Sweden

It's been wayyyyyy tooooo long since I've updated anybody on what I have been doing. I guess the answer is not much. I have not left Sweden and have taken few pictures. Most of my time has gone to my thesis and formula student. I sent in job applications to Lotus Cars and Renault Formula 1 but got rejected. I think it might be hard for me to work in Europe due to work permit issues...crap. I have been spending time with a Finnish girl and that has been...read on for more info.

This blog will have no plot. It is just pictures and comments from my past three months in Sweden.

When I returned to Sweden from my winter trip I moved into a new apartment. It is much smaller than my old one and does not have the great view like my last place. The good thing is that it is $100 a month cheaper. Here is my view:

I have 162 square feet which includes a bathroom, kitchen, mudroom, bedroom, office, dining room,....not really. I can sit on my bed and touch the desk, stove, fridge, sink, and bathroom all at once. Cool huh!

This was also waiting for me when I moved in:

Sanna had bought me all the best candy from Finland and even black licorice vodka. Finnish people love black licorice flavored everything. I don't. She is trying to convert me to the dark side but it wont work!

Oh yeah, this is Sanna:

Sanna Rocks!
Attention male engineers: This is what engineers look like in this part of the world!

The weather in Sweden has been uncommonly warm so we only got a dozen days of snow. I rode my bike to school every single day. Including this day:

All bike shops sell studded bike tires for the hardcore bikers. I didnt have them though...

The snow melted fast and March was the warmest in Sweden for over 100 years. People were in shorts and sandels. Then on Easter is snowed again. Crazy.

Here is an interesting bike I spoted a few weeks ago. Its like west coast choppers meets the Beverly Hillbillies.

How often do you see the rescue diver responding to a ladder truck call?

Have you ever seen a mutant bell pepper? Weeeiiiirrrrrddddd!

What is this for?

Can you guess what the most popular car companies are in Sweden? Do you know which car color is the 2nd most popular in Sweden?

I went for a walk in the neighborhood around my place. If these pictures do not say Sweden then I dont know what does:

My university has two campuses and one is on the other side of the river so you get to take a ferry. I like boats

There was a ski/snowboard jump competition a week ago at the university. I went to it in 2004 and there was a huge snowball fight. This year it was so warm there should have been a swimsuit competition instead.

Moosies are big!

I am going to Croatia with Sanna to get some real sun. Round trip tickets from Sweden for $75!!!! If you are lucky I will post some pictures of our trip soon.

Bye for now

Mike

Some f#%&er stole my bike. All 240 dollars of it. I was careful, used my big heavy expensive lock and even locked it to something solid, I thought. When I locked my bike to a steel fence I didn't notice the fence was bolted together and not welded. The thief dismantled the fence to steel my bike. He even put the fence back together so he could rob someone else.

Now I have a new bike, or at least new to me. I decided not to buy another bike and instead build a bike. There are always mangled bike carcasses in the bushes around my apartment so I pieced afew of them together and made a mutant hunk of junk. It doesn't really stop or shift or operate quietly but it gets me around. Maybe its for the better because now I can't ride full speed in the street with the cars like I used to.

Speaking of bikes, check out this all platic one (it's not mine).

On a happier note I went to a great cocktail party put on by some Swedish friends. Here is a picture of one of the many weird drinks they came up with.

If you look closely you can see the champagne flowing down a big drill bit. Yes, they are engineers and yes it was clean.

Thanksgiving is just another day in the rest of the world. Fortunately I got invited to a catered thanksgiving dinner by the woman who started the exchange program with Cal Poly. She is a memeber of an American club in Sweden who get together on American holidays. Here is a picture of her and the other students from Cal Poly.

My friend Sara moved into a new place. Check out the dinner she prepared!!

It took me like 2 hours to get all the meat out of that thing. Thanks for being patient Sara!

My friend from Cal Poly (and PG&E) who is studying in Spain came to visit me along with three other American friends of hers. I took them out to the islands and we had a blast.

Megan is second from the right.

Göteborg is all lit up for the holidays. They converted a fountain to an ice skating rink.

Next to the rink was a singing Christmas tree!

Here is me messing around in a grocery store. I like these product names.

I don't like FUN light. Who would? I need full strength fun!

Christmas plans:

12/20-12/22 Oslo, Norway staying with a Swedish friend and seeing aBig Bang concert.

12/22-1/4 Ireland with my old roommate from last time, Ciaran

1/4-1/13 Portugal. Lisbon with a friend from there. Rest of country solo

1/13-1/16 London to visit a friend and then back to Sweden to start building a race car!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. The cards are in the mail.

Ciao

The most expensive jacket ever has been found in Sweden. I went to a local sporting goods store to look for a jacket and found this:

I almost choked! Do you know how much that is in US Dollars? $957.61!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right. Nearly $1000! What the hell is it made of? Baby seals!? Actually it was just a big down parka with a gore-tex shell and a fluffy fur collar. I did'nt try it on. I did'nt even touch it after that for fear I might mess it up and have to buy it. I did'nt buy any jacket at all. The cheapest one I like was over $250 so I went online and saw it for $150 in the US. I think I'll become an illegal importer to make some money on the side.

