So I'm back from my little trip to Stockholm. As you may have read below, I went with a friend to Stockholm to see Coldplay. We took the bus from Malmö at about 10 p.m., and then slept through almost all of the eight hours it takes to get there. I had been kind of worried about being able to sleep, especially since we had a LONG day ahead of us after arriving in the big city, but it was quite ok. I mean, it wasn't like sleeping in a king size with high thread count-sheets, but it was ok. The only time I woke up was when the bus left the high way to pick up and drop off passengers, which happened three times in the cities Helsingborg, Jönköping and Linköping.
We woke up just as we started coming into Stockholm. There's about one million people living there, and it's spread out a fair bit. What struck me was all the new-looing malls and shopping cnetres everywhere. Car dealerships and H&M:s and everything you can think of, many times over before we got to the central station in Stockholm (train and bus that is). I wonder what's gonna happen with all that if the economy keeps acting like it has been.
Anyway, after arriving in the middle of Stockholm, bright and early in the morning (about 6:30 a.m.), I opted to pay for the cab to our hotel since we don't really know the area and were not jumping up and down at the thought of walking for half an hour with our bags (yes, we did of course have quite a bit of lugage even though the trip was only two days long). Plus, it was my friend's (Hanna for those of you who know her) 25th birthday. I had secretly changed out reservations from the half-crappy hostel we were supposed to live in, to a nicer hotel with a balcony and real bathroom and a nice breakfast buffe. So when the taxi arrived at the hotel Hanna started saying that this can't be the right place, and my plan to tell her about the surprise was a bit cut off. For some reason, I hadn't thought she'd say much, since I was the one in charge of all the arrangements anyway, haha. But she was very happy and thanked me much.
Since we couldn't check in that early (apparently, check in nowadays in Sweden is at 2 p.m. at the earliest!), we just left our bags and freshened up a bit, and then strolled down towards the central parts of the city again. It was still quite early, but there was still people out. Sometimes I think Swedes have some perverse thing with getting up early. But it served us well since we needed to get some breakfast. I actually had coffee, which is not common for me, I usually don't like it at all. But I thought I was gonna need it. It felt like when you've been on a plane over the Atlantic for eight hours and you have to stay up a while longer to avoid jet lag - only this time we had about 18 hours to go until bedtime.
After spotting at least one celebrity (they are fairly concentrated to Stockholm) and doing some shopping (the birthday girl did more than me, I'm kinda broke this month, waiting for my first pay check from the university that will arrive in the end of the month). I realized I'm not the biggest fan of snooty shop-people, who seem to be a lot more common in this city than in Malmö. I don't know if I'm being paranoid, or maybe they reacted to my accent, which is a southern one, and even if it isn't ridiculed as much as the southern US-accent, it still gets a fair bit of grief for not being pretty enought. We ate som lunch, but I had trouble sustaining my apetite, since my nerves were reminding me that I was going to get to see my favourite band soon. It's weird, I get kind of teenagy when it comes to Coldplay. More about that later.
After buying some bubbly and other alcoholic beverages we went back to the hotel and checked in. By then my feet were getting sore from all the walking, and I realized it had been stupid to not bring two pairs of shoes. Thank god I did that. We got to chill for a while, showered, made ourselves pretty and then left again, this time on the subway. Arriving at the Globe Arena, which is about 15 minutes on the tube from where we were, we realized that our planning to be there early to get a good spot was not all that thought through. A lot of people had thought the same thing, only arrived even earlier. The supporting act (Albert Hammond Jr. from the U.S. and the band The Strokes) was to begin at 7.30 p.m. and it was now about 5 p.m., and there was already a huge line in front of the doors. So we stood there, a bit cold, eating some chips and drinking some soda mixed with some of the above mentioned beverage, but not really getting the result we had planned on. It was kind of cold and people in line didn't seem to be in a party mood. And, they all seemed younger than us. Almost anyway.
There was the usual British (why always British) guys selling bootlegs, t-shirts and ear-plugs (which we actually got some, but late ron realized we really didn't need. It didn't feel as disturbingly loud as it sometimes does at these things). When they started letting us in, we took a few more quick sipps of our drink and put it with all the other trash that had accumulated by then (McDonalds-rappers and bits of food, cups, newspapers etc.). Getting into the arena, we realized that we still had a good chance to get fairly close to the stage, which we we're doubting when we saw the long line outside. And after what felt like hours and hours of waiting, we finally got to see the best band in the world. Two glorious hours, which contained beautiful music, screaming fans (including me of course), sweating, more screaming, confetti in the form of butterflies all over the part of the audience that was right in front of stage (including me) and much much more. I again felt kind of old standing there. Even if I could see people that were my age or older, almost everyone seemed to be about 18 or so, or younger. I wonder if I'm liking a band whose fans see them more as the Backstreet Boys or something. Not that I listened to them when I was 18. But still, it feels strange. One of the explanations is that at the concert, you can either get seats (all around the arena, up high) or standing ticket, which means you pay a bit more and don't get to sit down, but you get to see the band a bit more up close and dance and scream without feeling like you're disturbing the people around you. It seemed as if most of the adults where choosing to get to sit down in real seats, even if a lot of them stood a lot. But I like being down there in the sweat and the screaming. Just in the case of Coldplay and maybe a few other music acts. Not with every concert I go to.
