On a Mission

Yup, I am on missions now. Note "missions", not "mission". I bascially have missions lined up now till X-mas... well done, Marlies!

My current mission lasts until the end of the month. It includes spending many of my waking hours in front of my laptop and in discussion with business partners brainstorming and writing up how our future organization will be run. It´s quite the playground for me as I love program development. Parallel I am preparing myself for the Colorado adventure I wrote about the other day. There is lots of paperwork to be done for that, too. Currently, I am trying to get a physical examination appointment and a shot (the TB kind, not the akvavit kind). That task kinda forces me to figure out if I am indeed covered by the Swedish health care system. I should be. We will see. At the first place I went to, Söderköpings Vardcentralen, they told me that they are only seeing sick or injured people. Luckily I am not. When I asked the lady at the reception if they would treat me upon seeing my personnummer in case I was in need she said: "Of course". Nice to be taken care of like that by the system. She sent me on to the Medicine Centralen in Norrköping though - I will have to figure out if they can do my physical.

This morning we went and checked out an island that we may be able to use for our organization (e.g. as a place to begin the seakayak portion of treatment). The meeting with the land owners was what I have come to understand as typically Swedish. We arrived, talked, wandered around on the property (not the island in question, never even mentioning it from what I could understand), met the ducks, a cat, checked out some military vehical, and so on. About two hours into our visit we were invited to Fika (Swedes swear by it - two times daily, most Swedes come together, sit down, drink coffee and eat some pastry or crispy bread with cheese). Finally, during Fika, the conversation wandered towards the island and our program. While I already had given up on ever setting foot on that island we then went out, got a couple of boats ready, and visited the island. While people here tell me that there are indeed Swedes who are living at a faster speed and are more attached to schedules and their watches, I find this morning´s experience enjoyable to get used to. One thing is sure: I am not cutting back on my caffeine intake any time soon!