Night-o revisited
So, what is worse than being lost in the woods at night?
How about being lost in the woods at night, in the pouring rain?
Yes, in the fine spirit of whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, I agreed to race another night orienteering competition despite 1) the fact that I suck, and 2) the fact it was pouring - POURING, mind you - rain.
Of course, the nasty weather does not phase these Swedish nutbars whatsoever. I counted over 50 people who showed up, including old ladies and little kids. They all have those massive forehead-mounted searchlights that turn night into day. Gotta get me one of those...
My pitiful Petzl headlamp was no match. I could almost feel it give up in the face of such formidable firepower. Its weak, flickering glow penetrated oh, maybe 5 feet in front of us.
However, we gamely suited up anyhow, and promptly got lost. A couple of times I got the same, cold knot in the pit of my stomach that I remember so well from my army training on Phase II. You kinda know where you are, but not really. I was just glad I didn't have a patrol of guys with me as witnesses. Wally - ta geule! :)
Every now and then a happy Swedish youngster would scamper by me with their 2 million candlepower welders arcs. They would politely turn their head down as they passed to avoid blinding me. Good of them.
I think they manufacture kids differently here.
Équitabilité
Les additions dans les restos arrivent tout calculé ensemble sur une facture. Bien sur, ici ce n'est pas acceptable de dire "Tiens, je dois autours 85 SEK ( 6.7 SEK = 1 pièce approx), donc tiens, ici est 100" Non non non! Il faut calculer comment on dois au dernier sous. Les Suèdois sont très équitable, il ne faut pas que quelq'un fini endetté a quelqu'un d'autre, même si ce n'est que quelques SEK.
Les calculs sont beaucoup plus difficile quand tout le monde a bu deux ou trois bières.
Night orienteering
Yes, you read that correctly. As in, orienteering in the woods, at night, with a headlamp. I had my first experience last night. Lisa came back bleeding, Johan got lost and I fell so many times and bashed my head on rocks and stumps I was worried I was getting concussed. I didn't finish.
If you have seen The Blair Witch Project you know everything you need to know about night-o.
Wednesday night Umeå OK begins their night-o cup, which will run every Wednesday night until they start losing people in the woods to hypothermia and frostbite, I guess.
What a great place. :)
Swedish conversation
Elaborate storytelling is difficult here.
When Swedes say something, they mean exactly what they say. There is no hidden meaning and you don't have to read between the lines. Vivid adjectives and exaggeration are often viewed with suspicion. Try retelling something that happened, and embroider it a bit to make the story more stimulating. After a while the Swede will correct you as your version strays from what really happened. Example:
"And then there were loads of people who..."
"There were five people" says Sven
"...and then after half an hour they came and ..."
"20 minutes" says Sven. "They came in after 20 minutes."
As I said, elaborate storytelling is difficult.
Cows Rampage in Norway
You just have to love a news release that has a title like that.
A few choice quotes:
"In a bizarre series of incidents, two farmers in different parts of the country were hospitalized after being attacked by cows. Elsewhere, four men narrowly missed having their car crushed by a crash-landing cow. Friday saw the first attack in the odd cow crime wave..."
You just can't make stuff like this up. For the full details, see
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article353179.ece
Norwegians
This post was inspired by an Alert Reader asking, now that Sweden has elected a center right party, if we can expect to see them in Afghansitan anytime soon.
Don't hold your breath.
From what I can tell, the military here is very busy dismantling itself. Funding has been cut by a third in the past couple of years.
In other related news, the Norwegians, who ARE in Afghanistan, are not equipped for combat. Nor, for that matter, have they been trained for combat so they are not allowed to participate in any combat. Oh, and they have asked to be moved to a part of the country where no fighting is taking place. Other than that, they are exactly the kind of folks you want by your side. Or not at your side. But at least back at the base. In a neighbouring region. Or country.
If you think I made any of this up, check out
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1456571.ece
Weather
So far I have been told I have been very lucky with the weather. Apparently, since Sweden is a very normal country, it is "normal for the Swedish fall to be colder than normal. "
That was actually quote, by the way.
Why Sweden Rocks part IV - inventions
Sweden has given the world ball-bearings, safety matches, adjustable wrenches, seat belts, Tetra paks, Volvo and Saab. It also makes and exports Absolut vodka, which is a bit ironic because the Swedish word for someone who doesn't drink is "absolutist". Ikea, of course, is also Swedish. If the Swedish social democrats created the welfare state, commonly referred to as the "home of the people", then Ikea furnished it.
