Skandinavien-Auswanderer

Beim Folgen von Twitter-Updates bin ich heute über die beiden folgenden Blogs von Anja und Markus gestolpert. Wie es dazu kam? @meerblickzimmer schrieb an @sichelputzer, welchem ich folge. Den Namen Meerblickzimmer fand ich einfach genial, vor allem im Zusammenhang mit dem Bild. Zugegeben, ich bin ein Sucker für schöne Bilder. Was kommt als nächstes? Blog auschecken natürlich, ich bin ja immer neugierig und will wissen, über was Leute so schreiben. Und so bin ich auf die beiden Blogs gestoßen, die ich nach ein wenig Lese-Stöbern kurzerhand in meinen Blogroll aufnahm.

Die beiden sind vor über 2 Jahren nach Norwegen ausgewandert, genauer gesagt nach Bryne, etwas südlich von Stavanger (ich hoffe, ich habe das jetzt richtig recherchiert…) und berichten in absolut unterhaltsamer Weise über ihren Alltag und die kleinen oder größeren Herausforderungen mit welchen Murphy & Co. unser aller Leben kontinuierlich bereichern.

Es gibt dabei Ähnlichleiten mit meiner eigenen Auswanderhistorie, nur dass es mich nicht nach Norwegen sondern nach Norrköping in Schweden gezogen hat. Und das auch erst im Mai letzten Jahres.
Die Auf und Abs im Lernen der neuen Sprache kann ich sehr gut nachvollziehen, aber nach und nach macht man Fortschritte und stellt fest, man ist doch nicht so schlecht wie man denkt. Nur die eigenen Standards sind mal wieder recht hoch angelegt (zumindest stelle ich das an mir selbst immer wieder fest).

Hörverstehen, ja, das ist so eine Sache. Norrköping liegt in Östergötland (sprich: “Österjötland”), und die haben einen der am schwersten zu verstehenden Dialekte – das sagen sogar die übrigen Schweden. Und besonders sexy ist der Dialekt wohl auch nicht, wenn man anderen glauben darf. Auch als nicht der Sprache Mächtiger verdeutlicht dieser Spot vielleicht warum dies so ist. Das bedeutet, ich verstehe sogar Leute aus Skåne und Norrland bedeutend besser als manchmal meine Kollegen.
In London hatte ich East Enders und meinen Boss als Messlatte dafür, wie sich mein Hörverstehen entwickelte. Hier sind es die lieben Kollegen und alle echten “Östgöten” (sprich: “Öchöten” – holländisches “ch”) um mich herum. Zum Glück verstehe ich meinen Freund einwandfrei, aber der ist in der Nähe von Sundsvall geboren – und meist ist eh Englisch unsere gemeinsame Sprache. Was einerseits die Kommunikation erleichtert, mein Schwedisch-Lernen aber nicht gerade beschleunigt. (Da – schon wieder: hohe Messlatte. Will alles so schnell wie möglich und so gut wie möglich. 😉 Aber: “Gut Ding braucht Weile”.)

Als Deutscher hat man aus meiner Sicht einen Vorteil wenn es ums Erlernen einer skandinavischen Sprache geht, besonders wenn man auch noch Englisch gut kann. Man findet viele Wörter in ähnlicher Form wieder, auch wenn die Bedeutung manchmal eine komplett andere sein kann. Somit erlernt man wohl am schnellsten das Leseverstehen in der neuen Sprache. Hörverstehen und Sprechvermögen ist dann wieder eine komplett andere Sache. In meinem Konversationskurs ist beispielsweise ein junger Mann aus Usbekistan und er hat es eindeutig schwieriger, obwohl er schon seit über zwei Jahren in Schweden ist und sogar hier studiert hat.

Des Weiteren scheint zumindest Anja aus Leipzig zu kommen, und ich liebe diese Stadt einfach. Sie ist mir in vier Jahren Studienzeit an der HTWK sehr ans Herz gewachsen und ich würde sie jedem empfehlen. Tolle Atmosphäre, viel Grün und vor allem viel Geschichte und Kultur.

