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September 30, 2004
The Tipping Point
Things definitely are looking up today. First of all, I found my airplane tickets. They were hanging around the school's shipping office, along with the previously "missing" amazon.com package. Strangely enough, it *had* cleared customs after all, and had been sitting there for a couple of days. Who knows when they would have contacted me.
In another strange twist of events, Amazon.com send me a notice that they had re-shipped a replacement package of these books. But when I looked at the shipping list, I realized that they sent the WRONG shipment. The original shipment had been split into three lots, and the re-order to fix the "missing" shipment mistakenly identified the books to be sent. So I'm getting a double set of books, which I will donate to the common room of our program, so that everyone can benefit from Amazon's mix-up.
What else? The neighbors had only a 3 minute screaming match today. If I interpreted the tone of voice and the bit of Swedish I could hear, I believe it had something to do with getting all the children to sit down for dinner. Thankfully, it quickly stopped.
Class today was brief, and afterwards I biked down to Centrum and did a little shopping. I got a fleece headband that will cover my ears while I'm biking. The "bare ears problem" was getting worrisome, as each time I stepped off the bike my ears would ring from the wind. If I wore my wool "tuque" (Canadian slang for a winter hat) I would get too hot. So a headband was the obvious solution.
I also made a stop in at The Body Shop. I was in dire need of some personal care replenishments, and have decided to buy "sustainable" products where ever possible. Well, who knew that environmentally-friendly, not tested on animals, community-supported fair trade, stuff was so freakishly expensive? I think part of it is the Swedish "everything is expensive" thing, but still. I walked out of the store with a small bag and $150 poorer. I hope those communities in Brazil are getting solar-powered internet or something.
So anyway, I'm feeling much better. I had a brief moment of moral outrage when catching up on email, but it quickly disappated once I decided it was just better to remove myself from the email thread. I'm not sure if I would have had the same reaction if I had been living in Maryland, but somehow being removed from everything makes me want to avoid "bad friend" patterns. It seems that the same people in our group (and I'm sorry to say that I'm usually first among them) are quick to make snarky comments about others. The problem is that these comments are phrased in such an amusing and entertaining way that a large part of me wants to join in the fun. And all too often, that is how we get caught up in a mean-spirited group discussion--which I don't think was anyone's real intention. And now I'm discouraged because part of me still wants to be in on the conversation--but at the same time it made me physically uncomfortable to read that string of emails. Sigh. Why can't we just all get along?
Tomorrow morning I will embark on a journey downtown to the local Hertz office, where I will join a dozen of my classmates in renting cars so we can carpool down to Ysdra (or something like that). It's a town a couple hours away, where Kristoffer's parents have a get-away house that we can use. It's close to the beach (the longest in Sweden--a whole 18 km!), hiking, a castle, antiques, flea markets, and a host of other entertaining activities. I'll be gone for the weekend, and back on Monday. It will be SO nice to get out of town for a bit. Karlskrona is becoming a little claustrophobic. And now I can put off finding a new place to live until Monday!
Posted by madchen at 08:49 PM | Comments (0)September 29, 2004
When Bad Things Happen to Good People
I am good people, right?
It just dawned on me what the mysterious FedEx package was. Are you ready?
The envelope contained...my airplane tickets to come home at Christmas.
That's right, I am officially hexed. Why is it that everything that can go wrong, does?
Posted by madchen at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)Shitty Day #2
Let me briefly recount the things that have gone wrong today:
1. The package from FedEx was delivered yesterday, but it's since gone missing. Apparently, someone signed for the package and it never made its way to the International Reception. Jessica (from the International Reception Desk) is working on this, but it doesn't seem promising. I still have no idea what the package was.
2. Someone stole the headlight off my bike. So now if I need to ride anywhere after dark (which is about 6:30 p.m. these days), I'll be in the dark.
3. I had to throw away two plants (the African violet and the pink flowers that I bought to replace the dead Gerbera). They put up a brave fight, but ultimately succumbed to death. The three remaining plants are on suicide watch.
4. I received a message from Amazon.com confirming that they lost my final shipment of textbooks. They never cleared customs, and Amazon never bothered to check on the order. Thus, they have re-ordered my books, which will now take an additional two weeks to arrive.
5. I went down to Karskronaham (the mafia-like landlord for Kungsmarksvägen, and approximately ½ of all real estate in Karlskrona) to see about switching apartments. I want to move closer to the city and campus, since I've decided that the safety issue needs resolving. Unfortunately, they wanted me to put my name on a waiting list and could not guarantee that I would be able to move. Ever. While I probably could get another place in a couple months, I decided it wasn't worth it and gave my 30 days notice. So now I have 30 days to find another place to live. And Jess will have to move out too.
Sigh.
On the bright side, we just learned that we'll have Friday off from classes and a bunch of us will take a weekend trip. Right now, it's between Copenhagen and Poland. So there's a little silver lining in my dark cloud of a day.
Posted by madchen at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)September 28, 2004
Today Has Been Shitty
It started with the people upstairs having a screaming match. It's hard enough to get going on a cloudy, gray morning without the accompaniment of animosity-drenched voices.
Then, Roya announced she was moving out at the end of October. Not because of us (I think), but because she wants to be closer to school. In addition, Kungsmarksvägen has gotten progressively sketchier. Allow me to provide the following examples:
* Several nights ago, Alvaro was walking out the door of his apartment (two entryways down from ours) and noticed a guy laying on the ground. Alvaro assumed the guy had just passed out (as people are prone to do here in the ghetto of Karlskrona) and walked by him to go to the grocery store. Coming back a few minutes later, he was startled to see an ambulance outside his door and the guy lying in a pool of blood. We're not sure what happened, but we guess he was stabbed.
* We have confirmed that the "rice-like" particles that appear in our water after boiling is not soap residue (remember when I was sick last week?). The true cause is yet unknown, but it definitely is coming from the tap water. Whether or not it's toxic is up to debate, but it's creepy to drink water that you know has foreign bodies.
* The neighbors upstairs have become increasingly ferocious in their fighting. While it was once a random occurrence, this past week there has been screaming every day. After talking with a Swedish classmate, I don't believe calling the police will work. She suggested just knocking on the door and asking them to be quiet, but I'm not sure if this will solve or exacerbate the situation.
* I usually park my bike inside my building, where there is a storage room accessible only with a key. Aside from being really scary inside, I noticed today that someone had sawed through a bike lock (the bike being presumably stolen). So instead, I awkwardly hauled my bike upstairs, where it now sits in the corner of my room.
* We are getting more definitive reports that this apartment complex is dangerous. It seems there are gangs of young guys that will aggressively harass (and sometimes physically injure) other guys who walk by. While for once it's nice to be a girl, we worry about inviting people over to the apartment—especially if they will be traveling at night.
* In addition, there have been several times when I have felt distinctly unsafe. The bike/pedestrian paths up to Kungsmarksvägen are adjacent to woods, and the lighting is extremely poor in the evenings. In fact, biking back home at night requires the use of my bike light just to see the road. And the laundry rooms are constructed so that you have to pass through two sets of doors, unlocking both, to get into the actual facilities. Unfortunately, the first door swings shut behind you, and creates a terribly creepy place to be caught after dark (they turn the electricity off at 9 p.m., so you can get stuck in the pitch black space while trying desperately to unlock the 2nd door). To avoid this problem, you prop open the first door, thus opening it up to anyone who might be passing by.
Anyway, it's quite discouraging. I try to remember that Washington, D.C. could be quite dangerous (and Summit Hills was not a country club), but there's something different about it here. Already, several people from our program have moved closer downtown, and several others will make the move this month. Given the growing momentum, Jess and I are considering a move ourselves. Part of what made this place tolerable was that we were surrounded by people we knew. Now that they're fleeing in droves, we want to get in on that bandwagon.
At any rate, I spent the morning feeling groggy, sad, and restless. Once on campus, I realized that the International Reception desk had been closed two days earlier than advertised, and therefore would be unable to sign for my FedEx package (which I had rerouted from Kungsmarksvägen because I couldn't be there all day to sign for it). So I have no idea if the FedEx guy managed to find the International Office (which was only open from 9-4, with an hour break for lunch—what a life!) and deliver my package. Moreover, because I don't know what this package is, I can't tell what it might be, and whether or not I'll be able to get it home on my bike.
And to top it all off, I still haven't received my last shipment of textbooks from Amazon.com. They were supposed to have arrived last week, and of course, Amazon.com doesn't provide tracking numbers for international shipments. So I've had to send an email to a customer service, which already wrote me back to say they didn't understand my query (duh!), so I'm now in the eternal waiting game.
Grr. I think I'll take a nap.
Posted by madchen at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)September 27, 2004
Wiped Out
Whew—what a day. But wait, where did I leave off?
Saturday night, Ronan and Fernando came over to our place, and they, Jess, and I watched Identity (starring John Cusack). In case you're not familiar with this movie, I won't give away the premise. Suffice it to say that it scared the bejezus out of me. Per my usual brilliance, I had figured out the "twist" within the first 10 minutes of the movie, but understanding the final outcome in no way detracted from the "shriek at the top of your lungs" aspect of it. Quite good, I highly recommend to all, except for my family and Sara, who won't be able to sleep alone for a week after seeing it.
Sunday was spent sleeping in until noon (I truly am a shell of my previous self when sleeping in until noon is strange), then reading the remaining articles for Monday's lecture. In the evening, I biked into campus and watched Super Size Me, a documentary about a man who eats McDonald's for 30 days straight. It was a delightful mix of hilarious and horrific—again, highly recommended.
All of which brings me to today. I woke up a bit late (having taken a shower the night before, I was happy to sleep in for an extra 45 minutes) and was out the door in a flash. Despite near hurricane conditions, I managed to bike into campus. Seriously, the wind made any forward momentum an act of God. As such, I was slightly sweaty when I rolled into class, where we were reviewing the basic tenets of Organizational Learning, with a focus on systems thinking. Boring—it was virtually a repeat of all the reading I did over the weekend. I looked longingly out the window, pleased to see that the gray clouds had blown over to clear blue skies.
The second half of the lecture was better, as Göran Carstedt (former CEO of Ikea and Volvo) was the guest speaker. He engaged us in a group dialogue about the ideas behind organizational change, and spoke a bit about his experiences. He'll be with our class for the next two days, so I'm expecting a lot of good inspiration from him.
Class ran into the afternoon (quite a shock, since I mistakenly thought we were done at noon!), so I had to quickly shuffle my plans for the rest of the day. I rode my bike home, arriving at the apartment to find a notice for a new package. Getting back on my bike, I rode back down the hill (now back to gale force winds, with threatening storm clouds) to the post office, where I received a lovely package filled with a new tablecloth and napkins—all with a fall motif—from my mom. She is now the most highly-esteemed mom in the Kungsmarksvägen complex.
