AstroBlonde

Ok it's official! The germans I've met today are really bad in English. I mean, I'm not that good but I will never, ever complain about my English again!

I was at the hair dresser today. I'm really happy with the result tho, but that's not my point here. I waited for my turn and when it finally was my turn I asked the hair dresser if she speaks English. I got an "Ehmmm" + a really weird look from her.... "Ok, I guess not... How will I be able to explain this in german?!". My sister jumps in and "schwisch, schweisch" I got a hair dresser who speaks English. Great! I started to speak to her and asked her if she's gonna dye my hair aswell. She answered "Yes" and then sent me to another person to dye my hair... "Uhm, maybe she wasn't that good in English after all. Or maybe it's my accent...". Now, my "new" hair dresser didn't understand English at all. They placed my sister on my side, telling her that it's more fun for her to sit there instead, but I know they placed her there so that she could help with the translation if needed. My sis sat down for a while but then she needed to run some errands, so there I was with a hair dresser that only could communicate with me by smiling. Ok, so I started to slowly speak english to her. I have to give her 10 point for trying but she didn't understand me. Ok, I guess I need to use my big-barra-broken german instead.

Åsa is trying to construct german sentences in her head:
"Maybe I should tell her that she's good in what she's doing, because she is very good. Ok, Du bist... uhm what is good in german? Gut? You can't say Du bist gut. She's gonna think I'm crazy! Ok, let's skip the you're-good-part. But I should say something, she's working like crazy with my thick hair. Ich habe viel haar... That sounds strange... what's straws in german? Maybe that would be more clear. Donno. Ok, let's skip that part. Say something, Åsa! Uhm, Entschuldigung, mein Deutch ist nicht so gut. Ich kommer aus Schweden, ich bin eine touristin, leben mit meine schwestern. Ich habe Deutch studiere für sechs jahre aber ich habe alles vergessen." Probably 100% grammar faults but I told her. She smiles, laugths and then says "Das ist ok" or something. Ah, well I tried...

I sat there waiting for her to be finished and thought to myself "Swedish is my native language. I tried English and now I'm really bending over backwards for her to understand me in German and all I got was Das ist ok. I mean, I'm using my third language (if we ignore the scandinavian languages) and she leans on just one language, German. God I'm glad that I'm educated, even though my german is really bad (well, still compared to my own standards)!"

Anyway... I'm really happy with the result! And it was cheap! Happy, happy happy!

Later on this evening I was out for a smoke. Because it was snowing outside I was standing close to the door, under the roof. A woman walks by with her dog and the dog starts to sniff around in the snow on the ground. The woman waited for the dog to continue walking and then the woman makes the loudest fart. I'm guessing the woman didn't see me or perhaps this is German hospitality? Ah well, I guess those Germans are humans after all...

Tsss. German is funny! I don't get it! I just scratch my head and beg them to speak english. Unfortunately alot of Berliners don't wanna speak english, although they understand what I say. Iiiiiinteresting situation... :)

"Ich bin ein Berliner"... Yep, I've eaten the Berliner now.

Thank god for CNN! I've been sitting infront of the TV. Everything is dubbed except CNN. English is the shit! For the rest of the channels: Some things I understand, most of it I don't.

Heavy snowfall in Sweden. Ahhh, too bad I'm not there... :)

Whee!

Now I'm in Berlin, living with my sister and her family. One can think that it should get warmer when leaving Sweden, the country up in the north, to go more south. Hah! It'a actually warmer in Uppsala, Sweden, than here in Berlin! It's been -20 to -10 C here these last couple of days and as a tourist you kinda need to walk around to see things. So, basically I've been freezing my ass off!

Berlin is a really nice city. I've been in Russia a couple of years ago, and in Estonia as well. It's interesting to see how half of Berlin (the eastern parts) looks similar to the buildings in both Russia and Estonia, but the western parts look more like Stockholm. Of course it has to do with history and when walking around here you get reminded of the history that took place here not that long ago. I've seen some parts of the Berlin wall, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (a church that was bombarded during WW2), the Brandenburg gate, the Spree river, the Fernsehturm at Alexanderplatz and alot of other stuff I can't remember the names of. The U-bahn and S-bahn are great!!! It's so easy to travel around in this city!

