Long time, no see.

Dear friends and family,

Well yes, long time no life sign from me. I have been very busy carrying out the assignment that was given to me by the Embassy. I have organised, planned and implemented the Swedish Week in Zambia. It was carried out with honour and success – but I will admit that it was somewhat painful in certain moments. I was fortunate enough to have great support in my colleagues and to have really good negotiation skills. I have managed to get discounts, better seats, expert speakers etc and the Swedish Week was really a success.

Just to mention a few things that happened during the Swedish Week, to give you an idea of what I managed:

  • Seminars and workshops on various topics about what Sweden does in Zambia = maternal health, agriculture and especially the toughest job in the world, energy and CSR
  • Swedish food served at a hotel in town = kroppkakor and stekt strömming (not eaten by me)
  • Swedish literature on sale = Stieg Larsson and Henning Mankell (who is very popular since he has lived here)
  • Swedish film = Let the Right One in (Swedish romantic vampire movie) and Everlasting Moments (Sweden in the early 1900s and the story about a woman and her camera)
  • Traditional Lucia-celebration = even had a surprise visit by the president who told anecdotes about the time when he was studying at the University of Lund (1960-64)
  • And of course, I had made sure that the following was happening:

  • Swedish weather all week long = rainy and windy
  • It might sound dull but the guests and invitees actually had a lot of fun at all the various functions.

    The Swedish Week ended over a week ago and I am now wrapping everything up. Book keeping, distributing roll ups, thanking all partners and contributors and writing reports.

    Soon it will be Christmas, even though the snow chaos in Europe is far away from me, some christmasy feelings have reached all the way to Lusaka. The local shopping mall has even a big green plastic tree with lights.

    I hope that you all, wherever you currently are, will have a wonderful festive season. I promise to be back with more updates on my life soon, but until then I hope that you all are having some quiet time in midst all the shopping and snow.

    Cheers,
    Ulrike

    Author: Ulrike

    Well, never afraid to try stuff and always chating with someone...I am in for late nights, whether it is work or dancing...and I am a morning person too. My favourites include in a non particular order: Muse, Kylie, chocolate, coconut stuff and ice cream.

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