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It's Saturday night and I am hopeful of some action. I am not intending to stay home.
Thank you for reading.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Trip to Mauthausen
I spent a few hours at the former concentration camp of Mauthausen today. It was an arranged tour and I am happy that I decided to join this trip. I have had the opportunity to visit former important places of WW2, but this one was a little special. We were first shown a short movie about the history of the camp and later on we were guided by guides with very poor english skills. It was very interesting and special to see all the monuments and to walk in the baracks, the gas chamber and to the oven where they burned the bodies of the victims. I can see why the movie was shown directly as we entered the camp. It's much easier to make an impression if you introduce the history with a 22-year old movie.
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It's Saturday night and I am hopeful of some action. I am not intending to stay home.
Thank you for reading.
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It's Saturday night and I am hopeful of some action. I am not intending to stay home.
Thank you for reading.
Esteghlal vs. Perspolis
A Tehran derby yesterday between Esteghlal and Perspolis. It ended with a draw after two goals from two former Team Melli regulars. Arash Borhani and Ali Karimi helped their teams respectively.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Post no. 300
This is my 300th post, but hopefully not my last.
It's Friday and my American friends are in Switzerland at the moment. I'm sitting here in Linz, having a glass of red wine with Frank Sinatra running in my mediaplayer. I was supposed to have my last lesson of the intensive German course today but the teacher never showed up. She was sick so it was cancelled. I had a lunchdate at campus today so I waited the for two hours in vain.
I spent the two hours with a friend and someone I know absolutely nothing about. I like to call her happyface because she her face expression is so dull and boring. There is no energy in her eyes and she looks tired and stupid every time I see her. I won't draw any conclusions from my observations, because I am probably wrong about her personality whatsoever. The thing is that this person knows nothing about social skill. She never says hello, not to anyone. But she shows up from nowhere, even if you're in the middle of a date, and she attaches herself to your company totally unannouced. She follows you (without asking if it's OK or not). She is just a pain in the ass. I have tried to be nice to this person, I have tried to be polite. I have tried to engage her in conversations but nothing interests her. She doesn't want to talk to you. She doesn't want to talk to anyone. She shows it so clearly with her bodylanguage. Happyface, that's the word. Like a sad clown.
Tomorrow I'm going to a concentration camp for a few hours and I think it is going to very interesting to see such place. Several friends of mine have been at some wellknown concentrationcamps and I personally think that it's an important thing to do in order to understand history. I will be taking pictures.
No plans for the evening yet, but that will change soon.
Thank you for reading
It's Friday and my American friends are in Switzerland at the moment. I'm sitting here in Linz, having a glass of red wine with Frank Sinatra running in my mediaplayer. I was supposed to have my last lesson of the intensive German course today but the teacher never showed up. She was sick so it was cancelled. I had a lunchdate at campus today so I waited the for two hours in vain.
I spent the two hours with a friend and someone I know absolutely nothing about. I like to call her happyface because she her face expression is so dull and boring. There is no energy in her eyes and she looks tired and stupid every time I see her. I won't draw any conclusions from my observations, because I am probably wrong about her personality whatsoever. The thing is that this person knows nothing about social skill. She never says hello, not to anyone. But she shows up from nowhere, even if you're in the middle of a date, and she attaches herself to your company totally unannouced. She follows you (without asking if it's OK or not). She is just a pain in the ass. I have tried to be nice to this person, I have tried to be polite. I have tried to engage her in conversations but nothing interests her. She doesn't want to talk to you. She doesn't want to talk to anyone. She shows it so clearly with her bodylanguage. Happyface, that's the word. Like a sad clown.
Tomorrow I'm going to a concentration camp for a few hours and I think it is going to very interesting to see such place. Several friends of mine have been at some wellknown concentrationcamps and I personally think that it's an important thing to do in order to understand history. I will be taking pictures.
No plans for the evening yet, but that will change soon.
