To be driven!

Suddenly I got this URGE to write about one thing so here I am, hyper typing to have time to do everything I have to do.

I read a couple of blogs and articles about todays teenagers and young adults, that they are so freaking lazy and they´re lacking drive. One article said that the young adults born in the 80s are the most spoiled generation of the human history.

One blog said that “we” (the 80´s generation) are too spoiled and that being spoiled doesnt create Drive.

I absolutely agree in one way, but then I think of myself and how spoiled I was and how driven as freaking animal I am. I must be one of the most driven people from Sthlm, honestly!
What is DRIVE and What creates DRIVE?

Drive is WANTING to achieve more, and to FINDING the way to do it, even though you have obstacles in front of you. It´d being a DO-er and a person taking initiatives.

What creates DRIVE?

This is where a certain amount of “spoilness” is neccesary.

To be showed what is out there and to experience it. When you have something you want more, everyone knows that.

My parents showed me what it´s like to see the world, what it´s like to go to the nicer restaurant instead of the shitty, what it´s like to be patted on the shoulder after having acomplished something.

I didn´t get the extra money at the end of the month if I had spent my money, however I did get the opportunity to work at home, do something to gain a few euros.

I remember my friends saying “Your parents PAY you to wash the car”??? Like it was something really bad when it was just pure jealosy. Hell yeah they did I and I will do the same to my children one day.

Work as much as you can and receive profits.

Respect to the other driven people out there, you know who you are!

Xx

Cultural differences

…discovering them more and more, every day…. I’m black or white, he is grey, brown, dark grey and white with stripes. I’m do or don’t, he is maybe, perhaps, probably, most likely and we’ll see.

Both me and my boyfriend have agreed that the pro’s of being with someone from a different country are so much better and they win ten times over the con’s. Having

 said that, its still not easy…

But I tend to never choose the “easy” way anyhow so why would I make an exception with my boyfriend? ha!

 

At least we went to IKEA and got the Parasol! IKEA rocks, same everywhere in the world…

New definition of “Tired”.

I´ve never fallen a sleep infront of my computer before. Until now. There is a first time for everthing…

I´m absolutely addicted to my computer.  Just realized that when I woke up after a 10 min nap and the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was the beautiful white word “MacBook” and my sweet black best friend was sitting here just waiting patiently for me to be done with my nap. One click and then all there, my friends, my work, all info I need about absolutely everything. Maps, invitations, dictionary, news, music, pictures…

Going back to sleep. Time-zones….

Every Day Happiness…

How weird is life…. When you least expect something to happen it just happens. Doesnt it make you wonder if there is a universal power that is there just to surprise you and make you work a little harder, make you step out of your comfort zone and make you believe in things?

I don´t believe in LUCK at all. Well, there are exceptional cases such as finding 50 eur on the street…That would probably fall under the tag LUCK but apart from that I believe you create your own happiness. Most of all you´re responsible for your own happiness. 

What makes me frustrated sometimes is that people dont understand how easy it is.

Mentality and attitude stands for everything. How you approach a grey rainy day, how you deal with the enormous electricity bill, how you explain to yourself why you´re gonna do something that you dont feel like doing.

Life is one thing; The days you remember. Life is short and to make each day count is so easy to say and so easy to do, but yet few people do it.

Life is not rules, musts or anything negative at all. Life is possibilities, opportunities and experiences. And it´s not expensive, it´s absolutely free tp push the button “Happiness”. I had an amazing stroll in Barcelona with my roomie the other day, 2 hours costed us 1 euro (the coffee) and it gave us a million laughs, incredible views of beautiful buildings, the most amazing smells and a really kick-ass-good coffee.

I met a guy who has this amazing energy. Absolutely mind-blowing. Together we´re like a Duracell-team made up of energy, happiness, belief and so much apetite for life.

