So it's harder than you think

Ok so this mail carrying is harder than you think.  It's not all sunshine and loveliness being outside in the day frolicking around with butterflies.  Don't get me wrong, I still really enjoy the job, but it's tough on you!  Running up and down 3 flights of stairs in every single entryway (and trust me, there are hundreds of entryways on a daily route) really kills you!  If you're not used to running up and down stairs every day for several hours on end.  I think I'll purchase some knee braces because they're definitely taking some beatings, and rebelling at me for it.

Yesterday I was given, apparently, what is known as "slaktrundan" which I didn't know until I returned from it.  Slaktrundan, translated, is The Slaughter Round.  Each of us has a different round each day, of course.  Apparently I got the short stick yesterday.  No, what really makes a round difficult is not having done it before.  You have your map to go by and you have to figure out where to go on top of figuring out how certain buildings work.  It's amazing how seemingly stupid some buildings were built.

Two buildings in the very beginning of my route yesterday were built, I must say, in the stupidest way possible.  There is an elevator, but it only lets you off on the 2nd, 5th and 8th floors of the building, though it has 11 floors.  Then off the elevator is a main hall with maybe 4 apartment doors.  Then there are 2 stairwells that go off of the main corridor, the right side and the left side.  Off the stairwells are 2 apartment doors on each floor.  How stupid can that be? So you have to run up and down the stairs on both sides of the building.  It's an unnecessary extra amount of work and time for us mail folks.  I spoke to a girl around my age yesterday in the building who clearly lives there, and she was totally in agreement with me about how stupid the building was.  She suggested there should just be mailboxes down in the lobby.  You know, where the resident can open it with their own little key.  It would save us a ton of time and frustration.

But once you know a route, you can zoom through it much more easily and quickly.  Currently I have one favorite route, simply because I've done it twice and now it's just easy as pie to do.  It also has no "springtrappor" or "run stairs".  You know, the buildings that have only 3 floors and you have to run up and down them to deliver the mail through the door slots.  My favorite round just has some highrises where you take the elevator to the top then run down all the stairs to deliver the mail.  Then it has a ton of row buildings, but they all have boxes on the ground floor so it's just go in, shoot the mail in the right boxes, go out and repeat.

Enough of that.  Today I have the day off, as yesterday morning I was feeling dizzy/slightly feverish when sorting mail.  Then, when out on my round, I only finished 3 of the 5 boxes of mail I needed to deliver and I was just completely worn.  I'm not sure why I felt so poorly even from stepping out of bed yesterday, but I did, and it reflected in my performance on the round.  Not to mention it was the slaughter round.  I feel bad having not finished it, but I did my best.  I guess I should really start doing some strength-training at home so I can build up muscles even more so that I can have even more stamina!  It's only been 2.5 weeks though so I know I'm still adjusting.

It's almost September, can you believe it?  Where has 2012 gone.  A lot of changes have happened since the year started.  It's almost strange to think about our previous home in Skövde.  It's where I spent well over a year living and yet it seems like we've always lived here in our Gothenburg apartment.  Life in Gothenburg is utterly different from how life was in Skövde. There, I never worked, and studied.  Here, I've taken a distance course but it was never studying daily at school like I did in Skövde.  I also have worked here, a lot, you could say, at least in comparison with in Skövde.  I worked with J a ton from March through to June or so.  Then I had that week-long stint as a personal assistant, and here I am as a freshly made mail carrier.  My, how life can change so quickly!  Began the year in Skövde, moved shortly thereafter to Gothenburg, and have worked 3 different jobs since, while acquiring Swedish B certification.  I wonder how much more will happen before the year ends?

Who knew that I would love being a mail carrier?

Still loving the new job!  The variation of tasks, the exercise, new and friendly people, as well as friendly people who talk to you as you deliver their mail.  For me it's completely enjoyable!  Today was my first day going out on a round on my own.  This week there was a much larger amount of mail.  Last week when I went out with the girl who was training me, we had maybe 3 boxes of mail and then that was split between us.  So I was only doing 1.5 boxes of mail last week.  Today I had 4 full boxes of mail to deliver all on my own!  It took me a lovely 3 hours and 45 minutes to do, but I got it done!  Needless to say, I am beat today.

