British Library in London

The British Library in St.Pancras, London is an institution well known to researchers around the world, and is where I have been hanging around for the last few days. The library is home to around 150 million items, and quite amazingly for me it has all the Swedish language resources that I need so that I can take an impromtu holiday to England and still feel like I can work.

The library is a copyright library, which means that it receives copies of all books printed in the UK and the Republic of Ireland. The principle of copyright libraries can be traced as far back as 1610, but an Act of Parliament in 1911 established that six libraries in the UK and Ireland would hold this position: The British Library; The Bodleian, Oxford; The University Library, Cambridge; Trinity College Library, Dublin; and the National libraries in Scotland and Wales. The British Library as an entity however is much more recent, and became as an institution independent of the British Museum through the British libraries act in 1973, and moved to it's current location in 1997.

History aside, the library seems today to not only be a library to an extent but also a museum and a general centre for culture. It will often house a number of exhibitions. At the moment there is an exhibition on about Science-Fiction, the Worlds of Mervyn Peake and the Street Markets of London- Walter Joseph. The library also often hosts conferences and talks. Thus, it should not only be seen as a place where stuffy academics and students sit with their books but also one for the whole public.

I am incredibly biased as I think the BL is one of the greatest places on earth. However, I honestly believe that it is worth a visit if you are visiting London as it is as much a part of British culture as the Museums on Exhibition Road are or the Art Galleries. It is an argument against those that believe that libraries should only be libraries, as it actively pursues engagement with the public in their culture, not just serving as a repository for books. Look it up here:

Stockholm Halvmaraton

Det verkar som alla i min forskningsgrupp är lite galna på att springa just nu. En av mina kamrater har sprungit två halvmaraton de sista par månaderna, och en annan som precis har sprungit en 10 kilometers lopp. Min handledare är en galen löpare, och har sprungit ett antal lopp, varav den senaste var en 10 kilometers lopp en vecka sen. Ja, jag är en del av en otroligt hurtig forskningsgrupp, och det hela har fått mig att känna mig lat. Sista loppet jag sprang var Göteborgsvarvet och det känns som det är dags att bygga på mitt personligt bästa: 2.20. Jag skulle gärna vilja putta min tid under två timmar och tjugo minuter. Det skulle kännas bra.

Förra September sprang jag Bristol Halfmarathon, så i år hade jag tänkt följa treden av septembermaratoner med att springa Stockholm halvmaratonen i år som äger rum den 17:e September. Eftersom jag ändå kommer flytta dit i Augusti (om jag nu lyckats hitta boende) så tänkte jag att det skulle vara ett bra sätt att se staden.

Så nu är det att tänka på träningen. Jag har gått relativt regelbundet på pass på Friskis och Svettis, så jag har nu hållit upp kondisen. Men löpningen går så där lagom bra. Jag har aldrig lyckats med ett träningsschema så jag lyckats aldrig prestera till den nivån som jag tror att jag kan. Men men, det lär i alla fall ge mig ett mål att ta mig igenom träning i Juni och Augusti, och det ska vara trevligt att ge mig ut på en riktig löparfest igen. Och sen är det ju bra om man ser mindre lat inför sin handledare med...

Buying Glasses

I am incredibly short sighted. It has gotten to the point now where I get free eye tests according to the NHS in the United Kingdom as my left eye is now below -10. Accordingly, I need glasses, and these for me are a necessity rather than a fashion accessory. Since I broke my last two pairs (I bought two pairs for one at Specsavers) I have been using contact lenses, but in the long run it is not good for my eyes to wear them all the time. Thus I needed some new glasses. I decided that because I liked them the last time, I would return to Specsavers.

Turns out that what initially seems like a good deal (998 sek) for two pairs of glasses, suddenly turns out not to be so great with the amount of ad-ons. With the thickness of my lenses it has become necessary for me to have extra thin ones. These add on 1500 sek to the price (only for one pair). The other pair needed to be scratch proofed as well, which cost an additional 600. So what originally seemed like a good idea turned abit more expensive than I had hoped. The one saving grace is that a pair of glasses do last a while if treated properly, and will hopefully now save me a bunch of money on contact lenses, which are definetly in the long run more expensive.

It feels a litte unfair that those who genuinely need their vision corrected should have to pay such extortionate amounts for the privelage. Unfortunately, we have little choice.

New Mobile phone

I've finally managed to get my head in gear and get a new mobile phone. My old one died around three months ago and since then I've managed to get by with phones that cost around £10 and really wasn't up to much. So actually wanting to hear those that are calling me, I decided that it might possibly be time to get something that might actually work. My old phone having lasted four years (around the same length of time as my laptop) I'm decidedly out of touch when it comes to the market and what it has to offer. Naturally you'd have to be incredibly talented at burying your head in the sand to ignore the iPhones that are everywhere, which have now out of a pathological need to be different, made me reject any possibility of ever having one (plus I'm not Apple's greatest fan).

