Yes, it is about to start. I came to the end of my wonderful month of taxpayer-funded taxi travel to work, had a week holiday (where not a whole lot was accomplished - I did sleep lots - does that count as constructive?), and now am packed and almost all set for tomorrow morning's 4am alarm. Ahhh... just like the good old days at Nuna... very early swim sessions! Although now I will head to the airport instead of the pool and set off for Sofia, Bulgaria. A week watching (and helping!) kids play politicians - I'm sure they'll be scarily good, and then all choose wonderful careers as venture capitalists, leaving the suckers to educate the next generation and the others to play at being real politicians... bloody cynical Social Studies teachers - send them all to the gulags!
This week's encounter with a politician was at the swimming club's welcome home for the members that were in Melbourne for the World Championships: 3 swimmers, 3 divers, 2 coaches, 1 doctor - for a total of 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze (better than Germany!). Anyway, Therese Alshammar was (as usual!) the star attraction but, lo and behold, somebody forgot to tell the local city politician who, after welcoming Therese to the stage, proceeded to talk for 5 minutes about all the wonderful things Stockholm (she) was going to do to help everyone. Meanwhile Therese stood there very politely, smiled and didn't get to say a word! But they had organised an autograph session afterwards... I think the kids went for the star swimmer and not the politician!
For those of you familiar with my avoidance of an iron (still haven't felt the need to buy one in Stockholm!) and also avoidance of having a clean shaven face you'll be happy (?!) to hear that I have packed my (only) suit, shirts, ties and shaving kit, and will be expected to be 'formally' dressed at many of the functions in Bulgaria. Still, if I get into it maybe I'll start looking for a job in the city. They even have an evening where they have organised for the delegations to visit their embassy - which means, as the teacher with the Swedish delegation, that I will be going to "my" Swedish embassy. Will be interesting to see how they react when an Aussie rocks up! "G'day mate! Where's the barbie? Gotta coldie? Long way from home, eh!"
on that note...
rich.
Friday 13 April 2007
Sunday 8 April 2007
Saturday 7 April 2007
Friday night...
Morning... well, it's afternoon really, but surely you are allowed to say morning if you eating breakfast! The last post about understanding Aussies was supposed to be published yesterday (Friday) - but I mucked something up, I'm sure you won't notice!
I'll try to keep this brief, although I've said that before and usually fail dismally. Had a great night last night at Stefano's 30th and thought I'd just mention 2 things that made me laugh. First the way Swedes often have a great ability to see how they act, claim/admit that they fit the stereotype, denounce it as being typically "Swedish" - by which they mean boring, and yet do nothing about it... social norms... wonderful! Last night the conversation ended up centering around typical Swedish behaviour queuing and travelling on public transport. It was brought on by a question to me about what differences I experienced when I first came to Sweden - the person who asked had herself lived and studied in Brisbane for 4 years so she had seen the same contrast in reverse. (She also very kindly apologised later for any embarrassment or uncomfortableness that asking the question might have caused - it hadn't, but a lovely gesture!). In summary - don't talk to any one you don't know. This of course result in people travelling on the same bus/train together for many days, weeks, months, years (more so in the country one would assume) and not talking to each other despite the fact they recognise each other. The reasoning is something like this: "Why have you chosen today to talk to me? Is there something wrong with me? No, I don't think so. Therefore there must be something very wrong with you, in which case I don't want to talk to you... I hope we get there soon so I can escape from this horrible conversation and get back to my solitude." At which time someone else on the bus is no doubt daydreaming about their last trip to Australia, Asia, America, wherever, and how nice it was that everyone chats to you and is very friendly. How you can go to a bar, talk to someone and it doesn't automatically mean you are trying to pick them up or that you are on day-release from the loony bin. Hmmm... on to the second thing that made me laugh...
