Karl New York City, United States of America.

There’s me at third last, however, if you notice the times, I’m actually 26 seconds behind the peloton. The messengers ran the race in a cool hour, and we were 45 minutes behind them. Insane.

This was a fairly long race. I didn’t understand any of the instructions so kept close with my team mates Sönke, Erik H and På (who’s nickname on the list I’m unsure of). The idea was to race to our first spot, get the 2 numbers on the door, do some math, and use that result to find our next location. Rinse and repeat 20 times (throw in a stop that includes vodka and caviar) and you made it. Our group was ahead by about 15 minutes at one point until a slight miscalculation rendered us at the back of the main group. We slogged it through the city and with a little help of my Östermalm knowledge, we were back in the group. It was a long haul as you can see, it was also -10ºc and the snot, sweat, and tears froze to my face as we bashed through the late afternoon traffic.

We finished up at pub, ate bratwurst and drank stout (oops), and I managed to climb home at some late hour. Thanks for your hospitality Sönke! I hope you got home alright mate.

This is me and Sönke starting to ride. For full details of the race in Swedish and lots of photos, read this thread.

Hej då!

I managed to watch the first hour or so of the Boxing Day Test. I saw Hayden fall for 8 which was a bloody disappointment, but apart from poor form, I was having a ball watching the game from the comfort of my couch in Stockholm. I just wish there were Mac alternatives.

In other news, my post about Fi being in town, made it to the front page of Kontain.com. I love that photo.

Ahh. What would Christmas in Sweden be without a bottle of glögg to throw down every night. This is mulled wine, it comes in all shapes and sizes, and the most generic glögg you can get has a whopping alcohol percentage of 2,2%.

LOL.

You have to get to the system to get the normal strength glögg of about 15,5%.

The idea is you fill the glass with nice hot glögg, almonds, raisins and you dip in gingerbread. Most awesome and a very hearty drink.

Enjoy.

Yo. You’d never guess what I’ve been doing while all ya’ll Aussie have been snoozing. That’s right. I made my very first Svenska Meatballs. I went to the store, I bought the meat, I bought the onion, I bought the right to get down with the local Svenska people. I am now, a meatball maker. BOIK BOIK BOIK!

So, here are some nice pictures of my food. Please enjoy the pictures.

Needless to say, we were happy. Meatballs, mash, and pickles. Proper.

Adjo! x

Hello everyone.

I’ve finally made it. WordPress saved a draft of me talking about Helsinki before my internet time expired, so I’m going to back track a little to let you all what’s been going.

After sleeping for most of the flight from Tokyo (inbetween watching Die Hard and Tropic Thunder, and buying 5 euro G&T’s), I managed to pull up ok. Finland was a pretty nice place. The people & staff were super friendly and the beer was malty and warm. There was snow all over the runway and I was surprised at how smooth the landing was. It was the first time I saw a plane get hosed down after it landed to get rid of the ice.

I was held up in Helsinki with another 3 hour delay. I got word from my work crew that there was a snow storm smashing Arlanda Airport to smithereens, and no flights were able to land. Helsinki is just under an hour away, so of course, we had to sit and wait. Again.

My bags have been lost in the change from Helsinki to Stockholm because of the snow. So again, I’m here in a new city, with no idea, and no clothes to change into. This happened once before when I first moved to Melbourne for a new job.

I was supposed to land at 4pm this afternoon, but I finally got into the apartment at 2:30am. My new flatmates have been patiently waiting up for me, thanks dudes!

This apartment is dope. It’s a mad 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom type deal, hardwood floors, insulation (no socks, jeans and a shirt at the moment, even though it’s snowing outside), stupidly fast internet and in a great location. I’ll put some pics up tomorrow!

Time to pass out! Love to all.

Here it is. My Swedish Visa. It’s official!