Ulrika in Ulricehamn

Decor - a student company moving ahead!

2012-02-04T14:28:00.003+01:00

Today the high school students on the entrepreneur program in Ulricehamn are showing off their businesses for the first time this school year. In September they started their businesses in small groups and today the first competition round takes place. They will judged by a panel of business people on their annual reports, marketing, sales strategy, company presentation, product and/or service. In March they will compete on the semi- regional level and the winners in each category will continue to the regional level followed by the national and European level. During one year they start up and run a business and this American based idea is this year including more than 3,1 million students only across Europe. Schools all over Europe help students to start up student companies and Ulricehamn has a strong winning tradition in this field. In the last 10 years we have been among the best 5 in Sweden every year and two years ago Bolsa from Ulricehamn even one a category on the European level.

Two years ago I helped out as a jury member locally and was seriously impressed by the achievements of the student. This year I had a role as adviser for a student company called Decor.Decor is a company focusing on interior design using sheet metal to create a multifunctional plate, tray or table. It has been fun to be apart of a group of students fighting real hard to go from 6 different ideas to production, making a business plan, creating a selling stand, learning to sell their product etc. How many companies go from idea, production and sales in 4 months?

Now I cross my fingers that they will get credited by the jury this afternoon. To me they are already winners but naturally I think they deserve to win at least best stand at the exhibition!

PS: They did win best stand and were nominated for best business. Well done!!!

Dutch on the move...

2012-02-04T14:27:00.000+01:00

It is almost time for the 2012 Emigration fair in Houten, the Netherlands – a fair Ulricehamn has taken part in the last 3 years. This is Europe’s largest Emigration Expo and attracts around 12000 visitors during two days – all interested in emigrating from the Netherlands. It might sound sad that so many people are thinking about leaving their country, especially such a well organized, wealthy, democratic country but I see it as a sign of times. We live in a global world, the migration flows are constantly increasing and more and more people want to explore the world they live in. 100 years ago emigrating from Europe to Canada was a one in a life time decision. Once you moved you knew that you would probably never return. Today, global infrastructure and digital solutions make it possible to stay in contact with family and friends and moving to another country might not be forever.

My family is part of this migration flow and my husband and children are part to the statistics of emigrated Dutch people. In the last two years I have been part of a group from Sjuhärad (small region in west Sweden) who visits the Emigration Expo in order to attract more inhabitants to our area in Sweden. This year we will be there again and so far 42 people have moved to our region since 2008.
The urbanization in the world has had a major impact on Sweden. I think more than 80% of all municipalities suffer from a decreased number of inhabitants. As each municipality have taxation right the town has less to spend when the number of inhabitants decrease. Each municipality is responsible for education, childcare, elderly care, sport facilities, local infrastructure etc. so when many people move to bigger cities, smaller communities find it harder to offer a high service level.
The Dutch have always been traders, explorers and travelers. To seek new knowledge and to try new things is part of the Dutch culture. According to Henrik P van Dalen and Kéne Henkens from Tilburg University, the Netherlands are experience an emigration wave again. They have studied emigration and the reasons for emigrating.

In a study from 2008, 25% of the people who had plans of emigrating in 2005 had left the country two years later. This is interesting to look at if one wants to look at the time span from idea of emigrating to actually doing it. Several studies talk about an average of 6 – 7 year from idea to action but if 25 % move within two years, we, who want to attract new inhabitants, can focus on the 25% ?

Looking at numbers from Statistics Netherlands (www.cbs.nl) 132 000 people emigrated from the NL in 2006, many of them to nearby countries such as Germany, Belgium and France. Between 2006 – 2009 the numbers decreased but in 2010 they started to rise again. In the first 6 months of 2011 58 000 people emigrated which was 5000 more than the year before. According to P van Dalen and Henkens men are twice as likely to emigrate as women, and it is mostly the young (under 30) who emigrate. It is also more common that the emigrants come from the higher income spectrum and 69 % of them choose to settle somewhere in Europe. The increase in the last two years also show that it the increase of emigration mainly is to be found in the group of people born in the Netherlands.

When we as a town or as a region discuss immigration I think we need to look at the facts, be realistic about what we can achieve and be honest to anyone interested in moving here. I also think it is important to stay connected to anyone who moves here and to listen to their experiences. It is not easy to be the new one in town and if you come from another country it is even harder. To support newcomers is something we need to do together, all of us living here.

Happy New Year 2011/2012!

2011-12-29T00:27:00.000+01:00

2011 is coming to an end and as Jochem, Nils and Elsa are off to the movies and Ingrid is out shopping with a friend I take some time to sum up the year. I don´t know where the time went this year but sure is that it went fast. It was a year of both joy and sorrow for us. In the beginning of the year Jochems father Jacques passed away. Losing someone dear is always hard but it also brought us closer together, our family. Jacques suffered from severe Alzheimer and I think that the person who suffered the most in the end was oma Nell (Jochems mother). Since the loss of her partner, with whom she spend at least 50 years, Nell has visited us in Sweden a bit more often which has been very nice for all of us. Jochems brother Harry and his wife Miriam also came to visit us this year and helped out with both our houses (painting the house in Ulricehamn, putting out gravel around the house in Vegby etc.). It is wonderful to feel what great family we have both in Sweden and in the Netherlands.

2011 was the year with an exceptional long winter and we had snow until April so the kids got to use their skis and snow boards a lot. Jochem spent spring in Brazil and the Netherlands working for Philips. He really enjoyed Brazil which is good as Elsa (11) will spend a month there in 2012 on a CISV summer village. I got a new job within the municipality as Project manager for the learning organization and also traveled a bit for my work to the Netherlands, Spain and Greece which was fun and challenging. One always learn new things taking in the perspective from someone else!

In May we had a “Fire station reunion”. 15 years ago, when I met Jochem, he was an exchange student at Lund University and many of the foreign student lived in an old fire station. We have kept in contact over the years and this year we arranged a reunion in Ulricehamn, Sweden for the former students and their families. Friends from Spain, France, Belgium and the Netherlands arrived for a long weekend in May and it was wonderful to see everyone again. The weather was great, the spirit high and it was clear that 15 years is not much time after all.

As both Ingrid (12) and Elsa (11) went on different summer camps with CISV to Austria and Denmark in July we had an early family holiday in June and went for two weeks to Rhodes, Greece. It was wonderful and the kids had a hard time choosing between the pool and the salty seawater. Nils (8) is set on going back but maybe we can find another warm spot to visit next year? As we keep on being involved in CISV (a peacekeeping organization arranging international camps all over the world, usually in the month of July) we have to plan ahead. In 2012 Elsa will go to San Paolo, Brazil and Ingrid on an interchange to Rome, Italy with CISV (www.cisv.org)

In the autumn Ingrid (12) started a new school – the International English School – in Borås. She has settled in well, having no problem with the classes held in English and is doing very well but it is a long commute for her. She spends two hours on the bus each day and has to get up really early in the morning. Luckily she likes it so much that it is worth the traveling. Elsa (11) and Nils (8) are still at the Montessori school in Ulricehamn and are both enjoying it. Nils is a keen soccer player and Elsa stays faithful to her main hobby – baking and cooking.

In August we also welcomed a new family member Geo, a German Sheppard. Geo is a military dog who will join the military at the age of 1 ½ and until then he stays with “a normal family”. Geo is a fun, active dog but also a dog especially bred for being used in the military. We love him but have had problems with his biting and do not feel that we can totally trust him when he is alone with the children. Therefor we have suggested to the military that he is moved to a family without young children. So far he is still living with us but will probably leave us in January. Our dog adventure ended quicker than we thought but safety for the children goes first.

In October we went on a one week holiday to the Netherlands visiting both family and friends but also enjoyed being tourists in “our own country”. We went to Amsterdam for a day, visited the Efteling attraction parc and celebrated Jochems 40th birthday. It was an exceptionally warm week and we traveled around the country in Jochems Audi cab.

This year we celebrated Christmas in Ulricehamn for the first time. We also celebrated oma Nell, who had her 80th birthday on December 24th. My father did all the Christmas cooking, my mother and Elsa took care of all the sweet stuff and the rest of us ate (for several days!) My sister Hanna, her husband Kristian and little Ellen and Lisa made our holiday complete and we had a really nice time together. Christmas is a time to enjoy family and friends, to relax and have fun together and to reflect on what has been and what is coming. Jochem is sure 2012 is “our year”. I am not sure what that means but it sounds good! If I look back on this year I also see the many moments with good friends and family, the spontaneous dinners, fun parties, weddings and the joy of everyday happenings. We had a good year due to all of you!

I hope you all, close by and far away, had a positive year and feel similar about 2012. And to end, I will quote my brother-in-law Kristian who said to me “ I live right now, right here and I don´t save a special moment for another day. If I feel that this is a special moment, I embrace it”.

Let's all embrace happiness, laughter and special moments in 2012! Hoping to see many of you!

Happy New Year!

Small moments that lasts a lifetime!

2011-12-08T15:11:00.001+01:00

I got a Christmas letter the other day from Bev Swanson. Bev, an American living in Idaho (US) is someone special whom I have actually only met twice. The first time was in the early 90s if I recall it correctly. Bev is interested in genealogy and had been looking at her family’s emigration from Sweden to America in the 19th century. She had put an ad in a local Swedish paper and my grandmother, who was also a keen genealogist , had responded to it and wanted to help in finding Bev´s ancient ancestors in the Kristianstad area (a city in the south east of Sweden and the area my father´s family comes from).

As my grandmother did only speak limited English (but was talented in German which was unusual for someone born in 1906) she asked my parents for help and so I got a chance to meet up with Bev and her husband Don when they arrived in Sweden. A few years later, I went on a trip to the Unites States and Canada and decided to visit Don and Bev in Idaho. I was greeted as a long lost relative and had some wonderful days with them and their family. At this time they had both retired but by no means had they cut down on their active lifestyle. Don showed me the airplane he was building and even took me for a ride in a small Cessna. I met the flying postman and tried on waterskiing for the first (and so far only) time in my life. Don, who was a retired liberal arts teacher, was a creative and talented man. As a younger man he built his own home and made an effort of not having any corners in the house.

In Sweden we have the children stories of Barbapapa (originally from France) and the blob-like characters in the story live in a house full of round rooms. When Don told me about the house he had built I thought to my self – he actually built a Barbapapa house! Don and Bev both made sure I had a wonderful time in the US and I still remember many of our late night talks about religion and spiritual subject. At one moment Bev apologised for Don as she felt that I might get offended by some of Dons ideas about how different religions interact or could interact but there was no need for this. Years later, when Dan Browns books started to fill the bookstores (writer of the Da Vinci Code ) I thought about Don and his challenging and inspiring ideas.

Don is no longer with us but Bev keeps in contact with me and my parents. It was great to hear from her now, see the pictures of her family and for a moment go down memory lane. Last time we met was in 1994 but even if it was a long time ago I have memories and ideas that will stay with me for a long time ahead.

Small moments that lasts a lifetime!

Changing times

2011-10-23T22:59:00.002+02:00

Times are changing and I am slowly getting used to it. When I arrived in Ulricehamn 3 ½ years ago I was the last person to enter the new Development unit I Ulricehamn. On my team I got three talented colleagues who made me feel right at home. After 11 years abroad, living in big cities, changing to a small town and moving to a country unknown to Jochem and the kids was a big step. I am not sure what we expected of Ulricehamn from a social point of view. But, whatever we expected my three colleagues Håkan, Mikael and Daniel made sure I was one in the team both on and off work. Our first Easter in Ulricehamn we spent with Mikael and his family followed by many parties and fun events. We worked 40 hours (+) each week together and spent many hours off work in each other’s company. I have never had a group of colleagues who made me feel so included as they did and some days I went home with sore stomach muscles from laughing so much. We worked on different tasks most of the time but exchanged ideas and it was a very creative environment.

In the late summer Daniel got a new exciting job up north and moved away (at least 800 km away – Sweden is a big country!). Håkan, my boss who was the man behind the innovative and including approach to our work, got a new job in a nearby municipality about the same time and Mikael is now following him. In our reorganization at my work I got a new exciting job and some very nice and talented new colleagues but still lost some really good friends and it has been some hard weeks getting used to the new world. When everybody is on the move it is easy to start wondering if one should also get on the train or stay put. And actually, I have always been the first one to move on and to seek new opportunities so this is a new experience. I guess it is a good learning experience but on rainy October days I miss a good laugh with crazy colleagues!

The fashionable doglife

2011-09-11T11:51:00.003+02:00

Suddenly autumn is here with plum-filled trees, homemade apple pie and a lot of rain. Our hallway is filled with rubber boots and even our puppy Geo is reluctant to get out in the wet weather. Life with a dog has had its impact on us. The hallway is now styled according to “less is more” with the emphasis on less meaning taking away anything bitable (somehow the rubber boots are not in Geos taste). So far a pillow, Elsa’s agenda and some newspapers have experienced firsthand what life with a young dog is all about.

I have a new wardrobe (or actually an old wardrobe with a new purpose) with my clothing system now being divided into work clothes, weekend clothes and dog clothes (the latter being worn by me and not the dog). Downside to this is that it is really difficult to find fashionable rubber boots. And why is the color scheme for outdoor clothing army green, brown or some other forest tint? I live in “hunter’s county” – give me an orange jacket so they don’t shoot me by mistake!

We have a new favorite. His name is Caesar and he has a TV show for dog owners. He is the dog whisperer but actually the program focuses on the main problem with dogs – their owners. Little did we know!!

I was thinking about TV formats the other day while zapping from cooking program, to fitness program, to raising kids, getting your dog in order, fixing up your house/ garden and getting a facelift. Do we all have serious problems or why do we need all this help? I am not against it and I consume this just as much as anybody else but I do wonder why I, after a long day of work, sit down to watch people creating the perfect garden (the one I will never get as I have neither green fingers, the patience needed or the time). Is it escapism, the need of imagining another life (a more safe and relaxed life?)? Actually many of these shows also show the difficult road people have to travel to reach their dream home/ dream life so maybe it is also a way of sitting comfortably on my butt thinking “glad I’m not in their shoes”. Whatever the reason the programs shown on TV reflects the time we live in and that is an interesting thought.

What will we remember from autumn 2011? What a dog life!

Presenting a new family member - Geo!

2011-08-13T16:58:00.001+02:00

If you have seen a barefoot man dressed in a bathrobe late at night in Ulricehamn it is not a flasher. Or, at least not if you saw him at Wallenqvistgatan. It is my hubby out on a night walk with our new family member Geo. Usually J is fully dressed but last night Geos needs were imminent and J had to run out with Geo in the middle the night wearing only a bathrobe. He hoped no one would be out and about but naturally he ran in to our neighbors who smiled friendly!

Geo is an 8 weeks old German Shepard that we will look after until he is 18 months old. He is part of a program to become a military working dog but until he is old enough to be tested he will stay with us. So far he has been with us for only 3 days but already we are all sold on him. When we first started talking about taking on a dog only for a year and a half the question was of course how we would deal with the parting. A dog is a family member but we are only hosting the dog and are not the owners so we cannot keep the dog even if we desperately would like to. If Geo is found suitable as a military working dog he can work as a mine detector dog or do other form or search tasks. The Swedish military service breed about 200 German Shepards a year and only 25% of them will pass the test to become military working dogs but even if he is not found suitable for the military he might be of interest for the police or other organizations using dogs. I like to think that we get to see him grow up and give us the pleasure only a dog can give and then he will move on to do important tasks for others. With the high amount of mines all over the world, causing horrible injuries to civilians every day, I think we need all mine dogs we can possible find.

Geo is still a really small puppy, sometimes scared and often curious of the world around him. Despite only knowing us for 3 days he is very obedient, constantly looking for positive feedback and wanting to do well. And we are all involved in making him fit well in with our family!

PS: Scroll down to "family films" in the right menu and you will find a film showing Geo!

Her tears will turn into warm memories - a summer with CISV

2011-08-06T18:32:00.002+02:00

So finally I got my family back together under one roof again. Ingrid (12) spent two weeks on a CISV youth meeting in Austria and Elsa a month on a CISV village in Denmark. Last year, as Ingrid returned from her CISV village in the US she spent the first day begging nonstop that we would all emigrate to Australia and the second day crying. Elsa has been crying a little bit every day for a week now while telling us that despite that she loves us, she misses her new friends so much. She wants to go to her best friends in Colombia, Brazil and the Philippines. I love the concept of the peace organization CISV (www.cisv.com) and I have many wonderful memories from my own trips as a teenager but it breaks my heart seeing my girl so unhappy. For four weeks she has spent night and day with 47 other 11-year-olds from 12 different nations, speaking only English and learning about peace, tolerance and shared wonderful moments together. And suddenly it is over, all children return to their home countries and despite Facebook, twitter, e-mail and Skype I think they know that the chance of them all meeting up again is small. She can’t get in contact with her Chinese friends via Facebook as it is not allowed in China. She is in pain!

Are we doing the right thing sending our children out in the world, having the time of their lives and then taking it all away four weeks later? I do think so. When Elsa cries she also admits that the pain she is in is worth it. She wouldn’t be without this camp for anything in the world. It has changed her forever even though she does not see how yet. Ingrid enjoyed her camp as well but this year’s detox is less painful than last year as her new best friend lives in Amsterdam which makes visiting a lot easier. Both girls are hoping for more CISV activities next summer and I hope that talking about all fun activities, looking at the pictures, sharing the experiences makes these wonderful weeks stay as warm memories to last a lifetime.

People we have to leave behind or will never see again are neither forgotten nor lost. They live on as we cherish them and the joy we have shared is passed on to someone else. So we create a world of friendship and one little camp can make waves for decennia’s to come.

Books and dreams about a Swedish life

2011-07-19T16:28:00.000+02:00

It is summertime and we fill our house in Ulricehamn with Dutch friends and our summerhouse in Vegby (small town outside Ulricehamn) with even more friends. I love summer in Sweden and always enjoy showing family and friends the beautiful place we live in. This is, when the sun is shining or at least when it is somewhat dry. There is nothing better than a canoe trip on the lake or a bicycling trip on a sunny day as the surroundings are amazing here. However, when it keeps on raining Ulricehamn does not have a lot to offer. The swimming pool is closed, there is no museum open and the library is closed Friday to Monday morning. We have been to the science museum Navet in Borås and to Gothenburg which is great but I wish there was more to do in Ulricehamn. The bowling alley stays open but some kids are just too young to enjoy it. I guess I shouldn’t complain. Rain is better than drought and so far summer has been quite all right. We have filled the summerhouse with games, DVDs and some extra raincoats. However, there must be some business opportunities for anyone with a bright indoor idea!

I had two weeks of holiday in June and spent it on Rhodos with the family reading books in the sun. During two weeks I read six novels and four children’s books (I love reading for the kids) and one of the books I read was “A short story of Tractors in Ukrainian” by Marina Lewycka – a funny, crazy and tragic story. The book starts out like this;
"Two years after my mother died, my father fell in love with a glamorous blond Ukrainian divorcee. He was eighty-four and she was thirty-six. She exploded into our lives like a fluffy pink grenade, churning up the murky water, bringing to the surface sludge of sloughed-off memories, giving the family ghosts a kick up the backside."

This family drama is also a story of emigration, fulfilling dreams or chasing them. Somehow I always fall for books where people take a leap into the unknown or take charge of their own destiny (whether or not they do the right thing which you can ask yourself in this book).

Some people who are about to take a leap into the unknown shortly is the Dutch family moving to Ulricehamn now in August. A family of five plus an English bulldog is moving here and starting up a new life. For years they have dreamt about a life in Sweden, taking Swedish lessons and spent their holidays in Sweden. With a job in Gothenburg they now have the possibility to fulfil their dream and I wish them all the best. This summer we also had some other Dutch families from the emigration fair visiting the region and having a look at job possibilities (part of the emigration project I´ve been working on). So far our Emigration project is still under scrutiny but I believe we have to keep a very personal approach in this if we want it to work. Emigrating to another country, starting a new life, building up a new social context and achieving a sense of belonging takes time and demands more than a newsletter, a list of real estate agents or a description of the Swedish school system. I know – I have done it!

A story about a cherry

2011-07-08T23:08:00.001+02:00

I would like to tell you a story about the importance of a cherry. In the early 20th century an Italian family emigrated to the US. They had a daughter who grew up hearing about this wonderful country far away and when she grew old enough she decided to visit Italy and see this country she had heard so much about. Her name was Cecilia and she did not speak a word of Italian as her parents had fully embraced their new country and wanted their children to exceed in English.

I don´t know what year Cecilia arrived in Italy but Benito Mussolini was not yet a dictator and fascism had not yet taken control over the country so it must have been before 1922. Italy was all she had expected, with all the flavours of long time cherished dreams and it didn’t take long for her to find her soul mate. She married and decided to stay in Italy. In those days deciding to stay in a country as Italy with all of your family living in the US was a most definite decision. Transatlantic flight carrying passengers didn’t start until the middle of the 20th century and she most likely arrived on the transatlantic Italia Line, a ship travelling between the United States and Italy in the beginning of the century.

After Mussolini came to power life in Italy changed. Anyone opposing Mussolini was brutally silenced and Mussolini saw many as his enemies. Being an American in a fascist country was often not seen with positive eyes but Cecilia had made her choice. She had become a mother and Italy had become her home. In the end of the 30s the Second World War broke out with Mussolini supporting Hitler and Germany. Really hard times arrived for Cecilia, her family and many others. But, the war ended and contact was once again established with the family on the other side of the ocean. 80 million people died in the Second World War in Europe and so much was destroyed.

Still, life was turning for the better and Cecilia had become a grandmother. Her granddaughter had been named after her and together they used to open the big cross-Atlantic parcels that arrived from the United States now and then. They contained sliced pineapple and red cocktail cherries in cans – things that was not yet to be found in Italy in the 50s. Cecilia used to bake a special cake with a cream topping. In the middle she would put a red cocktail cherry and her granddaughter, little Cecilia, would be the one who got the cherry - a cherry that would leave a red mark on the white cream topping. Maybe the cherry was a reminder of loved once far away, maybe it carried the hope that life would get better? For little Cecilia I think it showed her that there were more worlds to explore and that love can be transferred in the shape of a cherry.

I was told this story a few days ago by little Cecilia, today a woman with two grown up children. We sat down to have a drink after taking part in a course in Successful Management of EU projects on Cyprus (a course with participants from all over Europe). Some of us got a cherry in our drinks but Cecilia didn´t get one which she did not like. So, she told us her story and obviously got our cherries.

I spent one week on Cyprus this summer with participants from Greece, Slovakia, Rumania, Iceland (living in Denmark), Austria, Germany, Sweden and Italy learning about project management. I am sure we all learned more about project management, but as so often in these international groups, I think the main lesson learned was something else.

Different habbits but a safe place to be

2011-05-30T21:38:00.001+02:00

Tonight we had a school picnic at the beach in Ulricehamn with Swedish “brännboll”, soccer and some nice food. The children’s school is small and personal and it is always nice to sit down and talk to the different parents who happen to come from all over the world including Ulricehamn. I chatted to several newcomers from countries both close by and far away. I also said hello to Jochems new barber who is a civil engineer from Iraq but who decided to get a job as soon as possible instead of spending two more years to fulfill Swedish requirements for civil engineers. Sometimes I wonder how many people we have in our country working with completely different things than they originally planned to do. Feels like a possible waste?

The barbers son Achmed is in Nils class and he always greet us most politely every morning when we arrive at school. Jochem finds the strange habits of not saying a clear “good morning” or shaking hands when you meet someone in Sweden somewhat difficult to get used to and he really enjoys Achmeds polite manner. The fact that we in Sweden do not always say good morning, only sometimes shake hands or greet each other with kisses is odd to many foreigners. Jochem once asked me to explain when he should shake hands, when he should give a hug and why there are situations where you greet each other with a single hello but nothing more. I could not give him a clear answer. It is not impolite in Sweden to see someone walking down Main Street and just nod a quick hello. Or at least people will not get offended that you did not shake hands with them. Why this is I don’t know.

Jochem is off to Brazil and I hope he is having a nice time and a safe time. He is off to work for Philips Medical Systems at a place in San Paolo where three of his five colleagues have been robbed while visiting the company. This does not feel very safe so for the first time ever (after spending years all over the world) we have made a deal that he will write me an e-mail a day. I have never asked for this ever before so when I did Jochem said; ”- you are the last person to ever worry about these things so now I feel really worried! Do you know something about San Paolo that I don’t?”

I have never been to Brazil so actually I have no clue about how dangerous it is but Jochem going there made me think about how important safety is for your personal wellbeing. Just imagine all the energy you use on thinking about possible scenarios if you live in a dangerous place or the energy wasted on feeling afraid. When we lived in Johannesburg I always had to keep my mind set on the safety of the family (never stop for a red light, never drive after dark, not to walk anywhere, not to get off at the wrong exit and end up downtown etc.). Now I never think about these things anymore. It is nice to live in a safe place and good to realize it as well at times.

Learning from others and getting in new ideas!

2011-05-28T13:40:00.000+02:00

I just got home from a two day visit in the Netherlands. Together with some colleagues we have been looking at some different municipalities who are all working to supply a better outcome/ service for their inhabitants. It was not only interesting and valuable but we were really impressed by the hospitality and the way they showed us how they work. We saw impressive results but also heard about mistakes and lessons learnt. Even if municipalities in other countries work a bit different than Swedish municipalities we have many similar tasks and it is great to look at what goes on in the public spare around Europe.

We visited the award winning municipality Heusden who has invested a lot in going totally digital making sure all staff can get all information they need at whatever time. They have a front office which is striving to answer 80% of all incoming questions. Inhabitants who call for a building permit should be able to track the permit process, how long things will take and when the permit will be decided on etc. It is transparent, measurable and everyone uses the same system for all tasks. It sounds simple and obvious but looking at our municipality and the number of different systems we use in different departments it is a challenge for us but the only way forward I think. Information should not be connected to a person but cases that we handle should be easy to pick up for anyone. This enables tracking, making sure we do what we are supposed to do, gives us continuity but most importantly ensures that information is shared. If I get sick anyone should be able to go in and continue my work.

In Heusden they also use flexible workspaces where the staff does not have their own office but sign out a laptop in the morning and find a place to sit which is available. This has cut costs but the main gain has been the synergy effect you get when people from different department sit together. To create the feeling that everyone who works at the municipality of Ulricehamn belong to one and the same organization it is important that we get to know each other better, that we increase the knowledge about what different departments are doing and try and find the processes where working together has a positive benefit for the inhabitants. Today we are not there but we are working on it. Creating an open, flexible culture can be difficult but not impossible.

We also visited Amersfoort who has been working with Lean for a few years. They showed us impressive results where they have been able to save a lot of time and decreased stress levels at the same time. They really lived their slogan; working smarter, not faster. We even got to do exercises pointing out how to increase production and reducing stress. It was fun and I think we now have many new ideas on how to create a learning organization giving out inhabitants the best possible service. Sharing knowledge between different countries and cultures gives an extra dimension to learning and this was a great way of experiencing this.

Jochem is off to Brazil for two weeks now and we are planning the last steps of our CISV summer. Sunday Elsa (11) goes to Mölndal to meet up with other CISV friends getting ready for their village camp in Denmark. Next week Ingrid is meeting up with her CISV friends arranging the last step for her Austria trip. I was worried that I would be home alone this summer but now it looks as if I will get some company. Jochem is taking 3 months off, the summerhouse in Nybrostrand is in the middle of a renovation so my parents will come up and stay with us as will oma Nell and in the end of July we get family from the NL.

I dream of a warm summer along the lake Sämsjön with family and friends! Looking forward to see you all!!

A new family settling down in Ulricehamn

2011-05-20T14:06:00.004+02:00

This week I spoke to a Dutch family moving to Ulricehamn this summer. Right now it looks as if our immigration project will not continue next year as some municipalities do not see the benefit of it. However, for Ulricehamn it has been positive despite that it actually is too early to look at the direct results. From the point of the idea of emigrating to another country arrives to the actual move researchers say it takes approx. 7 years. So for us, who started this project 3 years ago, it is too early to say how successful or non-successful it has been.

Ulricehamn has seen about 5 families moving here in the last 3-4 years and this summer a family of 5 is settling here. The father got a job in Gothenburg and the family went to Sweden and had a look around Gothenburg and the areas around here and decided to settle in Ulricehamn. I think it says a lot about Ulricehamn when people, who can settle anywhere in the Västra Götaland region, decides to settle here. I am now trying to find them a rental house where they can fit 3 kids, a dog and a cat before the 1st of August. Anyone with a house to rent out in Ulricehamn should let me know! They would like to rent first, just to settle in and find a house to buy a little bit later. One thing that this project has taught me is that personal service is everything. The people I have had a chance to personally meet or whom I have had several telephone conversations with are now very positive about our region. Not everyone moves right away and some people have plans stretching 5 or 10 years but now they know about us and that is good. And, even if they don’t move here they come for holidays here and that is also important.