Call me a technophobe or whatever, but I have really never seen the need to have a touchscreen phone, or indeed one even with internet. I genuinely like the idea that I cannot access my e-mail wherever I go because sometimes I do just want to be out of touch, and I do find the idea that the phone's GPS can track wherever I am in the world ever so slightly disturbing. This is undoubtedly an incredibly useful too were you to be lost in a foreign city and you were trying to find your way to somewhere, but sometimes its nice just not to be traceable. Furthermore, the latest iPhone or Samsung Nexus is going to make you an attractive prospect for thieves, as although most probably possess the common sense to hide their phones, some do not.

So anyway, whilst glancing ever so quickly at the Smartphones, I ran quickly towards the more simplistic ones. My last phone was a Samsung, so it was going to take a great deal of persuasion to move away from another phonemaker. To be fair, a very nice looking Sony Ericsson almost managed it, but in the end I chose a Samsung Monte slider, which, apart from the very simplistic almost disposable mobile that I had before, was Samsung's most simple mobile, the next step up was a Smartphone. It has all the features of my old phone: camera, mp3, internet (luxury) but the camera is less good (1.3 megapixels in comparison to 5 on my old one). It certainly seems like Samsung are now putting all their energy into their touchscreen phones, so next time I will probably be forced into one myself as phones with keypads will be non-existent. Even me, one of the most unwilling of phone users, will be forced into technological change.

Not all technological shopping experiences fill me with such fear as phone shopping. I love MP3 players, and I need to get a new one of those too, and I can imagine myself putting out a bit more money on one of those than a phone. Likewise, I'd quite like a Kindle. I fully imagine an Ipad or something can do all of these things, but I am still of the opinion that a phone should not do everything. I fully suspect that in another four years that I will have no choice but to get one that does.

And so the mighty fall...

Tomorrow will be known for the last published issue of the News of the World after an intense week of allegations around phone hacking. This was especially around the Milly Dowler murder case where the family of the murdered teenager were given false hope after a journalist had deleted voicemails, making it look like she was listening to them. Personally I cannot say that I have ever read the newspaper and therefore cannot comment on its content, but clearly as Britain's largest newspaper it was clearly selling well. Clearly hundreds of journalists who did their jobs properly then losing them on account of the few who chose to take it too far is never a joyful event. However, what I now find interesting is the continuing backlash that now is faced not only by those highest in the News of the World and Murdoch Imperium.

Rupert Murdoch himself is now expected to come to the UK in order to deal with the crisis himself, which is surely an indication of how badly things have gone awry. Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson (now forced to leave his post as government advisor), and former Royal Editor Clive Goodman have both been released on bail pending further investigation. Furthermore, calls have been made for Rebekah Brooks, Editor at the time when Milly Dowler's phone was hacked, to step down, and Brooks is no longer in charge of News Internationals own investigation into the drama.

Indeed, one wonders how tenable the position of Murdoch himself now is considering that even the British Prime Minister David Cameron is now defending his position in employing Coulson. The Medias role in supporting politicians, or not as the case may be, has been called into question by Cameron, and the politician's own reliance on the Media as a tool for public support. The whole thing reminds me slightly of the BP oil spill in the Mexican Gulf, where Tony Hayward, chief of BP lost his job due to his role in the spill. My only qualm over that was that Carl-Henric Svanberg, Chief Executive of BP also did not lose his. I think it's a positive trend however, that those within the powerful positions have now started being answerable for their actions.

One can hope perhaps that the shutting down of News of the World, a drastic move, has served as a sufficient warning to those journalists that would conduct themselves in such a fashion, or more importantly, that those in the higher positions take heed as well. Personally I suspect that more heads will have to roll before anyone has learnt their lesson from this.

A little tired of this now...

When I woke up this morning I read this article:

http://www.sydsvenskan.se/sverige/article1505340/SN-Sank-studiestodet-for-humaniora.html

As a history student, I have become accustomed to the fact that we are a laughing stock both in academia-especially from science subjects- and in the media. I've already written about graduate students and the prospects they have for the future, or rather lack of them, this is double for those who are studying in the humanities...Well, we are all accustomed to the job prospects for us seem to be unbelievably dark, because who would actually hire someone who has their head in the clouds, and done research on dead creatures. It is said that there is a lack of need for us, and the world seems very happy to show us this constantly. Or so says Svenska Näringsliv Humanity students will have less chance in the job market than the engineers and therefore shall be entitled to a smaller contribution. This also applies to those who are studying art. This will sound awfully bitter,but I'm tired of having to defend my subject for those who seem to think that it is not meaningful. What really happened with the right to study what you want? Although I'm afraid that more and more students embarking on studies won’t be able to find jobs, they are still entitled to the same support as any other. In addition, it feels as if they see humanity students as not have anything to give the labour market, which is completely untrue. Of course I can not speak for other topics within humanities framework, but my history studies have given me a great analytical ability, and talent to make myself understood both in speech and writing. Not only this, but I'm good at researching through various sources, to provide a concise but complete overview of their contents, and then use them in my argument. These characteristics are easily transferable to the world of work. So I have given you the description I always give in the cover letter and it feels like things are going against me more doing this on my blog but it also feels like I have no choice. How much do they think humanity students will react when they say that we are not as worthy as the rest of the applicants. It is totally unacceptable.