On the way back, I stopped at Willy:s and did some shopping for dinner. I picked up a bunch of fresh vegetables for a soup, along with some potatoes and broccoli for side dishes. I pedaled my way back up the hill (I swear, the wind had changed directions to thwart my every move), and arrived breathless at my door once again.
The afternoon was spent catching up on email (either people have decided to stop replying to my emails, or else my emails aren't getting through), and turning in my application for online volunteering. The project I applied for involved writing reports on women and girls' issues (education, diversity, family planning, human rights, etc.) in specific countries. It should be really cool—and it will get me back in the swing of producing high-quality research, which I'm sorely missing in this program. I should hear back from the organization soon, at which time I might be devoting 5 hours a week to the project.
Dinner took a long time to prepare, since I had to make the stock for the vegetable soup (complete with toasted couscous), but it was totally worth it. Laura came over, and we ate dinner together and perused the Swedish CD-ROM I have. It was really nice to go through the material with someone else—I think we'll do it on a weekly basis from now on.
We chatted about our goals for the program, possible thesis topics, and places we'd like to visit while we're here in Sweden (we debated, then discarded, the Ice Hotel after reading a review of it in The Rough Guide To Sweden).
It was after 10 p.m. by the time I had the dishes cleaned and my room in a semi-ordered state. Now that I've catalogued my day, I will hop into bed and listen to a bit of Eragon, the latest audiobook on my list. So far it's quite good—kind of a Harry Potter meets the Hobbit.
Also, I've been reviewing and refining my personal "ABCD Game", henceforth referred to as Jen's Strategic Plan for Success. It's more difficult than I thought it would be; I keep wanting to start listing actions, without first establishing the principles I want to live by. How on earth can I tell if an action is appropriate unless I understand where I'm going? And right now, the vision of where I want to be is still quite fuzzy—but becoming clearer every day.
Posted by madchen at 08:59 PM | Comments (0)Accountability
I have always considered myself proactive—that is, I believe I rapidly identify problems in my life and deal with them effectively. (At least most of the time) I take the attitude that "I can't control what people do, I can only control my responses to them".
I try to acknowledge the boundary of my accountability. When I identify a problem within that boundary, I decide on a course of action and rapidly execute decisions to bring me in line with my plan (e.g. my decision to move to Sweden). Conversely, I try to "let go" of issues beyond my realm of responsibility. Of course, whether or not this is a consistently implemented process is open to debate.
My personal mantra is "no drama"—I have to constantly remind myself that the drama and stress I endure is usually of my own making. Whenever it occurs to me, I consciously abandon my stake in drama, especially when it's there for its own sake.
But as I read The Fifth Discipline by Peter Senge, I'm beginning to wonder if the idea of accountability, decision-making, and action goes further than that. He notes:
All too often, "proactiveness" is reactiveness in disguise. If we simply become more aggressive fighting the "enemy out there," we are reacting, regardless of what we call it. True proactiveness comes from seeing how we contribute to our own problems. It is a product of our way of thinking, not our emotional state.
Reading this passage, it struck me that there is another category of personal accountability: when the problem lies outside of my direct responsibility, but I am nonetheless contributing to it through my own actions. This idea goes beyond "I can't control what people do" and approaches the notion that "I participate in the system in which the problem arises, and my reaction *and contribution* to that system are part of the problem's outcome."
Reading back over this entry, I'm not sure I'm making sense—but that's part of mulling though news ideas, I guess. My main reflection is that taking a "systems" perspective of personal accountability places me in more accurate relation to problems and solutions. My relationship to problems and solutions is not a linear one—rather I operate in a complex, dynamic system where my actions (and reactions) all influence problems at every level. Wow—what a feeling of responsibility!
Posted by madchen at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)September 25, 2004
Happiness is...
...a bike with fully inflated tires.
But let me begin at the beginning. I woke up this morning to the very unpleasant sound of our neighbors fighting. This happens regularly—basically every Saturday morning around 9 a.m., although they occasionally make time to yell at other times during the week. Roya, Jess, and I have discussed the situation and believe that we need to make a police report. The top-of-the-lungs yelling, slamming doors, crying, etc. lead us to believe that if there isn't already domestic violence at play, there soon will be. Rather than calling the police (since we only know the emergency number), we're going to drop by the local police station and talk to the officers there. We're not exactly sure what the standard for police involvement is here in Karlskrona, but at least we'll feel like we've taken steps to curb a potentially dangerous situation (not to mention that maybe we can sleep in on a Saturday morning once in a while).
Anyway, once I was awake it was impossible to get back to sleep. Jess made an omelet for two (with smoked salmon—yum!) and we had an awesome breakfast while sitting in the kitchen sunlight and drinking iced tea and coffee.
The next couple hours were filled with leisurely reading, cleaning, and general getting-ready. Jess and I were planning on going to the farmers market, but as she is much like my sister Jess (who is notoriously slow at getting out the door), it was after 1 p.m. by the time we locked the apartment door and headed out.
We each took a gigantic bag of trash with us, coasting down the hill on our bikes to Willy:s, which has the nearest recycling center. After depositing our trash in the appropriate receptacles (it's amazing how little landfill trash there is once you sort out all the truly recyclable items and compost material), we headed downtown.
The day was beautiful, and it was the first time I had noticed the trees starting to turn autumn colors. It's just a hint, but I can tell that the fall is going to be awash with gorgeous leaves of varying colors.
At any rate, we took our time getting downtown, stopping on the way at the Red Cross secondhand store (where we purchased a new lamp for the entryway) and a gas station to fill our tires with air. We had to get some help from the service attendant, but quickly figured it out. It was AMAZING to feel the difference with fully inflated tires! I had begun to seriously question my bike-riding abilities—after all, it seemed like I had to work twice as hard as everyone else, even when riding on flat surfaces. But now I'm practically flying down the paths—I even rode up the final hill to the apartment with no trouble whatsoever! A million blessings on the guy who thought to include air pumps at gas stations.
By the time we make it to the town square, we realized we had missed the market. Instead we visited the sports store, where I got a fancy new jacket and pants that are rainproof (no more non-biking excuses!), and the ice cream parlor, where I gorged on the "1 smak" size—which is actually about 4 scoops—of hazelnut ice cream. Towards the end, I was so full that I seriously considered throwing the remainder out. I quickly checked myself and stuffed the rest down my throat before taking off back to the apartment.
On the way back, we stopped at the Frukt Huset, where Jess got some groceries and I bought batteries and some black cotton gloves (my leather gloves aren't suited to biking around). Then we biked back to the apartment, where I settled in to check email, update my journal, and admire my new purchases.
So that was my day, but it neglects the huge thoughts that are whirling around in my head. The more I read about sustainability, the more I realize what an unsustainable life I've been living. I think back to all the waste I generated on a daily basis in Maryland, and how little I took public transportation. Don't even get me started about how little I walked or biked. I didn't compost (which is such a brilliant idea that I'm ashamed to admit I hadn't even considered it), and I recycled inconsistently. I had a huge condo where I lived alone, used as much electricity and natural gas as I wanted (even sometimes turning on the heat and opening the windows at the same time—sigh, I will rot in hell for that one). In short, I was being so selfish, so thoughtless—and the worst part was that I knew it was bad, it was just easier to go on living my normal, American life.
So, I've come to a decision—I'm going to sell my car when I go back to Bethesda in November. There's no reason I need a car with D.C.'s excellent public transportation system (if I even go back to D.C. at all), and I'm more likely to use alternate forms of transportation if the car isn't sitting temptingly in the driveway each morning.
Moreover, I'm going to really commit to generating less waste. Being here with Jess and Roya (who are leaps and bounds beyond where I am on this issue) have demonstrated just how easy it is to separate trash and food. And even though it takes us an extra 10 minutes to get recycling down to Willy:s, it makes me feel so much better about myself.
I'm also seriously considering going vegan again. I've been reading articles and statistics about how far the average pound of food in America travels before it's eaten (1,500 miles!!) and how inefficient dairy and meat is to grow. I'm also trying to buy locally grown food—which is going to be particularly difficult here in Sweden, where the growing season is short. But I know that there are huge CSAs (community supported agriculture—read about it here!) in the D.C area that provide vegetables from local farms. A share (which feeds a family of 4, or 2 vegetarians, for a week) costs about $250 for the season (20-ish weeks), and provides a wide variety of produce—all produced locally. But participating in a CSA, I could support local, independent farms, reduce the environmental impact of my food (mainly through transportation), and eat better. I don't know why I didn't pursue it before. And when CSAs aren't in season, there are numerous farmers markets that go on all year (if you can get there early enough in the day!).
Anyway, each day I feel more strongly that my current way of life has to change. And I'm thinking that coming back to the United States might just make it harder. So I'm looking for opportunities in the developing world. If I can find a volunteer opportunity in Africa or South American for 6-12 months after this program concludes, I'll definitely consider it.
Posted by madchen at 09:00 PM | Comments (0)September 24, 2004
New Breath
Today's reading (a daunting list of articles and chapter excerpts) completely makes up for any frustration I have with our coursebook. Having finally dispensed with an introduction to the first three Sustainability Principles:
* A sustainable society must not systematically increase concentrations of materials from the Earth's crust.
* A sustainable society must not systematically increase concentrations of materials from production processes.
* A sustainable society must not systematically degrade the Earth.
We moved on to the 4th Sustainability Principle (and for me, the most intriguing, challenging, and exciting area of study):
* A sustainable society must not systematically undermine the capacity of people to meet their own needs.
Lecture by Karl-Henrik Robert discussed the main principles of social sustainability, and included the concept that the "fabric of society" depends on peoples' interdependence, self-organization, and diversity. I had trouble with the "diversity" part of the chapter, and brought it up in class--asking if the term "diversity" was really appropriate, since the text seems to emphasize individual diversity, rather than cultural diversity (which is the way people tend to think of "diversity").
This brings up a touchy subject. I am well aware that I can dominate social situations, and have even been known (insert gasp of shock here) to monopolize business meetings and classroom settings. So in the past few weeks, I've been challenging myself to stay silent during the Q&A sessions of class, and just listen to how the discussion flows around me. (I haven't been so successful in the small group sessions, where I look back and realize I might not have been an "empathetic" participant.) But then I realized that there must be a balance, and that it is ok for me to ask questions, or even challenge assumptions (my forte--but occasionally taken to extremes). So I raised my hand and asked about the use of the term "diversity". Karl-Hendrik's response was complimentary, but the best part was that I realized I had mulled this question over and over, and had refined it to a concise, intelligent question before asking it. I think that might be my problem--I tend to think about the question as I ask it. So hurrah! A lesson learned--one I'm sure I will have to learn over and over again--especially in small group discussions, where I'm sure my fellow students are praying I learn it soon.
