Travelogue

Crazy day in July

2009-10-10T19:17:00.004+02:00

Sometimes the weather here in Monterrey gets a little crazy. One day, the rain was so heavy that the streets literally changed to rivers. After the torrent, we hurried home from work to see how the house was doing.

Lauras car was parked outside, and the tree on the other side of the street fell just next to it! Fortunately nothing happened, we only lost the electricity for a little while and everyone survived.

Web album

After the scare, we decided it was time for some Frikadeller :) Good mexican style with Frikadeller, tortillas and some spicy salsa... yep it really rocks!

Oily waters + New land

2009-09-09T03:24:00.006+02:00

Mexico has a really great thing to it - real beach resorts are never too far away :) A Friday afternoon in June, we took the car to Tampico, which is a 4-5 hours drive away. The city itself is maybe not the most interesting, it is heavily industrial - and not just your regular yada yada industry. It is full of Pemex refineries and general oil/petroleum business... smell horribly, and the ever-burning exhaust gases from the refining is not really too nice at night.

Ok, on to the good part - Tampico is at the beach, and as far as I saw there is no oil pollution! I was really happy to find a chair in the shade, as the Mexican sun can really give you a nice burn... At night we had to go out and chill down a little, all red in the faces...

Not too many photos from Tampico, but it was a really nice and relaxed weekend. The trip back was another story... I don't have any picture proof, but this story is true as Robin Hoods arrows.

We got stopped by the federales, the federal police. Normlly you should not get out of your car, but this cop was a little strange. He stopped me and the car in front for speeding. Then he went to the guy in front, and asked him to go to the police car. The guy got in, and in could see in the rear-view mirror that they were talking. The guy got out, went to his car for 10 seconds, then walked back to the police car with his fist tightly clenched... hmm?!?!?

The other car took off, and the cop came to our car. He asked me to get out and go to his car - not normal procedures... I went to his car, and we started the "talk now, or forewer shut your trap" conversation. Since I only had something like 10 pesos in cash, I told the cop that there was really nothing I could do and that he should write my name on his paper. He kept saying that if he wrote my name, there was no turning back. Then we started chit chatting, where did I work?, why was my spanish so good?, was that my girlfriend in my car? etc. In the end the cop told me to hurry up and leave and then he would let me go without a fine.
Laura was really angry with me, mostly because she never gets away "gratis" even from the normal traffic police - the transitos - while I managed to get away from the federales free of charge :) Hehehe

Ok, almost arriving back at MTY, we decided to go and look at a lot Laura was considering to buy. In Mexico, the government has started selling off areas of land, someone buys a chunk, then builds a few roads and makes sure there is electricity water etc. and then sells it off in smaller lots.

It is often in the middle of nowhere, and you need to use your imagination to see what it will become. In 5-10 years an area like this will probably be a small "parcelhuskvarter" in the middle of the vast Mexican praries.We didn't buy anything yet (not in Cancún either... sorry), but we are discussing it. Building a small house is not so expensive in Mexico, so it could be a nice base to have if we move to Denmark for a while. Something of ours to come home to in Mexico.

It first I was a little sceptical with the strange piece of land in the middle of nowhere with a few trees scattered around, but the idea really start to grow on me :D

Tecomán Tigers

2009-09-08T03:12:00.007+02:00

The last months we had visitors from Denmark, helping out on the Danisco project. Harald and Carlos came from Kolding end of May, and stayed a few weeks in the sun, working hard...

The project in Tecoman is great fun sometimes, especially since I joined the football team :)

Finally we had a big improvement in the project - Danisco really started taking ownership and responsibility. One of the biggest steps was making our whole project the "cuiden" project - short for "cuidado energetico" or something along the way of "mind the energy". They did a big 3-day workshop with all the employees, where 1/6th of this was focused on the cuiden project.
Another part, which I found quite curious, was about working in groups. Of course, coming out of a danish university you have the group work etc. completely under your belt. Here it is not such an obvious thing, or was - they really cooperating a lot more with us now!

Alejandra Guzmán

2009-09-05T23:46:00.003+02:00

In most cities in Mexico you will find the "Palenque". It is a small arena used for cock-fights and other events. We went to see Alejandra Guzmán, who is probably best described as the Mexican Sanne Salomonsen. Apart from that, Laura is the biggest fan in the world of Alejandra Guzmán and knows the lyrics of all the songs :)

We went to the small circular Palenque in Monterrey, and the show started with some cock-fights. I think that for the big tatooed guys on first row with a LOT of dollar bills, this was the main event. Atually i think they left before the actual concert...

Apart from the cock-fighting, they also had a lottery!? They had a small wheel-of-fortune, and then people could bet on a number. To get the actual bet, tennis balls were flying left and right to people in the crowd. Then they put their money and number inside the tennis ball, and threw it back in the ring! The system somehow worked :D

Austin, Texas

2009-09-05T22:52:00.004+02:00

I have been in Austin quite a few times now, but our first visit in early May was really interesting. We went to the city center, to see the spectacle of the city with the slogan "Keep Austin Weird"?!

There is a river passing the city center, and under the most central, the "largets urban bat colony" is living. When the sun sets, the bats come out, and there are really a LOT of them...

It is quite difficult to get an actual picture of the bats with my camera... small animals in darkness doesn't really come out well in the end.

Aurtin is famous for live music, and the 6th street in the city center. It is a street with a lot of shops, bars and people. When we went there they had some sort of local festival/market thing going on. They were selling a lot of local art and all the usual things people sell in places like that.

Birthday post

2009-09-04T03:06:00.003+02:00

I just turned the sharp corner of 28 years - thanks a LOT for the presents :D

Here in Mexico, Laura and her family prepared a nice weekend, since August 30 was the birthday of Pepe, her younger brother. We rented a small room at a "weekend resort" with swimmingpools etc. Here we had some nice food, went swimming, and then later more family arrived and we had some beers and talked.

Sunday morning I got a present from Laura (yeeehaaaa - Wii Sports Resort!!) and we ate some birthday cake all of us. It was all in all a really nice and relaxing weekend, and great fun.

Monday I went back to work, and did not have big expectations of anything. At one point, the guards at the entrance to the Danisco plant called my office and told me I had to go there "ugently!". The picture is me with the basket Laura sent me - flowers, a balloon and various snacks!! What a girlfriend :D

Expect to see more of the last many months soon - I might do some of it the "easy" way and just link to some Picasa albums, but SOMETHING will happen for sure!

Schnitzel Flu

2009-04-29T22:58:00.005+02:00

Either you already know ALL about the soon-to-come pandemic swine flu, or else you live in a box 6 feet underground. Panic panic, WHO just increased from level 4 to 5!!

Well, as far as I can read, the increase from 3 to 4, meant that the flu can jump from person to person. The jump from 4 to 5 means that this has occured in at least 2 countries in WHO - Mexico and USA I guess? I already read the news about the USA case 2 days ago, so I guess this update is just a reflection of the fact that they now have tested and verified yesterdays news...

Did anyone reflect on these definitions from WHO compared to the numbers we are talking about? In Mexico city, a population of 26 million people, about 160 people have died of apparent swine flu, and 1 baby in Texas. The average yearly death toll of the USA from "normal" flu is about 35.000 people, in Denmark it is between 1.000 and 3.000 every 2 years...

Of course I do understand the concern of a flu that we can not yet vaccinate for, it kills young and healthy people and that *might* turn out to be really bad, so the WHO focus and concern is understandable. Still, it seems like the news reporters using the info from WHO, has not really understood what it means!? Looking at the facts I know I might be seen as the stupid guy in 1 year, after we have had a deadly pandemic, but so far I simply can not support the state of panic the world is in.