Tja, und dann durften die beiden vor Kurzem ein wenig vom London-Nightmare kosten, von welchem ich in beinahe fünf Jahren neben vielen schönen Dingen auch genügend hatte. Auf der anderen Seite ist London aber für mich wie Leipzig ein Stück Heimat und Teil meiner Geschichte. Jedes Mal, wenn ich Bilder von beiden Städten sehe, ist da so dieses gewisse Etwas an Sehnsucht im Herzen, einfach weil letztlich so viele gute Erinnerungen dran hängen.

Vielleicht sollte ich einfach mal anfangen, einige davon so nach und nach hier zu publizieren – bzw. zumindest meine Erlebnisse in der neuen Heimat Schweden mehr mitteilen. Dann fallen die Monate auch nicht mehr so leer an Blogposts aus wie im Februar. Dann bin ich aber wieder manchmal so schreibfaul, obwohl mir Schreiben eigentlich echt Spaß bringt … Widersprüchlich, ich weiß. Vielleicht kriege ich ja doch noch einmal meinen “bum into gear” ;-).

In jedem Fall möchte ich diese beiden Blogs gerne zur Lektüre empfehlen! Ich finde sie toll.

Kohlfahrt 2.0 – auf nach Ostfriesland, liebe Leute!

Auf was wartet Ihr eigentlich noch?!?

Unsereins sitzt hier im momentan schneematschigen schwedischen Linköping und würde gerne mit auf Kohlfahrt in der Heimat und kann nicht – und Ihr sagt ab bzw. nicht zu?? Mein erster Blogpost hierzu hat hoffentlich niemanden verschreckt?

Also, Ihr verpasst wirklich etwas, wenn Ihr nicht dabei seid.

Nun aber los und angemeldet – zumindest alle, die einen Riesenspaß nicht verpassen wollen!!

Ostfriesland steht um diese Jahreszeit für…..

Boßeln, Grünkohl essen, danach ein paar Pharisäer oder mehr offensichtlich Klare vertilgen (gegen die Kälte natürlich und zu keinem anderen Zweck!). Tja, es gibt viele schöne Dinge in Schweden, auch Grünkohl, aber nicht mit Speck und Pinkel (nicht was Ihr vielleicht denkt!) in ostfriesischer bzw. norddeutscher Tradition.

Einer der bekannten Ansässigen dort hat sich nun überlegt, seine Follower und Leser in diese Tradition einzuführen. Und siehe da – von wegen die Leute kommen nicht in den Norden! Entgegen aller Stereotypen und Ostfriesenwitze gibt es doch einige Mutige, die sich Zeit nehmen und sich auch vom meist nicht gerade Teneriffa-mäßigen Wetter abschrecken lassen. Na, mit Djure sollte es ja sowieso gut werden, daran besteht ja nun wirklich kein Zweifel.

Die Anmeldeliste ist schon mal ganz gut, kann aber wenn ich es richtig gelesen habe ruhig noch wachsen. Wie hier schon einmal kommentiert, schaffe ich es leider nicht – dank ungünstigem Flugplan. Bleibe ich also in Schweden, träume von richtigem Grünkohl, und davon, eine Holzkugel mit schöner Regelmäßigkeit aus der Marsch zu fischen. Letzteres gehört übrigens dazu! Und bringt super viel Spaß! Und nach ein paar Kurzen ist das auch alles nicht mehr so wild. Bloß – falls es noch keiner empfohlen hat, nicht die Sonntagsschühchen anziehen und ja eine warme Jacke mitnehmen. Man weiß nie, wie die Wettergötter im Norden drauf sind! Bis Mai sind sie recht launisch und umstimmen lassen sie sich meistens schon gar nicht.

Wie gesagt, ich bin wirklich neidisch und würde echt gerne dabei sein. Vielleicht klappt es ja im nächsten Jahr!! (Mann, wie sich das anhört, dieses Jahr hat ja mal gerade erst angefangen!…)

P.S.: Wer sich auch schon mal mit der Sprache vertraut machen will, kann dies im plattdeutschen Wikipedia tun. Hier der Eintrag zu Boßeln. Keine Bange, Hochdeutsch verstehen auch alle – wenn Sie wollen 😉 Oder, Djure?

