Sex, sulfur and a fishy business

The more i go to these new lectures, the more i understand that power, business and economics are the influence behind everything. From the earthquake decisions in L'Aquila, to the ridiculous reductions in emissions in cars, to the ban of Tesla Motors in the USA, to the so called environmental assessments.

My Flicka... :(

It's been a very interesting week as always. Lectures with the yoga-man, a professor named Troll, another person called From and my favorite, Justin Time. No wonder i came up with the fantastic phrase: "A Troll came From Stockholm and arrived Justin Time and Yu Niu about this". Magnificent. Maybe the reasons i do not have friends, or friends like Jaime :D

In Entrepreneurship we were handed a case about a film making company in Sweden called Mookie. What a ridiculous name, when i heard of it i thought of bankruptcy. It was a real story from 1998. We read a small paper and we were asked to put from a scale of 1-10 how we thought they were going to perform one year later. I immediately turned left and told Silvia: "Bankruptcy". 

Oh boy they did end up bankrupt! I love this class even more by the day! And today's ridiculous class with the yoga man and his red underwear for 4 hours straight was exhausting. I failed hydrochemistry along with many others because we sucked in the last question. Way to go fantastic grading way!

Also, if you clicked on this page because you saw sex in the title, go back to your caves, to pornmd.com or click in one of the ads on the left that offer you dating with Russian women.

Sex, sulfur and a fishy business is a video we watched in class about the extinction of fish in Norway and it was pretty fun, i definitely recommend it. There is also another baboon called Hans Rosling that apparently says that the Earth's population will stabilize in 10 billion people based on statistics, babies and religion. I guess he thinks that a magical snap of fingers will give our planet limitless resources. There are lies, damned lies and statistics.

I wish i had more pictures to show to you. The only new one comes from class today, where everyone was "so" thrilled and interested.

Swedish tabloids at their finest.

My posts are getting more frequent again, but also shorter. I did find out that i have around 3 weeks free at the end of March though! Wee for Finland! Other than that i am alive and kicking, just ask Holger and Jaime what i would do if i got 1000 crowns every month for free! Other than that i was in such a good and asshole mood today that i drew a very mature dialogue on a poster that said "I like to suck cock". Shallow, like the Greek economy i know.

Well i hope i can cook up something interesting during the weekend and hopefully after i am done drafting my projects i can write something substantial. Which reminds me it would be great to see some comments hitting the comment section!

Until we meet again, Goodnight Sweden!

Flicka - Story of a boy and his dog

July 27th 2012.

They had been waiting for that call for one month now. He had a hunch that today was the day. Just came back from work, gave her a massive hug, a kiss on the cheeks and they laid down together on the bed daydreaming.

Phone rings, hearts racing, feet trembling with anticipation. He checks his phone. The number ends at 007. It was him. The man that was trusted to bring them their puppy one month ago.

"Hey Kostas! Why don't you come over at my place today at 15:00 so i can give you a present?", he said cool as a cucumber.

"Right on Mr. Panagiwths, be right there!", he replied.

She didn't hear him, for he had escaped in the kitchen to make it a surprise.

"Get dressed Alyx, we are going somewhere to pick up something!", he said assertively.

She wears her jeans and a shirt and they get in the little red KIA picanto. He reverses and starts climbing up the hill. The house was only 500 meters from their's. The little car struggling to climb, the coughing engine a sign of the miles it had devoured over the years. But they did not care. She starts to understand where they are going and grips firmly her seat and his hand.

They park outside the big steel gate. He pulls the handbreak, closes the doors and they hit the doorbell. The house is massive. It is beautiful and has a massive garden, green with trees and a little shed at the right. Next to the house is a big fence with at least 20 dogs inside. Guard dogs, ready to protect their property.

