On Friday early evening I met up with some of the tango gang to head down to Lomma for the "Tango Marathon." It wasn't one of the "dance until you drop ones" and nor was it "the music never stops." It was a lot of dancing in the evenings (10pm until 4am) and workshops during the day. It was near the beach (about 20 minutes walking) so on Saturday afternoon we went there, and danced some on the deck of some beach bar.
Ahh, the scene of the crime. Zoom out a bit and follow Habovägen south west. Actually, zoom out enough so you can also see the small boat harbor and the channel. Going a bit up the coast you'll see "Campingvägen" ("The Camping Road"). The beach bar was at the southwest corner of that rectangle.
It was cheap. SEK 500 (about $80) for food, a place to sleep, and the milongas. A bit more for the workshops. Why was it cheap? Because we also prepared the meals (I was Saturday morning breakfast crew) and "place to sleep" meant "the floor". Though those with a tent could pitch one, and some slept in their cars or got a place nearby. And those from Lund (nearby) slept at home.
I was still rather tired and travel-logged from coming back from Lithuania so I went to bed early on Saturday night, at about 2am. As the dance floor wasn't due to be converted into the sleeping floor for another couple of hours, the question was "where do I sleep?" Mind you, I also needed to be up at 9am to help with breakfast.
The answer? The sauna in the men's changing room. It was a great place to sleep. (It was off.) With the door closed it was quiet and dark. The bench was a bit hard, but the floor would have been as well, and colder. A couple of people checked out the sauna while I was sleeping, looking I assume for a place to sleep. There was room for another on the other bench, but I woke up alone. Spent the 2nd night there was well, though this time with two others.
One was a Finn. He's the one who earlier Saturday night asked if it was okay to use the sauna, and did. I and another joined him. I've been surprised at the Swedes. Very few of the apartments I've looked at have a sauna. The couple I've seen have had it as part of the housing association's common property, and not a personal sauna. I know parts of the northern midwest (US) have small saunas, for 1 or 2, and thought that Sweden would be the same. But no.
Too bad, so sad. I like saunas.
The dancing got me thinking existential questions. (It's a weak word play on Swedish, where you don't say "There is a house in New Orleans", instead saying "It exists a house in New Orleans"). If I took lessons I would become a better tango dancer faster than I would doing it on my own. But does there exist a tango teacher in Gbg that I want to learn from? And what's the reason for wanting to get better? It's in part because there were some really good dancers at the marathon, and I felt out of place. But suppose I were to work hard at it, take lessons, attend workshops .. to what end? Or should I do other dances instead? Hmmm....
Johanna called me a galning after we danced Saturday night, and a Swiss woman also said I was a crazy guy. Both in a good way. The Swiss woman was crazier than me. I'm energetic in tango, and like the expressive interpretation that can happen. It's more of a tango nuevo thing. Is there a nuevo teacher around here? Not that I know of.
It was pretty hard for me the first 24 hours or so. There were a lot of new people, and directly after a conference. Conferences tend to burn me out socially, meeting new people and being outgoing can take a toll. What makes it harder too is forcing myself to do it all in Swedish. Though there were Danes there too (and Swedes from Skåne, who have their own accent). I know that doing so is overall a good thing for my Swedish learning, but it can make me feel so dumb. *sigh*
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
what I've been doing, including ID
I've been traveling a lot this last month or so. I was in the UK for the chemoinformatics conference in Sheffield and in Lithuania for the EuroPython conference in Vilnius. And after the Sheffield conference I did some followup work, which I just finished today. They required a lot of preparation, which made it harder to keep up with this blog.
I think there's only so much writing I can do in a day, and those other things took up any slack.
I still don't have a place of my own to live. I'm staying at Debora's apartment on Kungsladugården. She went home to Argentina for a while and then to France. She comes back this Saturday, so I'll be cleaning up and moving back to the House of a Thousand Wows.
