PUT

Long time, no write... sorry about that, so many excuses... where to start:
- bathroom renovations took 3 weeks longer than they told us,
- kitchen renovations (but they took 2 days less than planned!)
- now the floors are being sanded and polished, so I'm homeless again but this is the last step! By the middle of next week I'll be able to start cleaning my new apartment and move all the furniture back in... will try to post some pics when it's all done.
- I've also started back at work and it took a while to get up to speed after my long, lazy summer holiday... life's tough.

As I have no home to sit in, I'm in one of the local cafes (usual weekend activity!) and so of course can't help but observe the funny people that are Swedes:
1. A group manage to get a table that a couple have just left. There are of course dirty dishes on the table (they're a bit slow collecting them here sometimes). So the new guests pile them up, pick them up and then look around (as if waiting for the dishes fairy to magically appear and take them... this doesn't happen), eventually they decide to place them on a small table (unoccupied!)... why not just take them to the kitchen - it's just as close!
2. The extraordinary number of couples that come in and avoid asking me if they can share the table I'm on.... Swedes don't do that!!

School has started really well, the new group of brats at Beverly Hills High is as nice as all the others and mostly tanned after a tough summer in St.Tropez, Nice and Monaco. I have a couple of new projects which are really exciting this year, including a course which involves participating in a Model United Nations held in Nairobi, Kenya. So it is off to Kenya for Rich and 18 students (good ones!) in February. I managed to choose (from those that applied for the course) students that it turns out do have a social conscience (more than supporting Sri Lanka/Vietnam/China/or which ever developing nations the world's fashion houses manufacture their clothes in). They have (on their own initiative) contacted an orphanage near Nairobi and are going to collect sponsorship for supplies they need... I was impressed and grateful that they took this step!

Another possible project is not confirmed yet, it will possibly mean a lot of extra work for me but would be lots of fun... I'll let you know if it happens.

As for the title of this post: "PUT", no not "PUT another prawn on the barbie", in fact it is "Permanent Uppehållstillstånd" - Permanent residency... I'm here to stay and now they can't kick me out! I got the letter yesterday so the only thing left is to get it stamped into my passport. Until now I've had to apply for a new work permit every year which, despite being relatively straight forward, has always been a cause of slight worry.

I will leave it here for now, but should hopefully update more regularly than the last 2 months!

take care,
rich.