Show & Tell: Morning

Morning has broken. That's the first thing I thought about when I read Saltistjejen's theme (our hostess for the month of March).


Thought this particular version about lent/spring was fitting since I really hope spring (morning) comes soon after the long winter (night).

That song used to end all parties at St Antony's College (my Oxford college). The thing is that we had to end all parties at 1am due to the college's location in a residential area. Didn't really feel like morning at 1am...

We had a lot of fun at St Antony's Late Bar. We were considered the party college, at least as postgraduate colleges go. It used to be pretty crowded on a regular Friday bar night but it was especially so on Saturdays when there was a big party (about once a month).

Sometimes it would be a fancy dress party:

And every year there's a Ball (I was on the Committee one year):



The Hilda Besse, or the Hilda Beast as it's more commonly known, is not a looker from the outside (though listed and can't be torn down - it won an architectural price in the late 1960s) but it's functional, especially for parties.



The ground floor of the building houses the Late Bar (or Buttery as it's called during daytime when it's used for seminars), a TV room and a couple of smaller meeting rooms. Upstairs has Hall, i.e. the eating area/canteen, also used for fancy dinners (so-called High Table) and big parties, and kitchen.



The second upstairs (which is a smaller area, as Hall has very high ceilings and is open all the way up so-to-speak) has the Junior (JCR) and Senior Common Rooms (SCR), Junior for us students and Senior for professors et al. (at other colleges which have both undergraduate and postgraduate students - St Antony's has only the latter - the JCR is for undergrads and Senior for postgrads and the rest). Concrete doesn't look so good on the outside but inside the mix of cement and wooden floors is actually quite alright. Especially with some art and Persian rugs on the walls.

So despite its name I have some pretty good memories from the Beast!

Sorry if I digressed a bit too much from the subject... :)

All own photos except for the one of the Hilda Besse building which comes from Flickr and St Antony's College

Politics for Dummies

DEMOCRAT
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
You feel guilty for being successful.
You push for higher taxes so the government can provide cows for everyone.

REPUBLICAN
You have two cows.
Your neighbor has none.
So?

SOCIALIST
You have two cows.
The government takes one and gives it to your neighbor.
You form a cooperative to tell him how to manage his cow.

COMMUNIST
You have two cows.
The government seizes both and provides you with milk.
You wait in line for hours to get it.
It is expensive and sour.

CAPITALISM, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
You sell one, buy a bull, and build a herd of cows.

BUREAUCRACY, AMERICAN STYLE
You have two cows.
Under the new farm program the government pays you to shoot one, milk the other, and then pour the milk down the drain.
(That could be called Bureacraucy, EU style too)

AMERICAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You sell one, lease it back to yourself and do an IPO on the 2nd one.
You force the two cows to produce the milk of four cows.
You are surprised when one cow drops dead.
You spin an announcement to the analysts stating you have downsized and are reducing expenses.
Your stock goes up.

FRENCH CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You go on strike because you want three cows.
You go to lunch and drink wine.
Life is good.

JAPANESE CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
They learn to travel on unbelievably crowded trains.
Most are at the top of their class at cow school.

GERMAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You engineer them so they are all blond, drink lots of beer, give excellent quality milk, and run a hundred miles an hour.
Unfortunately they also demand 13 weeks of vacation per year.

ITALIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows but you don't know where they are.
You break for lunch.
Life is good.

RUSSIAN CORPORATION
You have two cows.
You drink some vodka.
You count them and learn you have five cows.
You drink some more vodka.
You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
The Mafia shows up and takes over however many cows you really have.

TALIBAN CORPORATION
You have all the cows in Afghanistan , which are two.
You don't milk them because you cannot touch any creature's private parts.
You get a $40 million grant from the US government to find alternatives to milk production but use the money to buy weapons.

IRAQI CORPORATION
You have two cows.
They go into hiding.
They send radio tapes of their mooing.

POLISH CORPORATION
You have two bulls.
Employees are regularly maimed and killed attempting to milk them.