Last week Jochem’s brother Harry was here with his wife Miriam and oma Nell from the Netherlands. Harry, who is a keen fly fisher, visited Tranemo where they have some bigger trout fishing lakes, for a day of fishing but didn´t catch anything. Luckily he was more successful in Sämsjön in Vegby. We had a great weekend of fishing, bicycling, walking and actually a bit of cleaning too. Now the house is ready to use for the summer and this summer we are planning to use it a lot.

Jochem wondered the other day why we do not seem to get around doing more things around here. We have lived here for 3 years but still have so much left to discover and visit. We live at a place where we could easily go hiking every weekend or get out with the boat but often our weekends are filled with other activities. I guess he is not alone in feeling this way but sometimes I also think we want too much at the same time. In a family of 5 we have 5 ideas about what is fun to do and we are a family interested in very many things. It is football, peacekeeping activities with CISV, singing, watching films, reading books, bicycling, going out with the boat, spending time with family and friends, enjoying food and drinks etc. Actually, the more I think about it the better I like the idea that we still have a lot to explore. If I felt, after 3 years in Ulricehamn, that I had seen everything there is to see here or experienced everything there is to experience I would probably be planning to leave. Now we still have a lot left to explore and that is great to know!

Sun all over Ulricehamn

2011-05-08T13:08:00.000+02:00

In the last few weeks I have been reading the Kalle Blomkvist books by Astrid Lindgren for Nils (called the Bill Bergson books in English). These books depicts a story taking place in a small sleepy Swedish town during the 50s where the young detective Kalle solves different mysteries together with his friends Eva-Lotta and Anders while simultaneously fighting a friendly knighthood war with some other children.

The stories are just right for Nils and despite taking place 60 years ago without any mobile phones, TV programs and Wii games they speak to our imagination. While walking back from the Ulricehamn spring market yesterday, the town reminded me of Kalle Blomkvist home town. A quiet, peaceful place, gardens full of green trees and flowers, wooden houses in different colors, the sounds of birds and laughing kids but almost no adults out on the street. A typical sleepy town anno 2011, but it could just as well had been 1950. Not a car in sight and only a warm air making us all walk slower, dreaming of a dip in the lake.

In the evening, as the temperature went down a bit, a water fight started between the kids in the neighborhood, filled with energy and excitement, only taking a break for a quick dinner. Trying to get the kids to sit down a little bit extra with their parents to chat was out of the question but the appetite was great. At nine the girls (our girls had some friends staying over) went out to make peace with the boys and brought some chocolates to show their good intentions. I spent some hours reading while Jochem and Nils were watching Scoby Doo and at 10.30 pm I went up to tell the girls it was time to sleep only to find the top floor empty. They were still out and Jochem went out on a search only to find 8 kids at our neighbors place having a great time. I obviously prefer to know were my kids are but I can see the enjoyment these warm weekend evenings brings along and it makes me long for the summer holidays even more. At 8.30 this Sunday morning, Nils woke me up holding up his latest Kalle Blomkvist book and telling me please to continue reading. A small, sleepy town can seem boring but I think we all make a place into something by the way we approach it. Today I think it is just the way we all want it to be. Jochem is off working on the boat, Ingrid is playing in the garden at the neighbors, Nils is making a language game based on Egypt’s history (far too difficult so he need a lot of help) and Elsa is cooking. I sit in the sun with my books when I am not trying to solve some hieroglyphs.

We went from having a long winter to go straight into summer warmth and enjoyed a warm and cosy Easter in Skåne with my family followed by a five day reunion in Ulricehamn with our student friends from Lund in the end of April. 15 years ago I met Jochem while he was an exchange student at Lund University and now we met up with friends from that time. 24 people from Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and France came to visit with their families and it was great to meet up again. Thank you guys for coming all the way over here and for being who you are!

Next weekend Harry, Miriam and Nell are coming over from the Netherlands. I hope our fantastic sun will shine on you as well. Tonight we are using the barbecue!

With all this sun I think everything is possible!!!

Ulricehamn - a learning organization

2011-04-03T19:41:00.003+02:00

About a year ago I started working on a proposal for the European Social Funds for the municipality for Ulricehamn. We had just started a process of changing the structure of how things are managed and run here and had done an analysis about the organization in order to look at improvement possibilities. I suggested that we tried to get external funding for the process of changing the organization into a learning organization and wrote a proposal that granted us 650 000 Euros. So, now we are about to start the process of turning the municipality of Ulricehamn into a learning organization and I have gotten a new job as project manager. A fun and great challenge!

A learning organization is the term given to an organization that facilitates the learning of its members and continuously transforms itself. We live in a global world where we constantly have to improve the services we provide and where new tasks are added. To work in a modern organization demands a lot and the idea with this project is to give all staff the tools they need to do the job in the most successful way. 100 managers and 200 staff member will get extra training but the biggest challenge is to spread the new way of working to all members of staff (all 2000). The main benefits of working this way is to assure both innovation and quality while staying competitive and customer orientated. For an outsider I can see that it sounds a bit unclear but I think this can really make a difference in our organization. If your tasks are clear, well defined and you feel that you know what to do or who to turn to with questions, challenges or problems I think you can do a better job. Secondly, if you know how to measure that you are doing the right thing, for the right price with the correct outcome instead of just thinking that you are doing the right thing we are on the right track.

Obviously the municipality has been working with these ideas before but we have not been able to implement it all over in the organization and different quality systems have developed in different parts of the organization. Now, with the support of the European Union, we can take a holistic approach and hopefully improve both the outcome of the organization and the individual engagement in a positive way. The project involves 2000 people and it will not work out if people do not feel committed, encouraged and involved. It is a fantastic challenge and I am fortunate that I have a fab team helping me in the process!

But, life is not only about work and now we are finally seeing a bit of spring here in Ulricehamn. The bicycles are about to be used, the winter jackets are going into storage and Jochem recently started to work on his boats again. Next week the girls’ drama class will show off their spring performance and in the end of April Nils tennis lessons will be moved outside. I don’t know where time is going but it goes fast for sure. In a few weeks we will enjoy Easter break and hope to visit my family and some friends in Skåne and in the end of April 6 foreign families are arriving for the 15 reunion of “the Fire Station exchange students at Lund University 1996”!

Really looking forward seeing you all!

You will envy me...

2011-03-18T19:59:00.002+01:00

I had the idea of writing something about the light that arrives with spring and how different spring light looks in different parts of the world. The sunlight in South Africa is warm, reflected by the red sand and gives all colors a warm glow. The spring light in Sweden is cool, not harsh but definitely not warm. Looking at Scandinavian design and the color scheme we use you see the connection. However, this idea died this morning when I woke up at 6.15 am. to a sound that I recognized but that felt all wrong.

We have had several days of warm spring winds, almost all snow has melted away, the city trucks have been collecting the tons of sand they spread on icy streets all winter and I have started using my spring coats. From my bed I heard something really weird. I heard something that sounded like snow shoveling? And, looking out the window I saw a winter wonderland and asked myself what I have done to deserve this. So, the rest of my family loves winter. Fine, I can admit that a white Christmas is wonderful. Snow is better than grey rain so I have not been missing Welsh or Dutch winters but we got snow already in November and I had already moved on to spring. Jochem is obviously abroad so first I spent half an hour shoveling snow before work this morning and as soon as I got home from work I had to do another hour.

I am not very good at it. My neighbors have slick driveways and on the path passing their houses not a spot of snow. If you want to drive up our driveway you have to watch out for the large pile of snow on the right side and in front of the garage. To me it is still a mystery where people put their snow. I push it to different corners, get tired, sweaty, grumpy and the driveway is full of white “left over’s” (snow that did not stay on the shovel). Maybe it is my southern Swedish genes. I did not grow up with snow so I can’t handle it very well. We never had a lecture at school in how to shovel and I can’t remember doing it as a child. But, it is probably an attitude problem. I feel discontent just thinking about it and know that if I start out shoveling snow with a negative attitude it won’t make the experience any better. So, I try to convince myself that this is good exercise and that my arms will look fab this summer (if we ever get to summer…).

You will all look at my arms and at my J Lo butt this summer and wonder – where did she get that and I will tell you – this is what you get when you live in Ulricehamn!!

Lots of light spring kisses to all off you (now envious) people!

Happy going or not?

2011-03-14T14:20:00.000+01:00

We have had several friends from the Netherlands, from the south of Sweden and local friends visiting us in the last few weeks. It is great to have friends visiting from all over, with different cultural backgrounds or different views on life and it gives us input in our daily lives and sometimes it challenges our views. Many guests who come from big cities and busy areas comment on the slow pace, the smallness of things here, the lack of traffic jams and sometimes the lack of things to do (if you are not into sports or nature).

The other night we sat down with some friends, had a glass of wine and somehow the discussion came to focus around what we want with our lives, where we see ourselves in a few years time and what makes us happy. Being 4 adults, two who have suffered a burn out, one recently divorced and one not sure what she wants in life it is safe to say that we did not get to a complete answer. The idea of what makes us happy stayed in my head for a few days and I started thinking about an article I read a while ago that stated that statistically (on a global scale) we are the least happy at the age of 46 (but in Switzerland you hit bottom at 35 already).

If this is true and if there is a U-bend happiness curve (as David Blanchflower, professor of economics at Dartmouth College believes) I will get less happy in the coming years but after 46 life will look brighter. We seem to start out as happy going individuals but due to different aspects of life (wanting to achieve high goals, finding a perfect partner, having kids, fulfilling our individual needs etc.) we get more and more miserable. We statistically hit bottom at 46 but then, somewhere along the way we start getting happier again. According to a writer at the Economist the reason for this could be that we give up the struggle (sounds sad, doesn’t it?) or that we are better suited to deal with trouble as we grow older. We have learnt our life lesson well. What does this actually mean? That we have to fail to feel good again? That we have to throw in the towel and give up if we want to feel happy?

I don´t know but for fun I Goggled happiness and found out some interesting statistics. I you are a happy American you probably live in Hawaii (according to Helathways well-being index, 2011). Actually all American states that score high on happiness are places with a low population or as journalist Carol Bengle Gilbert says; “These states leave the alarming impression that Americans are happiest when they don´t have to deal with another. Are the happiest states the least social?” I crossed checked this comment with The World Map of Happiness which lists the 20 most happy countries in the world and the top 5 countries are the following; Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Iceland and the Bahamas. Sweden is on 7th place. Well, all the top positions are held by small countries with a relatively small population. And, with this not whatsoever statistical analysis I can see many favorable aspects for my own little hometown. We are few people, spread out on a large area, with a high percentage married people (statistically makes you happier) and we are socially active in many sports clubs (also indicates an increased happiness). Do we actually know how happy we are?

Feeling happy or satisfied with life is obviously a personal feeling difficult to quantify or to measure. How do I compare my happiness to someone else and is it true, as some say, that we bother too much about happiness nowadays and expect too much out of life? More and more countries are focusing on learning more about happiness (through extensive research) as happy people produce better output, keeps a country stable, reduce crime, keeps healthcare costs at a lower level etc. Unhappy people are more often sick, feel more trapped and see fewer possibilities and sometimes you almost get the feeling that we are worse off now than in the past. I doubt that this is true. We live in a time where self-reflection is an everyday commodity and where “help yourself books” keeps our bookshelves filled. We talk about happiness; we reflect about it in books, films, on the net, with our friends etc. but are probably not less happy than 100 years ago. And, considering that we did not live this long 100 years ago the u-bent happiness curve might have looked different. Did you hit bottom at 36 instead of today’s 46? Do we have our mid-life crises later and later in life as we live longer and what defines the difficult moments? And how much of our happiness is defined by the culture we live in as we see different “bottoms” in different countries.

Well, these questions have no simple answers. I like to believe that we create our own happiness as we go along and sometimes it is easier and sometimes more difficult. Maybe because it is almost impossible to define what happiness is and what we have to do to experience it (as it changes over time). So, for me and my friends we kind of got to the conclusion that if the u-bent happiness curve is true we have already been at the bottom and are now heading for a bright future (despite having several years left to 46). I hope you are too!

85 is not enough! Where is the committment?

2011-02-23T17:02:00.001+01:00

I got a mail from Brazil. Fabio, who is interested in immigrating to Sweden and who has been in contact with me before, has gotten a job offer in Karlsborg as a dentist. This is great for him and I am looking forward hearing how things work out for him and his family. I know that we desperately need doctors and dentist also in our region but somehow the recruitment here takes a longer time. With all the discussions in media regarding the difficulties of finding qualified people I wonder why we don’t see more international recruitment going on and why businesses do not look across the border in a larger extent. I guess many businesses do not see the job market as truly global but I think they would be surprised at what qualifications they could actually attract from abroad if they looked into the possibilities out there.

Our neighbor is in need of a programmer with specific skills and to help out Jochem has put an ad on a Dutch webpage aimed at people who wants to emigrate from the Netherlands. At this site employers from all over the world can advertise free of charge for skilled workers. I have no idea if this ad will lead to a successful recruitment and increase the population in Ulricehamn but it will be nice to see what happens. The municipality is currently involve in an emigration project together with 7 other municipalities and the project which is now at its 3rd year has been improving each year (higher educated people address us, less dreamers, people are devoted and studding Swedish etc.) However, I think we could bring it to another level and match the needs of our local businesses even better with the skilled individuals wanting to move here. I want to expand the project, involve more partners, more countries and get EU grants to help us in the process. However, at the moment I get positive feedback on the idea but no resources to put it into action so it keeps on being an idea! In short I think it has to do with ownership. Who is responsible for businesses finding skilled workers and for the growth (in human capital and in financial capital) of our region? All of us together (businesses, politicians, civil servants and inhabitants) but the task itself has no true owner.

The municipality of Ulricehamn grew with 85 inhabitants in 2010. That is not enough if we should reach the goal of 25 000 inhabitants in 2020. We need to get organized if we want to reach this goal and we need to set up targets and discuss ownership. Naturally it is easy to see that the municipality should be responsible for the master plan but it is also vital that we all feel committed to increase the inhabitants of this town and to see this place flourish and grow. Maybe Fabio from Brazil will find his way to Ulricehamn and a job as a dentist in our region or maybe we will see a Dutch programmer living out his dream in Gällstad one day.

And meanwhile I enjoy the days that slowly becomes longer and lighter, giving us the promises of a spring to come. Tomorrow Jenny, Jörgen and their 3 kids arrive to try out the skiing possibilities here and we look forward having them over!

Friendships to last a lifetime

2011-02-17T21:04:00.000+01:00

Sometimes something small can get so big when you realize what it actually means! A letter arrived!

We got invited to the 40th birthday party of a friend here in Ulricehamn. I love parties and I love birthdays and especially when the birthday girl is someone special. The invitation showed a lifetime of pictures – cute, fun and crazy pictures – which all sent a message of the personality turning 40 in April. I immediately started writing down words that would serve as brainstorming material for a birthday greeting and while doing this I realized that I only know her since 3 years. We met at work here in Ulricehamn and today I see her as one of my dearest friends. Our three years here has gone fast but also deep! And, despite not knowing each other for very long I am sure that if we had met at 16 we would have clicked. At least we had the same terrible hairstyle! Wonder when my kids will come home and tell me that they desperately need a perm!

At the emigration fair last weekend someone asked me how long it took for us when we moved to Ulricehamn to get into the social life. They had heard that Swedish people could be difficult to get to know. I can’t answer for all Swedes but I can say that we have been very fortunate in Ulricehamn and that we’ve met people here that will stay in our hearts forever!

So get ready for your big day Katrin and cheers to another 40 years coming on!

Dutch emigration - one way to increase our possibilities!

2011-02-16T18:33:00.000+01:00

I drove Jochem to the airport on Tuesday morning and we decided that it is time for a date soon. In the last 4 weeks I have been on 13 different flights, travelled from Spain in the south to Härnösand in the north and been to Jacques funeral in the Netherlands in between. Jochem also had to travel and my parents came over to help out. It is great to have parents who help out despite having to travel in snowy weather to get here, who cook for us and who spoil us all! Now I am planning to stay put in Ulricehamn for a while and enjoy the snow, the family and you visitors coming to enjoy the winter in the coming weeks.

The last 5 days I spent in the Netherlands taking part in a Dutch emigration fair. 305 Dutch people choose to leave the NL each day and the interest for moving to Scandinavia is great. For many Swedish people it is odd to think of emigration if you have a job, a house and a social setting you feel comfortable in. However, the reason that so many people look at the possibilities at living in another country has to do with the size of the country and its population. The NL is 14 times smaller than Sweden with a population of 16 million people. It is crowded, enormous traffic jams, high property prices, higher crime rate than here and almost no more nature. In Sweden, which is one of the largest countries in Europe and with a small population of 9 million, we have a lot of nature and many Swedish people prefer to move to bigger cities. Of the 290 municipalities we have in Sweden, 250 are losing their inhabitants.

You could say that if people do not want to live on the countryside – why care? Why do we want to attract more inhabitants to the Swedish countryside and why should we aim for the Dutch? Well, first of all Swedish municipalities have taxation right and each municipality is an economy of its own. With a decreasing population, less money enters the municipality and the harder it is to maintain a high social standard and offer good schools, good elderly care, run swimming pools, libraries etc. Due to this most municipalities wants to grow and attract new inhabitants. Secondly, when people leave the countryside and move to the bigger cities it gets harder for remaining businesses to find suitable staff, to grow and develop their business. Of all European countries the Netherlands is the most successful country when it comes to starting new businesses and the country is famous for its entrepreneurial skills. Therefore, attracting Dutch families looking for work or to start their own businesses in Sweden is something worth looking into. About 10 000 people attended the emigration fair in Houten this weekend – all interested in a new life outside the Netherlands. At the same time the Swedish labour organisation (AMS) is expecting 65 000 new jobs to emerge in 2011 and in the coming 15 years 1,6 million Swedish people will retire leaving a huge shortage within certain sectors.

In other words – we need the Dutch or any other high skilled worker willing to test life on the Swedish country side and I hope we can get some of the doctors, veterinaries, IT people, teachers etc. we met at the fair this weekend to have a look at life in West Sweden.

And now I will prepare tonight’s salmon dish, enjoy Elsas fruit pie and a read a long, good book for the kids before I tuck them in. Not to forget to arrange for Fridays date with Jochem!

Religious talks at the breakfast table

2011-01-30T23:53:00.001+01:00

I had breakfast with the children this morning and it was a morning talking about granpa Jacuqes who passed away on Saturday night. The girls had lots to say and many thoughts but Nils sat quiet eating his Cherrios. And then, when we were just about finished he leaned over and said:

- Mum, now I want you to tell me what happens after.
- After what I asked.
- After death. What happens after death?
- Oh … I think grandpa believed in heaven. I think he went to heaven. No one knows what happens after death but I like to believe that we go where we want to go. Or where we were destined to go if we go anywhere. I don’t have a complete answer for you but I think you have to find your answer from many places or maybe from within.

Ingrid, who had been sitting opposite us at the breakfast table entered the discussion.
- What do you believe and what does dad think? Why do some people fight about being Protestant or Catholics while you two live happily together?

I wanted to ask her what she knew about Catholics and Protestants and where she had heard about the difficulties that has surrounded these groups for centuries but this was not the moment. We talk little about religion in our family as I think both Jochem and I have had trouble in finding faith in our own systems. Maybe we have created our own personal view on life, death and what brings sense to our lives and suddenly I remembered something Jochem said to Elsa a few years ago.

Elsa, then 5 or 6 came home and said with an angry voice to us.
- I am not baptised and I am the most religious in this family. You two are baptised and you do not believe fully.
Jochem answered her by saying that he sees himself more as a humanist and has always found it difficult to feel truly Catholic but if she was interested in learning more about the Catholic faith he would help her find out more. He then asked her if she knew what the ideas around humanism are and Elsa responded.
- It is something like you. Something about humour!
And then she smiled as if thinking that it was quite suitable for her dad to be a crazy humanist.

Maybe we all have our own ideas about faith, religion and life after death. Nils was not satisfied with my answer and also told me so. I guess a 7 year old needs to get the pieces fit the puzzle but I think Ingrid and Elsa could accept my answer. Together we could all agree that if there is a heaven, Granpa Jacques is there right now.

Tonight my parents arrived from Lund and as we talked about the funeral, which will take place in the Netherlands on Friday, they asked what could be a suitable way to show affection to Nell and to the family. Should they get flowers or put money in a foundation supporting something special? I have no idea. I have never been to a Catholic funeral before and I have never been to a funeral in the Netherlands. In Sweden we sometimes have funerals several weeks after the passing and in the Netherlands it is within 6 days. It occurred to me that even after 13 years together, Jochem and I still learn from each other, discover more about each other’s cultures, religions and families and I feel grateful to be a part of that.

And while on the Internet I found a saying, which I feel, would suit the man who calls himself a little bit a Catholic, a little bit a humanist and a little bit crazy. So here is a quote for Jochem;

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me."
~Erma Bombeck

The last sacrament of Jacques Geeraedts

2011-01-29T17:26:00.002+01:00

Jochem called me yesterday as I sat waiting for a flight in Oviedo, Spain to bring me back home to Sweden. The family in the Netherlands had called and Jochems dad was not doing well. It was time for the last sacrament and time to take farewell.
It is never easy to say farewell and especially when it is someone close to you, someone who has had a serious role in shaping the person you have become, the person you are. I think it goes against everything we are used to, to see our parent’s mortality. They have always been there and they were here first.
- He has had a good life, Jochem said to me, as if trying to convince his heart it was not as bad as if felt.

I sat at the airport trying to make my picture of Jacques whom I met the first time in 1997 and I think Jochem is right. Jacques has had a good life. Not an easy life but a life well lived with a partner next to him who made hard times easier. I had a book with me at the airport, which seamed to fit the moment and the mindset I was in. Let me sing you gentle songs by Linda Olsson tells a story about life, death and the choices we have to make to be able to take in love. My Jacques is a gentle, humble man of few words with a great love for teaching and sport – a man who was not afraid of love. I only met that Jacques the first few years in the late 90s and more occasionally in the years to come. In 1999 he got lost while visiting us in Nijmegen and the year after he took Ingrid, then 1, for a walk and disappeared. Several hours later, with the help of the police and an observant person they were found. Jochem went to pick them up and Jacques, filled with shame said:
- all the houses and all the streets looked the same and I had no address.
Jochem responded by telling him how they had written a note with the address and put in the wallet. Jacques had a look in his wallet and found the note. He cried.

Alzheimer is a terrible decease and it affects everyone. Jacques had it but both Nell and Jacques suffered from it, just as the rest of the family. For some years the progression was quite slow but a year or two ago Jochem realized that Jacques did not recognize him anymore. There were moments that were clearer, when memories and people would find a way into Jacques mind but they became more and more rare. Two weeks ago Jacques moved into a special home. It was a big and difficult step for Nell but a step they had to take. They have spent more than 55 years together, shared numerous moments together and climbed both mountains and travelled deep valleys.

The last sacrament is a rite in which God is uniquely active according to Catholics. As a protestant I have little knowledge of this rite but know it is important to Nell and Jacques. Yesterday a priest arrived to sprinkle holy water and say a prayer. I have learned that the last sacrament means that the priest will lay his hands on the person. The use of the priest's hands is a sign the Holy Spirit is being called down to support the dying person. The forehead and hands of the person are anointed with an oil which means that the dying person is given peace in their last moments and sins are forgiven. I like to believe that this is a special moment for both Jacques and Nell, a moment which will strengthen them on the journey to come. If you have shared 55 years together it is not easy to part.

I arrived home from Spain at midnight and Jochem left for the Netherlands at 5 am this morning. We talked about Jacques and we talked about what he has passed on to Jochem and to me.

- My dad took me to the gym hall at the school where he taught PE every Saturday when I was a kid, Jochem said. We would do gymnastic, play football, climb and practice all kinds of sports. He was there, he made me feel great, he had time and if I as a father to my kids can make them feel the same way I will have succeeded.

Every person leaves something behind, something worth keeping. We have had lots of gifts from Jacques.

Jacques Geeraedts 1926 07 18-2011 01 29

I would do it all over again!

2011-01-05T14:51:00.002+01:00

The new year has started with yet more snow and yesterday we discovered that our snow shovel had been stolen (yes, even in small towns things disappear!). Due to the enormous amounts of snow in the last months it is almost impossible to buy a new one. Suddenly it is not only the price of gold and lithium that is raising but how much do we have to pay for a second hand snow shovel in Ulricehamn today? Actually, you cannot even find anyone selling a snow shovel in Ulricehamn right now. Luckily we´ve got great neighbours who lent us theirs. Sometimes I wonder if we will ever get to spring again but so far we are all enjoying the snow and the skiing possibilities we have here. Nils (7) has started to snowboard and the girls spend days skiing and snowboarding (they are still off school).

In March we have lived 3 years in Ulricehamn and I am still stunned and grateful for the beautiful surroundings we live in. 10 minutes outside town we have the downhill ski area and a 10 minute walk from home we can go cross country skiing. I walk to work (as part of our assignment to become a climate smart family) and Ulricehamn greets me every morning with beautiful old buildings, an ice covered lake and slippery hills. I am not sure I would have noticed the beauty of the place had I not lived in so many other places before. I have seen fantastic places around the world but here we have it in our everyday life and accessible for everyone. I think Ulricehamn should use this advantage even more in order to attract both companies, new inhabitants and tourists from close by and far away. (Currently working on it)

In February I will attend the Emigratie Beurs outside Utrecht again and I keep on meeting more and more Europeans who have chosen to move to Ulricehamn. I always ask them the same questions and their answer is often very similar to my own. I ask them why! Why Ulricehamn.

We moved from the Netherlands to Sweden in order to get another pace in our lives, to be able to enjoy life more without traffic jams and stressed people, to improve our living standard and to get a new challenge in life. At the kids school they have classmates from Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Croatia, Spain, Norway, Irak, China and Sweden of course. I like to think that the international atmosphere at school balances small town life and give the kids a feel for both worlds at once.

I turned 39 the other day and this weekend I will have a women-only dinner with friends from Ulricehamn and friends from Lund. Jenny and I met 21 years ago while some of my guests are newfound friends – they all give my life an extra dimension, makes me feel included and enhance the feeling that life is what you make of it!

Can’t wait to see them all on Saturday!!

Merry Christmas 2010!

2010-12-23T16:35:00.003+01:00

2010 is coming to an end and I wish to take a moment and wish you all a wonderful Christmas and an exciting new year. As I write this Europe is covered in snow and most people who are getting ready to get home for Christmas are in for a challenge. Jochem is in the Netherlands for work but we hope he will make it back tonight to join us when we celebrate Christmas with my family in Skåne (south Sweden). With many cancelled flights at the moment and people trapped on train stations, airports and in traffic jams we keep our fingers crossed and hope that all of you travelling to family and friends find a safe way to get to your destination.

This is our second winter since we moved to Sweden and Ulricehamn and we have really had a chance to experience winter with lots of snow, low temperatures and outdoor winter sports. In the beginning of 2010 Jochem’s brother Harry with wife Miriam, their children and partners visited Ulricehamn for some skiing. The girls even got the local boys to take them on an ice-ride in an old Volvo over the lake and they kept skiing and snowboarding despite a temperature of minus 18 C.

In March Peter and Dorien visited us from the Netherlands and Jochem took them to our newly renovated summerhouse and arrived in a house with an indoor pool. Several pipes had broken when the electricity and heating fell out. It was a real blow to us and we had to redo the whole renovation but luckily we were helped by the talented carpenters and this fall, two years after we bought the house, we finished the project (well, all but the garden). It is a beautiful house with two apartments 30 meters in front of a lake, located 15 km south of Ulricehamn and we hope to use it a lot in the future.

This year Jochem took 5 months off work to spend more time with the family and to get to know Ulricehamn a bit more. He got involved in a local business project, fixed things with the summerhouse, worked on his two wooden boats, took care of the kids and time went very fast. In December he started doing some consultancy work abroad again but now he is trying to work more from home and less days per week. He is still trying to figure out what he wants to do in life but feels better than last year and sees many opportunities. As we celebrated 12 years of marriage this December we both joked about the idea of slowing down the pace in the coming 12 years but then realized that some people (us?) are just not very good at that, but we will try!

I enjoy my work and had a very successful year with several project proposals being awarded EU grants. Through my work I get to travel ever so often and had some fun and exciting trips to the Netherlands (with a bus trip home due to the volcano outburst), the UK and Brussels. I feel ready to increase my learning and hope that my new job in the strategic staff will challenge me.

The kids are all doing well and growing really fast. Ingrid (11) spent a month alone in the US. Well, not alone as there were 47 other kids and 30 adult staff but it was her first trip to the US and her first long camp. She participated in a “CISV – Building global friendship camp” (an international peace organisation) and had the summer of her life. She spoke English for a month with kids from 12 different nations and learned about peace, tolerance and dialog. CISV has become an important part of our lives and Elsa (10) is now getting ready for her camp next summer. I am the president of CISV Borås (local club) and the girls take part in weekend camps and other activities.

