tisdag 21 september 2010

Lots of changes, moved to Brussels

Buying belgian waffles in BrusselsRight now, the name "quelle diffèrence" has acquired another dimension of validity for me in my everyday life. A week ago, on the 13th of september we moved to Brussels. Ali will be working at the Swedish permanent representation to the EU, negotiating development issues. I will be getting to know the city, developing my own new networks, feeling out the opportunities on the european scene and getting involved in things that I find interesting.

After a week in our new city we are definitely getting settled in our new apartment in central Brussels. It is much bigger than the one in Stockholm, but our things (furniture and such) are pretty much the same, and pretty much fill the place up. So weird how to completely different apartments can still be filled with the same interiors and suddenly become pretty similar. Quelle diffèrence, yet still so similar :)

The other new and BIG difference, as of yesterday, is that the far-right, racist, Sverigedemokraterna (Sweden democrats) got voted into the Swedish parliament with 5,6% of the votes. What was a real threat in the pre-election polls is now a sad fact of the political map in Sweden. I will devote some continuing space to this issue and its aftermath in entries to come.

One last pleasant difference that I have noticed every day in Brussels so far is that the weather tends to treat us to some sunshine and blue skies every day. Even though days may start out very grey, they have tended to turn around and get out the good side after a few hours. We are keeping our hopes up about this trend continuing well into the autumn here!

Keep on making a difference!

/Ola Nilsson