W.O.M.B.A.T.

Waste
O
f
M
oney
B
rain
A
nd
T
ime

This is maybe not the ultimate post as the first one in a new year – but I learnt about it yesterday and thought it is cool 🙂

Heard it being used as a term for stuff one should simply leave.

Could be understood as a 2009 encouragement to focus on things that really matter.

Postage is pants!

Finally! No more Christmas Shopping and even the packets are sent since yesterday. By snail mail. But do not ask me how much it did cost to get a few presents home to the loved ones… With Swedish Snail Mail it is as expensive as with the English one – leaving Germany almost looking like a cheap option, even if my family does not share that view on Deutsche Post rates (yet).

One Euro is right now worth around 10 Swedish Krona. So when you compare the postage costs then you get the picture…

I had 6 packets, two of them weighing between 2 and 3kg, the others between 1 and 2kg… and I paid in total around 115 Euro in postage. That is almost two thirds of the value of the presents sent… sigh.

My feeling is that the Snail Mail makes the profit of the entire year around Christmas time. And if they complain that they are not profitable, well, then I suggest that they should look at revising their operations. Good task for 2009, isn’t it?

Anyway – you can also have some fun at the post offices here. When I left my packet at the post place of our local ICA supermarket, the young lady asked me “Can you help me, please? Great Britain, is that in Europe? Excuse me, but I am so bad with this.” …. hmmmm…

That comment could ask for another blog post actually, but let’s leave it here and – let’s enjoy the small things in life 😉

Now is the time for cookies, candles and cuddles

Looking outside, it started to snow a bit – still a bit thin regarding the snow flakes but it is cold enough for it to stay. When I left for my tram this morning the big tree in front of Norrköpings Konstmuseum just got decorated with lights. Yep, Christmas time is again approaching with big steps and again this takes one by surprise, like in all the previous years!

That means that I will sit down this weekend and see which Christmas presents for friends and family I already have and which ones still need to be prepared or bought – and then sent so that Snail Mail has a chance to deliver the goodies in time.

Yes, and then there is this huge traditional thing of baking cookies! A tradition I did not follow through for the last five years because there was always something else that was “more important” to do… But this year there actually will be the smell of nice and fine bakery in the air 🙂 Also the candles will be taken out and one actually can enjoy some nice and cuddly winter evenings now. Great.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Go Bama!

A great day today – even for me who usually follows politics and economy with great interest but who is not necessarily very political.

Barack Obama won – and that with a significant distance to John McCain. The first time ever I saw him with an almost relaxed smile, that must be the relief of the entire election marathon having come to an end now. Great that he made it, and that he already seems to give America its face back in the international scene is maybe best shown in the fact that in Gaza one can buy mugs with his image on and that Kenya declared the 5th of November to a National Day. Also in my home country Germany the party started yesterday night – for example here in Hamburg. Many friends stayed awake as long as they could in order to follow the results, rarely there was such an enthusiasm in following US elections. The Twitter results for Obama around the world seem endless!

I really like the speech of McCain , too- the words of a good and fair looser in a very gripping battle over the last months – and therefore leaving McCain not at all as a looser to my mind.

Whoever wants to know more about Obama and his roots, his first book gives answers. It can also console the people who voted for McCain and help them understand why Obama might not be as bad for them as they think. His mixed heritage and having lived in Indonesia for a few years as a youngster right after Sukarno’s period of reign and the independence struggle of the country are only afew points that show why Obama should be able to understand the struggles of our modern world and contribute wherever possible to solutions. And understand his own people of course, which is why he should become a very good representative for his nation within the international community.

Best of luck and fingers crossed for his new ventures one can only say – and eagerly await the events & news of the months to come.

Starting into the winter season

Finally – Elisa is back home! This post comes a bit late as I got her already back on the 18th of October.

