occasionally subtle
Love Begins
taylor price
Not today Justin
EXPECTATIONS
Cosimo Galluzzi
RMH
noise dept.
roma★
pixel skylines
Game Changer & Make Some Noise
oozey mess
KIROKAZE
Keni
YOU ARE THE REASON
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No title available
#extradirty
Monterey Bay Aquarium
shark vs the universe
seen from Türkiye
seen from Spain
seen from China
seen from T1
seen from T1
seen from Portugal
seen from United States
seen from Singapore
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Canada
seen from Malaysia
seen from Italy
seen from T1
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from Greece
seen from Peru
seen from Indonesia
seen from Côte d’Ivoire
@returningtostockholm-blog
When I finally got to meet Carl Bildt, top dog and Minister for Foreign Affairs
During the discussion he locked eyes with me for a full sentence. I didn't quite know what do with myself and resorted to an odd mixture of a nod and a shake of the head whilst smiling like a lunatic. He never looked at me again.
Starting my thesis research.
When The Cutie got back in touch again....
"Hey, I saw a news story on nuclear waste and it made me think of you"
Ah. How you move me Sir.
When one of the diplomats makes an unsolicited remark about my degree, for the second god damn time!
When I learned that other interns got their own sodding Iphones
Whatever happened to fairness amongst the unpaid?! I also heard that the EU-department interns are allowed to travel down to Brussels, on Ministry-funding! This is an outrage.
I'm trying to stop a future nuclear war and these bastards are comfortably twittering away on their company phones whilst sipping delicious cappuccinos in the most uninteresting city in Europe (Brussels) and engaging in heated debate with the French (pointless). Upset doesn't even begin to describe what I'm feeling right now.
When the interns are in charge of the department's twitter account
We pitched it, planned it, and developed it. The feeling of control and empowerment is almost contagious.
Mindset when approaching the thesis-proposal
Aim high. That's the spirit.
Look out Europe, he's a-comin'
What are you up to old man?
Watching the Director and Deputy Director interlocking in a heated debate
Tarzan's Cupboard
I suspect that I might have a rival stationary -connoisseur at the Ministry.
The note says: "For Tarzan's Cupboard". I had no idea that Tarzan resides at the Ministry, let alone that he has his own cupboard. Amazing. This work place never ceases to surprise me.
The box was first stumbled upon when me and an ambassador were trying to find our way to a different department by taking one of the many underground tunnels that connect several government buildings. Since neither of us are particularly good at orientation (and there were no stars out, nor GPS connection) we, as we have the last couple of times, relied on pure gut feeling. We got there eventually. No one really seems to know how far these tunnels go, or where they lead. The intern rumour-mill whispers of secret tunnels leading all the way up to the castle. I'm not so sure about that, but I'm sure that a bar or two might be connected to this mysterious labyrinth somewhere. Possibly even a strip-joint.
The Joy of Finding the Supply Cupboard..
I have an unhealthy love of stationary. Multiple coloured pens, post-its notes of all shapes and sizes, folders and highlighters, I love them all.
'Yes, but what about second winter?'
On the upside of this seasonal shock, the globe has turned in Scandinavia's favour and we finally have some light allowing our hearts to avoid the deepest pitfalls of winter-sadeness.
I'm not sure this is the time or place to make an insightful remark about the perils of climate change, or if this is just a Swedish fact of life. However, this is what it looked like just five days ago:
Three happy interns going out for dinner
We weren't allowed to join the department on their fancy-pants dinner at Gondolen (with a fan-tastic view of Stockholm) after our policy conference, so we went to the vegetarian gem that is Hermans instead (with the second best view of Stockholm).
That one day spring came.
WHY?!
Opening the Curtians this Morning:
SNOW?!?! But it was spring yesterday! Get your shit together March! And don't get me started on you, nature.
Sudden Excitement Followed by Swift Disappointment
When I heard that the Minister of Foreign Affairs was coming to our policy conference:
When he cancelled at the last minute:
I blame you, Putin.
Commitment
I had the most interesting conversation on the phone the other day. After a bit of flirting and general bantering, The Cutie suddenly stopped and said: "Listen, I don't have any feelings for you". This was not a huge problem since I too had noticed a general lack of butterflies in the stomach for my part. I did however get slightly confused given that we have so far met up twice (Including the evening we met) and both had agreed that we had enjoyed the date(s). Can one be quite sure that one does not have ANY feelings after one and a half date? In today's society where we expect instant information, instant connection, and instant decisions, can it be that we expect the same thing when we start meeting other people? Of course, having a connection and attraction is something to be desired, but feelings? Real, real feelings when you hardly know someone? That's far more difficult as most of us don't reside in a Nicholas Sparks novel.
I did tell The Cutie that I hadn't even begun to think about my feelings for him, or even knew if I wanted to be in a relationship. He seemed surprised. In my mind this would have been something far more casual and in tune with my rather hectic life, where time is very limited. He seemed pleased to hear this and suggested that we 'carry on carefreely' because I'm 'so funny'. As tempting as that did sound in the beginning, the fact that whatever bloom of a potential 'something more' has been nipped in the bud makes the idea of carry on-dating seem ridiculous and time-thieving. Still, I left the door open for all potentialities as we hung up the phone. After a while I received the following text:
'Damn I'm glad that you don't want to be together with me'
I didn't respond. I simply didn't know how. The best candidate I came up with was: "Well, with statements like that it wasn't a particularly hard decision to make".
I have a hard time understanding exactly what is going on. What we witnessed here above is probably the most honest and straightforward man walking the face of this earth. No excuses, no lies, just the truth. For that I can appreciate the events that have unfolded. However, it does also speak of an internal panic. I mean, we've met twice, texted a bit and have had a few phone calls, is it really necessary to decide whether or not we should 'feel' anything now? This is the Swedish Commitment at its finest.
For those of you uninitiated, The Swedish Commitment is the burden of a promise that falls upon every Swede as soon as they strike up a conversation. The fear that you might have to commit to something you're not sure you want yet. You may want it tomorrow, but you don't know today, so therefore you avoid all conversations that might lead to a commitment. However, if a Swede does commit, he or she does it all the way. If you speculate whether or not it would be great to meet up and enjoy a cone of crayfish on Malmskillnadsgatan at 2 pm next Saturday, the Swede will be there. So if you start seeing someone and you don't have any feelings yet, you put a stop to the whole thing before it has even begun because otherwise you'll have to get married. This is both lovely, because you know that you can trust a Swede to be true to their word, and terrible because things have to be decided immediately and there will rarely be any room for a bit of spontaneity. Or casual dating.
The new tagline for Sweden should be: "Here, the people commit". I should phone the tourist office straight away.
When your supervisor says that your working paper is 'actually rather good'
Stockholm city on payday