A small piece of Canada
It still amazes me how modern technology takes the edge off of distance.
Just now I am listening to Freestyle on CBC over the internet. As I listen to Cameron Phillips and Kelly Ryan I could as easily be in Ottawa or Thunder Bay as in Umeå. Amazing.
Of course, I still haven't forgiven the CBC for cancelling Richardson's Roundup. Even if it did start to go downhill after Bill Richardson left.
Swedish elections
As you may (or may not) have heard, the center left party that has ruled this nation for over 10 years has lost the election to the conservatives.
As a Canadian watching this, I couldn't help but experience a bit of déja-vu.
Dinosaurs
Hi everyone. The dinosaur thing a couple posts ago was kind of a joke. Just so you know.
However, this is a great opportunity to post a Calvin and Hobbes comic on the subject of dinosaurs. I suspect I am breaking all kinds of copyright laws here, but I really, really like Calvin, and I think I am willing to take the risk.
Big honkin headlights
A lot of folks here have huge headlights retrofit to their cars. I have never seen these before, which makes me think they must be illegal in Canada. Everyone I have asked claims that they are absolutely necessary during the "dark time", ie, November through February. An American ex-pat I have met here claims that they saved her from a half dozen collisions with moose last year. I am somewhat skeptical. I can't help think that the LCF may be at play (Look-Cool Factor). Because they do actually look quite cool,especially on Volvos (of course). And they don't annoy everyone nearby like those ignorant straight-pipe mufflers that teen-agers put onto their shit-box 1992 Honda Civics back in Quebec.
I am curious about how blinding these lights are for on-coming traffic. I will keep you posted. I haven't seen any actually lit yet.
Les plus veilles skis au monde
EH, pas pire. Je savais depuis que je suis arrivé que la musée de ski de Suède est juste a côté de moi, alors je suis aller le voir hier. C'est vraiment pas pire, pas mal mieux que la musée de ski Canadien a Mont Ste Anne. Ils ont pleins des vieux skis, bien sur, qui date juste qu'a 1700, mais le meilleur est les skis ils ont découvert dans une marrécage pas loin d'ici en 1924. Ils ont 5000 ans (daté par carbone 14)! Check le photo:
Il y a vraiment aucun doute qu'ils sont les skis, ils ont les fixations et tout. Il y a aussi un pelle de neige en bois ils ont trouvé pas loin des skis. Ils disent que ces skis était utilisé pour chasser les dinosaurs. Ou peut être j'ai mal compris :)
Donc, j'habite endans 250 m des plus veilles skis au monde. Cool.
Fun with translations and späcka monkeys
Yes, we have another great link from an Alert Reader. This was in the comments section, but it is just too cool to have hidden away. Check this out:
http://free.translated.net/This web resource allows translation between English and Swedish, something even Google Translate cannot do. Unfortunately, users are limited to about 5 free translations before they are cut off and need to purchase the software. So I went out and did a bit of a web search for other, similar applications. I found:
http://www.worldlingo.com/en/products_services/worldlingo_translator.htmlOf course, I can't help but think that such automated translation programs would have trouble with complicated stuff. So, lets try running the following phrase from English to Swedish and back again, shall we?
"Lard monkeys who are incapable of physical exertion need not apply"
Translated into Swedish:
"Späcka apor som är inkompetenta av läkarundersökningansträngning inte behöver att applicera"
and back into English:
"Späcka monkeys that are inkompetenta of medical examination effort does not need to apply"
Yeah, that may need some work.
Un gaffe...
J'ai fait un gaffe ce matin. J'ai pris mon temps en vélo entre chez moi et travaille: 11:34. Je me connais assez bien - maintenant je vais sentir obligé d'améliorer mon temps chaque jour, même si c'est par 1 seconde. Bientôt, je vais commencer a arriver au travaille plein de sueur et dégelas. Heureusement, ils ont les douches au travaille.
Je suis certain que je suis capable d'aller en bas de 10 minutes...
Prepackaged meatballs
The Barenaked ladies, in the mid-90's asked the burning question: Why are there prepacked sausages but no prepacked bacon?
In Sweden, they went one step better: prepacked meatballs. Of course, Sweden is renowned the world over for its meatballs, thanks in no small part to the marketing genius of the IKEA (and the Swedish Chef - see earlier post).
In Swedish, meatballs are "köttbollar".
