Going Underground

Posted on November 18, 2008 by shane75

Kimberly is an American who has a great little blog, unfortunately its not been updated since September which is a shame as she writes well. Hopefully she will return soon.

I like what she writes on her welcome page..

‘

It’s true that I miss a lot of stuff that I had back in the States. I miss Starbucks, Target. The Outback Steakhouse, and being able to transfer money into my Bank of America checking account without extra charges. Whenever I start missing my old home too much, I force myself to take a step backwards and re-examine the life that I live today.

I live in a historical neighborhood in a classic Scandinavian city. I pay the equivalent of $20 USD in order to see my doctor. I pay the equivalent of $143 USD to have a cavity filled. If I get ill my employer gives me 80% of my pay. I’m less than 2 hours by plane to hundreds of other amazing European cities. When I think of things in this way, Starbucks, Target, and Outback don’t seem like major losses anymore…

I enjoyed her post on how to cope with the Stockholm Underground (UPDATE LINK FIXED)

I cant say I agree with all points, for instance I find that Stockholmers will wait for you to get off wheras in London they will crash straight through you.

The great thing about the Stockholm underground is that you can still make and receive calls/texts!!!

Filed under: Our Man in Stockholm | Tagged: | 2 Comments »

A write Blunt

Posted on November 18, 2008 by shane75

Stockholm also gets a free newspaper on the underground called the Metro…for some reason James Blunt is writing a column for them, mycket konstigt!

I remember once going all the way to Exeter (good 5 hours or so) on the bus and losing in the last minute.  We had the most miserable coach driver who made Victor Meldrew look like a laugh. As we left Exeter he put on James Blunt, live in concert cd. How he wasnt murdered I dont know.

Talking of Blunts this is bad news.

Looks like Sweden is in the economic doldrums as well. Finance Minster Borg, yes him with the pony tail has stated that ‘the current wave of job loss announcements as the worst since the country’s banking crisis in the early 1990s.’

Swedens unemployment rate is rising, according  to the local.se . Apparently 8,385 people have been told they will lose their jobs this month which is an increase of 5,093 the week before.

Tricky times ahead.

I had been considering buying an apartment in the new year. I am on second hand rent in Söder which is very expensive, on the one hand of course this is a great time to buy as prices are falling but of course on the other hand there is the instability of it all.

Todays Swedish Word of the Day is lågkonjunktur-recession

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Min första svenska post…

Posted on November 16, 2008 by shane75

Dave (Geordie i Sverige) säger att jag måste ibland skriver på svenska.

Så Dave bara för dig…och utan ordboken.

Jag heter Shane, jag kommer från Wales men jag bor i Sverige. Jag jobbar har i Stockholm, Sveriges huvudstad. Jag tycker om Sverige, det är en trevligt land. Min stor problem är…jag har allergisk med fisk, vad synd därfor det finns mänga läcker rätter här med fisk.

Jag jobbar med resor och jag är Area Manager, Nordics för en berömda rese website.

Jag gillar fotball, jag är supporter av Swansea City och Hammarby, Stockholms bäste lag ;-)

Vi är bajen frän Söder…..

Filed under: Learning Swedish | Tagged: , | 4 Comments »

Will Swedish become Swenglish?

Posted on November 16, 2008 by shane75

I read an interesting article today on the future of the Swedish language, title ‘Is it cool to speak Swedish?‘ it asks several young Swedes and various linguistic academics if English has encroached too much on the Swedish language.

I know the French have had this debate many times in the past but I really dont think Sweden has too much to worry about. I think the Swedes are very proud of their language but also love the opportunity to practice their English. (Well unless its the tax office or some area of Swedish officialdom of course.)

The English language is revered here, it immediately cuts through the class system (yes despite its egalitarian stance there is a classist system here, ever been to Stureplan?) it does actually command a bit of respect. It can be used to great effect. I remember recently being in a queue and an Östermalm woman pushing right in front of me, (for Östermalm read Knightsbridge, London). I could have politely spoken to her in Swedish but I put on my best English accent, looked down my nose and reminded her that this was a queue and that I was there before her. The look was priceless but she immediately went to the back of the queue. I am not sure my Swedish would have had the same response.

I dont think Swedish is under threat but I do wish they would dub more films and tv with an audio soundtrack. All non Swedish films are just subtitled in Swedish which is a shame as I think that would help strengthen the Swedish language especially with the young.

I do think its cool to speak Swedish. At the trade fair last week I was able to speak a bit of Swedish with a few Swedish people and even speak Swedish to Norwegians, it gives me such a buzz.

Todays Swedish Word of the day is tvåspråkig-bi-lingual

Filed under: Our Man in Stockholm | Tagged: , | 1 Comment »

Spot the difference…

Posted on November 15, 2008 by shane75

Which one is the Swedish Minister of Finance and which one is the British Minister of Finance (we call him the chancellor of the Exchequer)

I am sure you guessed correctly. The first pic is Anders Borg, Sweden’s Finance Minister and also surprisingly a member of Reinfelds Moderate Party (same as the British Tory Party). Of course the other picture is Alistair Darling, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer and a Labour Party man.

I was amazed when I saw Anders Borg on the box, the guy with the pony tail and an ear ring doesnt look like your average Finance Minister and certainly not a member of a conservative party mind you I would rather both of the above to the pipsqueak below:

Have you ever been skint Georgey?