But back to the reading--most of the articles assigned for Monday's class are on organizational leadership, organizational learning, and "deep change". I love the term "deep change" because it connotes a fundamental shift in perception that precedes true transformation. While I only read the initial chapter of the "deep change" book, I was moved by the concept of eliminating exit strategies as a way to foster real commitment. There is an ongoing discussion within my family on whether my dad should retire. He's in a difficult position--being asked to help transform his organization. This has created resentment, fear, frustration, etc. both within the organization (at all levels) and within our family, as we try to wrestle with a father who is grumpy about work, but determined to finish the job he has been given. Each night, there is a recitation of the day's challenges and a discussion about retiring (which has occurred verbatim so as to become farcical). Having read the introduction to this book, I wonder if the constant analyzing of an "exit strategy" (retirement) has hampered his ability to foster "deep change" within his organization. Interesting...
Another article I read discussed the almost incomprehensible connectedness of everything. The example of Bell's Theorum was given--in quantum physics, if you split an atom into two particles, the particles will go spinning away from each other across the universe. One particle has a positive spin, the other has a negative spin (think clockwise and counter-clockwise). Now, here's the freaky part: if you suddenly flip the direction of the spin on one particle, the other particle (floating across the universe) will simultaneouly switch the direction of its spin--thus retaining a balance of sorts. This has been proven in multiple experiments. If reactions like this occur on a subatomic level, then just imagine the implications for society in general. Not that I'm suddenly a "Global Consciousness" convert--but there is something to it, I think. At the very least, it's interesting to think about bizarre theories--like how global catastrophes can impact random number generators.
Finally, I read an article about how to engage in meaningful dialogue--not conversation, or discussion, but meaningful dialogue. Dialogue refers to a "shared pool of resources" upon which a group can draw when creating new understandings. It was quite interesting, especially as I reflected upon the material against my experience with shareholder advocacy. The article talked about how, when true understanding was reached, language is often unable to express it. It quotes the following poem from 13th century Persian poet Rumi:
Out beyond ideas of rightdoing and wrongdoing
There is a field
I will meet you there
When the soul lies down in that grass
The world is too full to talk about.
Beautiful, isn't it? There are times in life when understanding surprises you with a clarity and complexity that outstrips language altogether. I wish I had more of those moments, for each one stands out in my memory as a pivotal time.
And one final interesting Swedish tidbit--on September 27, students at BTH can get tested for chlamydia. For weeks I have walked around not understanding a single word on the ubiquitous posters on campus. Suddenly, everywhere I look is the word klamydia. Klamydia here, klamydia there, klamydia everywhere!
Posted by madchen at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)September 23, 2004
The Body Always Knows
Well, at 3 a.m. this morning, it became rapidly apparent why I was feeling anti-social. I awoke from a deep sleep, slightly disoriented, and rushed to the bathroom. The next three hours are a blur of vomiting and other nasty digestive problems. I eventually went back to sleep, but was still feeling queasy in the morning. At any rate, I decided to skip class (we have less than 2 hours of class on Thursday) in favor of catching up on sleep (the prospect of riding my bike in to campus while vomiting on the sidewalk wasn't too appealing either). Lots of tea later, and I decided that it was a case of food poisoning. My suspicions were later confirmed when Jess noticed that we seemed to have soap residue on one of our pots--it was forming little soap shavings when we boiled water. Soap, as we all know, is a great expectorant--in fact, in my undergraduate "Outdoor Emergency Medicine" we were told to give water and soap to people who had ingested toxins.
There you have it. I am still not feeling myself, but just ate some homemade pizza (yum) and am feeling ok. I decided to skip Pub Night tonight, which is unfortunate, since our class is sponsoring the music tonight and Jess and Ronan are DJ-ing. But I thought it would be better to hang around the house and make sure that everything that I ate stays in my system for an appropriate amount of time.
As such, I don't have much to report, other than my sudden computer problems. You see, we got internet access at our apartment today, and everything seems to be working swimmingly--all except for my Outlook. When I open Outlook, I can see all the messages from my hotmail account, but the program immediately freezes and I have to do a Control-Alt-Delete function to exit. I can manage my hotmail from Internet Explorer just fine--so I'm not sure if it's an Outlook problem, or something related to the firewall in my home connection. Fortunately, there is a computer guy in the next building who hopefully can help me sort this out--I'd hate to be Outlook-free when at home.
Also amusing--I'm currently sitting on a kitchen chair directly inside the front door to the apartment. You see, the internet connection is on the ceiling of the entryway, directly over the front door. My ethernet cable, which extremely long, only runs from the plug to the end of the hallway. I'll need to get one at least twice as long to make it to the desk in my room. So for now, all internet activity will take place in close proximity to the hallway. Once again, we're hoping the computer guy can help--he is rumored to have access to all sorts of goodies.
Class tomorrow focuses on social sustainbility--a topic which I believe is underdeveloped in The Natural Step Framework. I'll spend the rest of my evening reading the chapter on social sustainability in my coursebook so that I can be prepared to constructively probe the lecture's assumptions tomorrow.
As for this weekend, I'm hoping to do a little biking if the weather stays nice. Also perhaps a little shopping, as I'm still in desperate need for a rain-resistant jacket. I've been living high on the hog, as it were, but now that I've just spent nearly $1,000 on a plane ticket home for Christmas, I'll need to be much more frugal with purchases in the future.
Posted by madchen at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)September 22, 2004
Anti-Social
I was feeling quite anti-social today, so I skipped the bonfire in favor of staying home and finishing laundry. Ironically, I totally forgot about the last load, realizing it was sitting downstairs in the laundry room only after the electricity had been turned off. So now the previously neglected laundry is laid out in my room and in the closet—with any luck, they won't be too wrinkled when they dry.
Other than that, there's nothing interesting to report—as I mentioned, I am feeling anti-social. I rode my bike into campus today and sat through another three and a half hours of lecture on the basic science of sustainability. The lecture was more tolerable this time around, although I'm not sure if the presentation was better or if it just seemed that way because I was warm and full of coffee. At any rate, it rained during class, but by the time I had caught up on email in the computer lab the rain had stopped. I shook off my bike as best as I could, donned a wool hat and mittens, and set off for home. I stopped in at Willy:s on the way and picked up some groceries. I was in search of refried beans, but they seem to be an unknown quantity in Sweden. The search will continue the weekend, when additional grocery shopping will take place in Amiralen.
Tomorrow class doesn't begin until 10:15 a.m., so I'll have the morning to sort out the laundry situation—getting the dry stuff folded and put away, and moving the remaining damp clothes into the prime "air drying" spots. Right now, Jess has her clothes hanging on the drying rack over the bathtub, potentially complicating the shower situation tomorrow morning. I swear, this country is in serious need of better laundry facilities. It's hard to believe Electrolux is a Swedish company…
I discovered today that another classmate of mine has an online journal. I took a quick peek and discovered that it is highbrow, "reflections on life" stuff—none of the gossipy, rote descriptions of the day that seem to encompass my online journal. So sad…but I can't seem to think of any life-changing things to write. Except this…a working dryer is a human right.
Oh, one other fun thing…I went to this website and measured my ecological footprint—it was very, very sad. Apparently, if everyone lived like me, we would need 2.8 Earths. And what's really amazing is that I answered the questions based on my living situation in Sweden—no car, only public transportation or biking, shared housing, etc. I can only imagine what my footprint might be when living in America.
Posted by madchen at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)September 21, 2004
Stupid Science
No class today, and I don't have much to report. I got a lot of sleep last night, and woke up at 9:30 a.m.—almost unheard of for days when I can sleep as much as I want. I got up, ate breakfast, and continued listening to Three Weeks With My Brother by Nicholas Sparks, which I started last night. The next thing I knew it was noon and I was still wandering around the apartment, washing dishes, and listening to the audiobook. Around 3 p.m. I finished the book. Having decided that I had wasted enough of my day, I settled down to read the next chapter of my coursebook—which was all about the science of sustainability.
Please note the following sentence, which is indicative of the entire 50 page chapter:
If a system and its surroundings taken together is an isolated system, the entropy change of the combined system is, of course, always positive or, in the limit, zero.
Well of course it is—any simpleton could understand that! Here's another one:
It is impossible for any system to operate in a thermodynamic cycle and deliver a net amount of energy by work to its surroundings while receiving energy by heat from a single thermal reservoir. (A thermal reservoir is an idealized system that is so "big" that it always as the same temperature and pressure although energy is added or removed.) It is easy to see that this statement implies, for example, that it is impossible to construct an engine that could propel a ship by extracting energy from the water of the oceans it crosses (which includes enormous amounts of energy). However, the statement doesn't rule out the possibility of actually extracting energy by work from a single reservoir—as long as the process is not a cycle. Neither does it rule out the possibility of a cycle to deliver energy by work from the surrounding to a single reservoir.
Huh?
I am experiencing growing frustration with the coursebook, which is of poor quality—both in content and in overall grammar/language. I've been talking to Jess about it and I think I will volunteer to help edit the coursebook for the next year. In fact, I think it would be helpful to completely eliminate the coursebook and just rely on the primary materials—like the 17 books listed on the program website. I ordered all of these books (at no insignificant price) and have been bored stiff reading them—because they so closely resemble information in the coursebook. In fact, large parts of our coursebook are lifted verbatim from the original texts (no doubt violating copyright laws—which seem to follow me from place to place), but have been carelessly compiled (or sometimes clumsily rewritten) so as to lose the clarity and conviction of the original works. Grr. I hate shoddy work.
So now I'm all fired up about the program, and am not looking forward to class tomorrow. Fortunately, I have the forethought to bring extra clothes to ward off the freezer-like temperatures of the lecture room. After class (which ends at noon, thank goodness) I'll come back and do a quick load of laundry (hopefully the dryer will continue to work this week) and go back down to campus for a bonfire to celebrate the autumnal equinox.
Posted by madchen at 09:04 PM | Comments (0)September 20, 2004
A Doozy of a Lecture
Let me begin by stressing just how exhausted I am today. I biked approximately 30k during yesterday's arts show on the island of Aspo. The day started off gray and rainy, and since I didn't have any rain gear (a problem I am only too enthusiastic to remedy), I was forced to bike 7k down to the ferry in just a long-sleeved t-shirt, fleece vest, and running pants. It was uncomfortable, chilly, and well, downright unpleasant. But I persevered, and was rewarded when the sun came out an hour or so into our tour of the island. About a dozen people from our program went, although we didn't always stick together, and we took in 18 different homes/sites with handmade arts--including weaving, furniture, paintings, ceramics, and jewelry.
