I have absolutely nothing against the Slovenian language, and I absolutely love the country, and pretty much every single Slovenian person that I've met has been very nice and friendly. But I cannot stand having to listen to it anymore. After a while it really does get on your nerves when two or three men are standing in your room, speaking loudly in Slovene and you have little to no chance of ever finding out what they are talking about. It makes it hard to focus on what you're doing, and if I have nothing to do it makes it hard to just go on facebook, because I don't want them to see that.
And I'm sick of everything on my computer being in Slovene, and of all the documents that come my way being in Slovene, which leads me to never know what it's regarding, thus I never know who to give it to. And today I was trying to access my hotmail, but all of a sudden it had turned into Slovene and some message came up that I couldn't understand and couldn't get rid of either. After som random clicking around I finally managed to change it back into Swedish, but it really shouldn't have to be so damn hard.
And every time they call from the ministry in Slovenia, I pick up the phone and say Slovenian Embassy. And yet they release this flood of words in Slovene that can't be stopped, and despite my efforts to interupt them and ask if they speak English, they just keep going. When they've finally finished talking, I ask them if they speak English, they sound slightly annoyed and repeat what they just said, but in English. And they never enunciate very well, I always have the hardest time picking up their names, which causes me a great deal of distress at the office when people get mad at me for not being able to say exactly who's calling them.
Another person who definitely didn't enunciate was the woman who called a little while ago. She sounded Finnish, but I'm pretty sure that she was using Swedish words. She talked for about 3 minutes and I didn't understand a thing. I did hear something about opening hours, and the word embassy, so I think she might be coming over. I do wonder how I'll manage to fend her off. Hopefully she understands Swedish better than she speaks it.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Broadening my horizons
R&B normally isn’t my cup of tea, but I’m really feeling Jenny Wilson’s latest single, The Wooden Chair, and I’m contemplating downloading the album from which it was taken, Hardships, from iTunes when I get home from work. And just before I left this morning I downloaded Duffy (it was on discount) so that means I’ll have some good tunes to listen to while I clean my kitchen and start preparing the salmon I’m going to cook tonight. Good music and good wine are essential when Malin cooks, or she just doesn’t cook at all.
Money in the bank!
I never thought this day would come. Never have I been so short of money as this past month. Too many quarterly bills, a French course to pay for and a Bruce Springsteen ticket that in itself made it worth living almost below the poverty line.
But now my bank account yet again holds some money. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that, as always, they won’t be there for long. Despite my efforts to live cheaply, it somehow never works out. No matter what you do, it costs money. I’m going to have to start making budgets for each months – and stick to it.
Either way, today I’m with money and two of my favorites are coming over for dinner and copious amounts of wine tonight. I cannot wait to get out of this godforsaken office and pour myself a nice, large glass of Periquita!
But now my bank account yet again holds some money. Unfortunately, I’m pretty sure that, as always, they won’t be there for long. Despite my efforts to live cheaply, it somehow never works out. No matter what you do, it costs money. I’m going to have to start making budgets for each months – and stick to it.
Either way, today I’m with money and two of my favorites are coming over for dinner and copious amounts of wine tonight. I cannot wait to get out of this godforsaken office and pour myself a nice, large glass of Periquita!
Change of heart...
The papers this morning were filled to the brim with the royal engagement. And after reading and hearing about it all night yesterday and all day today, I’m beginning to realize just how huge this is. Not just in Sweden, but for Sweden abroad, it will certainly put Sweden on the map, if only for a short period of time. And I am happy for the two; it can’t have been easy for her to be with a man of the people, against the wishes of her family, and for him to suddenly find himself in the spotlight, with all eyes on him, watching his every move.
It annoys me slightly when there are talks about the succession order and how now that he’s not actually a Bernadotte, the family won’t live on through them, and instead her younger brother’s children will be the real Bernadottes. So just because she’s a woman she can’t carry on the family name? Thank goodness our prime minister repudiated such statements and said that when the succession order was changed, it was changed to make our society more equal and that this should not be any kind of problem today. Hear, hear!
And although I’m still pretty indifferent towards the monarchy’s being or not being, I’m still very much looking forward to seeing all the lavish dresses at the wedding!
It annoys me slightly when there are talks about the succession order and how now that he’s not actually a Bernadotte, the family won’t live on through them, and instead her younger brother’s children will be the real Bernadottes. So just because she’s a woman she can’t carry on the family name? Thank goodness our prime minister repudiated such statements and said that when the succession order was changed, it was changed to make our society more equal and that this should not be any kind of problem today. Hear, hear!
And although I’m still pretty indifferent towards the monarchy’s being or not being, I’m still very much looking forward to seeing all the lavish dresses at the wedding!
No thank you!
Well, as could be expected, here’s now my first post about Hanson. Come on, we all know I wouldn’t be able to go too long without one. But, surprise, surprise, it’s not a very positive one. I still like their music, I do, and obviously their newer stuff more than their old teeny-bopper pop. Their latest album, which is now two years old, is still played pretty frequently on my iTunes.
But now Taylor apparently has some sort of side project with some other guys, one from Smashing Pumpkins and the others from god knows where. They call themselves Tinted Windows. When I first heard about it, I thought that it might be kind of cool, different sound, different people and just altogether fresh. I do find it difficult to understand how his wife and four kids can be ok with it, though. At least I wouldn’t be too happy if I had a husband who was away from home most of the time, either on tour or in the studio, and then when he finally has some time off he goes and joins another band, instead of spending it with his family.
