Yes, I can... sound like a robot

Today, I woke up and soon after blurting good morning to Johan I understood something was different with my voice. When I speak I do it with two voices, one acute and one deep. I sound like a robot! How cool is that? If only it didn't come with throat pain and if only I didn't have a meeting with politicians in my school in 1h.

I also got my grades, as promised. Although, I learned that this is actually not my final grade, which I will only get next week (exam + classes). I would have fall from my chair if I was sitting. I got A in all parts, except speaking, in which I got C. I knew it had been worse, but it's still not that bad. To be completely honest it was even better than that, because I got 40/40 in reading and 23/24 in listening. To write my grades here is very anti-Swedish, because one shouldn't show off. I'm not! I'm not bragging! I'm just happy. Happy that it was all worth it!

I'm not a genius. I don't have children. I don't have a husband that demands 3 meals a day everyday. I don't have a job. I have time. I put all my time and effort in learning Swedish, probably scared that I would never be able to learn it, like it felt when I was trying to learn Czech. I have also a Swedish partner who takes the time to go through my texts, and who after a long day of work sits with me and talks, listens and corrects my Swedish. Learning is like a snowball, in both ways. If it goes well, one gets more motivated, therefore studies more, getting better results and even more motivation. The same happens in the other way. One tries and fails, looses motivation, therefore studies less, cares less and gets even worse results. 

Since I came to stay in Sweden it was a big deal for me to learn the language, so I'm really happy it snowballed upwards.  

I want to leave a special thanks to those who took the time to leave a comment or an email yesterday. It was so nice to read them especially when I was so anxious. Tack för allt!

Learning Swedish #12

The last two weeks have been insane!

I wrote here about the saga of the test done by the teachers who make the national exam, in order to try out the level of difficulty. I don't know how the students were selected but I was the new girl in class then. They asked my former teacher if I should do it and without knowing much she said "sure, why not". I surprised myself and passed both parts with very good grades. That gave me some confidence for the real national exam that would be a month after (2 days ago!).

All was going well. I learned that I would only have to study until chapter 15 of the book, and not 20 as I thought. I could slow down a little, which was really good and gave me time for other projects I wanted to do. Until one Monday, roughly 2 weeks ago. During an exercise one of my teachers sits next to me and asks me if she can write something on my notebook. She wrote "me and the other teacher think you should the national exam for the next level". What??? I couldn't react immediately. That would be the final exam for SFI! After thinking and later asking a looooot of questions I agreed to do it. If they thought I could who was I to contradict them? The level I would skip is actually shorter, focused less on grammar and more on vocabulary. There would also be the level where one studies the last 6 chapters of the book. Now you see... I had 2 weeks and loads of ground to cover if I wanted to feel ready for the exam. It was like a marathon. With breaks. I included also a lot of Swedish TV shows, because listening is actually the most difficult for me. And in one of the weekends I had a wedding, that was not even here in the city. Of course. But that turned out to be good training as well.

I must confess that in some days I questioned myself why, why, why do I have to do things the hard way? Well, that seems to be the only way I know, so it's better to not even think about it anymore. Specially if it's worth it!

Today I had the oral exame, the last one. I feel I could have done much better and that I have made all the mistakes humanly possible in those 10 minutes I talked. Having two teachers staring at me didn't really help. Talking with other students I understood that we were all feeling the same way.

I will get all the results tomorrow. Until there... I'll be waiting. Anxiously.

Learning Swedish #11

It has been really nice to share my classes with students from all over the world. We all come from different countries and even those who share the same origins have different life experiences. Some have children, some don't, some have a job, some don't. When we are in the class there's no difference. We don't really know who is whom and it doesn't really matter, because now we all have the same goal: learn Swedish.

This week, we had a class about professions and I became even more impressed of how different we all are. Each and every one of us has or had a different profession. From economists, to bankers, teachers, diplomats, aircrew members, doctors, hairdressers, pharmacists, artists, engineers and scientists, there's everything. My class has one of each. However there, inside the classroom, we are none of that. We are all students instead. Nothing else.