A couple days ago the sun actually came out. The trees are turning colors and losing thier leaves fast. The fall colors are quite nice. Here is a picture from the roof of my apartment building:

Check the weather forecast that I saw when I logged online the other day:

I miss the sun! That report was a few days ago. right now it is almost freezing outside. It's hovering at 33 degrees! I am looking forward to the snow. It could start anyday now with these temps.

Last week I went to a soccer game. The local team was playing a home game and we got free tickets. The cheap seats are'nt even seats, you have to stand! Here is a picture of Jay (England), Me, and Erica (CalPoly) at the game.

They really know how to cheer here. There is one section where all the hardcore fans sit and scream their heads off. They have dozens of songs and chants with different dancing/jumping routines. To keep them in sync, they have a conductor who starts and stops all the songs so its quite organized. Then there are the guys with drums....

I met Juleitte Lewis on Saturday night, backstage at her concert. I knew she was an actress but she actually has a rock band too, Juliette and the Licks. An American guy I know here is friends with the guitarist so after the show we went backstage. Backstage the beer is free but in front of the stage a bottle is $7!! I told her the show was good and really high energy. She says it was bad because she was singing flat. We chatted for another minute while she did a funny iceskating thing on a towel to clean her feet. She was cool. Then we hung out with the band while they complained about their European tour. Getting paid to ride around Europe in a posh bus and rocking out everynight must be horrible! They were really nice and kept telling us to drink their beer. We hung out for about an hour and then they went to bed early, mostly sober, and without any of the Swedish groupies. Sorry but I did'nt take any pictures of them, or the groupies http://www.julietteandthelicks.com/

I went on a boat tour through the city canals last week. We waited and waited as more and more people piled on the boat. The tour guide even put folding chairs in the isles so more people could fit. I kept thinking that this was weird since boats leave every half an hour. Why pack them sooooo full......this is why:

One of the many bridges the boat has to go under is suuuuuuuper low! They call it the cheese grater. We cleared by less than 2 inches! You should have seen the look on everyones face when the tour guide said we are going under and you have to lay on the floor. Awesome!

Later on the boat tour we went out into the main shipping lanes. Göteborg has the largest port in Scandinavia. Check out this monster ship under repair in the dry docks:

I felt bad for the tour guide. She had to say everything three times. Once in Swedish, then English, then German. She was quite talented.

Last Sunday I went to the botanical gardens. The place was packed. Swedish people take every opportunity they can to enjoy the outdoors while the weather is nice. On request of my mother, here is another shot of me:

I finally used the flower mode on my camera:

This weekend was great. I saw two friends I have not seen since the last time I was in Sweden. One guy was an old roommate of mine here in 2004 and he never left Sweden! When he first moved to Sweden I showed him around, taught him some Swedish, and introduced him to Swedish people. This weekend he showed me around town, introduced me to his Swedish roommates and proved that he is fluent in Swedish. The tables have turned!

Ok I need to go to the gym before it closes.

Hejdå

Things are now in full swing: A class project is due soon, I have officially started a masters thesis, Formula student is rolling, and the weather just got crappy. Before I moan about that stuff, here is me canoeing:

There is a lake near my place so I rented a canoe two weeks ago with a bunch of other international students. There were lots of little islands to explore. I named the smallest grassy one Nap Island and that is what we did there.

Here is another random building near my apartment

I Don't know why I like it, I just do.

I have a Masters thesis now. It not with a company but instead with a professor at the university. Here is the preliminary description:

Master's Thesis –Robotic Vehicle Control with Application to ESP Testing
The current stability systems used in cars are built using proprietary specifications for vehicle response. To compare the performance of different vehicles requires a system that can measure the vehicle dynamics under specific conditions and then reverse engineer the vehicle control specifications. The objective of this Master's thesis is to first develop a system that can reproduce the same test conditions in different vehicles in a repeatable manner. Specific topics to be addressed:

1) Assess the current state of the art for testing electronic stability systems
2) Identify the types of vehicle maneuvers that will allow stability programs to be analyzed
3) Develop a mechanical system that can steer, brake, and control vehicle speed independent of the driver
4) Collect vehicle data using the system and test maneuvers listed in 2) and 3)
5) Preliminary analysis of data and identify steps needed for a complete assessment procedure.

I am currently doing some background research on the subject and discussing the details with the professor. I have my own Saab to work with which is cool. It will be the biggest remote control car I have ever played with

As part of my masters degree program, I must be part of a project team. Once again I am on the Formula Student team. Instead of designing part of the car, I am one of two people in the communication subgroup. We will deal with all the related paperwork, sponsors, PR, marketing, and general organization. I am actually looking forward to it because this has been a problematic area for many teams. I am also an advisor to the suspension and unsprung mass group. The Chalmers 2006 formula student car is one of the fastest in the world! Hopefully we can do even better!

Last weekend I went to Stockholm for an AIESEC conference. It is a student organization that helps students find jobs in other countries. I drove a new Volvo V70 300 miles accross Sweden to get there. Driving in Stockholm was fun. I guess I scared/impressed some people with my "San Francisco" style of driving. They are not used to big city driving in Sweden.

Here is a picture of the front door of the Handel University of Economics in Stockholm where the conference was. Its very old and the door is super cool! You actually go in and out this way.

The weather has finally turned gloomy here. It is not expected to get better. I guess I will have to buy an umbrella and a good jacket. Two things I normally don't need at home.

Time for some Swedish flash cards and then it's bedtime.

God Natt från Sverige