I love this new feeling of being physically exhausted at the ends of the days.  I haven't felt like that in a long time (thanks to not being so active, for shame, I know I know).  It's just so wonderful!  I know it may sound a bit weird to enjoy being tired but compare it to that happy tired feeling after a good workout.  So overall, no complaints about the job, I enjoy the variety, and I even almost look forward to going in whenever I do.  That's not supposed to normally happen when you go to work, right? ;-)

Not much else is new in Gbg.  This past weekend a couple of childhood friends of J's were in town attending a music festival, so we got together all Saturday afternoon since the show they wanted to see wasn't until the evening.  It was nice meeting a new face and seeing another face I hadn't seen in a year or so.  The four of us enjoyed an afternoon sitting out, eating lunch, and drinking a couple of beers at Halta Lotta's.  It's apparently become our favorite go to little pub.  It's the nicest one in our area and has good prices.  The weather was just beautiful this weekend, probably around 70F and sunny as could be.  Sitting outside enjoying good company was the ideal way to enjoy the good weather.

Yesterday J's parents stopped over and took us out to lunch.  They were in town for a birthday party and of course to visit J's sister's family as well.  It was a nice weekend with some visitors from out of town.  It's always nice to see familiar faces!

I have an eye appointment this coming Friday with the optician.  Last year I went to a friend of ours in Tibro, since he's an optician, but now we live too far away for it to be convenient.  So I'll be trying a completely new place here in Gothenburg.  Every year my eyesight gets just a bit worse to where I need to get a new prescription for my contact lenses.  I may even get new glasses...but it feels like I just got new glasses because I got my current ones just last July.  I usually wait two years to get new glasses because it just feels like money going down the drain since I get a new prescription yearly.  I can really notice the difference though with my current prescription, how my glasses don't help me as much as they used to.  I have a coupon for a nice chunk off of 6 months of contacts, so maybe I'll break down and get the glasses along with the contacts.  Contacts are first priority, though.

I don't really have much else to say!  I just had to exclaim a bit more about how pleased I am with the new job!  I was afraid of another fiasco like my previous job, but happily it's been completely the opposite.  My biggest fear has always been language in Sweden, I just hate when I can't understand my surroundings.  Even though now I've passed Swedish B, I still had a bit of insecurity about not being understood by Swedes.  Things have, however, gone swimmingly!

Exhaustion

I apologize for not updating yesterday, as it was my first day at my new job.  I was just so utterly exhausted yesterday after I got home from work I could barely do anything other than lie on the couch and watch the Olympics.  I also was incredibly stiff/sore, which I am today, as well.  When you're not used to riding a bike laden with mail and running up and down stairs for several hours in a day, you feel it in your body!  Not to mention being on your feet for 8 hours a day.  It's been a few years since I had such a job, and I can tell that those years have come and gone!

That being said, so far I am really enjoying the job!  I love that you work along with people and yet on your own, and I love being out and about for a few hours a day very clearly getting good exercise.  You also know you're performing a service for people that is somewhat crucial (less nowadays than before) to society!  Who doesn't love getting a piece of mail?  (Well besides a bill or something else possibly negative...but hey you wouldn't know the good side of life without the bad).

I've also learned the ropes pretty quickly (dealing out post is much more complicated than you'd think!) and feel comfortable in the job which is just of utmost importance to me now after my last experience.  I guess I've dodged having an uncomfortable job up until recently - I suppose I've been pretty lucky.

J is in the kitchen currently making a rhubarb crumble pie which I am excited about!  We've only had one rhubarb pie so far this summer and I think that was way back in May.  We're about due for another delicious rhubarb treat!

No more school!

