06.29.06

On the plane back to visit Sweden

Posted in Uncategorized at 10:17 am by tesstess

Sorry for not keeping you updated on how it’s going with my car, my project and life. I still haven’t got internet in my room, which keeps me from blogging. Also I have had quite a lot of things to do lately.

When writing this I’m sitting at the airport in Nice and ten past one tonight I will arrive in Gothenburg and stay there for the weekend. Jump Session have a show on Friday which I promised to take part in, which is the main reason for going home. But it will of course also be very nice to come home to Magnus, Tuss, family and friends. I’m hoping on meeting Henrik who was in Seattle for a year, and Martin who was in Hongkong, and of course all the rest of you who stayed home 

So, what have I done the past one and a half week? Last week I went climbing with Anthony and two other guys from Amadeus. They are all experienced climbers and they were very kind to me, starting at a low level and teaching me how to do. On the way to the climbing spot they told me I was on level 4, which I found strange, how can I possibly be at level 4 when not trying before, it would have been more logical to be at level 0 or 10. The reason was that level one is plain walking, 2 to go in a slope and so on. So I started at level 4c (I think it was), and climbed up easily. 10 meters up in the air, it looked much higher than from the ground, and now came the scarier bit of going down. They told me to hold on to the rope and sit back so I did. A wonderful feeling!

Totally I climbed up four-five times, every time at a higher level. At 5c I fell for the first time and screamed a bit but Anthony was fast to secure me so nothing happened, and I could continue up and reached the top after having rested one more time on the way up. The highest level I climbed on my own was 5b and this they told me was good for being the first time, so I felt proud and happy when going home. At the way home we stopped at a pub to celebrate that Sebastien had successfully climbed a new level.

It really felt great to be out in the nature, climbing is a perfect hobby down here since you can do it all year and because there are lots of good and beautiful climbing spots in the area. Especially they told me of a place near Monaco where you had the feeling of being above the sea when climbing, with a stunning view. I hope I will go there some day.

In the weekend I, Johan and Anna went to Como in Italy where I attended a swing camp. There was courses during the days and social dancing at night. The first evening there was a show with Harlem Hot Shots, which was great, and I was happy Johan and Anna got to se the best of this dance. During the days they were touristing around the city. Como is an old, small and beautiful city at a lake and with surrounding mountains. The Italian dancers were crazier than other I have seen, on the Saturday evening there was a competition first for couples and then for teams, and the teams did all sorts of dangerous areals, and it was pure luck that none got hurt. The best moment was when parts of Harlem Hot Shots together with Joanna and Henrik, all calling themselves the Vikings, was batteling against the Italian team with Vincenso and Isabella. That was a performance I’ll remember many years.

It was quite a long drive to Como, 5 hours each way, so now I know the car is working fine. We came home at Sunday night one o’clock so I was a little bit tired this Monday, but actually not as tired as I thought I would be.

Yesterday France was playing against Spain in the eights final, and I watched the whole match with Medhi and ten other French people, mostly stagieres living at Thesa, just across the street from my house. The first whole football match I saw in many years, and I enjoyed it a lot. It’s good to get to know more people where I live, and it was very funny to watch them scream with happiness at every goal. Medhi and Claude had made a bet that they would ring a doorbell and dance and sing if the French won, and they won by 3-1 so I got to see this. Crazy French people 

So, now I’ve caught up and am at today. It’s been a looong day. It started early with me and Anna going to the Prefecture in Nice to get my carte grise (grey card), which is a sort of evidence of me owning my car. People said it would cost me about 100Euro. I was a bit nervous before since I couldn’t fill in all the French papers when not understanding what they wanted me to write, but me and Anna did our best to fill all the forms, and finally the guy didn’t complain but it all went very well and I got my carte grise. Now to the big surprise. The price was 400 Euro for me!! The reason for this incredible high price is that my car has a big engine and is polluting a lot. So this little paper cost me two thirds of the price of the car itself, together with the insurance it is more than the car… Right now I’m working on forgetting the whole thing and concentrate on being happy for having my own car.

This afternoon there was a staff briefing at Amadeus. We went to a conference place in Sophia Antipolis where some high boss talked about the current status of the company and its goals. Then it was a workshop with 10 people in each group discussing either “Organization” or “Innovation”. I couldn’t follow everything after just being here for three and a half week, but I was happy I was invited to attend since it gave me a broader view of Amadeus and the ability to se my little project in a new perspective.

In the evening there was a BBQ and I was happy to get to talk more to people. For instance I met Mai.. (can’t remember her whole name now), who is also a stagiere here since three month. She was very nice and I hope to spend more time with her during my time here.

At eight thirty I left for the airport, and here I am. Actually I’m on the plane now, had to make a break in writing when boarding. Soon home! Home sweet home. One thing that surprised me a bit when going back to France from Italy was that I felt I was going home, and I longed to hear French again instead of Italian. I clearly understand much more of the French language than I thought, I realized this when not understanding a single thing in Italy. So the French Riviera is my new home. Didn’t think I would feel that way, especially not after so short a period!

I found me a French teacher, and will try to meet her for the first time next week when back from Sweden. Practice, practice, practice. I have to learn fast.

Time to sleep a bit. Tomorrow I’m going out with my family on the sea in my grandparents boat. I’ll probably get more sun tanned from this than I’ve been during my time in Nice! For you reading this who haven’t seen the sea and the islands outside of the Sweden west coast I can tell you that this is one of the most beautiful places on this earth. I’ll try to take some pictures to show you!

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