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When I got back from California in early 1996 I had a severe shock. I hadn't felt temperatures below freezing for over three years, and when I landed in Stockholm it was 21 degrees below zero, Centigrade, which was a 40-degree drop from what I was used to. I adapted eventually, though, and to stave off the boredom when I didn't have a job at first, I did things like this snow sculpture. |
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Other things I did to keep my brain from imploding was birdwatching and generally having a good time with "Fältbiologerna", of which I used to be a member. Here's a picture of the rowdy bunch I went out birding with one chilly spring morning, and there's also some pictures of our trips to Öland, off the east coast of Sweden, and to Runde, Norway a few weeks later. |
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I wasn't real happy in 1996, didn't have a job, any friends, or any money. In 1997, though, I'd gotten a job delivering mushrooms to stores, and I'd met some new friends through my brother Barry who came home from CA over the new years holiday. Most of us were gathered at the one big party I threw in january 1997, complete with sit down dinner and nostalgic vinyl evening, and this picture shows some of them relaxing on the couch, and shouting requests to J, who's at the record player.
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After that job ended in june 1997, I suddenly had some money left over from my final paycheck, so I went to a few music festivals, then to see my friend Jon at Kvismaren bird observatory, where he usually works each summer. I'd planned on staying overnight and ended up staying two months, working as a ringing assistant without pay. I had loads of fun, since I hadn't seen Jon for ages, and some new people showed up as well, including Karin Illerström, who's in one of the pictures, holding up a bird for Mark to photograph. Mark and Mike were two british birders who came over to work as ringers and check out Sweden in general. Of course we couldn't let them go home without having seen the swedish drinking culture, so we threw a few parties, and even had a pub crawl or two before they left. The second picture is from one of those parties, with me and Jon throwing down the Vodka, and Mike grinning happily in the background, having already done the same a few times. |
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That fall me and my brothers moved into an apartment in Örebro, which is the biggest town in central Sweden. I didn't have a job, and I was almost out of money when we moved in, so things were getting desperate. With my usual knack for juuust barely making it, though, I got a job within a week of moving, doing telesales for Sitel Nordic. I don't have many pictures of the place (though I did do a 3D model of parts of it when I was getting into that field for a while), and most seem to be taken out the window. This picture shows some of the view from the kitchen, and also a genuine UFO that we saw one night. The thing hung like that for almost 2 hours, motionless, and I have absolutely no idea what it was. My best bet would be a rocket launch someplace south of us, but I really don't know. And of course all the pictures of it look like shit :-).
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Me, my brothers and J also started the "Anders" mens club, which so far hasn't done much, but we did have an inaugural meeting and a pub night. We thought we all needed something classy in our lives, and wanted an excuse for going out all dressed up for a change, so there you have it. The pictures show J, as president of the newly formed club, shaking hands with each member, and Barry opening the celebratory sparkling wine, appropriately named Anders. Oh, and at least two of the members are actually named Anders, including me having it as one of my three middle names. |
 
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The company I work for, Sitel Nordic, formerly Svanberg Co., does throw some great parties. This picture was taken at our Hawaiian party, for which they'd rented a bath house with pools, water slides and jacuzzis, so that we could walk around in swimsuits and horrible Hawaii shirts in the middle of winter. I can't say that I've ever worked for a better company :-).
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Well, that pretty much concludes this page for now. This final picture is one I made with my newly bought flatbed scanner, just putting my face against the glass and scanning away. It's flattened my face, of course, I don't really have a head 30 cm's wide, but imagine it a little narrower and you have me today. With red hair, and I do shave occasionally, can't make up my mind whether I want a beard or not. Where I go from here no-one knows, but the only way is up. |
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