Yesterday I downloaded, answered, and turned in my examinationsuppgift, or examination task, directly translated.  It was the final test for the Swedish B class I've been taking all summer.  This morning I had a meeting with a teacher and gave a little 5 minute speech, and we also discussed my overall grade.  She was a substitute, as my real teacher is on vacation, so this is the third teacher I've had in my little 10 week course.  In any case, she was super nice, around my age, and had even studied in Wisconsin and visited Iowa, so she was familiar with the Midwest and knew where Ohio was.  It was nice meeting her!  What's better is that overall in the course she gave me a VG - väl godkänt, or "well passed," you could call it.

The grading system goes like this: IG (icke godkänt, or fail), G (godkänt, pass), VG (val godkänt, well passed), and MVG (mycket väl godkänt, very well passed).  I always joke to J that Sweden has a Harry Potter system of grading since it seems like they just put some random letters to grade you.  But once you learn what they mean it makes more sense.  So I'd say in the American system I probably got a "B" for an overall course grade, so I'll take it.  Also, if I'm not mistaken I think they're introducing a new grading system next year or so.  Perhaps I'll report back on that matter.

I'm just glad to be done with school!  The course seemed like an annoying buzzing fly all summer since it is indeed summer and the entire country just about shuts down for the season.  Every other week I had assignments due so there was just enough lull time to almost forget I was actually partaking in a Swedish class.  But I did give it substantial effort, and it paid off.  Luckily nothing was too difficult for me at all, which I take as a good sign.  The teacher earlier today was extremely impressed (not that I picked up on it, but she actually told me) with the fact that I've lived here not even two years, have really only been studying Swedish for 1.5 years, and yet I've mastered the language so quickly.  I always tell people who are impressed that when you move to a new country and have nothing else to do (as you're not really job-worthy) and you have the will, you can learn the language pretty quickly.  Plus, I like languages, so that's really helped me, too.

I have now until Monday as a mini-vacation.  On Monday I start my new job.  How time flies!  I can't believe today is August 1st already.  In just two weeks or so J and I will have lived in Gothenburg for 6 months - half a year!  Sometimes it seems much longer that we've been here, and sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday we moved in with killer ice on the sloping hill of our street.

I've been really wanting to go chanterelle mushroom picking lately.  Maybe I'll just venture into a nearby wooded area by myself today and see if there are any to pluck up.  Last year my friend M and I went on an adventure near Skövde and it was a blast.  I wonder if as much fun can be had mushroom hunting by yourself?

Hooray for good days!

I'm going in later today to the office where I had the interview on Monday so that I can sign some papers and get put on their roster!  In other words, I got the job! Hooray!

I have a feeling I will be much more secure and happy in this sort of position as mail carrier than as my personal assistant fluke back in June.  I start two weeks from now.  Hopefully, finally, I can begin to make some sizable amount of money.

Yesterday was the best day I've had in a really long time.  J decided not to work, so we got up and went shopping downtown beginning at 10:30, and he ended up getting himself a new acoustic guitar.  I helped him pick it out - it is worlds better than his old one!  He said he picked out and bought his old guitar back when he couldn't even play chords, so it's no wonder he didn't really have any know-how back then.  But he just wanted a cheap guitar to get started on so it has served its purpose.  While in the guitar shop (Gitarren) yesterday (thankfully it was pretty much silent in there) I got a call from the woman who interviewed me on Monday asking if I was still interested in taking the job.  Absolutely!  So we made an appointment for me to come in later today and sign some papers and do all that boring stuff before you can start working somewhere.

