Hej,
Last post from Sweden. Wow. Hard to believe that 3 months have passed already!
There are seven of us flying home to various US destinations tomorrow (Denver, Austin, Atlanta, Salt Lake, and Indianapolis), plus European colleagues flying off to other projects around the world (France, Australia, England, and Brussels), so we went out to dinner last night. We had traditional Swedish fare, which apparently I am getting used to. I had a Swedish dish called gubrora (without the accent marks, it just doesn't look right). Basically, it translates to "man mix". It's basically egg salad with anchovies. Probably a once in a life time experience for me, but it wasn't bad. I also had Swedish meatballs (the real kind, not the Americanized version).
When it was all said and done, my eyes were bigger than my stomach, so I asked for the leftovers to be boxed up. And was abruptly ridiculed by my European colleagues. Apparently doggy bags are solely an American thing - one that they thought was only done as a joke in TV shows, for that matter. So, when going out to eat in Europe, err on the side of "too small" rather than "too large, but I'll take the rest home". :-)
It is a little bittersweet leaving here. Mostly sweet. But I did make some good friends out here, so don't be surprised if Ashleigh and I end up with some visitors with funny accents. :-)
See you all soon!
Jared
p.s. I think I will just keep the blog going from the US, if anyone is interested...
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Indiana Jones
Hej,
Finally got around to seeing a movie in the Swedish theaters. Can't say it's too much different from seeing a movie in the US. The biggest difference was that the seats are assigned. At first, I found that a little wierd, but it actually was quite nice to not have to race to be the first into the theater to grab seats. The theater layout was more like a playhouse than a movie theater - we sat up in the balcony, but the seats were nice and because of the angles, it felt like there was no one in front of us. And, it was Indiana Jones, so, how could it have gone wrong??
This week will be a little hectic around the office as I prepare to roll off this project, but I fly home on Friday, which is quite exciting.
Talk to you all soon!
Jared
Finally got around to seeing a movie in the Swedish theaters. Can't say it's too much different from seeing a movie in the US. The biggest difference was that the seats are assigned. At first, I found that a little wierd, but it actually was quite nice to not have to race to be the first into the theater to grab seats. The theater layout was more like a playhouse than a movie theater - we sat up in the balcony, but the seats were nice and because of the angles, it felt like there was no one in front of us. And, it was Indiana Jones, so, how could it have gone wrong??
This week will be a little hectic around the office as I prepare to roll off this project, but I fly home on Friday, which is quite exciting.
Talk to you all soon!
Jared
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
16 days...
... until I come home! Not as if I am excited or anything... :)
I actually just got word that I would be allowed to get on the flight I have booked for May 30, so I am definitely coming home then!
I actually just got word that I would be allowed to get on the flight I have booked for May 30, so I am definitely coming home then!
Monday, May 12, 2008
Quick Trip Home
Hej All,
Sorry for the lengthy delay between posts. I got the opportunity to jet home for a few days, so I jumped at the chance. Because of it, I was able to make it to my sister Sarah's college graduation in Ohio over the weekend, which was great!
Of course, I didn't even tell Ashleigh that I was coming home, and gave her quite a scare when she walked in the door from work the other day! She hadn't even looked up yet when I said "Hi". She nearly leapt out of her shoes upon hearing a man's voice in the house when she wasn't expecting it. But, I think she liked the surprise, overall... :-)
Sorry if I didn't get to see you on this trip home; it was just a whirlwind trip. I'm still on track to permanently return to the US on May 30th, but I'll keep you posted on that. Hope all is well!
Jared
Sorry for the lengthy delay between posts. I got the opportunity to jet home for a few days, so I jumped at the chance. Because of it, I was able to make it to my sister Sarah's college graduation in Ohio over the weekend, which was great!
Of course, I didn't even tell Ashleigh that I was coming home, and gave her quite a scare when she walked in the door from work the other day! She hadn't even looked up yet when I said "Hi". She nearly leapt out of her shoes upon hearing a man's voice in the house when she wasn't expecting it. But, I think she liked the surprise, overall... :-)
Sorry if I didn't get to see you on this trip home; it was just a whirlwind trip. I'm still on track to permanently return to the US on May 30th, but I'll keep you posted on that. Hope all is well!
Jared
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Swedish Sunlight
Hej,
At 9:30 last night, it was still dusk. At 3:45 this morning as I was walking home from the bars, it was already getting light out. Ugh. I can't imagine how I am going to get any sleep by the time the end of May rolls around, especially with as bright as my apartment is. I am going to have to rig up some curtains or blinds here pretty soon...
