Its almost two years past since I first came to Sweden. A time to conclude my masters program with the handing in of the final project work on dietary fibre in wheat and rye bran.
A week ago, I handed in my first draft of the report to my supervisor. The result came back with a feeling experienced a long time ago- perambulation. Its just the first draft with the intro and methodology checked for errors, but the feeling is great now that I am that much closer to finalising the remainder of the report, namely, the results and discussion. However, I still have 15 HEC to conquer before I total it to 120 for graduation. At the minute, like many, I am looking out for avenues in research and others to pursue a career. Not having learnt the language is a small regret that seems to be growing steadily with time. But, applications are being sent in hope that something will click.
This means that there is going to be more blogs to come under this name.
August 23, 2012
August 12, 2012
Very alien analogy
A good friend of mine moved into a new apartment recently. There was a house warming party organised in this celebration. Needless to say, with the last few days of sympathetic weather, good enough to stay outdoors for a bbq, I cycled my way to the place. It was mainly Swedes who were there and a very cheerful and loquacious Venezuelan.
I am trying to improve my Swedish speaking/learning skills these days. All of them spoke fluent Svensk. That didnt make me feel out of place at all as I told them to not bother with my lack of language. I am trying to grasp words and make sense out of the context, after all, most of our communication is body language. The most interesting was this conversation that followed in english. One of the attendees asked me if I believed in aliens. I do. We started talking about the dimension they were in- "fourth dimension". I told them that there have been sightings of them in 3D, thanks to the documentaries that I have been watching. I went on to show them some videos of UFOs on a smart phone.
UFOs in the video run on a technology that enables them to travel at the speed much greater than anything we know, yet. Then, one asked me why dont they make contact with us. SETI has been trying to contact aliens for ages, now. To that I came up with an analogy that most agreed and happily agreed. I told them that the aliens were like Swedes. Not in physical form- blue eyed blondes, but with their temperament. They just want to give us our own space, or, dont want to invade our space. This is not in the sense that they wont invade our air space, which the UFOs do, but our day to day livelihood. They d prefer to stand at a safe distance and observe. Have a look at the picture below.
This picture will give you an idea of how non invasive the Swedes are, by default. The other reason why they dont land could be because of Chuck Norris, one added. Could be.
Swedes are a bit distant, not by choice, its their nature. They most of them are blessed with a great sense of humour as that joke went down well and no one thought I was crossing the line with that analogy.
The bbq went great, the weather was a bit damp but everyone had a great Satuday evening.
I am trying to improve my Swedish speaking/learning skills these days. All of them spoke fluent Svensk. That didnt make me feel out of place at all as I told them to not bother with my lack of language. I am trying to grasp words and make sense out of the context, after all, most of our communication is body language. The most interesting was this conversation that followed in english. One of the attendees asked me if I believed in aliens. I do. We started talking about the dimension they were in- "fourth dimension". I told them that there have been sightings of them in 3D, thanks to the documentaries that I have been watching. I went on to show them some videos of UFOs on a smart phone.
UFOs in the video run on a technology that enables them to travel at the speed much greater than anything we know, yet. Then, one asked me why dont they make contact with us. SETI has been trying to contact aliens for ages, now. To that I came up with an analogy that most agreed and happily agreed. I told them that the aliens were like Swedes. Not in physical form- blue eyed blondes, but with their temperament. They just want to give us our own space, or, dont want to invade our space. This is not in the sense that they wont invade our air space, which the UFOs do, but our day to day livelihood. They d prefer to stand at a safe distance and observe. Have a look at the picture below.
This picture will give you an idea of how non invasive the Swedes are, by default. The other reason why they dont land could be because of Chuck Norris, one added. Could be.
Swedes are a bit distant, not by choice, its their nature. They most of them are blessed with a great sense of humour as that joke went down well and no one thought I was crossing the line with that analogy.
The bbq went great, the weather was a bit damp but everyone had a great Satuday evening.
August 07, 2012
When The Dark Knight came to Uppsala
Sweden is anything but a commercial nation- not just because its a political system with socialistic fundamentals, if not the conventional socialist, I was just this once very upset with Sweden. The release date of the years most awaited movie- The Dark Knight rises.
