Last day at work
Good morning! I'm sitting here, drinking the last morning coffee at work, which unfortunately doesn't have quite the same effect as the pictures above illustrate. When I'm done for today my summer vacation finally begins for real!! Today I will also print the tickets and other stuff for our trip, it is really getting close with less than a week left!
The bad quality of the image really bothers me, but I wanted to show you the reason why I can't even go up the stairs. I don't know when I last had such pain in my legs! On Wednesdays, employees have the opportunity to train for free at Balance before lunch (Prince Daniel who started the gym used to hang around on the company's office once upon a time, I've seen him here hehehe) and I decided to go with the rest on the group training session. Oh my God is all I have to say, I don't know if I rather wanted to kill myself or kill the instructor who caught me every time I tried to cheat. My mother summed up everything afterwards: "Now will you blog about your bad conscience for not exercising and how you have to start doing it regularly, and then you won't do a damn thing." So true, mother. So true.
Swedish House Mafia 23/11
Fool me once Ticnet.se but you can't fool me twice!!! Just as angry as I was yesterday because I didn't manage to get hold of tickets, as happy am I today because I SUCCEEDED!!! Because of yesterday's ticket chaos they will organize one more concert the day before, and I was ready with three computers (I even brought my own to work) half past eight this morning. The chaos on the internet was, unfortunately, even bigger today when the ticket page (ticnet.se) totally crashed as soon as the tickets were released. I have sweated, fought and sworn at all errors and I totally raped the "update" button on each computer for one hour until the purchase finally went through and I started jumping around of happiness at the office with everyone laughing at me. I don't know if I'm more happy about going at the concert or because I won the war against the totally useless Ticnet.se. It's going to be legendary!
New Day, New Week
The final week at work started with a really tired Monday. The rain poured down and I looked as awful as I felt. I was so tired that I nearly fell asleep when my supervisor gave me new instructions. That's bad. Mom posted this picture on my Facebook to make fun of me, and I laugh out loud every time I see it since it's crazy how much it looks like me during my finest moments in the morning, hahaha. Besides it being an owl, of course.
Questions
I thought I would do a Q/A post again (it's been a year since last time) since I have nothing better to update on at the moment, but I will probably answer less questions this time. Are you wondering anything about the blog, architectural education, my clothes, photos, travel, the meaning of life or anything else, take the opportunity to ask about it now.
If you have anything to ask about it will be easier for me if you write the comment on the Swedish version of my blog!
Empire State of Mind
Sweater - Mango, Shorts - Gina Tricot, Sneakers - Converse
Tokyo - Sensō-ji
The Buddhist Sensō-ji temple is Tokyo's oldest and most famous temple. It's located in Asakusa, where we lived for most of our stay. Here you should definitely come if you want to see some more of the traditional things.
This huge gate is called "Thunder Gate" and it's the first thing you see comming from the street. It is always very crowded and a lot of tourists here, on weekends there is too much. Of course we went there on a weekend...
Behind the gate this long street continues all the way to the temple, surrounded by lots of souvenir and food stalls. There is even more market and souvenir shops behind these on the picture, it's really huge!
Here you can find all the traditional souvenirs you can imagine, and more. Paper lanterns, fans, kimonos, geisha dolls, samurai swords, paintings, toys, Japanese food and candy... I had a hard time stopping myself since I think everything Japanese is nice, cute, funny or cool.
Here is another mystery, what is the food made of?! I don't know how many times I asked myself that question. These balls, for example, what are they? You can't ask the sellers because their English is just as bad as my Japanese.
I'm still not sure why you pour water over the statue, if it's for wishing for something, or to purify the soul, which I think that I read somewhere, but people surrounded it and so did I.
Lunch Break
The best thing about the job is getting to spend time with mom. On lunch breaks we usually go to Solna center or, if the weather is nice like today, sit on a blanket in a meadow outside the office with food and music, and just enjoy.
Once we got going with the self-timer on the camera, there was no other option than going wild with it to the fullest.
For your information, it was mom who started with all the posing and not me who made her! Oh, I'm so happy for having a crazy mom... who has made me just as crazy. I must pass on this awesome quality to my children.
A jump picture was also a must. And to run down to the meadow barefoot... Wonderful summer, I have been waiting...
Parents
My sweet parents... Although they have Facebook, Youtube and Iphones, and they learn our slang words, they are still not always keeping up with our time. But they get an A for effort!
Me and mom discussing why Eurovision 2013 should be held in new Friends Arena:
Me: Kad ce ikad napuniti 67.000 mjesta ako ne s Evrovizijom??
Me: Kad ce ikad napuniti 67.000 mjesta ako ne s Evrovizijom??