Take care of yourself anyway!! ;)

First Gzz-Rdz adventure

2009-04-19T18:14:00.006+02:00

With the kick-off of the soon-to-be famous geocaching team "Gzz-Rdz", the mexican caches are trembling with fear!! As the motto of the eagle-eyed team goes: "coming soon for a cache near you!"

A trip to Zacatecas marked the first offical hunt, and after a short and steep learning curve,

and a long steep climb up the hill in the background - cerro de la Buffa,

The first cache was quickly under our belt :)

The long walk (and a LOT of sun) did take it's toll on the team, so here are the eerie, tired and sunburnt leftovers at dinner that night:

Pancho Villa - the güero

2009-04-01T17:15:00.004+02:00

It might come as a shock to some people - especially the mexicans - but their great revolutionary hero Pancho Villa was actually a güero...
What you see here is an actual image of Pancho Villa and his boss in Zacatecas, preparing their raid to liberate the city!!

Slow moves

2009-03-31T01:58:00.002+02:00

Not a lot happening, but I guess this is worldwide since no other blog is being updated? Hmm, or might it be because too much is happening in DK?

I am going to move to my new house Wednesday, and look forward to a real house with a real kitchen and everything. It is even closer to Danfoss and has a big guy with hair between his teeth checking who is entering and leaving the premises ;)

Before the big sleepwalking episode I had a really amazing weekend in Zacatecas, and I hope to put up some pictures and text soon on this. My current problem is that I have no internet in my house, and I started using my personal computer and not my work computer for pictures - so I simply don't have them with me right now.

Zacatecas was the kick off of the Gzz-Rdz (Gonzalez-Rodriguez) geocaching team, and we managed to find 1 out of 3 caches there... :| On the way back we also managed to find one in the middle of nowhere - literaly! A highway through the desert, then 10 minutes on a small dirt track and then out of the car and search! Really cool cache :D

The last 2 weekends we have been geocaching here in MTY with the inclusion of Pepe on the team. First weekend we found 3 out of 5 and yesterday we went crazy and took 3 out of 3 - including a real magnetic nanocache found by Rdz! The plan is to go for a cache on top of the Cerro de la Silla - the big mountain working as the trademark of the city. The description is something like a 4 hour walk/climb, and we will look for a guide to get a save trip there. There is no date on this yet, but be sure there will be a story here after the big climb!

Apart from that, life and work is good here, and there is no lack of sun whatsoever!

Sleepwalking

2009-03-17T18:52:00.005+01:00

I had a horrible night, or at least a very strange night. Went to bed at 10.30 more or less after a long roadtrip, and slept a bit uneasy. Then suddently I woke up of my dream, and was standing in the hallway outside my apartment... door locked. I really thought it was a dream, but no!

In boxers and t-shirt I tried to pry the door open, with no luck whatsoever. My door was locked, and the front door of the house was locked as well, hence I was trappen in the hallway of my house!! After a while, I decided to try and wake up my neighbours, so I could borrow a phone and get help. After a while, when I had actually given up, and started to try sleeping on the floor outside my apartment, the gentleman downstairs finally opened up.

He borrowed me his phone (it was 1.30 in the morning at this time!) so I could call for help. While waiting, we had a nice chat, so positive thing is that I know the guy downstairs much better now. He is a professor in psychology, and was at the stadium when Denmark lost to Spain during the World Cup in '86 :P He still believes that Denmark was the best team there, and that we should have won gold ;) ...also he borrowed me some pants :P

Help was Laura getting out of her bed to help me and call a locksmith. The locksmith came and at around 3.30 I was ready to sleep again... I really thought it was a dream again this morning when I woke up, but the scars on the door are there to prove my frantic attempts to get in without having to tell the world that I locked myself out during my sleep.

Well, it helped putting words to it, and yes - I have made copies of my key already. Also, I have another plan which is to use BOTH locks on my door when I go to sleep and tie my keys to my arm. Then it will be more difficult to sleepwalk my way out of my apartment again...

Denmark IS cold...

2009-03-07T23:21:00.004+01:00

Well, my brother WAS complaining about the cold, last time he returned to DK for a short while. I laughed and called him a sissy... now I know the pain he must have felt! After being used to 30+ degrees every day, it is really difficult getting used to danish winter/spring weather.

Normally, I am never cold, and run around in a t-shirt all winter (no, not the same t-shirt, it is figuratively speaking...). This time around, I was really freezing the first few days, but then fortunately I found my old warmth, and now I am just fearing the Mexico will be really warm when I return!

I tried to teach Sebastian a few tricks, but the innocent gymnastics was soon to be destroyed!

He somehow felt the need for using his beloved scooter instead, as he saw a track only found in the eyes of a child I guess.

<- Bending it around the curve, and then...

down the finishing straight,
and we have a winner ->

Life on Mars?

2009-03-07T22:51:00.006+01:00

The weekend after Cola de Carballo, the trip went to Cuatrocienegas - an oasis in the desert. The place actually holds many species only known to live there, because it is such an isolated ecosystem.

Basically, water trickles up from the underground and makes small streams and ponds in the desert. Of course, there is lots of grass and bushes so it is not so desert-like, but all around the desert looms.

The water in the small ponds is an amazing blue. I really think they go here to get the right colour, when doing beach resort commercials all over the world.

The small - and fragile - ecosystem was really amazing, with lots of fish and turtles moving around. Another strange thing was how quite it was there in the middle of nowhere. When avoiding the bus full of nuns, you could really only hear the water trickling in the streams and a slight breeze - very different from the constant noise pollution of Monterrey...

Oh, and I forgot to tell about the amazing drive there... We took a stop, asking for directions, and then forgot to turn on the lights when leaving. One minute later, I was pulled over by the police... they started doing the "normal" routine, threatening to take my drivers license combined with a hefty fine. After a little discussion, 40 pesos was enough. Yes, I am a bad boy! :P

Same trip, but later on, we went through a military checkpoint. Everything went fine, and after checking our car and luggage, we continued. 1 hour later at the hotel, I found out my danish phone is missing. Great drive there all in all... not!

MTY sightseeing

2009-03-07T22:27:00.004+01:00

Monterrey has a few famous sights, and one of them is Cola de Caballo - The horsetail falls. I went there something like a month ago, and managed to find the pictures in my camera now... so here are a few pictures, showing exactly why this waterfall got its name...

Mexico extension

2009-02-23T23:36:00.002+01:00

A *slight* change of plans has ocurred - I have extended my stay here in Mexico with 6 months, so I will not end until 1st of September. For me it is great (otherwise I wouldn't have said yes, obviously) and Danfoss Solutions made the application to my boss which shows they really need me here. All in all a win-win situation - I hope!

Mexico is treating me really well. Despite bad mouthing Mexico lately in my blog, I like my stay here a lot, so really the decision was not too difficult. As explained previously, the people here are really nice and friendly, so on a day-to-day level life is great! Also, I have been looking at new departments since I extended my stay, and the one with the private pool really has an advantage over the other options ;)

Fortunately, I will have time to go to DK next week (week 10) so I can see the new addition to the clan and also celebrate the proud father :) Unfortunately I won't be able to see the whole family, but I still aim to get some time off, when the family comes to Mexico to visit me ;)

Soon I will upload pictures and descriptions of my latest travels. This week I am in office and will have a little more time on hand than the last 5-6 weeks where I have just been working 24/7 (it feels like) in the Mexican heat.

