Chinese Car Heaven

Here I was, in what must be the closest to a heaven for Chinese cars. They are everywhere. Who would've known? They are taxis, family cars and company cars. Everyone drives one it seems. Why are we missing out on this? The best kept secret is now being made public; they are here! Come and see them! In the land of the midnight sun. Up there above Denmark is the largest collection of Chinese luxury cars I have ever seen.

I got to finally spend a few days in Sweden after another long winter there. It was the coldest and with the most snow in the last 20 years; and I was part of it! Hurray!!! Funny, when you are in the middle of something "historic" you don't really seem to be that impressed by it. Is it just me, or is this normal. Sure, I ruined more than one pair of leather shoes this winter there as I "forgot" to pack real winter shoes when I traveled there. Sure, there was 40cm on the ground all winter in the middle of Stockholm. They never get much snow to stick. Sure, it was -20°C at times and that without the wind chill factored in. But while it was all going on, it was just bloody cold and messy. The walkways were frozen. Swedes just leave the ice till the Spring and just get along. So my Mediterranean leather shoes were hopelessly "out of place" in this environment.

But now it is early summer, albeit a bit late too. Everyone who can is outside. Anywhere. Doesn't matter, just not inside. I spent an evening along the water and at the Boulebar just enjoying the sites of the Swedes getting along with life. They are like the flowers which bloomed about the same time; enjoying the light, warmth and all the others until time comes to go back indoors. I ate sushi and prawns in a restaurant near the water. Well, there is a lot of water around. Midsummer is approaching soon. My customer is getting nervous - no longer talking about how many weeks the work may still take. No, it is all now measured by "before" or "after". Meaning whether tasks will be completed before the summer holidays or later. Here, the holidays are an institution, sacred and can mean project stop for 4-6 weeks. Fine with me. Other places call this "mañana", here it is just summer. One thing I really hate here. Bad curtains! Every morning I was there, little ole Miss Sun came creeping into my room at about 4:15am. I had tried my best to keep here out but she is just too good. This is southern Sweden so luckily there is no midnight sun here.

Oh, the car thing? They bought Volvo.