(When are they ever gonna fill 67.000 if not with Eurovision??)
Mom: Ja ej, pa i da mi Tito dodje ne bi napunili to!
(Exactly, they wouldn't fill it even if Tito would show up!)
Me: ... Jer svedi bi stvarno poletjeli da vide Tita... Dobar ti primjer...
(... Yeah, because Swedes would just die to see Tito... Great example...)
Confused dad looking at a clip from Summer Burst Festival with David Guetta playing:
Dad: ... A gdje je pjevac?
Dad: ... A gdje je pjevac?
(... But where is the singer?)
Confused mother on Facebook:
Mom: Sta znaci ono "LOL"?
(What does "LOL" mean?)
Me: Laughing out loud, smijati se glasno, ali sad se vise upotrebljava kad je nesto ironicno.
(Laughing out loud, but now you often use it when something is ironic)
Mom: Kao sajk?
(Like psych?)
Me: Sajk je kad nekog prevaris.
(Psych is when you're fooing someone.)
Mom: Aha dobro, sad cu ti sajkati tatu i napisati LOL a on nece znati sta to znaci! LOL!
(Oh okey, now I'm gonna psych your dad and then write LOL and he won't know what it means! LOL!)
Me: ...
I talk out loud like you're still around
A very needed weekend. I was really tired after a whole week of work. If I'm going to hold on for two more weeks I really have to change my sleeping habits, especially if I should even bother having a life after work. I want summer holiday for real now!
Blogg.se has by the way made some updates, now I can finally answer directly on each comment from my login instead of having to send a new comment. However, it is disturbing that the comments are in the wrong order, the last comment at the top. Very confusing if you're used to the old way. Is it possible to fix?
Instagram - June 1
I started working and stayed pretty fresh and alert in the beginning, after two weeks it has gone downhill, though.
I hung out in Trångsund on Haris graduation party, and ate good barbecue food.
The first picture shows our professional parallel parking a night out, with Amela driving in heels and me outside shouting instructions. Awesome? Yes. Apart from that we touched(!) the car behind, which by the way drove away just as we had parked. The other two pictures are from work.
Since early mornings really aren't my thing I usually fall asleep when I get home from work. And stay up late after that. And eat a lot of junk food and sweets both at lunch and at home. Healthy lifestyle a la Lana.
I secretly took pictures of Jasmin because he looked kind of funny and happened to catch his shocked face, the reason behind the reaction is still unclear. We ate even more sweets (beach 2012, LOL). The last picture was taken at Norra Bantorget when we saw Sweden's European Championship match.
Another picture of me at work, a picture from the car on my way home and a picture of the world's best mom.
I ate this brownie with oreo filling and marshmallows when me and Melisa met up for coffee, not bad at all I must say.
The sign I found at the Chief Executives desk. I have to make a t-shirt with that text, it's so me.
Since early mornings really aren't my thing I usually fall asleep when I get home from work. And stay up late after that. And eat a lot of junk food and sweets both at lunch and at home. Healthy lifestyle a la Lana.
I secretly took pictures of Jasmin because he looked kind of funny and happened to catch his shocked face, the reason behind the reaction is still unclear. We ate even more sweets (beach 2012, LOL). The last picture was taken at Norra Bantorget when we saw Sweden's European Championship match.
Another picture of me at work, a picture from the car on my way home and a picture of the world's best mom.
I ate this brownie with oreo filling and marshmallows when me and Melisa met up for coffee, not bad at all I must say.
The sign I found at the Chief Executives desk. I have to make a t-shirt with that text, it's so me.
At the Office
Good morning people! I arrive here at 7 every morning to help the company with preparing the financial statements. A lot of paperwork in other words. The tasks are not very physically demanding, except that I have to wake up at a time that should be illegal for sleepy people like me. I just have to keep track of all instructions, paper and files, and be careful to not make any errors because all errors cost money.
And that's my only excitement these days.
Sweden - Ukraine
I must begin by telling you about what happened to us yesterday, I still laugh when I think about it! My brother, boyfriend and I went to Norra Bantorget to see the European Championship games with lots of other people. Once there we discovered that they had placed a grid around the whole place, and it was already "full" in there, while the rest had to stand outside. We finally found a place behind the grid, by some bushes, where we sat and saw two-thirds of the big screen. Meanwhile a man came to us and took a picture of us with his phone (we probably looked hilarious where we sat) and asked us about our names. Just before Swedens game were about to start, we successfully sneaked in through a small opening and tried to melt into the crowd as quickly as possible to avoid being seen or chased by the guards. Then a man climbs up on stage to present the match, the same man who had spoken to us before, and he says before thousand of people "We have a lot of us here today, we also have many warriors outside, such as Lana, Jasmin and Dennis!" HAHAHAHA we stood in the middle of everything and didn't know if we should be ashamed or laugh to death.