Some of us continued out after the party to a club, Solidaritet, which in English translates to Solidarity. Not an all together surprising name in a country with such a long tradition of socialist government. Oxford defines it thus,
So nothing strange there. Except that the club is located in the heart of inner-city yuppie town and has its fair share of people who are there to see and, more importantly, be seen. There were also a decent smattering of wankers... more than one example of a guy who walks in with some trendy overcoat on and a stylish scarf wrapped around his neck - not at all unusual given the weather outside - but who then proceeds to walk straight past the cloakroom to the bar where he orders a beer and then continues to walk around a very hot bar/club in his very warm overcoat and scarf. Must be tough being so cool. Then of course I tried to imagine how I fitted in to the surroundings: very short hair (shaved yesterday), short stubble (shaved at same time with clippers, not a big fan of shaving properly!), glasses, black shirt, jeans (baggy enough so that they can go over the knee/leg brace) and black shoes... which class of wanker do I fit into in that club?
Still not quite sure how much irony there is in naming a club after the ideal of union fellowship and then filling it with people whose fellowship is fashion - nor in how many people appreciate it.
That's enough for now, time to go for coffee in the sun - preferably behind a window as it's not supposed to get into double digit figures today!
rich.
I'll try to keep this brief, although I've said that before and usually fail dismally. Had a great night last night at Stefano's 30th and thought I'd just mention 2 things that made me laugh. First the way Swedes often have a great ability to see how they act, claim/admit that they fit the stereotype, denounce it as being typically "Swedish" - by which they mean boring, and yet do nothing about it... social norms... wonderful! Last night the conversation ended up centering around typical Swedish behaviour queuing and travelling on public transport. It was brought on by a question to me about what differences I experienced when I first came to Sweden - the person who asked had herself lived and studied in Brisbane for 4 years so she had seen the same contrast in reverse. (She also very kindly apologised later for any embarrassment or uncomfortableness that asking the question might have caused - it hadn't, but a lovely gesture!). In summary - don't talk to any one you don't know. This of course result in people travelling on the same bus/train together for many days, weeks, months, years (more so in the country one would assume) and not talking to each other despite the fact they recognise each other. The reasoning is something like this: "Why have you chosen today to talk to me? Is there something wrong with me? No, I don't think so. Therefore there must be something very wrong with you, in which case I don't want to talk to you... I hope we get there soon so I can escape from this horrible conversation and get back to my solitude." At which time someone else on the bus is no doubt daydreaming about their last trip to Australia, Asia, America, wherever, and how nice it was that everyone chats to you and is very friendly. How you can go to a bar, talk to someone and it doesn't automatically mean you are trying to pick them up or that you are on day-release from the loony bin. Hmmm... on to the second thing that made me laugh...
Some of us continued out after the party to a club, Solidaritet, which in English translates to Solidarity. Not an all together surprising name in a country with such a long tradition of socialist government. Oxford defines it thus,
solidarity
• noun unity resulting from common interests, feelings, or sympathies.
It is often associated with unions, and was the name used by a Polish organisation of independent trade unions founded in 1980 and outlawed in good communist style in 1982.So nothing strange there. Except that the club is located in the heart of inner-city yuppie town and has its fair share of people who are there to see and, more importantly, be seen. There were also a decent smattering of wankers... more than one example of a guy who walks in with some trendy overcoat on and a stylish scarf wrapped around his neck - not at all unusual given the weather outside - but who then proceeds to walk straight past the cloakroom to the bar where he orders a beer and then continues to walk around a very hot bar/club in his very warm overcoat and scarf. Must be tough being so cool. Then of course I tried to imagine how I fitted in to the surroundings: very short hair (shaved yesterday), short stubble (shaved at same time with clippers, not a big fan of shaving properly!), glasses, black shirt, jeans (baggy enough so that they can go over the knee/leg brace) and black shoes... which class of wanker do I fit into in that club?
Still not quite sure how much irony there is in naming a club after the ideal of union fellowship and then filling it with people whose fellowship is fashion - nor in how many people appreciate it.
