TAWOMG - Progress on the book

Dear friends,

On Friday two weeks ago I finished my language course in Uppsala. My original plans were to come to Stockholm for a week and then drive north, to the North Cape in Norway. After that I wanted to visit friends in Oslo and in Copenhagen and stay there for as long as necessary in order to finish the novel that I am currently writing.

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Plans have changed a bit. I have a cousin that lives in Stockholm. He has an apartment that he uses as a studio, where he works. As he is on vacation now, he generously offered me to stay here while he is away. Now I have been in Stockholm, at his studio, for over two weeks. I will leave on 25 August. Hope that by that time I will have finished the novel. I wanted to do it in Copenhagen, but Stockholm is just happening to be a superb alternative.

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I was six weeks in Uppsala. They were really great! Not only I could improve my command of the Swedish language, but also could enjoy the pleasures of the Swedish summer. It was a long time since I last spent summer vacation in Scandinavia. What I realized is that my heart and even my life history are deeply connected to the northern countries. Some of the friends here I have known since 1989. Det var inte igår! I really hope that now that I have transitioned to a career in interim management and as a writer I will have more time and be able to come here more often.

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I took the course at Glossa, one of the language schools that offer summer programs in Uppsala. On the photo beside you can see me at their premises, where I used to write and plug into internet. I highly recommend them! The course was very well structured, the teachers very competent and their location is perfectly suitable to the program. I must also say that I am not impartial in my judgement, since the recommendation was from Gun, my first teacher in Uppsala nineteen years ago (we kept contact and are close friends since then). This summer she also worked there for three weeks. One of my teachers was Monika, whom I also had met for the first time many years ago - she is a good friend of Gun. Lennart, the course director, is also a very good friend of them and in more than one occasion we had dinner parties together with other friends. So, I was like at home at Glossa, because I was with friends. On the other hand, other students that did not have the same connections would probably also say that they felt at home, just because this was the general feeling at the school.

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Two of these dinner parties were to eat surströmming, a Swedish delicatessen. Surströmming is a fermented raw fish. You buy it in cans that you have to open very carefully, because the fish and the water inside the can are under pressure, due to the fermentation process. When you open the can it smells very peculiarly. That is a smell impossible to mix with anything else. That is the handicap of this delicacy: many feel discouraged to try it because they think it smells badly. It may be. However, the taste is gorgeous. Once you become a fan, then it is for lifetime. On the last evening the school organised a dinner party. Before the party Gun and Monika, two strömming enthusiasts, arranged for the students to taste this delicatessen. On the photo you can see them and the first student that tried it.

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The days in Uppsala are over now. I only drive there once a week, to visit friends. Here in Stockholm I am really concentrating on the book. I am totally involved with the story and the characters. I am afraid I will miss them when I finish, as much as I miss so many summers spent here in Scandinavia. But nature reminds us that nothing lasts forever. Now the nights start to be a bit longer and the first birds can be seen flying over Uppsala. That is the first sign that fall is just around the corner. Depending who you talk to, you will learn that the birds are in their route from the north to the south, immigrating before autumn sets in. Others say they just stay there, they don't head for south. Irrespectively who is right, for me that is a sign that soon it will be time to leave as well. Hopefully it won't be too long before I come back again!

Wish you enjoy your week and, if it is the case, the remaining of your summer vacation!

Maurício