Nils (who just turned 7) also went to camp this summer, or at least that is what he calls it. He spent 4 weeks with my parents and learned how to swim while Jochem and I worked at the summerhouse. Elsa helped us out and realized that it feels different being the only child and missed her brother and sister a bit. All the kids enjoy the Montessori school, different after school activities (tennis, table tennis, football, skiing, sailing and drama), to play with their friends and we feel that they are settled and feeling very much at home here.

We had many wonderful visits from the Netherlands, Norway and from other parts of Sweden this year. We visited friends and family in the Netherlands a few times and in November we spent a great week on Sicily. Thank you all for visiting us and for being such good friends! Right now we are taking part in a local project (as a family) trying to become more climate smart and learning more about climate smart choices and attitudes so hopefully we contribute to a better climate (I even have a Swedish blog about it http://klimatsmartfamilj.blogspot.com).

As I write this I sit by the laptop of my parents in the house I grew up in. My parents retired this year and are both doing really well and keeping healthy. We are about to celebrate a traditional Swedish Christmas with my parents, my sister and her family (who are also doing very well) and tomorrow we go to my cousin Petra and celebrate the big family Christmas. For two days we will be surrounded by lots of people, many children, too much food, lots of talking, laughing and exchange our gifts. Christmas to me is about spending time together, enjoying each other’s company and laughing a lot. I hope you all get to laugh a lot this Christmas and that the new year ahead will be filled with many wonderful happenings.

Lots of love from us to you! Thank you for wonderful letters and cards. It is always great to hear how you are doing and to get the latest news from all over the world!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

The people of Ulricehamn

2010-12-20T22:16:00.000+01:00

We had a world premier of the film Angelfarm – third time around in Ulricehamn last week. About 20 years ago the British filmmaker Colin Nutely came to Ulricehamn and the small village of Liared. He fell in love with the place, made a documentary film and wrote the script of Angelfarm. A few years later the film hit the screen and was an enormous hit depicting the Swedish countryside, the pros and cons of small town life and what happens when something odd and unexpected arrives in a little village. This summer, 16 years later, the film team arrived in Ulricehamn to make the third sequel of the film and last Thursday Jochem and I went to the world premier. Most Swedish films have their film premiers in Stockholm and Ulricehamn has never (to my knowledge at least) had a world premier before so this was a real treat. I had no hopes of getting invited to the premier but Jochem run in to Colin Nutley when he was here and they got talking about Ulricehamn and about how it is to live here. The love Nutley feels for this place is deeply felt in his films and somehow Jochem told him about our move from big town to small town and from the Netherlands to Sweden and suddenly we were invited to the premier. We had such a nice time and it really felt like a huge thing for Ulricehamn and I think many people enjoyed it just as much as we did. Lots of famous actors arrived and I sat next to Jochem explaining who is who in Swedish film.

Since November we have had a steady flow of more and more snow. It is almost amazing what kind of heavy winters we have had here in the last two years and it is not typical for the region. Naturally we enjoy it and the good skiing brings more and more tourists which is good for the town but one cant help wondering about a changing climate and if this is something we should get used to? Currently we have about 70 cm of snow and another 40 cm expecting to come within the coming days. Today the kids had a outdoor sports day with school and spent the day on the hill and as Jochems flight was cancelled due to the stormy weathers around Europe he joined them skiing and snowboarding. This evening he got a flight to the NL and I hope he will make it back before Christmas.

As we are getting closer to Christmas we have enjoyed several Christmas parties, Lucia celebrations and Nils 7th birthday. We celebrated Nils birthday in Lund last weekend which was great except for the fact that I forgot my handbag, sent Jochem to get it while my quick mum brought it by taxi which resulted in me and the kids getting on the train. Jochem missed it. The kids cried, Jochems phone was not charge and I had his money and credit card in my bag. It was an exciting day but in the end we met up in Borås with a special banner saying “Pappa”! The last 4 days we have gone from festivity to festivity ending it yesterday with a treasure hunt party for 9 seven year olds. Needless to say we were wasted last night but also happy with the fantastic friends we have made here in Ulricehamn – friends from many different countries, of different backgrounds but with one thing in common – we are all people of Ulricehamn!

Who moved the cheese?

2010-12-02T14:22:00.000+01:00

Jochem is back working in the Netherlands and I visited Stockholm for two days so my parents came to help out with the kids. They arrived from Malaga (Spain) on Sunday and left Lund (south Sweden) early Monday morning to help out in Ulricehamn. On Wednesday they had to go back home as they had a release party to attend with an author in the evening. I sometimes joke with my sister about where our busy globetrotting parents are off to next but I really think they deserve the health and life spirit they show. They have taken charge of their lives since they retired early this year and are making every day count. I see too many people not taking charge to their own lives and letting life pass by without getting on the train. We are all different and not everyone is interested in social activities or travelling but I think it is important to realize that life is what we make of it. I am responsible for my choices and also for not choosing and sometimes we forget that a path not travelled is also a choice.

At work we are in the middle of a large reorganisation and from the beginning of next year I will move to the strategic staff department and work directly under the two CEOs of the municipality. I think we need a reorganisation and I think there is room for improvement in all parts of our organisation. Still, this reorganisation creates a lot of tension among the staff and many are worried about how it will be in the end (if you think there can be an end in an every evolving organisation!). For anyone in the middle of a change I have a book advice. The book is called “Who moved the cheese” by Spencer Johnson and it’s a bathtub book. It is long enough for a nice bath and I would like to suggest it to anyone who is in a change of some kind. In a simple and fun way we get a look into the human mind and how we can choose to look at a change and how we can choose to react upon it.

It took my hardworking parents some time to get used to the idea of retirement. My mum worked 6 months extra after turning 65 and my dad worked part time for 4 years ending his doctors’ career at the age of 69. But, when they finally retired they had a plan on what they want to do and what makes their days special. See the changes and see the possibilities as they are always there! And get the cheese book!

December in Ulricehamn

2010-11-28T16:23:00.001+01:00

We are a few days away from December but Christmas is already here. With half a metre of snow that keeps on coming and a temperature that will make it stay we definitely hit winter. Yesterday we filled the house with Christmas decorations, baked (as we actually do every weekend but now it was gingerbread cookies) and lit all the candles. I even got Jochem to go with me to a furniture store to order some new chairs and a new warm carpet. In Sweden you take your shoes off at the doorstep (to avoid snow and mud to get in I guess) but our old wooden floors get cold as the temperature gets down to minus 10 C. With some warm carpets and slippers we make sure we stay warm.

My Dutch car is not made for this weather. It has no heating in the mirrors, no heating in the chairs (I love a warm butt!) and no four-wheel drive. I hate to admit it but Jochems old Audi gets us up the hills a lot easier than my Toyota. I have learned what steep roads to avoid here in Ulricehamn and to drive backwards uphill if needed. No wonder you need to pass an ice, snow and water test when getting your Swedish driving licence. So, anyone planning a trip here this winter – get the right tires on and bring a suitable car! The cross country skiing opened its trails this weekend and in a few weeks the down hill ski sloop will be ready for visitors and we as well. Our house in Vegby is ready to take on visitors so make a booking soon if you want to try the winter in Ulricehamn!

In two weeks we celebrate Nils 7th birthday by going to my parents in Skåne (south of Sweden). Nils spent a month at their house this summer and when we asked what he wanted to do for his birthday he was very clear on what to do. We will visit grandma and granpa and next summer he wants to go back on “camp” there. As Ingrid and Elsa talk about the different camps they are attending or will attend Nils told us that he was also going to camp.
- You are? I asked. Where are you off to then?
- To grandma and grandpa of course, Nils responded!

Looks like Jochem and I have to find a camp of our own next year! But first we will all enjoy a few December weeks filled with dinners, parties, film viewings in great company.

We need to stay open to immigration if we want to have a chance on a global market!

2010-11-14T13:42:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago Fabio in Brazil contacted me as he had stumble over this blog while looking at working possibilities in Sweden. He liked the kind of life possibilities in Ulricehamn I portray in this blog and had read about our project of getting Dutch people to emigrate to this region. Fabio is a dentist with a family who already has working permits for both the US and Ireland but who is still looking at what kind of life you can get in different countries. Today I read an article in our local paper warning us all of the great costs of immigration. According to the writer we are in for a great surprise if we do not stop immigration quickly. I would state the opposite!

We live in a global world where most of our companies would not be able to exist if they did not have the chance to export and import goods from all over the world. We need each other! All great innovations and achievements of mankind has occurred when people from different backgrounds, from different cultures and with different knowledge fields have met and looked at challenges from different points of view. Many people in Sweden still live in the notion that Europe is the centre of great achievements and that Sweden is a knowledge country. Obviously Sweden is great country, father of many inventions, with little poverty and a well functioning social structure. However, we are also a country with fairly low wages for high skilled workers and high wages for low skilled workers, with a negative spiral of the number of new started companies, with very low school results compared to the rest of the world (and yes, you can obviously ask the question what do we measure when we talk about school results) where we now see innovation companies leaving Sweden to set up their businesses in India or China instead. In the 60s we saw how the manufacturing industry left Sweden for lower wages in Asia. Now we see Swedish high skilled workers and researchers leaving Sweden for greater opportunities abroad. India and China are the greatest investors in Africa today. In Europe we do not see the same potential in Africa but maybe we are wrong? Why do we assume that people who come to Sweden, weather they are refugees from a country at war or economic immigrants, do not have any skills or anything of interest to us? Who are the once starting new businesses – the immigrants!

We need to improve and extend our service sector in order to survive on the global market and in order to do so we need the expertise from abroad. There are always costs of immigration just as there are costs for a society when people drop out of school, go on parental leave or get sick. However, there are also possibilities in these situations. Immigration brings new ideas and innovation to a country. It helps us fill the gaps when there is a shortage of personal such as in the medical sector or get staff for tasks few people are willing to do, such as cleaning. By taking in high skilled workers, maybe on temporary contracts, we get a more flexible labour market and I think we need to look at flexibility as a factor of success if Sweden is not going to fall further behind. Sweden is a fantastic country with lots of possibilities but if we want to continue to develop and increase our market shares we should not close our doors. We should open them, encourage a European blue-card for high skilled workers and stay a humane country that helps people in need!

Another interesting aspect of immigration is the current situation in Norway where most of the staff in hotels, in shops and in the tourism sector is Swedish. In the shops in the Danish capital of Copenhagen it is getting more and more rare that you see Danish staff. Most of the staff is Swedish. If we see many opportunities abroad maybe we should be open to others seeing opportunities in Sweden?

And, if Fabio learns Swedish and gets his dentist accreditation to work in Sweden I hope he will consider living in Ulricehamn!

The Norwegian invasion!

2010-11-02T12:04:00.001+01:00

We had a Norwegian invasion this weekend and it was really ”greit”! Ingrid spent a month on a CISV peace camp in the US this summer and met kids from all over the world. When she came home she was determined that we should all go to Australia as soon as possible to see some of her newfound friends. I would love to go to Australia but it is quite a trip from Sweden and it has to fit in with our timetable which is not a very easy task. However, Norway is not so far away from Sweden and this weekend the Norwegian delegation (4 kids) made a visit together with one set of parents. The Swedish delegation (also 4) joined in and we filled the house with 8 11-year olds who could not stop chatting with each other.
Jochem and I also enjoyed the visit of Merete and Are (parents to Matilde) and it was a weekend with a mix of Swedish, Norwegian, English and even some Dutch. Now we know that the word for candy in Dutch is the same in Norwegian Bergen dialect.

I don’t think one should generalize but this weekend made me realize that every time I meet Norwegians I really enjoy their company. I shared a house in Wales with Henriette from Norway in 1997 and we had a really fun and intensive year together. While living in the Netherlands I got to know Anine from Norway who also became a good friend and Merete and Are were just as friendly and relaxed as my previous Norwegian encounters. I think it is time for a vacation in Norway!

And for Ingrids and our friends who live far away we have to stay in touch via Facebook and blogs. The doors stay open in Ulricehamn and hopefully we get the chance to see some of you in the near future.

Take care, wherever you are!

Hoping for a long and happy life!

2010-10-23T11:29:00.000+02:00

6-year olds are so literal and Nils is no exception. I used the Swedish saying “a good laugh lengthens your life” and he asked me what that meant. I explained that I think it is vital to your mental health and inner happiness to laugh and have a great laugh ever so often. If you feel happy and joyful I think you might live longer. A little later Nils fell and hurt himself and when I was comforting him he said to me “ will I die earlier now”? I looked at him with surprise and said, of course not! It is only a scratch! But Nils was not referring to his injuries but to the fact that he was crying and that is the opposite of laughing. Luckily I could convince him that crying when falling will not influence once life expectancy.

The other day we were talking about the climate changes on Earth. Nils is interested in the planets and of some reason we talked about the fact that the Earth turns around its own axis. Axis in Swedish is the same word as shoulder and suddenly Nils said:
- No wonder the Earth is feeling so bad. It has to sleep on the same shoulder all the time!

Yes, a good laugh and great kids probably lengthens your life!

For a while everything was white here and the “chocolate and fireplace urge” increased but today most of the snow is melting away. Today we are preparing Elsa’s tenth birthday party with activities such as card making, photo-frame-designing, pizza baking, watching a romantic comedy and then they will all sleep over. Next weekend we also have 4 kids staying over here and 6 people staying in our summerhouse in Vegby as the Norwegian delegation from the CISV camp (Tennessee 2010) is coming for a visit. Will be a fun and active weekend for sure.
But, first we will all enjoy a big brunch!

Wishing you a great weekend!

Getting fit and climatesmart at the same time!

2010-10-15T17:04:00.003+02:00

The weekend is starting and we will have a busy weekend with Jochem taking part as a table tennis referee both days in a local tournament. I will help out at the car boot sale of the football club. On Saturday afternoon I am off to a meeting and on Sunday we have invited some of our foreign friends here in Ulricehamn. The kids have decided that we will serve Mexican food to our Danish and German friends but with a Swedish dessert. I got a book from Karin in the Netherlands showing Tapas according to Dutch food traditions so maybe I can even get some Dutch snacks on the menu. Actually the idea of looking at your own cooking culture and changing it to fit in a tapas style is really nice. Last year Jochem and I went to a wine tasting which also included a Swedish Christmas menu but in very small tasty portions with a twist and we loved it. Jochem even enjoyed the Swedish haring!

We are taking part in a pilot study in becoming a climate smart family and Jochem is currently measuring all our appliances on how much power they use. We have realised that we can save some money here and at the same time improve our climate. In a few weeks time a light designer will come to our home and I am really looking forward to this. We only have low energy light bulbs but they do not give a very cosy light so I hope we can make some improvements. We will also have a course in eco-driving and take part in a climate smart cooking course. Quite fun actually and the local press is following our progress (assuming we are making some!). I write a blog about our adventures and the kids are all very much involved. When Jochem and I at times thinks about taking the car they tell us not to and to use our bikes instead. In other words, we are not only helping to save the climate and reducing costs. We are on a path to a fit lifestyle (well, at least a little bit fitter!)

Hoping the sun shining here is also reaching you guys!

Being British again - even if only for a moment!

2010-10-06T23:36:00.000+02:00

The man sitting next to me at my flight to the UK the other day was dressed in beige chinos, a checked shirt and had his long silver gray hair tied in a ponytail. I could not help thinking that he looked like an aged Indiana Jones only missing his hat. He was busy reading but when the stewardess arrived with the drinks and snacks I leaned over and asked him.

- Is it as good as they say?

- Oh, yes! Two years ago I sat in an airplane looking at a man using one and I did exactly what you just did. I asked him if it was any good and the man answered that it was great. I went home and ordered one on the Internet and since then I can´t go anywhere without my e-book. Within a year it had paid itself as I read a lot.

I got really interested in e-books, chatting away to my neighbour as I recently read about the enormous increase in e-book sales. Downloading books cost about 6 or 7 dollars, you can easily adjust the size of the letters and you do not need to carry heavy books along while travelling. The fact that you can download the different titles from most places in the world makes the book market truly global. Another interesting observation was that here I was sitting with a 65 + person telling me why we all should get into e-books. Travelling has a pleasant effect of opening one’s mind!

Right now I sit in a B&B suitable for Jane Marple in a small village on the English countryside. With thick oak doors, a fireplace from 1825, flowered wallpaper and eating breakfast in a large room with different travellers I could be back in the 19th century. But, instead I am on a EU study visit with 9 other foreigners learning about how European mobility can enhance possibilities for people and communities in rural areas. The host organisation is called Grampus Heritage and Training and has since it started 15 years ago made it possible for over 400 young Europeans to do vocational training in other countries. Many students from other countries have come to Britain and many of the Cumbrian students have gotten a chance to practise different skills in other countries, they have worked on many different community based projects and they have increased their language skills and tolerance for others. Yesterday I met Jamie who is a very talented furniture maker who has been away on Leonardo exchanges in Finland and on Cyprus. Not only did he learn new skills himself but he was also able to pass on some of his skills to young people in Finland and on Cyprus. He runs his own furniture making company in Cumbria today!

I hope we can get our secondary school in Ulricehamn involved in some Leonardo projects. Tonight I have been learning about Iceland, Croatia and Rumania and how they work with vocational mobility for young people and my hope is that I will be able to set up a network during this study visit that will lead to a long term Leonardo project focusing on rural areas.

And now I will enjoy my English tea, dressed in an extra cardigan (as single glass is still used in many British homes) and sleep tight in my Victorian bed! Cumbria reminds me of my year in Cardiff and makes me once again realize that the UK have so much more ot offer than just the London area!

Empowered and grateful!

2010-10-02T14:20:00.000+02:00

Just got back from a one-week group and leadership development course. It has been really interesting to be part of a psychological group test and I got back feeling really tired but very empowered. I use that term at work once in a while but now it has a true meaning to me and I feel very thankful that I got the chance to be part of this course.

Tomorrow I am off to Great Britain for 8 days to learn about how the town of Carlisle use international work experience among excluded youth to get them included in society again. I am sure it will be very interesting even though I right now would like to stay home with my family instead. Jochem is turning out to become a fantastic stay at home dad and I got home to a house that has never been cleaner, with flowers on the table and the dinner ready. I could really get used to this! And tonight he has fixed a babysitter and we are off for an evening of our own. I feel grateful and very fortunate!

Last weekend Jochem and Nils spent in the Netherlands and we girls had a really girly weekend with shopping at IKEA, eating out, going to the movies and talking, talking, talking. It was great and I made me realize how aware our girls are about many different things. Was I that clever and open-minded at their age (probably not!).

My dad turned 70 last Friday but unfortunately we could not attend his big day. From what I heard from my dad I understood that it was a special day and I know that my parents filled the house with friends and family. I still see my parents as fairly young and very much “in the middle of life”. The number 70 does not fit with that image. My parents travel the world, are very active and very social. If I can come close to live my life like they do at the age of 70 I will be very happy. And soon I hope we can meet up and celebrate the birthday all of us together. Wish I can go to Skåne (region in south Sweden where I grew up) soon to see both family and friends I haven’t seen in a while!

One world and lots of oppertunities!

2010-09-12T21:34:00.001+02:00

It is pitch dark outside and it has been raining for hours. Jochem and Joop are trying to save one of the boats from sinking but now they’ve been gone so long that I think they either drowned or gave up and found a dry place to heat up. Last option being the most likely of course! I guess the battery died again. Being a boat owner has its ups and downs but Jochem has no regrets so far. He just wish he had more time to work on them!

We just got back from a 5-day visit to the Netherlands and it was great to see friends and family again and to enjoy some sunshine and warmth. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to meet up with all of you but I hope to see the once we missed at our next visit. 5 days is just not long enough! One of our main reasons for visiting the NL this time was to enjoy an evening in the company of Paula and Martin who celebrated their 10th anniversary in style inviting 40 friends to one of the best restaurants in Nijmegen. Thank you so much for a culinary experience to dream about for a long time and great company!

Autumn should not be here yet but it is. The trees are changing colour, the football practice is almost over for the season and the changing weather makes it difficult to plan what to wear. Some days are struck with sun and warm winds while others stay grey and wet. On those days eating marshmallows in front of the fireplace becomes an inviting option!

Next weekend we celebrate Elsa’s 10th birthday with the family and once again I look at the numbers and wonder how fast time can actually go. The move two years ago to Sweden was the best thing ever for Elsa. I guess she is just a very Swedish child and she loves her school, her group of close friends and cant wait to have a sleepover party in a few weeks time. The slower paste, the outdoor lifestyle and easy access to different activities (not taking the car everywhere and lower crime rate) suits her perfectly. Currently she is talking about a future in Switzerland (restaurant school) but we will see what the future holds (heard they had really good restaurant schools in the NL as well). Ingrid (11) will start the English International School next year and that is about how far I dear to plan in our family life (unless she hasn’t emigrated to Australia by then). Jochem just quit his job and moved to Sweden and now the girls are talking about leaving the country. Well, a few more years I guess we can hold on to them! Luckily Nils (6) still live with the notion that he never wants to leave us!

After an intensive week of travelling to Belgium, back to Sweden and then to the NL I am looking forward to two weeks in Ulriceham, working and spending time with the family! Enjoy yours!

A moose head for the wall?

2010-09-04T20:26:00.003+02:00

Where have you been? Are you OK? You haven’t written anything on your blog in ages…

Yes, I am guilty. During summer I lived in Internet free land (which was absolutely great for a while! Try it if you dare!)and then when work started again I was sucked in with the tornado of overwhelming work. Today, which is Saturday I got in at work at 8 am and left at 6 pm with no break, no lunch and a head as a veggie, no doubt. I am trying to finish a proposal before Tuesday and this week I got a no on a previous proposal. I hate when that happens and the only thing I can do to make me feel better is to sit down and try it again but then better.

Jochem knows how I am and let me do my thing. He spent a day at the swimming pool, in the park, at the playground and cut the lawn while simultaneously looking after 10 kids. No wonder he had to get away to pick up a moose head in between. I have no idea what he wants to use it for (it is huge!) but maybe this is as close he will ever come to the Swedish hunting culture. He can kill flies but that is about how far he goes when it comes to killing living species.

This week we celebrated the multicultural aspects of Ulricehamn and I enjoyed a performance on discrimination, a tasty lunch made by some of our newcomers and a football tournament which was held within the municipal organisation. Different departments played against each other and one team consisted of refugees currently taking part in the introduction program. The football tournament was great! We were really good at passing the ball between us as very few of us were fit enough to run but until next time we need to practise making goals. You know you are getting old when you start talking about the importance of taking part instead of winning. Or as one of my colleagues said: You see the ball, you think you can reach is and somehow you just don’t! We ended last but had a ball doing so!

After the game, the organisers (our refugee department and the people attending their program) served hotdogs and we had some time to chat. Ulricehamn has a success rate of 86 % of the newcomers getting into work and local businesses are good at taking in newcomers, which is really important! The week was filled with activities but I didn’t have time for more than this but I heard form others about really interesting and fun seminars and next year I will try and take part in more activities. Integration is not about them finding their way into our society. It is about us meeting them and them getting a chance to meet us!

Tomorrow we will have a day with the kids, watch a football game and on Monday I go for a day to Brussels. In the end of the week we are off to the Netherlands for a short visit and we are all looking forward to it! The kids are planning to eat lots of fries with mayo and I will go shopping, see friends and family and Jochem and I will attend the 10th anniversary of Paula and Martien. We are all longing to go!!

And, if you wonder how Jochems gap-year is going (started 2 months ago) I can tell you that he is starting up a new business and has lots of plans for the coming year. Did you ever think he would do nothing for a year!

Take care everyone!

Making memories last a lifetime

2010-08-08T19:17:00.000+02:00

I could write a novel about house renovations! It is a great achievement for mankind that we are no longer living in caves as the process of making a house liveable (and lovable) can take years! I should know after all my renovation projects over the years in different countries, discussion with builders in foreign languages and misunderstandings about what is included and what’s not. Two years ago I bought a summerhouse a few kilometres south of Ulricehamn at a fantastic location. Jochem was not home so I made the call and got us a house with a lot of potential and in need of some TLC! Sometimes it is good not to know what you are getting yourself into!

Since then we have been renovating a house with a strong water history. Flooding due to broken pipes (twice!), a drainage all around the house that got the water away from the walls but not from the floors (it is coming up from underneath the house!), new bathrooms, new ceilings, renovated floors, new electricity, new isolation, new roof, a new façade, a new balcony, a new entrance etc. etc. With an almost finished house we now have a new roof in the bedroom but no contact for the lamp in the ceiling and a tap in the bathroom so close to the wall that you can hardly get any water out (just to mention a few things…). Despite the struggle we feel that we might cross the finishing line after two years of constant renovation and from now on actually enjoy the house! It is a special house and in a few years we will all be able to laugh about all the mishaps and funny things we’ve been through (at least I keep telling Jochem this). It is a charming house on a great location overlooking the lake Sämsjön and every time I’m there I feel that this is a unique place, which will give us memories to last a lifetime!

The summer holidays are coming to an end and the first soccer practice for Ingrid just took place. She has arrived back from a month in the US with the statement “this was the best summer of my life” and with many new friends spread around the world. The first few days were difficult as it is obvious, even for an 11year old, that some friends she will never meet again. The world is getting smaller and larger at the same time. You can travel everywhere, meet new friends and learn a lot from each other. At the same time it is impossible to stay physically close to people living on the other side of the globe. So, we have spent a lot of time talking about the meaning of friendship, of the memories and insight new experiences give us and that a unique experience is never lost even if you might lose contact with friends on the way. It is what we do with the knowledge we take in and how we use it that make us grow as individuals. And for now we have the Internet giving us possibilities one could only dream of 30 years ago.

Hope you all had a summer full of memories to last a lifetime!

Peace - picture it!

2010-07-06T17:38:00.000+02:00

Ingrid (11) is off to the US on a peace camp for a month with CISV. She celebrated 4th of July with her American host family and has now arrived at the camp. For one month she will live together with 50 other 11 year olds from 12 countries around the world in Smokey Mountains, TN. I envy her. Every time you go somewhere for the first time, when everything is new and unknown there is an excitement of a special kind. As one grows older the experience of being in a new unknown context becomes more and more rare and I guess that is why I envy her a bit.

For some people this is frightening (being in an unknown environment and not knowing fully what to expect) but I really like it and Ingrid is exactly the same. She has been longing to go for several months and I think her dad found it a lot more difficult to say farewell than she did. It is difficult to be at a new place, in a new country, with a different language and different cultural codes but it is also exciting, it stimulates new ideas and new insights and it shows one very simple thing – we are all humans and we are all the same despite looking at things from different perspectives.

The idea of "CISV – building global friendship" came from Dr Doris Allen who after World war II started the organisation saying; “ We must start with the children”! I was part of CISV when I was young and it had a real impact on me and on how I look at life and the possibilities we have in this world if we work together.

This is CISV according to thier website and if anyone of you would like to know more about it all I can say is JOIN!

Following the devastation of World War II, many people were focusing on initiatives to build and maintain peace. One particular idea caught the attention of child psychologist, Dr. Doris Allen. It was a proposal for a UNESCO peace education institute for postgraduates from many disciplines. The idea for Children's International Summer Villages (today known as CISV International) was conceived by Dr. Allen in 1946. As a specialist in growth and development, Dr. Allen, could not agree that the focus for peace education should be in the field of adult learning. She firmly believed that “the ultimate source for peace, long range, lay with the children.”

From this conviction came her vision of bringing together children from all over the globe to learn to respect different and common values. In 1951, she realised her dream when delegates from eight countries gathered in Cincinnati, USA for the first Children’s International Summer Village (CISV). Over the decades, the organization grew in numbers, countries and activities. In 1979, Doris Allen was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize -the recipient that year was Mother Teresa.

Over 50 years after the first Village, this programme remains the cornerstone of our international educational activities. CISV's range of programmes has increased from one to six different types of international activities and from one village to around 180 international programmes a year.

Today CISV operates in over 60 countries and since 1951, more than 190,000 people have participated in more than 5000 international activities.

The theme of Ingrids camp is Peace – picture it! What is your picture of peace?

Unplanned summer days...

2010-06-23T20:17:00.000+02:00

The kids are off on their bikes getting some milk and bread for tomorrows breakfast and ending this evening with an ice cream. Bribing them with an ice cream might not be the most pedagogical way of involving your children in chores but after all, it is summer!

Summer (meaning a blue sky, warm weather and sun) is finally here and Ingrid and Elsa are enjoying a one week daycamp outside Ulricehamn. Every morning they get picked up by a school bus which takes them to a camp with 43 other children interested in outdoor activities (such as fishing, swimming in the lake, cooking on the open fire etc) and learning about friendship and working together. The municipality and the Swedish church arrange the camp and it is really great! The kids love it and spend every day outside in wonderful summer weather coming home happy but really tired. With ten weeks of summer holidays for the kids we have to do our best to keep them active and happy. Nils has been to daycare at school (BSO in Dutch) where they also spend most of their time outside doing different small excursions every day.