I was lucky with the weather – 10 Celsius plus AND sunshine! That is almost a miracle for this time of the year. Wrapped up in the boyfriend’s Yamaha snow scooter suit (made in Finland!) over the leather suit so that the cold air was kept out and therefore feeling like being on a bear hunt in Siberia (or even being a Grizzly myself) I made my way home, even halfway complying with the speed limits. That one does not necessarily do on a hot summer day – the faster, the cooler, the only way to not overheat in a leather suit in at least 30 degrees Celsius plus sun burning down unmercifully. Oh yes, that exists as well in Sweden. It is not just cold all year round, you know.

The workshop or better saying Sweden’s best Guzzi-mechanic Janne from the Italia Bike Center in Arboga did an excellent job. He even rebuilt the carbs completely as the sealings were too old and sucked in air. They were actually surprised that we made it to Arboga. Well, we refrained from telling them that the bike also made it to Helsingborg in Skåne and to Harjarö west of Stockholm, and to quite a few other places… Obviously with the same defect all way long. It clearly shows that the little lady seemed to be quite up for finally seeing the world instead of pottering around Motala or Linköping only… If we are lucky then she will also see a bit of the rest of Europe next year, but that is still far away yet from being planned too much in detail.

Back home, she got straight away prepared for winter. Emptying the carbs, closing the fuel tabs (my personal all time favourite when it comes to my own forgetfulness – opening or closing these little fellows) and some oil onto the cylinder heads against corrosion. Oh, and not to forget disconnecting the battery of course. Her motor block now sits on a piece of wood in order to keep the tires slightly off the ground, another essential part of getting a bike winter ready. Thanks to the service and judging by the final smooth ride home the rest was all in order and did not need any further attention. Elisa even got cleaned! Covered with her comfort blanket, a Guzzi flag (yes, I am a girl 😉 ) and a brand new bike cover she now sleeps against the wall of the garage till next year May. The season officially starts on the 1st of May. That means I will probably wake her up again some time in April so that we can start into our first proper season together!

Until then there will be some strict fitness training for myself. Why? Well, fitting into the leather suit a bit better than this year is kind of a crucial requirement for the next season – I do not want to swap to a new outfit and a custom bike next spring. Not to mention the lack of financial means for actually being able to afford all that 😉

“Buchhändleralltag & Kundenwahnsinn”

This blog expresses everything at its very best what booksellers go through. I am soooo happy that it actually exists! Why? Because I also am a trained bookseller or “Buchhändler”. The first four years of my professional life after A-levels prepared me for all kinds of human species that I would encounter again and again throughout my later career. And I would do this job again without hesitation, if it would only be paid a little bit better… Why that now? Booksellers, they read all day, don’t they? Ehhhh…. nope. During my time as a bookseller I actually started to read less, simply because after stressful days like for example in Christmas time you do not really necessarily feel the need for reading.

That however did not prevent me from filling my shelves with books that I would like to read – at some point later. That resulted in me still having LOTS of unread books left, almost 5 years after I swapped book paradise and Germany for England and the online world and now Sweden and the online world. Since I moved to Norrköping I read a bit more, though, so there is hope for all the unread volumes that they get de-dusted at some point soon!

Oh yes, and this one is a bit older version on paper but also very much worth reading if anybody fancies. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being a good bookseller also means that you need to be passionate about what you are doing. You need to love books of course (and maybe calendars like I did and still do) but even more importantly you need to love dealing with customers and also to do quite a good range of things that come with working in a shop. No day is like the other, and if you think a day will be in a certain way then you can be sure it turns out to be entirely different.

And all that in combination was (and still is) to me the beauty of that profession.

In Germany you actually do have proper professional training in form of a 3 years apprenticeship – which by the way is not the case in England or Sweden or other European countries.

Weekend = time for Grythyttan again!

Like a colleague said “You go there very often, don’t you?” Yes, true. Partly because my partners mom lives there and her being over seventy means that she needs some help with getting everything ready for winter, stuff fixed etc.. Apart from that it is a beautiful landscape out there. Just nature and right now in all autumn colours you can imagine. It is like being in a whole different world where different things matter – something along the lines of computer, ipod, blackberry getting swapped with saw, hammer and screwdriver.