I've started looking again. As lac pointed out, looking for an apartment is a part-time job, and I just didn't have the time for it. I've also got to talk with the bank again. Previously they said my folkbokföring wasn't finished yet, and once that was done the woman I was talking with would need to talk with the higher ups because, well, I'm an unusual case. After all, I'm not employed by any Swedish company and have no credit history here in Sweden.
Two Fridays ago I took care of the last bits needed to get a Swedish ID card. It's a bit tricky because there's no way for me to get one from the government. They changed the laws at the beginning of the year, and to get one now requires I come with a Swedish relative or spouse. As my nearest Swedish relatives derive from about 4 generations back, well, that's rather hard. But it is possible to get a card from the bank, and I chose my bank in part because they said I could get one from them.
I took all the paperwork in, my passport, the photo for the ID, and Jacob (they still needed a Swede to vouch for who I am). I had everything but one, a "personbevis". That's proof that I've been registered to live in Sweden and have a personnummer. One dictionary translates it as "birth certificate" but that's not quite right. So I went to the tax office and asked for a personbevis, then back to the bank. Oops! Turned out I asked for the wrong personbevis. There's apparently many sorts, and the one I asked for was "bank owner" when I should have asked for "identification."
Getting the personbevis was simple. "I would like a personbevis." "Why?" "" "Here you go." "Thanks." The boring part was getting from the bank to the tax office and back. So I went back to the tax office and told the woman I asked for the wrong personbevis. So she printed out several different ones for me, just in case the bank wanted a few others. Very nice of her!
It's being processed and I should get it in a few more weeks.
I think there's only so much writing I can do in a day, and those other things took up any slack.
I still don't have a place of my own to live. I'm staying at Debora's apartment on Kungsladugården. She went home to Argentina for a while and then to France. She comes back this Saturday, so I'll be cleaning up and moving back to the House of a Thousand Wows.
I've started looking again. As lac pointed out, looking for an apartment is a part-time job, and I just didn't have the time for it. I've also got to talk with the bank again. Previously they said my folkbokföring wasn't finished yet, and once that was done the woman I was talking with would need to talk with the higher ups because, well, I'm an unusual case. After all, I'm not employed by any Swedish company and have no credit history here in Sweden.
Two Fridays ago I took care of the last bits needed to get a Swedish ID card. It's a bit tricky because there's no way for me to get one from the government. They changed the laws at the beginning of the year, and to get one now requires I come with a Swedish relative or spouse. As my nearest Swedish relatives derive from about 4 generations back, well, that's rather hard. But it is possible to get a card from the bank, and I chose my bank in part because they said I could get one from them.
I took all the paperwork in, my passport, the photo for the ID, and Jacob (they still needed a Swede to vouch for who I am). I had everything but one, a "personbevis". That's proof that I've been registered to live in Sweden and have a personnummer. One dictionary translates it as "birth certificate" but that's not quite right. So I went to the tax office and asked for a personbevis, then back to the bank. Oops! Turned out I asked for the wrong personbevis. There's apparently many sorts, and the one I asked for was "bank owner" when I should have asked for "identification."
Getting the personbevis was simple. "I would like a personbevis." "Why?" "
It's being processed and I should get it in a few more weeks.
Salsa in London
I went to the Sheffield Chemoinformatics conference a few weeks ago in, umm, Sheffield. I left Sweden a few days earlier to visit dance friends of mine in Oxford. On Friday we went to London for salsa dancing, and on Saturday we stayed in Oxford for tango.
Salsa in England has been a bit strange for me. I say "England" because I went salsa dancing once in Scotland and that was normal, so it's not a UK thing. When I've danced with English women I've often felt like something isn't quite there in the connection. It was about 1.5 years ago when I first danced salsa in the UK, both in London ("SOS" = "Salsa On Sunday") and in Cambridge. I couldn't figure out what it was; a timing thing? Cuban vs. L.A. style? Craig (UK Craig, who reintroduced me to salsa years ago) was there too and pointed out that I look at my partner, and English women don't like that.