Looking at the lives our kids live here and the way they can enjoy the nature we have around us I feel very privileged. We live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. It is not big, we do not have any world wonders around or any ancient treasures but what we have is simple, beautiful and accessible for anyone. The kids can go fishing or swimming and one of the many lakes around here whenever they want, the town of Ulricehamn is small but authentic with a history dating back 700 years and hikers, skiers, golf players, bicyclists etc. can use all of nature as much as they want to. For Swedish people this is not strange but for foreigners it is still a real treat to have free access to all nature. You are even allowed to camp on someone else’s ground for free for one night and if you don’t want to buy a snack in the skiing restaurant or at the lake-cafe you just bring your own hotdogs and grill them over the public fireplaces spread out around the town.

Ulricehamn has a lot to offer tourists but I think that we, who live here, are the biggest winners. Today a colleague of mine said that we would all be happier if we did more “fun summer things” (such as picnics, walking barefooted, playing soccer until late in the evening, making a spontaneous barbeque etc.) spread out during the year instead of pushing it all in during our few weeks of vacation. I think it is true that we sometimes forget to do enough fun things during normal working weeks and that we sometimes force to many activities into our holidays. However, if you live in Ulricehamn you actually have the chance to do many “fun summer things” from May to the end of September and we have tried to make us of this (eating out on the porch as soon as it was warm enough, playing games outside and making spontaneous parties with friends.).

This summer Nils (6) will go to swimming school in Nybrostrand (at my parents summerhouse in south Sweden) and Ingrid (11) will be on a CISVcamp in the US for a month. From the first of July Jochem will become a stay at home dad for some time (first he said a year, then he said 6 months and last I heard him say 2 months so I just wait and see…). Elsa (9) and I will just do whatever comes to mind. I value non planed holidays more and more!

On Friday it is midsummer in Sweden (the biggest holiday of the year next to Christmas) and we will participate in a casual, non-traditional gathering with friends who like us have no midsummer tradition. We make our own traditions with a mix of cultures, food and great company!

Have a great midsummer everyone!

Daysland High Reunion - 20 years of Canadian spirit!

2010-06-15T21:07:00.000+02:00

My graduation class from Daysland Highschool is arranging a reunion this summer in Alberta, Canada. 20 years have passed and it would be great top join the reunion and meet up with everyone again but I guess it is a bit far to go for an evening out. 20 years is an almost unbelievable time and the fact that I also feel that it went by in a flash makes it even scarier. I have no problem growing older or accepting the change of time but if 20 years goes this fast how will it be with the coming 20 years? How will I possibly have time to do everything that I am planning to do when I grow up? Well, I guess the answer is living long. I will make my best film ever at the age of 90 and my novel debut at the age of 72. Or, just live life, doing only the fun things and make myself change the path ever so often.

A reunion makes you think. What has happened in the last 20 years and did life turn out as I had expected? In 1989/90 I spent one year in the town of Heisler, Canada with 114 inhabitants. I went to Daysland Highschool with 200 kids from grade 1 – 12 going on a school bus for 30 minutes every morning to the little town of Daysland. I now live in what is called a rural area but it is nothing compared to the enormous fields of Alberta, Canada. I was a city girl who ended up learning how to milk a cow, to drink bear at a bonfire and that a life without a truck was a life not lived. I met many great people, experienced a divorce in my host family, saw people close to me struggle real hard and realized a lot of things about myself, and the way I wanted to live my life. I have lived in 8 or 9 countries, worked and studied in many different cultures but I think many of my life defining insights happened in Canada. I don’t think I got it right there and then but in hindsight I think it was one of the most defining years of my life. Then again, since then lots have happened and maybe we all get shaped on the path we travel.

When I lived in Canada the Berlin wall was taken down and for a moment I felt as if I was on the wrong spot when something really big happened in Europe. The again, I lived my life in Canada for a year and for me it had a huge impact just as the changes in east and west Germany changed the lives of millions of people. There are no “right” places to be – only the possibilities we make ourselves.

We were around 18 when we graduated from Daysland Highschool in June 1990. At the age of 38 we are statistically not halfway. Actually this is a really nice thought. Imagine what lies ahead and what possibilities we still have - the Daysland High, Class of 1990!

I like to think that we are all in an everlasting learning process where the secrets of life are still to be discovered and hopefully some of them will always stay unknown to us!

Classmates – have a great reunion and enjoy what lies ahead. A sea of possibilities!

Maria – Ulrika
(I now go by my second name Ulrika but you can obviously still call me Maria!)

What I just forgot...

2010-06-09T21:50:00.000+02:00

Maybe I am suffering from some kind of memory disease. Maybe I have filled my head with too much information making something go away every time I try to add new information. Or maybe I am only focusing on what I think is fun or interesting excluding the possibility to remember boring things (or less important things). I like to believe that the last statement is the most true.

I just got back from an EU conference in Nyköping about the Europe 2020 strategy. Nyköping is a beautiful town on the east side of Sweden about an hour south of Stockholm well worth a visit for any tourist interested in history and old architecture. However, the transportation possibilities between Ulricehamn and Nyköping are not great. I wanted to travel by bus or train as that would give me the possibility to work while travelling. It turned out, after extensive research, that I would be best off going there by bus and leaving it by train. Unfortuneately I was a bit distracted while ordering my bus ticket online (talking on the phone, looking at some papers and getting the ticket at the same time) so when the confirmation arrived I had bought a ticket to Linköping instead of Nyköping. If I would have paid more attention to the ticket I would have realized that Linköping is on the way to Nyköping and I could have gotten a ticket from Linköping to Nyköping. Instead I panicked, just bought a new ticket (changing it was not possible) and called the reception at the municipality to order my train ticket. They always get it right and so they did even this time.

I arrived in Nyköping with my speech, my hotel reservation, got a map to find my way around and felt fairly well organized for a while. Then, in the middle of the night I woke up. I saw a vision of my office and my white board and on that white board I saw… Yes, I saw my train ticket. I had left my train ticket hanging on the whiteboard in the office in Ulricehamn. So, I got up and tried to buy a new one on the net but as the safety system has improved I could not get a ticket. I phoned the train company and was greeted by a recorded voice informing me of their opening hours. The next morning I spent half an hour on the phone to get a new ticket (with a price increase of 100 crowns from the night before), which they could not send as an sms but that I had to pick up at the train station. So, during lunch hour I run up and down Nyköping getting my fourth ticket for this trip!

Well, was it worth it? Did the conference live up to my expectations? Luckily I like to think so even though I missed some of my colleagues at the conference. The conference aimed to look at how we implement the Europe 2020 strategy in a better way but I was one of very few people who actually work with the implementation of these strategies. But then again, looking at my past days of chaotic behaviour we should maybe let someone else do the implementation. I am thinking of taking up a carrier in ticketordering and study a bit more of Swedish geography!

Goodnight everyone!

PS: To forget is the great secret of strong creative natures; to forget is the way nature herself who knows no past and who at every hour begins the mysteries of her untiring labors afresh.
- Honore de Balzac

Europe day on May 9th

2010-05-08T18:41:00.001+02:00

Each year on May 4th Remembrance day (Dodenherdenking) is held in the Netherlands. It commemorates all civilians and members of the armed forces in the Netherlands who have died in wars or peacekeeping missions since the outbreak of World War II. The next day, on May 5, Dutch people celebrate the liberation of the nation from the German occupation of 1940 to 1945. When we lived in the Netherlands our neighbour always had the flag out half way on the 4th and obviously proudly raised on May 5th. Each nation always has special days worth commemorating and they serve as reminders of the history we share.

Tomorrow it is Europe day – May 9th. For many people it does not mean much and maybe for Swedish people, who do not even feel connected to the national day of June 6th, Europeday is not seen as a special day at all. We talk about Sweden and we talk about Europe as if they are two different things or as we are not part of Europe. We are part of Europe and for every day we get closer and more integrated with each other. You can make laws and you can take away obstacles but the European culture will evolve as people get connected ant this might take some time.

I had written a column in our local paper today about Europe day. Here it follows in Swedish.
To me Europe is about avoiding war and getting people together. It is not an easy assignment and it is not always progressing as I would like it too but I hope that we all one day can feel the value of each other’s differences!

Enjoy Europe day!

Varför jag firar Europadagen den 9 maj!

Min svärmor Nell växte upp mitt under brinnande krig i ett land ockuperat av Tyska soldater. Föräldrarna lät engelska soldater och delar av motståndsrörelsen bo i deras källare som i vanliga fall användes som möbelsnickeriets lagerlokal. Kriget var under många år ständigt närvarande och i huvudstaden Amsterdam svalt befolkningen och alla tulpanlökar tog slut. Man åt det man kunde få tag i. I staden Nijmegen, där jag under många år bodde, gick vi med skolbarnen till gungmonumentet. Mitt inne i stan hänger en gunga på en gräsplätt. Den påminner oss om de 40tal barn och fröknar som dog under krigets sista månader då de allierade av misstag släppte en bomb på fel sida gränsen och träffade en skola. Den lilla gungar berör. Krig drabbar alltid oskyldiga och leder sällan oss framåt.

Söndagen den 9 maj är det Europadagen. Under många år såg jag denna dag som ett marknadsföringsbidrag till den Europeiska Unionen. Vi skulle alla bli omvända att tro på ett gemensamt samarbete. Idag, efter att ha bott i Storbritannien, Belgien och Nederländerna ser jag värdet av denna dag. Ur askan av ett smutsigt krig som krävde över 80 miljoner liv växte en tanke på att ökad handel mellan länder borde skapa ekonomisk stabilitet och större förståelse för varandra. Genom att ta bort handelshinder och skapa möjlighet för människor, tjänster och varor att fritt röra sig över gränserna skulle man skapa en hållbar utveckling och social sammanhållning.

Ett halvt sekel av europeiskt samarbete har visat att helheten är större än summan av delarna. Gemensamma miljömål, utbyten av teknologisk kunskap, spridandet av mänskliga rättigheter och jämställdhet, solidariskt stöd till fattigare delar av Europa och samarbete mot organiserad brottslighet är något som jag tror vi alla gynnas av. De stora utmaningarna som vi står inför såsom global konkurrens, klimatförändringar, en åldrande befolkning (Europas befolkning krymper!) etc. löser vi bäst tillsammans.

EU är ingen lättsam, flexibel organisation och man kan ha många förbättringssynpunkter. Men, kärnan i samarbetet är viktig och vi får aldrig glömma vad det egentligen handlar om. För hur värdesätter vi fred och stabilitet?

Jag uppmärksammar Europadagen på mitt sätt tillsammans med min internationella familj som jag troligen aldrig blivit del av om jag inte utsatts för EUs universitetsutbytesprogram ERASMUS. I min familj samlas olika religioner, olika kulturer vilket inte alltid är lätt men som skapar förståelse och nya synsätt. Europadagen handlar inom om att vi alla skall bli lika utan om att se varandras olikheter och se värdet av detta. Tillsammans skapar vi en framtid där barn kan gunga tryggt! Därför uppmärksammar jag Europadagen!

Ulrika Geeraedts

With diversity we build a place to call home!

2010-05-06T12:22:00.001+02:00

Finally the trees are getting leaves and the grass the right colour. Last year we took our first dip in the lake at the first of May (when Karin Greber was here and took the great front picture of this blog) but this year it was much to cold for a dip. I think people were still able to fish on the ice in the beginning of April. Anyway, with the sun, the start of the soccer season and nights that get shorter each week people move out of their houses and into the outdoor lifestyle. This is typical for the Nordic countries and typical for Ulricehamn.

Many foreigners find the winter a difficult season in Sweden with the short days, little outdoor activities and many activities happening at peoples homes. If you don’t know a lot of people, winter is a period of silence and little activity. Expat-firms often suggest that if you are able to choose the time of moving up north you should do so during spring or summer. Refugees obviously do not have that luxury. Sometimes I think we should keep this in mind a bit more. How easy is it to find friends and get to know new people in a new country or in a small town? It is also typically Swedish to join a sport club instead of going down to the local pub on the corner to watch the weekend Rugbygame. It is probably a healthier alternative to join a sport club but if you don’t have kids in the right age I am not sure what you should do.

In a small town like Ulricehamn the local paper is a way in to find out what happens locally. Sometimes we joke about how local it is (last summer a cat was stuck in a tree which was recorded by the paper) but I think it really has an important function in bringing people together and creating a feeling of pride and local spirit. Whether it is a story about a good sport result, a new entrepreneur, a price winning gardener, a local political debate or the weekend’s auction it all show us that even in small towns creativity and ideas are spread. And, for the nationalistic Swedish Democrats who use the paper to spread their ignorant views about people from other countries I wonder if they ever opened a door during the winter months and tried to get to know any of the foreigners in this town.

With a foreign husband I seem to meet some of them as they find each other and often help each other and if I would use a term, which comes to mind for this group, it would be obstacle-movers! The risk all they have to come here, they learn a new language, try to understand a system and culture often very different from what they are used to, they experience recruiters with little intercultural skills and often find that the only way in is to start your own business. I think most people in Ulricehamn see all this and understand and support the newcomers here. Together we create this town and together we enhance each other and make this to what it is. A place we all call home!

Spring – here I come!

PS: A special welcome to Sandra, Joost, Roos, Lars, Niels, Hein, Susanne, Mick, Merel en Emma who are all on their way to spend their May holiday in Sweden and with us!!

With 27 hotshots stranded in Amsterdam

2010-04-17T10:53:00.002+02:00

After 16 hour on a bus from Amsterdam we reached Ulricehamn again yesterday. The volcano outburst on Iceland has caused chaos all over northern Europe and a group of 27 people from Ulrichamn got stranded in Amsterdam. Luckily Jochem used his positive persuasive manners and found us a bus in a city with ten thousands of stranded people (something our travelling agency could not do!)

I have spent the last 3 days in the Netherlands with 15 companies from Ulricehamn and a few members from the municipality (including the chief executive) and the association of local businesses showing them different development projects in Amsterdam and Almere. We have also looked at how the city of Almere is working to grow with 60 000 new inhabitants and 100 000 new jobs to 2030. It was a very interesting trip where we were very well taken care of by the World Trade Centre in Amsterdam and Almere, by the City of Almere, the Swedish Chamber of Commerce and all the other 9 organisations who participated. All in all I think many of us felt inspired and impressed with what we heard, experienced and the saw. We also had some time to get to know each other better (not only during our bus trip home). I am impressed with the many hard working, inspiring and creative company leaders that we have here in Ulricehamn. A trip like this is about learning more about other places, getting new ideas and contacts but also about connecting our local businesses to learn more about each other. It is vital that the municipality work closely together with the local businesses in order to develop the municipality further and during this trip we talked a lot about different possibilities.

Today Jochem and Nils headed off by car to the Netherlands. The airports are still closed and the last time the volcano on Iceland had an outburst it lasted for 2 years. As long as it is active no airplane can fly. Imagine what effects this can have on the economy of northern Europe? Jochem, who commutes between Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy will not be able to go to work (but can obviously work from home) and transportation of people and goods will have to go by boat, train, bus or car instead. Well, it is no use to worry about this yet but to take one day at a time. In the last few days we have seen many innovative ideas and visions and maybe the impossibility of using our airspace will lead to new innovative means of transportation?

I will spend the weekend with my two girls and enjoy Ulricehamn and the surrounding area. Amsterdam and Almere are fantastic places to visit but being here I feel just like the folder I handed out to our colleagues in the Netherlands – small and proud!

PS: The title is stolen from our local newspaper Ulricehamns Tidning!

A map on the wall or a digital tool showing layers of information?

2010-04-11T16:27:00.001+02:00

Nils is playing panfu on the Internet and there he can hook up with his friend Daniel. They can become a team and play together and chat with each other on what strategies to use. However, none of them know how to write or read very well yet so instead they call each other and talk while playing. Bet they soon will install the camera on Skype to be totally connected. Yesterday I got the phone from Nils and spoke to Daniel who had forgotten how the H look like (he needed it to log on again) and I tried to explain where on the keyboard the H would be found over the phone. Not an easy task!

I envy the digital generation who never stops by an obstacle but just find a new solution. In Nils world a computer is a central tool and he never worries about doing anything wrong or that he will accidentally delete something. From an early stage he has learned to use much and sometimes complex information (in different languages) in a flat, global system, open 24/7 where you find friends with similar interests – friends from all parts of the world. We watch over his shoulder, do not allow our children to chat yet and keep the family laptop in the kitchen to maintain some control. We talk about the dangers of the net and what they should watch out for but we also see them develop as they use the tools, the games, the films, the information etc.

The kitchen is probably the most use room in our house. On the walls we have two maps. One is an old school map of Sweden from a Dutch school and the other map is a world map with all the world flags. When Jochem leaves every Sunday we have come to talk about where he is going and what country he will be visiting this time. A map can be explored infinitively and it’s a fun way of teaching the kids how the world looks like. Because we know how the world looks like, don’t we? Maybe we as part of the old generation see the world divided into continents and countries while the digital generation look at it in a completely different way? Yes, it is good to know the map as we know it today and to understand how our current world was established and evolved but will boarders have the same effect in the future? Will people feel connected by a nationality or will new cultures evolve that are boundless or will new cultures appear that will change world order, as we now know it?

If one look at how fast things have changed in only the last 10 years with new technologies, new superpowers emerging, developing countries growing quicker than many European countries, improvement of health and at the same time climate changes that are threatening the world – who knows what more is to come! I don’t think anyone can foresee the future right now but despite many serious challenges I think we live in exciting times. The digital generation will live in a new order and influence where we are going. The geography of the world will most likely look the same in 50 years but I bet the maps will look completely different with many layers and much more information and Nils will be able to tell his kids that in the old days they used paper maps that they put on the wall!

Visit Ulricehamn - such a great place that Visit Sweden keeps it a secret!

2010-04-01T16:00:00.001+02:00

The sun is back after some grey days and the Easter break is around the corner. Ingrid, Rob and their 3 kids have arrived from the Netherlands and hopefully Ulricehamn will be at its best the coming week. Tomorrow they will go skiing and then we will taste some ecological lamb steaks and roasted veggies with some nice wine. Danish Malene and Peter with their kids will also join us tomorrow so we have all the ingredients for a delightful Easter.

The last weeks have been hectic with much to do at work, the flooding of the summerhouse and just getting the daily life puzzle in place. Ingrid is preparing for her one month trip to the US this summer with CISV and we are arranging a wide range of group activities for the kids to get to know each other well (the 4 kids travelling from here). The camp will take place in Tennessee and the theme is “Peace – picture it”. Two girls and two boys from 12 different countries, all 11 years old, will spend one month together to learn about tolerance, democracy and peace. Ingrid can’t wait to get going! If you think this is something for you kids check out “CISV – Building global friendship” in your country (www.cisv.org). You can take part in youth camps at the age of 11 or on an interchange at the age of 15 but there are also many interesting local activities being arrange within this organization. I was a member of CISV as a teenager and spent an unforgettable summer in the US in 1987 and after that I was hooked on international encounters.

Taking about international encounters I am off to the Netherlands with 15 businesses in two weeks time. It will be 3 days filled with activities and hopefully our local companies will come back with new ideas and new contacts. With continues increased business between Sweden and the Netherlands (our 7th largest export market, our 5th largest import market and a total yearly trade of 120 billion makes it a larger market than our trade with France) I see much potential in arranging a trip to the Netherlands for the businesses of Ulricehamn. I also long to see some tulips, enjoy a latte at an outdoor cafe and maybe have time for a short visit at the embassy (no promises though!).

This morning I spoke to the Dutch family who moved here about a month ago and tried to explain “påsk kärringar” (Easter witches – young kids dressed up as witches doing trick or treat today). They seem to have found their way around here and the kids are getting more and more used to the Swedish language, their school and have made some friends. This summer they get to test their business idea (www.slaktbasiccamp.com). Today another Dutch family called. They have not yet found jobs but already bought a place outside Ulricehamn by Blidsberg. I think it’s wiser to first find a job and then look for a place to stay but I wish them all the best and hope they will enjoy their new life in Sweden.

This winter has been filled with many foreign visitors in Ulricehamn, especially from Denmark and I hope many of them return this summer. Despite that we are not to be found on the official tourist website of Sweden (Visit Sweden) we slowly make this town more and more known internationally. I am campaigning to change Visit Sweden’s way of portraying Sweden. They only show towns, cities and organizations who pay and I think that an official international website funded by the state should include all municipalities at least with a link. I have nothing against that groups who pay extra should have extra space but currently, if you search for Ulricehamn, you get the message that this place does not exist. But we do!

Happy Easter everyone!!

Pia Sundhagen making one little girl very happy!

2010-03-24T09:52:00.003+01:00

Elsa received a letter from Pia Sundhagen the other day. Together with a friend from school she wrote to one of the worlds most deserving soccer player, the head of the US Women’s National Soccer Team and got a personal response.

Pia grew up in Marbäck, a small village outside Ulricehamn in the 1960s. In those days girls were not playing soccer and she was signed in as a boy under the name Pelle. Today she coaches one of the best female soccer teams in the world. Under her command the US Soccer Team won the Olympic games in 2008.

Elsa wrote the letter as an English assignment at school and did not really expect to get a personal response. Naturally she was thrilled to hear from Pia and to find out that she has a cat called Elsa.

We live in a world were famous people get a lot of attention and where we sometimes idealize people who have made it. Success is measured in newspaper articles or TV performance and I often think that we loose track of what’s real. It is no longer peoples achievements in focus but what they are wearing or who they are dating. I want my kids to keep a certain distance to this trend of “ 15 minutes of fame” but when it comes to Pia Sundhagen I think we have a real role model worth being proud of.

She started playing soccer at the age of 6 and thought she was the only girl in the world who liked the sport. She had talent and she had drive. At the age of 11 Ulricehamn had started teams for girls and she got to play in the highest local league with grown ups. She was always different, always went her own way and became one of the best Swedish soccer player all times and feels gratitude towards her family and the coach who let her play with the boys team in Marbäck.

Today she lives with the girlfriend Marie in the US with one of the toughest jobs in the world (her pre assessor go fired when the team lost a game after 55 victories) but she still takes the time to write a letter to a 9 year old girl. To a girl who is not very interested in soccer but very impressed by the fact that she has a cat called Elsa!

In an article about Pia Sundhagen said that she is a great dreamer.
- I always write my dreams down. Many of them have come true.

Elsa, my little dreamer – maybe you should do the same?

A flooded summerhouse!

2010-03-21T13:43:00.000+01:00

When Jochem opened the door to our newly renovated summerhouse this Friday a minor tsunami met him. More than 10 cm of water covered the first floor, the basement had even more and from the bathroom on the second floor water was dripping through the ceiling down to the bedrooms downstairs. No power was working. We just finished the renovation with new plumbing, new electricity, new walls, new ceilings, renovated floors, updated kitchens, and a new drainage. Somehow five pipes had detached themselves at the joint or coupling (not sure about the correct vocabulary here) despite us having 18 degrees in the house.

Last winter one of our radiators exploded due to the cold and to prevent this from happening we now had a constant high temperature on. Maybe we had a power cut the led the heating to stop and made our pipes freeze but why would they then detach at the joint? Anyway, Jochem swam his way though the house, closed off the main water supply and called me. Within 30 minutes we had our electrician, our plumber and a builder sent by the insurance company in the house but as they went though the damage Jochem realized that our renovation is more or less lost.

Jochem has had a really tough time lately and listening to a builder telling him that we have to brake off walls, ceilings, lay new floors, set up new wallpaper etc. was more than he could take so the first thing the builder said to me when he called we “you are going to get through this. It can all be solved”. And of course it can and of course it could have been a lot worse (well, maybe not in the house but worse thing could have happened) but it is still crap!

We had a Friday with many tears but now we focus on the future – no use crying over spilled milk (or was it water???). Maybe we can laugh about it all one day and when looking at the problem one has to keep things in perspective. We are so fortunate with many fantastic people around us and the things that really matter in life, the health and well-being of family and friends, is worth so much more than any house or any renovation project.

Today we are all off swimming!

The Millennial Generation

2010-03-17T15:23:00.001+01:00

I have been working on a project proposal regarding employability for young people which has led me to read a lot about youth in exclusion, lifelong learning programs, employment laws and statistics etc. Youth unemployment is relatively high here, Ulricehamn has a low educated population (only 14 % of the population have higher education in comparison to 19% nationally) and we have more men and an older population than the average Swedish municipality. Creating the ideal climate for employment and business development is a challenge and sometimes local businesses have difficulty finding suitable staff.

Today I read about the millennial generation. Born between 1980 and 2001, the millennials were coddled by their parents and nurtured with a strong sense of entitlement. The typical millennial worker is a hard working job-hopper with little loyalty towards his or her employer. She demands a lot of freedom, flexibility and often bring an attitude of “what are you going to give me” to her employer.

Millennials are our future work force and according to American author Ron Alsop, a contributor to The Wall Street Journal, employers need to understand how to deal with this group in order to achieve the best results and to make transitions as smooth as possible.

Although members of other generations were considered somewhat spoiled in their youth, millennials have strong demands and feel entitled to high positions and want a lot of attention and guidance from employers. Older adults criticize the high-maintenance rookies for demanding too much too soon and for not believing in hierarchy. I can see this being true to a certain extent and at the same time I wonder if this is not typical for all generations. We who are now older, look at the coming generation as somewhat a threat, with low skills who will never be able to do the job as well as we did!

At the same time employers do not have a lot of choice as the baby –boomers are off to retire soon and this new group is getting in. Secondly, this new generation does contribute with new skills (teamwork, technology skills, social networking and multitasking) and maybe their view on work is a healthy one? For this generation, work is not a place you go; work is a thing you do and life is more than just work.

While reading this I could not help thinking about the fact that many people from the millennial generation are currently not at work at all. They grew up feeling entitled to a job, they went to good schools, expecting that someone would offer them a job and now when it’s not there it is a long step to create your own job or to lower your expectations. Many of the people taking part in our local youth project for the unemployed still show much entitlement and if there is no employer who can help them they just turn to the state. For many it is always someone else’s fault and its always someone else who should pay the bill.

I understand that being unemployed is crap and I really would like to help our young unemployed people into work or education so that they can create their future. But I think Alsop is on to something when he describes the millennials and their attitude. Somehow we need to combine the attitues of yesterday, today and tomorrow to create an inclusive society.

Interested in reading more; "The Trophy Kids Grow Up: How the Millennial Generation Is Shaking Up the Workplace" by Ron Alsop

Creative ideas through pain!

2010-03-07T20:35:00.000+01:00

It is almost six in the evening and the sky is still bright blue and no darkness in sight. If it wouldn’t be for the massive amount of snow (the kids can still glide off the garage roof) I would say that spring is here. The light, the birds who are on their return and a sun descending a lot later than just a week ago gives us all a hint of what’s to come. The changing of season is different around the world and when I lived in South Africa I missed the darkness around Christmas. It was difficult to get used to a fully dressed Christmas tree next to the pool and braai even if the company was great. Nowadays, waking up at six thirty and seeing the light finding its way in through the curtains make me realize that its time for more light, longer days and more outdoor living. I love spring and suddenly feel energized and fired up! Time to get some work done, prepare the business trip to the Netherlands for 15 companies in Ulricehamn, redecorate my home (to my husbands despair I always change the lampshades and curtains every season) and to get in shape.

Sport clubs usually see an increase of new members in January but within months most of these members have quit or disappeared. I have been a member for a year at one of our local sport clubs but rarely used my membership. Now things will change! For two years, since I moved here, I have been very bad at taking care of my physical health but I have been a good financial supporter of many sport clubs. I though that if I pay I will participate but somehow this incentive did not work on me. This is interesting as we often think that financial incentives can change human behaviour (look at the increase in birth-rates in Sweden and France after the governments introduced several financial benefits for families). At one of our EU projects in Ulricehamn, where we aim to get marginalized youth into activity and employment, we tried to force their participation to a certain extent. It is voluntary to be part of the project and if they decide to take part they have to sign an agreement of participation. If they do not show up at their work placement or at study visits etc. we reduce their social benefits. This has not had any impact on their participation what so ever. Most of the group is participating well but for those who don’t the money does not play a role in deciding on staying home or joining the activities (according to themselves). They don’t show up as they don’t see any use in it anyway. I am now working on another project idea for the European Social Funds and I keep on getting stuck right here. How do we create possibilities and challenges for people in a way, which gives them the tools to elevate themselves? I want to give them a chance to change their lives and to get on whatever path they might find interesting but I don’t believe in full support. They must show commitment and they must get into action. There are thousands of theories on how to change behaviour and attitudes and I don’t think we are looking at one solution but many.

Maybe I can find some suitable answers if I get moving as I do believe in the theory that we are more creative if we also make use of physical activity!

If you see some hyperventilating woman hanging over a bush in Ulricehamn don’t be afraid. It is only I, trying to find creative answers through torture.

Dutch people on the move, heading for Ulricehamn!