Tem sido muito bom partilhar as minhas aulas com alunos de todo o mundo. Todos nós viemos de países diferentes e mesmo aqueles que têm as mesmas origens têm diferentes experiências de vida. Alguns têm filhos, outros não, alguns têm um emprego, outros não. Quando estamos na aula não há diferença. No dia a dia não sabemos bem quem é quem e na verdade isso não importa, porque ali todos nós temos o mesmo objetivo: aprender sueco.

Esta semana tivemos uma aula sobre profissões e fiquei ainda mais impressionada do quão diferentes todos nós somos. Cada um de nós tem ou teve uma profissão diferente. De economistas, a banqueiros, professores, diplomatas, membros da tripulação, médicos, cabeleireiros, farmacêuticos, artistas, engenheiros e cientistas há de tudo. A minha turma classe tem um de cada. No entanto dentro da sala de aula não somos nada disso, somos só e apenas estudantes. Nada mais.

Prague bucket list #15 - Classical music

Last week, when I was reading this post from one of my favourite bloggers, Sami, I got reminded that I haven't finished my bucket list from Prague yet. 

The Czech Republic is a country rich in classical music and famous composers. The most famous classical composer is probably Antonín Dvořák, but there are many more. Prague is then a great location to go to a classical music concert (or contemporaneous concerts as well!). There are a lot of options, from bigger to smaller, more expensive to cheaper, more touristic to less. 

Once we tried to get tickets for the New Years day concert of Prague's Orchestra but they have to be booked well in advance and the ones left were quite expensive. We never spent new year's eve in Prague again and we ended up postponing this item of the list almost until we moved out of the city. With two months left, we bought tickets for two different concerts, both lasting about 1h each. No pictures are allowed to be taken during the concerts so I only have one taken just before each concert started.

Na semana passada, estava eu a ler este post de um dos meus blogueiros favoritos, a Sami, quando me lembrei que ainda não acabei de escrever sobre a minha bucket list de Praga.

A República Checa é um país rico em música clássica e compositores famosos. O compositor clássico checo mais famoso é provavelmente Antonín Dvořák, mas há muitos mais. Praga é então um óptimo local para ir a um concerto de música clássica (de musica contemporânea também!). Há uma série de opções, desde concertos maiores a menores, mais caros ou mais baratos, mais turísticos ou menos.

Uma vez tentámos comprar bilhetes para o concerto de dia de Ano Novo da Orquestra de Praga, mas têm de ser comprados com muita antecedência e os que sobraram eram muito caros. Nunca passamos a passagem de ano outra vez em Praga e por isso acabamos por adiar este item da lista quase até ao fim. Dois meses antes da mudança compramos bilhetes para dois concertos diferentes, ambos com a duração de aproximadamente 1h cada. Fotos não eram autorizados durante os concertos e assim só tenho uma tirada antes de cada concerto começar.

The first was in St. George's Basilica. We were seated quite far from the musicians, but the church was beautiful and the sound quite special. The musicians, 6 or 7, played some well known pieces from Mozart, Vivaldi and Dvořák as well. The whole experience was very enjoyable. 

O primeiro concerto foi na Basílica de St. George. Estávamos sentados a certa distância dos músicos, mas a igreja era bonita e o som era especial. Os músicos, 6 ou 7, tocaram algumas composições conhecidas de Mozart, Vivaldi e Dvořák. A experiência toda foi muito boa.

The musicians were playing on top of the stairs.

Os músicos deram o concerto da varanda ao cimo das escadas.

The second concert we attended was completely different. It was in a gorgeous saloon in the Lobkowiczký palace. We were seated much closer to the musicians, that were only 3. They played piano, viola and flute. There pieces were also known and we also enjoyed the concert very much.

O segundo concerto a que fomos foi completamente diferente. Foi num salão lindo no palácio Lobkowiczký. Estávamos sentados muito mais perto dos músicos, que eram apenas 3. Cada um tocava seu instrumento, piano, viola e flauta. As músicas também eram conhecidos e também gostamos muito do concerto.

Food in Scotland and Ireland

To wrap up my trip to Scotland and the Irelands will show you some dishes I ate on the islands. 

Para terminar a minha viagem à Escócia e às Irlandas vou mostrar alguns pratos que comi por lá.

The giant nachos is a tradition we have in Edinburgh. Johan used to live near this pub where they served the most delicious nachos. We had to go there when we visited and we found that the place had changed. The owners and the decoration are not the same but they still serve, what is now called, the legendary nachos! They were just as good as in the old times!