BELGIAN CORPORATION
You have one cow.
The cow is schizophrenic.
Sometimes the cow thinks he's French, other times he's Flemish.
The Flemish cow won't share with the French cow.
The French cow wants control of the Flemish cow's milk.
The cow asks permission to be cut in half.
The cow dies happy.

FLORIDA CORPORATION
You have a black cow and a brown cow.
Everyone votes for the best looking one.
Some of the people who actually like the brown one best accidentally vote for the black one.
Some people vote for both.
Some people vote for neither.
Some people can't figure out how to vote at all.
Finally, a bunch of guys from out-of-state tell you which one you think is the best looking cow.

CALIFORNIA CORPORATION
You have millions of cows.
They make real California cheese.
Only five speak English.
Most are illegal.
Arnold likes the ones with the big udders.

Source: Facebook

US Road Trip 2009: People

As I'm starting to get really sick and tired of the snow* now (sorry Annika!), I've been looking at holiday pictures from last summer to remind myself that yes, summer does exist. Thought I'd share more photos from our US roadtrip with you, this time on the theme "people" (earlier themes are architecture, flowers and animals.

First out, a not so lucky guy in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. I hope they arrested him for something real and not just for being homeless.

The San Francisco cable cars are very popular with the tourists. We decided to go on the less popular of the two routes and two hop on at another stop. I have done the other route before anyway (back in 1996).


Our guide on the three-hour boat cruise around Manhattan. Or is it Spiderman?!

New friends! Lunch with fellow bloggers Saltis and Petchie and Petchie's sister J.

Visiting Chelsea Market with Petchie and J (and Peter of course but he was behind the camera)

Walking in the residential area of Chelsea

Delivery guy doing a balancing act on a bike

Meeting up with friend Gabriella in Long Island City in Queens

Doing a bar round with Saltis & friends

Trying a crif dog before going bar hopping

New York's most famous guy?

* Today it's sunny though so the snowcovered landscape doesn't look that bad. But yesterday, when it was superwindy and cold... Brrr!

Reality Check

Yesterday Taina wrote about a father dying from cancer (and how his family was raising money to provide for his children - perhaps a problem we don't have in Sweden) and today I stumbled upon (through Elin) a blog written by a Swedish young woman who may only have a few weeks left to live. She has had a very sad life - mother with drug use problems, ADHD, own drug problems, you name it - but turned her life around a few years ago at age 25 and had a son in 2008. Then it hit her. An aggressive form of cancer. First it looked like she would pull through but now it doesn't look good for her at all. She's writing a will, making arrangements for her funeral, and most importantly, deciding what will happen to her son (she's a single mum). A few weeks ago I also found another blog by a woman fighting the same horrible disease though her prospects are somewhat more promising.

Reminds us all not to take things for granted.

Imagination as Few

Une adorable petite fille débordante d’imagination...

Public Transport's Deadly Sins

1) Someone standing on the wrong side on the escalator is a classic that is never acceptable. Count on it happening when you can hear your train rolling onto the platform and the next train is not until ten minutes later...

2) Children should not travel on public transport, especially if they are loud. It only takes one screaming baby for you to take the car to work for the next 20 years.

3) To listen to music is always nice - but only if you have chosen it yourself. A lively ring tone, accordion players and kids with a yearning for tinnitus and leaking headphones is a big no-no!

4) Body odour is another classic. Eat a lot of garlic, avoid showering for a week and wear something you found in the rubbish and you can guarantee a whole train car to yourself.

5) Something everyone should know: a bus/tube train is not the same as a moving fast-food stand. Neither kebab, pizza or beer smell as good as it tastes. Travel first. Eat later. That is how you do it.

6) Rush hour and Monday morning on the underground: person in large bulky jacket, with a ruggsack and bad body awareness who suddenly turns around. How many passengers get an elbow in the neck and a ruggsack in the face?

7) Okay, they are old and frail and do not know where they are getting off. But do they need to stand first in the queue, talk to the driver for 10 minutes and then hobble towards a seat at the back of the bus? Count on a 15-minute delay.