2010-02-28T16:54:00.001+01:00

A few weeks ago I took part in an emigration fair in the Netherlands as one of three representatives from Ulricehamn. This was the second time Ulricehamn participated and attending the fair is part of a long-term project we started in 2008. Together with several other municipalities in our region (the Sjuhärad region) we are trying to attract new inhabitants.

Being involved in these types of projects always raise many questions and there are people here in Ulricehamn who wonder why we even want to attract new inhabitants. The goal of the municipality, to grow to 25 000 inhabitants in 2020, is often questioned and politicians and civil servants have not been successful in explaining how an increase of population effects the financial possibilities for a town to offer a wide range of services. People want good schools, elderly care with good quality, swimming pools, cultural possibilities, an attractive living space with playgrounds, bicycle routes, an environment which nurtures the business life, an infrastructure that keeps the flow going and not too many cars in the city centre etc. In Sweden these things are paid by local taxes and it’s the inhabitants who pay for them! (Municipalities have taxation right and the autonomy is strong which means that much power lies with the municipalities) With few inhabitants less services are possible. In 2009 146 municipalities increased their inhabitants and 143 lost inhabitants in Sweden. Municipalities are competing in attracting new inhabitants. More and more people move to the larger cities and on several places in the northern parts of Sweden towns are dying out. Luckily Ulricehamn is growing but to grow one needs attractive housing and living spaces, good schools, a business friendly environment, employment possibilities or good commuting possibilities. I think we have most of this (with possibilities for improvement naturally!) and therefore I think this is a place, which could grow if people knew more about Ulricehamn.

So, why attract Dutch people? What do they have that can be of interest to us? Many things! According to Eurostat the Dutch are the most entrepreneurial people within the EU. They are well educated, have strong language skills, their language is of Germanic base just as Swedish which means that they can learn our language easily. The cultural differences are small and the countries are not very far apart. If you emigrate from the Netherlands to Sweden you are not moving to the other side of the world. You can easily stay in contact with family and friends. It is mainly families with young kids who emigrate and these are the people we need. From a business point of view the Netherlands is an important trade country for Sweden. It is on seventh place as export country for Swedish businesses and the fifth place as import country. Dutch tourism is also increasing in Sweden. After other Scandinavian countries, the Germans and the British we find the Dutch. In 2008 Dutch tourism increased with 28 % (looking at hotel nights). So, it is easy to see why this is an interesting group to focus on but maybe the most interesting thing is that the interest is mutual!

Sweden has become extremely popular with Dutch immigrants in the past few years. The wish for more space, more nature, a slower paste, lower costs of living, less crime and the possibilites of making a new start has made Sweden an attractive country for Dutch emigrates. You don’t move to Sweden to make more money as our wages in general are lower but as the cost of living is lower as well you can still enjoy a good life. 16 million people on an area which is 14 times smaller than Sweden makes the Netherlands a crowdy but exciting place. Many people are fed up with trafficjams, unbelievable houseprices, the lack of quiet places and a social culture that is getting harder. This is why the Dutch look at the possibility of emigrating to other places and why should we not use this opportunity? Two Dutch families moved to Ulricehamn in February and started up a business.

Here, they have found what they are looking for. A place to start a business in a location that offers attractive living oppertunities, closeness to bigger cities, airports, nature and many social possibilities.

I hope they will feel very much at home here!

A library on the move! Making plans for the future library in Ulricehamn!

2010-02-18T17:42:00.004+01:00

Last week Ulricehamn held its first international library conference bringing up issues surrounding the role of the future library and inspiring small libraries in Sweden and abroad. It was a successful two-day conference filled with interesting speakers. During more than a year we have been extending the international influence in Ulricehamn arranging a yearlong Nordic exchange project between librarians and looking at the content of our future library. Ulricehamn is in great need of a new library location but maybe the biggest challenge is to create the library of tomorrow.

What does this mean? Will we need libraries in the future and if so, why? I think libraries have a very important role to play in society but we need to understand that a library is not only a place where you go to borrow a book. It is so much more!

We are in the middle of a paradigm shift. Computing platforms in most organizations today are not able to deliver the goods or services needed and as more and more people use the new techniques new areas of need and business develop. The changes in the availability of information mean that we can all access information from wherever we want at wherever we are but to do so we need help. Libraries can help us organize these new resources so that they can be used by an increasingly mobile society. Furthermore, the library must take on the challenge of helping ordinary citizens make sense of the flood of information now overwhelming them. To meet these challenges, the traditional library must change.

At the conference Ragnar Audunson, Professor at Oslo university, Norway talked about libraries and the importance of them as bridges for social capital. Social capital involves social networks, trust, and norms of reciprocity. For many people the library as an institution is a public place which anyone can attend. Within our communities there are almost no other places that will attract people of different background, social class and from different cultures. The library has become a place with positive effects for community development, schooling, democracy, economic development, well-being etc. You go to the library not only to find information but maybe to meet people, take a class, experience culture, have a coffee with friends, spend some time alone, to use as a mobile office, to read magazines etc. At the conference we heard our Dutch speakers from Pijnacker tell us about the library as a place for improving integration, for helping people with a reading disorder and as a platform for political debates. In Denmark they challenge the children who attend the library by putting out interesting or unusual artefacts in the library or stimulating their creativity by showing them how to make animation and short films and more and more people attend the libraries.

In a multicultural, digital society with larger generation gaps we face new possibilities as well as new challenges. We need to look at these challenges and prepare for a library which takes on a role as a community bridge builder, which stimulate reading and creativity and which has an important social role in society. As changes in society will change the labour market the life long learning perspective has to be integrated in everyone’s life. We do not train for a career in only one field and we will most likely have several employers before we retire. The library is an excellent arena for life long learning.

More and more libraries are looking at partnership possibilities with businesses or local associations. I think we will see much more of this in the future and I think this can lead to very fruitful co operations. Imagine a library where you can buy art or local products. Imagine a library where you have a permanent clothing exhibition which will attract visitors from outside Ulricehamn. Imagine a library filled with activity outside the current opening house as local associations use the premises.

I think that librarians, other stakeholders and local politicians found the conference interesting and inspiring. It was great to see the effects of the international approach. There are so many interesting things going on in the world when it comes to library development and suddenly we had a mix of many different perspectives! I hope that the future library in Ulricehamn can be a place to borrow books, being helped in finding the right information on the internet, where films and music can be downloaded, where you can sit down with a nice cup of coffee, enjoy a course, participate in a book club, use as a workspace, look for jobs, watch an interesting exhibition or learn more about our local history and culture, get civic information etc.

We have an active library in Ulricehamn and if they just get the premises they need and support in taking on the new role of the librarian I think we will have a great place to hang out and enjoy!

PS: Do you know library lovers? Check it out!

Feeling at home in Ulricehamn - most of the time!

2010-02-09T17:56:00.000+01:00

Where do I belong and where is my home? Different people will answer this question differently but to me Ulricehamn is my home – most of the time. Soon it will be two years ago that I set off to a new destination bringing my foreign family with me to Ulricehamn. I am Swedish and so are my children but they were foreigners when they entered this place as they had never lived in Sweden before, never gone to a Swedish school, never celebrated Lucia or midsummer and as Swedish was not their first language.

Today, Ulricehamn is the place my children likes the best (and Ingrid who has moved 9 times across 3 different continents should know!). They have made us parents promise not to move in a long time and they feel just as Swedish as their classmates and friends. We are now a part of a place that offers fantastic experiences when it comes to sports, nature and cultural activities. People are friendly, helpful and caring and we have met very many wonderful people. This is why I feel at home here most of the time.

But sometimes I do not feel at home here. I do not understand why there are no women on any chairman positions within our municipality. I do not understand why fewer men in Ulricehamn, then the average in Sweden, take out parental leave. I do not understand why there are larger salary differences between male and female department managers in our municipality than in other towns. I do not understand why most boards (both in the public and in the private sector) are filled with men and on the occasion a woman. Scientists around the world today all agree on the financial and social benefits of equality between the sexes and still this argument does not seem to click in peoples mind.

I do however understand why it is so difficult to get more women active in politics. I do understand why many women decide to use their time on other things then sitting on different boards. It is not their arena, the structure of everything is set to suit men with little home responsibilities (how many meetings do not take place in the evening just about dinnertime?) and if they would dare to make an entrance they are alone as women in the group.

Am I making a problem of something that is not a problem? Not many women in Ulricehamn are complaining about this and the men do not see it as a problem at all. They feel that they have done enough and that we have to wait and see. They would like to see more women in leading positions but unfortunately there are none.

Is this true? Who wishes to leave the power he has achieved? Who is willing to change structures that are favourable for men? Who is willing to change they way we elect of chose new candidates? Who is willing to change the way we look at competence and skills? Who is willing to step back and let someone else, someone with a different way of leading, a different way of looking at things, have a go? Who is really willing to change?

Changes often bring confusion and insecurity. Changes can be painful and difficult to experience but most of the time changes bring about new possibilities, innovative approaches to things and teaches us new things along the way. Ulricehamn is my home and I am not here to change it into something else. I just wish I would see more of the 10000 female talents in Ulricehamn brought forward!

How the world really look like (according to my kids!)

2010-02-01T17:05:00.000+01:00

My parents came to help out this week as Jochem is spending most of January abroad and I had to go to Stockholm.
- Holidaytime, Nils said to his teacher at school!
You wonder what kind of working camp he lives in usually? Well, he had short days at school (no after school activities) and this week they had a sports day at school and all went skiing. My parents cleaned, cooked, washed an enormous amount of clothes, brought the girls to their activities etc. To me it is clear that Nils might have had a holiday but they went on a working camp. I am so grateful for their help!!

The winter is keeping its grip on Ulricehamn and the other day we lost power again. In Sweden many of our power cables are still above earth and heavy weather or heavy snow breaks them now and then. I am getting used to finding a torch and candles, changing fuses and getting the fireplace started. I don’t remember ever having a powercut while living in the Netherlands but here it seams, as one should always be prepared. I guess it’s a phenomenon one has to get used to on the countryside. Luckily the problem was fixed within a few hours but with –15 C. outside it cools down quickly inside.

Ulricehamn was filled with 900 competing cross-country skiers yesterday but we did not notice too much of it. Instead we headed off to Jönköping to watch the Disney musical “High School Musical” with Idol winner Kevin as Troy. The girls loved it but Nils told me there should be an age limit for boys. No boys under 10 should have to endure this type of torture. Sometimes I wonder how a boy who grows up in a family where we are constantly listening to music, dance, sing, love musicals, corny romantic films, baking and cooking can be so against all of this. Jochem can’t help laughing at my raised eyebrows every time my lovely son comes with a gender stereotype comment, which needs immediate reaction (not saying that High school musical is an emancipated story by any means). As we live in one of the least emancipated municipalities in Sweden (according to a survey made by SVT) I have to make sure he gets a wide perspective from home but then again; how does your kids really view the world?

When we lived in the Netherlands Elsa (who was 6 at the time) had a project at school called the Star project. It was a project aimed to strengthen the children’s self-esteem and to be better at acknowledging other peoples strengths. All children wrote down what their parents were good at. When I came to school I saw a big picture made by Elsa saying;
- My dad is a star at IT! My mum is a star at drinking coffee!
Gender mainstreaming has a long way to go but at least one boy stated that his dad was a star at making canned soup!

Time for a coffee!!

Emigrating to Ulricehamn?

2010-01-20T12:00:00.002+01:00

It is slowly getting warmer but the snow remains and despite that I am constantly feeling cold I do enjoy the weather. The snow reflects the light and when I drive home in the evening the snow and all the small light spots form an almost magic atmosphere. In the Netherlands everyone gets rid of all Christmas decorations on the 6th of January but here we leave the lights on and I think they are needed. The girls go skiing in the weekends and in the late afternoon (when possible) and come home really tired but with cheeks as red as the nose of Santa’s Rudolf. Jochem went cross country skiing for the first time last Friday but I don’t think it’s his cup of tea. He will continue with the snowboarding and the whiskeyclub as his main hobbies.

Talking about the Netherlands; I am expecting Dutch visitors tomorrow at work. Two families are planning to follow their dream and move to Sweden and possibly Ulricehamn (www.slaktbasiccamp.com). With the municipality’s goal to grow to 25 000 inhabitants by 2020 we need to take good care of anyone interested in starting their business here. I will show them some businesses that are for sale, visit some schools and show them around a little bit. The noticeable problem is the lack of English material. Neither Ulricehamn, nor the surrounding municipalities have up to date information on businesses or houses for sale, school information in English, information about bank or tax related issues). We are lucky that people are finding their way to us as we are so bad at promoting ourselves abroad.

But, we are working on it and improvements are on their way. Last year we were a number of municipalities from the Sjuhärad region who took part in the International Emigration Fair (www.emigratiebeurs.nl) in the Netherlands and this year we will be there again. Many Dutch people are seeking new opportunities in a country which offers a lot of nature, an outdoor lifestyle, peace and quiet, generally a low crime rate and who is in need of the Dutch spirit of entrepreneurship. It is not because we took this step that I am now trying to sell the concept to others but I actually believe that we have a win-win situation here. Dutch people are driven, focused and see opportunities that many Swedes does not see. With low house prices, beautiful surroundings with a wide range of sport possibilities, bigger cities nearby (employment possibilities) and an airport only 45 minutes away I think Ulricehamn offers the whole package. (yes, I know you’ve heard it before :)!)

We even have live Opera from the Met in NY in Ulricehamn and last Saturday Jochem and I went to Carmen with a group of friends. If you have the same possibility where you are (Live with the Met is being streamed to many places around the world) it is a must! Even Jochem who had never been to the opera before was impressed and we continued the evening enjoying great food with wonderful friends until early in the morning.

Time to serve dinner! Take care everyone!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 09/10

2009-12-22T15:54:00.005+01:00

As this year is reaching its end we look back on a year filled with many wonderful moments but also some difficult ones. Or, as Jochem said; it’s not a year one want to experience too often. We had a very busy 2009 with much work, a long renovation of our summerhouse, much travelling for Jochem and often a feeling of not enough time. At the same time we did many nice things, experienced many fun parties, visits, went on several weekend trips, got to know new friends and experienced many examples of good faith and sometimes even miracles. The children feel much at home in Sweden and as we passed the 1 ½ year mark of moving here we asked the children about their view on our life here in Ulricehamn. They responded that this place offers everything they want!

Ingrid will turn 11 in February and sports still plays an important role in her life as does singing (which she does non-stop!). She is determined in whatever she does and I have at a weak moment promised to help her with her interval training this spring (whereby she will discover that she is in a lot better shape than her mother!) Elsa is our actor, performer and keeps the creative spirit high in this family. She participated, together with Ingrid, in a musical this year and really enjoyed it. For Nils, who just turned 6, this was the year where he conquered the Swedish language and he has fully inherited the talkative skills of his parents. It is a constant “what, why, where, who and when” and his curiosity for everything in and around his daily life is great. Jochem (who’s age I wont mention :)) had a year with ups and downs and obviously felt the effects of a world economy on the loose. The many hours of travelling to all parts of the world took their toll and in 2010 he will take time off work to spend time with us and try to find another path. I had a successful year at work and met many inspiring people! The positive aspect of small town life is the non-set approach to things in general. You need to work together in order to achieve things and many people are involved in many different businesses or projects overlapping different disciplines. This is the strength of smaller places and even if I sometime complain about slow decision-making and conservatism I think the end result contributes to creativity and new ideas! Ulricehamn is more than just a pretty place! (Says the civil servant :)!)

In 2009 Sweden saw a new birth record. Not since 1946 have we been this productive and my sister Hanna participated full heartedly giving birth to Lisa in June (not to forget all the other babies that many of you guys delivered!!). Hanna and Kristian also surprised us all with a surprise wedding at Lisa’s baptising. My mother celebrated her 65th birthday and in 2010 both my parents will retire and enjoy, among other things, a trip to Jordan. Jochem’s mother Nell came over for a visit on her own this year while Jochem stayed in the Netherlands taking care of his father Jacques (who suffers from Alzheimer). Hopefully we can arrange a similar trip in 2010 but first we will visit them in February!

For some of you 2009 was a really difficult year and our heart goes out to all friends and family who suffered serious illnesses, difficult childbirths, unemployment and other difficult situations. We hope you see us as good friends in difficult times and know that the door is always open! As I write this Jochem and the girls are out skiing and Nils is playing Nintendo sitting here next to me. Our holiday will be filled with family and friends, relaxing and enjoying the snow and when it comes to Christmas gifts I think we already got the best possible one. About a week ago my friend Anine gave birth to a little boy (with the help of Jens naturally !). Every child is a gift but this little boy is a true miracle and shows that dreams can come true even when everyone else has given up hope! And I think that this is what I want to bring to you in the end of 2009; enjoy the small things in life, cherish the moments of friends and family together but don’t forget to dream cause miracles do happen!

Lots of love from Ulrika, Jochem, Ingrid, Elsa and Nils Geeraedts!

Time is but a moment

2009-12-13T17:27:00.000+01:00

We have a painting in our bedroom with the words; Time is but a moment. I often lay in bed looking at these words trying to figure out exactly what they mean. Maybe time is but a moment and the moments pass as life unfolds. You can choose to take the lead, to join the ride, be as much part of it as you wish but it continues ahead whether you like it or not.

Yesterday we celebrated Nils 6th birthday and I still clearly remember calling Jochem 6 years ago (who was in an airplane and could not answer) that I was off to deliver our third child and that I would appreciate him being there. He did arrive a few hours later, dressed in a suit holding his briefcase and 15 minutes later Nils showed up.
- That went quick, he said but took one look at me and changed his wording to;
- What a fantastic job you have done, love!

However we experiences the birth of a child it is a moment, which will stay with us for the rest of our lives. Larger events such as weddings, the birth of a child, a successful personal achievement are often remembered but then you also have these small, unplanned moments that stay with you. Moments when your child said something really funny or unexpected, moments when a normal day turned into a special day because you met someone or experienced something out of the ordinary. A caring message from someone, a good laugh, sharing the sorrow of something with a close friend – these are all moments caught in our time and collected in our memory.

The last few weeks have been filled with nice experiences such as my sister’s hen party. She had a surprise wedding at her daughter Lisa’s baptising but we felt a need for a belated hen party. With a indulging spa experience and a massive seafood platter, wine and champagne, friends and family around her I think Hanna enjoyed her day very much and so did I. Last weekend I went to Varberg to celebrate the 21st anniversary of my friendship to Helena and Jenny and also got to know a new friend. Good friends are rare and I feel very fortunate for all the people I have around me who inspire, who show me new possibilities and who make living such a great experience. And talking about new experiences, this weekend I joined a wine and cheese club and met a different Ulricehamn from what I am used to which was fun and unexpected. Then we celebrated Nils birthday party and ended Saturday evening by sleeping on the ground in front of the fireplace.

I like to believe that I collect all nice experiences in a small internal space where time is but a moment but where the memory can last for a lifetime.

Wishing you all moments to remember!

Food - a fundamental right to pleasure!

2009-11-23T00:53:00.005+01:00

I had a wonderful food experience with friends yesterday eating grilled garlic artichoke paste, home made cumin crackers and tender pork cheeks. We enjoyed a wide range of cheeses, champagne, great wine, rum and blueberry chocolate pie for nine hours. It is fantastic what great food and company can do to your spirit and Marlene (the cook!)really made an effort. Do you know how difficult it is to get a pork head nowadays? You have to find a butcher who is willing to sell you one (or in our case nine!) and then you have to take the time to get the meat out of the cheeks, marinate, cook and serve. You need time and a will.

In the old days farmers used everything on a pig and nothing was put to waste. I guess the effort of taking out the meat you find in pork cheeks is not worth the time it actually takes to handle it and so it is put to waste or sold off as animal food. In the current debate around food consumption, transportation of food, the well being of animals and the discussion of good or natural food I see an increasing relationship between food and culture or how we let the enjoyment of food effect our cultural behaviour.

I come from a family with a strong cooking and dinner tradition. As both my parents and my sister always enjoyed spending time in the kitchen and making great food I became good at enjoying it. With 3 people cooking I did not really start cooking myself until I left home. I remember being called a catastrophe in the kitchen by my father once at the age of 16 or 17 (which probably was a true statement at the time). When I finished high school I got a book on healthy eating as an award for best female sport student. The reason for the book choice was the fact that I gained 10 kilos during my year as an exchange student in Canada and the gym teacher made it her mission to get me back in shape. I have always enjoyed good food!

Dinners at my parent’s house were not only about eating nice food but about sharing something enjoyable in the company of others. Eating in front of the TV was never allowed and that rule applies here as well. Food is about so much more than staying alive. I bet a lot of people have associations to a place or a special moment when they eat certain things. Each culture has its own typical food and as we try it and explore new food we take in a small piece of that culture. When someone makes the effort to make a nice dinner or even when enjoying a small snack among friends it’s a way of communicating with each other. You talk, you experience something together and you enjoy!

In many cultures food has a dominant position but in Sweden we never used to brag about our culinary traditions. I think this might be changing. There are many nice dishes in the Swedish and Scandinavian kitchen and as more and more international influences reaches us more people take the time to make really special dinners and to reinvent old recipes. We might not be a the level of France or Italy jet but we are moving towards slow food and away from fast food (or maybe I just like to believe that we are?)

Yesterday’s dinner included a blend of excellent cooking with tastes from Scandinavia, Italy, Portugal, Britain, France and maybe some more countries. How often do you sit down for nine hours in full enjoyment! Marlene, you should be a chef at a fancy restaurant with all your talents and hospitality.

If culture is defined by its people, how important is food to the development of a culture?

An innovative approach to development

2009-11-16T23:27:00.001+01:00

I am off to Malmö tomorrow to receive an award from the European Social Funds (ESF) being handed over by the Swedish Minister for Local Government and Financial Markets Mats Odell. It is an award for the best marketing idea of the ESF and the reason that the price is being handed over in Malmö has to do with the informal ministerial meeting on eGovernment which is taking place.

eGovernment is about using new technology to make authorities more efficient and to facilitate contact between agencies, citizens and companies. Being invited to accept an award in this context make it sound as if I have invented something out of the ordinary. As if my idea is really new and will change society forever. Unfortuneately this is not the case. My idea is based on three principals – keeping it simple, at a low budget and to make use of new technologies in a better or more efficiant way. Does an idea or a winning concept have to be new or innovative to be good? Probably not but I do believe that to change the world (even if you do it in very small steps) it has to be innovative.

Currently I am in a period of wanting to develop a new concept, a new way of working where we in Sweden make better use of EUs different cooperation programs not only to get financial support but to be part of more innvative, creative environment. I bore Jochem to death with all my theories and ideas but think that I am on to something. This weekend I read the The Medici Effect by Frans Johansson which I can recommend to anyone in search of new creative ideas. The books message is that we have the greatest chance of innovating at the intersection of different disciplines or cultures. If we want to be part of innovative processes (in a project framework) in order to learn and develop we need to put together a team, which reaches the so-called intersection. The intersection is a place where ideas from different field and cultures meet, leading to an explosion of ideas and possibilities. I would like to achieve this in this region and using EU subsidies as a tool. I have a vision of a team with a variety of skills, people of different backgrounds and interests who brought together can work on long-term development issues in a bridge building perspective. However, this is a lot easier said than done and I am still not sure how this would exactly look like and function. It is a fun challenge and it’s filling my head.

Why is this interesting or valuable? Well, Sweden in general is not very good at coming up with new concepts for EU collaboration, we do not send in as many proposals as we could and we do not lead very many international projects. In other words - there is room for improvement. EU funding is not about receiving external financing but about finding new solutions and improving the world we live in. It might sound exaggerated but I like to think that by collaborating in different fields, with different cultures and with different kind of people we can do more than if we try to solve the problems ourselves.

And now I am off to bed after spending a romantic weekend with Jochem in Gothenburg. Tomorrow it is precisely 13 years since we first met at a volleyball tournament in Lund. None of us were top talents when it comes to volleyball and I don’t remember who won the tournament, but I know that we were the real winners in the end!

Ulrika

A sleepover / Halloween party to remember!

2009-11-01T15:17:00.000+01:00

We celebrated Elsa’s 9th birthday yesterday with a sleepover/ Halloween party keeping 7 kids busy for 20 hours. As I have spent the last 12 days in 4 countries Jochem helped out with the preparations and Ingrid and Elsa spent two days baking, cooking and preparing all the activities. They even made a timetable for each activity and decorated the house in a real Halloween sphere. Jochem bought the biggest pumpkin they had a the supermarket and together we cut out a scary face and made an inviting entrance for the witches, ghosts, knights, monsters and other scary visitors. I was a really nice party where we had ghost cake, made scary pizzas, did trick or treat, created our own key rings, grilled marshmallows and watched a not so scary movie. At eleven the house was quiet and Jochem and I felt so creative that we then started making a memory/ reading game for Nils (no idea where the creativity came from :)?)

Every time we start planning a birthday party for one of the kids I think that we have done it all but somehow new ideas always pup up. By now we have had treasure hunts, cooking with a real chef, adventures in the forests, crafts parties, masquerade, working with mosaic (my personal favorite), horseback riding etc. Luckily there is Internet and a world full of parents happy to give advice on how to make the ultimate party at different budget scales, at any location and with all types of games for young and old, for individuals or in a group. However, this time Elsa knew very well what she wanted and my sister Hanna helped with lots of Halloween crafts tips and creative Halloween food. All Jochem and I had to do was to facilitate! (which is fun but also quite demanding!)

Today Jochem is off to Italy again and I am looking forward to a month of normal working hours and more time with the kids. Jochem has his birthday on Wednesday but is not home until Friday but then a champagne party is on the agenda. After spending so much time at work the past month (handing in two EU proposals, visiting Scotland looking at how they work with youth in exclusion, visiting the NL, spending 4 days in Brussels with a leadership group from Ulricehamn etc.) I enjoy getting busy at home, filling the house with candles, baking cakes with the kids and making a smart system for all my magazines and books (an ever reoccurring challenge). Winter is around the corner and it is getting colder by the day! Snow is on the wish list!

Wishing you all a wonderful Sunday!

A healthy lifestyle and having fun at the same time

2009-10-18T17:37:00.000+02:00

According to a new Swedish health study I live in the unhealthiest part of Sweden. I am still surprised about all the hikers and runners I see all over Ulricehamn every day and to me people come across as extremely healthy here. Nevertheless the study is probably true and we are all a part of the Internet generation stuck behind our computers.

A healthy lifestyle is the base of so much and it’s something you have to transfer to your children. Jochem and I try to encourage the kids to try different types of sports. In Ulricehamn we are spoiled with options but just as most of us we have ideas about what sports we like or what sports they should try. For years we desperately tried to get them into tennis but with no luck. Obviously the most important thing is to have fun and therefore the choice have always been theirs. We can try to direct these choices but they have to make them.

I turned our 200 kg dining room table into a table tennis table yesterday and for the last 48 hours we’ve all been playing table tennis together. Jochem was very reluctant at first and did not want to participate but as the kids got lauder and had so much fun he had to come and watch. After watching for a while and then getting into it he leaned over to me and said.
- I hate to admit it but I think she’s got it!
- Well that’s great, don’t you think? I said.
As a teenager Jochem played in the national youth team in the Netherlands and during his years at university he made his money playing table tennis in Germany. From an early age he spent several hours a day practicing but at 19 he got a knee injury that never really healed. When I met Jochem at 25 he was still playing but he had lost the energy for it and the love for the sport was gone.

He stopped and every time someone has brought up the question if our kids should not play table tennis Jochem has made clear that that is not a sport for his kids. I’ve never really understood his reluctance toward the sport but as the kids had interest in many other things it did not matter. Well, until now. When they came to me and asked why they couldn’t try it I had no arguments to say no. A quick explanation of the game and Ingrid started playing on the dining room table with a wooden stick being the net. It was directly obvious that the genes have been transferred. Naturally she needs a lot of practice and with only a talent you don’t get far but now she’s signed up at the local club and Jochem is almost convinced.

We are most likely not creating the next elite of sportspeople but hopefully we can get them into a healthy lifestyle where friendships and team spirit is a part of everyday life. And maybe Jochem can find some pleasure in a sport that for so long was a great part of his life?

Living glocally (global and local)

2009-10-07T20:11:00.003+02:00

Autumn is here with wonderful colours, early mornings of scraping ice off the car windows and heavy wind during the night. I want to sit down with some hot chocolate and get going on my always-increasing pile of “books I want to read” but so far this is not happening. Until the end of October my agenda is full of EU proposals that has to be written and two trips abroad. In two weeks time I’m off to Scotland to see how they work with youth in exclusion and the week after I will be in Brussels. Just to be a real jet setter I will go to the Netherlands for the weekend in between. The kids have a week off and will visit grandparents and friends and I will join them for a short time, as will Jochem who is flying in from Italy. Looking at our family timetable at the moment one can only conclude that it’s a bit out of the ordinary right now. In November I will do as little as possible! Well, accept for the 18th.