A dose gigante de nachos é uma tradição nossa em Edimburgo. O Johan morava ao pé deste bar que servia o melhores nachos de sempre. Quando voltamos agora tínhamos mesmo que lá ir, mas encontramos um local diferente. Os donos e a decoração mudaram, mas ainda servem o que é agora chamado de nachos legendários! Eram tão bons como nos bons velhos tempos!

No, the picture is not upside down... that is indeed the ceiling! We found this Granny's restaurant in Belfast and the decoration was just lovely. The food was also good, although a bit on the fast food side. 

Não, a foto não está de pernas para o ar... aquilo é o tecto! Encontrámos este restaurante da Avó em Belfast e a decoração era o máximo. A comida também era boa mas ligeiramente demasiado perto de fast food.

Man's room on the left and lady's room on the right.

 Beef pie with onion rings...

 ... or with sweet potato fries.

 A yummy burger.

Fish and chips with mushy peas. Mushy peas are usually done from a different pea species, that looks like normal ones but overcook for at least 10 hours. I learned that is not the case but I still did not become a fan.

Fish and chips com mushy peas. Nenhuma tradução faria justiça ao nome. As mushy peas são feitas com uma espécie de ervilhas diferentes das normais, e no fundo parecem ervilhas normais cozinhadas por pelo menos 10h. Aprendi que não, que não são super cozinhadas é a espécie que é diferente mas ainda assim não fiquei fan. 

Pork with the same mushy peas.

Pork in Guiness sauce with mashed potatoes.

Irish stew with mash potatoes.

 Yummy cakes! With tea of course!

I can't really say it was the best food I have ever had, but it was not as bad as some people seem to think. There's also a lot of lovely fish and sea food, that we, unfortunately, missed. Especially in Dublin, we ate a lot of pasta because of the races we did, so we didn't eat local food all the time. We did not miss a few Guinesses though. That we ought to do!

Não posso dizer que foi o local onde já comi melhor, mas a comida não foi certamente má, como algumas pessoas parecem pensar. Há ainda muito peixe e marisco que devem ser óptimos, mas que infelizmente não tivemos a oportunidade de provar. Especialmente em Dublin, onde comemos várias vezes massa por causa das corridas que fizemos, não pudemos provar sempre pratos mais tradicionais. No entanto não deixamos de provar algumas Guinesses. Isso tínhamos mesmo que fazer!

Stories of my world #9

He has lived for decades in USA, but he is originally from the Czech Republic. He left his homeland when he was still a child and he doesn't really like it. He is a brilliant scientist and years ago he created his baby. Yes created. His baby is a series of conferences which started nearly twenty years ago. In the last decade, they have been held every year, always in different countries around the world. I have been to a few of them. I met him for the first time when I attended a conference in this series, but I had heard of him long before that. I had heard of his outgoing personality and a couple of his funny stories.

He is a story teller. He loves both to tell and to hear a good story. I confirmed it the last time I attended one of his conferences, about three years ago. Me and Johan were heading to the conference dinner when he approached us and talked to us. After a few minutes he asked us to tell him a good story. Knowing how much he loves his conference series, we told him that the conference was not always about work. Sometimes it was also about love. We told him how me and Johan had met at that same conference, quite exactly five years before. He became very happy and said that we were actually not the first ones, because some other couple had met at one of his conferences as well. Later on, they got married and even invited him over to their wedding. He asked us if we were getting married. We both laughed and replied "sure, someday". Then, he thanked us for sharing our story and left in search for another good story.

I could stop here now but we are talking about HIM, so of course there was more.

Later that evening, during the conference dinner, just before dessert, he stood up to make his speech. After he talked about the conference itself he went on to a different topic: the social side of it. In a blink of an eye, he was telling our story at the microphone. Including that we were getting married soon! We looked at each other and whispered "Is he talking about us? If he is he got that part wrong", but we couldn't really say anything. Since he had not yet mentioned our names we thought we were in the clear. But again, we are talking about HIM, the story teller, so of course there was more.

