Finally on site..

Just arrived to the office after about 18hours of travelling. Really tired after a sleepless night (day? I don't really know anymore..) on the plane. I already had my first sushi and now I'm gonna try to get a few hours of work before I go home to unpack and get some rest before dinner. If I don't get lost on the way home that is... =)

oh my god...

ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod

It's time..

Uuuuuuaaaaah!!! Today it's time. The bags are almost packed, and I've realised that I cannot buy anything in Japan without exceeding the weight limit.

It seems like most of you know me quite well considering this weeks poll. I will get back to you if anything extreme happens. I guess we can rule out oversleeping. =)

Warming up by cooling down...

I have had an awesome weekend in Skellefteå!! With lots of food, snow and the greatest friends ever. We went shopping in Umeå and went into a gold mine. How cool is that!! I didn't see any big rocks of gold though and didn't manage to steal anything but a small piece of quartz.

A bunch of photos (some of which are copywrite Anneli ;-) ) are placed on picasa (link to the left).

However, I would like to share some very important experiences.

Skellefteå travelers guide – NOT

• Book the connecting flight from Stockholm so that there are no safety margins.
  Make sure to mess up the flight from Malmö with some kind of technical error so that it will be cancelled.
• Go through the safety control twice, just for the great fun of it, and to get a new boarding pass.
• Get re-booked on a flight that will probably miss the connecting flight to Skellefteå so that you might have to spend the night in Stockholm.
• Miss the flight to Skellefteå by approximately 15min since it was already delayed anyway.
• Get re-booked on a new flight and take the opportunity to do some sightseeing - IN UMEÅ!!
• Spend 1 1/2 hours in a taxi with a very talkative norrlänning as a driver.
• Spend an extra half hour in the taxi since the driver will drop everyone of and doesn't really know his way around in Skellefteå.
• Bring your most common looking bag/suitcase (preferably a black bag) so that one of the co-travelers will without a doubt pick the wrong bag.
• Spend an extra 10min to try to get your bag back.
• Finally arrive approximately 2 1/2 hours late.

Besides the rocky way up, I sure had a great time and I miss you girls already. Can't wait till next time!! Maybe in Borås? =)

Last time for...

... choir practise and choir beer...

Feels so strange that I won't see all my friends as usual every wednesday. I really hope you guys will order an extra beer as if I was still there. ;-)

I will miss you all so much and I'll see you just in time for the trip to Milan!! Yeay!! =)

A small taste of Asia...

Warming up with some sushi.

But I sure hope the sushi in Tokyo will be much tastier...

Unpacking the most important stuff...

Just to be on the safe side, I checked out the list of items you're not allowed to bring in the hand luggage. These are the things I will have to unpack.. Crap...

• Hagelgevär
• Armborst
• Harpuner
• Slaktmasker
• Yxor
• Köttyxor
• Macheter
• Sablar
• Kaststjärnor
• Skärbrännare
• Blydaggar
• Knogjärn
• Spikklubbor
• Sprängämnen
• Minor
• Granater
• Terpentin
• Tårgas

Oh gosh...

The packing has started.. How on earth am I going to do this?! Is it really fair that I'm only allowed to bring the same weight when I'm going to Japan as when I'm going to Skellefteå? I mean.. Skellefteå is so much closer...

Suspicious...

For those of you who guessed that Wednesday would be the day for me to get a cold after seeing my brother's kids (it was actually my guess) might not have been that far off. I feel something suspicious going on in my body... Itchy throat.. headaches... generally feeling weak and tired.. I will follow the progress with great interest!

The great holiday of Tamagotchi

It seems like most of you prefer the great Tamagotchi day.

I must say that I agree. It sure is a magnificent little creature that we celebrate!!

This weekend I spent with my family. Friday to Sunday at my brothers house with his wife and kids. Sunday to Monday at my mothers and Daniels house. As usual lots and lots of sweets and delicious food (a manificent lamb steak with potato gratin and red wine sauce for example. Yummi for the tummy!!). I also picked up a suitcase the size of a small country. Might come in handy! ;-)

I have thought a bit about how it would be to live abroad for a couple of years. But seeing my niece and nephew and realising how much that happens in just a month or two it seems impossible to be able to stay away that long. I'll probably just stay put in Sweden.. =)

Finally weekend... almost..

