swedenusa

My nephew’s first Halloween. I can’t wait to meet him! Halloween is not such a big thing over here in Sweden. However, my mom sent us a box full of Candy bars from the US! Thanks, Mom!    

Sam and I went to visit my brother and his family this Saturday. We had such a great time with the fam. It started with us going out to this really cool forest with the whole ground covered with blueberry and lingonberry plants and a bunch of moss. It was really nice. Of course it started raining while we were out there. We went out with two wicker baskets to pick mushrooms. Once you start finding mushrooms you forget all about the cold rain.

We almost filled the two baskets with 3 different kinds of mushroom. Once at home we started to clean them off and then cook them. A huge pile shrunk to a plate full of yummy mushrooms. We toasted some bread and had mushrooms on top. It was great. Andy and Marie are just great mushroom guides, they know just where to find the gold!

We finished off the evening with Ice Age 2.

Rebecka took the pictures of the mushrooms!

Yesterday we finally decided to watch this movie. We knew it was going to be an important movie to watch but we dragged it out for a long time. Mostly because it would be a hard movie to watch. Now I am glad I watched it.

The movie is telling a true story about Rwandas Schindler. We get to follow the Hutu Hotel manager with his Tutsi wife who saves hundreds of lives during the massacre of the Tutsi minority. You get a glimpse of how dark the human soul can be and how one person can make a change in the midst of despair.

It also shows how cold we are in the Western world, deciding not to get involved. Why do we keep doing nothing?

This is a very good and important movie. I don not cry often while watching movies, but I did with this one!

My boss just called and we did the last negotiation part. I am thankful to have a boss that is honest - makes negotiation easier and he will get the same in return! (maxima - this is a person with real integrity). Here is the funny part. I just applied for a job in Copenhagen. It took them one day to get back to me and they wanted to meet me very soon. It is a big international company and the position is intended for a psychologist. At first Sam and I were like…. oh no… what are we going to do now. We sort of miss the big city life.

The Copenhagen company is a big corporation… all about making money. That made our decision easy. I have worked for that kind of company before and hated it. Sure they might pay much better. Working in Jönköping at this job might mean less cash but a great opportunity to be a part of something that will change peoples lives. To be a part of something that is bigger than me, bigger than money. I feel my motivation and creativity. I CANNOT sleep at night!

Of course how do you measure being able to work with and for people who really cares and respects others? I have great supervisors and great coworkers and I am working in a community that are planning for change and development.

Can you tell I am excited! We start interviewing team members next week. I cannot wait to hear other peoples ideas and thoughts about this new team.

This is going to be a lot of work, but it will be good work!

Now can I please be able to sleep again at night. Last night I gave up at 2 am got back up and worked on the computer. I went back to bed at 3:30 not because I was tired but I thought I should give it another shot. Funny part… I was not even that tired today at work!

… I got a job offer. I guess the interview went fine! I know it was a tight race to the finish line but the employing committee were united. This is really great. I am very excited.

 Not only do I have a stable job I also have a whole lot of responsibility now. What a great challenge. I still need to go through an interview with the union. Since it sort of a supervisory position the union has a say in the matter too. So I guess nothing is really set yet.

I just want to get started, get things rolling.

So thank you everyone for the great support! Thank you for your wisdom. Woooohoooo……

In Sweden, almost everyone owns a bike…and they use them! It was so fun when I first came here in the spring and saw so many people riding their bikes around town. Here in Jönköping there are probably more bicycle racks than parking spots! Age really is not a factor either, I have seen some pretty shocking things here!

Anyway, I really wanted to be a part of this movement…and last week I was loaned an old bycle from my father in law. I mean really old…1 gear and constructed entirely of cast iron(OK I am not entirely sure about this, but it is HEAVY!) It is the Sherman Tank of bicyles. It needed a little work, 2 tires, 2 innertubes and some lights. Mechanical competence skipped my generation, so changing those tires turned into a 4 hour project (and truthfully it is still incomplete.)  When I get this baby complete I will post some pics!

Blips showed me this one. I really enjoyed it. Made a bunch of random searches like… how do you build an atomic bomb.

http://msdewey.com/

 It is sort of like ask jeeves but 21st century!

I just had an interview for a job that I really want. I studied material and research for weeks before the interview. I have so many ideas for the job and I was excited about it. I even like the bosses and the organisation as a whole. I think I really know what to do for the job… I believe I have what it takes…

 But I did an aweful interview. I was totally nervous and the answers… looking back… was not as sharp as they could have been. So what gives…

Today I feel like I totally lost the opportunity. I know someone else is diving in and taking the job. So I am wondering, I have a lot of friends here that have jobs, that have done a lot of these interviews. What makes for a good interview? How do you really sell yourself? And how do you take that bad one and learn, shake it off, and start looking for something else. What is your own little secret?

I suppose that is my secret. I start looking for something else and then I realize that there are a whole lot of other things to get excited about… that I know how to do… that I know I really like.

I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals.
Winston Churchill