World Update #5

OK here it finally is - Update V. Due to great demand I have completed this

sooner than expected.

Please if this stuff bores you shitless then tell me and I'll stop sending it

to you. Otherwise, be informed...

First thing to comment on is December travels. As well as going to Spain I

ventured up to a chilly Solleftea (middle of Sweden) for Christmas and then to

a freezing Edinburgh for Hogmanay (New Year celebrations).

Christmas in Sweden was a treat. I met about 15 completely new relatives that I

formerly only new of due to making a family tree before I left New Zealand.

Also there were a number of additions to make as little babies keep popping up

everywhere. It was a child-less christmas except for two cute little babies.

One Swedish, one Vietnamese. One of the highlights had to be meeting Hallan for

the first time. At 85 she is the last of a generation and this made the meeting

an especially significant one for me. 

As I stepped out of the car, after a snow filled trip from the airport, I was

greated by her. She was waiting outside on the snowy ground in her normal

indoor clothes whilst I stepped out of the car fully padded in my jersey and

double layered jacket! I was frozen to the bone and she as warm as though it

was a bright summers day. It was one of those moments. We both just cried and

hugged each other. Not a word was spoken. Hallan later mentioned that I

reminded her of my mother and grandmother. My grandmother being Hallan's

cousin. For me Hallan reminded me of my grandmother and grandma's sister Lallla

who visited us in NZ many years ago. Sune and Sigrid who took me from the

airport probably wondered what the hell was going on.

From then on it was an exciting continual process of meeting new relatives. At

first I would go up to them and say "Hello I'm Mark" but after the second "We

know" response given with a smiling face I gave up. It was evident that word

had got around and there would be someone new at christmas in Solleftea this

year.

Christmas eve dinner (when christmas is celebrated in Sweden) had a full house.

The table was laiden with the usual swedish christmas fare. In between

"catching-up" on the gossip and mouthfuls of good food they started on drinking

songs lead most ably by Hallan. If you've never had aquavit before I can highly

recommend it. This bit of wisdom is unfortunately from previous experiences as

at this christmas I couldn't drink. I was on anti-biotics from catching the

latest London bug. Only a handful of us stayed at Hallan's that night. Most

went home.

The days following christmas comprised of venturing out into the wilderness

(oops I mean Sweden) and visiting the clan in their own homes. This was great

as I got to see some of Sweden and the local area, a particularly uninteresting

bridge (sorry Sara), a heck of a lot of ski slopes and ski jumps. In each place

I was given the complete run-down on local history including the "I went to

school there" and " We used to live there 20 years ago" and "Oh! I didn't know

that was there. That's new!" stuff. I loved it all!

After Sweden I returned to work for two days. One the first day a colleague

asked me what christmas was like and I had completely forgotten that it was

christmas. There was so much happening that it kind of passed me by. I guess

it's still hard to accept a christmas without the sunshining down upon you. We

did do a big present opening thing on the 24th though. Each present was

accompanied by a few verses of poetry which was to help you guess what was

inside. I'm not sure everyone understood my poor english verses!

Then I was sick for a while and only just recovered to leave London again and

head for Hogmanay. This involves drinking lots of whiskey around the streets of

Edinburgh - mainly the Royal Mile and Princes Street (you would have loved it

Olle - all that whiskey!). I met up with some ultimate friends and we partied

into the new year and celebrated in the normal way. Some did the Hogmanay thing

(no names). This involves snogging as many people as you possibly can in one

night. For those Swedes that do not know what this is I am not going to explain

in words. Nor am I going to explain visually. Ask Johan Peter - I'm sure he

knows all about it! I read an article in the paper just recently that said a

number of Hogmanay goers where suffering from mouth sores. Enough said.

Although I think it worth mentioning that a there were queues for snogging

policemen and policewoman. Another thing I noticed was that the policemen

tended to be of the older variety. I wondered if they mostly are in Edinburgh

or ....? They were a cheerful bunch though. Much different from the London

"bobbys". For example when we were asked if we were carrying any bottles into

the city they did not check us. They accepted that we were speaking the truth.

In London you would have been searched regardless, I'm sure. 

Since returning again to London I have been working working working. As

December is our companies year  end we are very busy. We are having to work all

weekend as well so I am finding it hard to study. Also on my mind is fitness. I

haven't played ultimate since Nov (I think) and I will be playing in Maui only

five weeks from now. I need to do some serious fitness work which basically

involves going for runs around where I live. The only problem is that it is

very cold at the moment ; hey and lets face it - I'm lazy.

Really looking forward to the trip away now. After working most of January I'll

need it.

Much love and kisses to you all, puss o kram