Yesterday, after what feels like a media frenzy that has lasted an eternity, the Swedish royal wedding took place. The marriage was notable as the princess chose to marry her former personal trainer.
The Swedish tabloid press have been relentless the last couple of weeks and it's seemed that every time I've seen a front page I've been greeted with the same picture of the now Prince Daniel: hair slicked back, curiously weedy, and wearing a pair of glasses that would put Clark Kent to shame. In every picture he appears almost frozen, his mouth fixed in a thin smile, his eyes scream "what have I got myself into", and his wardrobe looks like the aristocracy are trying to assimilate him. After all, who else other than the upper class wear a blazer with jeans? Well, at least they weren't red.
So now the circus has finally finished, I hope that I will get a few days respite. I've found it strange that in a country so committed to equality that the wedding took place without that much critical debate in the press. Although the King graciously announced he would foot half the bill (mainly for the reception), the Swedish tax payer still stumped up for the rest. This meant in excess of 80 million kronor spent on renovating the cathedral, hosting the international media and security for the event. The Swedish monarchy were stripped of any meaningful power back in 1970, and now they seem to operate largely as cheerleaders or boosters for Sweden.
Royalists have suggested that the wedding is / was great PR for Sweden, and it would boost both tourism and interest in Swedish brands. This however was debunked pretty quickly, there was plenty of empty hotel rooms in Stockholm over the weekend. They're also trying to spin the difference in social status between the couple of as an example of how in touch the Swedish monarchy are with the common person. Republicans have pointed out that marrying outside of the aristocracy was the only way to bring in some new blood into the line as rumour has it, the male side of the family aren't the sharpest tools in the box.
I can't help but suggest this: If public money was used to finance some other schmuck from Ocklebo's wedding wouldn't this be a gross misuse of public money and probably punishable with a custodial sentence?
Sunday, 20 June 2010
Monday, 14 June 2010
End of the SFI Road
I picked up my the result of my D course exam just before the weekend, and I've very happy to report that I passed. I scored VG's on everything except the written paper. I wasn't too surprised, as I knew that I had some weaknesses in my grammar. I'd loved to have scored a VG overall, but that was the price of taking the exam earlier than originally planned.
Reflecting on the five months that have passed since I started the C course in January, I've enjoyed most of the experience and learnt a hell of a lot. I think later in the week I'll try and formulate those into a more coherent summary of what I thought worked, didn't work and hopefully a bit of advice for anyone who's learning a language or wants to know about the course in general.
Passing the exam now means I'm back stuck at home most days, which is pretty dull. Other than trying to find employment (hopefully I'll now have a better chance now my CV lists I have passed SFI and now have some quantifiable ability to speak Swedish) and resharpen my programming skills, there won't be an awful lot to keep me occupied. Still, I'll also have plenty of time now to get my apartment sold in London. It also means I'm going to have to battle through to the dreaded Arbetsförmedlingen and see if they can give me any help to find a job.
Reflecting on the five months that have passed since I started the C course in January, I've enjoyed most of the experience and learnt a hell of a lot. I think later in the week I'll try and formulate those into a more coherent summary of what I thought worked, didn't work and hopefully a bit of advice for anyone who's learning a language or wants to know about the course in general.
Passing the exam now means I'm back stuck at home most days, which is pretty dull. Other than trying to find employment (hopefully I'll now have a better chance now my CV lists I have passed SFI and now have some quantifiable ability to speak Swedish) and resharpen my programming skills, there won't be an awful lot to keep me occupied. Still, I'll also have plenty of time now to get my apartment sold in London. It also means I'm going to have to battle through to the dreaded Arbetsförmedlingen and see if they can give me any help to find a job.
Thursday, 10 June 2010
D test / Cheating Classmates
Yesterday I sat the SFI D course exam. Whilst it was a step up in difficulty from the C course exam it was manageable. The reading comprehension had an article on Kiruna in northern Sweden. Kiruna is famous for being a mining town (mostly iron I think) and the fact that they're going to have to shift the whole centre of town due to massive subsidence. There were also questions about newspaper headlines and which part of a paper they belonged to and some dealing with synonyms.
The listening exercise went much better than I expected, this is probably due to the fact that I've been listening to Klartext (News in simple Swedish) and a few full length documentaries.
