Let Me Tell You About Sweden

The Last Post

Shane — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:39:35 +0000

Like my hero Nixon, I now leave for California! I will give the salute when I board my SAS flight tomorrow!

So the Swedish chapter of my life draws to an end. After 32 months I fly off from Stockholm Arlanda on the 10.15 plane to Chicago. I really don’t know how I will feel when we take off. There will be sadness, some regrets, fears, trepidation. I know this is an exciting opportunity and a fantastic new adventure. I know these feelings will soon disappear.

This blog has attracted almost 150,000 visits and for that I am very grateful. Many of you, even those I never got to meet helped my stay here. I have even been approached about including the best posts in a book. I am not sure I will do that yet, I guess it would be nice to have it in written form, but don’t want it to be a vanity trip.

This is the last post I will ever pen
No, I’ve changed my mind again
Good Night and Thank You!

See you on http://www.ourmanintheusa.com

I will see you in far off places…a very apt video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtGCOjSkf_0

10k, not just once but twice this week

Shane — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 18:07:33 +0000

One of my early running goals, before I even considered half marathons was to be able to complete 3 x 10k runs in a week.

I had not run 10k for some time. The heat made it very difficult to run so I only allowed myself to run 6kms.

Earlier this week I tackled Kungsholmen, an island I dont really know. I managed a 10k. I was pleased, it had been awhile.

Then today, disaster struck. I am in my shorts and top, all ready to go when I notice my Ipod was completely blank! Somehow it had been wiped. Now I always run to music and I would rather go barefoot than no Ipod but I had no choice. It would take ages to sync it up again so out I went with no music, feeling naked..almost.

I looked at mapmyrun and decided on another route, could I really run 10k (6.2miles) again? And without music!

I did and tonight I am smiling like a Cheshire cat!

Thats probably my last run in Sverige. Shame I will miss midnattsloppet…by a few days, gutted!

Hold On To Your Swedish Friends

Shane — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 10:58:29 +0000

My Swedish Spiritual Home - Hammarby IF

I have lost count now of how many times I have ‘upped sticks’ and moved from a town. I was always restless in my twenties. Moving to, living and working in different cities. It was only when I specialised in my current field that I spent more than two years in a place.

I am used to saying goodbye to people and moving on. This time I will admit its been difficult, harder than ever before. Is it age? Or am I much fussier who I pick as friends thesedays.

I have privately been saying goodbye to people but one was forced on me the other day and it was upsetting.

I was at the Hammarby game v Ängelholm. It was to be my last Bajen game and if that wasn’t enough it turned out it would be the last time I would see one of my close Swedish and Bajen mates before I left. It was a surreal experience as I suddenly felt very sad. I know I will be back in Sweden so its farewell but some people make a real impact on you.

Jannis was one of those people. He was very kind to me from the first day we bumped into each other and he really tried to integrate me into Bajen culture and Swedish life. The nicest thing he did was invite me to his family home for Christmas last year. This is a major thing for a Swede.

I will embarrass him greatly if I go on so I will shut up now. Its not just Jannis, there is ‘Leicester’ Pete, ‘Stureplan Kungen’ Richard, ‘Barcelona’ Alberto, Patrik, Riccardo, Jimmy Cascarino, Henrik Möller, ‘Rolex’ Peder, ‘hiking trousers’ Alex, all good boys who I will miss dearly. Sorry if I missed any other Bajare out here, no offence intended, its always the case with these lists that someone will get missed out.

Its interesting that most of the people I will miss are either from Hammarby or people I have met through this blog.

I will be back to Bajen and Stockholm for sure. I have lost touch with a lot friends down the years but with the internet there is no reason why I should lose touch again. I cant let this blog post pass by without a Morrissey lyric.. from Vauxhall and I…Hold On To Your Friends..

hold on to your friends
resist -- or move on
be mad, be rash
smoke and explode
sell all of your clothes
just bear in mind:
there just might come a time
when you need some friends

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NcOm1enVFo

My first Stockholm home

Shane — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 09:11:59 +0000

Here I am photographed a few weeks back at Brannkyrkagatan, the place where I first lived in Stockholm.

I remember being really worried before arriving to Mariatorget. I had found an apartment online and had no idea what the area or the flat would be like. To make things worse, when I hopped out of the cab a beggar put the squeeze on me for some cash. I remember thinking to myself no wonder the landlord wasnt fussed about seeing me, nobody wants to live here.

I was soon to realise that this was in a pretty sought after area in Stockholm. Funny!

Stockholm Tea Centre

And just around the corner is the lovely Stockholm Tea Centre! I spent a lot of time and money in this place!

Årsta. South Stockholm or East Berlin?

Shane — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 18:43:35 +0000

I am sat at my kitchen table, in my temporary home in Old Town, feeling nostalgic. Its my last Saturday night in Sweden. I have been looking at all my photos since I arrived here in January 2008. Some photos make me happy, some make me sad. People, places, events, laughs, tears.

Gamla Stan is ok place to live but its no Årsta. I would much prefer to have spent my last weekend there. Not that Årsta has as much to offer as Stockholms’ Old Town just that it was home.

I was surfing around a bit tonight and found a very interesting clip on Årsta.

Titled Årsta celebrates 10 years. Its footage from the fifties. Its amazing to see that in parts Årsta has not changed that much. Whats even more alarming is how this video clip reminds me of old East German propaganda videos. The ones that tried to show the West that life was perfect in the German Democratic Republic.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9xiEBRC-Mw

The Visa has arrived

Shane — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 12:58:06 +0000

Thats it folks, its official. In my hand I have my British passport with a nice shiny US visa attached to it.

