Bart in Copenhagen – Moving Abroad

Christmas in the Sweden. What can I say.

My friend Olof took me to his parents house in Olofstorp near Göteborg. Leaving from Copenhagen was a little more complicated than planned (pushing his car for fuckin half an hour) but we got there in the end. It was his sisters’ (Camilla) sons’ birthday and the Famous Grouse was waiting for me when I got there. Turns out his family is as much fun as he is.

In the house were staying 2 of Olof’s sisters, his parents, Camilla and her son, her two very cool Australian friends and me. With so many people around it was almost like home. The week was off to a great start.

Next day I went to a – yes! – karaoke party. These guys had such a sweet setup (a stage, mics and the whole deal) I seriously considered declaring my everlasting allegiance to the Swedish flag..then and there. Next day we had a singstar party at Olof’s place. To the everlasting shame of the red team we lost despite a moral victory and I went to bed a broken man.

Christmas day was to be spent at Henrik’s house. Now, let me tell you about Swedish Christmases. They take the snaps and the singing very seriously. Here’s the deal; you have to sing before you drink. As the night progresses my swedish got better and better (schnaps, yeeeh!). At one point Olof thought I had secretly practiced my Swedish. I was that good.

Another fun filled dinner later Olof, me and Camilla went too a club in Göteborg. Fun, fun, fun. I attended a church singing, and the rest of my free time was basically filled with shopping for Olof’s Christmas gifts. When we went home by bus I had apparantly found the only bum in Sweden. Olof was in the bathroom and with nothing giving him away as a bum (man, this was one classy-ass bum) I was talking to him for a good 30 seconds when he started asking me for money.

He told me that he needed to get to a place 50 km from there and asked me for 20 euro’s. He was probably intending of taking a limo there. When I refused he started to point at his arm, waving it and screaming at me – like a threat -”Look, I’m black, I’m black”. I could barely stop laughing long enough to tell him to fuck off. But damn, the comedy alone was worth 20 euro’s.

Back in the CPH my friends Joel, Jonathan, James and Sebastiaan were to arrive any minute. We went straight from the car to the bar and then got busy. It was like that all week. I spent NY’s with them at a students’ party and, after 2 weeks of partying, I am ready for some sleep.

Happy New Year,

Bart

ps. A bunch of you got two Christmas cards.  It’s a long story but I thought the first ones didn’t get mailed.