The "k" in Swedish is often pronounced as "sh", and the "ö" is pronounced "euh" like "feuille" in french so if you say "shitballs", you won't be far off.
Comments section
Hey, my comments section is starting to see some action. I just wanted to throw out a post encouraging this trend. It is fun getting feedback from Alert Readers.
You don't make friends with salad
As a special request from my comments section, I am pleased to offer my very first Swedish entry to my Blog:
"Icke alla björner domnade för vintertid"
The guy who made the request will probably understand. To my Swedish readers: Please don't crucify me. I am the first to admit how awful my Swedish currently is. It will improve, I promise.
But for the time being: Jag suga.
Anders Sodergren
The skiers out there will recognize who Anders is. He is currently one of the top Swedish xc skiers, and my advisor Jan Sjöstrom is a big fan of his. Jan just showed me Anders' website:
www.teamsodergren.se In particular, Anders is blogging about the training his coach Thomas Alsgaard is putting him through. He calls it his Hell Week, and it consists of 30 hours of training in 6 days, including 3 sessions of significant intervals.
I think the biggest week I ever did was around 24 hours, and I was an overtrained basket case after that. Doing a 30 hour week and actually being able to continue functioning requires an amazing base of training. I went for a 2 hour run the other day and felt like I had put in a good days work. Ha.
Aucun rapport
J'ai pris l'autobus hier. Le monde ici remplis l'avant d'autobus en premier. Je trouvais ça drôle. Par mes observations en Canada (je prennais l'autobus d'école 13 ans comme un jeune), le monde va en arriere par préference. Aucun rapport.
An introduction to Systembolaget
Anyone who spends any time in Sweden will eventually end up in Systembolaget, the Swedish state owned alcohol monopoly. By most accounts, Swedes tend to enjoy their booze and Systembolaget appears to be designed to make obtaining alcohol as challenging as possible.
True, you can buy low alcohol ( less than 3.5%) beer in any grocery store. But really, 3.5%? Why even bother? If I wanted to hydrate, I would drink water. If you want real beer, you must go to Systembolaget.
In an apparent attempt to hide the presence of an alcohol store, the Systembolaget sign is really small and hard to find if you don't know what to look for. I missed it the first time I went looking. Once you are inside, the alcohol is displayed either on metal prison-style shelving or in glass cases. The beer is on pallets. Pricing, however, was not as bad as I had been led to believe. The cost of a case of beer was comparable to in Canada. Unfortunately, their selection of imported beer is quite limited. Swedish beer, which from what I have tasted so far is generally crap. No offense, guys, but I think you know it to be true. The best I have tasted was Norrlands Guld, and that was just passable. Needless to say, I will be importing some Sleemans the next time I am back in Canada. Incidentally, I asked for the catalog to see what I could special order, and there is NO Canadian beer available. Nothing. No Molson's or Labatts or anything. I was quite shocked.
While Swedes have a very healthy attitude towards sexuality compared to North America, they seem to be pretty hung up about the whole drinking/alcohol thing. Interesting.
Meet and Greet
Seeing how everyone here in Lars Färgares gård (the name of my apartment building) is a visiting academic and most people just moved in, I thought it would be nice to organize a meet and greet. The weather was nice, so we were outside. There are 12 occupied apartments here, and I managed to convince representatives from 6 of them to come out and say hi. Not bad on 1 days warning.
Of course, I forgot to take a photo. We are quite an eclectic bunch, though. Everyone was from a different nation: USA, Australia, Poland, Slovenia, Denmark and Canada. Pretty cool.
REALLY clean clothes
I did my laundry yesterday. Normally, this is not worthy of comment. What I thought was unusual was how long it took to wash my clothes. I put them in the washing machine at 8 am, and they were finally finished around 10:30 am. Not dried, mind you, just finished in the washing machine. I thought this seemed a bit excessive, but I really don't pay much attention to my laundry machine in Canada. Normally I throw in a load whenever and it is done when I get back from wherever. So I kind of thought that maybe I just never noticed that it takes 2 1/2 hours for a load of laundry in Canada. Of course, they have the super fancy horizontally rotating washing machines here which you cannot open once the cycle starts, so you can't get pissed and finally rip your clothes out of the machine, clean or not.
I was kind of happy to hear my neighbour (Jane, and Australian) comment this morning on how long the laundry took her to do. I am not crazy after all. I guess Swedes really need clean clothes. Really, REALLY clean clothes. Just in the time I was watching (staring at the glass door as the clothes go round and round is kind of hypnotic and relaxing, actually) the thing must have gone through at least 5 wash/ spin/ rinse cycles.