The written paper involved sending in a comment to a newspaper about mobile phone use and expressing your opinion on the pros and cons and whether or not it would be possible to ban their use in certain places.
Reflecting on the exam, I was shocked at the sheer quantity and brazenness of cheating at the end of the listening paper. A large number of people were talking and asking each other for answers they didn't have. A guy from my course, who sat behind me, tried to get me to tell him a couple, but I pretended not to hear or understand.
I find it difficult to express my incredulity at both the invigilators and those students who were shamelessly trying to cheat. I was pretty angry with my class mate, for me he showed his true colours and demonstrated that he is an utter idiot. As the exam started we were given a stern warning that anyone who was believed to be cheating would have their paper torn up and they would fail the exam. This threat soon proved empty, partly due to the sheer volume of students exchanging answers. Couldn't they have ripped up at least one person's paper to discourage it?
I have always disliked people who lie or try and cheat their way to things they haven't worked for so this really offended my sensibilities. Sure, they might get a piece of paper that states they have passed a basic proficiency in a language, but is that really going to help them in the long run, when they actually have to use it? Perhaps I'm viewing this idealistically, but I've encountered plenty of people in my professional career who have made up skills and experiences. They normally ended up hopelessly out of their depth, and those of us who have the correct skills and knowledge normally end up working twice as hard to clean up all the mistakes they make. This happened plenty of times to me as a software developer and latterly as a project manager.
One particular colleague was so inept, I'll be able to tell stories about him for the rest of my working life. His chutzpah was simply staggering. A friend of mine, our email sys admin at the company I worked for, found his CV in the dead mail queue of one of our servers. Somehow, it got circulated around the IT department and became the stuff of legend. This person shamelessly claimed that they'd been running an implementation of a major enterprise application that cost the company in excess of six million pounds. In reality, however, this person's role was make sure a particular department (a small one at that) adopted the new software without any problems.
So whilst I hope that cheats never prosper, unfortunately the world is full of optimists, realists always end up carrying the can.
The listening exercise went much better than I expected, this is probably due to the fact that I've been listening to Klartext (News in simple Swedish) and a few full length documentaries.
The written paper involved sending in a comment to a newspaper about mobile phone use and expressing your opinion on the pros and cons and whether or not it would be possible to ban their use in certain places.
Reflecting on the exam, I was shocked at the sheer quantity and brazenness of cheating at the end of the listening paper. A large number of people were talking and asking each other for answers they didn't have. A guy from my course, who sat behind me, tried to get me to tell him a couple, but I pretended not to hear or understand.
I find it difficult to express my incredulity at both the invigilators and those students who were shamelessly trying to cheat. I was pretty angry with my class mate, for me he showed his true colours and demonstrated that he is an utter idiot. As the exam started we were given a stern warning that anyone who was believed to be cheating would have their paper torn up and they would fail the exam. This threat soon proved empty, partly due to the sheer volume of students exchanging answers. Couldn't they have ripped up at least one person's paper to discourage it?
I have always disliked people who lie or try and cheat their way to things they haven't worked for so this really offended my sensibilities. Sure, they might get a piece of paper that states they have passed a basic proficiency in a language, but is that really going to help them in the long run, when they actually have to use it? Perhaps I'm viewing this idealistically, but I've encountered plenty of people in my professional career who have made up skills and experiences. They normally ended up hopelessly out of their depth, and those of us who have the correct skills and knowledge normally end up working twice as hard to clean up all the mistakes they make. This happened plenty of times to me as a software developer and latterly as a project manager.
One particular colleague was so inept, I'll be able to tell stories about him for the rest of my working life. His chutzpah was simply staggering. A friend of mine, our email sys admin at the company I worked for, found his CV in the dead mail queue of one of our servers. Somehow, it got circulated around the IT department and became the stuff of legend. This person shamelessly claimed that they'd been running an implementation of a major enterprise application that cost the company in excess of six million pounds. In reality, however, this person's role was make sure a particular department (a small one at that) adopted the new software without any problems.
So whilst I hope that cheats never prosper, unfortunately the world is full of optimists, realists always end up carrying the can.
Wednesday, 2 June 2010
R&R
I'm heading back to old blighty for a few days tonight. The main reason is to see the Pixies play. They're playing in an old bingo hall which seems to be trying to reinvent itself as "London's most versatile venue" apparently. It's a short walk up the road from my apartment in town, so that's very handy. It'll also be great to catch up with some friends.