On another note - Delta threw away my luggage in January, and now they found it again. I got it last Friday, only 40 days delayed... I have to say, the flight was horrible with old planes, no space and bad service so the fact they lost my baggage was just icing on the cake. Now I will see how much they will repay me for the 2 suitcases, 2 Braun shawers, 2... I have now. It might be difficult to squeeze money out of them, but I will do my best!

Gringo or Güero?

2009-02-11T06:24:00.004+01:00

Spurred on by Mikkels brilliant description of Thailand, I will try and give you an idea about Mexico.

In general, Mexico is a really nice country, which in many places has this "paradise" feeling to it - eg. read the previous post. But it seems there is something under the surface, something someone like me will probably never understand.

I have the same "problem" of living in a world different from the world of ordinary Mexicans. I have a nice apartment (not THAT nice), a Dodge Stratus to drive around and when I am working around the country I fly there and live in nice hotels. On weekends I can go traveling and see some of the country or do whatever I like to.

Actually, living in Monterrey I am not that different from my neighbours. Monterrey is the rich part of Mexico, being very close to the USA, so most people here are actually well off. The nickname used in the rest of Mexico says it all - Monterranch...

Still, the majority of the population has completely different things to care about, like getting food and clean water etc. There are other things I don't come in close contact with, but that the people fight everyday. You have the obvious list of corruption, drugs, and the large inequality in the society with a very big part of the population being extremely poor. A small elite runs things from their daily lives in unbelievable luxury far away from the ordinary citizen, so we are on par with Thailand that far.

I am not sure which is the most dangerous, but the one getting media attention is the war on drugs. Here, the military is actually policing the streets, and putting up heavily armed road checks to try and combat the drug problem. Most policemen have a machine gun, and when you overtake a military truck with 8 guys with BIG machineguns on the road, you really start thinking about the problems in this country.

Being a foreigner is actually not that bad. I always try to stress (spurred on by my lack of love for the US) that I am a güero, but NOT a gringo. A güero is a white guy - a farang - while a gringo is also a güero, but more specifically from USA. It is definitely better being a güero than a gringo, but in general it is not a stigmata being a foreigner here. You have the odd story of kidnappings and other things directed towards foreigners, but on the other hand you have 110 million people in this country so statistically some people have to be kidnapped!!

I think the negative view you do get on US citizens is connected to their way of seeing Mexico as their private hunting/fishing/holiday resort backyard. They really do not keep themselves back from playing the good ol' white colonial upper class or whatever thing it is they have going for them. Their lack of respect toward mexicans does not exactly help them.

I guess what I wanted to say was that similarly to Thailand, my experience of the average Mexican is VERY positive, but the country itself has some fundamental problems that shows its ugly head sometimes. As a foreigner I don't feel completely seperated from the ordinary life here, and I spend my time with mexicans and not the few danes I have met here.

Unclemania!!

2009-02-01T02:09:00.003+01:00

I am in Puerto Vallarta this weekend. It is nothing less than a holiday paradies, with sun, beaches, dolphins, big hotels etc.... I like it ;) Only negative thing: los pinches gringos!

Tomorrow I have booked a trip all day, seeing different beaches, caves, snorkling and so forth, and then Monday (holiday in Mexico) I hope to go swimming with a dolphin. Wait for some pictures, I hope to upload some during next week.

More importantly - a new NEPHEW arrived! Lasse called me last night, and told me that Viktor arrived and said hi :) Hmm, maybe it is Victor? I want pictures! At first pictures, and then later end of February I can see him in Denmark. Wauw! I hope everything is ok, and of course when I return I will start teaching him all the bad things that an uncle has to teach :P

Tecoman project

2009-01-27T03:12:00.002+01:00

Hi

Yep, I am still here, but working like a horse! That's why there has been very few updates as of lately. At the moment I am working in Tecoman, in the south of Mexico, where we have a very big project on a Danisco factory. The project is slightly delayed, and thats why I am here as an extra work force to try and catch up on the time schedule again.

I will be working here until i go to DK end of February, so there will probably not be so many exciting updates etc. I will however have time to travel a bit, and go to the pacific beaches roughly 10 km away :)

10 days ago I was a few days in Guadalajara - the 2nd biggest city in Mexico - and I liked it. One of the sub-urbs, Tlaquepaque, is a really famous place for artists etc. here in Mexico. I managed to spend a whole day looking at all the fantastic shops with all sorts of pottery, paintings, furniture etc. Really nice place, and dangerous for people with a shopping problem I would guess.

Yesterday I drove from Monterrey to Guadalajara, and then today further to Tecoman, so now we have a car here permanently for the project. I was a fantastic trip for me, a sort of ego-road-trip through the Mexican desert and mountains and villages etc. It took me about 11 hours, but I is a trip I will for sure never forget. Follow the description, and check it out on Google Maps.

I took a route that runs from Monterrey over Saltillo to Zacatecas and finally Guadalajara. Until Zacatecas it was more or less desert all the way, with loooong roads stretching into the horison, and mountains far away. Of course I managed to leave Saltillo with a quarter of a tank of gas. It is not exactly the smartest thing driving through a desert with no gas, no water and no signal on the mobile phone!! Fortunately, after what seemed like forever and many hundred kilometers, the big green Pemex sign popped up and I was saved.

After Zacatecas it became more hilly, and I think it took almost as long getting to Guadalajara as from Mty to Zacatecas. Still, the landscape was absolutely amazing, and I am glad to see there is another Mexico outside the big cities. All the small villages I passed through were really cozy, and people very friendly the few times I stopped for gas, food and water. I had lunch in the small village of Huanusco more or less halfway between Zapatecas and Guadalajara, just because when I was passing through it seemed like such a nice small village :)

One thing actually surprised me: The big roads are quite good in Mexico! For me the trip to Guadalajara was a walk in the park compared to eg. driving from Warszawa to Krakow.

I think the coming weekend will be a lazy trip to a beach, and then I can finally get some sun! In Monterrey I hardly get any sun, since the office is hermetically closed and sealed off, so only when going to the canteen do I see it. In Tecoman I am more fortunate, as I am doing lots of measurements and smaller projects around the factory, and the weater is constantly 30-35 degrees. It is really not the worst place to be, while the danish winter is raging... sorry for reminding you ;)

Teōtīhuacān

2008-12-17T00:19:00.006+01:00

Great trip to Mexico City and Teotihuacan! I have heard a lot about how dangerous Mexico City is, so I was actually a bit worried about going there, but in the end everything turned out to be just fine. Of course, I did not really leave the city center when i was sightseeing, except for a nice trip to the old Aztec city of Teōtīhuacān.

The weather was great, so I really had nothing to complain about. Just the trip out of Mexico City was well worth my time. It is the most populous urban area in the world, with approximately 23 million people living in and around the city. As soon as we had left the center, large areas of slum spread out over the mountains, and they continued for many kilometers.

As we approached the site of Teōtīhuacān, the two large pyramids could be seen in the distance.

It was a city, which at its peak around 100-400 ac had up to 250.000 inhabitants, and thus was comparable to the largest cities around the world at that time.

The main street - the "Avenue of the Dead" is 2 kilometers long, ending with the Pyramid of the Moon. Along the road, more or less halfway, is the pyramid of the sun, the tallest of the two.The site is really amazing, and from the top of the pyramid of the sun is a great view of the whole area.

Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow...

