A Frenglish farewell

Dear friends—if any of you are still out there—it's time for an update, long overdue, revealing my current doings and whereabouts.

I now live in France.

Oui, c'est vrai! In the town of Limoges, which looks kind of like this:

Ok, at least some parts do... But honestly, it's really quite pretty. I haven't got a permanent apartment yet, but I'm hoping to find something soon, preferably located not too far from these historic grounds.

So, what am I doing here? Short answer: sciency stuff. Research and development for Big Pharma, basically. I started this Monday and have had a most eventful week with many good laughs over inventive Frenglish/Franglais—both from me and my new French colleagues.

Sure, there has been quite a bit of frustration over lingual shortcomings as well, but only off-work—for instance during apartment hunting and grocery shopping. However, starting on Sunday I will receive online lessons and coaching in French, so I hope to rapidly improve my understanding and speaking abilities.

In the meantime, Duolingo helps me refresh my old high school skills; I'm learning how to say all the important stuff. These little nuggets will help me tremendously in daily life—at work as well as in the community.

Merci beaucoup, Duolingo!

Now over to more serious matters: to all of you who have kept your fingers crossed during these months of uncertainty, I want to thank you so very, very much for continuous support and encouragement. I have been trapped in a literal whirlwind since August, but I'm incredibly excited to finally be here.

However, I have decided to let this blog rest, indefinitely, as I start this new chapter of my life. Emerald City Reflections has been a great forum for sharing ”photos, thoughts and observations” (quote from blog head), but keeping it updated has taken time—time that I no longer might have. I need to focus on learning the language and integrating into this new culture, and it must take priority.

Thus, I thank you kindly for sharing my adventures—ups and downs—throughout these three years. The highs have been high and the lows have been low, but most importantly: I have had the adventure of a lifetime. Hopefully, I'm just getting started.

To all, my gratitude and love. Tack, alla! Be well.

Putting the Ä in Ämerica

I realize that it's been awfully quiet on the blog since I packed up my apartment in Fremont and shipped myself and my things back to Sweden. Now that I'm here, I've had some time to reflect on my time in the United States (and elsewhere). Lots of great memories, of course! One of the many things that amused me during my self-imposed expatriation was the Americans' enthusiastic use of diacritical marks—umlauts, mainly—in places where one would not necessarily expect them. I started ”collecting” these little oddities early on, thinking that it could be fun to eventually share them.

Ladies and gentlemen, I believe the time has come—but first, a small disclaimer: this post might not make much sense to the non-Swedes. On the other hand, perhaps there is something to be learned? (Nah, not likely.)

The first example, which most people probably know about already, is the snack bars by the brand Lärabar—simply pronounced ”lara bar” by the locals. The same producer has another line of fruit/nut bars with the double-dotted name über. Why not just call them ”snäck bärs” while you're at it?

Evidence of further umlauting is often found in the candy isle...

...and, to my surprise, also among the wines. How about a fine bottle of aged Pölka dot with that Seitan Roulade with Chestnut-Champignon Stuffing?

Another family of goods with a strong preference for extra dots and dashes are hair and body care products. Just look at this collection of items, found at the local pharmacy:

The more diacritics, the less dandruff? More dots, less frizz? Göt 2b kinkier—now that's a winning name.

After applying that first-class Jāsön shampoo, perhaps you need a fashionable scrunchy to complete the look? Hmm, let's see... Wait, here's one!

Ah, there we go. Next, a collection of random items that made me giggle over the years:

A soft neck pillow from Clöudz:

A cozy candle from Cløve:

Bling stickers (limited edition!) from Colorbök:

If it's metal it's gotta have umlauts— I found Camöuflage in Canada.

Perhaps some power vinyasa after that? The folks at häutēyoga seem to know what they're doing.

Music maestro Buzz Brümp knows how to attract a keen audience to Tractor Tavern.

Another Canadian gem: Blue Ångel.