It´s really the small and kind things he does that blows me away the most. Like placing a blanket over me, like putting the heater next to me while I´m resting on the couch, like making sure I have the jacket on… 

He makes me smile every day…

Thanks…

The beauty of friendship

To say that I was feeling so sick I thought I was going to die is not enough. If you imagine the drunkest you´ve been and multiply it by 4, you´re about halfway to my level on New Years Eve.

“If you wanna be really hot you have to suffer” is an expression that I had to experience the hard way.
An XSmall dress has its prize, and I´m not talking about euros now.

So smartypants figured I would hardcore-slim for 3 days to make the dress feel comfortable. Apples and water.
It did feel nice, unil the whole  world started spinning and all I could think was BREATH.

This post is not gonna go into the nice details of what I went through, BUT it will highlight the most amazing roomate in the world and what she did for me.

Getting me water, tea, putting 14 blankets on me because I was “shaking like a polaroid picture”  (was that 2004 that song was everywhere?), even wrapped my sweat pants around my lamp to give it some nice dim-effect! Can you believe that?! 

Sat next to me and helped me focus on something else, rubbed my back to make me feel better, talked about funny things to take my mind off of dying.

Simply really nice.

And now she is leaving me in 2 weeks.

New chapter is beginning, just in time for the new year of 2009.

2008 was a year I made 2 of my dreams come true. Getting my dream-job and moving to Barcelona. Quite big things.
I have no real expectations for 2009 really cus I had such an amazing 2008. However I have aspirations and hopes.

Health, happiness and strength to stay on my dream-path is what I wish for. Everything else will be a bonus.

5 important new people in 2008

Wow, I haven´t written here in ages. Let´s pull the “been so busy-excuse” shall we…or shall we not?

Christmas in one week. I will bring my whole winter wardrobe back to bcn that´s for sure.

Christmas time brings different feelings to everyone but nobody can argue that whatever feelings you have it hasn´t changed over the years.
Personally it´s a somewhat weird feeling, maybe due to the fact I haven´t had a “base” anywhere in many many years.

I can´t make up my mind whether I look forward to it or not. To be 100% honest it leans against not actually. Maybe cus I always hate leaving Barcelona, maybe cus everytime I get back to bcn it gives me a hard time the first week, maybe cus I know I will run around trying to meet everyone in as little time as possible…

I have met some absolutely incredible people the last 6 months and this christmas will be my personal thangksgiving to them.
Carito of course, how could I start with someone else? My everyday sunshine, my comfort, my “safe place”, arms so warm that always makes me feel like we´re part of the same family. Thank You.

Victoria! The big surprise roommate who turned out to be an absolutely amazing friend. Now she is leaving me in january and there is no other word to describe it than it SUCKS.

Matteo, who knows me better than I know myself sometimes. Thanks for always being there and listening.

David! One of my absolute first friends in bcn. My sport student  :-) Personal trainer project who passed my level after just a week. Nice. Ha ha ha…. My Barça friend, who´s always there and who I laugh with SO MUCH. Thank You!

Marc, another big recent surprise… Intercambio goes something else ha ha… Don´t know where we´re going but I know that I like the start. Thanks for knowing how to “take me” mentally. Thanks for being such an amazing listener and thanks for your warmth.

 

5 really amazing people that I didn´t know existed 7 months ago. How mind-blowing isn´t that?!

I have to pack…

Considering when I blogged last time it´s probably safe to say Merry Christmas already now

MUAKS!

Send me some L.A vibes

Mind ghosts… We´ve all had them.

Today when I walked home from class I had my first serious moment of missing L.A in a long time.
Actually let me re-phrase that, the first moment of missing the materialism that only exists there.

I was listening to american music on my iPod. Good quality, great produced music, on really loud volume. Sometimes over produced, but commercial really fucking good hiphop.
I had a sad moment when I remembered 3 people here in Barcelona, 3 people in the age of 20-30 who did not know of the names Missy Elliot, Timberland and Bustah Rhymes.