The Americans have granted me permission to live and work in their country for up to three years.

This is all surreal. Until Christmas I was happy in Sweden and thought this would be home. Something was stirring inside me though. Our company is growing at an incredible rate worldwide and like an old boxer, I felt I had one big fight left inside me, the Nordics has been a fantastic proving ground but the USA would be an awesome market to have under my belt.

My life has a strange way of working out. Will I do a full 3 year term in the USA? Who knows. One thing is for certain, I wont forget my time in Sweden and I will not forget the lessons its given me. I now travel to the USA with the best of British management practice intertwined with the best of Swedish management style. Its a far more democratic and consensual style of leadership. Something that took me a long time to grasp. My US colleagues may struggle with it initially but in time I think it will pay dividends.

The Final Countdown

Shane — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 15:56:24 +0000

I apologise for the lack of activity on here of late. I have been working long hours as I aim to get everything cleared up and ship shape before I leave.

My office is now practically bare as I have had the shredder working overtime, black bags bulging. I have 7 years worth of work stuff to sort out. Most I can now jettison as I move onto a new market.

I should fly out next Wednesday, so this will be my last weekend in Sverige. I am about to start controversy with a post over on Our Man in the USA..I have not even landed yet but something to do with California has already pissed me off…

Dogs are for life and not a fashion statement

Shane — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 10:11:34 +0000

Greetings all, I am now back from a cracking week in Holland watching Swansea City…

And my first post is a rant…

This has been building up for some time but I need to say it…why do some women strut around town with these little dogs. Carrying them in the same way they wouls swing a Louis Vutton handbag about?

I walk through Stureplan/Östermalm nearly every day and here is the greatest concentration of these women carrying dogs. Now I am not talking Ethel from Eastenders trudging around Walford with Willy.

These are young attractive women and I cant help but wonder if this is the latest thing in fashion trends… if so..I wish it would go out of fashion pronto. Its not fair on the dog…just walk it.

Rant over.

Our Man In The USA – new blog launched

Shane — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:05:51 +0000

I hereby annouce the official unveiling of my new cyber home.

Ladies and gentlemen please visit Our Man In the USA

If you Twitter inclined my new Twitter ID is http://twitter.com/ourmanintheusa

I will slowly start updating it as I begin the transition. In under three weeks I will be at home in San Francisco and just as with Let Me Tell You About Sweden I really hope I can tell you about the USA. Certainly from a British perspective, I am looking forward to sharing my experiences with you.

I still love the early days of my interesting clouds blog. The first few months in Sweden and Stockholm was truly amazing and now I get to go through that again. I am also very lucky as my territory includes 13 different States including:
Hawaii
Alaska
Washington State
Oregon
California
Nevada
New Mexico
Colorado
Arizona
Utah
Idaho
Montana
Wyoming

So I hope you will be interested in my life in the United States of America and keep visiting. I will keep updating LMTAS until I leave though.

Hail to the Chief!

Kayaking in Stockholm

Shane — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:54:58 +0000

And so next on the agenda ..att paddla to kayak. I have always been fascinated by kayaks, they look so graceful but also terrifying to a guy who is not at ease on water. Miss P kindly bought me a session with a company on Kungsholmen but for various reasons I did not go and before I knew it the season was over.

Before the off...

I had decided to make it a team event with my Senior team. I felt it would bring us close together and might actually make me do it and not bottle out. You see just as with heights – water is not my förte.

Looking thrilled

We rocked up at the spot and were given kanelbulle and a drink. The briefing lasted all of 5 mins which surprised me and if I am honest we all were beginners and felt the instruction was not good enough. We all got on the water and I was last and I struggled at first. I could not balance and I have problems with balancing. I knew I should have gone in the double kayak but no not me, I wanted to beat my fear. I was having one of those panic attacks that I had when skiing.

Every conceivable doubt ran through my mind and thats the problem I think. I get myself into a real state. My colleagues were waiting and I did not want to let them down or tell Miss P that I let a fear win.

So they offered me a more stable kayak so I got out of the slimline one and into the larger version. Definitely felt better but they told me that it would be hard work as there was no rudder like the others. Ah give me stability than in the water anyday.

Very suave blogger

I cant say I was graceful as I thrashed about but I was afloat and moving and in the middle of the water. We took off from Kristineberg heading for Långholmen. I had a few nervous moments when I thought I was going in but I managed to keep my balance.

As I progressed, my absolute fear of falling in, subsided. I was no longer that bothered about going under. Though I had wished the instructors had given us more training on what to do should we capsize.

My colleagues even teased me that I had time to ‘flirt’ as I spoke to a lady who was swimming near me. Not at all, I just wanted to make sure I didnt hit her!!!!

Dressed in my fjällråven shirt and lifejacket I was hardly looking James Bond like

We had some issues when a member of the group got stuck so we managed a 5k route circling a certain island where Miss P lives. Oh if only she had been walking along and seen ‘scaredy cat’ Shane bobbing along in his kayak.

In fairness out of six of us…only one capsized and nope it wasn’t me!

Kayaking was a lot of fun. I cant say its my number one hobby but I could seriously see myself wanting to have a go at this on a river or out in the Archipelago maybe.

Actually when we got back, I stripped down to the bare minimum ( I am not quite Swedish enough to skinny dip in front of colleagues) and jumped in. One small jump for man but a giant jump for this blogger and his water fear. It felt good, though I was still very edgy about not being able to touch the bottom.

a reminder that I definitely need another 10 kilos off!

One cheeky colleague got this snap of me coming out of the water…

Another fond farewell to Stockholm as I check another item off my final list.