After he told the full story he proposed a toast to us and asked us to stand up. We stared in panic at each other wondering what we should do. Tell him that he got some details wrong while he was on the microphone? In front of 500 people? But going along with it and pretend that it is true? In front of 500 people? While we quickly tried to think he kept calling for us on the microphone "where are you? Please stand up!". So we decided to play along. For the surprise of all our friends and colleagues who shared our table we stood up, raised our glasses and charmed everybody with our smiles. There were photographs, there was applause, and there were cheers. A lot of people we knew came and said congratulations. We began telling the truth and how HE had got the wedding part wrong. We became tired of explaining the exact same thing all the time, including for people we knew but had only a formal relationship with. After retelling the story about five times in a row, around the time some Japanese professors came to us to congratulate us, we gave up and simply started saying "thank you, we are very happy". Which was (and still is) true! And most importantly, it was faster.

As I wrote above, he is a story teller. He loves a good story. Maybe not all his stories are fully true. But all his stories are fully amusing. He is David. 

Us soon after our fake engagement announcement.

My blog, my corner, myself

This will always be my corner.

Now that I got involved in different projects, being two of them two other blogs (I will explain later in some other post), I realised just how good I feel when I write here. Not that it didn't feel good before, but now I can clearly feel the difference. 

Here I can simply write. Whatever I want and whatever I feel like writing. It's my language, my kind of writing, myself. No matter which way I choose to express what I want to transmit, it's allowed and accepted, because it's mine and since the blog is also mine, it will always fit in. 

In the other blogs I have been working on, I can still be myself (that's the point anyway!) but it's just not the same. I have to be careful with what to write about. Does it fit in? Is it proper? Can I really say this like this? Do the readers want this? 

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the new things I have been doing! It has been challenging but very much enjoyable as well! It's just that at first I got scared that they would take way my will of writing here, but there's no need to be worried. Here is my home, I will always want to write here. Here is cosy and comfortable. Here I can start a post (like this one) not knowing what I will say and just let my thoughts flow. 

It is all like a trip abroad, isn't it? I just can't stay here at home forever. I have to go out there and live adventures for then to be able to enjoy it here at home as well. Maybe that's exactly what it is! I have this need of travelling. When I cannot travel physically as much, I have to do it mentally. I have to go out there and challenge myself to feel alive. To feel useful. To feel like myself after all.

I must have reached phase something of being unemployed. I'm ready to have a completely new and challenging job. Until I find it, I will be out there living and I will be here seeking comfort. 

Sara Jump - Dublin

Saint Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin - August 2016

Art here and there #7 - Dublin

The Star Wars death star was inspired by this piece found in Trinity College.

A estrela da morte da Guerra das Estrelas foi inspirada por esta peça em Trinity College.

Molly Malone

"Molly Malone" is a popular song, which has become the unofficial anthem of Dublin City. The song tells the fictional tale of a fishmonger who plied her trade on the streets of Dublin, but who died young, of a fever. (wikipedia)

"Molly Malone" é uma canção popular, que se tornou o hino não oficial da cidade de Dublin. A canção narra o conto fictício de uma peixeira que exercia o seu ofício nas ruas de Dublin, mas que morreu jovem, de uma febre. (wikipedia)

 Fisherman / Pescador

A school for puzzle fanatics / Uma escola para fanáticos de Puzzles

The doors of Dublin

The colourful doors of Dublin / As portas coloridas de Dublin

There are two versions of the story. One says that when Queen Victory became a widow she ordered every single door to be covered in a black clothe. The rebellious spirits of the Dubliners led them to do the exact opposite. The second version, and my favourite, says that it was the women of Dublin who decided to painted every door in a different colour, so that their husbands wouldn't get confused when returning home from the pub. True or not, the city looks even more cheerful and special with its colourful doors.

Há duas versões da história. Uma diz que quando a Rainha Vitória ficou viúva ordenou que cada porta em Dublin fosse coberta com um pano preto. O espírito rebelde dos Dublinenses levou-os a fazer exatamente o oposto. A segunda versão, e a minha favorita, diz que foram as mulheres de Dublin que decidiram pintar as portas às cores, de modo a que os seus maridos não se enganassem na entrada quando voltassem do pub para casa. Verdade ou não, a cidade parece ainda mais alegre e especial com as suas portas coloridas.