The highlight of the day, however, was seeing the castle, which was designed to be the main defense against the invasion of Karlskrona. Built in the 1600s and used for several centuries, it is now a tourist spot. I took lots of pictures, which I will post tomorrow.
The island was beautiful, with tiny cottages, and pastures with horses and sheep. We even stopped in a tiny church for part of their Sunday evening service to hear some violin and piano music. Lovely, lovely--but not enough to distract me from my growing unease. You see, I am a bit "saddle sore". That's what I get for not breaking in my bike with a few shorter trips first!
Anyway, I got back to the apartment around 8 p.m and dashed to the shower. I made a hurried dinner and went downstairs to Birte and Tomomi's place for a bit of "Candlelight Yoga". This exercise consisted of me putting my laptop at the front of the empty living room and playing one of my yoga DVDs. We chose the one designed for relaxation, so it was perfect for stretching out our sore muscles.
After that, I went back upstairs, ate the dinner I had prepared earlier, and went straight to bed. This morning, I was pleasantly surprised that I wasn't too sore, and so decided to ride my bike into campus. What followed was three and a half hours of painful explanations of thermodynamics. I am going to take a picture of my notes from today to demonstrate the ridiculousness of it all.
Moreover, the room was freezing, and I have only just got feeling back in my nose, fingers, and toes. I'm hoping to gather my energy and run home (stopping, of course, at Marieberg to pick up my package!) to eat a warm lunch. For the rest of the afternoon, I plan on reading my textbook and taking a nap.
A note: riding my bike while carrying my laptop and its accoutermentsis tiresome, so I won't bring in my computer to school for the rest of the week. We're expecting internet service at our apartment on Thursday, so I'll update my journal then...
Posted by madchen at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)September 18, 2004
Weekend
Hmm, where did I leave off? Oh yes, exams.
I spend the remainder of the afternoon in a group exam—which went surprisingly well. We were asked to analyze the sustainability problems associated with a hypothetical tourism company. We were pre-assigned into groups of three and given an hour and half to complete our analysis. By the end, we were all drained. Having been through group presentations on Thursday, individual exams on Friday morning, and another group exam on Friday afternoon, we were definitely ready for some non-sustainability fun.
But first, there was the matter of the used bikes to attend to—the "Ronneby Man" came by campus at 4 p.m. and unloaded 8-10 bikes in front of the International Office. As luck would have it, I was a couple of minutes late, and by the time I arrived, all the bikes had been claimed by bike-hungry SLS students. Which wasn't so terrible as they were all in pretty shoddy shape (rusty, worn-out tires, etc.), but I was a little sad that there wasn't one for me.
Disappointed that I was still ambulatory only by the mercy of my own two feet, I stopped by the International Office and was cheered to discover that one of my boxes from Amazon.com had arrived—and with it the majority of my course books. So I lugged the box on the bus and went back to the apartment for a quick cleaning and a quesadilla (I was famished) before heading back out to town. Some of the students had organized a group dinner at the Bredgartan apartments, so I swung by the Spar and picked up ice cream to contribute. The dinner was a casual affair, with about 20 students from the program and an eclectic mix of dishes. I tried pickled herring for the first (and LAST) time, and was quite displeased with the spongy texture. But, hey, I'm a trooper. Dessert was a success, with Amity's delicious chocolate cake and my ice cream.
Feeling quite stuffed, at 9 p.m. we trooped off to Buddha Bar, a delightful venue with cushy sofas, a well-stocked bar (2-1 drinks from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m.), and a lively dance floor. We "decompressed" from our exams, did a little dancing to bad American music (80s, mostly), and generally had a good time. I had an "orgasm" (imagine having to ask the bartenders for "two orgasms, please" to get the 2-1 deal) made of Baileys, Kalhua, and milk—yum, yum, yum. Later I had a secret concoction that tasted something like pink lemonade, but that packed an extremely potent punch. It was the first alcohol I'd had since arriving in Sweden, so I was feeling quite cheerful by the time we all decided to try out the dance floor. There was also an incident involving a poorly marked men's room, but I'll leave the details to your imagination.
At any rate, by the time midnight rolled around, I found myself wandering the streets of Karlskrona with Siti. Not wandering the streets because I was intoxicated, mind you, but because we had missed the last normal bus and had 40 minutes until the "midnight" bus came around. Rather than sit around and wait with the drunk Swedish youth, we decided to walk through the town center towards the campus, and just wait at a quieter bus stop. It was a crisp, clear night, and we enjoyed a delightful walk along the water's edge, discussing crime statistics in our respective cities (D.C. and Kuala Lumpur). We managed to find the right bus stop after only one major mistake (we missed the turnoff for the underpass and ended up halfway to the highway) and were back in Kungsmarksvägen around 1 a.m.
I did a little reading—I'm now engrossed in The Remains of the Day—before falling asleep. Apparently, Roya and Jess got home some time after 3 a.m. (the bars stay open quite late), but I was dead to the world, and didn't get up until just after 10 a.m. this morning.
I spent a leisurely morning reading my book, having breakfast (an odd combination of egg noodles and vegetable broth—a little like Ramen), and taking a shower in the oh-so-lovely curtained bathtub. By noon I was out at the bus stop, catching a bus to Amiralen. Well, not so much Amiralen as the sports store down the street from Amiralen (which I could have gone directly to, but I took the wrong bus). Long story short, I am the proud owner of a new bike!
I decided yesterday that it would be worth purchasing a new bike, since I don't own one back in America. When I'm done here, I'll just bring it with me to my new place (which I'm starting to think might be Europe, rather than the US). Anyway, it's wicked cool (oh, too much time spent with Boston people!) and cost me more than I can reasonably justify. But I don't care, because now I have a bike!
The guy at the bike shop was really funny, and very helpful. He let me take out several bikes to try out on the road. I rode each of them on one of the trails behind the shop, back and forth past a tiny pasture with cows and sheep that looked at my askance every time I passed by. I think perhaps they were thrown off by all the tags attached to the bike (warranty information, price tag, features list, etc.) blowing frantically in the wind.
After a couple of tries, I found the bike for me. It's a mountain bike, with 7 gears, a back-wheel lock, and front and back lights. I also got a pannier to attach to the side, so that I can carry books and my laptop back and forth to school. All in all, I was quite satisfied. I rode the bike back to Amiralen, stopping in at Coop Forum (I believe it's actually Co-op Forum, but everyone here pronounces it "coop") for some groceries. Realizing that I would have to ride back home with my backpack (carrying a not insubstantial load in itself) and the groceries, I only got a bunch of apples, oranges, a loaf of bread, a bottle of water, a soda, and a chocolate bar. Still, it was quite the unexpected shock to realize how heavy the bike was once everything was loaded.
I rode the bike back home, only having to stop once to check my map (the trails, which are everywhere, don't really follow the main roads). I ended up walking the bike up the final hill, which was just too steep. Unfortunately, I accidentally caught the back of my calf on one of the pedals as I walked, scraping all the skin off my ankle and leaving a huge bruise. Just biting my lip and suffering through the hill would definitely have been less of an ordeal.
Getting in the apartment was an exercise in creativity, as I had to prop the bike vertically in the elevator to make it fit. I brought it in my room, where it currently resides in the area between my bed and the bookshelf. It is quite fancy, and I've stopped at the entrance to the door several times just to look at it in awe.
Feeling quite exhausted from my trek back home (which actually only took about a half hour, but used previously ignored muscle groups), I laid down on my bed and read for a but, and even managed to squeeze in a brief nap before going downstairs to Tomomi and Birte's apartment (directly below us) for a sushi dinner. They did a great job of compiling all the sushi ingredients, and they arranged it for make-your-own sushi. They even managed to find a tube of wasabi, which created a pleasant burning sensation in my sinuses for most of the evening.
There were nearly a dozen of us for dinner, so Tomomi and Birte converted their empty living room into a picnic area, complete with blow-up mattresses and rugs for us to sit on. And so we spent the night making sushi (ingredients included salmon, tuna, cucumbers, avocado, asparagus, egg, carrots, etc.) and discussing our weekend plans.
Nearly everyone is planning on going to Aspö tomorrow for the arts show, so we've made plans to meet at the ferry tomorrow at 1:15 p.m. I've been told that the ferry is quite gentle and only 20 minutes in length, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there won't be any unpleasant seasickness incidents. I'll be bringing my bike, as several of us want to ride around the island after the arts tour. I'm not sure that my poor legs are up to an extended ride (after all, I'll still have to bike back home afterwards!), but I thought I would try it out.
Now it's almost eleven and I'm back at home, ready for bed. I'll probably finish The Remains of the Day (winner of the 1989 Booker Prize, and quite excellent) tonight, leaving only Women in Love left. And, of course, now I also have 10 sustainability-related books to read in my spare time.
Also exciting, I received a notice in the mail yesterday to the effect that I have a package waiting for me at the local post office. I didn't manage to get there today, so I'll have to wait until Monday to pick it up. I think it must be goodies from my mom…I can't remember exactly what she said she was sending, but I remember being quite enthusiastic.
Posted by madchen at 09:05 PM | Comments (0)September 17, 2004
Exam
Whew! I just finished my first exam, and it's made me realize just how long it's been since I was in an exam-taking role. I took the Series 6 exam at my previous job, which was a stressful 2-hour ordeal. But whether I passed or failed the Series 6 exam (I passed, of course) didn't really affect my job in nay way--it was more of a personal goal. But this test DOES affect my life--even though it won't matter much, seeing as our grades are all pass/fail.
I was the first person to turn in my completed exam (the format was short answer), which made me feel confident and a little afraid. Was it possible that I had missed a page, or forgotten to answer part B of a question? Oh well, que cera.
Now I have an hour to get caught up on internet stuff and eat lunch before Exam #2 begins. This afternoon we will be working in assigned groups to answer a "sustainability scenario"--as yet unidentified. I hope we will be able to use our computers to write our essay, since I'm assuming that compiling a 3-page written answer will be ugly and disorganized if it's done by hand.
Of course, these exams pale in comparison to the bg adventure this afternoon--bike shopping! The "Ronneby Man" will be coming to campus at 4 p.m. with a bunch of new and used bikes. Several of my fellow students are also in the market for a bike, so I believe there will be quite a crowd.