8) Everybody running towards the train have a chance to catch the train, but only one makes it. Despite the car only being half full. Why? This is what surely happened: the person who made it first threw him/herself in, realised s/he made it and stopped abruptly just inside the doors. Nobody else succeeded in getting inside the car since s/he was blocking the opening, the doors closed and the train started rolling with the rest of the group still on the platform.

9) Zero manners and etiquette in public transport: don't get up for elders, put your feet on the seat, brag about your latest shag or malarkey your best friend really loud on your mobile phone, cough without covering your mouth and do not let those leaving the train get off first.

10) Give your accessories a seat. Of course your doggy or your bag shouldn't have to be on the floor!

List found in Östermalmsnytt (my translation/interpretation).

Red or White

Help me decide! Should I get red or white Hunter wellies?!

Show Without Tell

Show & Tell: Who Next?

My post will be coming later today but I wanted to ask whom I should pass the stick to? Both Saltis and Taina have expressed interest but not sure which month's relay they prefer?

Snowmobile

Luckily not my car!

MJ Memory

I watched "This Is It", the Michael Jackson movie, with my friend Jenny tonight. We reminisced about the 1992 concert we went to together - and I told her about the 1997 concert that she unfortunately missed.

We also talked about how our mutual friend Maria and I, at age 12 or 13, repeatedly rang J. S. - the boy three classes up whom we were all in love with - and played "I Just Can't Stop Loving You" (he hung up every time). I thought it was Jenny and I who terrorised J. S. with MJ music as Jenny and I sent him a diploma for being the greatest guy ever* (or similar) in the post (wonder if he kept it??) but apparently it was Maria and me :)

Good times!





* Like many guys who were cute and cool at that age, J. S. did not turn out to be the kind of guy we would want to be with now...

No Bike Weather

My bike is there somewhere! This year's winter seems to be never ending and spring feels far away.



à la iPhone

Show & Tell: Life after Death

Image from www.bloodhoundrealty.com

I have chosen a more serious topic for this week's Show & Tell (though it's of course possible to joke about it as well, as with any topic; up to you!) because I thought it would be interesting to hear people's thoughts and ideas on the afterlife. I wrote when I set out my themes a few weeks ago: apologies for the morbid subject but I find it interesting to think about what happens after we die, if anything, and how miniscule our lifespan (as individuals) is in the history of the universe, or even that of mankind.

I don't have any particular belief "this is what will happen to me" but I hope and want to believe that something does happen, that we go somewhere, to a new world or a parallel dimension...somewhere, something. Some sort of heaven but maybe not necessarily the heaven described by any of the religions. Maybe Nangijala. That would be nice. Without Katla.

Image from www.makemymood.com

We live such a short time on earth if you consider how long earth has been around or even how long humanity has been around. Makes you humble. And at the same time feel like there must be something more to it. But maybe we just want to, have to, think that because it's so unthinkable that we are so insignificant in the scheme of things. I think the urge to be immortal, to live on, is one reason why we have children. In addition to the want to love and care, and to be loved and cared for, of course.

I think about organ donation. In many ways passing on your organs, either as a live or a dead donor, is a way to live on as well. I registered as an organ donor years ago, however I have said no to research because I rather want my organs to go to someone. But I'm starting to reconsider since research is so important too and maybe my body proves to be better fit for research, who knows. I don't believe my body need to stay intact after I die because if there is a life after death, it's my soul that will move on. I don't think I need my body. If I do need one I'm sure I will get a new one.

Image from www2.warwick.ac.uk

I think by the time you're old and you know you are dying you just accept it. It's natural in a way. But when you are young it's difficult to think about death. Young people who know they are dying from an illness accept their fate as well, most of them at least. I think a calm descends on you. It's more difficult for those around you. And the person dying is more sad for the life they will not lead than being scared about dying itself. So death is really about the lack of life than about death as such. Life after death is probably much more difficult for those left alive. In a way, life after death is about them, those left behind.