Okay, I'll stop now. It is not the first time I have had to say this and the worst thing for me is it is certainly not the last. The fact that the debate will surely scare away people from these subjects, which surely is the point of it all. One thing I was going to say before I put it down this time is to describe a course as a Harry Potter course is not particularly fair or particularly professional. And I'm sure that the girl studying to a shop clerk would think that these are of the same worth as any other degree.

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Sore!

So now I am back in Sweden, I started with one of my favourite pastimes Friskis and Svettis. I was at my spinning class yesterday and Sunday, the gym on Tuesday (though drawn there) and now disc spin tonight. I’m stiff and my muscles ache, I can’t say that my stamina is at the top right now but I carry on.  The class yesterday was fun, but it really felt like everyone else was incredibly well trained and I had to turn down the resistance on the bike several times during the session. A little embarrassing to feel so wiped out when everyone else is barely affected. Okay, I lied, of course they were affected but it felt as if they could get a little more from it all than me. And this is barely a month after GöteborgsVarvet, insane how quickly everything passes like the wind!

Well it’s better, since I am among healthy Swedes rather than the Scots who were trying to get me to drink whiskey all the time (it sounds like a stereotype, but entirely true). In Scotland, they are either super healthy or extremely low down on the other side of the scale. There is a reason that the Scots invented the fried Mars Bar (the name is enough here I think) and one of their most famous mystery writers Ian Rankin said of his own people that they were “prone to self destruction” Maybe it’s charming, but it’s definitely not good if you want to stay fit and live long.

One thing that I think is unique about Swedish sports culture is music. When I was at workouts in England or Scotland, music has always been used as a distraction rather than the motion itself, whereas in Sweden it uses ledarn pace of the music to get participants to work harder. The problem for me is that I prefer the Swedish system but have become very familiar with the British, or rather that I have become accustomed to listening to my music when I exercise. This means that the dance music that they often use to get the pulse of does not usually make me work harder. But when the coach played rock music in the session yesterday, it got the pulse up! Maybe it’s just me who is especially dependent on music.

Anyway, I am now incredibly happy that I have the chance to be in this environment again, and now that the weather is so fine I don’t feel so against going out for a run either. The last time I was here was at Christmas and then there was lots of snow and ice so it was dangerous to venture out into the woods. May be willing to go out and skate or Delsjön with all the other hearty types. Thinking of Stockholm half marathon in September and possibly a marathon, you are welcome to join me!

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Is Swedish a dying language?

I felt that it was time that I started to write some in Swedish, both because in my case it may be useful to practice and just because there is a chance. I've always thought that Swedish is a very nice language and one that I want to be better at because for my part I have always found that a second language has been important in my work as much as it has been a link to my upbringing.

However, it has not always been like this. At this point it is probably important to explain that I was born in Gothenburg, Sweden and lived there until I was seven years old. After that the whole family moved to England due to one of my parents having a job there. The move was really just meant to be temporary, one or two years at its worst, but it turned out that after four children have gone into the schools and are in various stages of their lives, it was not so easy to get back to Sweden. In the end, it was eighteen years for me and my siblings will probably never move back there.

My upbringing was to say the least Swenglish-I am not particularly fond of the word, but in my case it's true and it has always been difficult for me to find out where I really belong where I am Swedish when I live in England or Scotland but feel incredibly English when I live in Sweden. Luckily my parents always saw that I knew the Swedish traditions of Christmas and Easter celebrated in a Swedish way, and Midsummer, so even if we lived in a foreign country we were in touch with our roots, and I had a chance to feel Swedish rather than English, but I do not know really if it did make the debate easier or harder to handle.

This has naturally affected the way I express myself in writing, as you have probably noticed. I have kept up with the Swedish all these years, thanks to my parents, and just one month of formal teaching of the Swedish language. To begin with, when we moved to England, English was the only language I wanted to speak and it only took me a year to become fluent, it was probably inconceivable that Swedish would die out completely, but it did not. These days I feel different and I have to say the Swedish is used both as part of my normal life and working life. In addition, there is some desire to express my self in Swedish, despite the fact that when I write I can think of a million better ways to write it in English and that it would have taken me half the time to write in English as well.

For my part, it now has more relevance when the Swedish language has become more and more mixed with English. All the years abroad, and my difficulty in keeping up Swedish at all means I try to keep Swedish and English languages ​​separate, and generally I agree to this philosophy to the other languages ​​I learn. I wonder how much this phenomenon has evolved, but perhaps it is only me who understands how Swedish culture works nowadays. A friend of mine said it was simply easier to express themselves in English and that there was a finer vocabulary. And to some extent, I agree, English is a great way to express yourself and  as I said, have found that English is easier than Swedish, but if you have a  Swedish upbringing, should we not have the vocabulary to express himself as well as you do in English? The thing I'm worried about now is that English has become largely a native of Sweden, is that Swedish people simply stop trying with the Swedish language and all their creativity is instead created with English. I think that would be extremely trisst.

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