Expat technology

In terms of technology, expat living has changed a heck of a lot since I was last living in Europe (London) in 1998. I barely used e-mail, and when I did I had to go to an Internet cafe with a bunch of sweaty Australian backpackers. I had a pager because I couldn't qualify for a cell phone (the shame!), so I used public phones and calling cards to call my parents. And that's about the extent of the technology I used to communicate with friends and family back home. No wait, I wrote some postcards, too.

Al Gore's Internet has changed everything. Having Internet abroad means e-mail, of course, but now it also means Skyping with webcams, blogging, Internet radio, social networking sites like Facebook, other online communities like Mums in Sweden (just to take a random example) and other weird things like Twitter, which I'm just not willing to figure out (I like you but I really do not want to know what you're doing every 5 seconds, alright!). All of these together can sometimes make you forget that you're living 6,000 miles away. As I write this I'm wondering if this is a good thing or not. Let me rephrase and say that all this technology means you never feel lonely. Better.

This morning, for example, I woke up, read some posts from the Glen Park Parents list (a Yahoo Group for parents in our old neighborhood -- it's really time for me to unsubscribe), and turned on my wireless Internet radio just in time to hear the SF traffic report followed by the California Report. Granted, the streaming audio is from 10pm CA time when I'm listening at 7am in Sweden, but hey. I love my radio. Here's a picture:


Isn't she pretty?. Thanks to James and Julia in Belgium for the idea because this thing is awesome. It gets something like 12,000 channels and you can listen to streaming audio or archived programs 24/7. Mostly we listen to KQED but sometimes I let Adrian listen to British Radio 4 because he bought the radio for me after all.

And by the way, I did qualify for a cute Nokia cell phone this time around, but only through Adrian (thanks Honey). Now I'm a texting fanatic. Also, I still like postcards, except sending one to the U.S. costs $2 so I don't like them quite as much as I used to.

Cultural notes

I wanted to meet Sweden with an open mind. So before we arrived I decided to try to disregard peoples' generalizations about Sweden or the Swedes. (Not that there were that many generalizations to disregard since lots of people we told thought we were going to Switzerland, and the rest said "Oh, Swedes are so nice!") Having no familial or other connection to Sweden I thought it would be best to just wait and see what cultural surprises awaited us. So, having been here a whopping 7 weeks, here are some of the things we've noticed:

• Swedes like to take a number for everything. At the library you take a number to return your books. At the little store up the street, you take a number to pay. It's actually very practical because then there's never any confusion about who is first in line and therefore no need to ever say to anyone "Hey, buddy, you cut!" which would be MYCKET un-Swedish.
• Swedish technology is awesome. At the tax office, you walk in and a guy with a mobile tablet asks how he can help, then taps away, gives you a number (of course) and Bob's your uncle. And when you get a prescription, the doctor just sends an e-prescription to all pharmacies and within 15 minutes you can pick it up at whichever location you like.
• Swedes loves their sweets. Man! Ice cream, bulk candy, cinnamon rolls, muffins, chocolate. They love 'em ... multiple times a day.
• Swedish food is tasty but pretty basic and not varied. Potatoes, fish, sandwiches, strawberries. Ho hum. We are spoiled in San Francisco.
• The concept of "lagom," translated something like "good enough" or "adequate," is a very Swedish idea and pops its head up in lots of places. For example, you don't wear super showy clothes, because a Gucci handbag would mean that you maybe have a little too much extra money, and that you are trying to stand out, a no-no in many ways. This can create some weird internal strife when, say, you want a promotion at work -- I mean you're not supposed to stand out, but you want to be recognized for your performance at the same time. What to do??
• There's no cheap labor. This means manicures cost $50 and a cleaning lady will cost you $600/month. I'm all for a living wage in principle, but you should see my poor feet and the state of our kitchen! I really hate cleaning.