These days modern technology allows us possibilities which where unknown a few years before.
With an internet connection you can watch the final of the Australian Open on a laptop.
Even without an internet connection you can see a football match on a laptop, simply using a HTC mobile as a modem
And finally, if you are on a bus and you only have a mobile phone, you can watch your own football team on that micro screen.
Who knows what technology will allow us tomorrow...
söndagen den 29:e januari 2012
onsdagen den 18:e januari 2012
London: the city of everybody and nobody
Of the city where I used to live
London is definitely the one I least think about.
I never felt London like home or my place, but I'm sure many people can say the opposite.
London seems to me the city of everybody and nobody.
However none can deny it is a charmy city
London is definitely the one I least think about.
I never felt London like home or my place, but I'm sure many people can say the opposite.
London seems to me the city of everybody and nobody.
However none can deny it is a charmy city
lördagen den 31:e december 2011
The day before New Year's Eve
The day before New Year's Eve
people tend to take it easy to be ready for the party of the following day.
Not many folks have realized it's better to party the day before, to avoid the disappointment caused by big expectations.
Take Dublin for instance: never mind December 30th is a Friday, very few people are around; not even on a regular Monday you see Temple Bar so empty...
people tend to take it easy to be ready for the party of the following day.
Not many folks have realized it's better to party the day before, to avoid the disappointment caused by big expectations.
Take Dublin for instance: never mind December 30th is a Friday, very few people are around; not even on a regular Monday you see Temple Bar so empty...
måndagen den 26:e december 2011
Christmas in Roma
Christmas in Roma
is not so different from the rest of the world.
It's Roma that is different from the rest of the world....
is not so different from the rest of the world.
It's Roma that is different from the rest of the world....
onsdagen den 7:e december 2011
Is Sweden racist for real?
"We Swedes have to come face to face to the fact that we are super racist!" my friend Kåre told me after a few weeks from my arrival in Sweden.
Kåre's words might have some point.
Racism exists even in Sweden (but the Swedes are not so aware of it).
Any foreigner who lives in Sweden for a while (Erasmus students don't count) notices a certain attitude.
What does that mean?
I need to be clear about the meaning of my statement, otherwise I could get the same reaction the average Swede has when I tell them this (without any insulting attitude): they look at me as if I had said that Albania is the strongest national football team in the world, they get astonished.
Then they add: "But we Swedes give political asylum to every Iranian or Iraqi who applies for that; we give them a job, an accommodation to live, everything they need to live in a decent way"
That's true.
It's also true that many men and women have relationships with people from other countries; I could quote many positive aspects of Swedish people which make them among the best citizens in the world.
But it's a matter of fact that if you live in Sweden you are never taken too seriously, simply because you come from a different culture, which is perceived not as good as the Swedish one; if you apply for a serious job you'll get it only if there's no Swede who can do that job at all (but that happens almost in every country).
Here is one of the examples I could provide: a friend of mine got a very good job for a Swedish IT consultancy company which worked with the Italian market; my friend was hired at the very last, after they tried employing some Swedes who spoke a bit of Italian; the problem was these Swedes could not really understand the Italians on the phone, so the company in the end they had to give in: "We need an Italian native speaker, otherwise we risk to lose this important client of ours for communication impossibility"
Obviously when they had to choose between hiring a native speaker of another Country or losing a big customer they had to do what they didn't plan at first.
Another non Swedish friend of mine was the best performer of his company in Stockholm, always reaching the highest targets; one day he had a chance to have a look at a work contract of a new colleague of his, who was a native Swedish girl, with no work experience: her starting salary was significantly higher than his and he could not find any explanation for that. So he started asking around what could be the reason, and his colleagues answered him "you are not Swedish..".
I know other stories of the kind.
What's my conclusion?
When the Swedes tells me that Sweden provides a foreigner many good things they are right: not many Countries can say the same thing.
But they miss to realize their unconscious attitude towards the foreigners. These things are perceived.
It's true that in Sweden people are not allowed to joke about ethnic groups, they are always politically correct speaking wise.
But facts count more than words.
Obviously what I have written here is only a generalization and not all Swedes are like that, but without generalizations 90% of speeches does not exist.
My Swedish friends don't get pissed off when I claim what they know (in the deepest part of their hart).
Because they are smart.
Kåre's words might have some point.
Racism exists even in Sweden (but the Swedes are not so aware of it).
Any foreigner who lives in Sweden for a while (Erasmus students don't count) notices a certain attitude.
What does that mean?
I need to be clear about the meaning of my statement, otherwise I could get the same reaction the average Swede has when I tell them this (without any insulting attitude): they look at me as if I had said that Albania is the strongest national football team in the world, they get astonished.