North America isn't the only place for misplaced dots; in Costa Rica, kölbi is the biggest and oldest network provider. Vamös juntos!

Finally, a colorful mural from my old hoods. I'm not 100% sure that it's actually a misplaced umlaut, but I kind of like the idea that it's saying LAMA G's Cäfe.

Ådiōs, fölks!

A for effort

Seriously, you have to give me some cred for my home styling abilities! I don't even need any bowls of lemons—just look at this display:

Master bedroom.

Please note the carefully placed snowboard case, to the bottom left. One must be prepared for that middle-of-the-night alpine craving.

Dining area / office / entertainment center / yoga room.

Mmm that couch looks so comfy!

So. My bags are packed, the apartment is cleaned, farewells have been said, hugs delivered. Tomorrow I'm off, on Tuesday I land in Sweden. And then...? A contract will be signed, I hope—more on that later...! But for now, good night.

Oh, by the way—you know how I use to say that every time I have Swedish visitors over it rains when they leave? Well, after 3+ months of drought, this happens.

Just sayin'... Seattle is sad too.

(But we need this! Burnt Sugar and I say: Let it rain.)

Last days of disco

Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear... I can't believe how quickly August has flown by, and now I'm down to one single day left at the Hutch.

I don't know how to...I can't even...when did this...why am I...

...wait, what?

So I guess I'm leaving then.

My desk is cleaned, the drawers emptied. Files are transferred and notebooks archived. On Tuesday I gave my last lab meeting presentation, summing up my three years as a postdoc in about an hour—not an altogether easy task, but I felt really happy and proud afterwards. Satisfied.

What a great time I've had in the Press Lab! How wonderful everyone has been, and how lucky I am to have had such fun projects to work on. Not all results have gone my way, but I leave with two first-author publications and a number of co-authored articles in my portfolio. (A third first-author paper is currently underway, and will hopefully be finalized by the end of the year.)

There are not enough words in the world to describe my gratitude towards Ollie, who not only took me in as his mentee but also invited me without hesitation into the warmth of his family. Nancy expressed it very nicely at the official farewell party at their house, which was held after my presentation: ”Remember that you will always have a mother in Seattle.” How could I forget? In addition, my other mentor, Brenda, has been equally supporting and terrific, and it feels unreal to think that I won't be able to pop down to her office and have a chat about life and science and anything that comes to mind (my dating resume, mainly) from now on.

This is me giving a toast at said party—apparently whilst waiving. A royal touch?

Besides throwing me this wonderful soiree, Ollie and Nancy had also picked out an incredibly thoughtful parting gift: a silver feather pendant, handcrafted by a Native American artist in Oregon. I can't imagine a more suitable token to remind me of the Pacific Northwest and the amazing years I've spent here. Thank you so very, very (very) much—for everything!

Back home in Fremont, ordered chaos rules. My beloved chair is sold and gone, three bags of clothes and gear were dropped off at Goodwill this morning, and the rest of my things are either packed, waiting to be packed, or being left behind for the girl that's moving into the unit after me (an excellent solution, by the way!).

Tomorrow I go to the Hutch for the last time to send some emails, bid farewell to friends and colleagues, give and receive lots of hugs (I hope), and, reluctantly, hand over my keys and badge.

After that? Party time, folks. (She's going out with a bang!)

[Intermission]

”Folks, I apologize for the lack of stunning views over Kachemak Bay, impressive mountains in Denali National Park, and flowering hillsides by Skilak Lake. I...”

”But you promised!” you interrupt, with an accusing glare. ”You promised we would see it all.”

I stare at my toes, nervously shifting my weight back and forth. Left foot. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot. You’re clearly not letting me off with a warning this time.

”We demand pictures! High-resolution photos, preferably, but if it’s going to take forever to upload them then a simple sketch will do. Or a diagram. Perhaps a model, made out of clay? Anything!”

I take a deep breath.

”I promise...” My voice is cracking. ”I promise to give you what we agreed on—I just need some time! Won’t you please give me some more time?!”