This evening, students in my program have planned a post-exam party at Buddha Bar (I haven't been there yet--but I hear its the nicest place in town for drinks). I'll give a full report on Saturday.
As for my plans for the rest of the weekend, there aren't many. On Sunday I plan on going to a KULTURRUNDA, which is basically a culture round show. We meet at the dock and are ferried around the islands to see local artists display their wares. I'm hoping to get some art to brighten up my walls, and maybe some early Christmas presents too!
Ok, I'm off to get lunch. No more posts until Monday.
Posted by madchen at 09:07 PM | Comments (0)September 15, 2004
Waddup?
Today has turned from a beautiful, breezy morning to a drab, blustery noon. I'm sitting at one of the desks in the library, looking out the window to the ocean. I suppose I haven't spent a lot of time discussing the layout of the campus, so let me do it now.
The Karlskrona campus is tiny--just 5 buildings arranged around a central green area. It was once a military training site, which explains the sharp angles and sparse architecture. The exception is the library, built just a few years ago by one of Sweden's top designers. The library sits on the edge of campus, between the main buildings and the ocean. You can walk straight out of the library, down a path, and end up on a small dock, where students occasionally tie up their sailboats. You can also walk around the edge of the water--marshy reeds to the left, a sandy strip of beach to the right. The land is shaped so that the water near the school is actually a cove, and it's quite calm until you get about 500 meters out and the inlet opens up to the main part of the archipelago.
There are dozens of tiny islands (the majority of them unoccupied) around Karlskrona, and submerged bits of land make sailing treacherous without a good map. Several of the main islands are linked by bridges, but you have to take a ferry to others.
That about covers my ability to describe the city. I tried to find a map, but they all seem to be interactive and therefore not journal-friendly. Suffice it to say that there are myriad islands, all of which have their own special charm. I'm hoping to buy a bicycle on Friday to aid in my exploration of the area. Keep your fingers crossed!
There's nothing much to report--today was largely an exercise in more group work. We're in the final stages of planning our group presentation (to be given tomorrow). I finished my portion early, so I have a little bit of time to play around in the library and get caught up on international news.
I have a nagging feeling that there is something planned for this evening--but I'm at a loss to provide more detail.
Posted by madchen at 09:08 PMSeptember 14, 2004
Success!
Today I woke up at 7 a.m. and hopped in the shower with the best of intentions. Although I didn't have to meet my group until 9 a.m., I wanted to get to campus early to catch up on all my internet-related stuff. I am counting the days (9) until we get internet access in our apartment—it will be such a relief to be able to check the news, email, etc. from home instead of relying on the inherently flaky school internet ports.
But my plans did not come to fruition. Between a shower and getting dressed, I found myself tucked back into bed for a little snooze. Forty-five minutes later, Janie's voice "Good morning, Jen, wake up for school" brought me back to life, and I managed to get ready and catch the last possible bus to meet my group on time.
We had a long and painful 4 hours of making individual presentations and critiques during our group meeting. I made my escape promptly at 1 p.m., checking my email on my way out (but didn't stick around to respond to anyone). I walked over to the Frukt Huset (I'll let you do the translation—look, you speak Swedish too!), where I found a plethora of previously undiscovered goodies. I loaded up my basket with vegetables, toasted couscous, and (of course) a chocolate bar.
I caught the bus home, and began the tedious process of laundry night. As you may recall, last week's laundry experience was a debacle. Fortunately, we were smart enough to reserve a different laundry room this week—with a working dryer!! Also, since only a week's worth of clothing had built up, there wasn't the same sense of urgency. I was able to wash my sheets and all my dirty clothes in only a couple hours (hurray!), and was completely done by the time Jess and Roya arrived home to fight it out for the remaining hours of electricity (did I mention the laundry room's electricity is cut each night promptly at 9 p.m.?).
In the meantime, I took a nap (I'm not sure why I'm so tired today—I have a scratchy throat and decided it would be better to take a nap than get sick) and made a delicious vegetable soup. I've never really made a soup without a guiding recipe, so I was quite pleased that my combination of leek, tomato, carrot, zucchini, and left-over rice turned out so well. I had enough for 2 bowls myself, plus a bowl for Jess, and leftovers for tomorrow. Now that I have a little bit of confidence in my soup-making abilities, I'll definitely be churning them out when the weather turns cold. As for right now, it feels like early October might feel in D.C. There are occasional brisk days, but mostly things are just bright and comfortable. I'm hoping we can squeeze another week or so of this mild weather before things turn really cold. Veterans of Karlskrona winters say we have until late September before winter truly hits.
Now it's 8:30 p.m. and the last tiny bit of light is leaving the sky—each day is noticeably shorter, although we still have ample light for all day-time activities. I will definitely need to get a brighter lamp for my room, but I'm putting it off until it becomes a necessity. I have several books to read from the library, but I've promised myself that I'll finish The Natural Step Story before moving onto anything fun. At this point, I'm beginning to know the TNS framework and examples better than my own life…making reading more about it an exercise in boredom. Oh well, I'm hoping that my other shipment of textbooks from Amazon will offer different perspectives.
Posted by madchen at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)September 13, 2004
Swedish
Hmm, well...I've dropped my Swedish class. Basically I just walked out in the middle--I could actually feel brain cells dying as I listened to my teacher drone on and on and on.
So now I'm next door to those poor saps, checking out Amazon.com for the Rosetta Stone software on Swedish. I definitely want to continue learning the language, I just don't want to have to commit teacher-cide.
While on the Amazon.com website, I came across this amusing information...
Shipping to Prisons
Amazon.com delivers to penitentiaries, but we strongly suggest you contact the prison first to confirm that they accept deliveries and to note any special regulations the prison might have. Some prisons don't allow delivery of hardcover books. Others place a limit on the number of items contained in a package.
We're unable to affix any special labels or instructions to the packages and on the outside will indicate only the destination address, our company name, and our return address. We also cannot allow gifts to be sent anonymously to inmates; the sender's billing address will appear on the order invoice.
Because inmates cannot sign for deliveries, packages must be sent via U.S. Mail. While Amazon.com often sends packages via U.S. Mail, we also use UPS, FedEx, and Airborne Express. Unfortunately, there is no way for customers to request a specific shipper. To avoid delivery problems, you might consider having the items shipped to you and then shipping them to the penitentiary via U.S. Mail.
Strange, right? How many people are trying to anonymously send things to prisons?
Posted by madchen at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)September 12, 2004
Another Week
Sunday night and I am worn out. I spent all of yesterday engrossed in my new book, and didn't finish it until 2 a.m.—definitely the latest I've stayed up since I've been here (by a couple hours). I highly recommend it to everyone—it has love, adventure, poetry (much of which I skipped over), illicit sex, literature, etc. Bravo to Ms. Byatt.
So there went Saturday, and thank goodness I made myself finish the coursebook reading before beginning, or I would be in a world of hurt. So today, I slept in until 11 a.m. (that's more like it!), then ran to Willy:s and got ingredients for chocolate chip cookies, in preparation for my group event at 3 p.m. We had decided to make a double batch—one to thank the people at International Reception for all their help, and one for us. It was quite an adventure trying to decipher the right kind of flour (there are unfortunately no pictures of "flour" on the box), the right kind of sugar, and the right kind of brown sugar. Don't even get me started on identifying baking soda. But after a mentally exhausting ½ hour (and the help of a very nice Swedish man trying to buy cereal) I was set. The only problem was that there was a sale on baking flour this week, and all the 2 kg packages were sold out, so I had to buy the 5 kg one (11 pounds, mind you). Combine this with 2 kg of sugar, 1 kg of brown sugar, eggs, 500 g of margarine, a liter of yogurt, a jar of curry, a 2 kg bag of frozen chicken, etc. and I was loaded down with nearly 40 pounds of groceries. I stumbled under the weight of my stuffed backpack and two bags to the bus stop, where I gratefully caught the bus the two stops back up the hill to my place.
The cookie-making event went splendidly. We ended up making 4 batches of cookies—or rather "blondies". I realized that I didn't have any cookie sheets, so instead I bought a bunch of disposable baking tins and spread the cookie batter out like brownies. Yum.
For the baking part of the day, Mandy, Siti, and Birte came over. Later in the day, Archie came over for dinner (and last minute cookie-eating), bringing ratatouille to contribute for dinner. We added his side dish to my main dish of chicken curry (I'm now addicted to curry) and salad. And, of course, cookies/brownies for dessert.
After dinner, Mandy and I tried to go to Kristoffer's apartment for a movie night, but we couldn't seem to find his apartment, despite seemingly obvious directions. So we wandered around in the blustery wind for about 15 minutes, then gave up and parted at the bus stop. Now I'm back at home, trying to avoid eye contact with the remaining plate of cookies, which I will bring to class tomorrow.
And now, I'm off to bed, to begin reading "The Natural Step Story: Seeding a Quiet Revolution". I had a horrid fear that it will be another repletion of what I've already heard in lecture and read in the coursebook. But maybe not—I'm trying to keep a positive outlook on things.
Tomorrow, I'm meeting my project group at 10 a.m., then going with a smaller group to present our cookies and flowers to the International Reception people. During the afternoon, I plan on doing massive email responses, since I've fallen a bit behind, and finishing the compilation of our group's "Welcome Guide"—our response to the shoddy information passed out to incoming international students this year. Well, it's what I am told was passed out with the acceptance packet—since I never received my packet, I don't know firsthand…
September 10, 2004
Salsa
Yesterday, we had a full 5 hours of class—including 2 hours of presentations from the SLS students. Each of us stood up and gave a 2 minute presentation about ourselves. I had jotted some notes down, but ended up just speaking spontaneously about my background and my observations of the class. I was amazed to hear everyone's story—however brief—and it made me realize how fortunate I am to be here in this program.
After class, I went to a meeting to discuss my orientation experience with others. We came up with a rather long list of structural changes the University needs to make for next year's international students (furniture in the apartments, class schedules, better notification of the housing situation, etc.), which will be compiled by the group and forwarded to the school administration.
Our meeting took just over two hours (there was a BUNCH of "constructive criticism"), after which a bunch of us walked up to Jo's apartment at Minervavägen—the on-campus housing. We had coffee (yum, caffeine!) and discussed differences in pronunciation between British and American English (for heaven's sake—just admit that it's procEss, not prOcess.)
And then, the highlight of my day: salsa class. That's right—I spent two and a half hours learning how to dance the salsa. Of course, the instruction was entirely in Swedish, and the girls outnumber the guys 2-1, but it was all worth it. I discovered that I am an excellent pseudo-man when it comes to leading. In fact, having danced with 3 girls and 3 guys, I can say without a doubt that the girls were significantly better dancers than the guys. No wonder the guys in our program refused to come (except for Alvaro, who was bullied into it by the SLS girls). It was the first class in a series of 6, so my Thursday evenings are booked for the next month or so.