But that’s beside the point. The point is that the music sucks. Big toe. The lyrics are lame and I hate to say it but it kind of sounds like the Jonas Brothers. Or worse. It’s definitely very different from the Hanson music that I’m used to listening to, and I don’t think it’s a far off guess to say that what Smashing Pumpkins used to sound like was nothing like this.
Oh well, to each their own. As long as I’m not forced to listen to it.
But now Taylor apparently has some sort of side project with some other guys, one from Smashing Pumpkins and the others from god knows where. They call themselves Tinted Windows. When I first heard about it, I thought that it might be kind of cool, different sound, different people and just altogether fresh. I do find it difficult to understand how his wife and four kids can be ok with it, though. At least I wouldn’t be too happy if I had a husband who was away from home most of the time, either on tour or in the studio, and then when he finally has some time off he goes and joins another band, instead of spending it with his family.
But that’s beside the point. The point is that the music sucks. Big toe. The lyrics are lame and I hate to say it but it kind of sounds like the Jonas Brothers. Or worse. It’s definitely very different from the Hanson music that I’m used to listening to, and I don’t think it’s a far off guess to say that what Smashing Pumpkins used to sound like was nothing like this.
Oh well, to each their own. As long as I’m not forced to listen to it.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A nation of sluggards
Saab isn't doing so well, as we all know, and the government isn't going to take over, thank heavens. I don't feel like paying for a company that has been making losses for 20 years. I understand that a lot of people will be affected and that as many as 15 000 people might lose their jobs, and now they're all expecting the government to solve all their problems.
And my question is this. Why is it only people working at big companies who demand and receive all this help? What about people who get laid off a small agency that nobody has ever really heard about? Or what if like me and many of my friends, you return to Sweden after some time abroad, and you look for a job for almost six months before you find one? Why don't we receive any help?
And why do people always ask what the government can do for them, but not what they can do for themselves? Why are Swedish people so helpless? Yesterday I read about a couple who both worked at Saab and they had both been doing so for years and years. They had two teenage children, and now that they were probably going to lose their jobs they said that they obviously can't move because their kids have all their friends where they live now.
Excuse me? How is it ok to cut your income almost in half and live off of tax payers money because you don't want to take your children away from their friends? If you can get a job somewhere else, something that pays at least somewhere close to what you made before, how can you even hesitate? Of course you move. And how to do you expect to get a new job in a town where one of Sweden's biggest companies just went bust?
I do understand that older people who've worked at the same company all their lives need more help than younger people. But when a 20-year-old on TV is asking what the government can do for her now that she's lost her job at Volvo, I just want to punch her face and tell her to think for herself for a change. Go to university, move abroad, move to a different city in Sweden if abroad is too scary. But for the love of god don't just stand there like some pathetic loser, completely unable to manage your own life.
And my question is this. Why is it only people working at big companies who demand and receive all this help? What about people who get laid off a small agency that nobody has ever really heard about? Or what if like me and many of my friends, you return to Sweden after some time abroad, and you look for a job for almost six months before you find one? Why don't we receive any help?
And why do people always ask what the government can do for them, but not what they can do for themselves? Why are Swedish people so helpless? Yesterday I read about a couple who both worked at Saab and they had both been doing so for years and years. They had two teenage children, and now that they were probably going to lose their jobs they said that they obviously can't move because their kids have all their friends where they live now.
Excuse me? How is it ok to cut your income almost in half and live off of tax payers money because you don't want to take your children away from their friends? If you can get a job somewhere else, something that pays at least somewhere close to what you made before, how can you even hesitate? Of course you move. And how to do you expect to get a new job in a town where one of Sweden's biggest companies just went bust?
I do understand that older people who've worked at the same company all their lives need more help than younger people. But when a 20-year-old on TV is asking what the government can do for her now that she's lost her job at Volvo, I just want to punch her face and tell her to think for herself for a change. Go to university, move abroad, move to a different city in Sweden if abroad is too scary. But for the love of god don't just stand there like some pathetic loser, completely unable to manage your own life.
Princess marriage?
Apparently Crown Princess Victoria just got engaged to her long-term boyfriend and now it's the major news of the day. And apparently nine million people are now very excited and have great expectations on the couple and their ability to reproduce. I believe that we expect them to have 3-4 children.
First of all, the woman is almost 32, I do not expect her to have 4 children! Second of all. I don't care. At all. I mean good for her if she's happy, but it's certainly not something that just made my day.
It's not that I'm against the monarchy, I'm just very indifferent towards it. Their being or not being is totally irrelevant to me. And I'll probably watch the ceremony, because it's bound to be beautiful. But I don't appreciate being told what kind of expectations I have on a couple that I've never met, nor will ever meet, before I've even had my morning coffee!
First of all, the woman is almost 32, I do not expect her to have 4 children! Second of all. I don't care. At all. I mean good for her if she's happy, but it's certainly not something that just made my day.
It's not that I'm against the monarchy, I'm just very indifferent towards it. Their being or not being is totally irrelevant to me. And I'll probably watch the ceremony, because it's bound to be beautiful. But I don't appreciate being told what kind of expectations I have on a couple that I've never met, nor will ever meet, before I've even had my morning coffee!
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