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Helsingbloggin' - Malmö

Helsingbloggin' - Malmö
A British-Canadian expat's observations and opinions about Helsingborg and Malmö, Sweden.

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Articles: 1, 2, 3, 4

Articles

Friday July 25th, 2008: Letting it all hang out at Helsingborg's Festival,
2008-07-25 17:10:00
What I think:Just about every medium-to-"large" town and city in Sweden has a festival at some point during the summer months. Helsingborgsfestivalen started last night, so the girlfriend and I went to check it out. During the festival, many streets are closed off, and there are several stages dotted across the city, with all sorts of different music - something for everyone. They're not all brilliant, but depending on what you're into, many are worth checking out. It's really the only time that Helsingborg really comes alive, and has a good sparkly atmosphere. People are relaxed and chilled out; they just let it all hang out.There were a few bands/artists that my girlfriend specifically wanted to see last night, so off we went. It was a great evening for it; pleasantly warm, and not a nasty cloud in the sky (just a few of those nice white fluffy ones).The first gig we were to see was Mikael Wiehe and Ebba Forsberg. They're kind of folky. My girlfriend's parents also wanted to ...
More About: Festival , Friday , Letting , July , Hang

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008: A Swedish Wedding - not in Helsingborg
2008-07-08 12:43:00
What I think:Last Saturday, I went to a wedding with my girlfriend. It was the matrimony of a couple of friends she's known for a number of years.The wedding itself was to take place in a church in a town with an unpronounceable name, near a town called Höör, which I would wrongly (and very inappropriately) pronounce Whore.But first, we stopped off to visit the bride-to-be, so that my girlfriend could help her get ready, and offer moral support on this most important, yet stressful, day. This was in a town called Hörby (which is pronounced rather unlike Herbie), which is located just over an hour's drive away from Helsingborg.When we got to the church, we parked about a short walk away, and made our way to the grounds. This is where I learned my first lesson about Swedish weddings: you have to shake hands with, and introduce yourself to, everyone. There were about a hundred people there, so this took some time. I don't think I've said "Mark" as many times in all my life as I did...
More About: Wedding , Tuesday , July , 2008

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008: A Swedish Wedding - not in Helsingborg
2008-07-08 10:43:00
What I think:Last Saturday, I went to a wedding with my girlfriend. It was the matrimony of a couple of friends she's known for a number of years.The wedding itself was to take place in a church in a town with an unpronounceable name, near a town called Höör, which I would wrongly (and very inappropriately) pronounce Whore.But first, we stopped off to visit the bride-to-be, so that my girlfriend could help her get ready, and offer moral support on this most important, yet stressful, day. This was in a town called Hörby (which is pronounced rather unlike Herbie), which is located just over an hour's drive away from Helsingborg.When we got to the church, we parked about a short walk away, and made our way to the grounds. This is where I learned my first lesson about Swedish weddings: you have to shake hands with, and introduce yourself to, everyone. There were about a hundred people there, so this took some time. I don't think I've said "Mark" as many times in all my life as I did...
More About: Wedding , Tuesday , July , 2008

Saturday, May 31st, 2008: Swedes and Stripes, and the kids are alright in H
2008-05-31 15:09:00
What I think:Before I get into this, I'd like to share the end of my African scammer story that I wrote about last week. I'd gotten yet another e-mail after my last, somewhat convoluted, response. It read:Dear Mr Mark Base,Please i can't understand you and did not know what you mean by this mail, I ask you for your full informations so that i can give you the bank contact and you are now writeing to me what i don't understand, so please if you cab help send me your contact informations before i can send you the bank contact and the document ok.Your's.Miss IbrahimHere was my reply to that:Dear Miss Ibrahim, I'm sorry for any misunderstandings. My understanding was that you understood, but I guess I misunderstood. I can now say that I fully understand your misunderstanding.Now that we understand each other, maybe you can help me to understand what it is you want from me exactly.Correct me if I misunderstood but, in your last e-mail to me, you asked me some questions which, to th...
More About: Kids , The Kids , Saturday , Stripes , Alright

