Category Archives: Life

The Life of Jonathan Fors, blog posts not related to anything but me and my life

Day 12: My crazy friends

Sunday, February 20, 2011 – 00:37
Day 12, 19th of February 2011: My crazy friends
By Jonathan Fors | Comments (0)

Now what?

Saturday, February 12, 2011 – 17:12

First I need to tell any friends reading this not to panic and call the psych ward. I’ve not gone crazy even though the following will imply the opposite.

It’s been a long time, more than three years, since I wrote this post about finding freedom and inner joy. Life has been a bliss ever since, but with lots of water having passed under the bridge, times are changing once again.

Some will be shocked, at least one person will feel victorious and many, many will be surprised.

Yes, it seems like I’ve rejoined Facebook.

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Holgerspexet – En komplex historia

Sunday, December 12, 2010 – 16:24

One of many student-related traditions in Sweden is the Spex. Best described as an “interactive musical-theater”, a Spex is often based on a (very) loose interpretation of an historical event. This year’s version of Holgerspexet (one of two Spex groups here in Linköping) had targeted the greek tragedy of Oidipus and turned it into a, well, comedy. The title was “Oidipus – en komplex historia” (Oidipus, a complex story)

Here, Kreon shows the result of a poll on different strategies to depose of Oidipus.

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The best part of the Spex is the interaction with the audience. At any moment in the play, the audience may request a replay (for instance, of a funny punchline), or something to be performed in a certain fashion (like “Backwards!”). Every performance becomes unique, and the success depends as much on the mood of the audience as the skill of the actors.

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A Spex is also very much like a musical, and a large part of the play is spent on songs. Again, a common theme is to steal…hrm…borrow famous songs and sticking one’s own lyrics to it.

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The Wednesday performance that I went to see with my smallgroup was very successful, with lots of strange (and funny!) audience requests. It’s not often that I laugh so hard that I have trouble breathing, but this was one of those times. If you ever get the chance to see a student-spex (and know Swedish), take it!

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By Jonathan Fors | Also posted in English, Fun, Photos | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Recap

Tuesday, November 30, 2010 – 12:12

Well, I’m home and alive and all is well. One year in Switzerland is now in the past, and it’s time to summarize these exchange studies.

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It all begun in September 2009 at Arlanda Airport.

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The two-hour flight to Zürich-Kloten landed me in a warm and familiar city, the city where i was born. I took the tram to the student house in Altstetten where I got to the small room that was to be my home for the next 12 months.

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I was not alone in the house, there were in total 170 students from all over the world…sharing one kitchen. Imagine the mess!

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The ETH Zürich is an impressive university, with a magnificent main building.

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We used to live in that yellow house up that road in Siggenthal.

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I found a second home in the ICF church.

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Having bought a generous train ticket I was able to cheaply travel around the beautiful country and see many sights of the country. I took several trips, on my own and with my Swedish friend Martin.

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I was able to capture some nice shots of the Zürich police intervening in a demonstration.

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Switzerland equals skiing and snow!

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After winter comes the spring. The warm temperatures came back quickly, and around Easter it was possible to go swimming for the first time.

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Zürich is especially beautiful in the spring.

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One of the crazier events during the year was the International Pillow Fight Day that took place at Bellevue.

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The Swiss train system is legendary and I spent many hours commuting and traveling on rails. This was my home station, Zürich-Altstetten

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The main station in the city is the Zürich Hauptbahnhof, around which the entire city is built.

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Almost every station in Switzerland is built to the same functional style. This is the station of Spiez.

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Summer means city festivals and warm evenings.

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The mountains can be breathtaking, to say the least.

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Stein am Rhein.

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I eventually joined the music team in the church, and got baptized!

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It would be impossible to give an exhaustive list of friends, so I’ll just show a few photos of a small portion of the people who have meant a lot to me for this year.

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Sam (photo just above) was kind enough to take the initiative for a goodbye party for me. A nice way to say farewell!

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On August 24th 2010, the airplane left for Stockholm and Sweden.

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12 months of intensive studies in Zürich are over.

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By Jonathan Fors | Also posted in English, Fun, Photos | Tagged , , | Comments (3)

Goodbye!

Thursday, September 2, 2010 – 18:29

Thursday, the 2nd of September.

My time in Switzerland is over, and I’m sitting here in my new apartment in Linköping. The last ten days can be described as crash landing and takeoff.

Monday, the 23rd of August: Studying for the exam in probability theory. The exam starts at 15:00, but when I get to the Professor’s office, another student is scheduled for the same time. As if I wasn’t stressed out enough… After a short discussion, I got a new time later the same evening.Four hours later I left ETH for the last time, said goodbye to the Hauptgebäude and headed home. I had passed!

Tuesday, the 24th: Packing, packing packing. Cleaning, cleaning cleaning. Meet up with Dan at the airport for a last coffee before the MD-82 took me to Stockholm-Arlanda.

Evening of 24th: Wow, was Sweden really this cold? Dad picks me up at the airport and drives me home. Home!

The next few days: Zzzzz… trying to calm down after the exam. Harder than it seemed.

This last weekend: Packing and moving to Linköping. Lots of help from my family.

Monday, the 30th of August: The semester started. I’m no longer an exchange student.

I will continue writing here, and I know that several of my Swiss friends will be reading. Let’s stay in touch!

By Jonathan Fors | Comments (1)

Just a few days more

Saturday, August 21, 2010 – 23:27

It is a strange feeling sitting in my room and realizing that this year is almost over. In just a few days Scandinavian Airlines will take me home to the country in the north. But what is “Home”, really? I’ve been pondering this question during these twelve months. Sweden or Switzerland? Both? I’m not sure, but in any case Zürich will remain in my heart for a very long time.