So, after Chris Martin (singer) seemed chocked by the loud singing from the auidence on the very popular song "Fix You" from 2005, and more confetti, and extra acts and all of this other great amazing stuff that I'm beginning to forget already, we bought our t-shirts, got our coats, went on the tube again, ate some McDonalds (again my apetite wasn't really there, this time for different but related reasons), we arrived back at our hotel at 1 a.m. It was a long time since I slept that well, being sooo tired by then.
And one great hotel breakfast, shower and one last tube trip back to the central station later, Hanna and me were back on the bus, this time at 11 a.m. It was full, and we were bored almost the entire time, even though we got to see some parts of Sweden I haven't seen before and I got to read trashy paparazzi-picture-filled magazines and read a nice review of the concert in that days paper. Trying to stay happy, happy for the wonderful experience that was the night before, I - whilst listening almost exlusively to different Coldplay albums in my mp3-player - started to become more and more sad. It's stupid, but just as the las time when Hanna and I saw them perform in Copenhagen three years ago, I get this anti-climactic feeling, where it's like - "Ok, so this was so fantastic, but now you don't get to experience it again for at least a couple of years". And it's so short. We spent all this time travelling, spending all this money on the trip and the hotel (althought that was a fun gift I guess), for a bit less than two hours of bliss. And it's not like I regret it at all. I loved it. But I'm still kind of sad.
Sorry for a very long rant, and the half-depressing ending. I must say, I love the fact that there are about 20 clips on YouTube already, with videos from that night. And not all of them such when it comes to quality. It makes it all a bit easier, to be able to watch it again. And again.
So, how old am I exactly? 16? or 25?
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Backstage at Lund university
So, here I am, on the "other side" of the university. I've been in Lund for almost six years total, and being on the working rather than the studying side of it is different. It's fun, it's interesting, it's making me panic some times (it usually goes "I'm not smart enought for this, what are they thinking?" They being the people who hired me). But it's like seeing everything behind the scenes for the first times. What do the teatchers and professors actually do all day? What do they say about the students? Are they hard workers? Etc.
What's great is that it doesn't seem to be your run of the mill academics here. We're a small departement, one of the smallest in the university actually (and there are a few), so we're kind of in an underdog position, which seems to make people nicer and more down to earth generally. They're not all know-it-alls who only want to make tenure and rise to the top, even if some of them have done those things, of course.
If I could get rid of the panic-thing, I'd be very satisfied with the job so far. And I guess I just have to dive right into it and believe in the fact that I'll learn everything I need to know along the way. Right?
Other than having a new job that takes up most of my time and thinking power, I'll try to report on other stuff going on here too. Me and my BFF from first grade, Hanna, are going to our nations capitol Stockholm next week, to see our favorite band Coldplay. It's no where near as far away as the northern town where Mats is going, but since we're cheap/poor we've decided to take the bus, which makes the trip nine hous long. By train I think it's about five hours. The plan is to take the bus on Wednesday the 17th, at ten p.m. Then we're supposed to sleep, or try to sleep, on the bus. First I was kind of bummed that I wouldn't get to see very much of our beautiful countryside since we'll be travelling in the dark, but then I realized that it's mostly just pine woods anyway, which all looks the same and gets a bit boring after a while.
