the sun was most welcoming, pushing the thermometer above 20 degrees centigrade. When I left Sweden it looked like this

To compare, here is a picture of a Swiss valley we drove through on our way to SG.

+41-77-42 68 369

2006-03-27T19:40:00.000+02:00

My new number.

First impressions

2006-03-26T23:24:00.000+02:00

Going from Stockholm to Liechtenstein (yes, we had some time to spare so we drove a bit extra just to see the one place in Europe that voted away democracy) it is striking that there is only one thing reminding you of the fact that you have crossed a border: the SMS that informs you of the new operator you have just roamed unto. No border, no nothing. Sweet!

Once in Switzerland we drove around among the valleys and into the alp villages. In one of the most conservative (and most Swiss?) cantons; Appenzell Ausserrhoden (they gave women the vote in 1989) we found a restaurant where we could have our first Swiss meal. The place looked very promising, lots of stuff related to cheese making was displayed and the atmosphere was utterly genuine. We ordered and while the waiter disappeared into the kitchen the owner offered us some delicate bread. Not shortly thereafter we started sensing something was up. Both the owner and the waiter started to look stressed and ran around. We soon found out what was wrong. Within five minutes the waiter came and said that they could not find the Chef(!). After another five minutes the owner came, with the look on his face as if his entire life work had been brought to shame, deeply apologizing about something that had never ever occurred before. Since he was so obviously sad, and since the whole thing seemed so absurd, all we could do was to smile and walk away. Clearly the image of Switzerland as the most reliable place in the world got a severe hit already on the first day. However, since the owner was so sincere in his shame I would gladly go back and try to eat there another time.

On a purely positive note; I have found a place to stay. It went very fast and easy and is a bowling-ball throw (not an accepted expression perhaps, but you understand that it is very close) away from my university.

The address, for those who want to visit or send stuff is:
Varnbüelstrasse 13, 9000 St. Gallen

The phone number to the apartment is +41 (0) 71 222 49 61
(I will try to get a mobile number tomorrow, when school starts)

Ciao!

Take a ride with me

2006-03-22T17:54:00.000+01:00

People say that it’s the journey and not the destination that makes traveling so much fun. I very much agree and therefore I am going to St. Gallen by car, instead of flying. Not only will this allow me to spend two days watching scenic parts of Autobahn in Germany. This way I also get to bring my bike and other heavy and cumbersome objects that would have been difficult to get on the plane. Since I don’t have a car of my own or a driver’s license I owe a great debt of gratitude to my mom who has been persuaded to drive me down.

You are of course welcome to join us, albeit only virtually. Turn on some German music or a Swiss language course (that is what we will listen to in the car) and track our progress as we head south. Our intenarary is as follows:
Depart from Stockholm around lunchtime and arrive in Göteborg some six hours later. (Map)
In Göteborg we have to Check in at our ferry by no later than 19:00. This night-ferry will then take us (Map) to Kiel in northern Germany. Arrival is expected to 09:00 on Saturday morning. We then drive (Map) to Glandorf to visit an old friend of the family. It is unclear how long we will stay. May just an hour for tea or maybe we will even spend the night. Who knows?

Afterwards we will head south (Map) and travel as far as possible to St.Gallen. Depending on the time spent in Glandorf we will reach St.Gallen either Sunday lunchtime or late in the night.

And then the adventure begins.

Hospital Flag

2006-03-19T21:08:00.000+01:00

Me: Yes, I'm going to Switzerland.
What do you know about that place?
Cousin: I dunno, isn't it the country with the hospital flag?

Today will be the last Sunday until late July that I have dinner with my family and immediate relatives. As I was talking to them, in particular my young cousins, I realized that they (and maybe others) had a limited knowledge of what I am going to do in Switzerland.

So, in order to give you a preview of what my future posts will be about here is a short list.

By living in a (almost) German speaking area I strongly hope to improve my mastery of Deutsch. Therefore, don't be surprised if I comment on something language related
I am after all going on a student exchange, so school will enter into the picture, be it an eccentric professor that deserves mentioning or some random thought I have on a topic related to my studies.
Exchange is always about meeting people, both local and the other exchangers. Add to that that I will probably hang around with the local CEMS Club and AIESEC LC. Expect bits of gossip and lots of pictures.
Not only does the setting of a medium sized Swiss town offer something pleasing to the eye. It also brings vast possibilities to enjoy the out-doors. I am bringing my bike, uni-hockey/innebandy stick & badminton racket, but will most likely enjoy skiing, football and just plain sight-seeing as well.
Being the perpetual optimist I fully expect there to be time over to indulge in reading the many books I need to, in order to research my thesis. I don't know how much I'll comment directly on this work, but I'll probably link frequently to stuff that is related

CH in minus 5!

Singing Japanese Ambassador

2006-02-28T21:22:00.000+01:00

What could be stranger than a representative of Japan (a country famous for being less extrovert than others) dressed in a rice-hat, stroking his guitar and singing folk songs in Swedish?
Not much. And of course I, and the rest of the people in attendance, loved it. And so do others. If only Swedish ambassadors were this cool.
This was just one part of Nippon Day, an annual event that involves SSE students working side by side with students from Hitotsubashi University on a project taking place in both Sweden and Japan, in order to bring our countries closer. A very praisable aim and very well executed. My personal favourite event today was when I got to sample 5 different kinds of Saké. One looked almost like milk. Sooo cool.

CH in minus 25 days

2006-02-27T23:06:00.000+01:00

Today the world got a little better

Since those who read this played floor ball with me today (except D) there is no need to again recall my current activities. I’ll therefore share what I did afterwards.

I started viewing Podd-TV!

With a simple program called FireAnt I can watch tv-programs, albeit few are available, whenever I want without the hassle of finding the sites and download them from there. SVT is my only source so far but considering that my list of podcasting feeds have consistently grown (now over 40 indispensable feeds) I won’t have to wait long before I have more to watch than I know what to do with.

Ah, what a wonderful world of technology.

Btw, CH minus 26 days

Uppdatering: Ser att även Expressen sänder Podd-TV

2006-02-26T22:07:00.000+01:00

Countdown

CH in minus 27 days