That's enough for now, time to go for coffee in the sun - preferably behind a window as it's not supposed to get into double digit figures today!
rich.
understanding aussies...
As part of my effort to spread love and understanding I try to educate the world (one classroom at a time!) about Australia, Aussies and, of course, our wonderful sense of humour. To that end I have inflicted Priscilla, Queen of the Desert on some of my students, and I think The Castle should be next in the line up. There are also any number of www sources to help with this process. I was recently sent this:
Aussie surf lifesavers
which my darling students didn't really get much of! But at least I got to laugh a bit. (If you ever come across wonderful bits like this one please let me know - always good to get a little outside input into my English lessons.) Also on the subject of being an English teacher... thanks to all of you who didn't comment on my spelling and grammatical errors in the last post - very kind of you not to embarrass me in this giant forum!
What a good Friday I've been having... a nice long sleep in (preceded by a very early night as I was completely knackered even though it was a short week), a lazy breakfast, 3 skype calls to friends around the world for a total of 2 hours, lunch... even managed to do the dishes and wash some clothes! And a couple of friends just dropped by with a bookshelf which they no longer need - for the first time that I can remember I have more bookshelf space than books - time to go book shopping! Or I could maybe get some of the ones in Oz... only 18 days to go, but who's counting.
Easter, for teachers, means not just 4 days off work, no, it's a whole week of hols - yay for me!! Looking forward to taking it very easy, sleeping, whiling away hours in cafes and continuing the rehab on my knee. Well, I'm not really looking forward to the last bit... I am looking forward to it being better though. Found out on Wednesday that I need to have the brace on for another 4 weeks (as well as no full squats for 3 months after that!). So all of those in Melbourne will get to see it - but at least I can almost throw away the crutches. The holidays and the travel also means that yesterday was the last taxi ride to school... and also the most enjoyable one for two reason, 1 - the driver was very friendly, turns out he lives in the building opposite mine with his family and his son spent last year in Australia, played rugby in Sydney and has now just made the Swedish Team! 2 - got a call from Alex in Melbourne whilst in the taxi and realised that it won't be all that long before I am there. The funniest moment from this week's taxi rides was the guy who was complaining about drivers not following road rules, especially the lower speed limits in residential areas, whilst doing 70 in a 50 zone. I chose not to point out the hypocrisy of the situation instead employing the "smile and nod" strategy that works in so many situations.
Many of you probably don't know, although won't be surprised to hear, that I am involved in one of the swimming clubs here. I swim a little bit (although not now due to the knee) and also help out coaching the club's elite group 2-3 times a week. I started about a year ago when a friend of mine, Johan, had the group and I could see he could do with some help. He has since moved to Göteborg but I stayed and now help Anne, the coach the club have appointed to replace him. For me it's a way of staying in touch with elite swimming without having to do 10 sessions a week. The club had 6 members on the Swedish team in Melbourne for the World Champs (1 team doctor, 2 coaches - Anne and Walle, 3 swimmers - Therese (gold and silver), Stefan (bronze), Petter (semi-final)). So everyone was pretty happy with that!
It is also to great to have something away from work that I am involved in - it forces me not to stop thinking about work. I have also met a bunch of great people, one of whom is having a 30th birthday party tonight - so I have to get ready for that very soon. Quite possible that tomorrow morning will be a little bit on the slow side...
Aussie it up!
rich.
Aussie surf lifesavers
which my darling students didn't really get much of! But at least I got to laugh a bit. (If you ever come across wonderful bits like this one please let me know - always good to get a little outside input into my English lessons.) Also on the subject of being an English teacher... thanks to all of you who didn't comment on my spelling and grammatical errors in the last post - very kind of you not to embarrass me in this giant forum!