The break is also a welcome opportunity to sort out some of my UK affairs. I've decided to sell my house this summer, so I need to get a couple of valuations done. The first one I received seemed ridiculously high, given that Shadwell, is a rather shabby part of town.
It still feels weird calling where I used to live London, for as anyone who's lived there and who has thought about the geography of the place, it is a sprawl of distinct urban areas. There isn't, I believe any coherent urban identity. Places like Shadwell and Kensington have so little in common, in fact they are polar opposites. Most of the urban areas are just that, towns which have been swallowed up by the sprawl of the old walled city. Shadwell is just that, originally a town built on the marshy banks of the Thames. It really grew when the docks arrived. The random nature of urbanisation in the city probably hasn't helped either, there's been little or no protection of urban areas. This is very obvious in working class parts of the city, little of the terraced housing remains, most has been replaced by sixties and seventies style modernist public housing.
My apartment is in a convenient place though, one underground stop from London's banking district and three from Canary Wharf, another major office / finance hub. Although Shadwell has begun to be gentrified (the last time I was there was on the way back from Vegas) and a cafe has opened by the docklands lightrail station, the area remains predominantly an immigrant area. Treat yourself to a look around the place using google streetview and you'll see that it's a bit run down. Still it was home for a good thirteen years, so selling it will feel like a major milestone, and the end of a segment of my life.
The break is also a welcome opportunity to sort out some of my UK affairs. I've decided to sell my house this summer, so I need to get a couple of valuations done. The first one I received seemed ridiculously high, given that Shadwell, is a rather shabby part of town.
It still feels weird calling where I used to live London, for as anyone who's lived there and who has thought about the geography of the place, it is a sprawl of distinct urban areas. There isn't, I believe any coherent urban identity. Places like Shadwell and Kensington have so little in common, in fact they are polar opposites. Most of the urban areas are just that, towns which have been swallowed up by the sprawl of the old walled city. Shadwell is just that, originally a town built on the marshy banks of the Thames. It really grew when the docks arrived. The random nature of urbanisation in the city probably hasn't helped either, there's been little or no protection of urban areas. This is very obvious in working class parts of the city, little of the terraced housing remains, most has been replaced by sixties and seventies style modernist public housing.
My apartment is in a convenient place though, one underground stop from London's banking district and three from Canary Wharf, another major office / finance hub. Although Shadwell has begun to be gentrified (the last time I was there was on the way back from Vegas) and a cafe has opened by the docklands lightrail station, the area remains predominantly an immigrant area. Treat yourself to a look around the place using google streetview and you'll see that it's a bit run down. Still it was home for a good thirteen years, so selling it will feel like a major milestone, and the end of a segment of my life.
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
D day beckons
The språkverket course I'm studying on is organised into separate thematic sections. This is, I believe for two reasons: firstly to allow your base group teacher to gauge your progress and secondly to assess the relative strengths and weakness of your Swedish. At the end of each theme, you submit the folder which contains your work for the past four or five weeks. This work typically covers grammar, written assignments, reading comprehension and listening exercises.
The following week you meet with your base group teacher and discuss: your folder, your perception of how the course is going for you, and agree upon a plan for the next theme.
When I'd initially spoken to my teacher informally during a self study period, we agreed that I'd sit the final SFI D exam in September. Last week she changed her mind having reviewed what I'd submitted. She suggested that I sit the exam on the 9th of June, as I had nothing to lose, and as is always the case, everything to gain. This is because if you don't pass an SFI exam you have to wait a month before you are able to resit the exam. Given that my course will break up for the Swedish holidays (typically the country runs at half to quarter capacity during July), I'd have to wait another three months before I could sit the exam.
So I've decided to have a try, and I hope I can cram some grammar and in particular master the tricky art of bistatser (clauses) and plurals before the 9th. I feel confident that my reading comprehension is more than up to the task, and I'm pretty sure I can muddle through the listening exercise too. This just leaves the hopefully trivial diagrams and tables part (bizarrely easy on the C test) and the written exercise.
It would be great to finish the SFI experience as I've definitely hit a learning plateau, but I also feel somewhat concerned at how I'll fill my time if I do. I am by profession a software developer and project manager and have been looking for work over here since I arrived in seven months ago.