What about the language? Well, I've studied German for six years a long, long time ago. I still have the vocabulary but the grammar is lost in translation. I can understand some sentences but most of the time it's going too fast. I was really proud today at the mall when the shop assistant asked me if I had a member card. "Nein" I answered, then she asks if I wanted to join. "Nein danke" I answered and though maybe I should say that I'm a tourist. I started to create my sentence in my head "Ich bin ein... God damit, is it ein or eine? Uhm.. tourist? Uhm..". I was too slow and she started to speak German and I was totally lost. Tried "Entschuldigung?" and she repeated what she said. Yeah, like that made any difference. Still lost. My sister jumps in and translates for me "She just said she's gonna put the receipt in the bag"... Damit! I was so close to get it all! Later on a customer asked me if I could reach a necklace that was placed really high. I did and she said "zwei mal, zwei mal"... In my head "that's two of those right?" and it was. Gosh, I start to get the hang on this German language... not... One thing is good tho: I can understand the language when I read or at the U-bahn and S-bahn, which makes it much easier than when I was in Spain or in France.

Well, they say that the temperature will get higher tomorrow. Let's hope for that. I'm gonna go to the hair dresser... Services are really cheap in this country (well, compared to Sweden anyway)!

Tschüs!

Okey, I'm off to Berlin! But once again I'm amazed, I mean what's the odds for this to happen:

When I flew to Australia last time I was in Singapore when I heard the news about the Hudson river crash. When I just arrived in Spain, La Palma, to observe a couple of weeks later it was this plane crash in Amsterdam. And now, just before I'm going to Berlin I read about an airplane catching fire during a landing in Iran + a man trying to open the airplane doors somewhere over the US. Ok, it's impossible because of the air pressure differences and how the doors are constructed (the doors open by pushing the door in, and because the airpressure is higher inside the cabine than outside it's impossible for a man to open when flying).

I mean, come ooooon! I seriously seem to have a bad influence on the airplanes around the world when I'm traveling :)

Also, went through my international coin "collection" and found 50 EUR, 10 AUD, 8 USD and alot of other currency. Ok, this time I have to remember to put the coins in those Red Cross boxes at the airport! Don't know how far I've travelled with those just to put them into a box. I keep forgetting all the time!

Tjolahopp!

I'm FINALLY finished with the course Observational Astrophysics II and it feels great! My last course I have to finish for my degrees, so now it's just thesis, thesis, thesis. But first: Berlin for a week, back to Sweden to have a presentation and then off to Australia! YAY! People ask me if I'm nervous, but I'm not. I don't think it's such a big deal to move to another country, especially an english speaking country. It's almost like living in Sweden, except the nature is a bit more exotic and the language is english instead. :) I'm looking forward to it! I'm gonna get lost, I'm gonna get misunderstood, I'm gonna get confused, I'm gonna burn myself, and I will probably get eaten by a shark or two. You know... The usual stuff :)

So, before going to Germany I have to work on my presentation and do some laundry. Otherwise I feel quite ready to go to Australia. Is it going to be hell down there when it feels like the situation is under control now? Will the plane crash or something? At least something must be wrong when feeling this way...

The day started off pretty boring so in the afternoon I realized "Nope, my life cannot be this boring!" so I booked a flight to Berlin. Leaving in two weeks to see my sister and her family. I'm gonna stay there for a little less than one week, then back to Sweden. Stay in Sweden for a little more than one week and then off to Australia! Perfect!

I'm just so fed up with always studying, and even if I don't have to I can't really relax anyway. I mean I really like what I study but sometimes something new needs to happen. Why not take a cheap flight to Germany? You only live once right?! :)

Let's summarize 2009, it won't take long because I can hardly remember it!

In January 2009, I went to Sydney to see my friend who lived there for a year. 10 hours of jetlag and alot of hours spent on the beach. I dated a guy over there but as usual realized he's not the guy for me (after he asked me to cook for him, hehe). When I got home I started to talk to a really cute guy in Sydney on the internet. He met a girlfriend and I haven't spoken to him since. Instead I started to talk to his friend, hah, life if funny!

After three weeks in Sydney I packed my bags and returned home to a cold Sweden. The first day in Sweden I wore my beautiful white jacket and guess what: "Splash!". Yep, the half melted, durty snow was all over me after a bus has droven by. Great!