Then they add: "But we Swedes give political asylum to every Iranian or Iraqi who applies for that; we give them a job, an accommodation to live, everything they need to live in a decent way"
That's true.
It's also true that many men and women have relationships with people from other countries; I could quote many positive aspects of Swedish people which make them among the best citizens in the world.
But it's a matter of fact that if you live in Sweden you are never taken too seriously, simply because you come from a different culture, which is perceived not as good as the Swedish one; if you apply for a serious job you'll get it only if there's no Swede who can do that job at all (but that happens almost in every country).
Here is one of the examples I could provide: a friend of mine got a very good job for a Swedish IT consultancy company which worked with the Italian market; my friend was hired at the very last, after they tried employing some Swedes who spoke a bit of Italian; the problem was these Swedes could not really understand the Italians on the phone, so the company in the end they had to give in: "We need an Italian native speaker, otherwise we risk to lose this important client of ours for communication impossibility"
Obviously when they had to choose between hiring a native speaker of another Country or losing a big customer they had to do what they didn't plan at first.
Another non Swedish friend of mine was the best performer of his company in Stockholm, always reaching the highest targets; one day he had a chance to have a look at a work contract of a new colleague of his, who was a native Swedish girl, with no work experience: her starting salary was significantly higher than his and he could not find any explanation for that. So he started asking around what could be the reason, and his colleagues answered him "you are not Swedish..".
I know other stories of the kind.
What's my conclusion?
When the Swedes tells me that Sweden provides a foreigner many good things they are right: not many Countries can say the same thing.
But they miss to realize their unconscious attitude towards the foreigners. These things are perceived.
It's true that in Sweden people are not allowed to joke about ethnic groups, they are always politically correct speaking wise.
But facts count more than words.
Obviously what I have written here is only a generalization and not all Swedes are like that, but without generalizations 90% of speeches does not exist.
My Swedish friends don't get pissed off when I claim what they know (in the deepest part of their hart).
Because they are smart.
söndagen den 4:e december 2011
Dublin is Cozy
After 14 months I can say that:
I did the right thing when I moved here
Ultimately Dublin is a cozy city, where you feel at home
Where you can go to a party on a Saturday night and at first you know only one person, but in a couple of hours you know everyone there, or at least the most significant ones
I may miss something from Sweden but I am happy to be here
I did the right thing when I moved here
Ultimately Dublin is a cozy city, where you feel at home
Where you can go to a party on a Saturday night and at first you know only one person, but in a couple of hours you know everyone there, or at least the most significant ones
I may miss something from Sweden but I am happy to be here
söndagen den 27:e november 2011
När är det dags att lämna Dublin?
Fyra år ser ut som den maximala tiden att bo på Irland för många personer.
Många kompisar och bekanta som har bott på denna ö har levt utan problem de första tre år, men efteråt har de börjat leta efter
någonting annat, det vill säga de har börjat söka ett ny ställe att bo.
Varför?
Orsaken kunde vara att man blir så van till sitt liv att det känns som bara rutin, och man vill inte känna sig som en maskin.
Så lösningen är identifierad med en flyttning till ett annat land där man kan hitta vad man inte har, eller minst där kan man känna sig motiverad
När man börjar allting från början i ett nytt land känns man sig levande och det är bara bra.
Problemet är att efter en stund riskerar man att befinna sig på en ny rutin, och vad blir viktigast är om de sakerna som man har i nytt land är bättre än de sakerna som man hade i föregående landet.
Annars kan det hända att man bestämmer sig för att återvända till föregående landet, därför att under mellantiden har man fattat att detta land var bättre än man hade bedömd i första hand..
Många kompisar och bekanta som har bott på denna ö har levt utan problem de första tre år, men efteråt har de börjat leta efter
någonting annat, det vill säga de har börjat söka ett ny ställe att bo.
Varför?
Orsaken kunde vara att man blir så van till sitt liv att det känns som bara rutin, och man vill inte känna sig som en maskin.
Så lösningen är identifierad med en flyttning till ett annat land där man kan hitta vad man inte har, eller minst där kan man känna sig motiverad
När man börjar allting från början i ett nytt land känns man sig levande och det är bara bra.
Problemet är att efter en stund riskerar man att befinna sig på en ny rutin, och vad blir viktigast är om de sakerna som man har i nytt land är bättre än de sakerna som man hade i föregående landet.
Annars kan det hända att man bestämmer sig för att återvända till föregående landet, därför att under mellantiden har man fattat att detta land var bättre än man hade bedömd i första hand..
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