A healthy lifestyle and having fun at the same time

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)

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!

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?

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!

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!

“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!

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

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

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?

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.

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!!

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

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!

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?

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

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?

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?

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?

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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

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!)

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?

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!

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!

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!

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!