Happy New Year!

Kitchen / Dining

Living Room

Bedroom 1

Bathroom 1

Bedroom 2

Bathroom 2

Closet

View from Balcony

Just a year ago we were discussing applying to Graduate School in Stockholm Sweden... a year later we are not only living in Sweden, but 25% finished with the degree. It truly is amazing how much can change in just a year! Hopefully next year wont be quite as stressful, but equally full of adventure! Above is our apartment which is now put together and clean. Happy New Year!

Fire!

So, just as we are preparing dinner we hear an alarm go off, not thinking much about it we continue to prepare to eat when we start smelling an extensive amount of smoke... I open the apartment door to see if everything is alright and am bombarded with more smoke! So Amber and I grab the kids and head out. Turns out the first floor of our apartment complex was on fire. Luckily, the fire department came quick and put it out, so it did not spread to the second floor. Other than some smoke smell in the apartment, everything was alright! Thank goodness... if I would have had to reassemble all the IKEA furniture, I might have gone crazy...

Jet-Lagged on a Train...

One of the best days in Sweden yet... I picked up the family from the airport! While the kids were extremely excited to see me and talked non-stop for the first half hour, it did not take long for the lack of sleep to set in and they were out... luckily we had a long train ride ahead of us!

Great Food, Atmosphere, and Friends...

Tonight after a full day of studies, I went to a restaurant in Stockholm known for its out-of-control decor/atmosphere with a couple friends. The restaurant is called Peppar and had great food at a reasonable price! They periodically change their decor according to the holiday/season. Right now, as seen above, the theme is Christmas - so fun. I love hanging out with friends outside of the school atmosphere, it is so much more relaxing...

Destroyed Hands

13 Hours of putting together 6 Chairs, 2 Beds, 2 Lamps, 1 Crib, 1 Sofa, 1 Coffee Table, 1 Nightstand, and some bathroom cupboards all from Ikea = some very painful hands, but an apartment that is starting to feel like a home! I must say, I am quite done with the do it yourself assembly for a while... Pictures of the finished products will soon follow!

Chocolate Ball

I think I found it... The largest chocolate ball you can buy - Weighs more then my children at birth 5kg (11 lbs)! It is slightly cheaper then my kids were as this delectable treat can be all yours for a measly 295 SEK ($43.50). Enjoy!

For the record, while I resisted the chocolate ball, I could not resist the princess tårta next to it (which happened to be 50% off. Needless to say,  it came home with me.

Work Hard, Play Hard!

In life there needs to be a balance. With our school class having worked extremely hard over the last 3 months, it was time to have some good times! 29 Students, 1 Restaurant, 1 Bar and 6 hours later... good times were had. I can now officially say I am in one of the best group of Masters students ever! On to the last class of the semester...

Moving Along...

The second class is officially done, which means 12.5% finished! Consequently, up to this point I have read 7 books, 13 articles, and written 7 papers totaling 17,589 words for 2 teachers. Get tired just thinking about it...

Fotografiska

Lion Before Storm II                                 (c) Nick Brandt

Yesterday, I visited the photography museum in Stockholm. The museum is fairly new, opened less then 18 months ago. There were various featured photographers, but my favorite was Nick Brandt. He exhibition was titled 'On this Earth, A Shadow Falls'. It featured photography from Africa, particularly the animals. It was truly amazing. I highly recommend anyone seeing this photographers work. Click on the picture title to learn more about Nick Brandt and the Exhibition.

Enjoying a 'ficka' with friends after viewing the exhibitions.

Birthday Cake at 9am...

   Well, the day has come. I have tried my best to prevent it, but it is official... I am now 30. For all nerds out there this also means that it has been 30 years since IBM first announced the personal computer. Ironically, it was also recently announced we are now living in what is being called a 'Post-PC' era. This is due to the popularity of smartphones, tablets, and laptops... Enough of the nerdy facts!

   The harsh reality of turning 30 was luckily eased with a wonderful chocolate moose cake at nine this morning. After engorging in cake, cookies, and treats all day, I feel pretty good... Maybe the 30's won't be that bad after all. Going back to my high-school goals, it is during my 30's that I will become financially independent! So, here's to the 30's... "Skål!"

Update: 12 hours later at 9pm, the night ended with some wonderful kebab pizza! Great end to the day...

Stadshuset

Today I visited Stockholm's City Hall. It looks a lot older then what it is - Construction started in 1911 and finished during 1923. This building houses the Nobel Prize dinner as well as over 300 other banquets throughout the year. From its location, it provides some amazing views! Highly recommend going to anyone visiting Stockholm.