Jared
At 9:30 last night, it was still dusk. At 3:45 this morning as I was walking home from the bars, it was already getting light out. Ugh. I can't imagine how I am going to get any sleep by the time the end of May rolls around, especially with as bright as my apartment is. I am going to have to rig up some curtains or blinds here pretty soon...
Jared
Friday, May 2, 2008
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Paris
Hej All,
Ashleigh and I just got back from Paris. We both landed Friday morning about an hour apart and picked the easiest landmark we could for a meeting point: McDonalds. We then headed over to another terminal to meet up with my coworker and his girlfriend who joined us for the long weekend. About 3/4 of the way there, we got stopped by airport officials, police, and army and air force troops. 10 minutes later, we heard an explosion. Turns out, someone had left a bag by accident, and rather than worry about it at all, they just cleared out the area and detonated the bag. It's not uncommon - my mom and sister had a similar experience several years ago when they were in Paris last. Once we finally got through the mess and met our friends, we headed out to the hotel. The girls, having flown in from the States, were quite jet lagged, so we just got a late lunch, relaxed for a little while, and called it an early night.
Saturday morning we headed out to Trocadero plaza to get some good views of the Eiffel Tower. After a few pictures we headed down to the Tower, but found the lines to be a little long for our tastes, so we just wandered around for a little while to kill time before our tour started. We took a 5 hour bike tour that was quite nice. After the tour, we headed over to Notre Dame for a nice visit of the church. Finally, Saturday night we met up with a Parisien coworker and his wife for dinner, which was quite nice.
Sunday morning, we headed out to Versaille. What a magnificent display of opulence! It makes it pretty obvious as to why the French people revolted in the late 1700s. Tax the people 80% and live like that while they are starving? Sounds like a good plan. After Versailles, we headed home, got cleaned up, and went out to catch dinner and the show at the Moulin Rouge. Quite an experience!
Monday, Ashleigh and I got up pretty early and got in line for the Eiffel Tower. It ended up taking us a little over an hour to get to the top, which isn't bad. We then headed over to the Louvre and got to see the "Big 3", the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. We also walked through the Greek and Egyptian exhibits, and finished off our visit with 17th century French, Italian and Spanish art. We then walked from the Louvre through the Tuileries Gardens to Place de la Concorde. From there, we walked up the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe before heading home for the day, foot sore and tired, but having had a great time.
Pictures will have to wait - I forgot my camera, so we'll have to wait for Ashleigh to get the pictures loaded onto her computer, then uploaded to the web so that I can grab them.
Hope all is well with everyone!
Jared
Ashleigh and I just got back from Paris. We both landed Friday morning about an hour apart and picked the easiest landmark we could for a meeting point: McDonalds. We then headed over to another terminal to meet up with my coworker and his girlfriend who joined us for the long weekend. About 3/4 of the way there, we got stopped by airport officials, police, and army and air force troops. 10 minutes later, we heard an explosion. Turns out, someone had left a bag by accident, and rather than worry about it at all, they just cleared out the area and detonated the bag. It's not uncommon - my mom and sister had a similar experience several years ago when they were in Paris last. Once we finally got through the mess and met our friends, we headed out to the hotel. The girls, having flown in from the States, were quite jet lagged, so we just got a late lunch, relaxed for a little while, and called it an early night.
Saturday morning we headed out to Trocadero plaza to get some good views of the Eiffel Tower. After a few pictures we headed down to the Tower, but found the lines to be a little long for our tastes, so we just wandered around for a little while to kill time before our tour started. We took a 5 hour bike tour that was quite nice. After the tour, we headed over to Notre Dame for a nice visit of the church. Finally, Saturday night we met up with a Parisien coworker and his wife for dinner, which was quite nice.
Sunday morning, we headed out to Versaille. What a magnificent display of opulence! It makes it pretty obvious as to why the French people revolted in the late 1700s. Tax the people 80% and live like that while they are starving? Sounds like a good plan. After Versailles, we headed home, got cleaned up, and went out to catch dinner and the show at the Moulin Rouge. Quite an experience!
Monday, Ashleigh and I got up pretty early and got in line for the Eiffel Tower. It ended up taking us a little over an hour to get to the top, which isn't bad. We then headed over to the Louvre and got to see the "Big 3", the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo, and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. We also walked through the Greek and Egyptian exhibits, and finished off our visit with 17th century French, Italian and Spanish art. We then walked from the Louvre through the Tuileries Gardens to Place de la Concorde. From there, we walked up the Champs Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe before heading home for the day, foot sore and tired, but having had a great time.
Pictures will have to wait - I forgot my camera, so we'll have to wait for Ashleigh to get the pictures loaded onto her computer, then uploaded to the web so that I can grab them.
Hope all is well with everyone!
Jared
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