the way we learn

Annika

A friend wrote:

You know, pop music played a HUGE role in enriching my English so I’ve got a sort of Pavlovian reaction: a lot of what’s said in English prompts memories of some song.

I did exactly the same. My cassette tapes were worn out by all the times I pressed play-rewind-play-rewind while trying to catch and write down the lyrics to countless songs. The next step was to sing them and get the pronunciation perfect.

Spoken English was the hardest. I would learn lines from movies and try to practise them to perfection.

That was the night that I died, and someone else was saved.
Someone who was afraid of water, but had learned to swim.
Someone who knew that there would be one moment when he wouldn’t be watching.
Someone who knew that the darkness from the broken light would show the way.

I repeated it over and over again until I got the pronunciation and intonation just right and I could hear no difference between my voice and Julia’s.

The result?

Well, there are some sentences I can say perfectly. There are some words I can only say with a certain accent and other words I just can’t say right.  Also, since I learned pronunciation by mimicking others I tend to unintentionally do the same when I meet people. Even in my own language I can’t help but pick up the accent or dialect of the person I’m talking to. I don’t mean to, and I can only hope that nobody takes offense.

Anyway, I have to say that music and movies have helped me tremendously in learning foreign languages.

How about you?

reflections

Annika

I have been working from home for two days now.

I love it. Love it love it love it.

Five years ago I cried “I don’t want to work in sales anymore!” but let me tell you that it is a whole different story when you’re working for something you believe in, something you are passionate about. There is no pressure, nothing to lose, but everything to gain. I make the rules, I set the standards.

I want to work from home more.

Tomorrow I’ll go back to the salon, but it only motivates me to invest even more in my side project. I plan to stay at the salon for one more year, 1½ at the most. I don’t know what I will do after that or even where we will be, but time will tell. I keep my doors open.

But hey, Universe? Did you hear me saying that I have loved the last couple of days?

anywhere is paradise

Annika

mind wanders, exploring possibilites
evaluating dreams and passions

gathering signs, like pieces of a puzzle
curious to find out what the Universe has planned.

Open wide.
Surrendered.

Listening.

Stefan Andersson – Anywhere Is Paradise

destination anywhere

Annika

For five years I have had such a clear vision of my future. Now, not so much.

I have created a business that generates a little extra income but it is also a lot of work. What I also have begun to realize is that this business in its current form is keeping me tied to Sweden. It does not make me as location independent as I would like to be.

Now, as long as we live in Sweden it is not a problem, and if we ever move anywhere else I would simply sell it. No big deal. My hairdresser license is valid in most countries so as long as I can talk with people I can work anywhere.

I guess what I am starting to think about is whether or not I am on the right track. Some of my passions are not as strong as they used to be, although I don’t know if that is just a result of me being overworked or if I’m actually done with that particular thing and it’s time to move on.

I would like to be able to work from home more. I would like to be able to be at home more.

Hmmm.

I’m kind of stuck at the moment. We’re not moving anywhere until my husband graduates, but we are likely to move somewhere after that. As long as he is in school I can’t quit my job at the salon, but it is no secret that I am quite fed up with the ladies I work with. My future is not to remain there. I keep my distance, secretly knowing that I will only work there for another year or so. I know a couple of them are having quite big issues with me and I just couldn’t care less anymore. Knowing that I won’t stay there forever I don’t give a hoot about their opinions of me. I am merely biding my time, having already left in my mind.

It is quite familiar by now. I know myself. I recognize the way in which I distance myself, not wanting to be attached to anything so the separation phase won’t be too difficult. I feel how my energy shifts from “here” to “there”, which is kind of frustrating as I have absolutely no idea of where “there” will be. I guess it could be quite exciting if I wasn’t such a Type A, but as it is I would like to know so I could plan and prepare accordingly. I realize that all things do not need to be prepared at all times but some things can’t be done otherwise.

Argh!