Movie Night

   Jägarna 2 came out this last month here in Sweden. It is a sequel to the extremely popular Swedish thriller Jägarna. A lot of my friends could not believe that I had not seen it, so they lent me a copy. I watched it and really enjoyed it. It was quite an intense thriller with a good pace and story that kept you interested right up to the end. Now that I have seen the first, I will have to check out the second at some point...
   My aunt wanted to show me another Swedish movie that was nominated for a lot of awards,  'Så som i Himmelen' (As it is in Heaven). Genre wise it was the complete opposite of Jägarna, this was more of a Drama. While that is normally not at all what I look at, I have to admit that it was pretty good. Like Jägarna, the story was compelling and had some pretty good messages throughout. Anyone interested in some well made foreign films should check these out... They are a little different compared to the normal high budget Hollywood films... I also know that English subtitles are available for both films. 

Incentive to Run!

Running in Nynäshamn. Click picture for larger view.

So finally during my few days of break from classes, I discovered a lot of trails close to where I am staying. I also found some time to unpack my running shoes. Even though it is a bit late in the season, I have started to run again. It feels good to get out in the fresh air and burn some calories. Here are some shots from the trails I have been running. The scenery is awesome, it is incentive enough to keep me going out! I also love hearing the water crash along the shoreline, it really is quite perfect for running.

What a Month

The last three weeks have consisted of only reading, writing, and sleeping! Now that I have finished the fist class (which means 6.25% done with school), I finally have a few days break. Priority # 1 is finding a permanent apartment. Fun times lie ahead...

The Ericsson Globe

Ericsson Globe

Today I went to the 'Globen' in Stockholm for a career fair.  The fair was great, but it was some facts about the building that I found very interesting:

• Took two and a half years to build.
• Currently the largest hemispherical building in the world.
• Has a diameter of 110 meters (361 feet), Inner height of 85 meters (279 feet).
• Seating capacity for 16,000 spectators for shows and concerts, and 13,850 for ice hockey.
• It represents the Sun in the Sweden Solar System.

The last fact was the one I found most interesting.  It turns out that Sweden has the world's largest scale model of the Solar System.  Click on the solar system picture below to read more about this!

1 Down, Countless to go!

4 Authors, over 120 pages read, over 2000 words typed, I finally handed in my first assignment (with my group I was working with) today at school!  Talk about a relief... Today I took it easy the rest of the day so that I would have the energy to start up on the next assignment tomorrow.  Hopefully, as time goes on my school skills will return and this stuff will come easier to me.  All I can really say is that I am so thankful I worked with such a fantastic group on my first assignment!

The Daily Journey

     Wow, I am tired.  Today I removed a tree stump from my Uncles yard.  It provided a good four hours worth of fight, but in the end I prevailed!  Now in its place is just dirt that is ready to be planted with grass.
     As I was reviewing my blog I realized that I have not posted my trip I make every time I go up to the University. The University (marked as B on the map) is about 45 miles (70 km) away from my current residence (marked A).  It takes between 1 hr 20 min - 2 hours depending on how well I catch the bus, train, and subway.  Sometimes due to a late bus, or too many people I will miss a train or a bus will be too full...  It has already happened on a couple occasions!  So, to play it safe, I give myself 2 hours.

     Notice all the islands on the map (click on the map for a larger image). I found out today that inner-city Stockholm is built on 14 separate islands.  However, the area around Stockholm has about 30000 islands in total!  There are day cruises that you can take that go around a bunch of the islands so you can enjoy the water and scenery.  I think I will check one of these out next summer...

A Century Worth of Reading

First of all, due to multiple requests I have changed the font on my page to be easier on the eyes! Hopefully this font works out better for you that care to read this blog.

As I have been  obtaining my books  / materials to read for this first class, I have found something very fascinating!  In the past, the materials I have read for school have been relatively new - written within the last 20 years or so...  Not the case with my first class here at Stockholm University!  The first book I purchased was first published 100 years ago.  I thought that it would be a very difficult read being so old, but it actually has turned out to be quite pleasant and interesting so far. The book is shown below.

Other materials I am reading for this class are dated from 1930, 1933, 1947, 1949, 1970, 1984, 2003, and 2007. The text literally spans just about a century.  I think it is going to quite interesting to see what principles / ideas are similar / different today then in the past.  Already in the beginning stages of my readings I am finding principles that were written a century ago, but are still being seen today.  Somethings in this world seem to never change - I guess depending on what it is, that could be a good or bad thing. 