I've born that in mind, and indeed it seems that my favorite dances in England were with non-English woman. The two I liked best at SOS were with a Swiss woman and with an American.
This time it was salsa at the Ealing town hall (organized by Mambo City). Good venue, with high, high ceilings so it didn't get hot quickly. They also had powerful blowers set up around the floor to get some breeze going. There were, what, 150-200 people there, almost all L.A. style/on-1, which is the style I dance. At SOS I noticed that there was a gradation, with the better dancers near the stage. Here, not so much. Just a lot of good dancers.
I jokingly say that I have an accent when I dance. It's not a joke though - people learn moves and styles based in part on teachers and the local dance community. People coming to Santa Fe could tell that several of the leads had the same dance background. I say it's "Santa Fe style salsa". Not as showy as the LA style they do in Gothenburg, and smooth. Thank you Santiago!
And just like talking to someone with a different accent, dancing with someone used to another style can cause some oopsies. Which happend, of course. Not quite as bad as "what do you mean 'you'll knock me up in the morning'?".
Of the people I danced with, the two I had the most fun with were .. with non-English women. One was a native Spanish speaker. Technically not as good as some of the others (it was a good crowd), but she had fun with the dance, which more than made up for it. The other, which was the last, was with an Australian woman. Also fun, with smiles and expressiveness.
Compare with an English woman I danced with (I assume based on accent) who just kinda looked another direction when we danced, and didn't crack a smile. Strange those English women.
Another cultural observation: in most places I've been it's okay to ask for another dance. That is, with salsa the custom is 1 dance, plus one more if either side wants to continue. Depending on the place, that can continue for a few more dances. At Ealing it was always one dance and only one dance.
Salsa in England has been a bit strange for me. I say "England" because I went salsa dancing once in Scotland and that was normal, so it's not a UK thing. When I've danced with English women I've often felt like something isn't quite there in the connection. It was about 1.5 years ago when I first danced salsa in the UK, both in London ("SOS" = "Salsa On Sunday") and in Cambridge. I couldn't figure out what it was; a timing thing? Cuban vs. L.A. style? Craig (UK Craig, who reintroduced me to salsa years ago) was there too and pointed out that I look at my partner, and English women don't like that.
I've born that in mind, and indeed it seems that my favorite dances in England were with non-English woman. The two I liked best at SOS were with a Swiss woman and with an American.
This time it was salsa at the Ealing town hall (organized by Mambo City). Good venue, with high, high ceilings so it didn't get hot quickly. They also had powerful blowers set up around the floor to get some breeze going. There were, what, 150-200 people there, almost all L.A. style/on-1, which is the style I dance. At SOS I noticed that there was a gradation, with the better dancers near the stage. Here, not so much. Just a lot of good dancers.
I jokingly say that I have an accent when I dance. It's not a joke though - people learn moves and styles based in part on teachers and the local dance community. People coming to Santa Fe could tell that several of the leads had the same dance background. I say it's "Santa Fe style salsa". Not as showy as the LA style they do in Gothenburg, and smooth. Thank you Santiago!
And just like talking to someone with a different accent, dancing with someone used to another style can cause some oopsies. Which happend, of course. Not quite as bad as "what do you mean 'you'll knock me up in the morning'?".
Of the people I danced with, the two I had the most fun with were .. with non-English women. One was a native Spanish speaker. Technically not as good as some of the others (it was a good crowd), but she had fun with the dance, which more than made up for it. The other, which was the last, was with an Australian woman. Also fun, with smiles and expressiveness.
Compare with an English woman I danced with (I assume based on accent) who just kinda looked another direction when we danced, and didn't crack a smile. Strange those English women.
Another cultural observation: in most places I've been it's okay to ask for another dance. That is, with salsa the custom is 1 dance, plus one more if either side wants to continue. Depending on the place, that can continue for a few more dances. At Ealing it was always one dance and only one dance.