On the 18th of November I will be at the EU Ministerial eGovernment Meeting in Malmö and receive a price for best marketing idea in a competition held by the European Social Fund (ESF). The price will be handed over by Mats Odell, Minister for Local Government and Financial Markets in Sweden. Actually this is all I know about it. The ESF called me up yeasterday to tell me I had won first price and informed me to book this date and I was so stunned that I didn’t ask any more questions. Guess I will find out more in due time.

But right now, my head is into competence development of caretakers, writing about drop-out prevention strategies, creating a program for vocational training and continuing our work on attracting dutch people and businessess to Ulricehamn.

November is still very far away and its time to tuck the kids in! Take care everyone!

The time in between, before and after!

2009-10-04T17:31:00.003+02:00

The last 1 ½ years of our stay in the Netherlands I travelled 5 hours a day between our house and my job 4 days a week and worked one day a week from home. I liked my job, it was different to what I had done before and took me into a new direction. All which made the travelling worthwhile. According to studies made on travellers most people find it acceptable to travel 32 minutes to their work. For people choosing to travel further the job has to give them something extra. I guess getting up at 5.30 every morning to sit in a full train for 2 hours between Nijmegen and the Hague and then getting on a tram for half an hour shows a certain dedication or stupidity. Not to mention the time you lose on other things. Nowadays it takes me 5 minutes to go by bicycle between my house and the office and its interesting how easy it is to get use to this. I have at least 20 hours extra with the kids each week and when I leave the office I know that no time is wasted on “being in between things”.

Occasionally I do travel in my work and last Friday I participated in an EU conference in Gothenburg about unemployment and life long learning. Gothenburg is situated on the west coast of Sweden about an hour and 15 minutes drive from Ulricehamn. I got up at 6 am and left Ulricehamn by 7. At the bridge of Rångedala the car slipped due to the ice on the road but I was fortunate to get back on track. Three other cars were not. In total more then 10 cars were involved in a traffic accident due to the cold weather and the icy bridge. I continued another 10 km and then a moose ran across the road. Luckily no one hit him and I could carry on. At the airport of Landvetter I suddenly heard a lot of sirens and soon I could see a large pipe of black smoke coming up behind the forest on the south side of the road. Somewhere a fire was burning. This was becoming one of the most exciting trips I’ve taken in a long time. With all this action it occurred to me that I had forgotten to put on deodorant in the morning, something that has probably not happed to me since puberty. The idea of sitting in discussions with lots of people trying to sell in a project proposal while stinking like a pig was not an option so I stopped at a gas station to buy a deodorant. Getting back into the car it didn’t want to start.

Looking at all these individual happenings one could ask oneself if I was supposed to reach Gothenburg? Well, I’m not superstitious and if I’m going somewhere I will get there. Talking nicely to the car and changing from biogas to “the unfriendly gas” got the car going again. I reached Gothenburg and weather it was the Rexona deodorant or the good proposal that did it I don’t know but the day was a success. Driving back nothing out of the ordinary happened but I came to the conclusion that the road between Ulricehamn and Gothenburg must be one of the most beautiful highways in Sweden on a sunny October day.

While travelling that the morning I thought I would never accept a job where I would have to travel again but going back those thoughts were gone. I guess it is not so much the actual time spent on travelling that matter but what you do with the time in between, before and after.

Today it’s Sunday and heavy rain is falling outside. Elsa is out bicycling with her friend Sofia. Nils and Ingrid are playing Star Wars on the Wii. The fireplace is burning, we’ve been melting marshmallows and Jochem is off to the Netherlands, travelling 6 hours to reach his destination.

We are all trying to find the best solutions for the time in between, before and after!

Do you know Mr and Mrs Ekstrand?

2009-09-14T17:56:00.003+02:00

I sat on the train between Limmared and Lund on Friday afternoon reading the train magazine Kupe. They had an article about life in 2019. What will our lives be like in ten years time? Will we all be part of the gigonomic world and have multiple jobs, changing as society change, be part of multiple networks and have NuRo relationships? NuRos are men who are intelligent, in search of quality in life, who knows what he want and why. The macho image is dying out according to trendsetters. I’ve always found these types of questions interesting and I am ridiculously entertained by the future.

This weekend took me on a trip down memory lane, made me feel strangely connected to the present and gave a positive feeling of how people in my world are choosing for the future. I went down south to be part of the baptising of little Lisa (my sister Hanna and her boyfriend Kristians second daughter) but little did I know what they had up their sleeve.

Ingrid and Elsa had been asked to sing the song The Mysterious people and I had been asked to sing Annie’s song by John Denver. We would be accompanied by my guitar teacher Bengt Afzelius whom I had not seen for 17 years. As I know what a talented guitar player Bengt is I did not worry too much about our performance. After all it was only family. Bengt on the other hand called before and wanted everything well prepared and organised, sending me notes and youtube links and I responded:
- It’s only a baptising. Don’t worry about it.

Seeing Bengt after 17 years was great and within a minute we were back in the old school atmosphere. I took guitar lessons for many years and really enjoyed it. I never had the talent or the drive to become a professional guitarist but Bengt made guitar playing fun and showed me that making music or enjoying music is something that connects people and influence us in a way that is difficult to describe in words. Now we were standing in Lomma church practising as if the 17 years had never passed and it was fun and a really special moment. A caretaker from the church came by to ask if we knew where people would be standing, if there would be speeches and if there would be bridesmaids. I said politely that I only knew where we would be standing and thought to my self.
- They don’t even know that it’s a baptising and not a wedding, hmm…

Well, after the girls had finished their song to Lisa the priest told us that this was not only a special moment for Lisa but also for Hanna and Kristian as they had decided to get married. Imagining how it is to get up singing in a room where my husband is having a seriously emotional moment (crying his eyes out), where the groom could only whisper a yes as he is too touched by the moment and where my dad is desperately looking for his handkerchief. In order to stay on tune (Annies song is really a high pitch song) I had to look up in the ceiling of the church not to break up myself. Well, to say it short it was a really special moment and to end it all Bengt played Song to freedom on his brothers’ studio guitar. Bengts brother Bjorn Afzelius was a famous musician in Sweden who died of cancer much too early. All his songs have had a major impact on Hanna and me as we used to sing and play his music for hours when we grew up. No wonder Bengt had been nervous as he knew what was about to happen. When the caretaker talked about the bridesmaids he was sure I would get it but I had no clue.

During the party afterwards Bengt held a speech telling us that he had been 34 years old and a father of two when Hanna and I joined the music school (strange that we as teenagers always saw him as such an old man :). He then said:
- Imaging that I would have told you Hanna that in 17 years time you will have two children, be a teacher and hold a surprise wedding where I will play and which not even your sister knows anything about.

We don’t know what the future will be like and how much we can influence it but somehow I think the past connects us to the future by what we bring with us along the way. We meet special people, share special moments and can cherish the moments as they unfold. Sometimes it is a small situation that stays in our mind and sometime a bigger event. In 2019 my children will be entering their adult life. If they can bring as many good memories with them as I have had along the way they will most likely do just fine.

Hanna and Kristian have started a new journey as Mr and Mrs Ekstrand and I have a really good feeling about that! Love is in the air!!!

A climb towards creating a dream!

2009-08-11T23:45:00.001+02:00

I had turned out the lights but could not fall asleep tonight. The kids are tucked in, sleeping tight after a day at summer school. The soccer training has started and they all seem to look forward to the new school year. 5 new kids from Germany, Norway (via Spain) and Sweden are joining the Montessori school this fall. New families settling in, in Ulricehamn, creating a new life in a new place and in a new country!

A year and a half ago we did the same! What has it meant for us? Did it turn out as expected and are we walking on the right path? I think we are on a path taking us forward, shaping us as we go along which brings a lot of happiness in our lives. Still, we are only at the beginning of this road and we need to make active choices in where it takes us and sometime these choices are not obvious.

Currently I am surrounded with people who struggle in different ways trying to find their path. What make us happy as individuals? What challenges do we need? How do we make the world turn slower when we set the speed ourselves? I have no answers for all these questions tonight but the older I get (oh, did that sound corny or what!) the more satisfaction I get out of small things in life. Or maybe the small things are the big things?

We reach for our dreams, trying to find the direction that will give us the right feeling but how do we define our dreams and when does a dream start to redefine itself? I like to think that the answers often come to us when we expect it the least in situations we create outside our normal sphere. I picked up my guitar playing when I moved back to Ulricehamn and in the evenings I sit with the kids playing songs and singing. Ingrid sings all the time, everywhere and this night I heard her singing from the bathroom;

There’s always going to be another mountain
I’m always going to want to make it move
Always going to be an uphill battle,
Sometimes I'm going to have to lose,
Ain’t about how fast I get there,
Ain’t about what’s waiting on the other side
It’s the climb!

Good night everyone!

I will say something nice about you at your funeral!

2009-08-09T22:42:00.000+02:00

“I will say something nice about you at your funeral”, Elsa (8) said to Ingrid (10) when she climbed up a steep hill looking for mushrooms this summer. We didn’t find any and luckily we never got close to any funerals either. However, Ingrid did twist her ankle and fell into a river.

We are still in the beginning of August but I’m starting my third week of work and Jochem is back commuting between Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy. For us the summer is almost over and I am ready for the next season to make its entrance. Maybe it is the Swedish summer light that makes me live life in double speed when summer arrives but now I look forward to apple picking, making use of the plums and pears in September and enjoying a good book when the rain is pouring down outside. We had many wonderful visits this summer from far and close by and despite the weather I hope you all return to explore this part of the world soon again. July offered the most rain in a hundred years time and our summerhouse did not get ready on time. One of Jochem’s boats almost sunk, half of the things we wanted to do never took place and I didn’t see everyone I wanted to see but we did many nice things in a chaotic kind of way. Next year we will be better organized or maybe not?

Last night the children held a competition in counting the number of bruises and wounds they had. Falling out of trees, showing off nearby a rusty piece of metal or baking with hot ovens takes its toll or as Jochem said;
- Well, at least they can prove that they did a lot this summer.

Maybe bruises or visits to the local doc is not the way of measuring a good or a bad holiday but maybe the way they explain how they got them tells us something about a world full of adventure. A summer full of swimming, hiking, canoeing (with a dad who almost sunk the canoe!), travelling, heartbreaks (yes, even young hearts suffer), sleeping in tents and staying up really, really late. Next week we go fishing as Jochem’s family arrives (prize winners in fly fishing) and maybe Jochem can pick up some nice new recipes when Yann and Ceciel arrives from France in ten days. Yann showed Jochem how to make an “impress a lady dinner” 13 years ago and obviously Jochem was a very good or maybe smart student. He won my heart and did not cook anything again for ten years but now he is slowing picking it up and surprising me ever so often!

Lets enjoy the last summer weeks!

Why do we not see tourism for what it is – an increasingly important business for Sweden and for Ulricehamn!

2009-07-24T13:27:00.001+02:00

We just had a visit from our Dutch friends Peter and Dorine who spent ten days in Sweden on a bicycling holiday. Peter and Dorine have travelled around Europe on their bicycles and this year we convinced them to visit one of the most beautiful countries in the world – Sweden.

Since I moved back to Sweden 1 ½ year ago we have had more than 50 visits from abroad to Ulricehamn and the surrounding area. West Sweden offers a fantastic opportunity for tourists who want to combine a holiday in beautiful nature, swimming in the sea or the many lakes or enjoy shopping in bigger and smaller cities. The low level of the Swedish crown makes Sweden even more attractive for foreign visitors. Still the service level we currently offer to tourists is embarrassingly low.

Our friends tried to find a bicycling map of West Sweden before arrival but that was impossible. The few sights they could find on the Internet were all in Swedish and it was not possible to order any maps if you were not living in Sweden. I told them that they could get maps up on arrival but when we went to the local tourism office in Ulricehamn we were told that they only offer maps of Ulricehamn. If you want to bicycle outside our municipality you have to get a map of the next municipality in that town but how do find your way there without a map?

Our friends told the girl at the tourism office that they had heard of Sverigeleden (a path leading through Sweden and which is fairly well known I would say) but the girl had no maps of it and did not know where you could find any. I thought that Peter and Dorin were unlucky and just met the wrong person at our local tourism office but when they arrived back here yesterday I realized that this was not the case.

The low knowledge level of the personal at the different tourism offices, the low standard of the different camping’s in West Sweden and the lack of interest in helping a tourist find their way was worse then travelling in Eastern Europe! They loved the nature and the bicycling paths but had many ideas on how to improve how we deal with tourists.

Peter and Dorine had so many strange experiences along the way that I felt really uncomfortable about it. Is this my Sweden? For example; in Göteborg they finally got a bicycling map of the archipelago and decided to bike to a ferry. When they arrived a few hours later the local tourism office told them that the ferry closed down ten years ago? When asking if there were any other boats or if they had any suggestions on what to see or do in the area the girl said that she didn’t know!

We are so bad at dealing with tourists from abroad that it is remarkable. Still it is one of the fastest growing businesses in Sweden. Tourism is one of the most effective ways of redistributing wealth, by moving money into local economies from other parts of the country and overseas. It brings income into a community that would otherwise not be earned!

Economic benefits resulting from tourism can take a number of forms including jobs, increased spending and economic diversification. Economic diversification can be seen as an insurance policy in hard times. By offering an additional means of income, tourism can support a community when a traditional industry is under financial pressure. We are suffering a decline in many businesses but tourism is not one of them. See the opportunity this brings to our region and act on it!

Another aspect of tourism is the positive effects it has on community identity and pride. A positive sense of community identity can be reinforced and tourism can encourage local communities to maintain their traditions and identity. Eco-tourism can place a greater focus on the conservation of natural resources through the recognition of their importance to visitor experiences and their economic value to the local community.

In many other countries a national agency make sure that cities and regions cooperate in a professional way so that a tourist can travel wherever they want to. All websites directed to tourists should be in at least English and be linked to other tourist providers as well. It is not good when the Swedish part of the sight shows many more rental possibilities then the English part of the same sight! A tourist coming to get information and help should not have to leave empty handed and included in the service a normal good day and good buy should be compulsory. Why do we not see tourism as an important business where staff is properly trained?

In my municipality we want more inhabitants. In order to attract them we need to market ourselves better and show the world what we have to offer. Increased tourism does not only generate wealth but also raise awareness about a place which in turn can effect mobility of people. We need to offer a perfect service to anyone wanting to spend time here and if they also want to see the rest of Sweden we need to help them doing this as well. Cooperation, increased service levels, knowledge training, better language skills and looking at tourism as a professional business is a must if we want today’s visitors to return tomorrow!

And we all have to take responsibility for this – tourism offices, the politicians, local businesses and we as inhabitants – if we want to succeed! Luckily I think Peter and Dorine will be back! And for our 18 guests who are about to arrive shortly I hope I can show you what a great place this is because despite some issues this is a unique place!

Greatings from Ulricehamn!!!

Where summer takes us

2009-07-12T13:18:00.000+02:00

A few years ago Elsa (then aged 5 or 6) decided to cut her hair. A day before the school photographer was arriving she cut her fringe to about 2 mm. With big tears she told me of her regret but it was not a lot I could do about it. When I came to pick Elsa up at school the next day the teacher told me that she asked Elsa if she cut her hair herself and she got a serious answer;
- No, my mum did this. She wanted me to look good at the school picture.

While going through some paper in the office I found that school picture today. On the picture I see a girl with a wide smile and a crazy hairstyle. I think it is the best school picture ever taken because it is so much Elsa.

The last few days she has spent drawing her own cartoons, baking cakes, helping me to cook and found a wide range of new recipes on the internet that she wants to use. She has been sewing, swimming between the rain showers in the lake and now she is off with Jochem to go fishing with the boat. Ingrid is visiting her school friend Wilma in Strömstad (town on the west coast of Sweden) for a few days and Nils is spending every possible hour with his best, best friend Daniel. Elsa has no need to play with others right now. She finds her own tasks and paths in a way we do not always understand but she is enjoying the holiday fully. With ten weeks of school holiday I hope they will remember their school holidays in the same way I do.

Endless days filled with play, games, books and visitors. Days that never seemed to end.

June was filled with sunshine and blue sky’s but in true Swedish spirit the rain arrived with the start of the main holiday season in July. Jochems project in Italy was put on hold for a month so now we are all enjoying a holiday together (and it looks like he has work through the fall). With or without rain we all seem to fall in to the holiday spirit.

Lets see where summer takes us…

Each friend represent a world in us

2009-07-07T18:03:00.002+02:00

My holiday just started and I met up with Jochem in the Netherlands this weekend. I have been to the NL quite often the last few months but not to Nijmegen, which I consider my “hometown”. Jochem and I have been very busy lately (yes, I guess you’ve heard that before) so we decided to meet up for a romantic weekend, enjoy some good food, shopping, visit our Dutch family and make a short stop at some friends house.

Last time I saw Colin, Nathalie and their four children Colin had some pain in his shoulder. We were a few days away from Christmas and I guess none of us had any idea what was about to come. A few days after our visit Colin was diagnosed with a very unusual cancer and their lives took a new turn.

Living far apart makes it difficult to be a good friend in hard times and seeing them this weekend made it obvious how extremely tough it has been. Still, the road looks brighter and the spirit was one of survival and future. I am sure the end result will lead to complete recovery but the price they pay is high and all the rest of us can do is be the best of friends one can possibly be.

You are always in my heart!

Ingrid, Elsa and Nils have spent two weeks with my parents in Nybrostand (a small village on the Swedish south coast) and Nils has learned to bicycle on his own. According to my mother it took about two minutes (is it not great to talk to people who are just as proud about their grandchildren’s achievements as you are!). Tomorrow they arrive back in Ulricehamn and we will enjoy a local holiday. Jochem will also be here as his Italian project has been cancelled so we will all have a holiday together. This could very well be the end of Jochems assignments with Philips as they are letting many consultants go so maybe I will have a houseman at home for some time. Actually, I think that would do Jochem and us all quite some good!

I end with a quote and wish everyone a summer filled with love and health!

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born."
- Anais Nin

Employability for the youth - what can we do?

2009-06-18T19:09:00.001+02:00

18 million Swedish crowns of EU subsidies to companies in and around Ulricehamn were granted this week. I wrote the proposal and it has been a week of much attention and positive feedback. It is easy to be popular when you bring in money in hard times and hard times we have.

Our politicians talk about more money to stimulate growth and development or less taxes and regulations for businesses. There are many ways and the ideas often take an ideological path but I wish they would talk in more concrete terms. Sweden has the highest level of youth unemployment in Europe. If we want to help young people out of unemployment – what can we do? If they don’t want or are able to study or if they want to combine studies with work can we find suitable solutions?

I think we can but people in public organisations today are so stuck to the structures that it does not stimulate new creative ideas and cross over cooperation. I think it would be interesting to make a youth employability centre including several municipalities working with the motivation of young people. I also think that the people involved should be entrepreneurs, think tanks, experts on social media, new technology and most important – from other parts of the world. Many youth workers or unemployment officers today have little knowledge of starting your own business or creating your own future. How can a young person find a path to hang on to when the trainer is someone who just got a job from the unemployment office herself? Role models showing possible paths and trainers from different professions should be in charge of the training and all possibilities to international encounters should be rewarded.

The EU gives out a lot of money on work experience, voluntary work, youth exchanges and other youth projects and these opportunities of finance should be used to a much larger extent. We also need to change the mind setting of people and make them see the positive effects of international relations. It is not only about learning a different language or understanding a different culture. It is about becoming a world citizen and taking part and taking in all the possibilities we have outside the Swedish boarder. Migration will increase in the future and intercultural experience will be an essential skill for employability. Therefore all ideas surrounding what we should do with the unemployed youth should and need to have an international perspective.

With this I end my ideas regarding youth employability and wish you all a wonderful midsummer. Tomorrow Sweden will be a party place, the police will work extra hours but in my family we will do it the Dutch way. We skip the traditional haring and snaps and instead go for a barbeque with Dutch friends visiting us for the weekend. Cultural traditions are important but so is the choice to decide not to follow the usual pattern all the time!

Ulrika Geeraedts

No wise man ever wished to be younger.

2009-06-14T12:09:00.000+02:00

I just got back from celebrating my mothers 65th birthday with family and lots of friends. Many of the people at the party knew me before I knew them. They were friends with my parents before I was born and I grew up playing with their children, seeing them at the many parties my parents always hosted and spending holidays with them. Over the years some new friends have joined in and other have sadly passed away and every change has been a part of my life as well as of my parents. Naturally not to the same extent and maybe not always as profound but the weddings, birth of grandchildren, celebrations but also hard times such as divorces, sickness and death have reached me via my parents. As I grew older and travelled the world I saw my parents friends less but I still got the news and heard about their lives.

It was nice to see them all yesterday and get an update about everyone and to hear how busy these pensioners (or pensioners to be) are. The generation from the 40s might be leaving the workforce but they don’t seem to be slowing down. They travel, visiting their kids who all live spread out over the globe, they prepare for later days by moving to apartments, play golf or start new businesses and participate in clubs and cultural events.

However, the best thing about yesterday was not to see them all or to eat the fantastic food my parents had prepared for the 60+ guests. The best thing was to see the love shared for my parents and especially my mum on her big day. My mum has a huge network of friends and she is a member of more clubs and organisations then I can count to. I come from a social family where the doors were always open and dinner parties took place every week and this is still the case. At my parent’s house, life is enjoyed and friends and family are cared for. My mum turned 65 and previously I would have said that this is quite a distinguished age. Still, the spirit yesterday was not one of letting go or giving in. Instead, I believe it was a spirit of enjoying life and doing all of the things that are yet to be done.

In the past I viewed time as a horizontal line stretching into the future. The past was something one could not change and therefore not very interesting.
I have spent many years in different places, meeting different people and sometimes created deep friendship with people who live very far away and that I don’t see very often (or will never see again). At first I thought that friends that I would never meet again were lost friends but now I look at it differently. Friends and family who are no longer in my life due to whatever reason are nevertheless here with me as it is the experiences we share that join us together. The past and the present have merge and I can to some extent decide where the future takes me. My mother filled her house full of friends and family on her 65th birthday and celebrated her aging in a wise way. And I will end this column as I started it using the words of Jonathan Swift;
No wise man ever wished to be younger.

Ulrika Geeraedts

A new little miracle!!

2009-06-10T13:55:00.003+02:00

I am a very proud aunt!! On the 4th of June Lisa was born, 57 cm and 4,44 kg, daughter to my sister Hanna and to Kristian, and sister to little Ellen. Everything went well despite having to wait 11 days extra for the little miracle. Enjoy your new family Lisa!!!

In Ulricehamn it is raining today and I am tired after spending 5 days on a course in the Netherlands about creating more impact with international projects. The visibility, dissemination and exploitation of project is getting more and more attention in EU projects and I was there to learn about this so we can integrate it better in all our projects. As it was arranged by the Youth in Action program, and as youth programs always have a lower budget than all other EU programs we stayed at a youth hostel sharing rooms with 4 people in one room. Is it not interesting that we decide to go low budget when it concerns the youth but not when it concerns other issues? Anyway, I enjoyed the course and hope to use what I learned in all our projects.

We are only one day away from the children’s summer vacation and on Sunday they go to the Netherlands with Jochem. We only have to get a new passport for Nils as his has expired. Cost; almost 1000 crowns and an extra trip to Landvetter (a hour drive one way) to get a temporary passport. Well, we will hopefully learn from this and will apply for "real" passports to all the children this week as well. Are your passports up to date?

I have been barking again in the local press and this time regarding the fact that we have no women in any of the municipalities’ company boards. The municipality owns shares in 5 different companies and therefore has 17 seats to fill on 5 boards. All 17 board members are men! Do I need to say any more? Not everyone is pleased about my article but sometimes making a statement or raising the issue outside the internal sphere might lead to a quicker change. And I am far to outspoken and into speedy results to wait for a political reaction! Below follows the article in Swedish.

Looking forward to a Saturday in Lund celebrating mum who is turning 64+ this weekend! Kisses to Ellen and Lisa!!

Insändare i Ulricehamns tidning 6/6 -09
Kompetens och jämställdhet hör ihop!

Av kommunens 17 representanter i de kommunala bolagen finns inte en enda kvinna stod det att läsa i UT den 30 maj. Jag var tvungen att läsa inledningen av artikeln en gång till för att vara säker på att jag läst rätt. Därtill kom dagens fråga i UT om man borde könskvotera in kvinnor där ett av svaren löd ”nej, man skall väljas på grund av kompetens”. Visst skall man väljas utifrån kompetens och inte enbart kön men man måste vara medveten om att vi alla ser och tolkar just kompetens mycket individuellt.

Alla arbetsgivare och valberedningar vill finna den mest kompetenta kandidaten och för att hitta denne tar vi fram olika kriterier och vi väger olika färdigheter utifrån våra egna värderingar och normer. För ett par år sedan klagades det på att det fanns för få kvinnliga professorer i landet och universiteten besvarade kritiken genom att säga att männen var mer kompetenta. Det visade sig att ett av de viktigaste kriterierna vid urvalet var antalet publicerade böcker, artiklar och rapporter. Kvinnor som varit borta ett år eller flera pga. föräldraledighet blev ”omskrivna” av sina manliga kollegor och kom inte upp i samma antal publicerade verk. Var dessa kvinnor mindre kompetenta än sina manliga kollegor?

När en valberedning går ut och säger att vi har försökt att hitta kvinnliga kandidater men inte hittat någon så måste man ju fråga sig hur sökandet av kandidater går till. Kvinnorna är kanske inte med i samma nätverk som de som sitter i valberedningen (och som ofta består till största delen av män)? Hur viktiga är uppdragen i dessa styrelser? Om de anses viktiga så borde ju tillsättandet av posterna prioriteras högt.

Om det nu visar sig vara så illa ställt att vi inte kan hitta en enda lämplig kvinnlig kandidat från Ulricehamn så borde man kanske se över huruvida det måste vara någon från Ulricehamn. Att vara just från Ulricehamn gör oss kanske inte mer kompetenta. All forskning talar för att grupper med en blandning av män och kvinnor är mer kreativa och fattar bättre beslut. Vetenskapsrådet uppmanar valberedningar inom forskarvälden som påstår att de inte kan hitta lämpliga kandidater i Sverige att ta in oberoende kvinnliga styrelseledamöter från andra länder. Borde vi bredda våra vyer (t.ex. grannkommunerna)?

I en brittisk studie från 2004 (Cranfield School of Management) granskades styrelsemedlemmar i 100 engelska företag. Kvinnliga styrelseledamöter hade i genomsnitt högre examen, från mer prestigefyllda universitet och hade haft en mer varierad karriär än männen. Dagens kvinnor går nu om männen i utbildningsnivå både i Sverige och i många andra länder. Samtidigt visar statistiken att jämställdheten i Sverige stannat av och under 2007 gick antalet kvinnor i styrelser t.o.m. tillbaka. Vilka förebilder vill vi ge dagens ungdomar i Ulricehamn? Vi vet alla att lönsamheten ökar i jämställda företag och just i dagen läge känns det som ett vinnande argument för att göra något åt situationen, eller hur!

Ulrika Geeraedts

My virtual world

2009-05-29T10:56:00.000+02:00

I am completely hooked on youtube. Every day I use it to listen to music, look at a funny clip or to learn something new. Yesterday I read in the Dutch magazine Elsevier that Youtube is making an enormous loss every year. Despite millions of users the costs of maintaining the site is skyrocketing. Well, I hope that Google sees it as an important marketing tool and a tool to increase internet users all over the world. I also think it has a democratic value and brings the world together in a completely new constellation.

One of my favorites on youtube right now are the many films from is www.ted.com
TEDTalks shares the best ideas from the TED Conference with the world, for free. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader. The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

My new personal favorite is global health professor Hans Rosling. Anyone interested in getting an update on the developing world and where we are at should look at one of his speeches. He is not only smart and interesting to listen to but also brings about statistic in a fun and exciting way.
Please have a look at;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVimVzgtD6w

Another interesting film to watch is “Did you know”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpEnFwiqdx8

This film was made for educators in the US a few years ago and has been updated several times since then. I gives us a picture of a changing world where Asia is passing the OECD countries within years (or maybe they already did?).

We sometimes talk about all the dangers of internet, about the unclear structure of it and the threat it could pose to a democratic society. These are all serious problems but I think the positive aspects are even more important. We now need to focus to get the price of computers down linking people from all over the world together. In a global economy it is important that we have global access to information. E-democracy is a key factor to development and stability.

Last week I took part in an interesting conference at the International Centre for Local Democracy in Visby, Sweden. I was there to learn more about municipal partnership as we have collaboration with Voi in Kenya. Tomas Ries, a researcher for the National Defence Academy held a speech explaining that we are now so linked in the world that political, economical and social aspects influence each other on a larger scale. Instability in any of these fields in any country immediately has an effect on a global scale.

In my view internet is a way of opening doors and information flows that might have been difficult to spread in any other way. Ideas about the world, news, religious believes, philosophy, creative solutions, information about disasters and mistakes etc. gets spread in the virtual world wherever you might live. Something is changing and I like to agree with Rosling that things are getting better despite health threats and famine. We can make things better but we have to do it together.