What a good Friday I've been having... a nice long sleep in (preceded by a very early night as I was completely knackered even though it was a short week), a lazy breakfast, 3 skype calls to friends around the world for a total of 2 hours, lunch... even managed to do the dishes and wash some clothes! And a couple of friends just dropped by with a bookshelf which they no longer need - for the first time that I can remember I have more bookshelf space than books - time to go book shopping! Or I could maybe get some of the ones in Oz... only 18 days to go, but who's counting.
Easter, for teachers, means not just 4 days off work, no, it's a whole week of hols - yay for me!! Looking forward to taking it very easy, sleeping, whiling away hours in cafes and continuing the rehab on my knee. Well, I'm not really looking forward to the last bit... I am looking forward to it being better though. Found out on Wednesday that I need to have the brace on for another 4 weeks (as well as no full squats for 3 months after that!). So all of those in Melbourne will get to see it - but at least I can almost throw away the crutches. The holidays and the travel also means that yesterday was the last taxi ride to school... and also the most enjoyable one for two reason, 1 - the driver was very friendly, turns out he lives in the building opposite mine with his family and his son spent last year in Australia, played rugby in Sydney and has now just made the Swedish Team! 2 - got a call from Alex in Melbourne whilst in the taxi and realised that it won't be all that long before I am there. The funniest moment from this week's taxi rides was the guy who was complaining about drivers not following road rules, especially the lower speed limits in residential areas, whilst doing 70 in a 50 zone. I chose not to point out the hypocrisy of the situation instead employing the "smile and nod" strategy that works in so many situations.
Many of you probably don't know, although won't be surprised to hear, that I am involved in one of the swimming clubs here. I swim a little bit (although not now due to the knee) and also help out coaching the club's elite group 2-3 times a week. I started about a year ago when a friend of mine, Johan, had the group and I could see he could do with some help. He has since moved to Göteborg but I stayed and now help Anne, the coach the club have appointed to replace him. For me it's a way of staying in touch with elite swimming without having to do 10 sessions a week. The club had 6 members on the Swedish team in Melbourne for the World Champs (1 team doctor, 2 coaches - Anne and Walle, 3 swimmers - Therese (gold and silver), Stefan (bronze), Petter (semi-final)). So everyone was pretty happy with that!
It is also to great to have something away from work that I am involved in - it forces me not to stop thinking about work. I have also met a bunch of great people, one of whom is having a 30th birthday party tonight - so I have to get ready for that very soon. Quite possible that tomorrow morning will be a little bit on the slow side...
Aussie it up!
rich.
Sunday 1 April 2007
the sun is shining in Stockholm
Yes, for those of you not here, it really has been shining in Stockholm. Wonderful early spring weather - clear blue sky, very little wind, temperature around 15. And the consequences? (sounds like me in one of my Social Studies lessons - "so, what's the issue/problem? What are the causes? The consequences?" - did I mention we've started looking at Identity/Integration/Immigration? more of that later). Anyway, back to the weather... the consequences are a significant number of people that think it is now warm enough for shorts and skirts - particularly the girls at Beverly Hill High, presumably to show off their legs to the boys or so that they can wear the latest ArmaniGucciPradaGabana skirt they bought last weekend in ParisMonacoRomeNY. I have ventured to sitting in the sun in a T-shirt in the middle of the day - it's not summer yet! Put the shorts away!! The weather also increased the particle & pollen count to the extreme, which in turn gave rich a severe dose of hay fever - mostly over now. See: cause, consequence and solution (loratadin 10mg!)
