Something I did on Facebook while bored

This will amuse my Aunties, make my mother go hmmmm and my father worry. To be fair my mother is going to retire at 100 - just after she buys that one last coat that she needs (in addition to the 50 in her closet). I swear Narnia is through her wardrobe.

Love is giving up the underwire to your bra

As I have made my way through this life I have always had in the back of my mind all the sayings that my mother passed onto me from her father.

"Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver, the other gold"

"Love many , trust few and always paddle your own canoe"

"Above all guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life" (Well anyone who knows the disaster that has become known as King Henry VIII knows that I need to work on that one).

I'd like to add one to the list though - true love means giving up the underwire to your bra.

I'm in Sweden as you well know staying with my dear dear friend Ida and she brought a bra in NZ (haha I knew it was bought just wondering how many of you just went - Anne-Marie we paid for that education at you can't even use correct grammar - wait that was just my Maman).

Anyway, I knew how much she liked it - so said to Mama Svenska that she should take the underwire from my yellow bra and put it into Ida's one. Now admittedly I'm not an entire saint (I'm sorry to shatter the illusion) and I did hate the underwire in it but I ask you this -especially you females - how good must a friend be to give an underwire too ?!!!

That's all I'm saying about that.

Anyway in another mention to a beloved friend of mine who is going to kill me for even putting this in the same blog post I have to say that in a guy/girl way my bro Ian has been answering my IT questions while half a world away.

I mean I can literally email and say - Plantronics headset broken help - and I get help. Sometimes friendship is not just about underwires but the massive wiring of the world that connects us all together.

Sorry I mentioned you in a bra piece Ian - but to be fair it's me you have to forgive me! I get to speak to Ian tomorrow and that's awesome.

The rest of you if I have not sent you a letter - its coming and I love you all - I will be bringing you the news in brief via puncto reflexionis tomorrow!

Bisous xxx AMP

Technology - friend or foe

FOE FOE FOE

I just wrote a whole blog and the stupid piece of tech died on me. Now I have to remember what I wrote again and to anyone who said oh you should have saved it imagine me looking at you disdainfully and saying yes I know that and I tried to. Hmmph.

Ok where was I?

Friend or Foe

Pro-Friend:

The first time I was in Europe there was barely any internet access. I found one small pc in an entire school that I could load up the internet on. The next time I was in France the internet had progressed however Facebook didn't exist.

Both times you relied upon texts , or even way before that - eeh gad - letters!. I am writing a few letters to people now and some postcards because I have to say that the effort you put into letters and postcards does mean alot.

However, as I log onto Facebook, Crackbook or whatever you want to call it - I have to say its nice to be able to follow up with what my friends are doing with their day to day activities. In a way it is a less morbid version of Jean Paul Sartre's Huis Clos. If you haven't had a chance to read this play or see it on film I recommend you do. There is a 1950s version I believe that is quite palatable.

I love reading peoples comments on their lives, their funny pictures they put up and yes, even the status updates that are sad or angry. The ability to converse with others so freely and in a social albeit online environment is one that I think many of us needed - its important to feel connected with people.

Pro-Foe:

You find out things instantaneously that you don't want to know about. And also, sometimes there is too much information out there.

The instant gratification of text can harm more than it helps - with whole important conversations occurring without a face to face.

However this can also be good. Putting an end to things that should never have been - the ability to decide to cut ties without too much having to happen. A disposable way to leave disposable relationships.

Overall I think tech is good, it's the way in which you use it. I know from my previous experience at the Ports that I have learnt not to just post things willy nilly - everything these days is so public.

I also have learnt to treasure the friendships I have that are more intimate - and deal on a person to person level.

I'm lucky I have great family - I would choose every single one of them to be in my life - and my friends are the family I have chosen.

You snus (snooze) You lose

 I had to do a special section for this particular product. This is snus - pronounced snooze. It is like chewing tobacco only you don't chew it you roll it in a ball and stick it up in your upper lip.

It smells odd, looks like mashed up tobacco poo and has more nicotine than a cigarette.

But in the name of travelling adventure I had to try it.

Now, I'm not used to having stuff in my upper lip and I clearly am not good at it. Even when Julle rolled me a ball it eventually started dripping down the side of my inner mouth near my teeth - supposedly you're to push it back up with your tongue however I couldn't figure out a way of doing this without being totally obvious.

So , as I sat there, with bad tasting nicotine sliding down the front of my mouth - undoubtedly staining my teeth I thought why would anyone do this?

Julle has been informed that under no circumstances is he to give me this product again - he says yes - but I know him he'll do it  just so he can laugh at the outcome!

My thinking is that for 6 months of the year it's so damn cold in Sweden that you wouldn't want to go outside for a cigarette so you have this instead.

And for all my cigarette smoking friends - its only 10$ for a 20 pack of Malboro Gold here.

But for me it has put me off ALL tobacco products, maybe the New Zealand government should use it in their anti smoking deterrent campaign.

Fishing, Moose Spotting and why I have probably pissed off Santa

On Friday night we headed up to Ida's mother's summer house which is in Ralund (I'm still figuring out how to put Swedish punctuation etc in so its not spelt exactly like that).

It has been in the family for many years and is where her mother grew up. Ida, Emil and Maria - Emil's partner went up there with the two doggies - Sally and Freya.

View from the garden - its like time stopped still here a 100 years ago

A new hunting dog to add - all the dogs I've met have been proper working/hunting dogs!

 On the Friday night we went fishing - we were highly UNsuccessful but managed to have a good time all the same.