Tomorrow it's finally Friday! It's been an exhausting week for sure.. But tomorrow the great family weekend starts!! I'm gonna go straight to my brother and sister in law straight after work, and on Sunday I leave for mom and Daniel.

I would like to start a small bet:
How many days will it take after seeing my niece and nephew before I get a cold? ;-)

Depressing results...

I must say that I'm utterly disappointed that you don't have more faith in me... Apparently most of you think that I will overload my luggage quite extensively. I guess I will just have to go to great lengths to prove you all wrong!! Moahaha!!!

Today I have continued my meet-all-my-friends-and-family-before-I-leave procedure. Today it was Anna-Carins turn. It's always very nice to see her, and although we lead very different lifes we always have loads to talk about.

The workload in the project continues to increase. Every week we spend a couple of extra hours at work and still there is so much more we should've done. Maybe that's a good thing so I can slowly adapt to the amount of work I will have in Japan.

I have also realized that I will miss out on a couple of Swedish holidays like easter and May 1st. Instead I will celebrate Shōwa no hi, Kenpou kinenbi, Midori no hi and Kodomo no hi. Sounds like fun!! =)

Smile!!

Just added a box to the left with links to the webalbums I will put on Picasa. So far only pictures from the Melodifestival in Malmö.

Spring time is near!!!

To-Do

I must say that I had a very effective day yesterday. Got rid of a couple of things on my list before the trip.

• Tickets (quite nice to have like 14500kr as an extra expense this month...)
• Get a Euro Bonus card
• New credit/bank card without any fees for withdrawals or currency exchanges.
• Forwarding my mail to my parents.

Things still left to do:

• Schedule a hair cut
• Install iTunes and Picasa on my work computer
• Call my dad
• Visit my mom and D
• Visit my brother and the family
• Install Skype on my parents computer (don't really feel like paying 33,95kr/min for calling them or 19,95kr/min for them to call me...)
• Buy books for the trip
• Buy deodorant and tights (apperently the quality of deo and the sizes of tights are not really what you would wish for...)
• Buy new earpieces for my iPod

And last but not least..

• Packing (but I guess that can wait a couple of weeks..)

Now I'm gonna have some breakfast and then I'll see if i can get rid of a couple of more things on my list. After that I'm going to the gym (hmm.... wonder how I'm gonna be able to work out in Tokyo..). And finally tonight there's a housewarming party! It's gonna be a great day! =)

Tickets finally booked!!

I have booked the tickets!!!! I had to read through my booking like 5 times and ask for moral support from a colleague before I dared to push the button. I got tickets for the direct flight between Copenhagen - Tokyo. Thank God for that!!! I was dreading the multiple airport thingy..

I leave 090330 1545 and return 090529 1140.

The plot thickens...

The work load is increasing for sure.. The customer isn't really satisfied with the quality of what we have delivered, so my guess is that it will be all work and no fun when I'm in Tokyo. I'm looking forward to long hours and lots and lots of stress.

The days of travelling are slowly taking place. The last suggestion was that I leave 30/4 and go back 29/5. 9 whole weeks. I don't think I've ever been away from home that long..

It was choir practice today. Feels a bit weird and quite sad to be practicing for a concert I will never attend. I will sure miss all my friends there and the kick you get from the concerts. Looking forward to the trip this summer though. If I can get vacation that is...

I hate it when I hear my mother's voice on the machine and immediately know that she has bad news... very unexpected news as well. It's strange how things can change in the split of a second.. =(

Those Japanese people....

.... must really love their excel sheets...

Everything has a beginning..

Okey, so it's finally time for me to enter my spot in cyberspace. So hi, and thanks for poppin' in!!=)

So why do I start right now? Well, I'm leaving for Tokyo in a couple of weeks and will be working there 6-8 weeks. If you miss me and would enjoy knowing what I'm up to you could always have a glance here. After that, I don't know. Maybe I've been blog bitten and will just keep on going and going.. or it will just fade away. My guess is that this blog will be filled with loads of other stuff than just the trip.

Despite the fact that it's a month before I leave I have already, in a classical Alexandra manner, started to write lists of all things I need to sort out, buy and pack.. How on earth am I going to be away that long and still only be allowed 20kg of luggage?! I have already realized that I will need about 10 pairs of shoes.. add to that my make-up and I will already have exceeded the weight limit.
Well well.. I think I will have time to consider it over and over a few times before then.

I think this is the beginning of a really great trip!! =)