Another Monday filled with clashes

2009-12-07

It's Monday afternoon and I had my last session in one course earlier today. The only thing left is a home exam due next week.

This course has been interesting in many ways. It has focused on cross cultural management and issues related to this subject. I am glad to finally be done with it (at least in terms of attendance). Despite its interesting content, it has been a difficult course to take due to several reasons. The most prominent are to the clash and confrontational demeanor that they invite the attendants to adopt. Each session felt like a heated debate regarding influx of refugees, the degree of emancipation around the world or immoral elements in foreign cultures (just to mention a few). Don't get me wrong, I think it is brilliant when a class or course can be something else than just monologues by the lecturer(s). I appraise the idea of different opinions and debating. But unfortunately, I have always had the feeling that the majority of the presumptions and debates in the classroom have been based on inaccurate and sometimes completely incorrect ideas of different cultures and mentalities.

This whole theme of the confrontation of cultures and ethnicities is something that I sense very strongly on a daily basis, and it is something that I have felt for some time now. I have the feeling that it is increasing, and it disappoints me. The general trends around Europe in this area are demoralizing and disappointing altogether. A lot of nations are turning more towards xenophobia, and I conclude that on the recent results in various elections around our continent.

A very schematic example of my observations is an article about the Swedish (originally Bosnian/Croat) football player Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Regarded by professionals and journalists as one of the best football players in the world right now. The content of this article is not interesting, but the commentators' field below the article is truly disappointing and disgusting in many ways. Xenophobic comments represent a significant fraction of all comments left by readers. These comments are directed towards the player himself but also fans of him that in many cases are presumed to hail from foreign cultures and countries.

Anyway, a few weeks ago I had a very unpleasant experience when an Austrian girl in this cross cultural course attacked me with insulting and outrageous questions/comments about my origin and my family! This asswipe is just one of many who despise anything that differs from the domestic and traditional values. Like I've said in previous posts, it has to do with fear fundamentally. Fear of being attacked or polluted by something unknown and alien.

This is not all of it (naturally). There are a lot of issues related to segregation as well. As a reason for people to become more segregating (and vote for right-wing extremists with hostile views one immigrants and foreigners). I won't go into that topic in this post, but it is clearly something that is current and disturbing.

I learned a lot during this course in cross cultural management. I really feel that I gained something from it, even though it still is not over. But I am also disappointed in how insular and narrow minded people tend to be. How unwilling many people seem to be about seeing things from other perspectives and not always assuming that one is right oneself.
I'm glad that I won't have to spend more hours in that classroom, discussing these things back and forth with people who only see things in black and white. But I am fully aware of the fact that these confrontations won't end with this class, it is probably something that I will have to live with for the rest of my life.

Thank you for reading.

December is here

December is here and the sun is shining. I got back from my midterm exam (after a short stop at my girlfriend's). I don't know how it went but hopefully well.

Anyhow, December is as I mentioned earlier here and it feels surreal. One year has passed since Dalia's wedding (congratulations again!) and Francisco turned 21 yesterday (congratulations again). Grande!

I have less and less scheduled lectures and seminars, but I still have a lot of work to do. Papers in particular. I find it inspiring despite the heavy workload.

Tonight we are arranging the Nordic Stammtisch, meaning that the Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and the Dutch exchange students are preparing food at the student pub. The Dutch exchange student joined us because of.... I can't remember why, but nevertheless, it will be nice to have her with us.

I am planning to wear my Sweden jersey, I mean who could guess that I represent Sweden? Sara will borrow my other Sweden jersey. It's extremely amusing that we both represent Sweden while none of us are native Swedes. I guess we are great representatives of the new Sweden. People here refer to me as either "Roger" or "Zlatan"...


Nevertheless, I am extremely proud to be a representative of Sverige. I am looking forward to enjoy a cold one tonight, celebrating my A paper from last week.

Thank you for reading.

Update

A few updates from the last week:

• My anger about Rikard Norling's departure from AIK is almost gone, left is solely disappointment.
  
  
• Mikael Stahre could maybe do well at AIK, but he still has a lot to prove before I will be praising him. I remember when Zlatan Ibrahimovic joined Inter in the summer of 2006. Check the blog archive for my thoughts at that point, and compare them to what I have to say today. Boy was I wrong...
  

• The exam was shorter than I thought it would be, and hopefully I passed.
  

• I am currently taking a break from a case analysis of Intel Corporation. The last week has been one of the most busy ones. Somehow I am toughened by the challenges and responsibilities I faced during my year in the student association.
  
  
• I attended a seminar on Friday which was scheduled between 10.00 to 18.00. We ended up leaving three hours earlier, but given a writing task about the current financial crisis. 4 ECTS credits of work is to be handed in just like that. I have never experienced a shorter course, being worth so many credits at the same.
  
