Wild night in Sweden

Running the risk of sounding unoriginal, I know.

What do you get after mixing Estonian cranberry vodka, Fanta, red wine, orange juice, and Martini within 1 hour Correct - killing headache and a funny belly the day after. For some things in life, there have to be "first times".

Apparently, I fell off the bike pretty bad last night, cause the entire left side and knees are a romantic shade of blue. No kneeling / sitting for a while then. Did you know that one's language skills drastically improve with extra intake of toxic liquids? My German and Swedish were perfectly fluent just 20 hours ago. Evidently, there has been a lot of singing in German, too - Schiller's An die Freude to Beethoven's Symphony 9, for goodness's sake. No boasting, bare facts.

Memory gaps? Yes. Is coming back though. The entire evening as a swoosh of grotesque events.

And sherds of tableware lying around as speechless reminders of yesterday's joy...

Never again.

(In)efficiency is the name of the game...

This will be a short post about Swedes' pace of working.

One can hardly imagine how inefficient the friendly vikings are. A crowd of people can surround one pitiable, defenceless computer for hours and produce one or two pages of illiterate English... per day. The very worst thing is arguing over commas when the content is still in progress... Moreover, teamwork is an absolute 'must', so dropping out is not even impolite - it is not an option whatsoever. Of course, exchange students have more room of being 'eccentric'...

Talking during teamwork is common, of course, especially about topics as distant from the actual work as the north is from the south. Taking half an hour off during the meeting to scribble a few e-mails is common as well. Why hurry? And then moaning that 'vi har sittat och pluggat på skolan hela dagen' - 'we have been sitting at school the whole day, STUDYING...'(!)

But everyone is really vänliga och lätta att be om hjälp... A cultural thing?

Denmark

Numerous and mixed impressions.

Arriving in København late at night, being picked up by an old friend of a friend, straight into a pub where 'a friend is singing jazz'. The "friend" is pushing 55 years old, obese, sings like Janis Joplin, not bad. Noise and fun. Sleep in a wooden flat permeated with the charming smell of smoke. Island Amager. Camping bed. Very tired.

Up early, breakfast in the best traditions of Denmark. Eggs, raisin rolls, Danish rye bread with grains, coffee. Off to town. Vor Frelsers church, up the spire, view all over København, amazing. Wind tearing me off the handlebars. Christiania, hashish in the streets, crazy youth, open fire, 'Say No To Hard Drugs'. At the exit: 'Welcome To The EU'. Johannes says police arranges raides regularly but weed dealers return.

Across the bridge from Amager, walking to Amalienborg, changing of the guards, queen Margrethe at home. Den lille Havfrue, head still on. Anglican church St. Albans. Wind entangles the hair hopelessly. Boat back to town, falling asleep, out in the freezing wind, bye to Johannes. Walk around for hours: Botanic Gardens, Rosenborg park, around bridges, around shops, Nytorv, endless streets. Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen - the official slogan of town promoters. Tired, walk back to Amager. Hot chocolate, Mozart, camping bed. Lights out.

On the feet again, fresh bakery bread, sour milk with 'Ymer Drys', yum yum. Bus to Valby station, walk in Søndermarken, along the Roskildevej, fresh orange juice in a cute little pub. Church tour, old chapels, Dome church where Kronprins Frederik got married. Hot pølser on the City Hall square, wind rages. Endless walks again, off to Kastillet, don't want to leave this city! Home again, little dinner in a small place in northern København. Sleep, sleep, sleep...

Bus to Aalborg, unexpected ferry crossing to shorten the route, Odden to Ebeltoft, wonderful sea, rain with snow, northern Jylland, Aalborg, good old Erik, greetings! Look around the city, lunch in a Turkish restaurant, small pensioner pad full of antique items. Pub tour, numerous Baileys on the rocks, Irish whiskey coffee, hot chocolate, Scottish ales, dizziness, music, dancing youth, screaming, 4 a.m., time for bed! More planned for tomorrow!

Alarm clock ruining the quiet morning, quick coffee, breakfast on the train, Frederikshavn, Skagen, 3 km walk to Grenen, Skagerrak meets Kattegat, waves clashing, seagulls soaring over the deafened fish, greenish Baltic sea, salty wind, lighthouses, ocean vessels in the distance, blue skies, brilliant sun, pebbles mixed with sand, the northernmost point of Denmark! Frozen, coffee in Skagen, train back to Aalborg, sleepy, last night seems like a dream. Hot bath, red wine, French baguettes with garlic, baked snails, music, holiday.

I am leaving tomorrow, back to the stale sounds of Kalmar!...

The ferry will be there, København at last glance, the train to Sweden...

I will miss Denmark.

I will be back.