Image from utopiaorbust.files.wordpress.com

Lastly, Swedish funeral arrangements. The Muslim custom of burying their deceased within 24 hours is a bit rushed and exaggerated; even three days may not be enough time for far away relatives to return, and by that time the sad news may not even have sunk in. But waiting three and sometimes even four weeks as is the case in Sweden is a scandal! A week is appropriate, two weeks if necessary. I understand that if Sweden only (for the most part) hold funerals on Fridays (for some reason??) it will be difficult to book that special church that meant so much to the deceased. But it seems like people nowadays can hardly fit in a funeral in their busy lives and that's the real reason, not church booking arrangements. Sweden has very lax laws on this apparently whilst for example Norway and Denmark have one or two weeks maximum before the deceased must be buried. I think it's disgrace to deceased to let him or her lie just there in the morgue. Sure, they are dead but still. Out of respect to when they were alive.

Just some randoms thoughts.

Become Obama's Ghost Blogger

Or Social Networks Manager, which is the fancy title. You may not have so much time for your own Facebook, Twitter or Blogger account however, since it's not "your usual 9-5 job".

Paradise Awaits

We've booked a holiday to the Maldives!!!

Better go before it sinks, we figured. Though I am feeling a bit guilty for indirectly contributing to its predicament - we have to fly to get there of course and I live in the Western world where we are all historically responsible for climate change - so I need to do a bit of research about any climate adaptation projects in the Maldives that I can donate to (i.e. climate compensate).

When Valentine's Day coincides with that important football match...

Coming Soon!

When I host Show & Tell I try to write and publish my posts on the actual day but today is not such a day. I have a hectic weekend ahead of me (and a busy day at work today), so you will need to watch this space on Sunday.

Until then, have a nice weekend!

Winter Still

à la iPhone

Show & Tell: My First Job

Not sure what I was thinking when I picked this topic because I don't seem to have any photos to illustrate my first job, or any jobs I've had for that matter*. Well, I have some photos from my first REAL job, but I'm not going to write just about that (the hostess can cheat, can't she?).

But let's start with my first real job then! With real I mean the first permanent job after finished studies and relevant to my background and skills, etc.

My first job was at a small consultancy called Spintrack (the company has since gone bankrupt - I guess they couldn't operate without me - and been restarted by one of the founders), which specialised in "public finance". This means public funding of different kinds (from the Swedish state, local or regional government, the EU, etc.) of private or public projects, mainly within research and innovation or business development. We helped companies, usually small ones, and public organisations such as universities, government agencies or municipalities / municipal companies identify funding opportunities - grants, loans, credits - and then apply for it, administer any won grants and report concluded projects. Usually organisations don't have the skills or resources to do this themselves. We mostly worked on research money from the EU - and here's where my EU degree came in handy.

S, H and P in our offices in Drottninggatan late 2003 or early 2004

We also did other things, non-funding related, and my political science background helped here too; such as a study of conditions for SMEs (small and medium-sized companies) in different OECD countries. For a while I also expanded my skills area and worked together with one of our associated consultants on IT governance projects, which - in very few words - means making the necessary changes within an organisation to allow IT become an integral part of the management structure. IT moving from some guys in a basement room to the board room so-to-speak.

Christmas buffet and show at Hamburgerbörs, 2003

Towards the end of my time at Spintrack I also helped companies write tenders for public contracts and started a Microsoft-run project called European Union Grants Advisor (EUGA) together with a colleague. I stayed at Spintrack for two years and three months before moving to my current job where I've been for four years now. Time for a change me thinks!

But this is all very boring CV stuff! So let's go to the more exciting jobs I've had!

My life as a child labourer, or how I learnt responsibility and money's worth
* Helped out my uncle with marketing: filling envelopes with advertising material and sealing them = my very first paid job
* Distributed advertising material but not for long; the preparation work was too time-consuming, especially in relation to the pay, and I think my parents ended up doing quite a lot of it
* Sold jultidningar, i.e. went around the neighbourhood to take up orders for books and magazine subscriptions, including Christmas magazine specials, to be delivered in time for Christmas

Summer jobs or how I tried to get work experience and earn some own money
* Worked in the mail room and distributed the internal mail at Scania; I covered the head office building and not the factory floor, hence felt very "important" (one summer)
* Distributed mornings newspapers around my neighbourhood; I only lasted two-three weeks because working between the hours of 3-7AM when all your friends have regular summer job hours and want to hang out in the evenings don't really work
* Learnt a lot about supply control and logistical systems at Scania Parts Logistics (their spare parts supply chain) (several summers and Decembers) = my first proper summer job

And let's not forget my aupair year in the US in between upper secondary school and university!