Have you ever been skint Georgey?

George Osbourne is the UK Conservatives Shadow Minister for Finance and probably one of the biggest reasons why I will never vote Tory…what do old Etonians and heirs to Barons know about real life in the UK?  I think I would rather the geezer with the pony tail to be honest!

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Operation London: Mission Accomplished

Posted on November 13, 2008 by shane75
BA so much better than SAS

BA so much better than SAS

What Mission?

The massive trade fair I attended? Yes that was a success but I am referring to the fact that I set myself a few goals before I left. More business? More revenue? More contacts?

Nope, I wanted to get a book on tea, got! a book on Apple Macs Ilife, got! (only just lots of searching) and a tea cosy! Yes I know I know, but you cant get them here and I end up throwing so much tea out as it goes cold. I have to thank Governor Palin for locating the teacosy for me though, thanks Miss!

Its interesting being back in London as there are things that piss me off and things I love. Here are some differences between life in Stockholm and London.

I loved…

a) cheaper beer, ok its London but still SO much cheaper than Stockholm

b) Sausage rolls yum!

c) Chicken, leek and ham pie!

d) the east end curry house that I ended up in with some colleagues. There is nothing better than a hot chicken madras whilst pleasantly pissed!

e) British Airways.

f) Terminal 5 at Heathrow, got a bad start but one of my favourite airport terminals. Thats quite a compliment considering I spend more time at airports than I do at home.

I hated

a) Londons transport system. 45,000 people go to WTM and they couldnt get that right, what will they do for the Olympics?

b) The fact that people do not wait for you to get off the tube before they get on. Stockholmers are very good at waiting for people to get off first.

c) The fact that you need to use your ticket to get out of the tube station. In Stockholm, you only use it to get in. Saves a lot of aggro when you are fishing in your pockets for your ticket when you reach your destination.

The transport infrastructure is so good in Sweden and you only appreciate it when you are in another country. Yes I know there are probably more people living in Greater London than the whole of Sweden but…

It was a pleasure to fly with British Airways, SAS could learn a thing or two from this airline.

Filed under: Our Man in Stockholm | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

Bloggin shall be light

Posted on November 7, 2008 by shane75

I fly to London tomorrow and working there until Weds, vi hörs!

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Skogskyrkogården

Posted on November 6, 2008 by shane75
Skogskyrkogården

Skogskyrkogården

Last Saturday a friend invited me to see a very Swedish site. November 1st, or All Saints Day is a time where many Swedes light a candle at the grave of loved ones in an act of rememberance.

We went to a place called Skogskyrkogården (translates as the forest cemetery) which is UNESCO World Heritage site. Its a vast cemetery which was built on a quarry full of pine trees in the early part of the twentieth century.

The architecture apparently belongs to a ‘functionalist’ movement and was the buildings were built as part of an international competition in 1915. I know very little about architecture so will leave that there for now. You can read more about it on the Skogskyrkogärden site though.

It was wierd to see all these candles alight next to gravestones, if it wasnt in a religious setting it would look almost paganistic though the setting seemed more akin to Roman Catholicism, quite strange in fiercely Protestant Sweden.

It appeared that most of Stockholm were lighting candles here. The local tube station had to have marshalls to control the crowds.

Skogskyrkogården

cimg1586cimg1596Todays Swedish word of the Day is helgon - Saint

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Happy Gustav Adolfs Day

Posted on November 6, 2008 by shane75

Gustav Adolfsdagen. [Gustav Adolfs day]. 
Today some Swedes celebrates Gustav II Adolf who was the Swedish King between 1611 and 1632. In 1628 he founded Gothenburg. Some bakeries are sellingGustav Adolf-bakelse [Gustav Adolf tart] to commemorate him and the city of Götebor. The tart is very distinc, there is normally a chocolate image of the king on top, see the photo.  If I finish work at a reasonable time and before the bakeries shut I might try and buy one. EDIT: popped out and bought some for some of my staff and I. Very very nice!!!

Todays Swedish word of the day is bageri-bakery.

Filed under: Our Man in Stockholm | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

I salute you John McCain

Posted on November 6, 2008 by shane75

So there was no real suprise in the end. My man McCain was done by Obama but it was no embarassing defeat for the Republican. The final public vote is looking like 53% v 46% so not the hiding that the electoral college vote shows. If you want to see a hiding look at Richard Milhous Nixons’ election victory in 1972. He took 60% of the vote against the Democrat George McGoverns 37%,

Still as Senator McCain said, the people have spoken and have chosen Barack Obama. I for one will be interested to see what he does. The scenes yesterday were reminscient of when Blair and the British Labour Party kicked the Tories out in 97. ‘Things Can Only Get Better’ remember that. Other than the National Minimum wage I am not sure what else Blair did with his time and power.

I think any Republican would have struggled to beat Obama this year, but McCain stayed within touching distance which you have to give him credit for.

My only regret in this campaign is that McCain was not allowed to be McCain. The John McCain I met and saw campaign in California in 2000 would have been more of a challenge.

He was more like his old self in his concession speech.

It was good to see so many people lining up to vote though, its good to see people excited by politics again.  What did amaze me though was all the Swedish Party leaders on the box in the studio at an early result all debating and chewing over the result. Its interesting because they all backed Obama.

Filed under: Our Man in Stockholm | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

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