A full week in Sweden has come and gone, and now reality is setting in ... this place is dang cold. Many of you know that we have land in Gunnison and have wanted to settle there. Well, I think Gunnison will feel warm after this experience.
When I woke up yesterday, it was 18 degrees F. I have one of those weather stations that I brought along so I can see how cold it is outside in Fahrenheit instead of having to do the math all the time to convert from Celsius. Today it's been hovering around 33 degrees, so a nice little warmup.
Yesterday afternoon/evening I met up with a girl named Donna (pictured above). She moved here from south China the same day I did. We met while registering for our "personalnumber," a number you need to do everything from setting up a bank account to getting a mobile phone. It's kind of like a social security number, I guess. Anyway, we hit it off and made dinner together last night. She showed me how to make authentic Chinese fried rice, and I showed her how to make Pho, though it wasn't nearly as good as Lou's. She seemed curious about the Indian food I make, so maybe I'll try that next time.
One thing that was really interesting about hanging out with Donna was her perception of Americans. We got on the topic of politics, and I mentioned that I don't like Bush. You should have seen the relief on her face. She said people in China don't like Bush either and don't understand why he has killed so many people. She said when she told her friends in China that she had met me, she had to add, "Yeah but she's not that kind of American." Because of Bush, and the fact that we voted him into a second term, their view of Americans in general is not very favorable. They think of the typical American as arrogant, privileged and superficial.
With IKEA being such an international company, I'm sure this isn't the last time I'll hear things like that. In my department, 99 percent of the employees are Swedes. Five of us are not. Peter is a copywriter from Great Britain, Patrick is a copywriter from Ireland, Mike is a project leader from Great Britain and Jenny is an art director from Australia. Jenny and I work on the same team and sit next to each other, which is really great since everyone else speaks Swedish around us. I've also gotten to know a girl named Jit from Singapore, who is my assigned "buddy" to help me get acclimated. Jenny and Jit are work pals, and the two of them have invited me to lunch a few times this week, which is really nice. Jit has also offered to teach me Swedish swear words! :)
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