Thank you for reading
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Short walk to the streets of home
After 2 weeks and 6 days I finally found home. IKEA is home. I finally got the chance to go there in order to buy important things for our apartment. Afterwards we had a typical Swedish lunch. I was surprised to see that the Christmas decorations are out already.
I received and e-mail from a close friend from back home today and it meant much. He had good news to tell and it made me very glad to read them.
My American friends left Austria tonight for a weekend in Switzerland. They asked me if I wanted to join them a few weeks ago, but I declined. Now I regret it. I can't be sorry about it though. Other things have needed my attention (the deposit).
It's Friday tomorrow and I am going to the gym at noon. I have my last German lesson and it feels good to finally move on. I haven't made any plans for the weekend yet, except for a trip to a concentration camp on Saturday. I will post updates and pictures later.
It's almost midnight and I'm tired. Good night.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Thrown out
I stayed civilized, I acted maturely and rationally, I stayed calm. And I was thrown out. I feel disrespected. The university is now taking legal action. This challenge was bigger than I thought it would be.
I had to make noise, I had to stand up. Nobody else was willing to help down here. Maybe the people at the university realized that if I write one article in any random influential magazine about this tremendous experience I've had with my accommodation down here, people might actually stop coming here. Badwill is a powerful weapon. So is courage. I don't like feeling sorry for myself and I don't want anyone else to pity for me either. Bitching and crying will not give me my money back. But giving up is wrong. Someone made a mistake and I have to pay for it. Why?
Anyway, I went to the office of the managing director (and his secretary) today at Kolpinghaus in Linz. The first thing they wanted from me today was to speak German. I refused.
I reminded them about our deal, our agreement, the consensus we reached when I left the place. All very politely and calm. I can't say that I was surprised when they all of a sudden changed their standpoint and denied all prior agreements. I asked for a receipt, but I was denied one. I asked for a specification of my (illogical) bill, and I was told a new story, deviating from the prior ones. I was never given the chance to finish my sentences. I was interrupted constantly. Eventually I said what I felt about their behavior, still being very polite. It was deceit and criminal. The secretary bounced off her chair, told me to get out of the office, and two seconds later she lay her hand on my back pushing me out. Do you think I left?
Ten seconds later, a man appeared in front of me, the managing director. This was the first time this man opened his mouth and said something to me, a troubling and very unhappy customer. I don't know where he took his marketing classes but they obviously didn't teach him anything about customer retention what so ever. He then tried to force me out of the office. Still, do you think that I left?
It became evident to me that standing there would not help me in any way. I had to stay rational. I had to remain sane. I slowly moved towards the door, and the man who appeared moments earlier closed the door on me, pushing me outside while I was still standing inside the room. My hands were shaking, my eyes were shaking and I was exploding. I went to Sara's room and she helped me out of the worst moments of rage.
I was thrown out. I was unfairly treated. I armed myself and I saved myself from getting killed.
It has become clear to me that the people I have faced in this process are not fair and honest. It's a catholic and conservative organization with no morale. It's a place where customers mean nothing. It's a place where pasta is on the menu, but potatoes are served.
I am moving on, I have neither the time nor the energy to keep on going back and forth to that place in the city for money I probably never will see again. But as I said earlier, it's a matter of standing up. It's about arming yourself and standing up for yourself, because nobody else will. It's a question of morale, just like everything else.
I had to make noise, I had to stand up. Nobody else was willing to help down here. Maybe the people at the university realized that if I write one article in any random influential magazine about this tremendous experience I've had with my accommodation down here, people might actually stop coming here. Badwill is a powerful weapon. So is courage. I don't like feeling sorry for myself and I don't want anyone else to pity for me either. Bitching and crying will not give me my money back. But giving up is wrong. Someone made a mistake and I have to pay for it. Why?
Anyway, I went to the office of the managing director (and his secretary) today at Kolpinghaus in Linz. The first thing they wanted from me today was to speak German. I refused.