Dinner at Jan's
So as I mentioned earlier, I was invited over to my advisor's house last night for supper. They live about 15 km outside of Umeå, in a really nice little town. Here is a photo I took before dinner:
From right to left, Jan, myself, Frida, Rasmun, and Lina.
Frida spoke french with me, after taking one year of french in school. Amazing. What is with the language skills of these Swedes? They seem to absorb new languages like sponges.
An introduction to raw pickled fish
Sill is some kind of Swedish delicacy. At least that is the case according to my advisor, Jan Sjöstrom. I generally enjoy fish, so I was looking forward to my initiation.
Here is a photo of Sill in tomato sauce on the left, and the hardcore nothing-but-fish version on the right. I am assured that the brand name Abba has nothing to do with the Swedish band of Dancing Queen fame. I leave you to be the judge.
Here is a photo of hardcore nothing-but-fish Sill on Vasa flatbread with the obligatory shot of schnapps to wash it down. One is well advised to be cautious of any food that requires a shot of hard alcohol to make it palatable...
Verdict? Not too bad, actually. The taste is not as strong as sardines. The texture is a bit like octopus - kind of rubbery. But altogether, not so bad at all. Special mention must go to the schnapps, which Jan's wife Lina prepared from (I am not making this up) some kind of swamp-plant. Her description, not mine. Whatever it was, it was quite good.
Les plans pour le fin de semaine
Ça devrais être assez tranquille... Ce soir j'irais chez mon aviseur Jan Sjöstrom pour souper. Il a suggèré que il y aura pas mal de boissons... Alors c'est possible que demain sera complètement perdu. Par contre, j'ai vraiment besoin de faire mon lavage. J'ai peut être 3 paires de bobbettes qui me reste. La laveuse dans mon bloc apparte est excellent et gratose, mais c'est toujours utilisé. Il va falloir que je reste dans la salle et attendre l'instant même que quelqu'un d'autre a fini leur lavage pour commencer le mien.
Dimanche je suis scédulé pour faire une ski a roullettes avec mon ami Håkon. L'après midi j'ai organisé un rencontre avec toutes les personnes qui reste dans ma bloc appartement (il y a 14 appartes). Ils sont tous les academiques (la bloc appartiens a l'université d'Umeå) et ils viens de partout dans le monde: L'Australie, les États Unies, Nouveau Zélande, Rép. Tcheque, etc etc. On verra si ça marche. Je ne suis pas sur. Ils ont tous l'aire plus que 40 ans.
Google does it again
An Alert Reader has just brought an amazing new Google tool to my attention (Thanks Becky!) It is called GMaps-pedometer, and the link logically enough is www.gmap-pedometer.com
This little thing allows to to measure exactly how far you walk, run, bike, whatever during your workout. Go play with it. For example, it was capable of telling me that between my doorstep in Umea and my doorstep in Quebec City is exactly 5532.9952 km. For you engineers out there, that is 8 significant digits. In other words, it measured a distance of over 5000 km to the nearest tenth of a millimeter. Allegedly.
Well, skepticism aside it is still darn cool. Plus it shows you the direction you need to face if you talk to someone on the phone long distance and want to talk towards them. Am I the only one who does that?
My big question is whether that 5532.99 km is straight line through the center of the earth, or whether it takes the curvature of the planet into account. If it takes the curvature into account, those Google dudes are frickin amazing.
Telephone Update!
Hi everyone.
I just had my first successful incoming phone call from Canada! Thanks Steph!
The correct number as dialed from Canada to reach me is :
011 46 90 786 7962
So scratch whatever it was I wrote in the earlier post.
Why Sweden Rocks Part III
I was out rollerskiing yesterday. There are miles and miles of paved bikepaths and in two hours I did not use the same path twice. That alone was excellent, but not the reason why Sweden Rocks. At about the halfway point of my rollerski, I approached an elderly lady carrying a grocery bag in each hand. She was walking towards me and when she saw me, she put down the two bags and started clapping and cheering.
I defy you - find ANY place in Canada where that would happen. Maybe Canmore? Perhaps Thunder Bay with their big Finnish community (on second thought, those Finns are probably too stoic to show such enthusiasm).
Anyhow, the point is that once again, Sweden Rocks.