School is rolling along, 4 days next week before Easter holidays start. Have started looking at Integration with my Social Studies classes - not an issue unique to Sweden, looking at how society is affected and how it should react to immigration. It is always interesting talking about Integration, Segregation and Assimilation at the High School located in possibly THE most segregated area in Sweden (particularly based on socio-economic measures). Thankfully there are some students in the class that see that, and most of them agree with it when it is pointed out to them. (Teachers seem to develop this wonderful ability to ask questions where it is completely obvious to the student how they should answer - great!??) The main challenge for this issue (anywhere in the world) is to avoid falling into the "us" and "them" trap - which most countries/political parties/people fail to avoid. "They" should do this, do that, jump through hoops, do 13 years of school and 6 years of university again, learn our language (but not lose their foreign accent, so we know who they are), not complain, and be happy driving a taxi, working at a kebab place or a school kitchen in snob-ville. Above all, fit in, don't cause trouble, don't take our jobs, and fill the scape goat roll anytime we need you to. And whilst this may seem a bit harsh I believe that degrees of this lie behind many of the views/opinions expressed (not just in Sweden). Even when you look at the political parties "plans" for Integration much of it revolves around measures to help them - and very little that we need to do. So I'm fighting the uphill battle, in the hope that one day (when all the darlings to which I proclaim my great knowledge have leapt up the social/business/political ladder) some of this understanding will seep through and make the world a better place... here goes rich again - the idealistic [tree-hugging, left wing hippie - Alex's note] teacher. Enough of that... well, maybe one more thing:
What do fans of Midnight Oil, Nuclear Disarmament Party (ca. 1984), Australian Conservation Foundation, Greenpeace, Surfrider Foundation, "sorry" (Sydney Olympics, 1st Oct 2000), and the Australian Labor Party?
Peter Garrett - and maybe he is managing to affect environment policy in the Opposition party... Australia might finally sign the Kyoto Protocol if Labor wins the next election. Would be amazing if they did - I was sadly disillusioned last election when I realised that many people seemed to vote with their hip pockets rather than ideals/morals (Iraq vs. interest rates was my interpretation of that election - and this one could be the same). Now I really do sound like Alex's tree-hugging hippie friend... enough banging on.
Time to go put my shorts on, the sun is shining!
rich.
School is rolling along, 4 days next week before Easter holidays start. Have started looking at Integration with my Social Studies classes - not an issue unique to Sweden, looking at how society is affected and how it should react to immigration. It is always interesting talking about Integration, Segregation and Assimilation at the High School located in possibly THE most segregated area in Sweden (particularly based on socio-economic measures). Thankfully there are some students in the class that see that, and most of them agree with it when it is pointed out to them. (Teachers seem to develop this wonderful ability to ask questions where it is completely obvious to the student how they should answer - great!??) The main challenge for this issue (anywhere in the world) is to avoid falling into the "us" and "them" trap - which most countries/political parties/people fail to avoid. "They" should do this, do that, jump through hoops, do 13 years of school and 6 years of university again, learn our language (but not lose their foreign accent, so we know who they are), not complain, and be happy driving a taxi, working at a kebab place or a school kitchen in snob-ville. Above all, fit in, don't cause trouble, don't take our jobs, and fill the scape goat roll anytime we need you to. And whilst this may seem a bit harsh I believe that degrees of this lie behind many of the views/opinions expressed (not just in Sweden). Even when you look at the political parties "plans" for Integration much of it revolves around measures to help them - and very little that we need to do. So I'm fighting the uphill battle, in the hope that one day (when all the darlings to which I proclaim my great knowledge have leapt up the social/business/political ladder) some of this understanding will seep through and make the world a better place... here goes rich again - the idealistic [tree-hugging, left wing hippie - Alex's note] teacher. Enough of that... well, maybe one more thing:
What do fans of Midnight Oil, Nuclear Disarmament Party (ca. 1984), Australian Conservation Foundation, Greenpeace, Surfrider Foundation, "sorry" (Sydney Olympics, 1st Oct 2000), and the Australian Labor Party?
Peter Garrett - and maybe he is managing to affect environment policy in the Opposition party... Australia might finally sign the Kyoto Protocol if Labor wins the next election. Would be amazing if they did - I was sadly disillusioned last election when I realised that many people seemed to vote with their hip pockets rather than ideals/morals (Iraq vs. interest rates was my interpretation of that election - and this one could be the same). Now I really do sound like Alex's tree-hugging hippie friend... enough banging on.
Time to go put my shorts on, the sun is shining!
rich.
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