So here I am Malmö, exploring and getting my beaings. Malmö is very different than Stockholm…so much so that at times, I thought that I was in a different country. And I think that has more to do with the fact that Malmö has a very strong Danish influence, seeing as it is so easy to get to Copenhagen (it’s basically a short drive). Specifically, the influence is in how they pronounce words when they are talking. I am not fluent by any means, but I am sensitive enough to the tonal and nasal sounds made in Swedish that I can tell whether someone is from up north, the south, or in a city center.

Anyway, Malmö is kinda small. But the people are genuinely friendly. After arriving yesterday night, I was in bed by 22.30! What a way to start the party weekend, eh? But I was so tired that the rest did me good.

So today, I was feeling kinda alone, so I did what anyone would go. I had a little retail therapy session. At the end of the day, I bought 3 new CDs, a bottle of vodka (it is still unopened by the way! ;), and a leather bracelet because it looked really cool and I have plans to put a pheonix design on it to make uniquely mine (for those who know me through MSN, my MSN name is Phoenix). I actually brought the bottle of vodka (Absolut, of course), because I forgot for a moment that I lived in Sweden, and thought it would be good to take back to the US. I guess I forgot I lived in Sweden because I was walking around in the touristy areas all day today. But afterall, I am a tourist in Malmö, so it makes sense to me anyway 😉

During my adventures, I walked into residential areas of Malmö. As with every city, there are cool areas and not so cool areas. And I also say “weight watchers” put on a trampoline performance. Now the interesting thing about this is that the trampoline performers were people who have never needed weight watchers in their lives (you could see the McDonalds ketchup stains on their company-sponsored t-shirts). But they were amazing performers. And I was great to see the obsese people look on in awe, hoping that through weight watchers, one day they too would flip and soar through the air. But I would have paid money for this one woman to get on the trampoline. She was about 140kg (308lbs). I mean, I am not exactly twin as a twig, but if I had reservations about getting on the trampoline, I felt that perhaps here illusions of flight were misplaced (she was talking about how much fun it would be). But I’ve seen stranger things, so everything is possible I suppose.

So I got back with all of my purchases at around 16.00, after heading out of the hotel at 12.30. Retail therapy always makes me tired, so I decided that I better chill and relax until going to find dinner around 19.00 (which it almost is), and then coming back and chilling until about 23.00 to go out to a few clubs that people I met on the street recommended to me. It isn’t going to be a crazy night out for sure, but I will have fun until about 02.30 in the morning, if for no other reason than that is when things close. I’ll just be rolling along with the flow of things tonight! And then since my flight is at 14.00ish tomorrow, I will have to make sure I leave the hotel at noon…since the central station is so close (a 15 minute walk) and the bus ride is only about 30 minutes, there isn’t a real need to hurry.

So now I must go and find food. The bad thing about being out in a town by yourself on a saturday night is that it dampens your mood to eat in a restaurant since saturday is typically a date night. I think I’ll grab some fast and quick, have the meal in my hotel room, and then take a short nap before waking up to get ready for tonight.

Ciao for now everyone! Love you journal!

Rodney

So, as it turns out, I had a ticket to Malmö which I had purchased last month. I was going to stay in Stockholm this weekend, but at the last minute, I decided that I needed to be able to relax the final weekend before the audit begins and takes away the next 4 weeks of my life.

In fact, even as we write this, I am in a hotel room, finishing up one of the presentations required for presentation, instead of out and about on the streets of Malmö. seeing what it has to offer. But that’s ok, I fully intend to charge the company for the telephone expenses, since I must remain online and available until I am told that my work efforts are complete.

So what to do in Malmö this weekend? I don’t know. Malmö, for those who don’t know where it is, is in Sweden. It is one of the three largest cities in Sweden (second largest I believe). And for those who don’t know the size of Stockholm, it only has about 2 million people in it max…so it is kind of small. I would like to tell you what it looks like outside, but my hotel room doesn’t have any windows. Bur for SEK 800 in the city center, including breakfast and amenities associated with being a top tier member, I can’t really complain much! 🙂

This weekend is all about a completely open calendar. I plan to eat whatever I want whenever I want. I plan to go out and be social, but not party excessively, because I am flying solo and I am pretty happy in the relationship department at the moment. So I actually want to see the city, so that I can say that I’ve been somewhere else besides Stockholm whilst I lived in Sweden.

Anyway, the week has mostly been about work, a little about play, and a lot about being tired and exhausted. Oh yeah, and my right eye turned red for a few days and it looked gross, but it is all better now.

So I must bid you farewell, journal. I have to get prepared for the 19.00 meeting (it is Friday for heaven’s sake) and then if all goes well, the weekend begins by 19.45!

Ciao journal…love you!

It’s 07.00 CET on Friday morning…

So I haven’t been posting as regularly as I should. That’s being our organisation is being audited beginning next week, and it has been such an effort to get ready and prepare.

I was really tired on Thursday night and slept through everything, including 6 phone calls. I fell asleep on the couch. It was Steve’s last night here in Stockholm and I was supposed to go out with him. I feel bad that I missed his last night out, and even more bad because one of my closest friends has been here for 3 weeks and now he will be gone…I’ll lose that link I had back to someone in the states.

I fell asleep and left the stove on….I woke up because I had trouble due to breathing in the fumes. I could have probably almost died.

I’m kinda sad and I don’t know why just yet, but it’s time to go to work. I’ll have time for being sad later…

Oh yeah, and when you get the chance, go see The Italian Job. It’s a really nice movie.