I had a moment of missing all the loud car music, the superficial jokes and the loving-everybody-mentality…

I can not wait!!!!!

After 3 weeks of different time-zones, taking off and land a million times from different airports, living in a suitcase I am sooo ready to unpack all my stuff and “LAND”.

I am so ready to walk up the 156 steps to my apartment if the elevator is broken (which is very likely in Bcn), breath the mold-car-gas-over-ripe-fruit smell, order my simple 1 euro cafe solo that kicks the shit out of the 4 euro Starbucks “Cafe Americano”.
I cant wait to be woken up by the noise of Barcelona and say “Callate!!!!!” (SHUT UP) to the noisy people playing basketball outside my huge terasse at 9 in the morning. I cant wait to go to the first football game of the season sept 14th!!!!! I CAN NOT WAIT!!!!!!!

I can’t wait to argue with the waiter for better service, I cant wait to feel totally stupid speaking my beginners spanish at the food-market trying to explain I want one kilo of the peaches that are NOT ripe and I cant wait to take cold showers when the water heater is broken which happens sometimes.

I can’t wait to play squash in Tibidabo with David, or go climbing in Montjuic with the other David. I can’t wait to do intercambio with Gaby or argue with Matteo about why avocado is healthier than pasta.

I cant wait to wake up sweaty in the morning cus of the lack of AC and eat my breakfast cereal in front of my computer with the view of Tibidabo on my left side. (Ok the sweaty part I CAN live without haha)

I cant wait to eat sushi on our local buffet until I have salmon hanging out of my ears and I cant wait to take the metro with a hundred rude catalans.

I cant wait to meet my Daila Lama september 6th CARITO How I have missed her so much. The champion of “living the moment appreciate the small things in life”.

Barcelona turned out to be so much more than I could ever wish for. It turned out to be my own personal medicine, life-medicine. 

After being in L.A, the contrast will be even more evident now. The country of surface and smiles, compared to the country of something completely different.
Both have their good and bad sides, like everything in life. But the true enjoyable things in life ARE the smallest things and I dont CARE how much of a cliché that makes it cus it is true, and have you ever seen anything SMALL in America? haha…its the country with the biggest meals, the biggest beers, the biggest coffees, the biggest houses, the biggest cars, the biggest salaries and the biggest people in the world!!

L.A adventures…

Aaaahhh….

Just loving it…

Loving Barcelona…

Its so hot here now. People are literally dying… 

But still it´s the most amazing city I´ve ever been to.

I was walking around in the city yesterday, desperate to breath it all in as much as possible before I take a 3 week break from BCN to visit L.A and Stockholm.

I was sweating, walking in dirty streets, the air smelled (as always) like a mix of poluted air, mold, cigarette smoke, birds, salt water, over ripe peaches and coffee… Weird mix? But I just love it. I walked around for 5 hours in 40 degree celcius (110 farenheit) and I was just smiling nonstop…

I have a strange feeling of separation anxiety at the moment, even though I know it´s just for a limited time. It´s like, my new found love here is still blow away when I turn around.
The city has everything but you can still walk to alost everything. And the city is like a huge scene, something to see everywhere it is SO beautiful. The buildings! I mean, I knew Stockholm is a beautiful city but this, THIS is something that words can not describe.

Going down to Ciudadella now for the last time in 3 weeks, please time – go fast

Absorbing Barcelona

It´s been the hottest day here since I arrived. I got up at 10 to drag my ass to the bottom of my building to be picked up by David and go and play squash. When I walked the stairs up to the big sports-club and then looked out over Barcelona and realized it was already 30 degrees outside I thought it would be a horrible day. 

I was very wrong…

A double espresso (“Café solo”) didn´t help much and when I picked up my racket my motivation was in a completely different world.

BUT, the squash went better than ever. We played so hard, such an intense hour that the floor was totally wet from our dripping sweating competitive arms, hitting that stupid ball nonstop until David finally slipped on the floor from all the sweat!