I don’t know where I’m going
only God knows where I’ve been
I’m a devil on the run,
a six gun lover
a candle in the wind, yeah

in five-year cycles

Annika

Most people can look back over the years and identify a time and place at which their lives changed significantly. Whether by accident or design, these are the moments when, because of a readiness within us and a collaboration with events occurring around us, we are forced to seriously reappraise ourselves and the conditions under which we live and to make certain choices that will affect the rest of our lives.

(Frederick F. Flack)

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.

(Alan Cohen)

five years

Annika

It’s been five years since I found Expats in Italy.
Five years since ‘that day‘.
Five years since my life started to change, really change.

Wow.

come fly with me

Annika

let’s fly, let’s fly away…

Alexander and I are now booked on a Norwegian flight from Arlanda to Fiumicino. We have flown to and from Rome a couple of times now but this will be our first time at Fiumicino, or the Leonardo da Vinci Airport of Rome. The price is about the same (as of today anyway) and the time we save by departing from Arlanda instead of Skavsta (which is Ryanair’s hub) is worth a lot. In fact, by taking this plane instead of the Ryanair flight to Pisa we’ll arrive in Italy three hours earlier despite leaving home at the same time. I’d rather have extra travel time in Italy than in Sweden!

So. The plan is as such:

We fly into Rome, and go straight from FCO to the Tiburtina railway station. From there we take the first bus to Siena. After a good night’s sleep we have a full day to explore Siena and its surroundings, and after another good night’s sleep (after the first trip, when I barely slept at all, I have always slept well in Italy) it’s time for the GTG. Another sleep and then we take off to Florence where we’ll stay at Kursaal & Ausonia for two nights before we wave goodbye to Florence and take the train to Pisa to fly back home. The plane doesn’t take off until 20.35 so that gives us almost a full “extra” day in Italy.

No traveling back and forth, no “we’ve walked this street twenty times, now what do we do?” boredom,  no stress, and yet we get a little bit of everything.

I think it’s a good plan.

decisions, decisions

Annika

18 weeks to go, and I have not yet made any reservations or even decided on where to stay. This is so unlike me.

Option 1) Fly into Pisa on the 13th, take the train to Florence, stay in Florence. Go to Siena on the 15th and probably go back to Florence right after the GTG. Fly back home from Pisa on the 18th.

Option 2) Fly into Rome on the 13th, take the bus to Siena. Stay in Siena until after the GTG, go to Florence on the 16th, stay there until it’s time to fly back home from Pisa on the 18th.

Option 2 might be cheaper, and the more I think about it the more I like that option. It would also allow us to see more of Siena and the Tuscan countryside – but less of Florence. It means a bit of moving around, but it doesn’t seem too stressful.

What would you do?

the last night of the world

Annika

It was the last day of the last year. It was December 31st, 1999.

She was 20, he was 27. They didn’t have a penny to their name but they were young and in love. One year earlier they had not yet met, but they were about to celebrate the end of a millennium together. They put brand new gold rings on their fingers and promised to forever love each other and the child that was growing inside her, still no more than an inch tall.

They still sang together, so they dressed up in their best clothes and sang, their hearts melting as their voices entwined.

They went to a play then walked to his parents for dinner and a countdown to the end of the world, but midnight came and went and the world was still there, so they put their coats back on and walked back home.

————————————————————————————-

Ten years ago. That was ten years ago.

We’re still here.

Happy New Year!

smile!

Annika

For the first time in the almost four years of this blog’s life I have not only deleted a couple of comments but even a whole post. I don’t like to do that, I am quite attached to my scribblings, but I guess some time has to be the first.

There is no need to hang on to negativity.

This year, this decade, is coming to an end. Let’s end it together, happy.

When you’re smiling,
when you’re smiling
the whole world smiles with you
When you’re laughing,
when you’re laughing
the sun comes shining through

But when you’re crying
you bring on the rain
so stop your sighing
be happy again!
Keep on smiling,
cause when you’re smiling
the whole world smiles with you!