$1 = 6.03pp SEK
Hey it's on an upswing!
Wait, I have to think about this the other way, good for you guys, less good for us now.
I know it's been awhile but at least now we have some things to talk about. First of all the good news, Ragen finally was able to arrange a temporary personnummer from the tax office so now she will be able to be paid with out breaking university policy. Woo Hoo! Still none for me thanks. So what does a temporary number allow us to do, uhh mostly it's get paid. We've been told that we should probably wait to enter into any contracts, i.e., cell phones, until we get the real numbers. Also we can't get the international bank card from our bank which stinks because we could really use that while we are back in the States for Ryan and Kim's wedding. But at least now we have someone helping us out. One of the people in Ragen's department called the tax office and the migration board and tried to figure out what is going on with our tax numbers and visa renewals. It appears the delays for us have been the fact that Ragen's offer of employment was from Jan 1, 2008 to Dec 31, 2008, which apparently is not one year according to Swedish bureaucracies. That delayed are visa's the first time and is delaying us again and why the tax wouldn't give us the numbers. Our helper asked the migration office if they could speed up our renewal application (there is a backlog right now and where we are in the stack puts it at a 2 to 3 month processing time, super) so we got that going for us now.
To make up for our lack of updates loyal readers, here is a video from the boat race that happens in Uppsala every year for Valborgsmässoafton or Valborg. It's not a speed race but an endurance race because teams of four or five make a boat out of styrofoam and float down the river and over a small waterfall. As you can imagine, some make it and some don't. Notice all the debris in the water in the video, and the dedication of the guy paddling along on the piece of his boat. It happens on the last day of April or "sista April" and is leads to bonfires in the evening, Walpurgis Night named for St. Walpurga, which are to keep witches and stuff away from the livestock. Uppsala is one of the cities in the country where this is a big deal and people come from all over to celebrate it here. The bonfire in Gamla Uppsala is the biggest one with all the traditional singing and lasts all night. Here's a link for more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walpurgis_Night#Sweden
Anyway, it seems that this really is a big day for drinking which was pretty obvious while we were riding the bus up to Gamla Uppsala, everyone had a drink. I would hate to be a bus driver that night. We got on the bus to downtown and didn't know where we were going to go that night and Ragen and I were talking when these two girls in front of us turned around and asked if we only speak English. They were pretty nice and one was pretty hammered. Ragen thinks they both were but I think one was more bubbly or tipsy. They asked us if we had anything to drink yet and told us that it was a big day for alcoholics. They did give us good directions on how to get to Gamla Uppsala to see the big fire, not bad for being three sheets. They asked what we did and we told them. They seemed to be about college age so we asked if they were students and they said that they were 15 and were in 8th grade. You could imagine our surprise. I realized that this was the age of the kids that would be the students I could be teaching when I saw an ad for an English teacher earlier that day. So to make a long story short, our drunk 15 year old tour guides turned gave us good directions and if any of our single male friends come to visit, make sure you ask a girl her age. You never know around here.
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