1. Panetoz performed before the game. 2. My cute boys in yellow shirts. 3. Me, cheering. 4. Haris and his boys also sneaked in somehow, but no one doubted that. 5. Sweden lost the game that I and many others took for granted they would win.
We atleast got be happy about two minutes after Zlatan's goal. The defeat didn't hurt as much as when Bosnia lose, but it will be very sad not to have any team to cheer for in the European Championships if they get ruled out. Buh.
Saturday
Last Saturday we celebrated another Haris, a family friend, and his master's degree in history of literature! Actually it's more than that, but it was too complicated for us to understand when he told us about everything he has studied and completed. That guy is one of the most intelligent people I know. I wish him all the best and thank him for a very nice outdoor party!
This was a funny sight, my brother okrece jagnje like a boss, haha.
I found my soulmate, Amela, who is always as excited as I am being about taking pictures!
My wonderful parents with their favorite child (sorry bro ') and the world's best brother in the picture below.
Haris was giving one of his beautiful, spontaneous speeches. God, I'm so happy and proud to be surrounded by these ambitious Bosnian young people who really are taking advantage of the opportunities this country has given us. Our success and happiness is the best we can give our parents who nearly lost everything.
Friday
Haris graduated high school last friday! I missed him running out from his school but I arrived just in time for his party where there was good barbecue outdoors and music and dancing indoors! Afterwards, the guys went to his school's party while we girls decided to go to Yunite (a club for former yugoslavians). I never thought I would go there again after my first visit last year, it's not my cup of tea, but we still managed to have a fun evening!
So let's set the world on fire, we can brighter than the sun
I've had a wonderful week and a wonderful end of it! A graduation celebration, a night out, and a master graduation celebration is what I've been up to this weekend. This week I have been working but I've also made time to meet my friends after work to catch up on what we missed during the hectic period in school, some of them I haven't seen in months! And this is how I want the whole month to look like.
Tokyo - Odaiba
Odaiba is one of Tokyo's artificial islands where you can find all sorts of things. Shopping malls, crazy architecture, artificial beaches, ferris wheel, the Statue of Liberty... You name it. The whole place felt a bit surreal and had a different environment than what they were used to. We were there one evening when there wasn't a lot of people, which as I said is unusual in Tokyo.
Fuji TV's headquarters with lots of bridges and a mega sphere. You easily get a Star Wars vibe of this city. What's in the big ball is still unknown to me, it was unfortunately closed when we were going up there.
I nodded to my friend Mr. Miyagi across the street, if you're wondering what I'm looking at.
Suddenly, this miniature Statue of Liberty shows up in front of us when we walk around the island. It's like the Japanese sat at a table and thought about what more they will put on this strange island, until one said "I know, the Statue of Liberty!"
When in Japan, do as the Japanese. The peace sign is the Japanese favorite pose.
The island has a long artificial beach which is the only place in Tokyo where they have access to the sea without it being blocked by industry or harbor areas. To bad, because it's so wonderful by the sea!
This is one of the most beautiful views I have seen. The sea, the sunset, the Tokyo skyline and the Rainbow Bridge.
We barely had the time to see half of everything on the island before it got dark and cold, and we decided to take the Yurikamome train back. The train is automatic without a driver and therefore you can sit in the front and enjoy the ride!
I filmed parts of the ride, where you can see how we go over the bridge and in to the city between Tokyo's skyscrapers. I had to add the song from Fast and Furious which I sang the whole time in Tokyo, haha.
Tokyo - TIT
We took the opportunity to visit TIT (Tokyo Institute of Technology), and their architecture school to see how it looks. Many of us will probably choose to study or work abroad in the future, someone may just end up in Tokyo. To our advantage, our teacher has studied in Japan and therefore he knew about places and people from school that we got to meet and talk to.
This strange building, The Centennial Hall, is the first thing you see on campus. I had already spent so much time in Tokyo that I didn't get surprised by the look of their buildings anymore, I didn't even react to it's "weirdness".
I reacted more when I saw the cherry trees on their campus! This road was absolutely fantastic. If the King's Garden in Stockholm has a roof of flowers, this was a sky of flowers!
I was a very happy girl because 1. The obvious: I was in Tokyo underneath beautiful cherry trees. 2. It was finally warm enough to walk around in a skirt in April, while there was a snowstorm in Sweden.
We bought food at the university's restaurant and ate outside. I have never eaten so much chicken for two weeks. I never thought I'd say it but I miss buying their ready-made food and eat it with chopsticks. I have chopsticks at home but it's not the same thing here... IT JUST ISN'T.