The silence that follows is almost unbearable. Suddenly, you shrug, smirking. ”Sure, why not—you’ll get a few more days. But you’d better not disappoint. We won’t be as understanding, next time.”

Baffled, I slowly back away, thanking you over and over in an incoherent ramble; Swedish, English, possibly a bit of Danish. Leaving the room, I turn and start running, my mind blank except for one single thought: how the hell am I going to make a clay model of Resurrection Bay?

Geronimo!

I think I'm ready. Well, to be honest, I have no idea if I'm ready or not but there is no turning back now. Alaska, here I come!

Please don't be worried if the blog goes quiet during the nine days that I'm gone. I decided not to bring my laptop, so any updates will be completely dependent on whatever computer options I can find along the way. Prepare yourself for an excess of photos on my return...

Be well! I intend to.

Here, there and everywhere (again)

First, I apologize for the radio silence.
Second, I may have some interesting news to share pretty soon.

Last week was absurdly intense—I went to France and back, on very short notice. Two nights in Europe, then home I went again. So long, au revoir!

On the way between X and Z, my company and I paused in Orléans for lunch and a quick stop by the Basilique Cathédrale Sainte-Croix d'Orléans. Voilà, a model of the impressive cathedral—inside the cathedral:

Yes, it was a job interview, and yes, I think it went quite well. I'm currently holding my breath, waiting for an offer...

In the meantime, other fun plans have emerged. It's only a week until I leave for Alaska, but I'm squeezing in yet another quick trip before I go: a visit with my boss and his wife at their cabin in the San Juan Islands.

Those of you who have been to Seattle probably remember the little sea planes that buzz like flies around Lake Union—coming and going, landing and taking off on the water. So, here's the million-dollar question: guess how I will get to the islands...? Very excited.

I'll leave town on Wednesday afternoon, spend two nights in their cabin, and then another colleague—who happens to be boating with his wife this week—will pick me up and bring me to mainland. After that, I have Saturday to do laundry, pack, and get my stuff together; Sunday, I'm off.

This summer is a record breaker in many ways.

Sparks and flares

In general, I'm not very impressed by fireworks. However, I have to say that yesterday's 4th of July show over Lake Union was quite dazzling—figuratively and literally.

A magical evening; the shores were full of happy people, the lake packed with boats. The air was warm and spirits high. My heart filled to the brim with anticipation. Oh, these are exciting times...!

E pluribus unum

Happy birthday, USA! Much can be said about many things, but in the end there is no denying that you are a pretty spectacular country. Thank you for being my home for the past three years! Thank you for embracing this funny foreigner, and for sharing your wealth and beauty.

This has been one crazy ride, America—I will miss you greatly when I leave. Here's to the red, white and blue!

Sorry! Förlåt!

Fellow Swedes, let me start by apologizing. I know that summer hasn't exactly kicked in back home the way one might expect, and I'm sorry that this could be interpreted as 'rubbing it in'. Because, you know, this is sort of what Seattle has been like for weeks upon weeks now:

I took the bike for a ride up to Discovery Park on my way home from work yesterday, sweat pouring from my body in the afternoon heat. The stunning views were well worth getting my clothes soaked, however. The Sound, the sail boats, Mount Rainier—all of it. So damn beautiful.

I wonder if I've ever experienced a month of June like this before—or if I ever will again.

That was quick

It was bound to happen—better to just get it out of my system immediately, right? Why don't we all just pretend that I did it on purpose, and conclude that a lesson earned is a lesson learned.

(Still love the shoes/pedals! We just need to get to know each other...)

Hot, hotter, ...Alaska?

Seattle is steaming. The past week's temperature readings have gone from a comfortable 20°C on Wednesday, via 23°C on Thursday up to 27°C on Friday. And then? 29, 31, 30, and 29°C from Saturday until today. (For the locals: from 68, via 73 to 81°F; and then 84, 88, 86, and 84°F.)