  
• I must say that I (ironically) admire the Austrians innovation and sense of furnishing. I saw this brilliant idea at the seminar:

• Later on the same day (Friday) I attended a concert with my girlfriend and some of her friends. One of their pals plays in a band and they were performing in a small, cozy, underground place. I am not a fan of punk music, and especially not German/Austrian punk music, but this was good stuff. They were organized, loud and talented! Thank you for the entertainment.

• The lecturers keep bringing their dogs to campus and they are free to run around the place. It's hilarious to see the lecturer speaking in front of the class, waving and gesticulating with one hand and feeding the dog with the other one.
  

• I visited Sara in the middle of the week for some coffee. I decided to bring some bakery and i stopped by at the supermarket (the prices are more fair there). I found something that looked tasty and that had an almost delicious touch on its name - Mohnstrudel. Fuck, never try that shit. I took the first bite at Sara's and she was trying to judge the taste of the damn thing by looking at my face expression. She ended up laughing out loud at my disgusted expression.
  

I have to get back to my books now. Thank you for reading.

Reflections on a Sunday evening

Sunday is coming to an end. It's been a quite good Sunday this far. I had some bad luck on my way back from the city earlier today. I had bought the ticket, registered it and kept it beside my Austrian ID-card. Obviously I had forgotten to sign my citizen-number on the back of the card. It's a tiny box where it says "Ausweis number". What the hell is Ausweis number anyway? So the lady on the tram caught me, asked me for my name, surname and other details. I was waiting for her to ask me about my religion (like everywhere else) too. Then she gave me the ticket, 50 fucking EUROs for not signing my citizen-number.

Aside from that it was a nice day. I went in to the city to see my classmate from back home and to pick up some things from her apartment. Apparently she had a pretty intensive night at the nightclub last night. We made some jokes about it and I followed her to McDonald's to make her company while she was having her Sunday dinner.

I returned to the Julius Raab Heim to play football with the other exchange students. We played 5 a-side and it was great. I ended up in the same team as my roomies. Their everyday vocabulary is dominated by three words, "puta" (= whore), "culo" (=ass) and "maricon" (which I believe means faggot)

Inter won against Torino today. I was going to stream the game but I chose Chelsea - Manchester United instead. It was an entertaining game which ended with a fair draw (1-1). Kalou and Park were the goalscorers.

Anyway, Inter's win was important and I am happy to see them team winning and not performing nervously as the last few months of last season. I am a big fan of Roberto Mancini for all he has done for Inter during his four-year spell at Meazza, but Mourinho is somehow more solid and has the players' deepest respect. Every player praises him and his methods, and this far things have gone well.

Maicon scored a beautiful goal...




... and Ibra scored his second goal for the season.


Thank you for reading.

Last day at work today. It felt good and I feel well about my work. I reflect upon a job well done. Three months went by so fast.

I leave Sweden for a year of studies in Austria in one week. This is my last week in Sweden for a while. It's the biggest challenge that has aroused in my life this far, and I am enthusiastic about stepping up to it. It is going to be different and interesting at the same time. I careful not to expect too much from this year though. I don't want to be disappointed if it becomes evident that life in Sweden is better than life in Austria.


Whatever. Sweden enter the qualifications for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa tomorrow. An away game against Albania is waiting and I am optimistic about the result. Zlatan is back and Henrik Larsson is the new capitano. I am not convinced that Sweden will make it all the way through the qualification campaign, but I sincerely hope that I am wrong.


It's Friday night and I am planning to just relax and to do nothing. Maybe I'll watch a movie later. I have no urge to go out tonight. I just want to spend my last days in peace and quiet. I want to spend some quality time with friends and family.
Tomorrow I'll start looking for a suitcase...

Campioni di Super Coppa Italiana

We won. I admit that I thought that it was over and finished when Balotelli finally scored the 2-1 goal in the 83rd minute of the game, but Vucinic's corner kick extended the game with 45 more minutes. Despite the somehow unnecessary drama, it was an entertaining game, and most importantly, it was very interesting to see Mourinho's impact on the team and the game. Zlatan, great to see you on the pitch again!

The Italian Super Cup is actually not a prestigious trophy, but it does nevertheless feel good to see the team win cups and tournaments, irregardless of their status and reputation. That's one more cup for the trophy room.

Winning over AS Roma is prestigious though, and it means much after the thrilling title race between Roma and Inter last season.

It's pretty late and I have to go to bed. I have to get up early in the morning tomorrow, as it is Monday and a few hours of work. I have one thing to look forward to and it is (as I have mentioned in my earlier posts) the derby game between AIK and Hammarby. I have longed for the atmosphere at Råsunda stadium for some time now.

The weekend has been great, probably one of the better ones of this summer. I've spent time with friends and family and I have done lots of things (oh well...) and slept too little. In the beginning of the summer, when my exams were over and when I had left the student union board, this was what I was longing for. It feels good. I am satisfied.