2008-12-12T00:51:00.006+01:00

Just discover a horrible thing, which I have no idea why didn't come to my attention earlier. LeRoi Moore of Dave Matthews Band passed away on August 19th this year, and I feel deeply saddened. As most people who know me are aware of, for me DMB are head and shoulders above anything else.

I remember how my brother introduced me to Under The Table And Dreaming probably 13-14 years ago. From that point on the music and lyrics of the band has had great influence on who I am in many ways. Two of the most beloved aspects for me has been the lyrics of Dave Matthews - ranging from love to hate to death to life to pure lunacy - and the ethereal horns of LeRoi Moore, always making me wonder how he made that up. Songs like #34, I Let You Down and Proudest Monkey are the first to jump to my mind, but on virtually any DMB song he has a strong presence. You might not notice his influence at first, but the songs without his contribution would not nearly reach the level they do.

A few years back I managed to see Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds in Berlin - and what an experience! - but I have never seen the whole gang at once. This was really one of my big goals, just to stand there in the crowd and enjoy their shower of good music. I guess it wasn't meant to be.

The band keeps playing, the music keeps rolling, but it never will be quite the same, without the one man horn section.

The horse he kept running / the rider was dead / I hung my head / I hung my head

Arkadelphia...

2008-12-09T01:43:00.003+01:00

Well, still in Arkadelphia where I have been working before and after my trip to Chicago. Not much else to report from here I am afraid. It is just as exciting as watching puddles gather rain...

Work is going great, and people are very friendly and helpful. Still, there is really nothing to do after work. Arkadelphia seems like a hopeless town for anyone just remotely sane, and the hotel we live at is a few kilometers north of that. It is really just where a semi-big road meets the interstate, and 4-5 fast food chains and a few hotel chains decided to put up troughs and barns for the needy.

We went to Hot Springs a few times, it is about half an hour drive. The hometown of good 'ol Bill Clinton, with more life and places to eat and get a beer. Arkadelphia is "dry county" so there is no chance of having a beer with you meal, or going to a bar at weekends etc.

Generally things are good and I am looking forward to 1 week in Monterrey, and then 3 weeks in Denmark for Christmas and New Year celebration. Still not sure what to do end of February, but I guess I will return to DK for the last 6 months of my PGP program.

Chicago Day 1

2008-11-28T17:33:00.004+01:00

Chicago is amazing, thats it! First day was spent getting an overview of the city, walking around the center and crawling up tall buildings.

First pictures is a view from the top of the Sears Tower - formerly the tallest building in the world. Chicago is bordered my the huge Lake Michigan, which gives a nice waterline of the city. Between the city and the lake are parks and open ground, so it doesn't feel too dense and crowded at all.

At the top of the Sears tower was also a small exhibition showing famous people and incidents from Chicago. I tried to tackle Michael Jordan, but as everyone knows, he can actually fly, so I didn't succeed I am afraid.

Other famous artists include a lot of Jazz and Blues musicians and of course the world famous Blues Brothers. Walking down the streets in Chicago, I could almost see the throngs of police cars crashing to left and right trying to catch the infamous brothers.

After the Sears tower we continued our walk, and passed through Grant Park, where Obama held his victory speech. The city is still full of posters etc. celebrating his victory, and in general he is of course a big hero here.

We went to the John Hancock tower - the 4th tallest building in Chicago, with a restaurant and bar. Another great view of the city, including a fantastic sunset sitting on top of downtown Chicago :)

Today is the big shopping day in USA, following Thanksgiving yesterday. I expect the city to be completely crowded, not like yesterday where the only people were us and asian tourists more or less. Also, we had big trouble finding a place to eat in the night, because more or less everything was closed.

More Chicago stuff will follow soon.

Going to Chicago

2008-11-27T00:21:00.002+01:00

Im sitting at the airport in Little Rock, waiting for the next fligt to Chicago. I am really looking forward to seeing this big monster of a city - the guys in Arkadelphia warned me about the South Side, so I better go and see what the fuss is all about ;)

I will be meeting up with my colleagues Henrik and Leo who works for Danfoss in Rockford. 3 days in the big windy city will be interesting, but I must admit, I have absolutely no idea what to see and where to go. I am just assuming that such a big city must have enough to offer for a few days of playing tourist. Of course I will make sure to get a picture of the Statue of Liberty, the Niagara Falls and Mount Rushmore, while I am in Chicago anyway :P

Yesterday was a very difficult day. As anyone on the intelligent side of the planet knows, Aalborg took a surprising and quite lucky win in the Champions League. I was sitting at the factory in Arkadelphia watching a live update, and by the end I wanted to jump around and scream and yell. Then it hit me, that I had absolutely no one I could tell what had just happened. In Mexico it might work, since they are quite crazy about football, but in USA I guess they wouldn't really know if its the game with the soft or the hard ball, and what type of bat you use!!

Ok wait for the next update from Chicago, and then I will probably know a little more about what is there and such. Anyone having great ideas of what to see there??

Xilitla

2008-11-22T20:37:00.002+01:00

Back from the US, and soon going again. I managed to make a trip last weekend when returning from Indiana. Xilitla is a small mexican village in the mountains located centrally in Mexico. The village itself is nothing special, except for the amazing view of the mountains with forest stretching all over the area.

The exciting thing happens just a few km outside the village, where the british artist Edward James has made quite an attraction - Las Pozas. Interconnected surrealistic concrete structures, in the middle of the jungle... at one place it is possible to climb stairs on the outside of a tall concrete column, without any rail or other safety measures.

About 15 meters up, a slim bridge (1 m) again without any rail or anything connect to another similar tower with stairs down again. I guess I didn't win any prices for tall walking, but I managed to get myself up there and down again in 1 piece. Knees shaking and all, but I did it!

After 1 week here in Monterrey I am going to Arkansas tomorrow, Sunday, to work there for 3 weeks in the Danfoss factory in Arkadelphia. Arkadelphia is a small village of ~10.000 people in the middle of nowhere, and on top of that it is "dry county" - alcohol banned! It will be great ;)

Next week is thanksgiving in USA, so the factory in Arkadelphia will be closed Thursday and Friday. This gives me oppportunities for travelling, and my mind is set on Chicago, where Danfoss has another factory close by. Therfore I have some colleagues there I will meet up with, and see the - probably extremely cold - city and hopefully shake hands with Mr. President-Elect Obama. He hasn't returned my calls as of lately, but I hope he will have time for a short visit :P

Bashing the BU

2008-11-11T05:53:00.002+01:00

For a while I have used a rather blunt wording of the USA; BU or Bastardos Unidos. As we all know, it is this right wing, racist, fundamentalistic and completely crazy country, becuase they are ALL like this. I mean, they re-elected Bush...

Ok, after a week here, I actually like the place. Terra Haute is middle of nowhere, but people are friendly and considerate, and the culture is not that far from DK - probably becuase we adopted so much over the years through tv, movies etc. I see loads of odd things, but nothing really surprising, and then they elected Obama while I was here. Ok, maybe my first paragraph was a little TOO much, because all the time I have anticipated that when I finally reached god's own country, the people here would probably be like anywhere else - friendly, curious and openminded.

The last few days I:
Went to a book-store, there were so many books of the type "Why conservatives/liberalists are extremely dangerous for our country" and "Why NOT to vote for Obama/McCain". I also stumbled upon the Chuck Norris book Black Belt Patriotism. Just reading the cover made it hard not laughing! Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird...
Visited an outdoor living superstore with a HUGE weapons department. Lots of used rifles for 2-300$ - great fun?!
Been to endless fast-food "restaurants" - I gotta eat, right.

Indiana, the state famous for...