Despite every Swedish person I knew (including at least three who work in the IT industry) assuring me language wouldn't be a problem, unsurprisingly it has proved a major stumbling block. I've fired off my CV and covering letter to apply for around thirty jobs. I've had one interview in that time, which I didn't get. Of course it seems blindingly obvious in hindsight, but the majority of offices and companies speak Swedish, and not unreasonably, expect you to do so too. If you're thinking of moving here, I'd offer this advice: don't expect to walk into a job just because you speak English, or consider that being a native English speaker will make you an attractive or sought after labour market commodity. After all, most Swedish university graduates speak fluent English, probably spent longer at university, and have had the benefit of a more rigorous education than you did. So with that in mind, really you'll have to be good at what you do, or seek out a international company.
So before the tone of this post gets too maudlin, as you can imagine I'll certainly miss having somewhere to go, to be able to socialize with people in a similar situation, and using my brain again. There is also the overwhelming fear that without a purpose and structure (read full time employment / education) perhaps I'll turn feral and end up mired in my own filth shouting obscenities at poor unfortunate people who walk past my apartment.
The following week you meet with your base group teacher and discuss: your folder, your perception of how the course is going for you, and agree upon a plan for the next theme.
When I'd initially spoken to my teacher informally during a self study period, we agreed that I'd sit the final SFI D exam in September. Last week she changed her mind having reviewed what I'd submitted. She suggested that I sit the exam on the 9th of June, as I had nothing to lose, and as is always the case, everything to gain. This is because if you don't pass an SFI exam you have to wait a month before you are able to resit the exam. Given that my course will break up for the Swedish holidays (typically the country runs at half to quarter capacity during July), I'd have to wait another three months before I could sit the exam.
So I've decided to have a try, and I hope I can cram some grammar and in particular master the tricky art of bistatser (clauses) and plurals before the 9th. I feel confident that my reading comprehension is more than up to the task, and I'm pretty sure I can muddle through the listening exercise too. This just leaves the hopefully trivial diagrams and tables part (bizarrely easy on the C test) and the written exercise.
It would be great to finish the SFI experience as I've definitely hit a learning plateau, but I also feel somewhat concerned at how I'll fill my time if I do. I am by profession a software developer and project manager and have been looking for work over here since I arrived in seven months ago.
Despite every Swedish person I knew (including at least three who work in the IT industry) assuring me language wouldn't be a problem, unsurprisingly it has proved a major stumbling block. I've fired off my CV and covering letter to apply for around thirty jobs. I've had one interview in that time, which I didn't get. Of course it seems blindingly obvious in hindsight, but the majority of offices and companies speak Swedish, and not unreasonably, expect you to do so too. If you're thinking of moving here, I'd offer this advice: don't expect to walk into a job just because you speak English, or consider that being a native English speaker will make you an attractive or sought after labour market commodity. After all, most Swedish university graduates speak fluent English, probably spent longer at university, and have had the benefit of a more rigorous education than you did. So with that in mind, really you'll have to be good at what you do, or seek out a international company.
So before the tone of this post gets too maudlin, as you can imagine I'll certainly miss having somewhere to go, to be able to socialize with people in a similar situation, and using my brain again. There is also the overwhelming fear that without a purpose and structure (read full time employment / education) perhaps I'll turn feral and end up mired in my own filth shouting obscenities at poor unfortunate people who walk past my apartment.
Monday, 17 May 2010
Weird Offal
Every country has peculiar elements of cusine. The other day whilst carrying out my usual post workout shop I discovered two cracking examples of bizarre meat products:
The first was grisknorr:
Although they look quite phallic, they are (I'm assured by the gf) in fact pigs tails. Note the very reasonable price, approximately 95p for anyone from the UK. Once I'd got over my initial revulsion I tried to inconspiciously snap a picture. I then continued to browse the meat section desperately trying to think of a suitably bland meal that would satisfy my pregnant girlfriend who is still suffering from morning sickness.
As I journeyed past the border of the pork cuts, I happened across this wonderfully named beef product:
Elefantöra or elephant ears seems to be some sort of large beef steak cut, and I trust not anything to do with actual ears. Needless to say neither appealed.
I also found this exciting retail opportunity, a wonderfully kitsch box of chocolates, decorated with a picture of Sweden's princess victoria and her fiance Daniel, who are due to be married next month.