These kids are now 22 and 20! And Deacon has gone to dog heaven

Pay my way through school-jobs (well, in addition to Swedish study grants and loans)
* Worked up to 20 hours a week at Fred Perry in Covent Garden in London during my last year of the Bachelor up until March when I had to concentrate on finals = my first and last (?) job in a shop (which reminds me of the fact that I have never worked as a waitress, which otherwise seems like a classic summer or extra job)
* Covered for the librarian at the Middle East Centre during two-thirds of my two years in Oxford

My short-but-could-return political career
* Treasurer of the local SSU (Social Democrat youth organisation) club in Södertälje at age 16 or 17
* Held a political post on a small local council (for Disability issues) at age 18-21
* Attempted to convince Swedes to vote yes to the euro in 2003. Failed (we still have the krona) but it was a fun summer! This was not an elected post as I worked for and was paid by Sverige i Europa but it was political campaigning so... (anecdote: I actually voted no to EU membership in 1994 but pretty soon after changed my mind and became a strong EU - and eventually euro - supporter)

Work on the euro campaign trail was rather varying; I spent one week travelling around camp sites in a caravan with these colleagues

There are a few other jobs I haven't mentioned but that's it from me today!

* Okay, I found some in the end

Birgitta Continues

Just had to write again about our new EU Minister and all the talk about her pregnancy and how it will or won't affect her carrying out her duties and how it has (or should) lead to a wider discussion about women's role in working life.

Terri Eriksson writes in Aftonbladet "the Middle Ages called and they want their view of women back". Great line!

A translation of her article:

"When Dominika Psczynski had a baby in the beginning of the 2000s she went back to work after two weeks and hired a nanny to take the night shift.

The critics did not waste time. She was called "cheating mum" (who did not suffer through night watch, to be a mother = to suffer) and was interviewed under headings such as "How could you, Dominika?". Then it was Perrellis's turn, when she was back on the stage four days after the delivery. And when she soon thereafter crashed her car after a Christmas show, there were even some wacko debaters who were given screen time to point out that this was Charlotte's fault - she should not have worked but have stayed home like other sound mothers.

Then it wouldn't have happened!

This week the [differing] opinions come thick and fast about our new pregnant EU Minister Birgitta Ohlsson. People have spent time on discussing everything except EU policy: What will she do with the baby? Will she breast-feed? How will the association between mother and child go? How modern or unmodern is her husband? Does she have a heart of stone? Aren't mothers still most important in the end?

She shouldn't have taken the job, some say. Some wacko debater has again been allowed space to condemn a mother who starts working a few weeks after giving birth (can you remember if a "leadership consultant and linguist" has been allowed to make a statement about a political posting before?).

Well, what can one say? I saw that a person on the Internet wrote just apropos of the Ohlsson debate that women's greatest enemies are not male chauvinist pigs, it is women who think that chauvinism is correct. I wish I had thought of that first.

When we sit there and are retired and look back on this period of time when we thought we were so modern, we will be astonished that a pregnant minister could be subject to that much crap.

At the same time both Research Minister Tobias Krantz and Defence Minister Sten Tolgfors will become fathers - and participate in the election campaign - without anyone having any kind of moral aspects on that. Does Tolgfors have a heart of stone?

Because you cannot surely mean that we still, actually, really, live in a time where it doesn't matter at all what new fathers do, while the mothers' every departure from sitting at home and breast-feeding becomes a public concern?

Besides I wonder how it is that female politicians always, always are judged harder than men. In addition to Birgitta Ohlsson's pregnancy the national has recently been shaken by a debate about Mona Sahlin's bloody handbag. No one, which former Gender Equality Ombudsman Claes Borgström pointed out, has cared about analysing Fredrik Reinfeldt's extremely expensive suit, luxury watch or expensive car. I promise they are more expensive. The difference is that he got away with it.