I even tried to row the boat home. I figured out that my right arm is distinctly stronger than my left arm and ended up going around in circles but to the amusement but little help of the others.

Maria (Ida's sister-in-law)

Rowing fail

Emil working hard

 Then after fishing we went for a drive around the forest in the hope of seeing a moose and we did!! He was massive and it was my first ever sighting of a moose.

Sally and Freya the dogs went manic - actually Freya went manic because she has been hunting properly and I think this made Sally just get excited as well!

This moose was magnificent and huge!

Every Swede gets excited about seeing a moose!! (Freya, Sally and Ida)

 On Saturday at lunchtime we went to visit a local museum. The guy that started it is related to Ida's mother (as are most people from around this particular area) and he started out with one small room and 100 visitors the first year and now has many rooms showing the changes of season to wildlife and nature in the area - last year over 30,000 people visited the museum where you also can have a lunch of the food hunted in the area.

Head here to read more: www.svansele.se

The animals are posed incredibly lifelike in rooms set to look like their natural environment and are stuffed - some are donated as they are endangered.

Plates made from wood , as are the cutlery they are thrown on to the fire to cook more food when you are finished with them

YUMMY - this is how the food is cooked a little similar to Mongolian BBQ

You tell the meat by the antler next to it - this is moose

And this is reindeer - which I ate a bit of and thus am pretty sure that I won't get a  Christmas present because I've literally eaten Santa's ride. 

Maria, Emil and Ida

I really wanted to buy this red fox fur but wasn't sure if I could get it back into NZ - I guess I won't be applying for a role at PETA anytime soon.

Even the coffee mugs are fashioned out of wood

This is me - I'm throwing an axe - its top left - it is way harder than it looks trust me and you have to get a bit of force behind it - a bit more practice and I think I would have got it - it's the Dane in me coming out I think!

Lägg till bildtext

 Headed back to Moro Backe (which is the suburb where I am staying) and got ready to head out for an evening with some friends - but first a piccie with my Mama Svenska - Ulla

Mama Svenska and I 

Ida and I ready to  head out (yes on cycles)

 PS - I managed to cycle in a skirt and high heels. I am so impressed with myself right now!!!

Julle, Jo-berg , Made and Ida at the Viktor-Carl

Me and my new Swedish boys!

A very good night all in all!

Julle up there in the photo on the left is the guy whose summer house we went to the other weekend. Julle basically subsists on pizza, sausage and other crap food so as I have time I have decided to make lots of meals for him to freeze and eat when he needs to! Men - that's all I have to say - let's be fair I like being useful and cooking!

The State of Mane

Ok - so sorry Corey I've been Swedified and I've gone back blonde (ish). I haven't had a Syster Monday with Ida in months and this is what happens!

Every five years or so I get it into my head that I can dye my own hair and get away with it.

I need a five year alarm that goes off telling me NO!!!! PETERSEN step away from the hair dye. Why you ask?

Because I end up looking like an itinerant German hippie and inevitably turn my lovely healthy locks into the biggest disaster since Justin Bieber was let loose on the world. Yes it may have been Canada's EFF YOU to the tragedy of the USA's Miley Cyrus but I digress.

This is what happens.

AMP with normal hair (well dyed from blonde to brown and fading out)

Systar Mondag

AMP after she decides to put blonde in it, it doesn't work, strip colour out then bleach it.

AMP with more bleach at which point she thinks - there is a reason why people go to hairdressing school - and I didn't so logically this means I shouldn't touch my damn hair.

There are no words I am never allowed to touch my hair again

AMP once she pays a professional to do her hair.

One time I really stuffed it up was when I was in Belgium and I tried to explain I wanted soft curls, problem was I have curls in my hair already although I didn't know this at the time. I ended up looking like a poodle. A very unhappy poodle.

Went to a different hairdressing and got it straightened at which point the tresses were looking very forlorn and then thought oh I'll dye it brown that will look nice. In theory. Not in practice when you end up with brown bits, red bits and orange bits, a kind of psychedelic hedgehog in essence.

Lesson learnt. So if you see me in 5 years do me a favour - don't let me touch my freaking hair.

Saunas, summer and swimming

Time really is flying by its Friday already and I haven't posted since last week!

So what has been happening in the land of Sverige. Last weekend we headed to Julle's summer house and spent the weekend there.

Julle's first name is Anders but there are so many of them they all end up being called by their last names - he is one of Emil's friends (Ida's brother).

It was so beautiful there and it is right on an inlet that is like a lake but is also connected to the sea so its not exactly fresh water, not exactly salty - but more sort of like a swimming pool type blend. I kept getting told how cold it would be and I don't know whether I am just all sorts of hard but it really wasn't that cold at all in fact it was rather refreshing.

Walking out to the deep end of the pool

The group chilling on the jetty - a perfect shot of a perfect summer evening

So we had a lovely afternoon in the sun and then yummy dinner then Julle heated up the sauna (my first Swedish sauna) and I believe I amused Emil and Julle highly as I went careering from the sauna running madly into the water and swimming away- you have to walk out for quite a bit and while Emil didn't dunk Ida I tackled her Kiwi All Black styles and she went down into the water like a house of cards hee hee.

It's getting darker but this is still around midnight and without flash.

Julle, Emil and I heading back from a 1 am swim after running down from the sauna

It was a very tired Ida and AMP who headed back to Skelleftea the next day and what was really sad was that there was an extremely serious accident on the way back where when we went past someone was being cut out of a car with the jaws of life.