My bike route to work
This is off of Google Maps, so you can figure out where I am if you want to by using it. It is worth checking out anyway, it is an awesome tool.
A Coffee Haiku
Hot bitter nectar
Warming my tender stomach
How I love you so
Awesome Swedish toilets (no, really)
I was wondering what to post today, until I took a look in my mailbox. There was this catalog from Comfort, which seems to be a Swedish bathroom and kitchen store. It blew my mind. This stuff makes Ikea look sick. Their website,
www.comfort.se is not actually all that good, the amazing photos in the catalog are not available on-line. Here is one decent shot I found, though:
Anyhow, these are bathrooms to die for. I cannot believe I actually wrote that sentence. Although I am still having trouble with the Swedish Crown-Canadian dollar conversion (you try dividing all prices by 6.6 to figure out what it is REALLY worth. I am going to start carrying a calculator with me), the prices seem competitive. 300 bucks for a super duper toilet, for example. How come in Canada we still don't have dual flush toilets, by the way? Over here they are everywhere. It makes so much sense, since number 1 needs way less water to flush than number 2.
Les invitations pour souper
Ce weekend ma calendrier social etait pas mal plein. Je suis aller chez Håkon (un gars qui travaille au FOI) et sa femme Elin samedi soir, et je suis aller chez les Ellis' (les Canadiens qui sont ici depuis fevrier) dimanche soir. Les Ellis' sont ici pour son sabbatique de l'Universite of British Columbia (il est un prof la-bas), et ils sont quelques unes des membres originales de Mountain Equipment Coop. Leur numero de membre avec MEC est le 675... De gauche a droite, Brian, Margaret et moi:
Samedi soir on etait 5 adults et 3 jeunes. Je ne me souviens pas de grande choses apres que les jeunes sont coucher vers 22h00, donc j'imagine c'etait bien... J'ai pris une photo de tout le monde, mais pour un raison que je ne comprends pas, ca ne veux pas etre uploade.
Swedes
I have fielded several questions from Alert Readers concerning the blondeness and hotness of Swedes. Yes, Hakim in Indonesia, I am talking to you.
Well, I am sorry to report that contrary to what pop culture would have you believe, not everyone here in Sweden is attractive. However, I have to concede that in general the bell curve is skewed towards the hotness end of the scale, mostly due to the fact that a surprising number of people here are really physically fit.
On the other hand, based on a Highly Scientific study consisting on me being in Umeå for 48 hours, the number of really cute Swedish kids is a statistical anomaly. It seems that in order to be a card-carrying member of the Swedish Children's Union, you are required by law to have white-blonde hair and startlingly blue eyes.
Exhibit A: Linnea Wingfors (on Dad Håkon's knee)
Exhibit B: Mira Scott (On Dad Patrick's knee)
Bliss
I have wanted to own an expresso machine for almost as long as I have wanted to live on an orienteering map. I really, really like coffee. Like, a lot. No, seriously.
So when I finally caved and got myself a machine this weekend, I was quite excited.
Here she is, fresh out of the box. Notice the sexy metal finish and the naughty, coquettish poise of the filter handle. Oooh, yeah.
Speaking of the filter handle thingy, it is heavy enough to club a moose (well, that image kind of killed the mood, didn't it?). Of course, this blog does not in any way condone the use of expresso machine components for the clubbing of wild animals. Just in case any PETA members out there were inclined to ask.
A perfect crema! Just look at that bad-boy! This here is the Peacemaker of expressos. You almost expect to hear John Madden in the background yelling "BOOM!"
Enjoying my inaugural cuppa (notice the expression of bliss)
100 hits
Hey, that was pretty quick.
Last night this blog reached 100 viewings. To the dude in Jakarta, Indonesia who keeps looking at this blog: Welcome, brother.
Still one of the greatest Swedes of all time
Bork Bork Bork! I remember the Swedish chef was my absolute favourite muppet character He appeared so infrequently, it made his scenes even better. I can distinctly recall being about 8, watching the Swedish chef and laughing so hard I wet myself.
Why Sweden Rocks Part II
At the mountain bike orienteering race this morning, there were about 20 people who showed up. Not surprising, because most orienteers are more into running than mtn biking. Despite that, they had maps all made up ahead of time, and the race was run with Sport Ident (SI) chips at each control. In Canada, only the big clubs or big races (like Nationals) ever use SI chips. They are expensive and kind of a pain to set up and take down again after. The cool thing about them is that at the end of the race you can download your chip to a computer to see how long it took you to run each leg.