The house door opens and they see a big man coming towards us. He is holding something in his hands but they cannot see, for he has it behind his back. She holds his hand so tight it has turned red and ready to burst. But they don't care. This is the moment they have been waiting for, the last seed of their love, sown. It would seal their happiness, or spell their doom, as it turned out. The aftermath reminds me stories of prodigy, of people destined for great success, only to turn out bad, bringing death and destruction. But they also bring the need for rebuild.

The man lets them in the garden. They hear a squeek, a tiny little bark.

"I have something for you!", Mr. Panagiwths says.

And he leaves on the ground the cutest little puppy in the whole world. The living, breathing organism that would be both his happiness and bane, the thing he would love and loathe the most in the world after a few months time.

Naming her Flicka 2 years before i knew i would move to Sweden..coincidence? Or Fate?

She just hobbles around the dirt, trying to walk. She was only 8 weeks old. The feeling was indescribable. Alyx picks her up and the tree of them move to the pier on the left of the house. They sit on a bench made of rock, and a servant brings little Flicka a plate with rice and chicken. She is not leaving our side. She has big fluffly ears for her size and they soak with chicken as she dives hungrily in the plate of food. She is golden, shining bright like the sun, with a silky pink tongue, big round puppy eyes and skin so soft to the touch. They were in for a rollercoaster of emotions.

The breeder tells them the details, solves all of their early questions and they sign the contract. He pays him the rest of the money and put little Flicka in her transport cage. Hands holding, they walk calmly towards the car into their new home. The cutest bark, if you can call that a bark, shatters the silence of the mountain air. They were so happy.

And this was the beginning of the end...

Master Programme in Earth Science Hydrology/Hydrogeology, Uppsala University: ADMITTED You have replied: YES

How does someone start typing random thoughts to form a blog, a text, a book or an essay always confounded and astonished me at the same time. And as a person that speaks his mind regardless of how relevant, stupid or amazing his thoughts are, I am going to follow this rule to the end.
This is pretty much a blog that will cover my life as a graduate student in Uppsala, Sweden, along with the road and hiccups i encounter/ed on my way there.

Credit to the name and the inspiration behind this blog if anyone bothers to read it or find it helpfull should go to Uppsala Universitet for providing me with the opportunity to delve into the fantastic world of hydrogeology and most importantly Cassie Richardson and her fantastic blog http://cassiegoesabroad.wordpress.com/ Thank you Cassie.

So let me tell you some basic stuff about myself first, to get things rolling. My name is Kostas and i am from Southern Greece, in a town called Kalamata. I am 26 years old, with a Bsc. in Environmental Sciences and i work as an official reseller for FAGE Dairy Products. I speak English, French, Russian and i am about to start learning Swedish and after that probably Spanish so i can safely make the dream destination, California. Brilliant stuff. I actually convinced some girls once that i am a ninja and i hunt bears. So i guess i can pass around as anything. Great stuff.

My life on a nutshell? I finished school, went to university, got into a 5 year relationship, bought a Cocker Spaniel, gifted it to my girlfriend, joined the Hellenic Helicopter Division in the army to complete my military obligations, my girlfriend found a boyfriend through our dog, i lost my dog, my girlfriend, my sanity and bla bla bla. I regained my composure, propelled into PuA stardom (maybe some other time i will explain what that means), finished the army, applied for master's programmes in Sweden and here i am, having received the official confirmation of admission today! Oh and that's when i became a ninja.

I remember sucking every bit of info out of Cassie's intro posts and i remember how about people asked her if she was nervous. Well calmness is my trait, as well as a tiny bit of arrogance and huge amount of confidence, which explains why i was playing football manager waiting casually for the results to surface, while Eua (a friend) was ready to jump out of the balcony if she was not admitted.

I am not sure how often i will write for now but i guess it will vary a lot depending on my obligations and work. The only certain thing is that this journey has just begun and we will discuss my aspirations sometime later. Next post i am going to try and explain the admission process and my own experience, the do's and don't's and try to provide some helpful information about future applicants who consider Sweden as their next destination.

Good night with a picture of the dog that started it all!

Say hi to Flicka!