the opening ceremony

Today I will be blogging about a sports event. For those of you who know me well this might come as a shock, but it can't be helped, this must be said. I was watching parts of the opening ceremonies for the Olympics this morning. And I liked it.

There. I said it. I feel better for it.

I tried to watch the part where all the ones who are to compete walks in, but got too bored. I did, however, very much enjoy the parts with all the dancers, the whales were fantastic, the trees, the stars and the Northern Lights and the magnificent voice of Donald Sutherland. It was a beautiful part of the ceremony, wasn't it? And to make things even better, all by a sudden the fantastic Shane Koyczan appeared. I loved that part!

Perhaps sports aren’t so boring and incomprehensible after all?

So, to celebrate the spirit of the Olympics (there is such a one, I'm told) here is my favourite poem by Koyczan:

Why leave food or cookies out on Christmas Eve?

Do you know why it's done? Is it to bribe Santa, or to say thank you for the gifts under the tree?

Well, perhaps to modern minds it is, but the tradition goes back further than Christmas trees. Way up here in Scandinavia we know that the one we need to please is not Santa, the one bringing the gifts, but the house elf. We know, or at leaste we used to know, that in every house and home there is an elf living. He's the one who blows out the candles we forgot to blow out before we went to bed, he's the one who puts the keys in the middle of the table when we just can't remember where we put them, the one who wakes us just in time to make it if we skip breakfast when we forgot to set the alarm. That is, when he's pleased with us.

He's also the one who hides the keys so well you just can't find them, turns off the alarm, spills the coffee all over the floor, ties your shoestrings together in ten thousand knots when you are in a hurry. When he's displeased with you.

On Christmas Eve he expects you to share your meal with him, both to say thank you for all the good things he's done for you during the year but also to show that you recognize him and admit that he actually is a part of the household.

So for your own sake I hope you left him something to eat?

Yikes!

A colleague just shared a Really Creepy Story with me over the 'net, I read it and replied an onomatopoetic 'Yikes!' To further foreground my reaction I made it big and red and underlined it.

It left her totally confused.

She figured it was some sort of abbreviation and tried to decipher it, to no avail. Since it isn't.

Communication is not to be taken for granted.

Cute as a button!

We were watching Swedish Idol tonight, and the first contestant stole our hearts! Did you ever see such a cute artist? Durna will get my vote, every week, if she goes all the way.

And if she doesn't, guess who'll not be voting even once?

That's how cute she is!

Old students

Our students go out into the big wild world and do amazing things, become amazing people and every now and then I come across them again. As I mentioned last week I've spent a few days at a university in a different part of the country. Today one of my fellow students posted this to say 'thank you and see you again in October' and to my suprise I find an old Hvilan student in the video and once again I'm proud to be able to show the world the musical talent of our students:

Library

This beautiful school has got a new library. It's very small and very nice, and I'm very happy to be able to show it to you:



I hope that in a few weeks it will not only be nice, but also frequented by students who will feel welcome and at home in it.

Dear neighbourhood

Dear neighbours,

There are many different kinds of neighbourhoods. Some are all new and shiny, in some there are huge private gardens with flowers ans things, some are more of the lived in kind, and some rather worn down.

One thing they all have in common, one very important thing, is that in them people live. Adults, old people, children, all ages share the area that is the neighbourhood.

Another thing that makes one neighbourhood different from another is how people in it live. Some areas are very quiet all the time, others sometime. In some there is a constant background of sounds and voices.

Let's be honest, shall we? Silence would not become our neighbourhood. It's much more natural with a certain amount of sound when 600 people share an area this small, so let the kids play, ok?