There are so many reasons to be a fan of the Batman character, not just because its the largest selling superhero movie franchise yet, because of Chris Nolans puzzling prowess. All over the globe, the release date was set to be on the 20th of July, but as laid back as the general populus is, I'd expect there would be some commotion- IMAX release. The closest IMAX to Uppsala is located at the National museum of Sweden, Stockholm. The movie now holds a record for the highest ticket bookings done, beating James Cameron's blockbuster ,Avatar. Also, the record for the highest fetching 2D movie in its opening weekend. The tickets were released for sale on the first of July at 0000hrs. A great deal of my friends managed to book a couple of tickets for the 0615hr show on the 20th, at the IMAX in London. Me, I was keeping my eyes out for ticket release at IMAX, but heres what I saw-
The release date in Sweden was 25th of July! Icing on the cake was when I found out that the IMAX in Stockhom didn't cater to playing commercial movies. For some insane reason, the Royal cinema in town were playing the movie at 2000hrs on the eve of the 24th. My friend managed to book two tickets for ourselves in a jiff.
On the 24th, we reached the theatre an hour in advance because one of us couldnt keep it in his pants anymore- obesession with the character. After the movie, this was one of our Facebook status update- "Infernal Eulogy of the Dark Knight- Knowing that its foolish to expect the similar feelings from its predecessor from 2008, a bunch of friends and I went to the cinemas. The networking of the characters and their trivia was exhilerating. The ride that the movie took me, as a Batman fanatic is par my vocabulary. I had to hold back a bladder full of pee (thanks to the Coke) till it was almost a ball
There are so many reasons to be a fan of the Batman character, not just because its the largest selling superhero movie franchise yet, because of Chris Nolans puzzling prowess. All over the globe, the release date was set to be on the 20th of July, but as laid back as the general populus is, I'd expect there would be some commotion- IMAX release. The closest IMAX to Uppsala is located at the National museum of Sweden, Stockholm. The movie now holds a record for the highest ticket bookings done, beating James Cameron's blockbuster ,Avatar. Also, the record for the highest fetching 2D movie in its opening weekend. The tickets were released for sale on the first of July at 0000hrs. A great deal of my friends managed to book a couple of tickets for the 0615hr show on the 20th, at the IMAX in London. Me, I was keeping my eyes out for ticket release at IMAX, but heres what I saw-
The release date in Sweden was 25th of July! Icing on the cake was when I found out that the IMAX in Stockhom didn't cater to playing commercial movies. For some insane reason, the Royal cinema in town were playing the movie at 2000hrs on the eve of the 24th. My friend managed to book two tickets for ourselves in a jiff.
On the 24th, we reached the theatre an hour in advance because one of us couldnt keep it in his pants anymore- obesession with the character. After the movie, this was one of our Facebook status update- "Infernal Eulogy of the Dark Knight- Knowing that its foolish to expect the similar feelings from its predecessor from 2008, a bunch of friends and I went to the cinemas. The networking of the characters and their trivia was exhilerating. The ride that the movie took me, as a Batman fanatic is par my vocabulary. I had to hold back a bladder full of pee (thanks to the Coke) till it was almost a ball
on that burst. Then, the ending. I thought I had predicted it, but, Nolan's puzzling prowess is something that I now bow down to. Watch out for the line, "... then you have my permission to die". I wept, my throat chuckled for breath at times and by the time we walked from the cinema, I was left shaken in my knees.
Only regret- I didn't obsess enough about this movie.
Will I watch it again? FCUK YEAH!"
Only regret- I didn't obsess enough about this movie.
Will I watch it again? FCUK YEAH!"
This was the only time when I felt a considerable amount of anger with how "non-mainstream" Sweden is. But, the movie changed the mood. Despite the tickets being pricy, I am thinking of watching it again sometime soon.
P.S- Same was the situation with IMAX's all over Scandinavia. It truly is different from the rest of the world!
August 06, 2012
Flora and fauna
As painfully cold winters get in Uppsala, summer brings out the best. The white, grey and frosty view changes to something most colourful and vibrant. This summer was filled with visitors- friends travelling Europe who had stopped over for a few days, my brother from Goteborg who was taking a break from the windy weather and others.
Day 2 of him coming here was a day with sun romancing the clouds. A perfect day to show him the real Uppsala summer, as the last time he was here was during the wicked wicked Valborg (blogged about). The same venue seems that much more inviting now. The landmark was the Botanical garden. Here we go-
Nosey Parker here.
Sugar beet. Unfortunately, the tropical greenhouse was closed. Would have been interesting for all those insectovorous plants. Also, a reminder of my native climate.
Colourful Pansies
Upon careful posing, a result of a very professional portrait !
The entrance of the Evolution museum. We were 20 minutes past its closing time, then. :(
A very beautiful house.
Tangerines!
A large pot outside of the cathedral with busy bee.
Tall tall Cathedral
Heja Sverige!
Day 2 of him coming here was a day with sun romancing the clouds. A perfect day to show him the real Uppsala summer, as the last time he was here was during the wicked wicked Valborg (blogged about). The same venue seems that much more inviting now. The landmark was the Botanical garden. Here we go-
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