Andrei Neculau

If you cannot SMS your foreign friends from your Tele2 number.. just read the following.

WTF??

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Very nice orchestra concert organized yearly by KTH’s Academic Orchestra in the Valhallavägen campus,)

I recommend it to everyone. Pity it was too cold to stay until the end. Anja and I missed the fireworks as well, but it’s ok.. New Year’s eve has enough fireworks to last one year

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I want to have a fresh start here - at EMIS, at KTH, in Kista, in Stockholm, in Sweden. Therefore I need to get it all out, and then continue with much more pleasant things and ignore the shitty ones.

It might seem “funny”, but I’m complaining about KTH after just 2 weeks.. That’s says a lot about their induction.

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Yesterday it was sort of a closing ceremony concerning cleaning and all. The small entrance-hall awaits Gaya¹.

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For some Skattevärket (look up “värk” in a Swedish dictionary), for others.. a piece of cake.

I went there (to the Södermalm office in Stockholm) this morning (Monday), at 8:45, arriving after I got a bit lost from the subway station, and with Trevor waiting for me with a form. The form is really really simple - you just need to fill in with your identification information, with your Swedish address, and… and that’s it!

When getting a queue-number from the machine, press the one saying “Folkbokföring”, and wait your turn. You should be asked to give your passport and admission letter, if you’re staying in the dorms, or you’ll get asked to fill in another form regarding your hosts.

That was it. In and out in approx. 10 minutes. Every Swede will tell you that you should expect long queues at Skatteverket, but if you go really early - you managed to come clean in no time.

The papers will arrive in your mailbox 1-2 weeks after.

Skattekontor i Stockholms län  / Tax offices in Stockholm
Tel: 0771-567 567 (Skatte- och folkbokföringsupplysning)

Södermalm
Besöksadress: Magnus Ladulåsgatan 67
Besökstid: mån-tors 8-18, fre 8-16
Telefon: 0771-778 778

Haninge
Besöksadress: Handenterminalen 6
Besökstid: 8-16
Telefon: 0771-778 778

Spånga
Besöksadress: Spånstigen 31
Besökstid: 8-16
Telefon: 0771-778 778

– “Trevor and me” story –

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In October 2007, after 1 year of TUC and 3 years of RAU (plus almost 4 months of WSHE), there I was thinking there is only one more year to go at RAU, and then I’ll live my Swedish dream. But oh boy, were there going to be some dizzy months to come! Nifty months :), but still..

So along with the final Bachelor year, I headed towards Swedish admissions for Masters. After just a couple of months, it felt a bit overwhelming from a logistic point of view. And when time comes to organize, I take it dead serious

I didn’t get a place at the dorms that scholastic year, and getting a private flat would have been just too much money for too little. So I thought of plying between Galați (my hometown) and Bucharest every week or so, in order to go to courses and exams. Ended up doing 25000+ km by train in less than 10 months..

It was more than ok, despite what people think.

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After a succesful series on the procedures of admission to Higher Studies in Sweden, I’m now going back to a bit more personal chained writings (series). I’ll try to keep track of my experiences around my master at KTH

I’ll start fresh..

In the summer of 2003, I was finishing my high school studies and I was planning to go to Universitatea Tehnică Cluj-Napoca (en. The Technical University of Cluj-Napoca), located in Transylvania. It was really far from my hometown (Galați), but I went to Cluj-Napoca a year before and the town and youthful atmosphere seemed a far better alternative than the polluted and busy capital, Bucharest.

What many didn’t knew was that it was also a nice alternative, considering I actually wanted to try my luck in Sweden. Partially due to family reasons, but mostly due to personal ones, I didn’t try that. I was seeing friends sitting their SATs and Toefl exams, trying to find the money they needed, etc, for going to Germany, UK, US, and other places. I simply didn’t see myself doing all that for another place other than Sweden. The pure fact that people were looking for the money they needed, or that they were accepting clauses like “I will work at your company 2 years after I finish my studies” seemed restrictive. It’s like “Here’s the carrot..” but I would have always thought of the stick waiting behind the corner.

Why only Sweden? Because of a.. almost spiritual experience in Sigtuna, Sweden. Sounds lame, I know, but it felt right there. And the feeling was backed up by the reality of having most of the Swedish things in place, without loosing the humane part. In 2001 I was thinking Sweden is a lot like Germany, but with a touch. In 2007, I went to Frankfurt for one day, and I realised I was right. You can probably replace Germany with any Germanic country/culture and that wouldn’t change anything. It’s something about the culture, language and social context that attracts me and makes me feel like home in Sweden. Period.

And it’s not Scandinavia, it’s specifically Sweden!

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This is what I got just a couple of minutes ago with the comment “How pathetic!“.

I am known, and I am, a bit of an anti-system and critical person. “A bit” can be an understatement, I admit.

But this is something else. We are not talking about a system here. We are not talking about Romanian culture. We are not talking about a phenomenon here. We are not talking about a defining attribute.

The whole world does NOT look at “America Got Talent” and say “Aha! So this is what Romanians are!”

People - be smart! At least once in a while! Or at least shut up! See the perspective and not just the dirt under the nails! A hard working and smart farmer with dirty nails is not the same thing like a stinking city-man that you bump into while sharing public transport!

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A friend of mine, with a neat way of writing and setting a perspective on things, tried to get a job at.. what many would say.. a respected Romanian daily.

The path from point A - found a job, trying to get it - to point B - got accepted/rejected - seems quite natural and, all in all, no biggie.

Yet.. after some 2 penny communication, 1 penny testing.. obviously you can get just a.. 0 penny rejection, and the path A-to-B screwed you up big time.

Excerpt¹:

Se întâmplă deseori în viața de student să cauți cu elan jurnalistic un job. La început e bun orice. Nu tu pretenții la libertatea de exprimare, nu tu plată pentru orele suplimentare, nu tu primă de Paște. Ca orice muritor admis în cursa pentru un job la Cotidianul punct ro, mă vedeam deja mâncând sarmale cu Dinescu la petrecerea de Crăciun.

Crede și nu cerceta Casa Scânteii (Ana Sîrghi)