A month on...

Stockholm has been my new home for almost a month now. Somehow it feels like I've been here much longer than that but when I look at what I've managed to get done I quickly change my mind. I still have not got my hands on a Swedish social security number for instance, but through Vägverket I was informed that I now have something called samordningsnummer. I'm not quite sure how this'll help me much but at least companies providing basic services will speak to me now.

A Swedish "Schwedin"
Bilprovningen made sure that Swedish registration plates have been reserved for my Volvo. Now let's see how long it takes before I actually get to put them on my car.

The Swedes
After having ridiculed the "Södermalmuniform" in my previous update, it's only fair to add that the Swedes are indeed very friendly, friendlier than in most places I've been. Shopkeepers and barmen alike think it's great that I've decided to live in Sweden and some of then even said the word "välkommen". This contrasts sharply with the anecdote below, dog rage. There's apparently more to the Swedes than meets the eye.

Stockholm/Farsta
People have asked me what Farsta Strand is like (I'll post a picture of the building I live in very soon). Whether there are plenty of knife-wielding Albanians running around in all-white tracksuits making other peoples' lives miserable, but I can't say that I've seen too many of them. I assume that watching what kind of folks use the green metro line between Farsta and Alvik is a good indication, but there seems to be a bit of everything; ordinary Swedes with practical Fjellräven rucksacks, bald men with dogs and tattoos, elderly ladies with mobile telephones, young girls with white trousers, some Spanish-speakers as well as a few 2nd generation immigrants. Therefore, I was forced to ask a work colleague who wasn't quite sure either, but assured me that the rough neighbourhoods are situated west of the city centre, not south.

Dog rage
As I was leaving my local supermarket this afternoon, a woman with a young child was upset because one of the other customers had simply left his dog outside. Swedish law demands that dogs are kept on a lead at all times in public spaces except specially equipped dog parks (cute, isn't it?). The woman refused to leave the store with the dog probably waiting to rip her jugular the minute she set foot outside so the owner had to be informed over the supermarket speaker system. This could - and should - have been the end of that, but it wasn't. The woman got quite hysterical and informed the dog owner in a less than nice tone what he could and could not do. Outside things even got almost ugly when a middle-aged man apparently just passing by decided to join in, verbal abuse filling the otherwise calm Farsta Strand air.

Swedish girls
I can't write about Sweden or the Swedes without mentioning the girls. I am glad to announce that all that's said about Swedish girls is true. I'll have to add Sweden to my list of peoples with above-average looks, although in this case it's mainly the women. (Before you ask, the other two countries are the Czech Republic and Argentina). Take McDonald's. What sort of girls do you find working in this fast food chain in, say, England, Germany, Austria or even Norway? Excactly! But visit McDonald's in Jönköping and you'll soon change your mind.

Malmö
Two weeks ago I decided to go back to Malmö to collect the last boxes that were brought up from Austria. This was carefully planned to correspond with my stepsister Karoline's short stay there with her boyfriend. There's really not much fun in driving almost seven hours (one way) to pick up some boxes and then return, and this way I got to spend a few days with them doing absolutely nothing.

Finland
This last weekend I travelled to Finland to celebrate midsommar there. Jenny took me along the little island of Bodö in the Finnish archipelago. A most splendid piece of Finnish nature, very green and very Finnish. At one point we were, I think, 34 people barbecuing and drinking all sorts of more or less cooled drinks. Of course it didn't take very long before it was time to heat up the sauna. I've visited some Finnish saunas before but it was nevertheless fascinating to see someone spanking himself silly on the back, chest and legs with the basturis before returning to his beer.

Work
This part of my time in Stockholm has gone quite well. I still haven't got my own space in the office, nor do I have the luxury of a pc or a telephone but at least I was provided with an e-mail address today. And the rest will come soon, the reason (probably) being that I don't officially start until July 1st.
Not only that, I'm also handling all contact with the Norwegian customers as well as spending a good deal of time with RAM's German sales agent. Not once have I copied anything or fetched coffee. Ah yes, the coffee in the office is extremely bad. I cannot begin to describe that awful, sour taste. Something has to be done about that.

Swedish word of the day: "krockkudde". A very cool word meaning airbag.