Honestly, don't you get the urge to run to see how far you get before you fall? Or before you crash into the tree.
We went into The Centennial Hall to check out the building from within. The first thing I saw was the rough concrete walls and the visible ventilation system... Where have I that seen before... Oh wait, in my ugly school :D
Inside the building there was a room dedicated to Shinohara, the architect of the building which was a very great and influential architect in Japan, where we saw some of his drawings and models.
The weird building was much more interesting when you realize how it was built, like, among other things, the half cylinder that goes through the entire building. Inside of it there is a restaurant. In the picture below, we are underneath the cylinder.
Then we made a visit to the architecture school. Just like our architecture school it is a bit isolated on campus. Besides being a little nicer (nothing beats our school in ugliness) it reminded very much of our school. Nice to know that it's not a big difference on the other side of the world!
A whole shelf with books on earthquake engineering can not be found in our school though, haha.
On the way from there to Odaiba (more about that later) we happened to go into an empty wagon! In Tokyo! Very rare. I of course just had to take this opportunity to play a monkey, the wagon is like made for it!
Another day we went to Kanagawa Institute of Technology, that is a bit outside Tokyo, to see this glass building below. I must say that it was more interesting in pictures I had seen earlier than in reality. However, I got to enjoy even more cherry trees!
Tokyo - Architecture
I have a lot of photos from Tokyo left to post! It's been a while now, I came home from Tokyo nearly two months ago, but it would be good to get this done before I go off on my next vacation. From now on, the pictures and posts will not be in chronological order.
When the class was gathered together with the teachers, we did what the purpose of the trip was - look at architecture. We visited the Yoyogi National Stadium where the Olympic Games were held, and hung out in the area.
Close to Yoyogi is Omotesando, which, like Ginza, is full of great fashion houses and cool architecture that we had to take a look at. A very long road goes through the area and is surrounded by all these houses.
I love Prada's building. I have seen it many times as a reference in school, in papers and in books, so it was an experience to see it for real. It's really nice from both the outside and the inside. A masterpiece.
Asakusa Tourist Information Center.
Another day we visited this area, which I unfortunately don't remember the name of, to look at more architecture.
The last three photos were taken somewhere between Shinjuku and Shibuya, when I decided to just walk around on my own one day and explore the city by myself, eat at my favorite place by myself, and shop by myself. It was so nice to be alone after spending many days in a large group with zero privacy or time for yourself. And it's when I can wander around all by myself in a city that I really will feel comfortable in it, and it is also one reason why I love big cities with a lot of people and lots of action. You can just walk around the streets, get fascinated by everything around and be one in the big crowd. Oh, I miss Tokyo.
First day at work
The first day at work. I mean for this year. I have worked in the finance department almost every summer since I was 16, and it looks exactly the same from year to year. Even the breakfast is the same. However, I have worked myself "up in my career", haha. From moving boxes from a dusty archive to another, to work with annual reports and important documents. It's nice, and comfortable because everything is well known, but it easily becomes dull and painful with the early mornings. We'll see if I hold on the entire month.
One month left
Wake up for the summer holidays
I have been a victim of brutal wake-ups this weekend. Yesterday, after several failed attempts to wake me up, my mother - the military herself, storms into my room and yells USTAJ LATO JEDNA (wake up lazy) so loud I almost got a heart attack. The reason behind this ruthless wake-up was that she couldn't stand my room being messy. "How have I brought her up?","this can not be my child" and yada, yada. When I decided to tempt fate and to remain in bed, she began filming me and my messy room and wardrobe to send it to my boyfriend. The next step was to post it on Facebook, and that was where I gave up the fight. This morning, when I once again chose to tempt fate and go back to sleep despite her wake-up attempt (the reason behind today's wake-up is still unclear, I suspect she thinks it's fun to torment me), she came in with a bucket of water to pour it over me, no joke. That woman shows no mercy.
I better get used to it, though. School is over and tomorrow I start working at the same company as mom and will do so throughout June. I have been longing for this, believe it or not. I want to come home after a working day and just let everything go, to not have anything to do or think of. Have summer holidays mentally at least.
Instagram - May
May through my Instagram. The month has mostly consisted of school and lack of social life, but I have had many nice moments despite that. May Day weekend was spent in Uppsala, my mom and boyfriend had their birthdays, Amelas graduation was celebrated, our last project was finished and the sun was welcomed. Besides that, I have managed to squeeze in a couple of partynights and other fun. I have also discovered that Instagram is addictive. It's like twitter in picture form, with a bit more of my everyday life and humor than there is in my "clean" blog. The pictures have become too many to be posted in the same way as in previous months. What do you think, is it better with text below the pictures or does it work just fine without it?
Instagram: lanakarat