2008-11-08T19:04:00.002+01:00

Still in Indiana, working hard over the weekend. Here in Tarre Haute I haven't found anything worth mentioning, except for the huge amount of fast food places, and cheap restaurants. It is really not that exciting a town.

The work is great, and I gain a lot of experience from getting my hands on actual production equipment, instead of the immense amount of theoretic training I had at university. My co-worker, who is sort of an energy study expert, gives me lots of oportunities to help and participate in the work, so I feel like I can actually add to the work we do here, even with my lack of expertice.

Coming back to Indiana, does any of you know anything about the state? People here mention Larry Bird, the basketball player, and I have heard the name before. Then we have the Indianapolis 500 - famous motorsports race and the Indianapolis Colts NFL team, who won the Superbowl in 2007. Apart from that, there is not really anything the state is famous for I think?!

Åh åhhhhhh ÅhBaaamaaaa

2008-11-05T05:20:00.002+01:00

Just sitting at the hotel watching John McCain giving the win to Obama, live. Thanks for being fair and honest in your speech McCain.

He has the braveness to admit a defeat, and see the truth as it is - shame on me for saying he was the same as Bush a few days ago...

GoooooBama!

The states

2008-11-03T04:18:00.003+01:00

Well, I arrived in USA today, for the first time really entering the country. Took a flight from Monterrey to Atlanta, where my colleague lives, and then we drove north towards Terra Haute, Indiana at noon more or less.

All in all a great roadtrip up through Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and finally Indiana. The landscape here is amazing, but as I feared the road is full of fast-food places etc. It is actually quite difficult to find a place with "normal" food when you are on the road...

Now I am ready to experience 2 weeks of USA, having a job here in Terra Haute. Good timing, becuase then i can see the election first hand :) Driving up from the south I have seen a lot of McCain/Palin signs in front of houses etc. but here in Indiana the signs started changing more towards Obama/Biden... I keep my fingers crossed!

Happy party?

2008-11-01T03:57:00.003+01:00

Fundidora is the central park of Monterrey. On Sundays it is full of people enjoying the nice weather by jogging, skating, cycling or just strolling along.

I went there for a relaxing afternoon, and found a strange setup of large mechanical bugs? Spiders, ants, grasshoppers, you name it! War of the Worlds?!

On my way home, when darkness started coming, I found a peculiar add! I would like to go to that party... Smile and be happy :)

Chipinque

2008-11-01T03:37:00.005+01:00

Mountains surround the city of Monterrey, which gives good possibilities for a little sight seeing mixed with a good walk. One of these places is Parque Ecológico Chipinque just 10-15 minutes drive from downtown. The view from the parking lot was a little frightening, as the top of the park just disappeared in the clouds above the tree tops.

I forced myself to the top of the park Chipinque, and managed to smile and enjoy the place and the view through the sweat and the huff and puff. It only took something like 2.5 hours to climb all the way up on slippery trails, and then take the curving road down again from the top. Unfortunately the clouds that was there in the beginning didn't go away, so the view from the top was quite gray and boring.

The climb itself was great, reminding me of trekking in the north of Thailand, although I didn't feel the sense of being far away from civilization here, knowing downtown was as close as from Bush to McCain - not to mix these two guys op with civilization, sorry.

Clásico Regiomontano

2008-11-01T03:15:00.003+01:00

I guess it comes as no surprise that in Mexico they are crazy about football - fútbol. Here in Monterrey they have 2 teams in the best league - Tigres and Rayados- and the local derby know as el Clásico Regiomontana. Latest derby was on October 18th and of course it was completely impossible to get a ticket for the stadium. I saw it with friends from the Danfoss factory here, a great mix of fans of both teams. I refused to pick a team to cheer for, and made the chicken solutions of promising to be fan of the winning team in the future :)

The match was played close to my house at the Rayados ground. Rayados scored a great goal in the 2nd half, but after that it went completely wrong for them, and the amazing and uncomparably greatest team of all time, yes we are talking about the Tigres here, took the match by 4 goals to 1.

it was great to see the friendly but competitive spirit of the fans, nothing like european fans with completel lack of respect for fans of other teams.

La cucaracha, la cucaracha

2008-10-24T17:43:00.003+02:00

Hola

Well, out of nothing, I decided it might be time to update the blog. I really thought no one was reading it...

Starting with Monterrey, it is a city surrounded by mountains, which gives a really nice background for a flatlander like me. Also, various natural parks etc. gives good opportunities for exploring the mountains. It gives a nice view to climb one of the mountains and then turn around and look at the city. Also, the mountains are great for navigating around the city, since you always know more or less in which direction you are going.

Things are going well here, although I had my first experience with cockroaches since Thailand - I forgot how much I hate these "little" buggers. Arrrgh! Fortunately there are not too many, and they use tonnes of poison here in Mexico to keep them away. The sideeffect being that before going out on weekends, I always lick the fumigated places - the colours I see later are magnificent :D

I moved to an apartment, which is great. Lots of space, and a balcony so I can get a little of sun. Every place here is with aircondition, and often the windows are shaded. I am still surprised everytime I go to the canteen at work and when I get outside the sun is shining. In the office it always looks like a normal grey danish day, through these windows. Really strange.

Mexico is really a country of huge difference between rich and poor. Monterrey is close to the US border (200km) and it is the richest part of Mexico. Roughly 70% of the riches in Mexico are centered here, and the lifestyle is not the Mexico I had imagined. Still, even though it is the richest part, there are still huge areas of the city with slum and parts where a güero like me should not show his face (or his car...). At the moment a drug-war is taking place, so the country can be dangerous sometimes. I have not seen any of this fortunately, but it exists.

One thing that surprised me is the amount and quality of art here in Mexico. Huge markets with so-so original things, mixed with local art etc. makes for a great shopping experience. Painting, pottery and wickery (hmm or whatever that word is... weaving?) are the main directions, but many other amazing things are produced as well. Also jewellery, especiall from silver, is very common - Mexico is the second biggest producer of silver in the world, after Peru. You just wait and see your presents for christmas :D

I hope to do some travelling further south in Mexico, to see the more original culture (not so influenced by bastardos unidos). The old city of Teotihuacan close to Mexico City is worth a visit I am sure, and then the southern region of Chiapas where the Mayans resided, and the culture is still influenced by this. Apart from that, the coastline on both sides of the country should be worth a visit, and of course Mexico City and Guadalajara. I have to go to USA for some weeks, so the actualy time for travelling is somewhat limited, but I will try and squeese some trips in.

DK -> Mexico

2008-09-22T01:43:00.002+02:00

Ok, so now I have some time to update my blog, and the posts are coming fast!

From Poland I went to DK, starting with 1 week of holiday. This went pretty much as expected with meeting friends and family, and starting to unpack my things and pack again for the next adventure.

I invited 2 colleagues from Danfoss, Chintan from India and Harry from China, to come and visit me in Aalborg. I had a great time showing them the region, and enjoying their company. Also, I could understand from their feedback that they had a great time, so all in all a positive experience!

From September 1st I started working in Danfoss Solutions in Kolding, where I spent 2½ weeks with training and preparation for the job. The last few days we had a seminar, where my colleagues from Mexico attended, so I had a chance of meeting them. The seminar was good the few days I participated, and it really gave me some insight to what my next job is about.