Today, I slept in (it's hard to believe that 9 a.m. now qualifies as sleeping in) and missed the bus—not because I slept in, but because I couldn't find my bus pass in time. At any rate, I made it to class late, but not too late since we got bogged down in administrative crap. As always. We got our assignments for next week—this time, we're responsible for forming groups of 6-8 and presenting a 5 minutes explanation of the "ABCD" process (the "Backcasting from Principles). It's like a mini-exam that takes place on Friday, but it seems so simple that I'm not sure why classes are cancelled for next week so that we can practice. Initially, I was really excited, thinking that I could make a quick trip to Copenhagen. But no, our group has decided to meet bright and early Monday morning to begin the project.
After class broke for the day, I stopped by the school library (the bibliotek, if you please) and got a library card, which allowed me to check out a new fun book (anything but more sustainability reading!!) "Possession" by A.S. Byatt. It won the 1990 Booker Prize, and was made into a tedious movie starring Gwynth Paltrow (which I didn't see). Anyway, I was very excited about it, and have promised myself that I won't start reading it until I have finished the assigned reading in the program coursebook.
Then I went and had lunch with Kerily and Ronan at a Chinese buffet (cheap, but average food). Then it was off to Ahlens to pick up a shower curtain, a shower rack (to organize all our shower products), and a blanket (for when I need a little something while reading).
With my new purchases in tow, I skipped off to the Park, where I sat in the afternoon sun and read my coursebook, which is becoming painfully repetitive. I managed to plow through another couple dozen pages before the sun went behind the trees and I got too cold to continue. I hopped back on the bus back to my place, where I ran into Kerily again. She invited me along to dinner at Karl's place, which I happily accepted.
Dinner was great—I got to chat with a bunch of people I don't really know that well. It was 6 of us in all—Karl, Ronan, Archie, Kerily, Amy and me. Karl made an amazing chicken curry with an eggplant side dish that was delicious. We drank wine, played rummy (with some crazy Canadian rules), and heard stories about the guys blowing up pipe bombs and hotwiring cars in their youth. Good times. It was a beautiful night, so we walked back to campus, and then I caught a bus the rest of the way back to my place. I'm thinking that I definitely need to get a bike—this waiting around for the bus all the time is wretched.
Posted by madchen at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)September 08, 2004
No Internet for Me
I didn't get a chance to check email, but instead went to dinner with a bunch of SLS students after our Swedish class. We tried to go to the Thai restaurant down the street, but its operating hours were only 10-5. WTF? I suppose most people in Karlskrona only eat Thai food at lunch. So we moseyed over to the pizza/kebab place next door, which had more reasonable operating hours. I had a lovely pork "giro" (look how the Swedish comes more and more easily!) for an inexpensive 50 kronor.
Over dinner our group discussed the systemic problems with the University, the International Office, Student Services, and Karskronaham—all of which have screwed us over in the past in myriad ways. Apparently, the school administration is going to have a meeting in a couple weeks to discuss student grievances (and to make changes that will improve next year's students' experiences). We've been asked to provide feedback on our year so far, and let me tell you, we have a lot of feedback to give.
Afterward, we walked down to Frukt Huset (the fruit house) to check it out—it's supposed to be the place for more exotic produce and international foods. Unfortunately, it was also closed (what is it with Karlskrona?), so we called it a night and parted ways. Now I'm back at home, chatting with Jess about our assignment for tomorrow. We're supposed to give a 2 minute presentation about ourselves, observations of the program so far, and plans for the future. Jess already has 2 pages of single-spaced text for her presentation; I have nothing. I'm not sure what to say…2 minutes can go pretty quickly, so hopefully I'll just be able to make a couple bullet points tonight and wing the rest.
Posted by madchen at 11:06 PM | Comments (0)Laundry
Hmm, I seem to have gotten behind on this journal—let me do a quick recap. Yesterday was the standard school fare with lectures from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Afterwards, I did some quick internet stuff and then hurried home to start my laundry. What followed was either:
a. a scene out of a Marx brothers movie or
b. a scene from Armageddon
First off, it took us a week to get a time reserved for laundry. The Kungsmarksvägen people have a weird system where you reserve the day spot (7 a.m. to 2 p.m.) or the night spot (2 p.m. to 9 p.m.). From 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. they turn off the electricity. Anyway, you sign up for a space (usually 7-8 days in advance) on a regular basis.
Now let me describe the laundry room: it's an actual room (there are two near our front door) with two washing machines and one dryer, plus a drying closet (more on that later). Of course, everything is in Swedish, but I managed to figure out the washing machine part of the experiment. Unfortunately, I misread some of the directions (I think, I haven't quite pinpointed where I went wrong) and added WAY too much soap, so all my clothes are stiff. But time was rapidly slipping away and I didn't have time to re-wash all the clothes, so I put a bunch up to dry in the drying closet (basically a giant closet with rods traversing the length of the closet where you can hang your clothes). The "drying" part works by a gentle stream of hot air coming through vents in the rods, plus a blower at one end of the closet. The other clothes I piled into the dryer and set to 60 minutes.
I went back upstairs to do some other stuff, and didn't come down until an hour later, just in time to take the dry clothes upstairs and switch the remaining loads. Imagine my surprise to arrive in the laundry room to discover that NONE of the clothes were dry. The clothes hanging in the drying closet were still extremely damp, and the clothes in the "dryer" were not one iota dryer than when I put them in! I hurriedly took the clothes from the dryer and added them to the drying closet, since Roya was on her way home and still had to do all of her laundry. Long story short, we ended up having to bring every single piece of clothing upstairs at 9 p.m. to hang/lay flat in our apartment.
Have you seen that USA commercial where the girl is looking for a place to lay her sweater down to dry? I think it's an advertisement for a Whirlpool drying center, but the visual is a house completely covered in clothes—drying on every available surface. Well, that was our apartment last night, but we had things 2 or 3 deep, because of a lack of places to lay things. It was comical, but at the time seemed like a nightmare.
All of this was going on simultaneously with a dinner party. We, of course, thought that our laundry would be done HOURS before the party started. So Scotty, Renaud, Ronan, Tomomi, Jessica, Roya, and I had a lovely meal of lasagna and cheesecake while frequently running downstairs to check the status of our slowly-drying clothes. Right now (24 hours after the laundry process started), I still have a good 5-6 shirts and 3 pairs of pants drying in my room. And, mind you, every piece of clothing that did dry is stiff enough to stand under its own weight…
Anyway, laundry was awful but the party was great. And today we had another round of classes. Afterwards, I came home and took a nap, having gotten a lousy night of sleep (I woke up 10-15 times worried about getting my laundry from the drying closet).
Now I'm back at school, trying to connect to the Internet before my Swedish class starts at 5:30 p.m. Clearly, I'm not going to make it, so I have no choice but to save my work, go to class, and hope there is a working connection when I'm done.
Posted by madchen at 11:05 PM | Comments (0)September 06, 2004
Week 2
The second week of classes began today, and for once I actually felt like I was in college. Karl-Hendrik led a series of lecture/discussions based on the Natural Step philosophy, which I'm finding intriguing.
I'm new to the whole Natural Step framework, which puts me in a slightly different category than most people in the program. It basically integrates strategic organization planning with systems thinking. What, you're thinking? Well, check out the website for more information…
For me, the biggest surprise is that I'm finding the strategic organizational planning portion of the class to be useful for personal decision-making—particularly as I start to consider where I want to go once I graduate this spring. As many of you probably know, I accepted entry into this program largely as a way to escape my previous job with dignity. Of course I was interested in the program, but this year in Sweden was mainly a means to an end—a "responsible" way to quit my job and move abroad. I felt the need for a big change—and this Master's Program in Sweden offered me that change. But as for where I thought this degree would take me, well…I'm not sure.
I tend to make big, life-changing decisions through a pattern where I gradually grow discontented with something (a job, relationship, home, etc.) until a dam bursts and I make a huge decision in a rapid timeframe. The speed with which I bought my condo springs to mind as an example.
For the most part, these changes have been for the better. On the other hand, I rarely have an idea of where I'm going in the long-term. And now that I've dropped everything and come to Sweden, that worries me a little.
Enter strategic organizational planning (or "Backcasting from Principles", the specific type of planning we're using)—which works for any complex system, like an individual, company, community, municipality, or entire biosphere.
1. First, you decide on the system conditions and boundaries. That is, you have to understand the rules by which your "system" operates. If I'm the system, my system conditions would include things like gender, life expectancy, citizenship, etc.
2. Next, you choose principles for success. For me, I ask "what would a successful life look like?" From this question, I develop several principles on which my planning will be based.
3. Then, I brainstorm strategies that will take me towards my definition of success. Each strategy must comply with all my principles for success, and be constructed within the "system" boundaries.
4. Once I have strategies in mind, I can construct actions (more specific than strategies) to take me towards success.
5. Finally, I choose tools to help me achieve my chosen course of action, using the strategies designed to guide me towards success within my system boundaries.
So you see, it's all very simple—I have decided to become a clown.
Well, not really. There is another model that is designed to help you decide which strategies, actions, and tools to use to get to "success"—because the Systems/Success/Strategies/Actions/Tools design alone doesn't help you prioritize which strategies will be most effective. So, there's a Step B. (Isn't there always?)
1. First, you reiterate the system boundaries.
2. Second, you analyze your current state.
3. Third, you envision where you'd like to be ("success").
4. Fourth, you decide which strategies (devised under Step A) most effectively move you from "B" to "C". This is accomplished by asking yourself, does Strategy X:
1. Move me in the right direction?
2. Provide a flexible platform, so that I can easily adapt to changing circumstances?
3. Provide an adequate return on investment? (That is, is it worth the effort involved?)
I'm not explaining it very well, but it's really an elegant mechanism for decision making. And I'm in the process of running my life through the process and seeing what shakes out. Right now it's all in my head, but once I get something committed to paper, I'll put it in the online journal.
But before I get to my reading for the evening, let me recap my day.
I took a shower last night, using the amazingly effective "IKEA bed plastic packaging" shower curtain. As a result, I got to sleep in until 7:20 a.m. while Roya and Jess got up earlier. I managed to get to class a little early, so I was able to check email (where I was sorely disappointed about the lack of email from the States—is it Labor Day that causes such a lack of entertaining communication? I didn't even have anything from my family! Tsk, tsk.)
