I apologise that so many of my posts are weather related at the moment and hope that you’ll excuse me as a) I’m British so talking about the weather is what we do and b) I have missed weather whilst …
God Jul – A Swedish Christmas
The festive season has definitely taken hold and I am familiarising myself with Swedish Christmas, although this is not my first encounter with Swedish Yuletide traditions. Two years ago Nicklas and I spent Christmas on Koh Phi Phi in Thailand …
Visiting Friends
This weekend Rhoda—my very good friend from college—came to visit me in Sweden. It is always great to see a familiar face from home when you are living in a foreign country; over the 4 ½ years that I have …
A Social Life
If you’re wondering why my blog has been abandoned recently it’s because I have rediscovered my social life over the past few weekends. One of the things that I have particularly enjoyed since being in Sweden is the luxury of …
Lest We Forget – Remembering The Fallen
“Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them.”
Today is Remembrance Day: a day which many countries have adopted as a day to reflect …
The Baltic Journals #2. A-ha
I was a bridesmaid 3 times during the decade of blue eyeliner, crimped hair and legwarmers and have already blogged about the numerous 80s wedding discos that I attended throughout that decade (http://elainethatcher.wordpress.com/2010/09/18/the-final-countdown-to-a-night-in-the-cells/). The 80s may well be …
Fancy Dress Friday
Yesterday was the last day of an incredibly long half-term and what better way to celebrate than with a fancy dress day at school? The first time I used the phrase ‘fancy dress’ with Nicklas he thought I wanted to …
Ticket to Ride
When I was interviewed for the job at IESE I was asked where I would be planning to live should I be offered the position. I explained to them that as Nicklas would be working in Västerås we would base …
One Hel’ of a Weekend – the staff social.
In my opinion, one of the best things about teaching internationally is the sense of comraderie that develops amongst your work colleagues. This seems to be very different from the UK when everybody already has their own group of friends, …
Need a place to stay? Check out these wacky hotels!!
Last weekend I went to prison. I was to spend the night in a cell at the infamous Långholmen Prison, Stockholm.
The hallways were long and narrow with row after row of bolted and numbered doors harbouring their confining cells behind. As expected my …
The Final Countdown (to a night in the cells)
In the good old days of vinyl my parents bought my sister and I a record: ‘The Final Countdown’ by 80s rock band Europe. I was 7 years old and little did I know how much this record would come …
No Room at the Inn
Whilst the picture above may raise a slight smile, it conveys the serious problem of Stockholm’s housing shortage.
Finding accommodation is Sweden is surprisingly difficult with most people having to join long queues in order to be considered for apartments. …
Weddings and Castles
On Saturday I attended my first wedding in Sweden. I am hesitant to say Swedish Wedding as, despite the geographical location, there was probably very little about the wedding that was traditionally Swedish. The bride is Swedish but has Finnish …
Anyone for Banana Pizza?
Nicklas once told me that Swedish pizza is ”The best pizza in the whole world”. Even better than pizza in Italy apparently. As he has never been to Italy, and he has the typical Swedish belief that everything is better …