Friday, June 08, 2007
Joyce
Joyce is a woman in South Africa that Heikki and Minna employ to help with the household chores. Amoung other things she helps with the laundry. When I've stayed with them, she's done my laundry as well. Including ironing the shirts. I have a linen shirt which I like to wear when dancing. I usually don't worry about the wrinkles, which aren't all that bad after air tumbling. But then I saw what it looks like when ironed. Wow!
Last couple of times I washed clothes here, I ironed the shirts afterwards. They do look better that way, and it fixes a few edges that have always given me problems. But they don't look anywhere near as nice as when Joyce does them.
In San Franciso there are a lot of wash and fold places. There are very few laundry places here, but they are rare and expensive. I've only seen signs posting price per article, not price per kg. I wonder why there's the disparity. San Francisco isn't all that cheap a place to live.
Last couple of times I washed clothes here, I ironed the shirts afterwards. They do look better that way, and it fixes a few edges that have always given me problems. But they don't look anywhere near as nice as when Joyce does them.
In San Franciso there are a lot of wash and fold places. There are very few laundry places here, but they are rare and expensive. I've only seen signs posting price per article, not price per kg. I wonder why there's the disparity. San Francisco isn't all that cheap a place to live.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
apartment hunt status
Minna asked me "How's the flat hunting? Have you found anything suitable?"
"Suitable" has so many dimensions. I found a place I would like to live. It's a 1 bedroom place (2 r.o.k) in Majorna, in the same complex where one of the AstraZeneca people I work with lives. Very nice. I walked into it and like the feel, both of the apartment and the building. The neighborhood's not was I was thinking of, but it's a very nice neighborhood. I had the idea that there would be more restaurants and things nearby. Still a nice neighborhood, and I'm thinking I might like it better.
It's 58 sq. meters, so a bit less than what I've been looking for, but also cheaper. The asking price was 1 260 000 or so. I expected the final bid to be about 20% higher, which is a bit over 1,5 million kronor ($220,000). Last I talked with the real estate agent, current bid price was 1,6 million ($234,000). That's getting pretty expensive.
(Note: it's morning now. I was woken up by the real estate agent's phone call that the current bid is 1 630 000:-. If I were to make a counter offer it would be for 1 650 000:-, which is $241,000.
Mortgages here have a minimum of 10% down. US was typically 20% down but now so-called "80/10/10" is more common, which is effectively the local system - 80% first mortgage, 10% second, and 10% down. Here it's the same. There's a "bottom loan" which is about 80-85% of the loan, and a "top loan" which covers the gap between the bottom loan and the down payment.
If I bid and win at 1,65 million and put 345 000 SEK down, that's 20% down, so I can stay with the bottom loan. I'm trying to figure out if I can afford it. In the US I could -- that's about what I was paying for my house in Santa Fe. Here? I don't understand how to use this online mortgage calculator. One that I used said it would be well within my means. The one I'm trying now says I'll pay almost $2,000/month. But that's obviously wrong as otherwise I would pay off the loan in about 15 year, when I selected "40 year mortgage". Most likely I don't know what interest rate to use.
I have an appointment at the bank at 1:30 to figure this out. Immediately afterwards I'll call the real estate agent to let him know the good/bad news. You all can figure for yourself which outcome is "good" (have place, spend beau coup bucks) or "bad" (continue searching, look for smaller place and spend less money).
"Suitable" has so many dimensions. I found a place I would like to live. It's a 1 bedroom place (2 r.o.k) in Majorna, in the same complex where one of the AstraZeneca people I work with lives. Very nice. I walked into it and like the feel, both of the apartment and the building. The neighborhood's not was I was thinking of, but it's a very nice neighborhood. I had the idea that there would be more restaurants and things nearby. Still a nice neighborhood, and I'm thinking I might like it better.