Please try the links!

Where there is love there is life!

2009-05-24T21:20:00.002+02:00

Love is a necessity in life and still it is something that often complicates our lives and makes us vulnerable. Too often people play it safe and go for the easy solution. A solution that might not make us happier but will keep the balance in life. I don’t know what is right or wrong but I get all warm and happy inside when I hear that a friend will move in with her new love and try mixing two families into one. We need love in life to develop as human beings and we need to take the chance of failure. I truly believe that is better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all. So, just go for it Jenny! You absolutely deserve to be happy and most roads are not paved perfectly. We all travel on bumpy roads but at least they take us somewhere!

Talking about bumpy roads Jochem knows all about them. He bought a second boat yesterday but had a very difficult time bringing it home. He missed Mikaels 40th birthday party but got to know a lot of new people. The crane that was going to lift the boat out of the water broke and while driving the boat home the trailer wheel broke off. He accidentally put the boat in at the wrong pier and first he could not start the engine and then he couldn’t turn it off. He left at 8 am Sunday morning and was home at 1 am the next morning, wet, tired and told me that he was the unhandiest man in the world. Well, I could have told him that but now he knows it for sure. However, anyone wanting to change and wanting to learn should be praised and Jochem is surely going through a steep learning curve with all his projects. I love him for his effort and I bet he will prove me wrong and become the handiest of men (it might just take some time!!).

Where there is love there is life,
MOHANDAS K. GANDHI

Take care and Hanna, make that baby come out now!

Messages from above?

2009-05-16T20:24:00.000+02:00

Sometimes things happen in such a way that it is difficult to see it as pure co incidents without a connecting idea behind. I am not very religious and I like facts and rational behaviour but last week a number of things happened in a short period of time and they all seemed connected to each other in a strange way.

A few weeks ago a group of civil servants from Region Skåne and Region West Sweden went to the US together with the Invest in Sweden agency. While there a terrible accident took place when a truck driver drove straight into the group while they were crossing a street. One person was killed instantly and a colleague of mine was severely injured. When I heard about it I obviously wanted to call her and see how she was doing but I knew she was still in hospital care in the US and when I later learned that she had been sent to a Swedish hospital I thought I would wait a while before contacting her. I knew family and close friends were by her side and I felt that she probably needed some rest.

Last week I wanted to call someone and I used my short- number- list on the phone. Somehow I got the wrong number and ended up by my colleague who is now at home but who will not be back at work for 6 months due to her injuries. We talked for some time and obviously a lot of the conversation was about the mental impact an accident like this has on you. You suddenly realize you mortality and questions arise about why did I survive when someone else didn’t. Priorities in life become clear and existential questions about the meaning of our existence her and now are popping up. I spent the rest of the day and night thinking about our conversation and decided to send her a book package, including a book called “Seeds for the soul” by Chuck Hillig. The next night I spoke to my dad as I needed some help with my tax declaration. He told me about his cousin who died recently while on a visit in the US. He was there as a representative for Region Skåne and was hit by a truck while passing a zebra crossing. Sweden has 9 million inhabitants and many of them go on business trips to the US. The fact that I within 24 hours was confronted about the destiny of two people who were both involved in the same accidents felt very strange.

I could not help thinking that maybe there is something in this that I am not seeing. I told Jochem and said;
- Does this mean anything? It almost feels as being told – life is precious so be careful with it. Or be aware of what you have.

Jochem was sure it was a message to the messenger (me) and that it meant; “Your husband should stop working right now” but after some deeper reflection he came to the conclusion that maybe, if one wants to find a message in this, it could be a very simple but important message.

Life is here and life is now so we have to live it, cherish it and enjoy it fully. No one knows what tomorrow holds.

I like to think that this is true and that despite all the unexpected bad things that happens in peoples lives most of the time we live in good times, in good lives surrounded by special people who make life worth living.

Special deal for Suzanne :)! Kids enjoying Ulricehamn

2009-05-12T21:15:00.002+02:00

A friend of mine declared that she would stop her blog as she had only two readers. I objected as I really enjoy her photoblog and she responded ;
- oh, you must be the second one as I know my husband is the other one.

Well, do you write a blog in order to attract as many readers as possible or do you write a blog because its fun and it’s a way to stay in contact with people or to air your views in a particular subject. Do you have to have X amount of readers to make it worthwhile? I don´t know but I enjoy the fact that some people read my blog and I like that you come with suggestions and questions.

Today I got a suggestion to write more about what goes on in Ingrid, Elsa and Nils life. So, here is an update on the kids! I just picked up Ingrid (10) from a soccer game and Ingrid is really the one into sports in this family. Twice a week it is soccer and Thursdays it is golf. Every morning she gets up half an hour before the rest and while we sit down to start our breakfast she gets on her bike to school. She likes to be well on time (half an hour before school actually starts) and she certainly likes her independence. This is something Jochem and I still have to get used to. She knows very well what she wants and she is very focused. At times I whish she would be a little bit less serious and not as competitive but with her parents I guess it is no surprise.

If Ingrid is focused and serious Elsa (8) is the opposite. Her world is full of play, singing, enjoying her close group of friends and school is going well. Her friend Coraldi just returned from a 6 weeks stay in the Dominican Republic and both girls fell into each other’s arms and cried of happiness when they saw each other. She is not into sports but is more the creative type with a strong caring sense. However, when it comes to skiing and swimming she likes it as much as Ingrid.

Nils (5) is now fluent in Swedish and has a best friend living 250 m. away from our house. He calls Daniel on his own and makes appointments. Last Saturday he woke Jochem up at 7 am to ask him to help him pack his bag. He wanted to go to Daniel as they had decided to sleep over. He doesn’t speak any Dutch anymore but understands everything and when oma Nell visited last week they had no problem communicating despite the language differences. In a few weeks time the 10 week summerholiday starts here. The kids will enjoy a week in the Netherlands, two weeks in Skåne (one with my parents) and 5 weeks with me or Jochem. Sailingschool, golfschool and hopefully enjoying great weather is the plan for the summer.

The outdoor life here offers great possibilities and especially now as summer is coming. The sun sets late and in the weekends the streets fill up with kids playing hockey on the street or soccer in the park 100 m. away from our house. Nils and Jochem painted the boat a few weekends ago and soon it is time to fill it with water. I just signed us up for a family card at the outdoor tennis courts so hopefully we will play a bit more tennis this summer. The golf season has started and this year the aim is to get Jochem going (Ingrid, Elsa and I are already at it). Life is good for all of us and when the renovation in Vegby is finished I think life will be absolutely great!

Looking forward to see so many of you here this summer!

What makes a place attractive?

2009-05-09T18:24:00.000+02:00

We were joking around this morning and Jochem said;
- I live in a hole but at least it’s a very beautiful hole.
At work we often discuss what makes Ulricehamn unique and why anyone should live here. People who move here makes a conscious choice. We move here because Ulricehamn offers something we are in need of. In our case it was the search for something typically Swedish, small town life in a beautiful setting but still close enough to bigger cities. Good schools, lots of sport facilities, good house prices, low crime rate etc made us feel attracted to this small town. At the same time it is not the most intellectual of places and sometimes it feels conservative, slow and little bit too static. Yet, I still believe in it. I still think that this is a great place for my kids to grow up in and we can enjoy a lifestyle that would not have been possible in the Netherlands. We have our two houses, the boat and take part in many activities. The kids have settled in really well and it sometimes feels as if we have been here much longer than a year.

I asked Jochem if he would like to live anywhere else and if so, then where? He had no answer. I guess we are both doomed to travelling in search for something else. For now though, we both feel that this is the right place but as life changes so does our needs. For potential newcomers to Ulricehamn this is important to keep in mind. It is never enough to be just a nice looking town. It is not enough to be close to some bigger cities. Today’s society is complex and we need many different things to feel at home somewhere. For a small town like Ulricehamn it is important to make sure that newcomers find their way around here and this is not only a task for the inhabitants. It is a task for the municipality. A welcoming package, arranging a day for all newcomers or addressing newcomers and asking them what they would like to see happening in this place after living here a year are simple things that can make a difference. Thinking about how the town looks like for someone who drives in for the first time and making sure that signs are correctly put up where needed are other important aspects of attracting and keeping newcomers.

Looking at some of the photos Karin Greeber took while visiting here it is easy to see what a beautiful place this is. The water, the nature surrounding the town and the wooden houses with their apple trees could come from any Astrid Lindgren story but in this case they are real.

What makes your city unique?

What is true democracy?

2009-05-03T13:39:00.002+02:00

I am currently working on a project proposal regarding democracy development between Ulricehamn and Voi in Kenya. I want to bring in down to concrete projects where we do not only talk about democracy but actually work to implement it. Everyone knows what democracy is and most of us understand that a true democracy fosters development and is a way of fighting poverty, increasing stability and making business growth possible. Still, democracy is not a static phenomenon. It needs to be taken care of and fostered and in order to keep its credibility you need to critically observe it and make sure it changes according to the needs and wants of the mass. When we have an average age among politicians, which is far beyond 50+ we need to ask our self if our assembly is a true mirror of society. I am seriously concerned about the lack of initiative among politicians and political parties to increase the number of young members in political organisations.

In Ulricehamn we might not have the type of problem they have in Kenya (unfair elections, corrupt politicians etc) but we have a problem when people who nearly never uses the Internet or do not even have an e-mail address have the power to determine how much money should go to the educational services and IT within the schools. I am not saying that our politicians are not doing a good job but I am saying that we need more young people in the assembly. We need people with visions, who have a wider perspective and can understand what the future holds. We need people who can anticipate the changes in the world and who understands that these changes will have an impact on us weather we want it or not. I think these people can be found in Ulricehamn but someone needs to step down and pave the way for new talent and who is ready to give away power? I don’t think young people are not interested in social issues but they choose other ways to show their engagement. The system is not constructed in such a way that young people find their way into it and the established parties do too little to change it. It is too easy to blame the system and say that these are the rules and we need to follow them. We need to look at new educational approaches and maybe we need to elaborate on ways of communication or find other indicators for democracy involvement?

Well, in my project proposal I will work on these issues. In Kenya they do not have any problem in regard to the lack of interest among young people. But they have serious problems with transparency, with corruption and lack of funds to achieve what they want. They have less autonomy and serous development threats due to HIV and Aids. It is easy to make the conclusion that they are in more need of democracy then we are since we already have it and it has followed a stable pattern for quite some time. However, you conquer democracy but need to do it over and over again because the day you loose the trust of the people democracy is quickly lost. It will be interesting to see what our politicians will learn from our municipal partnership with Voi and what results we will see here in Ulricehamn.

We have enjoyed the visit of oma Nell and the Greeber family this week. I got the good news that a seconde project has been approved by the European Union this week so now the municipality has recieved 100 000 euro in the last 5 months. This week we celebrate Europe week with an EU evening for businesses and several activities at the local high school.

Take care!

Who will vote in the EP election?

2009-04-24T10:53:00.000+02:00

We are only weeks away from the EP election and no one is talking about it? 500 million people belong to the EU and approx. 65 % of all decision making at municipal level is in direct connection to EU rules. Should we vote? Should we care and if we don’t what will happen then. Well, the extreme parties will probably gain on our lack of interest. Only 38 % of the Swedish population voted in the last EP election which is a scary number – talk about democratic deficiency! Well, we are self to blame and I blame the established political parties the most.
As a voter it is not easy to find information about what to vote for or about. Each party state what they think is important but I would like to have a comprehensive guide telling me what the differences are between the parties or groups in the European parliament. During the last national election in the Netherlands they had a web-guide with questions. By using this you found out what party you should probably vote for (I think 3 options were given with a percentage scale indicating the difference between the 3). During the American election a similar web-guide was created (www.votehelp.org/) which helped people know what issues were at stake. Why is this not possible in Sweden? I called the Swedish EU information centre (EU Upplysningen) to find out if there were any creative ways regarding these issues but they did not know of anything like this. If you want to find out what issues are at stake, what parties you can vote for and what the differences are between them you can get thousands of folders and spend weeks reading them but who has time to do that?
I wanted to arrange a debate day in Ulricehamn with all the parties but they were not willing to hold an open debate. Instead they agreed on handing out folders together a week before the election. Handing out folders is so old fashion and such a boring way to inform people. We will not reach above 38 % voters on the 7th of June and that is very unfortunate!

Dreams about a controled, relaxed and perfect life!

2009-04-19T14:49:00.001+02:00

The drainage is done on the summerhouse, the electrician is almost finished and soon all pluming is new in the whole house. We have spent the weekend throwing out rubbish, putting furniture’s that we want to save in the basement while Nils has been taking out spikes in the wooden floors and the girls have played at the lake. They have sent off several bottles of secret messages out on the lake so soon we’ll probably get a visit from the local garbage management! The carpenters were supposed to start tomorrow but we just found out that there is a two-week delay. Well, it was going a bit too smooth!

Opposite to what people might think I don’t like renovations but I do like the results so I take on the challenge over and over again. We had just completed the renovations of our house in Nijmegen when we moved to Sweden. Last winter and spring we lived in a small summer cottage as our current house underwent a major make-over and now we are at it again. The planning of it, all the decision making that has to be done and controlling the budget are all things that easily increases one’s stress level. The process has helped Jochem develop his Swedish rapidly and I think he is a lot better renovation manager then me. He has also extended his network and sometimes uses Swedish terms that even I am unsure of. Integrating into the Swedish society and culture can happen in many different ways! All I dream about is a finished house, sitting on the balcony and enjoying the beautiful view over the lake!
One day! One day.....

A heart without wrinkels!

2009-04-16T22:15:00.003+02:00

I watched the Hours a few days ago. Yes, I guess my lifestyle shows that I am at least 5 years behind the rest of you but it did not take away the impact. What a wonderful film. It has stayed with me for days and inspired me to finish things I should have done a long time ago. Despite the heavy subject regarding three women stuck in a world they do not feel part of or where happiness is long gone and suddenly seems impossible to find I found it a positive story. We all live our small lives in a complicated world but luckily today it is filled with choices (at least in my world). The option to choose how to live ones life or what to do with our lives is no guarantee for happiness but at least it makes the possible paths more visible.

I saw my grandmother in Virginia Woolf even though they lived very different lives. Virginia was ahead of her time and so was my grandmother. I think my grandma lost her freedom, her need to travel and explore other places due to a pregnancy and a lot of pressure from life in a small town. You need to have an idea of survival or an idea of possibilities in order to take life-changing steps. You need role models and someone telling you over and over again that you can do anything you want. My grandmother did what she thought was expected of her and I am very grateful as I would probably not have been here otherwise. I just wish I could believe that her life had more happiness.

Even with all the options in life happiness can pas you by or get lost somewhere on the way. Should we be more careful? Are we doing anything wrong when life is not as bright and shiny as we might wish?

In the film, Leonard – Virginias husband – asks her why someone has to die in the book she is writing. Virginias answers that someone has to die so that we who are left can value our lives more. She lets the poet - the visionary character in the book, take his life. We who are left need to choose life. Suicides is obviously an extreme option but I think she has a point and tonight when I read for little Nils the point was made again in a book about Alfons Åberg.

In this childrens book little Alfons is bored together with his dad. Christmas is over and they have nothing to do. They wonder why life can not be fun all the time and get the idea that everyday of the year should be Christmas except one, which should be a birthday instead. Alfons grandmother laughs at their idea and says;
- That is the most stupid idea I ever heard. Then nothing would be fun as you would not notice the difference between fun and boring moments. We need to have boring moments in order to value the special once.

Films and art give us pictures, books and articles give us stories, and ideas and insights but the packaging of it all is in the eye of the beholder. It is easy to let life go by and it is a lot more difficult to choose life but the fact that I can choose makes me happy. Yesterday I read the book “The heart doesn’t get wrinkles” by Mark Levengood. Short stories, some deep and some fun, but maybe the title said it all. Life is full of stories and possibilities.

Kisses to Jochem who has been travelling for some time and feels lost on the way! There are only possibilities and no dead end!

Eating out in Amsterdam!

2009-04-09T11:40:00.005+02:00

I have been very busy the last weeks but tomorrow I will enjoy a few days of Easter holiday. We have never celebrated Easter to any major extent but this year we have a “påskris” and the kids have done quite a lot of Easter decorations. My parents have taken care of their grandchildren for a week and are probably in need of a holiday as well now! We will enjoy some nice food and visit Hornborgarsjön in Sweden. Lake Hornborga is a paradise for resting and breeding wetland birds. Every year, the lively dance steps of the resting cranes attract huge crowds of spectators and this year 18 500 wetland birds have arrived at the lake.

Last week I finished an evaluation report regarding our municipal partner project with Voi in Kenya. This project, funded by the Swedish aid organization SIDA, was set up with the purpose of developing a relationship between the Municipality in Voi, Kenia and Ulricehamn municipality. By visiting each other a platform was established where future ideas, regarding knowledgeexchenge and cooperation between us, can grow. We found three areas of mutual interest which we now want to develop: environmental and climate issues, democracy issues and health and substance abuse issues. Before the first of May a concrete project plan will be handed in to SIDA. I am looking forward to visit Voi and Kenya in the fall or next year. Since my stay in South Africa, Africa holds a special place in my heart and yesterday I read an engaging article about Kenya on the flight back to Sweden.

The last four days have been spent in Amsterdam visiting the UVW. I know a lot of Dutch people have a negative image of the UVW but I was impressed. The Dutch system is so well thought through and the different institutions (unemployment offices, health insurance companies and the social insurance offices work together in a much more effective way then they do in Sweden). They have been able to lower their numbers of people on a disability benefit from almost 10% to 4 % (in Sweden we are somewhere above 6 %) and both employers and employees think that the system has been beneficial. The cost savings are enormous and currently the average Dutch person calls in sick 1.2 times a year! As the employers are financially responsible for any sickness the first 2 years they really have to work hard on keeping the employees motivated and happy. I think this encourage employability as it is essential for employers to help employees to develop and learn more.

Our trip to Amsterdam was not only a success looking at the content of the seminars. We had some time to enjoy Amsterdam by boat and visit the restaurant “De Kas” which was a memorable moment! Anyone looking for a really nice restaurant, at a beautiful location with a excellent menu should go there! http://www.restaurantdekas.nl/

Enjoy the Easter holiday!

Something good is in the air!

2009-03-31T20:49:00.001+02:00

It was time to set the clocks one hour ahead this weekend. Naturally we forgot this as we were so busy taking part in Earth Hour the night before and missed the news. Ingrid’s soccer trainer helped us by calling and asking why we were not at the tournament the next morning. Luckily we got there in time and the girls played their way to the final, which they eventually lost. It was a great Sunday with beautiful weather and Elsa spent most of it outside on the bicycle with Sofia.

The light is coming back and tonight we had a fantastic low evening sun setting over the lake. The changing of season is something fantastic and each season is always special but best is the change to spring. Somehow people also change when the light finds its way back and happiness seems to spread. Problems get smaller and possibilities greater. I wonder if this is culturally defined? If I had grown up in South Africa instead of in Sweden would I have felt the same way about the changes of seasons? Would the autumn storms with hot chocolate and a good book have felt the same? The Kenyan visitors who were here this winter did not see the positive aspects to the white snow and the cold air despite being dressed in the warmest of winter clothes. Maybe we get socially and culturally programmed as kids and those images stay with us. We see and feel something and it brings back some positive memories. The memory itself might be lost but the positive feeling about it remains. Maybe I am just lucky that I had such a positive childhood? Due to that I can sit and smile and just take the early spring breeze in and know that something good is about to come!

Support to businesses, making people healthier and enjoying life a little bit more as well!

2009-03-27T12:33:00.006+01:00

It looked like spring was getting closer and for two days we were able to bicycle to school and work but then the snow came back. The snow reflects a lot of light and the sun tells us that the season is changing but it is still a bit too cold. Next week I go to the Netherlands to visit the Dutch UWV. We have a project supported by the European Social Fund where we are looking at the Dutch model for lowering the number of long-term illnesses. Sweden has the highest number of long term ill people but we live the longest?? Ulricehamn municipality and Tranemo municipality are participating in the project and our project leader is connected to Göteborg University. We hope to find new models and tools to work with and see how the NL were able to lower there number of long-term illnesses. They have been very successful in the last 10 years!

Amsterdam in April sounds very attractive at the moment and I am really longing for a change of scenery and strolling around visiting small unique shops in Amsterdam (and to do some serious work as well!!). When I get back I will be seeing my family from Lund and spend Easter with them! Maybe we meet up here in Ulricehamn or I go to Lund but both options are fine. The kids are looking forward spending Easter break with grandma and grandpa in Lund!!

The last two weeks I have collected 50 hours of overtime! I have written a proposal applying for funds for 54 businesses in our region that are all suffering from the financial crises. We want support for training personal to help the individual companies but also to increase the skills for the individuals making them more employable. The flexicuritymodels used in several other countries around Europe are interesting to look at and the project also has a scientific part to it. However, there are many regions, districts and cities fighting to get the financial support and this proposal had to be written in two weeks time so we will see what happens. I have applied for 3,5 million Euros so it is quite a big project! Today I have a day off to catch up on things in and around the house. Cleaning should be on the list but I have scrapped it off the list and put in playing the guitar, doing some body combat training, eating nice food and enjoying a nice bottle of wine instead! This weekend Ingrid has a football tournament, we have two birthday parties and Jochem wants to look at some boats again. Spring will come and then he will make sure we are all ready to enjoy the beautiful lakes around here!

Hope spring is close to you too!!!

Attracting Dutch people to Ulricehamn

2009-03-15T12:37:00.001+01:00

Last weekend I was in the Netherlands at the emigration fair outside Utrecht. Thousands of Dutch people spent their weekend looking at emigration possibilities and 72 Swedish municipalities were there to attract some of them. The trade between the two countries has been constantly increasing the last years and currently the Netherlands is our 5th largest export market, which makes it a more important market then France. Last years trade increased with 6% despite the financial situation in the world.

At the same time many Dutch people feel that their country is over crowded. People living in the Randstad area (Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague area) live in one of the most populated areas in the world. It is an exciting area filled with creativity and innovation but it is also an area where house prices stay high and crime rates as well. When you travel on the train you never know when one city ends and the other begins. Integration issues, crime, filled schools, endless commuting, high living costs etc. are only some of the reasons why people are looking into emigrating somewhere else. Sweden is a country of interest as we can offer what they are missing and for us it is interesting to attract high-educated people with an entrepreneurial mindset. The Netherlands have the highest number of self-starters in Europe which is interesting as their social system is similar to ours. What makes people start their own business?

The target for Ulricehamn is to become 25 000 inhabitants in 2020 and in order to achieve this we are looking at attracting both commuters from our neighbouring municipalities as well as international competence. The emigration fair was a first step for our municipality to look at the international market and we focused on attracting businesses. The strategic location of Ulricehamn (close to the airport Landvetter and surrounded by the three larger cities Jönköping, Borås and Göteborg) made us stand out at the fair. Many people want to live in a big house on the countryside but naturally you want to have a large customer base near by and a large employment market. Now we have attracted the interest and the real work will start. We are expecting many visitors in the coming months!

The European Social Fund (ESF) has an extra call open and I am currently writing an application for competence development for businesses in seven municipalities. Time is short and I usually have a lot more time when I write applications so this is a tough one. Tomorrow I am off to Malmö and a meeting regarding EUs energy program and next week I am off to Stockholm for a meeting regarding EUs healthprogram (and in between this I work on the ESF application). Needless to say I am looking forward to April and some more normal working hours.

Jochem will be home for a week and is currently learning everything there is to know about wooden boats. He can’t wait for spring and summer to start to get our boat out again. I wouldn’t be surprised if we soon have one more boat. I have noticed that he is taking up boat orders from people all over the world so who knows what new business ideas he is up too!?

Hope you are also enjoying a sunny Sunday!

Sun is in the air! (with or without a moose head!)

2009-03-04T19:55:00.001+01:00

Everything has its ups and downs and I got a message from a friend asking how deep my dip actually is. My blog has been quite pessimistic lately without me even noticing it. Well, I am neither suicidal nor desperate but maybe I have been a bit self-centered lately and that shall now change. I guess the winter months here were a bit tougher then I expected but luckily I was the only one caught by this virus. Jochem and the kids are enjoying life fully by skiing, playing football, going horseback riding or taking part in whisky tasting events (you have to guess who does what!)

I am enjoying my work and am trying to structure it better in order to be better at evaluating results as they come in. As I constantly work on different projects I need to know where they are going and how successful they are. The financial situation in the municipality and in the world puts more pressure on people but I also see advantages when new ideas might get more room and changes are seen as possibilities.

Today the sun was shining and spring was in the air. It is no longer possible to drive on the lake and birds are singing in the still naked trees. I feel inspired by the light and soon we will start our next renovation project – the summerhouse in Vegby (15 minutes south of Ulricehamn). I am filling it with auction furniture (a new hobby I’ve developed!) and funny gadgets. I tried to get a moose head at the last auction but it was a bit too expensive. Instead I came home with an old typewriter, some chairs, a bed, a drawer and some sun chairs. Our summerhouse will look great when its finished though the road to completion lies further ahead then we want to admit. Last weekend the radiator in the kitchen exploded due to expanding ice but we wont give up. We still bravely invite you and hope for visits this summer!

Lots of sunny kisses to you all!!!
Ulrika

Education - is it a right or a privilege?

2009-02-25T19:19:00.004+01:00

I think it should be a right and considered as a privilege. There are a million different methods when it comes to education and we as parents bring our values with us when choosing a school for our children. My children go to a private Montessori school, which in Swedish terms might be a bit stricter, then the public schools in Sweden. However, the kids enjoy their school and perform well and I guess that is what you want as a parent. I want my children to feel safe while in school. I want them to be able to use all their creativity in order to learn and I want them to feel good abut them selves – to feel that they can take on the world and participate in it as full blown individuals.

Yesterday I opened the local newspaper only to find 3 negative articles about the school. A parent had handed in a complaint in 2007 and I guess since this is such a small place where very little happens the paper decided to make it a first page story now. The articles depict a school where children are not allowed to laugh, to run or to play freely. It is a picture I cannot agree with and the journalistic level is seriously low so I have written a response and so have many other parents. Needless to say the fantastic teachers are hurt and a crises meeting was held last night with a follow up for the parents next week.

One good thing that has come out of this are the parent’s engagement in the school. We are many who feel that Lindängens Montessorischool in Ulricehamn is a unique school and a school to be proud of.

Below follows my response that was posted in the local paper "Ulricehamns tidning". It is in Swedish!

Lindängens Montessoriskola – en unik skola och en skola att vara stolt över!

I UT den 24 februari uttrycker en förälder kritik över Lindängens Montessoriskola i Ulricehamn. Som mamma till tre barn på skolan (i både förskolan och grundskolan) och med erfarenhet av andra skolor så skulle jag vilja kommentera kritiken.

När vi flyttade till Ulricehamn för ett år sedan besökte vi de tre grundskolorna med närliggande förskolor i tätorten. Vi blev mycket positivt bemötta på alla skolor och upplevde olika fördelar med de olika skolorna. Vi valde därför att låta barnen bestämma och valet föll på Lindängens Montessoriskola. Ett val vi inte ångrar det minsta. Den lugna stämningen, den personliga kontakten med fröknarna, den tydliga respekt som råder elever emellan och Montessori pedagogiken tilltalar oss.

På förskoleavdelningen väljer barnen vad de vill arbeta med och andra barn måste visa respekt för varandras arbeten. Man får inte gå in och störa eller avbryta någon som sitter med ett pussel, skär grönsaker, arbetar med bokstäver eller ritar. Under förmiddagarna arbetar man med det individuella barnets utveckling och barnet väljer själv vad det vill arbeta med. Under eftermiddagarna är det fri lek utomhus. Naturligtvis får man lov att skratta och ha roligt i skolan men man måste också visa hänsyn för andra och busa får man göra utomhus.

Är detta orimliga krav? Jag tycker inte det. Jag tycker att det är viktigt att barnen tar fröknarna i hand och säger god morgon och god dag när de kommer och går. Jag tycker att det är viktigt att ljudnivån är på en sådan nivå att barnen kan arbeta kreativt och koncentrerat. Skolan är inte en uppsamlingsplats utan ett ställe för barn och ungdomar att utbildas, växa och stimuleras så att de kan ta sig an vuxenlivet på bästa möjliga sätt.

Den svenska skolan klarar sig inte så bra i internationella jämförelser. Vi börjar senare med att lära oss läsa och skriva, vi gör sämre ifrån oss inom flera olika ämnesområden men står inför allt större internationell konkurrens. På Lindängen börjar man med engelska redan i förskoleklassen under ledning av en brittisk fröken. Man uppmuntrar barn med snabbare studietakt och man ger extra stöd åt de som behöver det. Då det är en liten skola med ca 10 elever i varje klass får alla elever mycket personlig uppmärksamhet och ingen faller mellan stolarna.