Just like the government's not especially present dads with young children Krantz, Tolgfors and Billström."

Gudrun Schyman, Leader of Feminist Initiative, says (you can always count on Gudrun) that it is of course possible to give birth while holding a ministerial post. "There are so many antiquated conceptions about parenthood and about how women should behave. They are two in this, right? And she's not married to an old patriarch! All of it is a logistical question." She added that she never had so much inspiration in politics and in life in general when her children were young.

So what do I, Anna, think? I probably wouldn't go back to work four days after delivery or hire a night nanny unless there was a very special reason. BUT this is not about the details, this is about something bigger; the roles of women and men, not just as parents, but in society in general, and how the "rules" are not the same for women and men.

Dream Jobs

As a prelude to this week's Friday theme...

A survey among Swedish men and women resulted in the following list of dream jobs (out of list of 131 professions):

Women's dream careers
1. Economist / financial
2. Interior design / architect
3. HR Manager / Head of Personnel
4. Author
5. Psychologist
6. Doctor
7. Life coach / career coach (not student and career guidance counsellor, i.e. syokonsulent, I guess??)
8. Lawyer
9. Marketing
10. Animal carer (not veterinarian?)

Men's dream careers
1. Engineer
2. Entrepreneur (that's not a profession as such for me, it's more a tool for doing something if that makes sense??)
3. Musician
4. Pilot
5. Management (consultant)
6. Adventurer
7. Photographer
8. Author
9. Architect
10. HR Manager / Head of Personnel

I was really surprised that musician and adventurer are high on the men's list and life/career coach and animal carer on women's. Also, I didn't know so many people dream about writing books.

The survey has been carried out by Manpower and Kairos Future and can be found here.

Birgitta Rules!

Sweden has a new EU minister as of yesterday*, Birgitta Ohlsson, from the Liberal party. I don't vote for her party but if I could vote for one person (well, you could but I want to cast my vote on someone from "my" party) I would pick her. She's young and modern, intelligent, ambitious, and most importantly, she drives the gender equality agenda. She was a controversial choice for that very reason; being outspoken on human rights and democracy, and especially on women's rights, and as an MP has often voted against the government (where her party is one of four coalition partners). She is also a controversial choice for some people because she's pregnant and due in July. To these critics** she said: "I'm married to a modern man and not a dinosaur". Such a great response!

* The former minister, Cecilia Malmström, was appointed EU Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs, so stepped down as minister. Ohlsson's appointment lasts until the general election in mid-September.
** One woman, Eva Sternberg, has written a column in Expressen and I don't know if she's serious or ironic??!! I sure hope it is the latter!

February Show & Tell

Miss January hands over to Girl February, who chooses the following topics:

• - World peace...

Nah, just kidding! Here they come:

5 February: My first job (Mitt första jobb)

12 February: Cars (Bilar) - Sorry, no Valentine topic this year! :)

19 February: Life after death (Livet efter döden) - Apologies for the morbid subject but I find it interesting to think about what happens after we die, if anything, and how miniscule our lifespan (as individuals) is in the history of the universe, or even that of mankind

26 February: Show without tell (Visa utan att berätta) - A picture is worth a thousand words, they say. Tell us something with one or more pictures. No words allowed!

A mix of easy and challenging I hope! Thanks to Sparkling for taking such good care of January!

Show & Tell: Tea

Sparkling's last theme is tea (thanks for great topics!!).

I love tea! I drink several cups a day! My routine is tea in the morning, then coffee when I get to work, a cup of tea at 11ish, coffee after lunch and then tea in the afternoon around 3-4pm. Then a cup of tea again before bedtime. Sometimes I drink coffee after dinner but then only decaf unless it's the weekend. I don't worry about the caffeine in tea though because black tea has thirty times less caffeine than coffee (and red and green tea even less). I always drink black and red tea (and white) with milk but never take milk in green tea or infusions.

My absolute favourite tea is called Sir Williams. We always get ours at Sibyllan's tea shop in Sibyllegatan in Stockholm, but you can buy it under the name Mittens rike at Kahl's tea shops as well. It has a slightly smoky taste*, bergamot, hibiscus and a hint of jasmine. It contains seven different Chinese teas, e.g. Earl Grey, Jasmine, Lapsang and green tea.