It's 58 sq. meters, so a bit less than what I've been looking for, but also cheaper. The asking price was 1 260 000 or so. I expected the final bid to be about 20% higher, which is a bit over 1,5 million kronor ($220,000). Last I talked with the real estate agent, current bid price was 1,6 million ($234,000). That's getting pretty expensive.
(Note: it's morning now. I was woken up by the real estate agent's phone call that the current bid is 1 630 000:-. If I were to make a counter offer it would be for 1 650 000:-, which is $241,000.
Mortgages here have a minimum of 10% down. US was typically 20% down but now so-called "80/10/10" is more common, which is effectively the local system - 80% first mortgage, 10% second, and 10% down. Here it's the same. There's a "bottom loan" which is about 80-85% of the loan, and a "top loan" which covers the gap between the bottom loan and the down payment.
If I bid and win at 1,65 million and put 345 000 SEK down, that's 20% down, so I can stay with the bottom loan. I'm trying to figure out if I can afford it. In the US I could -- that's about what I was paying for my house in Santa Fe. Here? I don't understand how to use this online mortgage calculator. One that I used said it would be well within my means. The one I'm trying now says I'll pay almost $2,000/month. But that's obviously wrong as otherwise I would pay off the loan in about 15 year, when I selected "40 year mortgage". Most likely I don't know what interest rate to use.
I have an appointment at the bank at 1:30 to figure this out. Immediately afterwards I'll call the real estate agent to let him know the good/bad news. You all can figure for yourself which outcome is "good" (have place, spend beau coup bucks) or "bad" (continue searching, look for smaller place and spend less money).
Sunday, May 20, 2007
apt. buying
(I wrote a long blog post last week for Mother's Day, with pictures of Göteborg and running commentary. Worked on it for many hours. Just at the end my laptop crashed. Had never saved the article. Hadn't even thought of it. All gone. As I write this now I see that within the last week Blogger will autosave. One week too late for me.)
I spent a lot of time this week working on understanding Swedish real estate. I mentioned some of the generalities earlier, but when it get to spending about $200,000 on something I would like to know what I'm getting into. When you see a place the real estate agent includes details about the housing associations economics. It's the summary of the buget for the past couple of years, what was done, the loans that are outstanding, how long it's been since the plumbing and electrical were replaced, the cost of power and heating per square meter, and so on, and so on, and so on. It uses Swedish accounting terms, which are for the most part ones I hadn't seen before.
The association uses another company to do some of the work, like the auditing, but they do some of it themselves. For example, the owners of the one I was looking at are in charge of cleaning the stairwells ("trapphus" = "stair house") and the inner yard, as well as clearing the snow off the yard and roof. I couldn't figure out if that means the association contracts out that work themselves or literally do it themselves. Would I be expected to go up on the roof and clear off snow in the highly unlikely case of Göteborg having more than 1/4" of snow?
I went by Fastighetsbyrån to ask. They are the agents for the apartment. I've been by there a couple of times as I ask questions. They have been very helpful and patient. They are tied to Swedbank, and the service at both places has been excellent. On Wednesday Charlotte and I did the conversation almost all in Swedish, making it the longest hard conversation I've had. There were many side steps to work around things I didn't know, but it worked. I got enough of an understanding to go back and work on mre questions to ask.
Thursday was a "red day" here - a public holiday. They are colored red on the calendar, hence the name. Laura and Jacob hosted a game day in the afternoon, with board games, dinner, conversation, and fun. I asked various Swedes for input on how to interpret the budget. Turns out relatively few had lived in a bostadsrättförening, which surprises me still. But I got a lot of helpful feedback.
The bidding process started on Friday. There are a couple of days for it to be up for bid. Quite a different process than in the US, except in the hottest markets. The asking price, and hence the first bid, is SEK 1 590 000 or US $232,000. By the time I gave up it had gotten to SEK 1 880 000 or $275,000 which was well over the limit I set for myself. There is a tradeoff in location, size, and money. I want something at least 55 square meters, but more like 62. That's barely doable in Linnégatan.