I reminded them about our deal, our agreement, the consensus we reached when I left the place. All very politely and calm. I can't say that I was surprised when they all of a sudden changed their standpoint and denied all prior agreements. I asked for a receipt, but I was denied one. I asked for a specification of my (illogical) bill, and I was told a new story, deviating from the prior ones. I was never given the chance to finish my sentences. I was interrupted constantly. Eventually I said what I felt about their behavior, still being very polite. It was deceit and criminal. The secretary bounced off her chair, told me to get out of the office, and two seconds later she lay her hand on my back pushing me out. Do you think I left?
Ten seconds later, a man appeared in front of me, the managing director. This was the first time this man opened his mouth and said something to me, a troubling and very unhappy customer. I don't know where he took his marketing classes but they obviously didn't teach him anything about customer retention what so ever. He then tried to force me out of the office. Still, do you think that I left?
It became evident to me that standing there would not help me in any way. I had to stay rational. I had to remain sane. I slowly moved towards the door, and the man who appeared moments earlier closed the door on me, pushing me outside while I was still standing inside the room. My hands were shaking, my eyes were shaking and I was exploding. I went to Sara's room and she helped me out of the worst moments of rage.
I was thrown out. I was unfairly treated. I armed myself and I saved myself from getting killed.
It has become clear to me that the people I have faced in this process are not fair and honest. It's a catholic and conservative organization with no morale. It's a place where customers mean nothing. It's a place where pasta is on the menu, but potatoes are served.
I am moving on, I have neither the time nor the energy to keep on going back and forth to that place in the city for money I probably never will see again. But as I said earlier, it's a matter of standing up. It's about arming yourself and standing up for yourself, because nobody else will. It's a question of morale, just like everything else.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Resumé
Several days have passed since my last post, and I have had a blast the past days.
Wednesday: Stockholm derby between Djurgården and AIK. The game ended with a 1-1 draw after an equalizing goal by AIK in the last seconds of the game.
Friday: Oktober Fest in the city of München. A blast. A lot of beer. A day among new friends. A day to remember!
Saturday: Anxiety and eventually resurrection, wine with my American friends and later a visit to the Irish Pub of Linz.
Sunday: Hiking, indoor football at the Raab Heim and finally, Derby della Madonnina - The Milan - Inter derby game (which Inter eventually lost after a goal by Ronaldinho).
Monday: Kolpinghaus refuses to repay me my deposit (surprise?). I don't think they know what bad publicity means for a hotel. I will make them aware of that before I leave this country.
Thank you for reading!
Wednesday: Stockholm derby between Djurgården and AIK. The game ended with a 1-1 draw after an equalizing goal by AIK in the last seconds of the game.
Friday: Oktober Fest in the city of München. A blast. A lot of beer. A day among new friends. A day to remember!
Saturday: Anxiety and eventually resurrection, wine with my American friends and later a visit to the Irish Pub of Linz.
Sunday: Hiking, indoor football at the Raab Heim and finally, Derby della Madonnina - The Milan - Inter derby game (which Inter eventually lost after a goal by Ronaldinho).
Monday: Kolpinghaus refuses to repay me my deposit (surprise?). I don't think they know what bad publicity means for a hotel. I will make them aware of that before I leave this country.
Thank you for reading!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Rainy Wednesdays in Austria suck
It's already Wednesday evening and I have almost been in Austria for 2 weeks now. My week has been OK this far. I was to receive my deposit back from the other place but they are not repaying me the whole sum. This story never seems to end.
Monday was an OK day. Long but OK. It was rounded off with a karaoke party at the university. I didn't sing anything, I just hung out with the American exchange students and had a few beers. They were really nice (as usual)! By the way, alcohol is so much cheaper in this place compared to Sweden. It's sick. It encourages you to have that one extra beer every time you're out :P.
Tuesday... hmm... A boring day with no action at all. I went in to the city for a short errand, had coffee with my mentor at a place called Cafe Opera, and returned home for a quick lunch before I eventually ran to my language course in the afternoon.