We'll arrive in the very center of the city at 6.30 a.m., and then, since the hostel doesn't allow check-in until 3 p.m. (what's that all about? It seems to be like that all over the hostels and hotels in Sweden nowadays), we're gonna have to do some sightseen or shopping of whatever until we can go and rest for a few seconds, grab a shower and then head out to where the consert is, which is a bit outside of the real city center. The Globe arena is where they're playing, and I've actually only been outside of it before, so it'll be cool to see the inside too. I guess one could call it a duller, less cool and smaller version of the Madison Square Garden, although the architechture is kinda cool, and kind of the opposite of the American arena. Anyway, the thing is, we really have to leave the hostel quite early to get a decent spot in line for the concert. Since most European arenas and venues, including the Swedish ones, don't have seating in the same way as the American ones, you have to get there early and wait in line to get a good spot in front of the stage. Last time me and Hanna saw Coldplay, in Copenhagen (the Danish capitol which is a bit closer, actuelly a train-ride of about 30 minutes away), we got a real good spot in line. Just a few people in front of us. Problem was, we drank some beers and some wine and really had too pee about two hours before they we're letting people into the arena. There was no place around there to go. No restaurants or anything. Not even a good bush. So we stood quietly (which is very uncommon for us) in line, suffering, while all the other fans we're happy and anticipating greatness. We had to run straight to the bathroom after finally being let into the arena, and thus we missed our spots and had to stand 20 yards from the stage instead of 5 as we had planned. The worst thing about that is the fact that the people who stand that par back (which is still very close of course) are usually not as enthusiastic as you are, making you feel stuping for screaming a lot or dancing or whatever. Squares, that's what they are. This time the concert sold out so fast, they set one more date in Stockholm, the night before, and that's good, since there's a bigger chance that we'll be with a big, more appreciative crowd in stead. And hopefully there is some kind of pizza place or whatever outside, so we can pee.
I'll report back after, and you can hear all about the peein-possibilities of the area around the Globe arena in Stockholm.
Until then, lots'a'luve!
PS: Excuse my bad spelling and language, I'm intellectually beat nowadays.
What's great is that it doesn't seem to be your run of the mill academics here. We're a small departement, one of the smallest in the university actually (and there are a few), so we're kind of in an underdog position, which seems to make people nicer and more down to earth generally. They're not all know-it-alls who only want to make tenure and rise to the top, even if some of them have done those things, of course.
If I could get rid of the panic-thing, I'd be very satisfied with the job so far. And I guess I just have to dive right into it and believe in the fact that I'll learn everything I need to know along the way. Right?
Other than having a new job that takes up most of my time and thinking power, I'll try to report on other stuff going on here too. Me and my BFF from first grade, Hanna, are going to our nations capitol Stockholm next week, to see our favorite band Coldplay. It's no where near as far away as the northern town where Mats is going, but since we're cheap/poor we've decided to take the bus, which makes the trip nine hous long. By train I think it's about five hours. The plan is to take the bus on Wednesday the 17th, at ten p.m. Then we're supposed to sleep, or try to sleep, on the bus. First I was kind of bummed that I wouldn't get to see very much of our beautiful countryside since we'll be travelling in the dark, but then I realized that it's mostly just pine woods anyway, which all looks the same and gets a bit boring after a while.
We'll arrive in the very center of the city at 6.30 a.m., and then, since the hostel doesn't allow check-in until 3 p.m. (what's that all about? It seems to be like that all over the hostels and hotels in Sweden nowadays), we're gonna have to do some sightseen or shopping of whatever until we can go and rest for a few seconds, grab a shower and then head out to where the consert is, which is a bit outside of the real city center. The Globe arena is where they're playing, and I've actually only been outside of it before, so it'll be cool to see the inside too. I guess one could call it a duller, less cool and smaller version of the Madison Square Garden, although the architechture is kinda cool, and kind of the opposite of the American arena. Anyway, the thing is, we really have to leave the hostel quite early to get a decent spot in line for the concert. Since most European arenas and venues, including the Swedish ones, don't have seating in the same way as the American ones, you have to get there early and wait in line to get a good spot in front of the stage. Last time me and Hanna saw Coldplay, in Copenhagen (the Danish capitol which is a bit closer, actuelly a train-ride of about 30 minutes away), we got a real good spot in line. Just a few people in front of us. Problem was, we drank some beers and some wine and really had too pee about two hours before they we're letting people into the arena. There was no place around there to go. No restaurants or anything. Not even a good bush. So we stood quietly (which is very uncommon for us) in line, suffering, while all the other fans we're happy and anticipating greatness. We had to run straight to the bathroom after finally being let into the arena, and thus we missed our spots and had to stand 20 yards from the stage instead of 5 as we had planned. The worst thing about that is the fact that the people who stand that par back (which is still very close of course) are usually not as enthusiastic as you are, making you feel stuping for screaming a lot or dancing or whatever. Squares, that's what they are. This time the concert sold out so fast, they set one more date in Stockholm, the night before, and that's good, since there's a bigger chance that we'll be with a big, more appreciative crowd in stead. And hopefully there is some kind of pizza place or whatever outside, so we can pee.
I'll report back after, and you can hear all about the peein-possibilities of the area around the Globe arena in Stockholm.
Until then, lots'a'luve!
PS: Excuse my bad spelling and language, I'm intellectually beat nowadays.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Reboot
School is back on, and all is well.