Before then, on that Friday, I talked with Sandra, who is the main real estate agent in charge. She's managing the auction. This time I asked more detailed questions, like "why was there a net deficit of 50,000:- this year and 150,000:- in the next?". Because of the money involved and the stress we talked in English. I got the answers, and learned more about life in a bostadsrätt association. I think I now have a decent understanding of what's going on here. Nothing like jumping in the deep end. Sandra pointed out that I probably know it better now than most Swedes!
Sweden is a highly democratic country. The association has a "styrelse", which is a the "board" of the association. It's probably related to the word "att styra" which I only knew as "to steer" but which also means "to rule" or "to govern". In my head I translate "styrelse" to "steering committee". You have shares in the association, and hence voting rights. You can review the books, become a member of the board, and so on.
In general it's very easy to start a förening. A lot of people here should have practice in reviewing books, etc. which should make this a natural place to start small companies. Especially with nationalized health car that puts the onus off the startup to pay the medical insurance bills like in the US. But the general policies here are against starting companies, though that's less so now than in the past, especially with the new government. So I hear.
That evening I went to Raquel's to meet some tango people. I had bumped into her by happenstance. Because of all the people visiting the House of a Thousand Wows I stayed with some others on Linnégatan. I was coming home from tango on Tuesday when I saw someone who looked familiar going to the 7-11 that I was walking by. She invited me to the small dinner party she was hosting that Friday. With the house buying I decided to skip the dinner but went by later for the conversation and dancing. Also there were Lars, Debora, Eva and ... a woman whose name I forgot. Grr. Silly memory.
The housing search continues. Debora is gone for two months so I might talk with her more on her offer of staying at her place for a while while I search. Laura and Jacob are wonderful hosts but I don't want to overstay my welcome. She's in Kungladugård, which is the other side of Slottskogen ("The Castle Forest" - a large city park) from the end of Linnégatan. That would give me a chance to see what it's like living in that area.
Strange. I just looked at a listing in that area. The biggest room - the living room - is only accessible through the bedroom.
Must remember that I can buy a bike. This is a decently bike friendly town. Except for the rain.
I spent a lot of time this week working on understanding Swedish real estate. I mentioned some of the generalities earlier, but when it get to spending about $200,000 on something I would like to know what I'm getting into. When you see a place the real estate agent includes details about the housing associations economics. It's the summary of the buget for the past couple of years, what was done, the loans that are outstanding, how long it's been since the plumbing and electrical were replaced, the cost of power and heating per square meter, and so on, and so on, and so on. It uses Swedish accounting terms, which are for the most part ones I hadn't seen before.
The association uses another company to do some of the work, like the auditing, but they do some of it themselves. For example, the owners of the one I was looking at are in charge of cleaning the stairwells ("trapphus" = "stair house") and the inner yard, as well as clearing the snow off the yard and roof. I couldn't figure out if that means the association contracts out that work themselves or literally do it themselves. Would I be expected to go up on the roof and clear off snow in the highly unlikely case of Göteborg having more than 1/4" of snow?
I went by Fastighetsbyrån to ask. They are the agents for the apartment. I've been by there a couple of times as I ask questions. They have been very helpful and patient. They are tied to Swedbank, and the service at both places has been excellent. On Wednesday Charlotte and I did the conversation almost all in Swedish, making it the longest hard conversation I've had. There were many side steps to work around things I didn't know, but it worked. I got enough of an understanding to go back and work on mre questions to ask.
Thursday was a "red day" here - a public holiday. They are colored red on the calendar, hence the name. Laura and Jacob hosted a game day in the afternoon, with board games, dinner, conversation, and fun. I asked various Swedes for input on how to interpret the budget. Turns out relatively few had lived in a bostadsrättförening, which surprises me still. But I got a lot of helpful feedback.