If you know me, then you know that I get a little 'stressed out' in this kind of weather. So what did I do today?

Well.

I booked plane tickets to Alaska, that's what I did.

Fine, okay—it's been at the top of that bucket list of mine since I started organizing my must-sees and want-to-dos, but I'm not sure if I ever thought that I was actually going to do it. Especially not after seeing how expensive the cruises are—at least the more adventurous ones that I'm interested in. If I wanted to have cocktails, play shuffleboard, and doze off in a deck chair for days on end (albeit with a gorgeous backdrop) I could easily have done that, but that's not my style.

After bumping into my next-door neighbor at a cafe the other day, I found out that he happens to be a walking encyclopedia of Alaskan adventures. Apparently, he worked as a tour guide there for a while and I did not have to ask him twice for advice; this morning, a handwritten two-page guide was attached to my front door.

Later in the afternoon, I was just going to do a quick search for airfare and then I don't quite know what happened and suddenly I found really cheap tickets and oh my the dates actually matched my summer schedule quite well but there were only a handful of seats left and somehow my Visa card simply materialized in my hand and click-click-click type-type-type an email appeared in my inbox politely letting me know that I will be flying to Anchorage on July 19... If all goes well, I will steer my little rental car back to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport ten days later, with lots of memorable hiking tales to share.

The weather forecast predicts dry, warm weather throughout the weekend, after which the temperature will gradually lower to around 20°C again. Let's hope the meteorologists are right, otherwise who knows what I'll do next—join the crew of an expedition to Antarctica? Apparently, I do those things.

Airport introspection

This is not a particularly good photo by any standards, but the feeling I'm trying to convey is one of carefreeness and mirth—sipping on a cappuccino in the afternoon sun while talking about life and watching boats go by on the Singel. Top notch family time!

Fast-forward 17 hours: here I sit at Schiphol airport waiting to board the plane that will take me thousands of miles away from my roots once again, back to the New World. Back to the one-person family that is me.

Surrounded by fellow travellers rushing here and there, anxiously checking their passports and smartphones, I'm spending my time re-focusing and preparing for what's about to come: the last trembling months of my current affairs. This will be an intense summer, full of work and planning—but also play and exploring. Busy, yet fun—closure and new beginnings to come.

I'm ready. Off I go!

Witamy w Polsce!

The bag is packed, my presentation is coming together okay, and my nerves are under control. In short: I think I'm ready to go to Warsaw.

Before I go to bed I'm going to read up on a few ”useful expressions” (says Wikipedia). Because of my generous nature you get to share my newfound wisdom. Everyone's a winner! Here goes:

Dzień dobry – good morning/good afternoon [Jean Dough-bree]
Dobranoc – good night [doh-BRAH-nots]
Do widzenia – good bye [d-oh veedzenia]
Dziękuję – thank you [Jen KOO yeh]
Jak leci? – what's up? (lit. how's it flying?) [Yah-k l-eh-chee]
Na zdrowie! – Cheers! (or Bless you!) (lit. For health!) [nah zdroh-vee-eh] 
Nie zawracaj mi głowy, nie widzisz, że jestem zajęty/zajęta? – don't disturb me, don't you see I'm busy? (speaker: male/female) [Nee-eh zaf-rah-tsai me gh-wh-oh-vih, nee-eh vi-tsish, sh-eh yea-stem zah-yea-th-ih/zah-yea-th-ah]

Finally, something that may prove somewhat interesting for me, personally:

Jestem wegetarianinem (male)/ wegetarianka (female) [yestem vegetarianinem/vegetariankauw] – I'm a vegetarian

According to a guide I found, ”being a vegetarian is still a surprise to many.” Awesome. I'm expecting a lot of brown, amorphous, cabbage-type food—I'm glad I'm not sharing rooms with anyone...

Updates to come! Dobranoc.