Olika familjer har olika behov och önskemål vad gäller sina barns utbildning. Alla kanske inte tycker om Montessoripedagogiken eller de regler som råder på skolan men jag är glad och tacksam gentemot personalen på Lindängen. Det är en unik skola och en skola att vara stolt över!

Ulrika Geeraedts; mamma till Ingrid, Elsa och Nils

The Swedish national song contest - integration at its highest level!

2009-02-14T19:44:00.004+01:00

It´s Saturday night and the Swedish national song contest is about to start in an hour on national television. Why do I tell you this? Well, it is a cultural observation. This country is dedicated to this song festival, which consists of several episodes featuring 8 songs each time where 2 get selected for the great grand final. It is amazing to see how a country can get so involved in Swedish pop music, which is really aimed for the Swedish market. We produce pop music for the whole world but the music played in this festival is typically Swedish and wouldn’t survive outside our borders. For the coming 8 weeks the kids have booked the TV room every Saturday night and I find my refuge to the Internet. At least now that Jochem is away and no friends are visiting.

I have had a week off work as the kids have had “sport vacation” for a week. Yes, we actually call it sport vacation and it is a one-week break from school in February every year. We went down to my parents and celebrated Ingrid’s 10th birthday for a few days and came back on Wednesday to enjoy the snow, some skiing and Elsa went on a horseback riding camp. Jochem is Japan and will be back in 8 days. He has experienced Japanese hospitality and spent last night out with his Japanese colleges returning to his hotel room at 6 am after visiting every game arcade, a number of pubs and probably some karaoke places as well in Tokyo.

I am still trying to recover from my small town blues. I know I can be a bit demanding and I need response to what I do. I prefer criticism instead of silence or ignorance and when people do not act in any direction what so ever I get frustrated. There is more to this place then what I currently see. I just wish it had a bit more diversity and craziness. While living in the Netherlands I sometimes felt that everything in the NL had to be over the top. Every TV show had to move the level of acceptance a little bit more and if it wasn’t crazy or brutal it was not worth airing. Here it is the opposite and I have lived too long in the NL to feel comfortable with it. Well, I know that this is a luxury problem these days and on Monday I will be back at work planning two working trips to the Netherlands and writing a proposal for a new cooperation between Ulricehamn and Voi in Kenya (yes, they did arrive and we had an interesting and very intensive week!). I am looking forward to next weekend when the house will be filled with girlfriends, wine, talks, laughter and maybe some tears!

Time to watch some Swedish disco!

Problems or challenges!

2009-01-30T20:37:00.000+01:00

It is Friday night and Nils (5) and I are having an evening on our own. The girls are off to the movies with Jochem. Nils and I have watched cartoons, eaten more candy then needed (yes, I am a firm believer that sometimes you really need candy), had ice cream and now we lay completely stuffed on the sofa.

It has been a chaotic week at work and yesterday I had my first attack of the small town virus. I suddenly felt stuck in an environment of close mindedness and conservatism. When I started here everyone focused on the importance of getting new blood in – someone with a different view on things and with lots of new ideas. However, people often say that but are not fully aware of what that means.

To me it means changes and to try new ways and methods to ensure quality improvement and development. You also have to have some gut. Don’t complain about something if you are not prepared to change it and to try something new! We are not working with problems but with challenges and if you see it as a challenge, a solution might not be far away! However, you have to have an attitude of willingness and be open to new ideas but in public service organisations you sometimes find people who have settled for the “problem attitude”. Something is not working ideal and still it remains the same. No one feels that they are responsible for solving it and the urge for change is long gone after decades on the same job.

AAAuuuggg! Well, after leaving a group of tired civil servants of the “old school” I wondered if I have landed at the right spot. Is working for a municipality really my thing? Does someone as outspoken as me fit in this setting and how can I continue being creative when there is so little creative input from others? Well, I guess it had to come. Jochem warned me before our move here that small town life has it pros and cons. Luckily I work at the right department at the municipality in a dynamic group and in that perspective I am lucky. And maybe one day I will inspire someone to try something totally out of the box! After all this is not a serious problem but a challenge I will take on!

Now Nils and I will finish the Richard Scary film and head for bed. Tomorrow a group of five year olds invade us as we celebrate Nils 5th birthday! Talk about a challenge!!!

A seriously bad hair day!

2009-01-15T11:03:00.000+01:00

It is January and I am suffering from the January blues. I have gone from having a bad hair day to having a bad hair month. The heating has not worked for two weeks and I walk around in the house dressed like a Michelin man wondering what I have done to deserve this. This morning the heating guys arrived and after an hour they told me that this was a little bit complicated. Complicated – what does that mean? Probably more money but I pretended not to get that message. Yesterday I received the highest energy bill I have ever seen which felt a bit ironic, as we have no heating. Well, the bill was for November and December and the heating did not give up until January so I guess I have no option but paying. With minus 10 outside, and two young guys in the basement working at something “complicated” I have decided to be nice. I want heat and having a fit about the complications does not seem to serve my purpose so I am nice. (but if I have no heating before the weekend I’ll go mad!)

This morning (after dealing with the complications in the basement) I brought the girls to the ski slope. They have an outdoor sports day at school. We were a bit late and I needed to get to work on time but naturally we run into new complications. The lock on the ski box had frozen and did not want to open. Blowing warm air in the lock led nowhere but luckily I found a smoker who lent me her lighter and after ten minutes and no feeling in my fingers anymore I was able to open the box and get the skis out. I arrived late at work, without having had any breakfast and had a shock when I saw myself in the mirror. Seriously bad hair day and black rings underneath my eyes. It is January and life is great!

Happy New Year 2009!

2008-12-28T15:59:00.000+01:00

Every year I write a Christmas letter to friends and family but this year I missed the deadline! So, here is my New Years greeting for 2009!

Happy New Year 2009!

As you read this we hope you have all enjoyed a wonderful Christmas holiday with family and friends! I just didn’t get ready on time this year to send our annual Christmas letter before Christmas so here is our New Years greeting for 2009! We have had a very busy year filled with many memorable moments.

After 11 years abroad I moved back to Sweden and this time brought with me my family. The last ten years we have lived in several countries around the world and naturally talked a lot about Sweden. Last year we decided that if we wanted to give the children a chance to experience Sweden for real we would have to move now, before they get to old. We also wanted to experience something new and different and so we ended up in the small town of Ulricehamn located about an hour drive from Göteborg in the south of Sweden. I got a job as International coordinator at the municipality of Ulricehamn and Jochem is commuting between Sweden and the Netherlands.

During our Christmas holiday last year we bought a house in Ulricehamn and in January I travelled to Sweden with the girls to look at schools. In mid February I finished my work at the embassy in the Hague and a few days later the moving truck brought our belongings to our new home. Needless to say January was a crazy month and when we celebrated Ingrids 9th birthday in February we did so with 100 moving boxes in the living room!

On the 15 of February we arrived in Ulricehamn and two days later the builders arrived to start the renovation. After two weeks we realised that living in the house during the renovation was not ideal, so we moved out into a small cottage in the forest. Living in the forest in a winter landscape with foxes and deer walking by was quite an experience for us all. Naturally the renovation took a longer time then expected but in May we finally moved back to our new home. We now live in a typical Swedish red wooden house with a surrounding garden with apple and peer trees.

For the children this was a year of many changes and many new experiences. They go to a small Montessori school with 10 children in each class situated in a charming old brick building surrounded by a large park-like playground. Elsa (8) felt at home right away and has made some really good friends. For Ingrid (almost 10) the move was a bit more difficult but I think she has now settled in quite well enjoying school and different sports (soccer, golf, tennis). Nils (5) had some difficulty with the Swedish at first but now he speaks very well. The children spend a lot more time outside nowadays and we are all enjoying the beautiful nature surrounding Ulricehamn. We have tried to make use of all the sports opportunities here by taking up golf, skiing, sledding and this summer Jochem bought a boat. We also bought a summerhouse in Vegby, 15 km south of Ulricehamn situated 30 meters from a lake (hence the need of a boat :)!).

Summer went by too fast but we enjoyed the company of many visitors from Sweden, the Netherlands, India and South Africa. Great to see you all and thank you for coming!!! Next summer the renovation of our summerhouse will be finished and ready for more visitors! We had a fun family reunion in Stockholm in June where the children met up with their “Stockholm” siblings whom they had never met before. Ingrid and Elsa are now planning our next Stockholm trip, as they don’t want to loose contact with their newfound family :)!

Jochem started a second company in the Netherlands this fall (Apiron) and travelled quite a bit this year (to the US, Australia and Europe). I spend most of my time in Ulricehamn but had some time for visits to Belgium, the Netherlands and Latvia. I really like my job and work in a great team. We still have to work on expanding our social network but the people of Ulricehamn are friendly and helpful so I think we will be successful!

In a few days time we move into 2009. For us 2008 was an intense year and now it is time to enjoy life a bit more. Jochem will be working in France in 2009 but will go to China and Japan in February. Usually he spends 3 days abroad and 4 days in Sweden so the travelling is not too bad. 2008 was a baby boom year among family and friends. My sister Hanna gave birth to little Ellen in January and enjoyed this so much that she is going for a second one in May! Una, Arnold, Marlou, Felien and Siem also joined our world (and if I forgot someone I apologize!). Congratulations to all parents and newcomers!

We wish you all a great new year with lots of new and happy experiences!
Lots of love from all of us!

Ingrid, Elsa, Nils, Jochem and Ulrika Geeraedts

Time and memorable moments!

2008-12-12T12:43:00.000+01:00

I always thought it sounded corny when my parents used to say that ”time goes so fast” but nowadays I hear myself say the same thing. On this day five years ago I went into labor with Nils. Jochem sat in an airplane and I was home alone with Ingrid and Elsa. I knew that Jochem wouldn´t answer the phone but I still called him hoping that he would be able to land, drive from Brussels to Nijmegen and be in time before arrival. He was! 15 minutes before Nils decided to make an entrance he arrived dressed in a dark suit still holding his briefcase. Nils popped out and Jochem said – that went quick! (something I could not agree with and that has been up for discussion a number of times since then :)!)

Today we will celebrate Nils birthday with my parents and my sister and her family. We have landed in a wonderful winter landscape and Ulricehamn looks beautiful with its picturesque architecture, small snow covered streets and children pulling their slays. The dark falls early but all windows lit up in the dark and everyone has some kind of Christmas light in their windows. The girls would have like us to have the same type of stars as the majority of people but I am trying to convince them that being unique can also be something to strive for. Why is it that children find it so important to do things the same way as other people do?

Yesterday evening they celebrated Lucia at school to the great excitement of the children. We stood outside in the snow while the children sung Lucia carols and the parents were served warm Glögg. It was really cold but the engagement of the children made it a memorable moment. Unfortunately my phone camera did not cooperate!

At work I have been keeping busy with many applications and this week we had an international day for the politicians and higher civil servants which I think was appreciated. I feel that more and more people within the municipality are getting involved in international activities and projects which is great.

Tomorrow Jochem and I are heading for Kronovalls slott (a castle in the south of Sweden). It is not only five years since Nils was born! On the 14th of December it is our 10th wedding anniversary!! Talking about time and the passing of it! Here we are, ten years later with three kids who speak 3 languages. We have moved 10 times to four different countries, had many different jobs, bought and sold several houses, travelled the world, gotten to know fantastic people, experienced cultural differences and difficulties at times and now we are experiencing Ulricehamn. What the future will hold I don’t know but I do know that the last ten years were filled with many, many memorable moments!

Wishing you all lots of snow for Christmas!

Forbidding the use of snus in Ulricehamn???

2008-12-03T11:17:00.000+01:00

How much does living abroad affects you? I guess that the longer you stay somewhere and the more integrated you get the more “their” ideas will become “your own” ideas. I felt quit Swedish living abroad but being back I notice that my ideas often are very much mine. Sweden is not as liberal as I thought and people are much less critical then the Dutch. If Big brother tells you that this is how you should live your life most Swedes go – OK! A Dutch person would do the opposite and would interpret the rule to fit their own ideas of how society should be run (which sometimes can be just as annoying!).

A few weeks ago I wrote about the strange adult film policy we have here in the municipality. I am not allowed to stay in a hotel while on a conference where there is a possibility to watch adult films as this can give me the wrong idea about women and sexuality???? (9th of October – “Emancipation and adult films” in this blog). Now the next strange policy is on the agenda! Some people want to ban the right for people working for the municipality to use any form of tobacco. Well, before we welcome this idea (which many people seem to do!) we need to decide what we mean by tobacco and question if and why we need to add new regulations. In situations where use of a substance may affect bystanders, regulations - such as in the case of smoking - should be enacted to protect the bystander without denying the individual's choice to use the substance. Smoking and non-smoking areas in public places are a prime example of this. It is already forbidden to smoke in any public building in Sweden so we do not need any new laws in this area. However, the policy discussed in Ulricehamn is not only looking at smoking or other drug abuse but want to forbid the use of snus.

Snus, a Swedish tobacco product, is a moist powder product that is consumed by placing it under the upper lip for extended periods of time. It contains nicotine and since the indoor smoking ban was put into place in Sweden in 2005, sales of snus has increased dramatically. You can use snus without it affecting anyone else and recent studies from Umeå University in Sweden have shown that no carcinogenic effects can be attributed to snus. Using snus does not increase your chance on getting cancer. In fact WHO acknowledges that Swedish men have the lowest rate of lung cancer in Europe, partly due to the low tobacco smoking rate.
Why should we as municipality forbid people to use a product that is not dangerous to the user and does not affect bystanders? How much freedom can you take away from an individual and don’t we want people that take responsibility of their own actions?

Some people will choose to use their freedom to engage in activities that go against our personal values. It is a great temptation to use our democratic rights to try and enshrine our own personal values - whether they come from religious or humanistic origins - in the laws of a nation or as organisation. However, we can use other means to fight for the ideas we believe in. Freedom of choice, as long as it does not infringe on another's rights, is something to treasure!

Life is full of miracles!

2008-12-02T11:42:00.000+01:00

Despite lack of oxygen little Siem is doing better day by day as well as his mother. Lots of kisses to Barbara, Roel and little Siem!!! Enjoy!

A fragile life!

2008-11-25T19:19:00.000+01:00

Friends of mine had their first child this weekend. What should have been a moment of exited happiness turned out to be a nightmare. The mother got Heelp syndrome and almost lost her life and their baby suffered from shortage of oxygen. Now they are stable but still in intensive care and the future of the baby unknown.

Why is life so unfair and what can you do to help? When something like this happens I cant help looking at my own kids and being thankful for their health and possibilities to grow.

Every day is a chance to enjoy life and the people we fill our lives with!
Lots of love to you all!!

Living with two hearts

2008-11-24T19:24:00.000+01:00

Five days in not enough. Not if you want to visit friends, family and take part in a conference. I’ve spent the past five in the Netherlands being back for the first time in 9 months. It was great and much too short. I’m sorry I missed so many of you and I promise I’ll be back shortly!

It is strange how you can feel about a country and its inhabitants. Sitting on a train between Eindhoven and the Hague I thought to myself, this country is overcrowded, full of cars and in the early morning full of stress but still it feels like home. This multicultural country, full of colour and creativity has an energy about it which spreads to people willing to take it in. It is somewhat chaotic and sometimes a bit weird. I cannot explain what makes the Dutch so unique and at times I get annoyed, surprised or challenged but never ever bored!

Creativity and innovation often rises from unexpected situations where people meet and exchange ideas and knowledge. The Netherlands has the largest amount of small businesses in Europe and you can almost feel the entrepreneurship atmosphere. At the same time they have almost the highest amount of part time working women in Europe and there are lots if discussions in regard to the lack of ambition of Dutch women. They do well at school, they are better educated then the men and still they do not reach the higher positions on the labour market.

This was the core challenge discussed at the emancipation conference I visited while in the NL. Naturally one can point out a few things that could increase the possibilities for women in the NL such as better and available childcare, stronger financial incentives to work more etc. but there is a clear difference between Sweden and the NL in how we look at combining work and family life. One of the speakers at the conference was Gertrud Åström – a guru on gender mainstreaming and an inspiration to listen to. With a clear message, backed up with statistics she brings about a message full of wit. She showed that from 1970 to 2007 the amount of women who chose not to have any children at all has stayed on 14 % in Sweden. Women in Sweden, who almost all work fulltime do not feel that there is a need to chose between a career and having a family. Actually the opposite has happened. Women are financially independent in Sweden, (which only 38 % are in the NL) they work full time and they have more children then the average European. There is a correlation between financial independence and having more children, which I find really interesting! If we want to do something with the birth rates in Europe we need to use the capacity of women and have a law system, which gives women their financial independence. This is not the case in many countries such as in the NL where a couple is taxed as one unit. As long as women do not have control over their own income and their own pension we will stay unequal!

My trip to the NL also included seeing some good friends and enjoying the Dutch hospitality! We hope to see you here soon! It was a dual feeling returning back to Ulricehamn and Sweden but the beautiful layer of snow and the kids enjoyment of it made returning a bit easier. I live in a beautiful place that offers a lot and luckily the Netherlands is not very far away. It is time for the kids to go to bed and I will get my head out the door and shout to them that its time to come in. They can spend hours in the snow!!!

A visit to Latvia!

2008-11-18T23:32:00.000+01:00

Can a country be united through music? According to many Latvians the nations strong choir movement has been a factor in consolidating the nation. I have spent the last three days visiting Latvia and the Dobele district as Ulricehamn has a town twinning agreement with Dobele. It was an interesting visit, which made me think of the importance of culture and music for a nation and its people. Latvia regained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 but the last three days they have been celebrating the 90th anniversary of their prior independence

On the second day of our visit we took part in a music event with participants from Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland. All the performances were really good but what made the strongest impression was the last song. When the small choir started singing everyone in the hall joined in and all in different tunes. It was beautiful! My counterpart in Dobele told me that Latvians consider it an honour to sing in a choir. The foundation is laid at school, since music is on the curriculum from the first year and every village and larger enterprise has a choir of their own. She felt that choir singing has had (and still has) an important unifying element in a country with a complex history.

I went to Dobele with two colleagues, and we were all well looked after by our Latvian hosts. The only downside (except that we missed the flight back and that I lost my luggage) was the amount of vodka drunk by other guests the first night. I have been to parties in Eastern Europe before but this was really extreme and made it obvious why the life expectancy within Europe is very different. I don’t mind if people want to enjoy a glass of wine or a glass of vodka but when one guest alone drinks a bottle of vodka on his own during a 4 hour dinner and then loses all sense of dignity it is not only sad. It is embarrassing, annoying and being one of very few women in the group made the situation quite uncomfortable. Luckily the other two days were more or less alcohol free and the program and the discussions with our twinning partners well worth the trip!

I got stranded at Copenhagen airport and lost my luggage but got to spend two hours shopping and now have a new lingerie wardrobe and a very nice expensive dress so please invite me for a big party!!! Tomorrow I am off to the Netherlands!!! It will be great and I am really looking forward to see many of you! Five days is obviously not long enough but I will be back for a short weekend just before Christmas! We still have no snow in Ulricehamn but I have my fingers crossed for December!

Big hugs to all of you!

Life doesn't come with an instruction booklet and decisions should never be final!

2008-11-07T11:55:00.000+01:00

I believe that we shape our own lives based on the choices that we make. Naturally external circumstances can have an effect on our lives but even at a moment when the surrounding situation is unfavorable we make decisions that will take us a certain way. Personally I seem to have been given the gift of never feeling a lot of regret. I have made choices in my life that in hindsight were not very good but I think I learned something from these decisions anyway. They probably took me on a path I would otherwise have missed and they taught me not to fear failure. The worse case scenario is only as bad as you yourself let it be.

So, why do I write this? Well, the last few days I was confronted with other people’s choices and other peoples ideas on how to live your life which made me think about my own choices. When you have a family you want to make choices that generate as much happiness to as many as possible. If the kids would hate our move to Sweden and feel miserable here we could not have stayed here. Their happiness is central to my happiness! Luckily they have adjusted just fine and have settled in really well. I think the quality of life that they experience here is worth a lot and this obviously has an impact on my other choices. When I miss the big city life or the openness (and craziness) of the Dutch society I put this in relation to what we as a family get out of living here and then I feel that we made the right decision. However, and this is the crucial point, I firmly believe that all our decisions are made in a state of mind that is not going to last. Life is not a constant but a process and we are all life puzzles under construction. In a few years’ time (or tomorrow) our wants and needs might have changed and then we have to make new choices.

Sometimes I feel that people stick too much to the decisions they have made. We fear that if we change our minds we might cause so much trouble that it is better to stay put. It is not shameful to admit that a made decision was wrong because you probably took it under other circumstances.

Jochem and I once bought a house in Almere, the NL (well I bought a house with Jochem’s money as he had no time to go to the viewing) and after 3 months we hung up the last lamp in the house and sat down on the sofa.
-Do you think we will stay here for a long time, Jochem asked me.
- Actually no. This does not feel really right I answered.
- Oh, I am so happy you feel this way too, Jochem responded and the next day we put a sign in the garden that the house was for sale.

At this moment there were 27 houses for sale at our (very long) street and the market was far from good. We got rid of the house and it did cost us a bit but we made the right decision. We moved back to Nijmegen where we used to live previously, I quit my job and Jochem started job hunting in Nijmegen. We told everyone that now we would focus on our family and that we felt the most at home in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Half a year later we packed our belongings and moved to South Africa instead. A job offer and a chance of experience something completely different made us change our minds again. However, the aim was still to spend more time together and that we did!

My message to you;
You are the choices you make in life and you can live with any choice you make! Strive for happiness!!

Fart dangerous!!

2008-11-05T16:38:00.000+01:00

It was Jochem’s birthday yesterday which he spent with his tax lawyer in the Netherlands. I hope he got some good news because otherwise it does not sound like a fun way to spend your birthday! We celebrated Jochem’s birthday in Lund with my family this weekend as he returned back home after a month in the US and Australia. He got everything he needed; a beer opener with a count function and a blue tie with matching cufflinks. From me he did not get anything but I have until tomorrow to come up with a gift as he then returns back from the NL. Any good ideas?
What do you give someone who turns 37? I guess I will stick to his own saying “less is more” which he often uses when I go shopping. However, to go from less to nothing is a bit harsh so maybe I should get creative very fast!

I spent the day with a Dutch film crew who were here to do a film about the Swedish emancipation model. I really prefer the role behind the camera and felt as if I was talking with a frog in my mouth most of the day. I definitely have to use my Dutch more and read Dutch books to keep the language alive!

The kids also got to participate in the film but I kept Nils out of sight. You never know what he will say and yesterday he invited me to come to bed to read a story for him. When I arrived a really bad smell was hanging around!
- You invite me to come and read for you and then you fart? I said to him.
- Yes, I am fart-dangerous (fisfarlig) he answered!

Culture and nationalism! Long live internationalisation!

2008-10-25T23:46:00.000+02:00

I have been watching two documentaries tonight. The first one was a short report about why Germans love Sweden and Swedish culture (or what they imagine Swedish culture to be) and the second one was about the racist party Sverige Demokraterna who are striving for a monocultural society built on Swedish values and Swedish traditions. Both these films made me think about what’s Swedish and what makes a culture unique or special. We in Europe often talk in negative terms about the American melting pot. But what is it that we have that they don’t have, and does culture and history have a timeline? When does a building get a historical value – after one year, after ten or after a hundred? Obviously you cannot answer the question in this way. When the Opera house in Sidney was build it was far more expensive then anyone could dream of and many people criticised the politicians for spending so much money on a building. I don’t know if the number of admirers for the art of opera has increased in Sidney but the building is a landmark for Australia. It is probably one of the most well known images of Australia. The building has become a part of Australian culture and history. The architect was Danish and the building has no connection to any previous Australian architecture. Still it an Australian piece of art, isn’t it?

We celebrate Lucia in Sweden the 13th of December and it is a very popular tradition. The party Sverige Demokraterna are worried that typical Swedish traditions such as Lucia will die out if immigration into Sweden continues. What they seem to have forgotten is that Lucia is a fairly new tradition introduced in Stockholm in 1923 by a group of shop owners who wanted a “miss” contest in order to increase sales. The Lucia tradition comes from Italy but we interpreted it into becoming something very Swedish. There is nothing wrong in being proud over our traditions or enjoying taking part in them but it becomes a bit strange when we start marking them as national traditions aimed for a specific group of people. We talk about culture as if it is static phenomena but it is obviously something that is constantly evolving. It never stops and it never ends.

Look at music for example. Sweden is the 3rd largest music exporter in the world with over 800 million dollars in revenue last year –superceded only by the US and the UK. Per capita we are the most profitable music country in the world. When you turn on the radio in Sweden or anywhere else in the world you are probably listening to some Swedish music without even knowing it as we especially good at writing and producing music for many big American artists such as Justin Timberlake or Britney Spears. Does the music sound typically Swedish? Is it even possible to put nationalistic labels on music? I think we can talk about trends or influences in music but it is very difficult to say that this is typically Swedish music while that is typically German music. With internationalisation going on as I sit here writing we will see even more blending and mixing of different music traditions and the same goes for fashion, interior design, film and all kinds of artistic and cultural expressions. Does this not sound exciting?

When people talk about culture and especially used in connection to nations we forget that the experience of culture is personal and unique. When I talk about Swedish values I might think about emancipation while this is not even on the agenda of Sverige Demokraterna.

With this I remark I go to bed. The kids are at my parents for a oneweek holiday and I will work tomorrow (on a Sunday again – bad habit!) and take Thursday and Friday off as Jochem is heading home. It has been a long month as a single mum!

Fighting racism and ignorance in a small town!

2008-10-23T19:22:00.000+02:00

Ulricehamn is a great place but even here racist parties are gaining ground and last week they had a really stupid article in the local paper. I had to write a response (you know me - being quiet is not my style!) Today it was published and I have received several positive phone calls. Obviously I am awaiting a written response in the paper but for now I have posted the article here. It is in Swedish but when I get some more time I will make a short translation of it! For the Swedish readers:

Sverigedemokraterna vill fira Italiensk lucia och bojkotta Falaffeln!

Invandringen är för dyr, Ulricehamn bör säga upp avtalet med migrationsverket och den svenska (oj, det var visst den italienska) lucian måste vi värna om. Det är svårt att veta om man bör skratta eller gråta när Sverige Demokraterna tar till orda om det monokulturella samhället.

I insändaren i UT den 18 oktober talar SD om de enorma kostnaderna invandringen för med sig men glömmer nämna att i Spanien, Australien och Kanada utgör invandringen en betydande del för respektive lands ekonomiska utveckling. När vi talar om kostnader för invandringen bör dessa ställas till relation till ingen invandring alls vilket SD förespråkar. Vad för samhälle och utvecklingsmöjligheter får vi då?

Europas födelsetal blir allt lägre. Befolkningen i EU minskar. Vi har redan nu stora problem i vissa sektorer (tex. vården och äldreomsorgen) för att hitta kvalificerad personal och många företag är ute och rekryterar arbetskraft långt utanför Sveriges gränser. Vad vi behöver är högutbildad arbetskraft och en bättre integrationspolitik som ser till att vi tar tillvara på den kompetens invandrarna för med sig. Jag sticker inte under stol med att det finns betydande integrations problem som vi måste ta tag i men dessa problem har med vårt system att göra. Nima Sanandaji, Vd för tankesmedjan Captus, visade under Irakkonferensen i Stockholm tidigare i år att invandrarna från Mellanöstern till USA, klarar sig bra på den amerikanska arbetsmarknaden medan det råder en motsatt situation i Sverige. Kombinationen av en trög arbetsmarknad, höga skatter och generösa bidragssystem leder till att samma grupp av människor som blir framgångsrika på andra sidan Atlanten hamnar i social fattigdom och beroende i Sverige.

Jag har spenderat de senaste 11 åren utomlands och vet hur det känns att stå med en svensk universitets examen och få höra;
- Lunds universitet i Sverige? Det universitetet känner vi inte till. Nej, den examen kan vi inte räkna med här.
Jag vet hur det känns när man inte är helt säker på de sociala reglerna. Två kindpussar i Frankrike, tre i Nederländerna och fyra i Belgien – eller hur var det nu? Det är inte lätt att vara nykomling men om man får en chans att visa vad man gå för så tar man den! Sverige Demokraterna ger inga chanser och ser inte möjligheterna!

För mig är svensk kultur och svensk historia det samma som solidaritet, demokrati och lika värde för alla individer. Jag är stolt över att vara svensk och stolt över de svenska värden vi spritt världen över såsom jämställdhet och öppenhet för andra kulturer. Jag äter kanske hellre falafel än rotmos men glädjes åt mångfalden på bordet. Den från Italien hitplockade moderna lucia traditionen (uppstod på Skansen 1927) har mina barn ännu aldrig upplevt då vi är nyinflyttade i Sverige men vi ser fram emot firandet av denna mångkulturella tradition i december!

En röst åt Sverige Demokraterna i nästa val är en röst för ett segregerat, trångsynt och stillastående samhälle!
Ulrika Geeraedts - tämligen nyinvandrad Ulricehamnsbo