This weekend however, there is a whole different challenge. Swedish countryside meets technology. Even if gadgets are pushed into the background as described, one needs techie stuff out there in order to have a good connection to the outer world.

So we will be – installing broadband, yes. The telecom company digged the wholes, laid the cable and established the connection into the house. Now we will have the fun of laying the cable inside the house. Last weekend we had fun with the measure tape and planning. We will need to drill a whole into the ceiling to the upper floor, luckily all made out of wood. That inclines that one better makes sure that 1. the drill comes through at the right point and 2. no other cables get damaged ;-).

Already in the morning today my beloved has the challenge of finding a long drill – 45 cm length should do… and Bauhaus will hopefully deliver what we need. Apart from that about 40 m cable will be involved. So this should keep us busy until Sunday afternoon. Lots of Fika breaks with tea and kanelbullar included of course.

Apart from that it is time for – winter tyres! So hopefully we also get an appointment with the tyre shop for the little car. Changing we could easily do ourselves, but we also want to get the wheels balanced. Here one has tyres with studs – means little metal parts that give a better grip on ice and snow, better than any average winter tyre. In Germany with warmer winters than here, studs got forbidden already a long time back. Reason: it seems to kill the road surfaces. However, Germany being much better covered by “Winterdienst” which clears the roads, might not need these little helpers. Although maybe people in the Alps would prefer to have these in addition to snow chains. However, in Sweden and most of the country being proper countryside, studs are definitely much needed.

Weekend joy, here we come 🙂

When will I see you again, Elisa?

Finally, after a lot of work notes a personal one again. What it is about? Well, it has something to do with motorcycling. The season is definitely over now and I even missed the end of it, which is a pity really. The reason? I decided to leave Elisa (yes, a motorcycle can have a name, and this one has) on the 13th of September with a specialist to give her a very good check up. That was much needed as I did not have any record of when she got looked at by professional eyes last time. The two previous owners did not ride her much but fiddled much with her technical set up – and it was the question whether they really got all buttons and wires right.

As I know already, the carbs need to be totally rebuild and also a lot of small seals need to be replaced. So the latest news from last week was, that finally parts from Italy have arrived! So the work hopefully started this week. It would be great to have her back the coming weekend, as given good weather and not immensely low temperatures it would be possible to ride her to the winter quarter – and not carry her home on a trailer…. sigh. So, we shall see! Important is however to get her back and have her fit for next season!

In the meantime it is good to read the books of Lois Pryce – an immensely enjoyable writing style. Also, watching Ewan and Charley doing their trips help feeding the desire to learn about motorcycle trips. Lois’ is an adventure, especially the one down Africa. Ewan and Charley’s trip is a walk in the park in comparison.

Also it is now the time to think how to contribute a bit more to the forum of the Swedish Guzzi Club – winter time is building time.

1st of May 2009 the fun shall start again :-).

Family and Computers/ Internet

Parents and Internet, especially when they are over 60 (no offence to all senior citizens who actually CAN do this!) often proves to be a special topic. But also younger people seem to be affected, like my 46-year old sister. As I am living abroad and as my birthday is coming up and as for a change I really wish for something that one can actually and send via Amazon, I asked them to simply order it via Amazon and send it directly to me. The result? “Well, I am not sure if I manage to order that online, you know, I’ll take a look at it first”, was my sister’s response. My offer to order it myself then was also not appreciated (eye rolling at my end). It is interesting how an age difference of only 13 years can be so significant when it comes down to using the internet. Not to talk about my mum. That is really like this post could not say it any better. I ALWAYS get out of these Computer/Internet conversations with a biiiiig head ache. Therefore I found particularly the comments of Börni and Erdge Schoss very helpful. While I cannot use Börni’s anymore as my family knows I cannot do Linux I can definitely try the suggestion of Erdge Schoss. Might work very well. 😉