Today has been pretty much like yesterday. I had to go to the city (again) to meet my mentor (again). After that I stopped by at home, went to the university for some lunch and to visit the bank at campus. The teacher brought her dog to the lesson today, pretty odd, no?
Anyway, Inter - Lecce and Djurgården IF - AIK tonight. I'll be watching.
Monday was an OK day. Long but OK. It was rounded off with a karaoke party at the university. I didn't sing anything, I just hung out with the American exchange students and had a few beers. They were really nice (as usual)! By the way, alcohol is so much cheaper in this place compared to Sweden. It's sick. It encourages you to have that one extra beer every time you're out :P.
Tuesday... hmm... A boring day with no action at all. I went in to the city for a short errand, had coffee with my mentor at a place called Cafe Opera, and returned home for a quick lunch before I eventually ran to my language course in the afternoon.
Today has been pretty much like yesterday. I had to go to the city (again) to meet my mentor (again). After that I stopped by at home, went to the university for some lunch and to visit the bank at campus. The teacher brought her dog to the lesson today, pretty odd, no?
Anyway, Inter - Lecce and Djurgården IF - AIK tonight. I'll be watching.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
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.
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.
Sunday v2.0
Day nine, the second Sunday in this country. The last one didn't exactly spoil me so I am not expecting anything of this day. All the shops are closed, even supermarkets. The only thing that is running as usual is the tram. I am seriously considering to jump on it and see the rest of the city. I did it last week and it was pretty nice. It took me places I wouldn't go to by myself.
I ended up in a two-room (and not a three-room) apartment with two Colombians. We share the kitchen and the WC/shower. They seem like nice guys but no conclusions yet. This is my view.
Sometimes I really believe that I have ended up in an underdeveloped country. I mean sure, Sweden is great in many aspects and we are usually pretty spoiled when we're abroad. But this is not my first time abroad and it's not the only place I've visited on this planet. I realized yesterday morning that I couldn't lock the door to my room. The metal piece (the lock?) that is supposed to come out from the door and into the wall, simply did not. The hole was out of range for the metal piece. Great.
The heating element of the room was also out of order, so now I've caught a cold. I asked them to fix this things and they took care of the door, but the heating element will stay like this. I'll have to wear more clothes indoors.
We went to this great sushi place yesterday (and the day before yesterday). You sit beside a running band with small portions of Japanese food passing you. You pick anything you like and eat as much as you can. It was awesome.
Later yesterday we decided to go out. There were a couple of pre-parties around the Julius Raab Heim, and I paid 'em both a visit. After a couple of Bacardi Breezers and a great amount of wine I was starting to feel a little funny. My goal was to not let the sushi leave my stomach. I gave up. If I had followed the others out I'd make an ass out of myself. A high price to pay, I really wanted to go out last night.
Another thing that I have been thinking about during my short stay here is (as I've mentioned earlier) the neverending number of stripclubs and funhouses. We passed by at least six or seven on our way to a furniture shop (which happened to be named XXX-Lutz...).
Torino - Inter today. I'll probably have to sneak in to the university and use their WLAN connection if I want to see the game in motion. The cable connection I have at Julius Raab is not sufficient.
Thank you for reading.
I ended up in a two-room (and not a three-room) apartment with two Colombians. We share the kitchen and the WC/shower. They seem like nice guys but no conclusions yet. This is my view.
Sometimes I really believe that I have ended up in an underdeveloped country. I mean sure, Sweden is great in many aspects and we are usually pretty spoiled when we're abroad. But this is not my first time abroad and it's not the only place I've visited on this planet. I realized yesterday morning that I couldn't lock the door to my room. The metal piece (the lock?) that is supposed to come out from the door and into the wall, simply did not. The hole was out of range for the metal piece. Great.
The heating element of the room was also out of order, so now I've caught a cold. I asked them to fix this things and they took care of the door, but the heating element will stay like this. I'll have to wear more clothes indoors.