Sir William's looks like this when you buy it from Sibyllan (image borrowed from Snor & Glamour - great name for a blog by the way!

Another favourite of mine, which I buy from the same tea shop is Earl Grey Cream, an Earl Grey tea flavoured with vanilla and bergamot. There's a Lady Grey Cream too but it's a bit too flowery and sweet for me (the combination taste sweeter somehow).



Another favourite is Rooibos tea. But it has to be plain Rooibos, not flavoured ones that unfortunately seems to be the only versions Swedish cafés serve. Very few Swedish tea brands (or teas sold in Sweden) do Rooibos well so I try to buy mine in the UK. But the kind my South African friend, living in the UK, brings from her home is the best!

In terms of tea in general, I like most teas unless they are too sweet or too fruity. It feels wrong for me to throw out tea I don't like that much. Unless it's awful I will drink it eventually, or bring it to work since others may like it (except the Brits I work with are like most British tea drinkers; they don't have a very sophisticated tea taste buds so prefer English Breakfast or PG Tips type tea**).

An early tea memory is drinking tea at my (maternal) grandmother's who was the one that introduced milk in my tea (if I remember correctly) and dunking cookies :) Another tea memory is having tea with my other (paternal) grandmother while watching House of Eliott on TV every Monday (think it was Mondays?). She usually had hers with lemon while I stuck to milk. Good memories to have now when one is no longer with us and the mind of the other is not so with it anymore.

Show & Tell themes for February coming later today!!


* But not that smoky cause I don't like smoky teas such as pure Lapsang
** A funny story about the difference between Swedish and British tea drinkers: In my work I often accompany British delegations on visits to Sweden. They often gets a searching look in their eye when going through the selection of teas at a Swedish meeting or a Swedish café. They are quick to ask "don't you have any normal tea?". "Of course", says the Swedish meeting host or the Swedish waitress, "here you go", and presents some Earl Grey tea bags. "No, regular tea", the Brit replies, because Earl Grey, whilst being the default tea in Sweden, is considered fancy in the UK. A little example of culture clash :)

Wanted! Show & Tell list of themes

Last year, I think it was before the summer, Annika and Désirée compiled a list of two year's worth of Show & Tell themes, which was supposed to be forwarded from one host to the next one. Does anyone know what happened to the list because it seems to have got lost? Whoever had it last*, please send it to me! Thanks! Oh, yes, forgot to mention that I'm taking over February! :)

P.S. My dream tea post coming to a blog near you soon!

* Asked the last two hostesses but they had not received it??

Elin and Per's Day

à la iPhone

Burns Nite

Earlier this evening - now I'm in bed and looking forward to some sleep - I participated in Scottish National Day* celebrations, complete with bagpipes, haggis (pretty good actually, similar to Swedish "pölsa") and traditional dancing (and men in kilts).

* Not the official one but almost

à la iPhone

The picture

à la iPhone

Birthday Treat

My day today:
7:15: Woken by the alarm. Peter says "Happy birthday! You're not going to work today, I have a whole day planned." (He had to repeat a few times before I believed him!)
8:30: Breakfast at Sheraton Hotel (using a voucher I had in the Christmas lottery at work)
10:15: The ultimate spa experience at the new spa at Grand Hotel (Raison d'être) including swim in the pool, steam sauna, so-called experience showers, and massage with hot wheat and bean bags (in addition to regular massage). I skipped the cold bath and the cold bucket shower in the picture though...
15:00: Light lunch and coffee followed by some dress shopping (we're going to a wedding party on Saturday and I wanted something new and found one!)
17:00: Back home after shopping for my little birthday party ("kalas") for friends and family on Saturday
Tonight: Dinner out but I don't know where yet!

Pretty good day! :)

Universal

So cool and amazing and unbelievable that I live somewhere in all of this...

First iPhone Post

Testing, testing. My dinner today: salad, crostini with pesto and a glass of white, probably followed by a cup of tea and dark chocolate later.