Over half the cost of their lavish wedding (estimated at 2.6 million dollars) will be paid for by the Swedish tax payer. The king has nobley stepped in and picked up the other half.
I find it amusing that although Sweden is very keen to portray itself as an extremely modern nation state where equality is vital principal, the presence of a monarch seems somewhat of an anacronism. Princess Victoria's fiance is apparently an ex-personal trainer, perhaps that's the advertisement for the open society. Still he's married well hasn't he?
On the study front, as you can tell from this rambling post, we had most of last week off. This was because of a combination of public holidays and one of our teachers taking a few days off to entertain her mother. We've also reached the end of our current theme (the world of books), and we had to submit our folder containing everything we'd worked on for the past five weeks. This week is also shorter than usual because we each have a meeting with our homegroup teacher to review our progress, identify our weaknesses and to set some targets for the next study theme. I'm pretty sure I'm going to sit the D course exam in June, so I expect to be told I'm going to have to work hard on my grammar for a few weeks.
The first was grisknorr:
Although they look quite phallic, they are (I'm assured by the gf) in fact pigs tails. Note the very reasonable price, approximately 95p for anyone from the UK. Once I'd got over my initial revulsion I tried to inconspiciously snap a picture. I then continued to browse the meat section desperately trying to think of a suitably bland meal that would satisfy my pregnant girlfriend who is still suffering from morning sickness.
As I journeyed past the border of the pork cuts, I happened across this wonderfully named beef product:
Elefantöra or elephant ears seems to be some sort of large beef steak cut, and I trust not anything to do with actual ears. Needless to say neither appealed.
I also found this exciting retail opportunity, a wonderfully kitsch box of chocolates, decorated with a picture of Sweden's princess victoria and her fiance Daniel, who are due to be married next month.
Over half the cost of their lavish wedding (estimated at 2.6 million dollars) will be paid for by the Swedish tax payer. The king has nobley stepped in and picked up the other half.
I find it amusing that although Sweden is very keen to portray itself as an extremely modern nation state where equality is vital principal, the presence of a monarch seems somewhat of an anacronism. Princess Victoria's fiance is apparently an ex-personal trainer, perhaps that's the advertisement for the open society. Still he's married well hasn't he?
On the study front, as you can tell from this rambling post, we had most of last week off. This was because of a combination of public holidays and one of our teachers taking a few days off to entertain her mother. We've also reached the end of our current theme (the world of books), and we had to submit our folder containing everything we'd worked on for the past five weeks. This week is also shorter than usual because we each have a meeting with our homegroup teacher to review our progress, identify our weaknesses and to set some targets for the next study theme. I'm pretty sure I'm going to sit the D course exam in June, so I expect to be told I'm going to have to work hard on my grammar for a few weeks.Sunday, 9 May 2010
Radio resources for listening practice
I thought I'd share the URL of a great site for helping you practice listening to swedish. It's Sverige Radio's archive. There's pretty much everything here from arts and culture to music and sport.
My girlfriend and I have become fairly addicted to listening to the documentaries which cover subjects as diverse as the first death in Sweden of a football fan caused by the english disease to mudslides in Göteborg in the seventies.
Of particular interest to those with a more basic grasp of Swedish and therefore to me, is the klartext news. This short ten minute programme summarises the day's news in simple swedish and is aimed at students studying the language. It also helps that the presenters also speak slightly more slowly than normal.
You can subscribe to each programme through iTunes (Yes, I know it's a horrible piece of software...) so when they publish a new programme it'll automatically be downloaded for you.
You can also stream channels radio from the site, but I have no idea if they are restricted to computers with a Swedish IP address.
My girlfriend and I have become fairly addicted to listening to the documentaries which cover subjects as diverse as the first death in Sweden of a football fan caused by the english disease to mudslides in Göteborg in the seventies.
Of particular interest to those with a more basic grasp of Swedish and therefore to me, is the klartext news. This short ten minute programme summarises the day's news in simple swedish and is aimed at students studying the language. It also helps that the presenters also speak slightly more slowly than normal.
You can subscribe to each programme through iTunes (Yes, I know it's a horrible piece of software...) so when they publish a new programme it'll automatically be downloaded for you.
You can also stream channels radio from the site, but I have no idea if they are restricted to computers with a Swedish IP address.
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