The bidding process started on Friday. There are a couple of days for it to be up for bid. Quite a different process than in the US, except in the hottest markets. The asking price, and hence the first bid, is SEK 1 590 000 or US $232,000. By the time I gave up it had gotten to SEK 1 880 000 or $275,000 which was well over the limit I set for myself. There is a tradeoff in location, size, and money. I want something at least 55 square meters, but more like 62. That's barely doable in Linnégatan.
Before then, on that Friday, I talked with Sandra, who is the main real estate agent in charge. She's managing the auction. This time I asked more detailed questions, like "why was there a net deficit of 50,000:- this year and 150,000:- in the next?". Because of the money involved and the stress we talked in English. I got the answers, and learned more about life in a bostadsrätt association. I think I now have a decent understanding of what's going on here. Nothing like jumping in the deep end. Sandra pointed out that I probably know it better now than most Swedes!
Sweden is a highly democratic country. The association has a "styrelse", which is a the "board" of the association. It's probably related to the word "att styra" which I only knew as "to steer" but which also means "to rule" or "to govern". In my head I translate "styrelse" to "steering committee". You have shares in the association, and hence voting rights. You can review the books, become a member of the board, and so on.
In general it's very easy to start a förening. A lot of people here should have practice in reviewing books, etc. which should make this a natural place to start small companies. Especially with nationalized health car that puts the onus off the startup to pay the medical insurance bills like in the US. But the general policies here are against starting companies, though that's less so now than in the past, especially with the new government. So I hear.
That evening I went to Raquel's to meet some tango people. I had bumped into her by happenstance. Because of all the people visiting the House of a Thousand Wows I stayed with some others on Linnégatan. I was coming home from tango on Tuesday when I saw someone who looked familiar going to the 7-11 that I was walking by. She invited me to the small dinner party she was hosting that Friday. With the house buying I decided to skip the dinner but went by later for the conversation and dancing. Also there were Lars, Debora, Eva and ... a woman whose name I forgot. Grr. Silly memory.
The housing search continues. Debora is gone for two months so I might talk with her more on her offer of staying at her place for a while while I search. Laura and Jacob are wonderful hosts but I don't want to overstay my welcome. She's in Kungladugård, which is the other side of Slottskogen ("The Castle Forest" - a large city park) from the end of Linnégatan. That would give me a chance to see what it's like living in that area.
Strange. I just looked at a listing in that area. The biggest room - the living room - is only accessible through the bedroom.
Must remember that I can buy a bike. This is a decently bike friendly town. Except for the rain.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
högtalare
Jag hjälpade Johan att flytta hans stereo när vi kom hos honom för att dans tango. Jag bar högtalaren. Den stod på golvet, därför jag kallade den en lågtalare.
Det sägs att Göteborgshumor är en "typ av humor bygger ofta på ordvitseri." Jag tror att den är staden för mig, eller hur?
Some background for translation: "högtalare" means "loudspeaker". "Hög" means both "loud" and "high". "Låg" means "low", as in "not high".
I helped Johan move his stereo when when went to his place to dance tango. I carried his loudspeaker. It was on the floor, so I called it a "lowspeaker".
It's said (on the Swedish Wikipedia entry for Gothenburg) that Gothenburg's humor is a "type of humor building often on word puns." I think that this is the city for me - what do you think?
Det sägs att Göteborgshumor är en "typ av humor bygger ofta på ordvitseri." Jag tror att den är staden för mig, eller hur?
Some background for translation: "högtalare" means "loudspeaker". "Hög" means both "loud" and "high". "Låg" means "low", as in "not high".
I helped Johan move his stereo when when went to his place to dance tango. I carried his loudspeaker. It was on the floor, so I called it a "lowspeaker".
It's said (on the Swedish Wikipedia entry for Gothenburg) that Gothenburg's humor is a "type of humor building often on word puns." I think that this is the city for me - what do you think?
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