It was beautiful and sunny yesterday, not a cloud in the sky, and it was actually up around 25C (77F).  After getting home from being out and about, I suggested we go swimming at a nearby swimming spot that I've heard a lot about, but never had a chance to check out.  We actually hadn't been swimming at all here in the Gbg region so it was our first time.  We decided to ride our bikes down to Härlanda tjärn and take a dip as it was pretty hot-feeling yesterday (for Sweden, anyway).  Google Maps said it would take about 15 minutes to ride there, but they didn't take into consideration that the entire way there is uphill from where we live.  It probably took us closer to 25 minutes.  The way home, however, was super quick!  The water, to me, was cooold, coming from Ohio where it gets up to 35C (95F) pretty much guaranteed every summer, and where pool waters warm up to 26C (80F) with no problem.  The water in Härlanda tjärn was probably around 20C (68F) and so at first it was a huge shock.  It did feel pretty good after a bit, though.  J kept saying, "It's not cold. This is probably about as warm as it will get."  We probably only swam for about 10 minutes (plenty, when the water is that "refreshing") due to the fact that there was a snake swimming our way in the water.  We hopped out as quickly as we could.

We rode our bikes home, quickly showered and then headed to one of our favorite little pub spots, Halta Lotta's, that is about a 15 minute walk from our place.  We had a lovely dinner with dessert then finally headed home to stay in for the rest of the evening (it was nearly 9pm by the time we got in).  It felt like a true vacation day!  The best part was that we spent the whole day seeing different parts of Gothenburg that we'd never really seen before.  So we indulged a bit, but that's okay.  I deemed our eating out as a celebration dinner for my securing a job that I think will be great for me.

Just before bed, I began the 5th book of the Sookie Stackhouse series (books that the HBO show True Blood is based upon) that I'd bought at the Science-Fiction Bookstore we had visited earlier in the day.  Nothing is better than ending a great day reading a good book!

Summer happenings and an interview

A lot has been going on with J and I!  I meant to post on Friday but then I got called in to do some testing and manual writing for the very part time job I do with J and his software program, so posting got put on hold.

Not this past weekend, but the weekend before, J and I and some Swedish friends made a trip to Norway!  A friend of their lives there with his Norwegian sambo and they invited a group of us to come stay for a weekend since they'd recently bought a house.  It was lovely where they live, it's on an island outside of Kristiansand, Norway.  Although, when you look at the map, it doesn't seem that far from here in Gothenburg, it took nearly 10 hours to travel there.  First, we drove 2 hours up to Strömstad, then we had to wait a little over an hour for the ferry from Strömstad to Sandefjord, Norway.  You have to get there at least an hour in advance, and you line up your car in the rows.  The ferry ride itself takes about 2.5 hours, and then there are 3 more hours of driving, possibly 3.5, left in Norway to do until you get there.  Phew!

The ferry ride on the way there made the 3 of us girls in the travelling group sick.  It was so incredibly windy that day, and the boat was hitting the waves just in the wrong way that when you looked out the windows you saw water, briefly land, then high sky.  Repeat.  It made my stomach feel as if I'd eaten something rotten.  Luckily one of the other girls had a stomach settling chew/gum type thing that numbs your mouth.  It settles your stomach a bit while making you focus on the fact that you can't feel your tongue or cheeks anymore.  Needless to say, I was very happy to get off the ferry.

The weekend was wonderful!  There were a total of 9 of us and it was a perfectly sized group.  Since they live on a little island, we went down to the water and fished a bit, grilled, played a game called kubb, watched a movie in a big school theater, and played sand volleyball.  It was a blast!  And something I definitely needed.  It was good to see our Swedish friends that we rarely get to see, and also to get out somewhere new and out of my little hole of Gothenburg.  It was beautiful and sunny all weekend too!  J and I slept in a tent outside and as it got down to 9C or so (48F) at night it was a bit chilly!  We had thermal sleeping bags, but I literally had to zip mine up to where only my face poked out.  J made fun of me saying I slept like I was in a sarcaphogus.  It's pretty true!

This was the spot where we went fishing and grilling.  Above is the view out to the water and other islands/mainland around the area.  Below is if you turn to your right/around.  Those were little summer boathouses people stay in for their summer vacations.  Many of them were also out enjoying the sun and grilling.

This past weekend we went to the big horse racing event outside of Skövde in Axevalla with J's dad, some relatives, and our friend O.  I got a sunburn, but that can be expected.  I'm happy to finally be getting some sun and not look like a phantom!  We spent the evening at some friends' house in Tibro and spent the night with J's parents there as well.  His sister's family was there, and his brother and sambo came over for lunch yesterday.  It was nice to have a big family lunch.  We drove home yesterday afternoon.