Thank you for reading. Good night.

A few comments on the game

• The Swedish team played much better that I thought it would. The last minute goal was unlucky, and Hansson (my favourite player to hate) did well throughout the whole 90 minutes. All except for the last incident where he fucked up pretty bad and gave David Villa the opportunity to score.
• Fredrik Stoor is in my opinion a much better right back than Niclas Alexandersson and he should be a first team regular. What a way to enter a national team!
  
• My second favourite player to hate, Mikael Nilsson did really well today. He used to play on the right flank, mainly on the midfield. He was moved to the right back position and he didn't whine. Later he was lifted over to the left back position and he still didn't whine. Is this what they call progress?
• Marcus Rosenberg, why can't this guy perform well in the national jersey? He is a quality player in Bundesliga but a mediocre player on the international scene.
• Henrik Larsson is showing signs of being old for the first time. The quickness and the pace is gone.
• Zlatan Ibrahimovic, what can I say? It feels really good to be an Interista with him onboard.
• Olof Mellberg, I'm having World Cup 2002 vibes. He will do well for Juventus the coming season.
• Freddie Ljungberg, an underestimated player with great features.
• David Villa is one of the best strikers around at the moment. What a player.
• Fernando Torres has done a good job in Liverpool the past year, and he is one of the very best in the world elite. The thing that I hate about him is his diving. I saw him doing it in the Champions League game against Inter earlier this year and I saw him doing it in tonight's game. It's disgusting and he disgusts me. Basta.

I am looking forward to Sweden's next game against Russia. If we manage to win that game we'll most probably face Holland in the quarterfinals, just like the last European Championship four years ago. The only difference is that they are much better today than they were four years ago, and we are not as sharp today as we were then.

Campioni d'Italia 2007/2008, siamo noi!!

We are the champions! WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS. Last year's Scudetto was not as delightful as this one. We won when we really needed to, and the phenomenon, Ibra, stepped up and single handedly clinched the title for us. I won't deny that I had given up. Roma was ahead with 1-0 after only eight minutes and Inter was struggling in Parma in terrible conditions. I couldn't watch the game. I tried to stream it, I tried to find any kind of broadcast, without really caring if it was radio, TV, in Chinese or muted. I just wanted to follow my team.

It's a feeling of joy, a feeling of relief. It's been a loooong season and now it's finally over. I don't have to worry anymore about Ibra's absence. I don't need to worry about Cambiasso's injury. I don't need to worry about Roma, because here we are, champions of Italy!

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It's Sunday evening and it's been a rainy day. Monday morning is approaching and it feels bad. Fortunately I have no classes tomorrow but I have a lot of work to do anyway. I am slowly checking out and mentally I am already somewhere else...

Finally he is back.

What defines one's nationality?

The first week is now over. It's Friday night but that doesn't really mean anything. January will be one of those months when too many things attract my attention and keep me from seeing how time passes.

I've had a cool day though. I have studied a little but I haven't exactly been working my ass off. I've been distracted by some shit at PFDC lately. Here's the story.

There's this Iranian footballer in the Swedish league, Behrang Safari who quickly has become one of the better players on his position. He was recently awarded with a berth in the Swedish national team in some upcoming friendlies in North America. Unfortunately, Behrang was interrogated at the airport where the Swedish national team was changing flights. He was stuck there for 2 hours and missed the plane with the other players on it. It's usually common that Iranians are "interviewed" like this after 9/11 and all the other problems going on in the Mid East. So far so good.


Here's the annoying thing. Behrang said in an interview (that I myself did with him last summer!) that he would join the national team that calls him up first. That means that if the officials at the Iranian football federation (which is a mess at the moment with a new president) would have called Behrang up for one of the many worthless friendlies against Arab teams, he would most likely accept that invitation and become an Iranian international player. Behrang was never called up by Iran, and I completely understand him when he accepted the invite from Sweden's headcoach Lars Lagerbäck. I mean who would turn down an invitation from a national team in order to wait for another one (that might not even come...)? It's stupid!
Now, people are going around calling Behrang all different kinds of things. Traitor, Swede (as if that is something negative) Iran hater and other nasty things. The funny thing here is that these kids (99 % of them) don't even live inside Iran. Most of them can't even read or write Farsi! Now they're preaching all kinds of stupid things about patriotism, nationalism and pride. Well, spare us please! Have you ever heard of Zlatan Ibrahimovic before?


Henrik Larsson? Zinedine Zidane (one of the biggest players of all time)?


It upsets me that people don't see this in a distanced and nuanced way. Some people see the world in only black and white.
Enough about that.

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I have an exam tomorrow afternoon. The coming weeks are as I mentioned earlier, pretty tanked. But what the fuck, it's not the first time. I've had the wonderful opportunity to enjoy inhuman stress during the past 6 months, so I'll be a big boy and suck it up.

Good night.