Friday, May 23rd, 2008: Scamming scammers from Africa from Helsingborg
2008-05-23 01:08:00
What I think:OK, so I haven't been the best blogger for the past year or so. I haven't provided my adoring public (of four people) with the regular, constant, entertainment they had come to expect from me.And for that I apologise.At this point, I really don't want to make any promises I can't keep, so I will say this: I will massage any grandmothers from Boise, Idaho, who see this blog entry and answer within the next two days (offer valid from May 23rd until the 25th, 2008 ). And I will make an effort to blog a bit more frequently. OK?At this point, however, I would just like to share with you a little e-mail conversation I had with an e-mail scammer today, probably from Nigeria (in Africa ), but I can't be sure. It touched my heart. You wanna know what it said? It said:I am Miss.Hamiya Ibrahim the only Daughter Of Mr And Mrs Aziz Ibrahim from Ivory Coast. I am an Orphan being that I lost my Parents. My Father was a serving director of the Cocoa exporting board until his death....
More About: Friday

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008: Rest in peace, John Aherne - A day of sadness
2008-03-26 14:36:00
What I think:I'm very sad to relay the news that John Aherne, an Irish tourist who went missing in Stockholm over St Patrick's Day weekend, has drowned.His body was recovered just before midday in the water at Norra Hammarby harbour, in the southern part of central Stockholm.I'd written a couple of posts about John's mysterious disappearance, and had been hoping that he would be found safe and well. This is truly tragic, and my deepest heartfelt condolences go out to John's family and friends.The events, from when John went missing, to when the news broke, and leading right up until I sit here writing this, are covered quite touchingly on the discussion forum on The Local (Sweden's news in English). It starts with Karl (John's host in Stockholm) explaining the circumstances surrounding John's disappearance, and the other regulars then offer help, support, hope and prayers (which they maintain throughout). The forum is then visited by many, many people from Ireland, some of w...
More About: Peace , Rest In Peace , Sadness , March

Sunday, March 23rd, 2008: Pools of sorrow, waves of joy in Helsingborg
2008-03-23 22:48:00
What I think:Firstly, it's with a heavy heart that I update you about John Aherne, the Irish tourist who went missing in Stockholm last Saturday night. John is still missing, and the Stockholm police revealed on Friday their fear that he may have drowned in a nearby harbour. The Local (Sweden's news in English), wrote: "Police conducted a dive in the Norra Hammarby area Södermalm in south-central Stockholm on Thursday and confirmed that something, as yet unidentified, has been found."Today, police conducted another dive - for five hours - which, sadly, proved inconclusive. A further dive is due to take place on Tuesday. Another long, worrisome wait.Police intend to contact the coastguard, and make use of their Remote Operated Vehicle to help with the search.Family and friends are praying that police fears are unfounded, and that John is safe somewhere else. And the online discussion forum on The Local, on which John's mate Karl is a regular, has been host to a number of John's f...
More About: Sunday , March , Waves , Pools , 2008

Thursday, March 20th, 2008: Desperately seeking John Aherne: Irish tourist
2008-03-20 15:56:00
What I think: OK, I know I haven't blogged for a long while, and I will get around to doing a "normal" post at sometime in the near future (I promise), but I want to take this opportunity to spread the word about an Irish tourist who went missing in Stockholm last Saturday night. John Aherne was over from Ireland, visiting his friend Karl. During an evening out together with a group of friends, John decided to leave the group and head back to Karl's (Karl had given him some spare keys). He stopped for a nightcap at the restaurant on the ground floor of Karl's flat. While he was there, he just popped out for a smoke - leaving his coat and mobile at the bar - and has not been seen since. This was in the southern part of the city, on Katarina Bangata.I "know" Karl through the discussion forum on thelocal.se (Sweden's news in English). See the links below for more information, and if you know people living in that area, please pass this on.The Local's discussion forum:http://www.t...
More About: March , Thursday , Seeking

