February 15, 2012
Well, I\'ve now moved to Cardiff, UK for studies so you\'ll get to follow all of my new experiences. Like living on my own for the first time. In a new country.
I saw the movie I Am Sam (2001) on Thursday night and I recommend it with all of my heart. Sean Penn, Dakota Fanning and Michelle Pheiffer play the main characters and all I can say is; See it (if you haven’t), it’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen, Sean Penn is an extraordinary actor (one of the best I’d say) and love is all you need. I’m amazed of how a film crew can create something that draws people’s attention and something that’s so beautiful and realistic.
I’ve decided to stay at home until the end of the week as it still hurts around the sinuses, then I’ve also heard that it’s much easier to caught other infections when you’re eating penicillin. My new boss scared me somehow though as he firstly wanted a doctor’s certificate and instantly I wondered if he didn’t trust me. I’m not that kind of person who lies about my health and stays home from work just because I don’t ‘feel’ like working one day. And then the doctors’ clinic where I had been to didn’t want to write that kind of certficate which made me wonder if my employer would make me work tomorrow anyway…
However, it all worked out when I talked to my employer again, apparently you’re not forced to have a doctor’s certificate if you haven’t been sick more than seven days. Puuuuh. This is an evidence that I’m not able to relax when I’m sick, I’m bad at being ill and instead I just worry about dumb details. Laying on the sofa and watching TV the whole day just makes me feel bored. Note to self: much become better at being ill. Haha.
Obviously I have the worst immune system, after two weeks of having a cold I’ve now caught a sinusitis, how delightful! Isn’t it funny that you often gets sick right away after a vacation? Anyway, so now I’m going to stay at home from work tomorrow as well (called in sick today) and continue to eat my penicillin that the dear doc gave me, and hope that I get better soon. Times like these I wish that I had an office job and not a job where I’m situated outside 90% of the time. I often make the mistake of going back to work to early so now I’ll try to listen to my body and not my head… Oh, why is it so hard to just be sick and not do anything special? Hate being sick and the feeling that you’re so isolated from the rest of the world.
You think that Sweden has become a liberal country where people don’t have anything against people being homo-, bi- or transsexual, then you read this article. What’s the difference between a poster representing a man with two women all over him and a woman also with two women? I wouldn’t be provoked if I saw a photo like the one above in a newspaper. I wouldn’t. How far have we come if mayor newspapers such as Sydsvenskan and City (Malmö) refuse to publish this kind of advertising?
This reaction from two newspapers that both originate from Skåne, the south of Sweden, strengthens the prejudice over that people in Skåne are narrow minded and conservative. Skåne is like the black sheep of Sweden as they many times before have been upsetting people in the whole Sweden by inliberal statements, for example when a county in Skåne refused to accepting refugee children. The feared Sverigedemokraterna (The Swedish democrats) also have a strong support in Skåne. I love being in Lund where people are nice and friendly, would they really get offended if this picture was published in the morning newspaper? What do you think?
Update: I don’t have any problem whatsoever to publish the whole RFSL ad picture, the previous photo came from The Local article.
Photo taken by Paul Hansen.
Right now I’m sitting on a train on its way to Lund, the south of Sweden, where I’m going to visit my sister who studies there. I usually buy some magazine or newspaper when I travel by train, by this time I decided not to buy a newspaper in style of Aftonbladet or Expressen as their content is rubbish. They always exaggerating their stories and considering celebrity gossip as real news. So went online to Dagens Nyheter instead and found this article about Haiti written by the journalist Mikael Winiarski. If you are bilingual and can read Swedish then I think that you should go there and read it, I’ve read stories by Winiarski before and he has the ability to reach out to the reader and grap the reader’s attention.
This article is about the consequences of the horrible earthquake in Haiti and describing how far the lawness society has gone. Everything in Haiti is of course out of control as hospitals, schools and even the UN building has collapsed. Therefore I don’t think it’s strange that many are desperate and tempted to plunder belongings of others, and it’s not just belongings that are stolen – even food such as rice. People are defintely desperate to survive. However, what happens when even the police don’t follow the laws any more?
What Winiarski witnessed was Fabienne, 15 who had plundered two paintings for which she was shot to death by the police. According to Amnesty International Haiti has abolished death penalty so this proves that they were not allowed to do this act. How does a person think when he shoots fifteen year old girl who doesn’t do any resistance at all? Does he have any moraliy at all? The country has for a long time been struggling with violence and corrupt governments, but they must find a way in this chaotic environment to find some kind of order. When a country doesn’t have death penalty there’s no reason for the police to shoot raiders and in my opinion, they certainly shouldn’t support a lawless society as they do when they’re acting like this. When something like this happens I can’t help by wondering if there’s any hope left for Haiti.
Photo taken by Paul Hansen.
Long time no seen, huh? Well, I’ve been enjoying my long term vacation from work and keeping inside most of the time, due to how the temperature went down to -20 Celsius degrees. I’ve also had a bit of a writer’s cramp; it has never been so hard to type down opinions, emotions and thoughts etc. as it has been for a while now. I have good hopes for the coming year though, and I’m certained about that 2010 is going to be a fabulous one.
Life feels so good at the moment, it’s like everything in it’s order, I enjoy myself and I start working tomorrow. Therefore today was the last day of my vacation so I’ve mostly relaxed and prepared myself to the ‘new’ work routines. Laying back in the sofa and watching The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency was a perfect way for me to end this week, as it’s such a warm and loveable TV show. The programme is based on the books with the same name written by the author Alexander McCall Smith and outplays in Botswana. The plot is about Precious Ramotswe who is a strong, caring and dedicated woman who seeks for the truth and does not let anyone step on her toes. She works according to a perspective called the “heart of Africa”, which means that even in hard times forgiveness may be found and that they belive that everyone has something to give.
There’s an ongoing debate in Sweden on how rolemodels and ideals should be. People are obsessed by being perfect instead of finding one’s true personality. In my view we need more women like Precious, women that are fearless and seeking for the truth. I don’t think it’s worth discussing role models and the template for them, but I’d rather look up to someone who stands up for oneself and others than someone who’s focus is to be perfect. I wonder if there’s a “Heart of Europe” as well?
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