Quick shower and then we took the car to Premeria del Mar and jumped in the water. Bought tons of fruit and practised spanish for 2 hours. It was windy, so just really really nice.

After that – home – for 1 hour.  Quick shower to get rid of the saltwater and then jogging in Ciudadella with David. I have never met such a perfect sport-friend in my life haha! Tennis, Squash, Padle, Jogging, he is always up for it.

3rd shower for the day and then I have been sitting here infront of the computer enjoying my cafe Del Mar music and the warm breeze coming in from the terrazzo.

Barcelona is a city that has everything but still doesn´t feel as enormous as other cities. There are endless opportunities to do sport, so many beaches, millions of bars, restaurants, clubs, stores and people from all over the world. Still you can reach almost everything by foot.

Big Beso to you Barcelona! I will be back in 3 weeks

Carito Cariño!!!!!

I met Carito exactly 2 months ago, my first day in Barcelona.

Everything was going bad that day, but not only did she cure my headache, make me feel better about the disaster with the apartment, and help me set up my spanish phone. Not only did she do all this. She tought me the essence of life, in 2 months I have been going to “spiritual-school”, “being present school”, “acceptance school” “breathing school” and I feel like a different, better person thanks to her.

We were walking down a big street a few days ago, singing together “I can see clearly now the rain is gone…” and all of a sudden she stopped and pulled me into a church that I hadn´t even noticed in my forward thinking-goal oriented mind. We walked into this amazing plaze, with a small garden with a waterfall, birds, flowers, paintings, the must beautiful music and a sense of peace just started flowing through my body. I have realized there is a big difference in looking, and really looking. I used to look, but not see. She taught me to stop and breath, anytime, anywhere and see all things around me. The beautiful smell, the beautiful music, the smile of an old lady, the laughter of a child.

She has taught me to be thankful, and to literally stop and say thanks. If she sees something beautiful, if a firework is blowing up in the sky while she is saying Salud, she stops, looks up and says; Thank you. If there is only one size left of her favorite dress, she says; Thank you. If she hears the church bells ringing while she is doing Yoga, she says; Thank you. If the sun comes out on a rainy day she says, Thank you.

She taught me that we are all made up by two parts, LOVE and EGO, and she taught me to recognize the EGO and gently push it away, like clouds passing by. Say hello to them, recognize them for what they are, and then letting the wind take them away. Eliminate bad energies, bad feelings, jealousy, fear…

Tonight she is going to Ibiza to work for a while, the whole summer actually, and I´m devastated! My Daila Lama is leaing me with my new found knowledge to try to practise it by myself. It´s like being a child and letting go of your moms arm first time you´re going to walk, alone.

To be present, aware, feel and let your energies be what they are – dynamic forces that need to be let out, dare to cry, dare to love and dare to be vulnerable.

I always say people come into your life for a reason a season or a lifetime. She is definitily a reason, there was something that wanted us to meet, I think we were destined to meet. The most strange part is that I had no idea she existed just 2 months ago! Today I can honestly say that if I´ll have a baby one day – She will be the godmother.

Her energies are not talk, they´re not something fake, it´s not something temporary. This is a person who has understood what life is about, and she is light years ahead of the rest of us.

To imagen that she was born in Buenos Aires 2 days after I was born, and that we almost 27 years later found eachother, is really giving me the chills on my whole body. It´s so amazing and it´s such a blessing.

TODO LO QUE VENGA, SEA SIEMPRE PARA MEJOR.

EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS, WILL ALWAYS BE FOR THE BEST.

THANK YOU.

Real Madrid Organized?

Holis….

Had some interesting experiences yesterday that confirmed this countrys strong strong football rivalry. Barca and Real Madrid hate eachother. The name Real Madrid tastes like 1 month old milk to a Barca fan, and vice versa.

I got a call yesterday, from someone at Real Madrid. Nothing important really, just an affect of some brainstorming at a football event the other day. I was actually really chocked they called, and
I shouldn´t have told  my darlings here in Barcelona.

