So I wrote this a couple weeks ago, and it was intended to go in the dev blog, but because of some technical issues, it isn't showing up there. So I decided to just post it here =) enjoy!

On my way to work today I was accosted by a gaggle of drunken sailors*. It was a terrifying experience, but luckily I was able to make it out alive. I arrived at the office thinking the danger was over…if only that were the case. Fast forward to lunch time: Thinking everything was back to normal I went with a few others to one of our normal midday eateries. Then suddenly the roads became filled with tractors pulling loads of screaming drunken sailors behind them! Quite a terrifying event, these tractors didn’t stop either, I counted at least 60 before we managed to escape down a side road and make our way back to the office. Sometimes Sweden can be a very dangerous place.

The past two weeks have gone by quickly, and considering all the activities in my first few days in Linköping they have passed without much excitement. Unfortunately I can't talk most of the things I am working on at Power Challenge because of their super secretosity, so you will have to make do with reading about my outside of work adventures.

The BBQ I spoke of earlier was a lot of fun. It was a fairly nice day (the weather was beautiful for a couple days, but the last week and a half has just been cold and rainy) and much fun was had by all. Swedes enjoy playing this silly game called Brännboll. Think baseball without the pitcher...sort of.

During the weekend in Linköping there isn’t a whole lot to do, especially if you don’t have any money and don’t know a whole lot of people. I have kept myself busy by biking around Linköping, at least during the weekend before last, when the weather was still nice. When the weather is nice, Linköping can really be a beautiful city...as long as you don’t look at any of the houses. However, when it is gray and rainy, the city loses a lot of its appeal.

One of the decidedly Swedish things that goes on at power challenge is fika. Fika is when everyone drops whatever they happen to be doing at the time to go eat deliciously unhealthy food and socialize. This is also a great time to have any presentations or announcements as everyone is in the same place at the same time and they don’t mind sitting through presentations as much due to the aforementioned snacks. I don’t know why this practice has picked up elsewhere, but it is a wonderful morale booster. I guess it does make more sense in smaller companies, perhaps EA may have more trouble having fika =)

Those are all my random thoughts for now, I think in the future I will go for quantity over quality, so expect shorter and more frequent posts. I get distracted much too easily to complete anything more than a paragraph in one sitting.

*The graduation outfit of Swedish high school students is very similar to that of a sailor. The day after graduation, these “students” become substantially inebriated and sign to the worst of their abilities while being pulled around in tractors. This is a very annoying tradition.

Discussing internal affairs apparently pays off. The Board was star struck when they read this (probably the many spelling mistakes :p) so: star of the week. No, make that star of the minute :p Well done chum (that rhymes)

You are a brilliant writer. I love hearing about your experiences at PC. Tell more, tell more! :P

so fioka is something of a siesta??
oops wrong..
anyhow..i like that..are swedish drunk silors as scary as a normal drunk russian man?
lol

Fika & tractors, hehe what a place! it seems you scared, enjoying it and working hard :b

haha, funniest thing i have read this month, I can't stop laughing!

Frogodo here is the tractor moves you talking too. It´s actually is on the same day they exam. They go around and scream and shout in public.
www.helagotland.se/img/2009/6/4/5314814.JPG...

Here is fika, i mean real fika not delicious food.
www.transparent.com/swedish/files/2008/06/fika.jpg...

but if you get scared nino the swedish police is a little bit more than brittish bobbys lol
img91.imageshack.us/i/np20022pr0.jpg/...

and they have very fast cars
i33.tinypic.com/2irkb5l.jpg...

Haha Froggy your an awesome writer I love hearing your stories also and your advice your my favorite crew member.

Cadaza great picks that would be sweet if police had those cars evne though they could be destroyed easy :P
Great story though mate.)

Holy cow cadaza, that looked like my old house in Uppsala!

Nice post there mate, yes I remember these sailors, my cousins graduated, and then they went sailing for real. I was about to say before I saw the note at the bottom, Linköping doesn't touch the sea!

Boo no bump on the SOTW? Bump.
Unfortunately though my attention span is bad so i can't read it.

You didnt get boring writting all these?!

Fika,tractors hehe what a place!!! it sems your,enjoying it and working hard

Stop writing long threads and get back to work haha!

Good work and im happy for you getting this opputinuity to work in sweden whats the pay like ha?


-msl

Haha. I love it when you write these threads, because It brings this "fakey online game" to us. What I mean is, It gives an image behind the user name.

I cant really expain it, but it seemly makes PS more real.
Keep the storys coming!