Building momentum

If you're wondering what I'm up to these days, the answer is simple: working, and fretting over not working enough (or rather, not being efficient enough). Next week will be awesome; I'm flying to Warsaw for a targeted alpha therapy symposium, which I've been looking forward to for months. I will be presenting my latest research, but also meeting with old colleagues, new colleagues, and some prospective future collaborators. All in all, it will be great. However, before I get to the point where I can feel confident and happy about the talk I'm giving I have some serious work to do. Slightly less thrilled about that part.

Still, I'm super excited about what happens after the symposium as well. It just happened that the airfare was way cheaper—about $1000 cheaper, in fact (yes, for real)—if I agreed to stay in Amsterdam for a few nights on the way back to Seattle. We-e-ell... What can I say? I'm not one to spend precious travel funding if I can save a dollar or two, so I graciously agreed to stay in Europe over the weekend and fly back on Memorial Day. Better yet, my parents are taking the train down from Sweden to meet me there, so we get to spend the entire weekend together. Yay and hurray!

But first: work and work. And fret and panic. Then work some more. Then give up, before getting back on the horse. Then work and fret and work and panic. Then? Tour de force.

Hi mom!

Second Sunday of May means Mother's Day in the States. Highly appropriate, seeing as I think of my mother every time I walk past the flowering wisteria across the street—and by every time I mean literally, every single time.

See you soon, mamma (and pappa)! Rendezvous in Amsterdam in just 12 days.

Fika like a Swede

I couldn't help but smile a little when I saw that Seattle Times recommended a book about Swedish fika traditions today, Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break by Anna Brones and Johanna Kindvall. Apparently, Brones will come to The Book Larder in Fremont (!) to talk about the book over coffee and sweets next week—I might just have to go.

Read the comment here: The pleasure of Swedish coffee custom.

Looking up

I made it through to the other side! No, I didn't pass away from my common cold—this is not a ghost blog from the great beyond. I'm just happy and it's sunny and I can breathe through my nose again and won't have to wake up at night on a pillow soaked with drool because I'm forced to sleep with my mouth open.

Anyway. Woo-hoo!

(Let's not tell anyone that that purple thing I'm wearing actually is some sort of pajama, okay? They will never know unless you tell them.)

Sick and grumpy

It's only Wednesday and I'm already sick of this week.

The sun may be shining and the flowers erupting in colorful explosions right and left, but instead of prancing around outdoors with happy feet and bouncy legs I'm spending my hours with clogged-up sinuses in front of a computer screen, frantically working on things I thought I wouldn't have to worry about for a few weeks.

Sure, I take breaks—lovely little breaks for futile attempts to rid my nose of blood, goo, and the occasional pieces of brain matter.

I'm tired, stressed out, disillusioned, disappointed, and generally disgruntled.

However, I'm not broken. Give me a few days and I'll be back in business—my usual cheery self (hah!). Until then:

Unwound

My weekend: kicking back, easing off, taking a breather. All good things.

Neil Gaiman on Friday was great—that man is a storyteller, if I ever heard one. During his two-hour performance at the HUB he answered questions, told tales, and read a couple of pieces from his latest book ”Trigger Warning” (which I couldn't resist acquiring a signed copy of). He also shared some of his favorite anecdotes about his long-time friend Terry Pratchett, another old favorite of mine who sadly passed away about a month ago.

A quite terrible photo of Gaiman, reading from the not-at-all terrible ”Good Omens”, which he and Pratchett wrote together, many years ago. (I may have to re-read it soon.)

Hello. You will be loved.

Saturday started with brunch and catching-up with Amanda and little Aiden. We stuffed ourselves with scrumptious scrambles and walked off the satiety on a sunlit stroll around Green Lake, chitting and chatting about this and that. After waiving goodbye to her and Aiden I did a few chores and spent the rest of the day reading, snacking, and watching movies on my laptop. No complaints.

Sunday was basically more of the same; great weather, relaxing activitites—crossing of a few to-dos, but without stress.

A great weekend, with lots of time for recharging the batteries before taking on next week's challenges.