I made the big mistake of telling my friend “Hey, they seem so organized in Real!” (Cus they DO!!!)
After that followed a 20 minute speech of why Real sucks and Barca rules… 

Phonecall 1; “Jenny, what´s your relation with The Merengues?”

Phonecall 2 “Listen, this is a tragedy, U obviously havent learned the rules, THE RULES, no communication between Barca and Real unless it consists of words like FUERA, PUTA MADRE, LOOOSERS e.t.c”

Phonecall 3 “So, I have this friend, who sometimes shows up in the middle of the night and remove people from their bed and dump them in the ocean”

Phonecall 4; “We have to talk”

All the time I was just laughing, and quickly removed my MSN subject from “Call from Real”, to “Forza Barca”

The passion here, it´s amazing.

Que pasa?!?!

To know languages is the absolute most important thing if you plan on experiencing cultures and different parts of the world. To have money, friends to guide you or study the city means nothing if you dont know the language.

I know some spanish, I definitily know more now than 2 months ago, but today I felt soooo stupid when I didnt understand what the presenter said at the award show I went to with a friend. I have to mention he spoke katalan, which IS different from spanish, BUT still I felt like the biggest nerd in the world grabbing on to words here and there trying to puzzle them all together.

I am a swedish now-days due to the sun almost blond woman so I have enough to defend without the language barrier. Today was a challenge.

I felt even MORE stupid afterwards when me and my friend were standing with 4 katalan guys/men from the ceremony. Telling from the way they were joking and my friend trying to defend herself and desperately trying to convince them she did in fact have a brain in addition to her two boobs…. I took 2 steps back and decided to talk to an american DJ instead.

Being able to talk, defend yourself, promoting yourself, explaining yourself, asking, giving your opinion must be the mot important asset we have, and I KNOW how I look at people who can´t speak swedish even though they live there… You have got to know th language. English is NOT enough. 

Having said this I will go to sleep. I have had my brain on 150% non stop today, trying to understand what was happening around me all the time… 

 

 

Eurocopa VIVA ESPAÑA!!!!!!!

Spain is celebrating right now, BIG time. After 28 years of the curse of not being able to bring the result that a team this good should bring, “WE” did it. Yes I say WE cus I´m here and as I am standing on my terasse, looking out over Barcelona and all the amazing fireworks I feel with the people here. 
Looking at the pictures and live sendings from Madrid I am realizing this is nothing against what is going on in the capital right now but still I´m hearing the bangs and seeing the flashes outside over the catalonian roof tops.

Germany didnt have a chance, they weren´t even close. Everything was just perfect in the spanish national team. The defenders did their job brilliant, the midfielders moved the game up and the much critisized Fernando Torres made a beautiful goal.
Xavi and Iniesta played like they knew what the other one was thinking and Fabregas showed why he is Arsenal´s best player. 

Spain has played so well during this whole tournament, flawless!!

YES of course it feels extra good as a Swede to have lost against the champions as well )

Right now they are showing Puyol, Ramos, Villa, and Fabregas in underwear shooting champagne at eachother. Reminds me again why I like football so much, haha nonono, not only because of the amazing naked bodies I´m looking at. Rather the fact that football makes people come together. These players usually play against each other, now they´ve just walked the path to success together and they couldnt have done it in another way.

I´m used to talking trash about Ramos, Villa and Silva everytime they are playing against Barca but today and all the other days Spain has played (except for the one against Sweden of course) it´s been nothing but Love. Honestly, Casillas is the worlds best goalkeeper without a doubt. I never thought I was gonna say this but Valdes is nothing compared to Casillas.

One reporter was standing outside of the dressing rooms and Villa came out, dragged him into the group of players and literaly drowned him in champagne. Happiness!!! Pure love and happiness!!!!!!

Well deserved Spain!!!

VIVA ESPAÑA!!!!!