Class ran until noon, when I went straight to the library to finish email and internet tasks (finally, my Quicken is resolved!). Then I took the bus back home, stopping at Willy:s on the way for groceries. Once home, I quickly unpacked, ate some leftover couscous, and got back on the bus to Centrum. I stopped in at Karlskronaham (the apartment company) and paid rent and submitted my list of complaints. After that, I tried to find Scotty's house (he had invited me over for a cup of coffee), but after wandering about for 15 minutes I gave up and went to the ice cream parlor. I indulged in hazelnut ice cream while reading the introduction to my coursebook, then decided that my quality of life would significantly improve with some curtains. So off to Spar I went—choosing a curtain rod, curtains, and a matching pillow for the bed.
Having spent more than I planned, I took the bus (yet again) back to campus, where I sat in on the last part of a group meeting (about creating a program brochure) before attending my first Swedish class. All I have to say about that is: Hej! Hej! Jag hetter Jennifer. Jag talar Engelska. Tack så mycket!
After an all to brief Swedish lesson (that was incredibly heavy on administrative matters), I came home and prepared a lovely dinner of pasta with mozzarella, avocado, and tomatoes (I've eaten pounds and pounds of tomatoes since I've been here). In between typing up my day's notes, Roya came home and helped me install my new curtain rod and curtains. They look lovely, and I'll upload pictures soon.
That's about it. I did get my first mail delivered right to my apartment door. It consisted of a New Yorker magazine forwarded from my mom, and two Thank You cards from my friend Laurel, who is expecting a baby any moment now. It was delightful to get tangible material from home, and I encourage everyone to send stuff immediately!
In other news: Poor Jess has a terrible cold/fever, which I am trying to avoid. In fact, a good 1/3 of the class has suddenly come down with cold/flu symptoms. We're attributing it to different strains of viruses for which we haven't built up immunities. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and have decided that denial is the best defense against my increasing sneezes and congestion. With the current rate of contagion, my health is at serious risk. Perhaps eating more chocolate would help? It's worth a try…
Posted by madchen at 11:07 PM | Comments (0)September 05, 2004
New Roommate
I managed to enjoy the warm weather through my fully opened windows, rather than going outside. I realized I was getting increasingly sniffly and, afraid of catching the cold virus that seems to be circulating through the group, I allowed myself a quiet day.
I managed to read another big chunk of Natural Capitalism, although I still have a significant section to finish. I also took a long and luxurious nap (once again, let me stress what an improvement my new bed is!), did a little budgeting, and generally relaxed. I made an excellent tomato and cucumber couscous for dinner, and chatted with Roya and Jessica. Around 8 p.m. we trooped over to Heather's apartment (just two blocks down from us) and got her furniture, which is being turned over to Jessica. With Alvaro's help (he magically turned up after doing laundry), we dragged it all back to our place, where we had tea and caught up on everyone's weekend activities. After Heather and Alvaro left, the three of us assembled most of the furniture—leaving the dreaded desk assembly until tomorrow. Roya even managed to rig up a temporary shower curtain from the bed's plastic wrap—we'll see how it holds up through tomorrow morning's preparations.
Posted by madchen at 11:09 PM | Comments (0)Kayaking
Let's see, where was I? After lunch break on Friday, we continued our classes until 3:15 p.m. The princess was quiet, and didn't really affect the lectures that much. I enjoyed hearing Karl-Hendrik speak, and I am really looking forward to next week's lectures, as they will cover information I haven't already read about in the coursebook.
After class, I went downtown and ran a few errands. I picked up Q-tips and hair de-frizzer at the drug store (like a CVS, but only with beauty products). I re-charged my mobile phone (hurrah for outgoing calls!) and did some grocery shopping. While at Spar, I ran into Birte who told me that Scotty was hosting dinner at his place in Bredgartan. I added a bag of chips to my basket and we agreed to meet at the Kungsmarksvägen bus stop to ride over to Scotty's together. We parted ways, and I went back to the apartment.
Birte ended up running late, so I took the bus over to Centrum alone, running into Mitch on the way. Mitch was on his way to Rene's house, where there was another group dinner in the works. He hopped off the bus at campus, and I continued on alone. I met Paulo and Tomomi at the Tourist Bureau, where we had arranged a central meeting point for those who didn't know where Scotty lived. We walked over together, and arrived a few minutes later to find a dozen people at Scotty's. By the end of the evening, we totally 22 people—it was quite a feast!
Renaud coordinated the dinner, which consisted of a cream-based sauce over pasta. People had brought a variety of bread, appetizers, desserts, and drinks, so there was plenty to go around. Because there were so many of us, we ended up having to cook the pasta in 4 different pots and the sauce in 2 big pans, and it was a funny sight to see 6 pots and pans being juggled between just 4 burners. Additionally, everyone had brought their own plates and silverware, since last time we ended up drinking our pasta out of plastic cups.
The best part of the party was seeing people break into smaller groups to pursue different activities (the dinner-makers, the TV-watchers, the table-chatters). So often I think we feel obligated to be part of one cohesive group, and that can really kill the atmosphere of a party.
Anyway, dinner was fantastic and the rest of the night went swimmingly. We played fun games, watched the news (where there was an all-too-brief segment on the Crown Princess's visit to our class—none of us made it on the screen), and generally had a good time. By 11:30 p.m., many of us were starting to fade, so a group of us said good-bye and headed for the bus.
Walking outside Scotty's apartment, I saw a new side of Sweden—the drunk, raucous side. There were hordes of young Swedish guys EVERYWHERE. Most of them were drinking on the streets (public drinking is allowed some places in Karlskrona, but since no one knows which places are ok and which are forbidden, the rule is never enforced), and the volume and violence seemed to escalate as we approached the town center. I was walking with Siti, the others having fallen behind, and we were amazed to see people throwing bottles into the town center and having mini-fights all along the main street (Ronnebygatan). There was no police presence, and it was a little disconcerting to walk right through these packs of boys. It made me a little nervous (I felt so old!) but I don't think we were in any real danger—except for possibly being hit by a misguided beer bottle. Discussing it later, we decided it was a combination of the young drinking age (18), the lax rules about drinking in public, and the timing—this was the first weekend in the school year. We'll see if it's similarly out-of-control next weekend.
Our group ended up taking the night bus home (the regular bus stops running at 11:30 p.m.), and it was filled with thin, pasty Goth kids and young Swedish women (apparently still capable of walking in a straight line—unlike their male counterparts).
The next morning I woke up bright and early, quickly eating breakfast, making lunch, and getting dressed. I hopped on the bus to Centrum, where I did a quick survey of the farmers market, looking for Jess (our new roommate) so I could give her a set of keys. She wasn't there, so I quickly hopped back on the bus, meeting Birte and Siti. We took the bus out to Saltö, then walked up to Dragsö, meeting Kevin along the way. The four of us made our way out to the campgrounds, where we rented 2 kayaks and a canoe for the day. While we were setting up, Tomomi joined us, bringing the group to five. Kevin, an experience kayaker, gave us a quick lesson in escaping the boat if it tipped (a nervous thought!), and we were off. Birte and I took the first shift in the kayaks, with Kevin, Siti, and Tomomi in the canoe. We later discovered that the canoe was only meant for two people, which explained why it was so sluggish.
The day was beautiful, and perfect for kayaking. Because we started in the archipelago, the water was perfectly smooth, and there was none of the pesky wind that so often plagues the islands. The sky was amazingly clear, and it was so quiet you could hear the reeds rustling along the banks. I won't mention the birds—suffice it to say that they were plentiful as well, but stayed clear of our group.
It was hard to believe we were kayaking in the Baltic Sea—it looked more like a large lake. As we maneuvered north around the island, we switched places—me and Birte paddling the canoe (with Kevin in the middle), and Siti and Tomomi in the kayaks. We paddled this way down through the town center, around bunched of tiny islands, and eventually stopped for lunch on a lump of rock and grasses. By then, we were in the shipping lanes and the wind and waves had picked up significantly. I was exhausted from 3 hours of kayaking and paddling the canoe (I never appreciated how much work steering a canoe is!) and volunteered to be in the middle seat of the canoe for the next leg of the journey. That proved to be a bad idea, since Siti and Tomomi were the canoe paddlers, and their combined arm muscle wasn't enough to get the canoe going in the right direction through the choppy waters. After a half hour of struggling to another shore, we switched again—me and Tomomi in the kayaks, Birte and Kevin paddling the canoe, and Siti in the middle.
With more than 2/3 of the journey complete, the inevitable happened: I fell in the water. It wasn't a spectacular wave that did me in, oh no. I tipped the kayak while trying to get in. Fortunately, the water only came up to my chest, but I was soaked from my knees to my chest. Not wearing a bathing suit, I was pretty miserable for the rest of the trip back to the beach. But I persisted, and enjoyed the aching muscles and waning sun.
We got back to the beach around 3 p.m., where we promptly laid our gear out in the sun. Kevin and Birte went back out in the kayaks to practice Eskimo rolls, while Siti and I tried to dry off. Tomomi left to go visit the farmers market. At some point, everyone came back to the beach and dried off (as best we could—by then it was only about 65-70 degrees, although still sunny). At 4 p.m. we gathered our stuff and walked back to Saltö, where we caught the bus home. We agreed to meet at 6 p.m. at my apartment for dinner.
I immediately hopped in the bath, where I soaked for an hour. Once I was finally warm, I hopped out and got dressed, just in time to let Jessica in the apartment. She had brought all of her stuff over from Nattraby (where she was previously staying), and quickly moved into the living room.
Soon afterwards, Siti and Birte joined us, and the 4 of us had a lovely dinner of pasta and chicken. The kayaking group was wiped out, so we called it an early night. Roya finally made it home (after getting a flat tire during her bike ride), and she and Jessica went to another party in town. I was invited, but just couldn't tear myself away from my soft, fluff bed. I was asleep by 10 p.m. and didn't even hear Roya and Jessica when they got back.
This morning I was up at 9 a.m., awaking to another beautiful day (not quite as nice as yesterday, but I'm not picky). I had a leftover sandwich from yesterday for breakfast (I'm hoping that the cream cheese didn't go bad during the 6 hours it was in my bag before I put it back in the refrigerator) as well as some yogurt with granola. Yum, yum, yum.
I've eased into the day, and at 11 a.m., am still in my pajamas (although the bed is made, dishes are done, and this lovely journal entry is almost complete). I'm not sure what I'll do for the rest of the day—I'd like to do some more reading before classes start tomorrow. On the other hand, I feel like I should be outside enjoying the warm weather (my definition of "warm" has definitely shifted in the last two weeks) while it lasts. If I can get my act together, I might go downtown and sit and read in the park. Or I might curl up in bed and try to get some reading in before an afternoon nap. I'm not sore from the kayaking (like I thought I would be), but I'm definitely still physically tired. No marathons for me today!