I'm a week and a half into the semester, and I'm adjusting to the whole daily regimen that comes with univeristy pseudo studies. "Pseudo studies", there's a good term for the last 30 months here. And it still applies in a way, only now it has a more positive meaning. Gone are the days of studying just enough to pass tests, learning stuff that stopped being interesting last semester. Gone are the days of using academic language and long words in order to get top marks on a paper for which I hardly opened the books. Well, not entirely gone, I guess, but the level of motivation is higher than before, and the information is actually useful, despite the fact that it gets pretty theoretical at times.
We haven't really gotten to the actual writing yet, the teachers are sticking to theoretical parts for next few months, and right now we're slogging through the various legal and ethical aspects of journalism. And I have to say, it's really interesting. Alot of my classmates seem to dislike the legal stuff, freedom of the press, freedom of expression, etc, but for me it's just dandy. When it comes to law, my experience is mainly in international law, human rights law and humanitarian law. And it couldn't be more different. In international law, alot of what is written down is done with only a loose basis of common law, and no precedent or established juris prudence, which basically means that no one knows how the law should be put into practice, or how to apply it when it actually does. And when circumstances change, for example the downfall of nation-to-nation warfare, everything pretty much falls apart, because the Geneva Conventions, for example, were written 60 years ago.
Not the case with national laws. Now we have precedent, jurisprudence, and clear definitions, and thus everything works as it's supposed to. Mostly. Anyway, it doesn't make you lose all hope in humanity, which makes all the difference when trying to learn it. And there are generally less headaches involved as well.
Anywho, things are going good so far. This is going to be an interesting semester. Not only in school, I also have a couple of trips planned. Granted, both are to the same place, but they're still two separate events. My buddy Christian is in the process of moving to Arvidsjaur, which lies a bit to the north of here. 10 miles south of the Arctic Circle, to be exakt. Now, this is the place where the German car companies take their new cars for cold weather testing, which says something about the climate. The average temperature for the entire year is 0 degrees Centigrade, which is the freezing point. So one could argue that it's freezing all year round, but that's not true. It's freezing for nine months out of the year. And I'm going up there in mid November. And yes, it'll be freezing. And I'll be there over New Year's as well. It'll be colder than... well, anything I've ever experienced before. But it'll be fun. We're taking the train, which'll be an adventure in itself, all 20 hours of it.
That's what I had for now. Out.
I'm a week and a half into the semester, and I'm adjusting to the whole daily regimen that comes with univeristy pseudo studies. "Pseudo studies", there's a good term for the last 30 months here. And it still applies in a way, only now it has a more positive meaning. Gone are the days of studying just enough to pass tests, learning stuff that stopped being interesting last semester. Gone are the days of using academic language and long words in order to get top marks on a paper for which I hardly opened the books. Well, not entirely gone, I guess, but the level of motivation is higher than before, and the information is actually useful, despite the fact that it gets pretty theoretical at times.
We haven't really gotten to the actual writing yet, the teachers are sticking to theoretical parts for next few months, and right now we're slogging through the various legal and ethical aspects of journalism. And I have to say, it's really interesting. Alot of my classmates seem to dislike the legal stuff, freedom of the press, freedom of expression, etc, but for me it's just dandy. When it comes to law, my experience is mainly in international law, human rights law and humanitarian law. And it couldn't be more different. In international law, alot of what is written down is done with only a loose basis of common law, and no precedent or established juris prudence, which basically means that no one knows how the law should be put into practice, or how to apply it when it actually does. And when circumstances change, for example the downfall of nation-to-nation warfare, everything pretty much falls apart, because the Geneva Conventions, for example, were written 60 years ago.
Not the case with national laws. Now we have precedent, jurisprudence, and clear definitions, and thus everything works as it's supposed to. Mostly. Anyway, it doesn't make you lose all hope in humanity, which makes all the difference when trying to learn it. And there are generally less headaches involved as well.
Anywho, things are going good so far. This is going to be an interesting semester. Not only in school, I also have a couple of trips planned. Granted, both are to the same place, but they're still two separate events. My buddy Christian is in the process of moving to Arvidsjaur, which lies a bit to the north of here. 10 miles south of the Arctic Circle, to be exakt. Now, this is the place where the German car companies take their new cars for cold weather testing, which says something about the climate. The average temperature for the entire year is 0 degrees Centigrade, which is the freezing point. So one could argue that it's freezing all year round, but that's not true. It's freezing for nine months out of the year. And I'm going up there in mid November. And yes, it'll be freezing. And I'll be there over New Year's as well. It'll be colder than... well, anything I've ever experienced before. But it'll be fun. We're taking the train, which'll be an adventure in itself, all 20 hours of it.
That's what I had for now. Out.
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