Then I went from Kolding to Sønderborg, where I participated in a seminar with the Danfoss PGP program I am part of. All my PGP colleagues from Denmark, Poland, France, India, China and USA were also participating, and we had a lot of good experiences. The seminar was about cultural diversity, which was very appropriate for the participants and our job. Apart from that, we had some training in innovation, which I hope will be helpful in the future. Finally we finished off Friday with a big galla dinner, where good food, emotional speeches and good music made a really perfect end to the week. Directly from the party, I went to the hotel, got my bags and took a taxi at 3am to start my trip to Mexico.

I had a flight at 6.45 am from DK over Amsterdam and Houston to Monterrey in Mexico. This trip took all in all 23 hours, so when I arrived last night I was more or less a zombie. I have been awake 40+ hours including seminar, party and travelling so I was completely used. After 11 hours of sleep, I am more or less on Mexico time, so it seems it was a perfect plan for dealing with the jetlag to exhaust myself completely and "loose" 7 hours in that fashion.

I will be here in Mexico until the end of February, working in Danfoss Solutions. My job here is related to energy savings, where we improve the energy usage of large factories and often make savings of 20-30% on their energy bills. From every kind of view this makes very good sense, both for the environment and for the business aspects for us and the customers. Instead of creating new green energy sources (wind power etc.) we decrease the energy needed, which is both faster and more economically sensible.

I look forward to my new adventures here in Mexico, already after 24 hours in the country, I have seen a lot of similarities with Madrid, and I believe I will have a very positive experience here.

New settings

2008-09-08T12:54:00.003+02:00

Well, the Polish adventure is over (for now...), but it is not certain me and Poland has seen each other for the last time! Contrary to some of my beliefs before going there, Poland is a modern and comfortable country with a very hospitable population. As you can probably see from the first few lines, I had a positive, adventurous and surprising stay there.

My work in Poland was great, and I believe I made some good results. The last few weeks I spent finalizing and handing over my work, to ensure that the projects were not lost. I had a small trip with my colleague Heniek to visit a supplier on the Czech border, and we had a great time - read road trip :D On the way we visited his family, for a small barbecue, and some fishing. Finally, we did a great job at the supplier, with making the scope and responsibilities of our project/business clear, so all in all a positive outcome I think.

The last day my department had some surprises for me, so I now have the complete written guide to Poland. Also, some nice vodka which will for sure be enjoyed later, and a nice pictures of (almost) the whole department. Finally, they game me some CD's and DVD's and translated my favourite songs of Dzem to english, which was utilized later that day ;) I bought some cake, and people from the factory came to say goodbye and wish me luck. i really felt appreciated, so it was a great feeling and made it even more sad having to leave.

We planned a party after work, and gathered at my apartment for some warming up. 2 guitars, vodka, beers, chips and the party started ;) After playing and singing and partying, we were getting ready to go to Warszawa dowtown.

Saturday I was just relaxing, and packing my stuff, and then Saturday was the big leaving day. Even though I sent 2 boxes with stuff, one to Mexico and 1 to DK, I still had problems with the amount of things. Therefore I made the emergency plan of making another box, and sending it to DK. One of my colleagues was kind enough to help me with this, so in the end my stuff was sent a few days later. Still, when I finally reached the airport my luggage was almost 30 kg, fortunately I had no trouble with this.

Sunday I had a small panic, since my passport was gone. I am not sure what happened, but after a lot of help from my boss, I finally had to leave using only my drivers license as ID for the flight. Somehow I managed to get to DK, without too much trouble, and with a lot of great memories of Poland!

A lot of people have asked me over the last period what I have to say about Poland. It is a difficult question, but I have some points to enlighten the people. Poland is not that different from DK, the people, the food, the culture etc. is similar. Their roads are completely horrible, and they drive like there was no tomorrow, but apart from that it is not extremely different.

In DK i think we often have the misconception that Poland is a poor, grey and boring country, heavily influenced by the former rule of russian communism. I knew a little more, since I used to share my apartment with 2 polish students, but I was still surprised to find Poland so similar to what I already know.

One other thing is that due to the increased economy and standard of living Poland has experienced the last 15-20 years, there can be a really big gap between rich and poor. The welfare system is not too extensive, which is very different from Denmark, but in my stay there I did not experience this side of the country a lot, so I really can not comment on it a lot.

Well, guess there is nothing more to say than "Czesc!"

Come August, come holiday

2008-08-04T09:29:00.001+02:00

Czesc

So, we have moved a few weeks now, and my holiday plans have changed.

My trip to Italy/France was a big success! It started out completely horrible, as I went home early from work Thursday since I felt a little odd. Thursday evening/night was really bad and I was considering calling off the trip. Friday morning I was a little better, so I decided to go. Friday was worse than any day of Tour de France! I left at 8 from my apartment, then a train to Krakow, flight to Milan and car to Torino where I arrived at around 21. So I was on the go for 13 hours, feeling like utter shite and when I arrived at Chintan's place I only felt slightly better. Fortunately over the next 1-2 days it dissapeared, so I was happy to have endured the Friday so I was able to have a good time in Italy.

I have never actually been in Italy, so it was great to see that they are not as crazy as I (we?) often take them to be. Torino is really a nice city, and my friend lived right smack in the middle, 1 minute walk from the central station. They say the city is industrial etc. but in the city centre - which is quite a large area - I didn't see any of this. Old buildings and a really good feel to it, so yes I recommend a trip to Torino.

Then to Lyon for a party. We left early in the morning, and at first we tried to avoid the big pay-roads. We had to pass by a quintillion of tunnels when crossing between Italy and France. Finally, after being lost a few times, and finally succumbing to buying a road map (!), w reached the place. It only took us 9½ hours :P

The house was in Beaujolaise, about 30 min. drive from Lyon. Really really beautiful area, with lots of hills/mountains and small vineyards etc. On top of that, the house of Louis had a great view over a valley, and then a swimmingpool to top it off. Needless to say we had a great time there, althoughy next day was less fun ;) We left around 8 in the evening, and was home after 4½ hours in Torino... yes, we actually lost 5 hours going there - how amazing :P

After a day in Torino we went to Bologna for the Metallica concert. It was my 5th time seeing them, but I am still amazed by their live performances. Of course, Chintan was completely over the hill since he finally got to see them live. The arena was great as it had a C-shaped hill/curve around 40-50m from the stage, so the people standing at the back all had a great view of everything. It was actually one of the best venues I have been at, althoug the crowd was probably not bigger than around 20.000.

Then back to Poland, and back to work again. Last week I was supposed to have holiday and go to Zakopane or Gdansk/Gdynia, but I changed my plans all of a sudden, so my holiday is end of August in DK instead.

Now I have 3 weeks left in Poland, and a lot of work to wrap up! Hope things are well around the world, and that your holidays are/have been good ;)

Papa

Summer in Poland

2008-07-14T19:02:00.003+02:00

Hi everyone

Yep, you might have had some doubts, but I am still alive. Poland has been warm for more than a month now, but recently the sun has been disturbed by rain. Not like a few drops of a light spring rain, more something like standing under the Niagara falls...

Hmm, 2 months have passed and I have seen much more of Poland. Among other places and things Białystok and Białowieża close to the border of Belarus. I went there with my colleague Karol, and he showed me his homeregion. It is mainly farmland and therefore it reminded me of where I grew up in Denmark :) Except that in DK we don't have these huge bison's roaming the land, only normal cows... All in all a really good trip, where I got to see parts of Poland that I guess not many tourists get to see.

A good percentage of the population in this region is part of the Orthodox Christian church, and for me these churches really stood out in the landscape. The architecture includes cupolas and the churces are often very colorful. In the cities the churces are large structures, and like the roman catholic churces they are heavily decorated, but you can also find small wooden church in the middle of nowhere.