Posted by madchen at 11:08 PM | Comments (0)September 03, 2004
Wow, a Live Update
For once, I'm actually writing a journal entry for immediate upload into my journal. Unfortunately, I'm only have a couple minutes, since I'm on lunch break during my classes. Today our lectures began, and Karl-Hendrik Robert (the creator of The Natural Step Framework) is as delightful as everyone promised. The Crown Princess has sat quietly and taken good notes, while her security detail has menacingly surveyed the crowd. Not much else to report--although I'm surprised to see how non-sustainable the classroom setting is. Every student has received paper handouts of the PowerPoint presentation, and the computer and lights are left on during the breaks. Tsk, tsk.
I'm happy to report that the stalker situation has been resolved--at least for now. Just after finishing last night's entry, I got a call from Adam. He was effusive in his concern over my unreturned phone calls and text messages. He just "happened" to be at the bus stop right in front of my apartment, and wanted me to come down and chat. I was polite but firm. I thanked him for his concern, but explained that his frequent attempts to contact me made me uncomfortable. I asked that he not call me anymore, but that he allow me to contact him if I needed any help. He was quite huffy by the end of the conversation, but I didn't relent. So far, so good.
I'd also like to compliment the designers of the Student Pub. I was expecting something very academic, but it's a lovely place. One end of the building is a large dance floor, with student DCs spinning atrocious American hip hop. On the other end is a section full of couches, a pool table, and mini-Arcade. And, of course, the bar. I had a lovely time.
OK, I need to be getting back to class. This weekend is supposed to be beautiful (today is perfect--I am sorely tempted to skip classes), so I want to get everything done this afternoon so I can spend tomorrow hiking around the islands. And perhaps a canoe ride on Sunday...
I probably won't make it into campus this weekend, so the next update will most likely be Monday.
Posted by madchen at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)September 02, 2004
Process Overload
Well, as many of you might have guessed, I didn't get up at 7 a.m. as planned. Instead, I slept in until 9 a.m. and I don't feel a bit guilty about it. Class started at 10:30. and the majority of our time was spent reviewing the process of preparing the report. (I can't tell you how many times the word "process" has been used over the past week—it's mind boggling.)
We also discussed protocol for meeting the Swedish Crown Princess when she comes to visit us tomorrow. Honestly, you would think we were 4th graders getting to meet the President. Do you think we need to be told to be respectful? Or not to jump up from our seats and run full-force towards her (lest her security detail "forcefully restrain" us)? There was also a kind reminder not to come to class hung-over—duh!
Class broke at noon, and we all had a brown-bag lunch in our common room. Kristoffer, one of the Swedish guys in our program, shared with us an amazing presentation on the environmental and social standards in Sweden—and showed us pictures of "fair trade" and "organic" seals we might see on consumer products and food. We also learned a little bit about recycling in Sweden, something that's been on my mind since the cardboard pile has grown in enormous proportion in the 10 days. It's now threatening to take over the living room, and is a definite deterrent to any potential 3rd roommate.
In class news, Person "A" has been unexpectedly called back to the United States and will be leaving our program after Friday's class. So I will unfortunately have no more exciting reports on his antics.
I needed a little "alone" time after our lunch, so I came home (after visiting the library to check email and update my journal—discovering in the process that some emails from yesterday might have gotten bounced back because I was over my hotmail limit) for the afternoon. We received our coursebook and class schedule today, so I spent some time perusing that and reading a couple articles in preparation for tomorrow's lecture. Seems interesting, if redundant.
And then I spent some time trying to figure out what I want to do when this year is over. We've spend some time in class talking about "visioning"—that is, actively imagining the way you want things to be. I realized I don't really ever consciously take time out to think about the future—it just sort of comes to me. So I spent a few minutes trying to "see" my life in a year. You can imagine, of course, what happened next. I fell asleep.
I had this bizarre dream (clearly related to my thoughts prior to napping), where I lived in a giant bubble-house (made up of parachute material so it was very billowy) with some of the other SLS students. This was no ordinary house, but a whole series of connected bubble-rooms, one of which housed the bubble-royalty. Anyway, the dream was very random, but once again featured my secret love interest (this time, in a very platonic way—sigh).
Thankfully (for my sleeping schedule), the nap was only about an hour long. I woke back up to find a beautiful afternoon had emerged from a cloudy day. I opened up both of my windows to full capacity and propped myself up at the desk with my feet hanging outside. In this manner, I continued reading my coursebook until a knock on my door signaled that my new bed finally arrived!
I've now put together the new bed, given the old cot back to the Student Services people, and tested it out—very nice.
Currently, it's just after 8 p.m. and I'm going to stop typing and get ready for a fun evening of dancing at the Student Pub (on campus). I haven't been yet—I hear it's mostly 18-year old Swedish boys getting drunk, but the International Students make up their own little corner. So we'll see.
And now, a brief list of things I wish I brought with me:
* One of my belts.
* My messenger bag (a little dressier than my backpack).
* Bok choi (at least I wish I could buy it here, I've had a craving for days).
* A desk lamp.
* Some pictures for the walls.
* My curling iron.
* Band-Aids (I sliced my finger open this morning—on the dull side of the knife—while making lunch).
Yes, I could buy all these things, but I have them sitting in my parents' attic right now, collecting dusk. (Except for the desk lamp—I can't remember who took it.) Sigh.
Posted by madchen at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)September 01, 2004
Project Complete
Let me see, where should I start? Today I was up at 7 a.m. and out the door by 8 a.m. We had class in our usual classroom on the main campus, and once again our work centered around small group work. But since we were tasked with completing a report by 4 p.m., there was a least a sense of purpose in our actions. Being the proactive person that I am, I volunteered to be on the "editorial staff" designated to compile all the small group reports and generate the final version. Of course, this meant I stayed on campus all afternoon, and fought with the group of people who came to hash out the editing process. It was mentally and emotionally draining to deal with so many passionate people (especially those who couldn't seem to stick to the deadlines!). In the end, we managed to send in the final report at 4:06 p.m., and I think everyone was satisfied with the document.
I didn't get back to the apartment until 4:30 p.m, which gave me only a few minutes to relax, dry off (more rain today), and check my phone messages (more on that debacle later) before turning around and going back out again. Roya and I walked a couple blocks over to meet our neighbors for dinner. They were hosting a Kungsmarksvägen dinner for all the SLS students in the complex. We walked down to the Willy:s together and bought food for a vegetable stir fry. (I also managed to pick up some additional groceries for myself—the refrigerator was a barren wasteland.) Upon our return, there was fish chowder and salad waiting for us. The 10 of us happily ate the first courses while a couple of the other girls chopped, steamed, and stir-fried a wide-ranging combination of vegetables (mushrooms, eggplant, bell peppers, leek, etc.) Tomomi even made a Japanese sauce with soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. It was delicious. In fact, the whole dinner was great, as I got to talk with some people I hadn't really met before. We decided that we should make the dinner party a weekly event.
After chatting for a couple hours, Roya and I came back to the apartment, where I now sit typing this entry. I'm exhausted, and disappointed to see that there are no new beds waiting for us. Apparently, the date of arrival has been pushed back to Thursday, Friday, or possibly Monday. On a related note, complaints about the overall lack of support for international students have now reached the vice chancellor (the top guy) at the university. I certainly hope he can step in and make things happen—there are still people sleeping on the floor after more than a week of being here. While I try to be sympathetic about how difficult it must be to accommodate double the number of lack year's international students, BTH should really only accept as many students as they can reasonably accommodate. Should things not improve dramatically this week, I may be adding my voice to the clamor at the vice chancellor's office. So there!
And now, onto a little topic I like to call "Jennifer's Stalker".
Oh yes, what I initially thought was a friendly exchange between me and an Iraqi man has rapidly turned into gratuitous unwanted attention. In the last few days, I have received over a dozen calls (finally, my habit of leaving my mobile phone at home pays off!) and half a dozen text messages from Adam, a man I described in a previous post.
Initially I was invited out for dinner (alarm bells went off since it seemed there were romantic intonations—but nothing obvious enough to confront head-on). I thought I would give it a chance, since there was a possibility that this guy was just being friendly and I really would enjoy hearing an Iraqi's point of view on the world situation. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it on Tuesday night, so we agreed that he would call me later in the week to find another time. Then my phone ran out of pre-paid minutes, so I couldn't make any outgoing calls or text messages (although I can continue to receive them).
Since then, I have consistently (although unintentionally) missed Adam's calls, and have been unable to call him back or reply to his text messages. And the text messages have gotten increasingly desperate. They range from "I want to see you as soon as possible" to "I am worried about you" to "I am really worried about you, please text me as soon as possible." Sigh. It's only been two days, and we've only met once—it's not like I'm a close friend who has disappeared off the face of the earth.
Long story short, I am going to buy another pre-paid phone card tomorrow, at which point I will text him back and kindly explain that he has made me uncomfortable and I would rather not meet him at any point in the future. It will be a delicate operation, but I've had enough. It's just creepy.
While I'm sure he is harmless, I've been thinking about how easy stalking a person could be in Karlskrona—especially in Kungsmarksvägen when your key works for all the entryways of your building, and my name and apartment number are plastered in my entryway. Additionally, since I have no curtains, it would be super-easy to look in on me (even now as I sit right by the window at the desk). And we have a rather large mail slot with a swinging hinge, so it's possible to see into our apartments even if it's locked. (All of this information will be useful when I decide to start a little stalking of me own!)
Funnily enough, I got this email from my friend in Oslo today, in response to my previous post about Adam:
Watch out for the handsome Middle Eastern men. Just be smart about it. There are many who came to Norway and Sweden as refugees/asylees and would much rather be in an English-speaking country where the spirit of capitalism is still quite alive and kicking, i.e., the U.S., and don't mind getting married to do it...
Oh, how prophetic those words appear to be!
*Note to Mom and Dad: please don't freak out—I'm exaggerating this story for dramatic effect.
**Note to Other Readers: I'm not exaggerating, it's totally weird.
Ok, enough about that. I'm exhausted and so happy that my classes don't start until 10:15 a.m. tomorrow. If it stops raining, my goal is to get up at 7 a.m. (to keep a good schedule, you know), have a leisurely morning, and go downtown to pay my rent and complain about the apartment—all before heading to class. Or, I might just get up at 8 a.m. That's still reasonable, right? What about 9 a.m.?
Posted by madchen at 11:11 PM | Comments (0)