I asked why they were using SI chips for such a small event and I got a number of polite replies. However, it was clear that they were looking at me and wondering if I was some kind of uncultured Philistine for even considering orienteering without proper equipment.
And for that, Sweden Rocks
MY CONTACT INFORMATION
Hi everyone,
Here is my address:
Jeff Lewis
Lars Fargäres gård
Lgh 12
903 42 Umeå
SWEDEN
and my telephone number (allegedly)
46 090 786 7962
Theoretically, if you dial this exact number from Canada, my telephone should ring. Theoretically
When someone successfully validates this theory, I will post an update. Be advised, I am 6 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time (Ontario and Quebec) and if I do have voice mail, I have no clue how to access it.
For what it is worth, it took me about 10 iterations to finally dial through to Canada. The Swedish-only automated operator did not help.
Aujourdhui
Desole, aucun photos aujourdhui. J'ai rencontre enfin Margaret et Brian Ellis, qui viennent de Vancouver. Lui est un prof a UBC, en train de faire son sabbatique ici a Universite d'Umeå. Ils sont ici depuis fevrier, donc ils ont pu m'aider avec quelques affaires, surtout mon numero telephone. Je suis content que ce n'est pas seulement mois qui trouve la systeme de telephone complique ici - eux autres aussi on la misere. Comme par exemple, mon directeur, Jan Sjoström, habit dans un vieux coin, alors son numero de telephone est seulement 5 chiffres. Dans les autres coins, c'est 7 ou même 9 chiffres.
En tout cas, Margaret m'avais apporter a la competition de orienteering ce matin. C'etait bien genial, j'ai rencontre plein des gens. Ils s'entraine chaque mercredi et dimanche ensemble, et des fois les mardis aussi. C'etait seulement un course d'orientation de velo de montagne, et j'etais content avec ma performance. Surtout en vue que j'ai utilise une velo emprunte.
Ce soi je suis invite chez Håkon Wingfors, un gars de mon age qui travaille au FOI. Il va faire le Vasaloppet avec moi. Il y aura sutours 10 personnes, donc ca devrais etre agreable.
Orienteering
I seem to have been recruited by Umeå OK, one of the orienteering clubs here in town.
This is the same club that Mike Waddington belongs to. Mike is a multiple Canadian champion, and he did his Ph.D. thesis work here in Umeå 10 years ago or so. During his time here, he appears to have kicked serious local ass in o-meets.
I have spoken to a couple of members of Umeå OK, and I get the sneaky suspicion that they think I am some kind of a ringer on the scale of Mike or something. My protests of being a crappy but enthusiastic orienteer just don't seem to have any effect. I think they think I am just being modest.
I am not. I really am a crappy but enthusiastic orienteer. I hope I don't dash too many hopes when I crash and burn at the race this weekend.
On the upside, Björn, the Umeå OK webmaster (
www.umeaok.se ) just gave me a map of Gammlia. This is a big park in Umeå with lit ski trails in the winter. My apartment building is on the map. I LIVE ON AN ORIENTEERING MAP.
I can die now. My life is complete.
Quelques autres photos..
Ceci est une autre photo d'Umeå. La centre-ville est pour les pietons et les velos seulement, aucuns autos. C'est genial. Je n'ai pas encore trouve les bonnes cafes, mais les personnes ici me dis que il y en a.
Ceci est une sculpture en avant l'opera. Oui, crois ca ou non, il y a une opera ici. "Norrlands-operan". La sculpture est un banc en beton qui est chauffe tout l'annee long par l'electricite - le commanditaire du sculpture est la compagnie d'electricite dans la region. Il y a aussi l'internet gratose par un prise dans le banc. Tu vois ma belle velo a droite...
Where I work
This is FOI, the Swedish Defence Research Institute. I have no idea what the acronym stands for.
Why Sweden Rocks Part I
The toys in cereal boxes here kick ass. Here is a photo of the toy in my Cheerios this morning:
This took me all of breakfast to assemble and to apply the decals - say about 15 minutes. It is also quite heavy (for plastic) and the wheels are Hotwheels quality.
In North America, where it seems attention deficit disorder is the norm rather than the exception, a toy like this would never make it past the test market phase.
I bet there is a strong negative correlation between the average length of time required to assemble a cereal toy in a given country and the rates of Ritalin prescriptions in said country. This would make an awesome Masters thesis for some social scientist type.