We went to this great sushi place yesterday (and the day before yesterday). You sit beside a running band with small portions of Japanese food passing you. You pick anything you like and eat as much as you can. It was awesome.
Later yesterday we decided to go out. There were a couple of pre-parties around the Julius Raab Heim, and I paid 'em both a visit. After a couple of Bacardi Breezers and a great amount of wine I was starting to feel a little funny. My goal was to not let the sushi leave my stomach. I gave up. If I had followed the others out I'd make an ass out of myself. A high price to pay, I really wanted to go out last night.
Another thing that I have been thinking about during my short stay here is (as I've mentioned earlier) the neverending number of stripclubs and funhouses. We passed by at least six or seven on our way to a furniture shop (which happened to be named XXX-Lutz...).
Torino - Inter today. I'll probably have to sneak in to the university and use their WLAN connection if I want to see the game in motion. The cable connection I have at Julius Raab is not sufficient.
Thank you for reading.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Friday night at the Julius Raab Heim
After one week in Linz I am now settling down in my second crib during my short stay down here. In a few weeks I might be moving in to my third crib. We'll see about that. I've learned one thing down here, and that is to not take anything for granted, even if someone makes a promise. I am so used to the open and honest people of Sweden, and now I have to adapt and recalibrate myself in order to become accustomed to drunk personnel behind desks and counters. Yesterday I was promised a new room in a little more than two weeks. I woke up early in the morning just to call and check one last time if I was to get the new room. A few hours later some administrator at the dorm tells me that I might not be able to move in the new room in two weeks. This was said to me 35 minutes after I had cancelled my stay at the other place. I returned my key and I am waiting to receive my deposit back. For some reason I don't feel that things will happen smoothly. Nothing has this far.
So now I'm sitting in my new room at the Julius Raab Heim. It is cold, the light is not very nice and the other guys are out partying. The refrigerator is empty, and I have a feeling that the few things that I had bought for myself will be gone pretty soon. This time I can't call the embassy and complain though.
Anyway, there is no saucepan, no pots or any dishes whatsoever in the shared kitchen. I wonder how the fuckers who live here have been surviving without these things.
I have had the time and opportunity to make some new friends down here. I am still waiting for my German skills to improve. I find it hard to speak but I understand almost everything I hear and read. The Austrian accent is one exception though. I can barely understand a word.
The American and Canadian exchange students have been the easiest ones to communicate with. They have all been very friendly and kind. There are a few scandinavian exchange students here as well. We're only three (maybe four in a few days) swedish exchange students, but there are more finnish students. Most of them speak swedish perfectly well and some of them understand swedish. Two norweigan students are here but no danish students have been seen yet. The scandinavian students around have all been pretty nice.
Tomorrow I will have to go to the city centre, buy some plates etc. Hopefully we'll be able to go to IKEA.
Thank you for reading.
So now I'm sitting in my new room at the Julius Raab Heim. It is cold, the light is not very nice and the other guys are out partying. The refrigerator is empty, and I have a feeling that the few things that I had bought for myself will be gone pretty soon. This time I can't call the embassy and complain though.
Anyway, there is no saucepan, no pots or any dishes whatsoever in the shared kitchen. I wonder how the fuckers who live here have been surviving without these things.
I have had the time and opportunity to make some new friends down here. I am still waiting for my German skills to improve. I find it hard to speak but I understand almost everything I hear and read. The Austrian accent is one exception though. I can barely understand a word.
The American and Canadian exchange students have been the easiest ones to communicate with. They have all been very friendly and kind. There are a few scandinavian exchange students here as well. We're only three (maybe four in a few days) swedish exchange students, but there are more finnish students. Most of them speak swedish perfectly well and some of them understand swedish. Two norweigan students are here but no danish students have been seen yet. The scandinavian students around have all been pretty nice.
Tomorrow I will have to go to the city centre, buy some plates etc. Hopefully we'll be able to go to IKEA.
Thank you for reading.
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