Everything I do right now is focused on passing the exam on Monday, planning and packing will have to be done the night before I leave. Exams are interesting. I always come into a sort of high when working so focused during extended periods. All other things just fade away and my productivity doubles. The theme of the week is probability theory, I am in the process of memorizing proofs and definitions from a 130-page script. Two days until H-hour.

I have come to like oral exams, as they test more understanding than mechanical calculations. I find it easier to communicate complicated concept in, say, maths and physics, when you are talking to the professor. What I don’t like about the ETH examination session is that it is located at the end of the summer, nullifying your summer vacation. I’m going to be the palest person in my class when I come back home…

Seems like the new Yi students have got their blogs set up. It will be interesting to follow their adventures in the big world of Yi! I also really like the new front page design of our blog system. I guess that I will remain syndicated there until my return home. Follow the blogs here.

Things look bright for this upcoming semester in Linköping. I have very interesting courses in physics planned, and will also be mentoring new students (“nollan”) :P in the wonders of linear algebra together with Christopher. Time to meet many an old friend and live in an apartment with your own kitchen! I’m quite sick and tired of the dorm here at Meierwiesenstrasse.

Alright, enough writing for this time. Back to the probability theory…probably…

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A New Person

Wednesday, August 18, 2010 – 16:17

I have finally taken a step that has taken far too many years: I got baptized!  It has been tugging at my heart for the last months, and what better place to do it than in the company of good friends in Zürich, the city I love?

On a Monday afternoon at the Arboretum at Renti, a short promenade from Bürkliplatz we gathered for the ceremony. A lot of people from ICF had come to welcome me “home”, I felt honored that so many friends showed up.  Down with me in the water were Richard and Daniel.

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The baptism itself was swift, physically it’s just down in the water and up again. 57297

So this marks the beginning of the new life, down goes the old person, up comes the new me. :)

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Some people had to go home for the evening, but the rest of us stayed behind for some chillin’ in the grass and barefoot football. The evening was wonderful, with a golden sunset over the lake and city. After the football match we lined up for a group photo to remember this time.

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Thanks for all of you who came to this special event of mine. It meant a great deal to have you all there.

By Jonathan Fors | Also posted in English, Photos | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Wädenswil

Saturday, July 24, 2010 – 23:41

Summer barbecue in Wädenswil with my Zwänzgerband friends.

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People had brought their instruments, and together with Joel’s portable amp we had an afternoon of jamming on the beachside.

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The water was even warmer than the air.

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Having a part of the seaside just for us was amazing; on days like these all public beaches become crowded with people.

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Being a photographer, I seldom get photos of myself. But Olivia was kind enough to borrow my camera for a while. :) My hair was all over the place as I just had been swimming.

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Oh yeah, and as you can see, the Germans are always loud :)

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Thanks to Noemi for inviting all of us to her place for this party. This evening and these people is what I will carry with me in my heart when I leave this country in not too long a time.

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Keith Jarrett at Montreux 2010

Saturday, July 17, 2010 – 21:07

So this Sunday I was in Montreux to see the 44th Montreux Jazz Festival. Being one of the most prominent music events in Europe, this was nothing I could pass up on.

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The weather was superb. 30 degrees Celsius and sunshine, and a light breeze over Lac Léman. Perfect. Music was played in almost every corner, from a bluesy trio playing tunes by Ray Charles (plus a classic Montreux song)…

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…to a funky German jazz band, here performing Herbie Hancock’s funk tune “Butterfly”.

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But the real reason for coming to the festival was to see Keith Jarrett.

Keith Jarrett

(Photography was not allowed, so I had to borrow a stock photo)

One of the greatest pianists this world has ever seen, Jarrett, together with bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack deJohnette played at 19:00 in the Stravinsky Auditorium. I won’t even try to describe the awesomeness of these musicians, my English just isn’t up to the task. A picture is a thousand words, so I believe a video clip is a few million words. Check out this (same trio as above, crazy soloing), this (solo, completely improvised) or this (solo) recording. Note that those clips are from other performances.

I was sitting in the second row, and had an unobstructed view of the whole stage and musicians. The mixing was superb, with the majority of the sound coming directly from the instruments. The second half of the performance was definitely the best, as Jarrett asked the audience to become more alive and not be afraid of interacting with the music.  The two last encores were my favorites, I will carry the melodies with me for as long as I live. Expensive concert? Yes!! Worth it? You bet. (It was a birthday present for myself)

Oh, and now I have serious bragging rights, having seen KJ live. At the Montreux Jazz Festival 2010 :)

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Züri-Fäscht 2010

Sunday, July 4, 2010 – 23:09

A lot going on recently. Andreas came by to visit for a weekend. As he is going to ETH and Zürich in September, I showed him around the city and the university.

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This last weekend the “Züri Fäscht” has been going on. As it occurs only every three years, it is a huge happening. Two million people were in town these days. (To get a sense of scale: Zürich has a population of ~360’000, Switzerland 7 million).

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The whole city center was closed off for traffic, and the streets were packed with people. Food stands, tivolis, music, fireworks… you name it.

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The main attraction during the day was the Patrouille Suisse, the acrobatic team of the Swiss Luftwaffe.

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But the night sported the biggest attraction. A 30-minute programme by a skilled pyrotechnic artist made the whole Zürich region stop and watch.

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Oh yeah, as I wrote in the last post we watched Germany play against Argentina. With the number of Germans living in the house, the mood was on top :)

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