J and I have complained about not having a single whole weekend in Gbg since the beginning of May.  We're hoping this upcoming weekend will finally be some total down time for us.

This morning I had an interview with Bring Citymail as a letter carrier.  It went really well!  Basically you're a mail person but riding a bike.  You sort all the mail first for the morning and in the afternoon or starting late morning you go out and deliver the mail.  It's not Posten, which is Sweden's equivalent of USPS.  It's a smaller, more efficient (they cut out a middle process) way of doing mail.  It's also less personal mail and more company/bills/advertisement mail.  I will know by Wednesday if I'm hired, so I'll be sure to get back to you all!

Happy Birthday, to me!

This past Saturday was my birthday!  It also happened to be the day that we threw my friend M a bachelorette party, as she and her Swede are leaving today for the US and will be married by this time next month.  In short, it was a fun and busy weekend!

We threw the party in Skövde and had a blast with it.  We had a friend pick M up from her house, and then we led her around town for a little over an hour on a quiz/mission thing.  At each stop (which she had to figure out herself where she was supposed to go by us giving a clue) there was another person waiting for her to give her a question about her man.  So that way it was a surprise for her about who was able to come to her party.  If she got the quiz question right, she got a "prize" item to wear, and the same for if she got it wrong it was her "punishment."  It was hilarious to see her all dressed up with a cat tail, cat mask, hot pink boa, and all sorts of other silly stuff.  By the end of the mission we were smack in the downtown mall with tons of people gawking and staring at the loud gaggle of women laughing, and the one looking outrageous.  Even the bus drivers going by waved at her.  After that, we made a taco lunch at her house, went to the Skövde Arena for some relaxing spa time, got ready at her house then went out for a nice dinner and some dancing afterwards. All in all, a fun day with girl-friends!

They even surprised me in the middle of the day with birthday cupcakes, flowers, and a gift bag!  It was so sweet of them I did not expect it at all.  The flowers were bright and happy.

On Friday night, J surprised me a day early for my birthday as he knew I would be gone all day (my train left at 8am Saturday morning).  When he came home from work he rang the doorbell which is just odd, who rings their own doorbell?  So I opened it expecting his hands must be full for whatever reason, and I was right!  He surprised me with a giant flower arrangement (it must be nearly 3 ft. tall).

All of the lilies have bloomed now, or at least are opening.  They smell absolutely wonderful, and still look just as healthy!

He proceeded to tell me "Oh, you have 25 minutes to be ready, we have to be at Redbergsplatsen at 6:00."  So I got ready, assuming we were taking the tram somewhere for dinner, and I was right.  He had chosen a Greek restaurant over in Linné by the name of Kalimera, and the food there was absolutely delicious.  I suppose he has paid attention when I've said just how much I love Mediterranean/Greek food.  Sadly we were in a rush (well we had practically an hour and a half to be there but it took them nearly an hour to get us our food), so we couldn't relax and enjoy it as much as we might have liked to.  J had reserved us tickets to go see the new Spider-Man movie, as it was the "only good one" playing.  I didn't have super high expectations, but I ended up deeming it much improved over the movies from 10 years ago.  I rather enjoyed it!

By the time we got home it was 11pm, I had to pack for the next day (I stayed the night at M's place Saturday night) and I knew I had to get up just past 6am on Saturday.  Needless to say I was exhausted heading to Skövde and throughout the day but as stated, it was a ton of fun.

Now I'm trying to be good and focus on writing a paper that isn't due for my Swedish class until next Friday the 20th, but I had to take a break and write a catch-up post.  This weekend we'll be traveling to Norway to visit some friends in Kristiansand, and then next week it seems J is going to take the week off work, so we may decide to travel elsewhere on a mini vacation, depending on if we can find something decently priced.  That would be why I need to get back to writing this paper!