The 1st Lecture

As I was sitting in the lecture hall listening to how the class was to be structured, what books/articles were to be read and the papers that had to be completed, I had a small 'Why am I here again?!' moment.  Luckily, after class as I was speaking with other students, I quickly realized I was not the only one feeling a little overwhelmed!

Its really quite funny how when you realize others are in the same boat you are, you no longer feel quite as overwhelmed.  My guess is that it is due to the fact that you know there are others there to either help buoy you up or sink with you.  Either way your not alone and that feels good!

On a side note... Something that is really different with this graduate program compared ot my undergraduate is that it is much more theory vs practice.  There is also a lot more self study expected as opposed to the traditional sitting and listening to the professor lecture.  I guess after a few weeks I can let you know which method I prefer.  However, this will be interesting for a change.

Absolutely Beautiful

Today I went on a quick walking tour through Stockholm City, followed by a boat tour with fellow Graduate program students.  It was great getting able to know those I will be studying with over the next couple years.  Everyone was very friendly and I thoroughly enjoyed their company.  As far as seeing Stockholm, it seems like no matter how many time I go through the city, it beauty always amazes me! I just love all the water and greenery that is all around. It is truly a spectacular site.  Pictures never do it any justice, but here are a few to give you an idea...

78 Degrees of Perfect

Since this was the last weekend that I do not have to officially worry about school, I decided to take it easy. I went down to the coast / pier here in Nynäshamn and enjoyed ice-cream, candy, a sailboat race, and touring some old Swedish Navy Ships. The weather was a perfect 78 degrees, slight breeze with a few clouds in the sky.  Really, if Sweden had this type of weather everyday, it would be just as pleasant as San Diego!

Down by the coast in Nynäshamn.

Notice the ice cream shop in the foreground.

One of the Military Ships I went on - HMS Spica T121.

A selection of 'lösgodis' that I have been enjoying.

30 Minutes of Heaven

Well, after registering for my classes today It just dawned on me how much reading and writing I am going to have to do over the next few months.  I have to admit that the thought was slightly depressing.  To cheer myself up a bit I decided to order one of my favorite Swedish fast foods (besides hot dogs and mashed potatoes) - Kebab Pizza.  It is a conglomerate of Kebab, Thin Crust Pizza, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Chilies, and a white Garlic Sauce.  Add a small side of 'Pizza Salad' (Cabbage cut finely mixed with a special vinaigrette & spices) and you have yourself quite the treat!  For the next 30 minutes I was in Pizza Heaven.

Swedish Kebab Pizza & Pizza Salad

As far as the apartment search goes... since renting is looking like quite the extreme challenge, I am starting to investigate some other options.  One of these is buying.  It turns out that if you get far enough outside of Stockholm, housing is actually quite affordable.  The catch is that you are required to put 15% of the homes price as down payment.  So, while I am out apartment / home hunting, maybe my stocks can finally take a turn for the positive...  One can only hope and stay positive!

Ups and Downs

  So, today I had the chance to explore the campus a bit and figure out public transport, etc.  It turns out that the Masters Program I will be in is located in its own section of the University called the Kräftriket.  It's right next to the water and has walking/jogging trails all around the shoreline and through the wooded areas - very picturesque.

Stockholm University - Kräftriket

So far the Ups have been the scenery, ease of public transport, and helpfulness of the University staff.  As far as the downs go, there has only been 1 - Housing.  Student housing is few and far between and not offered to Graduate Students.  This means that I have 2 options.  The first is to buy a place (which I am not in a position to do) and the second is to put your name on rental lists for regulated apartments.  The down with this is explained well in a newspaper article I read:


'The wait for a rental apartment in Stockholm averages 104 weeks, rising to as much as 20 years for attractive areas, according to a new report published this week.' - The Local (Swedish Newspaper)


So, looks like I will be able to get in an apartment just after I graduate! :)   Now there is a third option, which is try to network and find an individual that owns a property which they are trying to rent or share a home with someone (you rent 1-2 rooms in the home and share the bathroom and kitchen).  I am going to try for the 'find a privately owned residence and rent option'.  Will keep you posted!

So it Begins...

So, leaving behind friends, family and a good job I have decided to pursue a Masters Degree in Stockholm, Sweden. 
The degree is:   Masters of Management Studies
The timeline is:  Aug. 2011 - June 2013
This blog will follow not only my studies and experiences at the University, but also the sights and culture I will experience while here in Sweden. And so it begins...

Stockholm in the Summer