Another trip brought me to Kazimierz Dolny, a small picturesque village south east of Warszawa. Due to various historical reasons, the city has preserved much of it's old buildings and layout and now many people go here for holidays. The village is full of various artists and galleries, which gives the whole place a special touch. From there I went to Lublin but got sick, so unfortunately I didn't really see anything there.

I have been to DK a few times, visiting family and friends. Really, when you are out in the world you somehow appreciate "home" much more, and the prospect of going home is something great! My assignment here is over end of August, and then I will have some weeks in Denmark - I am already looking forward to this. It has nothing to do with Poland - life is great here - but I think everyone who has been in my situation knows this feeling.

My next assignment takes me to Mexico, it has been settled now. I will be in Kolding most of September for some training and to get to know the organisation in my new department. Then, at the end of September I will go to Mexico for about 5 months. I think it will be great being in a country where I will understand at least part of what people say ;)

Like everyone else here, I have been following the European championship (do I have to mention which sport...??), and my god did we find the right winner... que viva España! Finally, after so many years did they manage to grab the gold medals. Finally I can discuss football with spanish people without seeing that eerie, nervous look in their eyes, because they KNOW that at one point the good old story of Spain ALWAYS failing will come. Finally Spain is almost as good as Denmark when it comes to football :P

Another thing is that here in Poland they really took an interest in following their team. It was the first time Poland qualified for the EC so they were really proud, and they played quite well. It was not enough to qualify for the last 16, mainly due to a "surprising" penalty kick for Austria in the dying minutes of their match, which took the air out of the Polish balloon. The day after people were not that talkative at work ;)

Next week I will be in Italy and France for a short holiday. I fly to Milan, and rent a car there. then the trip will go to Turin to pick up a colleague from India, before we head to Lyon for a party. Then we will go back to Turin/Milan/whatever on our way to Bologna for a Metallica concert. The day after Metallica I go back to Poland again, so it is just a short visit in the south. Then after a few days, I will take 1 weeks of vacation in Poland. Most probably I will go to Zakopane in the mountains to the south, but the final plan has not been put together yet.

Then I will have August to wrap up my work here before moving on to new adventures.

Travelling Matt signing off...

It's a question of mentality

2008-05-14T10:15:00.005+02:00

Well, then it went from dream to truth - AaB beat Brøndby at home and took the championship with 2 matches to go. The whole city went bananas, as far as i could tell from the TV pictures. I really wish i had been there! Well, next weekend will crazy as well, and i am sure the gold medals will somehow put it's influence on the Karneval.

All this fuss about the football team has really been showing the mentality of northern jutland in the media. For one, the boss of the football team who, with a good danish word, can be described as "lun". Hmm hard to explain, but something like "anti-bragging and always with a wink in the eye". It is impossible for the reporters to get anything out of this man unless he decides to give them a funny comment. He can "smooth"-talk his way out of any annoying question, and always turns it around so he can tell the reporters what he wants to. For example he said all the way, until the gold medals were safe, that the goal of the season was top-4 in the league, even when they were 9 points ahead in the table! And comments like "the players are paying good money to play here, so of course we will have a new manager ready when the new season starts" when being asked about the fact that the current manager is leaving the club, coins the term to some extend.

Also, the fans of AaB just seemed much more happy, since we have been waiting 9 years for this. The 1st spot normally goes to one of the clubs from Copenhagen, and their fans are probably used to it, so it is more like "oh, another gold medal... well, cool!". Just like Arsenal beating Southampton in the FA cup final, and the So'ton fans being more happy than the Arsenal fans afterward... sheer happiness of just having been in the final, while for the Arsenal fan it meant just another medal. Supporting smaller teams might not give you reason to celebrate every year, but when they finally win something... oh boy!! (remember EURO '92 :-D )

I had a small talk with Danfoss people in Mexico and it seems more and more likely that i will be there from September till March, but nothing is final yet, no papers signed etc. Still, we discussed the actual assignment, and their line of work seems really interesting.

Finally, i think i have unraveled the mystery of pop-music - and it's followers. Really... im not kidding you!
I asked my pop-loving colleague what was interesting in someone pretending to sing while 5 others were stading behind dancing in the same way?! He replied: "It's entertainment...". Actually it makes me relax a little, that he doesn't actually think of it as music :D
I guess lots of people actually never listen to music, but just take it as entertainment? In that case i understand why pop-music is probably the most preferred, but poor people ;) Hehe, always nice to slack off the majority by exploiting simple statements ;) Well anyways, thanks mom and dad for listening to so much good music -it really got me off to a good start :D

The gold is close

2008-05-07T21:38:00.002+02:00

As everybody knows, the most important thing is danish football - especially when the Aalborg team is winning everything, becoming rulers of the universe. Therefore i have been very happy to see (literally see - p2p tv...) the Aalborg team crush their opponents and go ahead in the league by 9 points. All this sums up to the fact that when i go home on the 24th there will be a BIG party celebrating the team.

Actually, same day is the karneval of Aalborg so no matter what the final result there will be a big party! It will be great to go home for a while and experience the craziness with friends and family. I hope to see my foreign Danfoss colleagues, so i can show them my home city and they can experience the karneval - at least i have invited them, and all 4 of them were really interested!

This weekend i will go home for a short visit as well, and i must admit i am really looking forward to it. Nothing wrong with Poland, i am happy here, but as everyone being away from home for a while knows, it is always nice to go home once in a while.

Friday i will have a meeting in Kolding, where i will know more on if i will go to Mexico from September. It is with Danfoss Solutions focusing on saving energy at large production sites.

Also, Søren my buddy from studies has bought a house and his girlfriend is set to give birth on May 11th, so i will drop by them for a small visit. Really looking forward to seeing how the place and how far they have come in preparing everything for the new addition!

Last weekend i was in Kazimiers, and it was a really nice place. Lublin i didn't really see since i got a little sick and it was raining cats and dogs.

The weekend after this, i hope to travel a little again. It has come to my notice that there is a classical music festival in Prague during the next 3 weeks with concerts all over the city, so maybe i should drop by. Otherwise Zakopane in the south of Poland or maybe Slovakia could be great destinations :D

Flat as a pancake

2008-04-18T17:40:00.005+02:00

Hi, i'm still alive here in Poland.

The last few weeks have been a little hectic at work, since we are preparing a lot of things for conducting workshops with suppliers and things like this. Now we are reaping what we sow, since the workshops actually gives us quite a good output so far. It is great to have this opportunity to learn new sides of how business could and should be conducted in areas completely foreign to my studies - tak kopattesalve!

This weekend we said goodbye to the most experienced guy in the department, Andrzej had been here more than 10 years. Of course the goodbye was a splendid party in Warszawa last Friday, and oh my god can my department dance - i should say so! Due to his departure, i will have a few new responsibilities which i am looking really forward to. Spoiiiing!!

Last weekend Ewa from the PGP program was visiting, she is in Denmark for ½ a year right now. Since she is from Warszawa she could show me lots of great places that i would never have found myself. Now i know all the good jazz-clubs in my city, and i know at least one part where i shouldn't go alone ;)

Also, i went out in the summer weather to see the surroundings of Warszawa. First to some old castles and things like this, but most importantly i went just to see the polish countryside. Actually it is really nice - not too many extremely poor villages where i was. Mainly it looked somewhat like Denmark - flat flat flat, with large fields of wheat and stuff like this. Actually i really like it, only problem being the bottles and all sorts of trash in many places.