Wednesday, January 23rd, 2008: Företagsrock - Corporate Battle of The Bands
2008-01-23 16:05:00
What I think:Every year, The Tivoli, Helsingborg's main music venue, hosts a Battle of The Bands competition, in which employees from different companies compete. It's called Företagsrock (or "Company Rock").Last year, I had joined a band with some IKEA people, and we decided to enter this year's contest. Because two of the other guys work in a building called Sockerbruket (or "The Sugar Refinery", as it used to be), I half-jokingly suggested that we call ourselves "Suckerbucket".And so it came to pass that Suckerbucket was created, an application was made to enter the competition, and there was much rejoicing (and some rehearsing).We were to play in the very first contest of the first round, against two other bands, on January 17th, 2008. Here's the poster: I would have preferred some kind of photo showing all four of us, but it was decided that this was too cool an image not to use.On the night...As it turned out, one of the two other bands cancelled for some reason, so it was...
More About: Corporate , Wednesday

Sunday, December 30th, 2007: Happy New Year, and Helsingborg - The Video (i
2007-12-30 18:04:00
What I think:Firstly, let me take this opportunity to wish all Helsingblog readers a Happy New Year ; this includes the occasional and accidental, as well as the regulars.Here's looking at you:Now that that's out of the way...I realised today that this blog is now two years old. Hurrah! Two years of memories and idiotic observations immortalised here. I love this big webby thing.I know I used to write a lot more than I do these days, but please bear with me; I'm still kind of distracted with starting up my business here. So far, I've managed to get officially registered, I've received one of the tax documents I'll need, and I've got a logo.Check this out:What do you think? Yes, the company name is We Can English; kind of an ironic play on words. You see, I've noticed (more than once) that some Swedes who are misguidedly confident about their English proficiency will say, "I can English". This is because, in Swedish, the "speak" or "write" that you'd think should be in this s...
More About: Video , Sunday , Happy New Year

Sunday, December 9th, 2007: An update and a Helsingblaze
2007-12-09 21:10:00
What I think:OK, time for an update. Sorry about the lengthy pause. As a fellow blogger, Kellypea from Kellementology, said in a comment on my last post, "There's no vacation in bloggsville."I know this is no excuse, but I have been rather preoccupied over the past couple of months. I promise to be more prolific in my posts...soon."So, what have you been up to, then?", I hear you ask, in a most charmingly apathetic manner. Well, grab a coffee and/or some amphetamines to keep yourself awake, and I'll tell you.Firstly, I've been looking into starting my own business here in the south of Sweden. That's right, after working with the same company for over twenty-one years, and in three different countries, I'm leaving IKEA.I'll be a freelance copywriter, and I'll mainly be working, I think, with copy-editing and improving English texts. You see, most Swedes can (and do) write fairly well in English, but not all write that well. For some global Swedish companies based here, or even...
More About: Sunday , Update , December

Saturday, October 6th, 2007: Movin' on up (?) in Helsingborg
2007-10-06 23:01:00
What I think:One of the many excuses I have for not not having been so very present in the blogosphere these days is that I was busy moving. You may remember that I mentioned some time ago that there's a definite north-south divide here in Helsingborg; many people living in the northern part of the city can be rather snobby, and think that the people living in the southern part are all criminally insane foreign people. That's only partly true.But I've now moved to the north, so that should even things out a bit.There's a bit of a twist to this though, so bear with me.When I first started seeing my girlfriend, nearly a year ago, she had recently rented a flat (US/CAN: apartment) in Stattena (pronounced Sta-tay-na), an area in the northern part of Helsingborg.She's very much a southern Helsingborg girl, except for the fact that she's not foreign. And that her criminal insanity is barely perceptible.But she'd found this nice little place, it was exactly what she was looking for ...
More About: Saturday , October

Saturday, October 6th, 2007: Movin' on up (?) in Helsingborg
2007-10-06 23:01:00
What I think:One of the many excuses I have for not not having been so very present in the blogosphere these days is that I was busy moving. You may remember that I mentioned some time ago that there's a definite north-south divide here in Helsing borg; many people living in the northern part of the city can be rather snobby, and think that the people living in the southern part are all criminally insane foreign people. That's only partly true.But I've now moved to the north, so that should even things out a bit.There's a bit of a twist to this though, so bear with me.When I first started seeing my girlfriend, nearly a year ago, she had recently rented a flat (US/CAN: apartment) in Stattena (pronounced Sta-tay-na), an area in the northern part of Helsingborg.She's very much a southern Helsingborg girl, except for the fact that she's not foreign. And that her criminal insanity is barely perceptible.But she'd found this nice little place, it was exactly what she was looking for ...
More About: Saturday , October

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