Was in Sweden for 2 weeks and then off to La Palma, Spain, for 8 observational nights. Remember I was a mess coz of the 10 hours jetlag from the Australia trip and back to normal time in Sweden and then change hours again to work during night in La Palma. Spent 8 days on 2500 meters altitude, which was a new experience. Never thought it could be so hard to just walk up a hill! Kept thinking "breathe, breathe" when walking. Let's just say I'm not the right material for working at the big observatories, about 5000 meters in altitude.

Came back to Sweden in March and had to study really hard to keep up with the courses. I've been away most of January and February. At the same time I was working with my Bachelor's thesis.

Can't remember much of April though. I must have studied hard! I remember partying like crazy on the last of April... As usual.

May: Uhm. Study? Probably... Some problems with my scholarship but it all worked out fine in the end.

June: Hm, ahhh. Working with my thesis. Enjoying the summer! Worked a couple of days at Stadium. Was out on a boat rowing with Johanna. Or perhaps it was in July. Can't remember really.

July: Enjoying summer. Working with my thesis. Sent my application to the uni of Sydney.

August: Hm. Enjoying summer and studying. Lunch on the lawn outside the uni.

September: School starts again. Master thesis, master thesis, master thesis. One interview about me came out in a magazine, as well as a popular scientific article I've written. Or was it in October? Uhm? Can't remember...

October: Master thesis, studying for exams. Ah, painting the appartment as well. Bought the tickets to Australia. Visa granted!

November: Passed the exams for three courses, moved to my mom's place in the end of November. Was selling off my stuff. This was a really hard working month!

December: Maaaaaaaaaaaaster thesis! X-mas, Samba!

Oh, now when looking back it seems to be exactly like I'd imagine it. Study, study, study. No wonder I'm single: I must have the most boring life ever! Ah, well.

Back to reality again, after a nice Christmas and New years. At the Uni to study for the next exam: Atomic and molecular physics. It is interesting, but as usual a bit frustrating sometimes. I've just spent some time to find the radial wave function of hydrogenic atoms in Physics handbook. Just couldn't find it so after quite some time I had to ask one of the astronomers here: It took him one minute to find it. Damn it! Am I blind?! Really annoying! What I'm doing right now is a little bit towards Quantum mechanics, lucky for me it wasn't that long ago I took that class. I still remember it! Kinda anyway...

These last couple of days it's been freezing cold here in Uppsala. Today it's -18 C, and I'm not used to that cold even though I'm Swedish. Normally it's around -5 to 0 C. Sometimes it can drop to -15 C but that is unusual. Now it's been this cold for many days and it's so typical that this is going to happen THIS year! I don't want to buy warmer clothes because I'm leaving soon! A little comfort though is that it's snow chaos in the UK and around Europe. It is, apparently, colder than usual in Europe this winter. Just a little comfort to know that I'm not the only one freezing my ass off! Still refusing to put a winter hat on, and today I forgot my glows at home (even though they're not warm enough). Just read the news that it's going to get even colder: You've got to be kidding?!

Ah well, greetings from a snowy and cold Sweden!

The X-mas party with the astrophysicists was really nice! I had so much fun! Some of the professors danced like crazy. I was all exhausted after all the dancing and I'm surprised they could keep up! I couldn't... I have a very strong memory of one of the professors, who needed water after all the dancing, but started to pour beer from the tap instead. I said "no, no that's beer, here's water" and he continued to pour water into the glass. He drank the mix of 1/3 beer and 2/3 water, and I looked at him drinking that and said "Oh god, that must have tasted like s**t". He just said "Yep, let's dance!". Disgusting but fun!

During X-mas I've spent time with my family. Four kids, ages 3 to 9, ran around everywhere. It's so hard to say no to them, so I ran around with them. They are so cute!

For new years me and Johanna was in Stockholm at this Samba club. We took the train to Stockholm but then realized we had no clue where the club was. We started to ask around for the street and people just looked at us and said "Oh right, like you don't know. You have the same Swedish accent as people from Stockholm". Johanna said "Oh, but we're from the country. Up north all the way from Uppsala". They just laughed and pointed in one direction. Quite convinced that they were trying to fool us, we started walking. Finally we found the place and it was so much fun! I danced the X-mas ham off. Samba is so much fun, altough I have no clue how to dance it!