This weekend is a long one, so i will go to Kazimiers Dolny which should be a really special place. It is fairly close to Lublin, so i will probably go there as well since i have 4 days.

Oh, and i bought a guitar. I was tired of not having a guitar here, so i figured that i could spend a little on this - pure life quality. It's a Yamaha APX500, look here for more details. Well, i guess my neighbours will kill me in the long run for this. Ewa introduced me to her friend Maciej, and he went with me to find this nice piece of wood. We are probably going to jam a little in the near future ;)

If you are in to (good) music you should check out Dżem, a good old polish jam band (dzem = jam). Find songs like Wehikuł czasu and Whiskey on youtube and start there... but don't ask me for translation! They have sort of a special position in Poland i have come to understand - the singer died in 1994 (yeah, before CK - so he is waaaaay cooler), and many of the songs are about his life up until then - so the band is really legendary here.

I'm looking forward to a few days in DK, even though i don't have too much time there. Still, just home to see the gigantic growth of the nephews... who can walk, who can talk, who can walk and talk, and who is still just a baby.

Work work and fun

2008-04-01T21:17:00.003+02:00

Lots of work this week. I work as a purchaser, and right now we want to get a lot of offers from various companies. Therefore we are preparing letters and samples and making packages for these companies to receive - a lot of details details details to remeber... phew!

The weekend was ok, ups and downs. As mentioned, my danish colleague Adnan was here during the weekend, so we were out having a little of fun. Saturday we saw some of Warszawa, for example the very impressing interactive museum showing the 1944 Warszawa uprising.

They expected the russians to aid them, so they revolted against the german rule and liberated the city more or less. As the russians decided not to help anyway, they were severely undermanned against the germans and after 2 months of heroic fighting the germans took over the command again. During these 2 months 85% of the city was destroyed by german bombing raids - as punishment for revolting... history in short.

After that we went to the most famous landmark in Warszawa; Pałac Kultury i Nauki - the Palace of Culture and Science. It was a fantastic "gift" from the russians who "kindly allowed" the polish people to build this... thing. The most common joke is that you have the most beautiful view of Warszawa from the tower - since it is the only place you can't really see the building itself.

Finally we went to Hard Rock café to see what the fuss is all about, and it was a great place. Lots of fun, but unfortunately they had to close quite early as the water dissapeared in the building, and therefore the toilets and everything was without water. We found another place and found out that Warszawa is actually a nice city, even though it is not that beautiful in daylight.

Sunday was less of a party...

The forthcoming weekend i will probably go to a Danfoss party Friday with really a LOT of people. Then Saturday i go to Poznan to get to see that before returning Saturday night.

At Danfoss we still play indoor football on Fridays, and in a few weeks they will take down the huge inflated cover over the tennis/soccer field so we can get some fresh air while playing. This is really a nice way to spend Friday afternoons, since i like football, and i get to know some of my polish colleagues outside work. I have also tried to start capoeira classes, but either i have no time due to work or else the teaches is not showing up. It is Monday, Tuesday and Thursday so there should still be enough possibilities to get to try this. Still me and my danish "roommates" are good at motivating each other for jogging so my health is not completely broken by the polish food ;)

GRRR! I wish those strange Americans would sit down for 5 minutes meditation each and everyone and think about who they should vote for. Then after 5 minutes, if they still havent chosen Obama they should just do like Lemmings... ahh good to get it off my chest ;)

Warsaw Apartments

2008-03-27T18:23:00.002+01:00

Yep i finally moved into my own apartment. The buildings where i live are called Warsaw Apartments, so it must be THE place to live in Warsaw. I hope to update the blog more frequently, since i have internet now - a good prerequisite for this type of activity i should say.

Well, my apartment is small but cosy, kitchen, bathroom, livingroom and small bedroom. Full of furniture and stuff so i am not sleeping on the floor or anything strange. my 3 danish colleagues have apartments here as well, so we spend a lot of time together. We share 1 car, so we travel to and from work together daily. Apart from that we work together in the same department as well ;)

My department in Danfoss is really good, with young and energetic people, so i get to have lots of fun in my sparetime. They drag me to concerts and stuff and sometimes we go for a pizza or a beer after work.

Yesterday we went to a small concert place - something like a student house is my best guess - called Proxima. A friend of my colleagues played there, so i have heard the best of the best of polish rock - FABRYKA! Amateur band, singing in polish... but still lots of fun!

This weekend one of the other danes will stay and we will discover Warsaw together. I guess we are prepared for some culture and some fun in the night life as well. Tonight we are headed for a restaurant in Warsaw so we spend some time together not related to work.

Next visit to DK will be in the distant futue i am afraid. After a really nice Easter with family and friends, i plan to spend my holidays (extended weekends) exploring my new surroundings. On the sketch board i have Krakow, Poznan, Gdansk, St. petersburg, Zakopane and then maybe Ukraine and Belarus. Nothing is decided yet, but i want to be really touristic and travel around. Fortunately i have the car most weekends, which makes everything a little easier.

Grodzisk... the middle of nowhere

2008-03-07T09:40:00.004+01:00

Hi

I just realized that Grodzisk is the official middle of nowhere... last night I went to Warsaw, and suddently civilization hit me! After 6 months in Sønderborg, which is also sort of middle of nowhere, I was back in civilization. I haven't yet decided if I like it ;)

I saw my apartment in Warsaw yesterday, since 2 Danfoss guys are living there now, and I will move there from the 25th of March. It is a normal apartment for 1 person, with a small kitchen, living room, bathroom and bedroom... really normal, but probably high-end in polish standards. Really looking forward to having my own kitchen and fridge, and proper internet.

Driving in Warsaw was not too bad, actually I was never really in trouble so I am a bit dissapointed ;) We went to the largest and most central shopping mall, so I could get some shoes for football etc. After that we found a nice polish restaurant, where I could see how the real food and real prices are. At the moment I live in this hotel in Grodzisk, which looks to be the most fancy place in town The food there is ok, but really expensive in polish standards.

The polish food is really good, but there seems to be no such thing as low-fat or similar. I found a blood-sausage similar to the spanish morcilla which was absolutely perfect. After that I was completely full - but it was just the starter... the main course was ok, but I was so full already that i didn't really eat too much. The others had a normal beer - which in this case was 1 liter, at the amazing amount of almost nothing!

Finally I found out that another Danfoss employee is joining us from next week. He was hired recently and this is his first assignment, so I am looking forward to even more danish company here. This weekend I will be the only one left, since my colleagues are in DK, but I have found some things to see and do, as well as some polish colleagues to spend time with, so I should be ok.

First contact

2008-03-04T15:24:00.000+01:00

Hey

After a thorough bullying i have seen it necessary to start blogging, so family and friends can see wtf i am up to.

As most probably know, i just moved to Poland where i will work the next 6 months. At the moment i am living in Grodzisk close to Warsaw, and later i will move closer to the big city.

Life is treating me well, just finished a skiing holiday in Austria without breaking anything. First day i took one run at the childrens hill, and then my 'friends' talked me into taking the lift up the mountain... after some hours of fun, where i really improved a lot, it was time to go down again. Alas, the lift was closed due to the late hour, so we had to ski all the way down the mountain. End of story is that i actually did the Herman Maier Weltcupstrecke on my first day of skiing! Crazy stuff, and in retrospective amazing i didn't fall and break arms and legs... well, but it was fun doing it ;)

Well, now i made the first contact. From here i will try to be as good as my oldest brother in updating this narcissistic attempt of including everyone in my everyday doings, but i can't and won't promise anything.