The ride to Stuttgart and start here
Last Thursday (August 21) did I leave Örnsköldsvik to begin my trip to Stuttgart (Germany). I have been "dancing my way down in Europe". First stop in Sundsvall with bugg/fox and crashed at a dance friend that I became friend with a week before. Thank you Tünde!
On Friday I arrived Svabensverk in Dalarna (Sweden) for a swing camp Friday/Saturday. It was awesome to get some lindy again, I had hardly danced any lindy since Herräng. Sunday I planned for lindy in Stockholm but I had some problems with my car and was towed to Falun where I spent the night outside the garage - waiting for it to open Monday morning. I had my bikes though so I did a ride around Falun and to the nice areas where I competed in XC skiing several years ago. I slept outside in a sleeping bag in the night but it became a bit cold w/ only 0C so at 5 am did I wake up and took a walk for about 2h, seeing Falun waking up, and walking around the Mine.
I got the car fixed (stupid electronics that was re-programmed handling the start of the engine) and took off for Nyköping and then I drove all the way to Lund and some swing dancing followed by a short time at the pub afterwards. There I met another guy from Copenhagen so next day I trained a bit with a friend (Annika physio terapist) and took off for Copenhagen with Lasse. There we had a trankey doo class (fun when doing the mirrored version!) and then biked around in Copenhagen.
Wednesday morning, I alone drove to Rödby in southern Denmark where the ferry brought me to Puttgarden in Germany. There I kept driving, was in a traffic jam outside Hamburg for about 1hour and then the Autobahn allowed me in 160-180 km/h driving against Stuttgart. I was still passed by black Mercedes and other faster drivers every minute but it's sweet when you actually can go really fast. Outside Stuttgart there was another traffic jam that stopped me about 20 minutes but then I arrived Abstatt (37 km north of Stuttgart) around 7pm. It was still +26 C and after unpacking, food and a shower it followed by driving to Stuttgart and the weekly lindy night!
It wasn't easy to drive downtown Stuttgart and it took me quite a long time to find the dance place but it was nice dancing again. It's so fun to hear the different choices of music too, it differs a lot depending on where you go (west/east USA, europe, sweden...) but the common thing is still swing dancing (lindy). I also got an out-of-town lindy jam while playing a Stockholm swing song. (for those who might not know, it's a common thing that out-of-towners and birthday 'kids' get into the jam circle where only these people stay for the entire song. Their partner is changed whenever someone else 'dare' to steal the jam person.)
Thursday I went downtown Stuttgart to deal with practical things, like a german mobile account and so on... but also to meet up with Malin, a friend from southern Stuttgart that I got to know in Herräng as a volunteer and dancer. It was great hanging out with her and later on we made dinner with some of her friends. Then we drove to Tübingen with some other friends (east of Reutlingen) for some clubbing in a Jazz keller. It was nice to do some "youth things" again, but I don't really like the fact that they allowed smoking inside. In general, Germans smoke a lot but as long as I don't get affected that's Ok for me... but passive smoking isn't too good. I stayed at Malins place this night and I like seeing how other people lives (in other countries) and also such a basal thing as breakfast can be interesting when doing it somewhere else. A balcony in south Germany, surrounded by other stone houses and green nature. We made a bike ride today to Tübingen (from Reutlingen, about 16 km) in the nice sunny weather with +30 degrees. Later, after a german dinner, I drove home to Abstatt again.
Today (Saturday) I've been fixing my bike and inlines followed by a lot of biking. First among all wine plants but also to the city Heilbronn just north of Abstatt. So far I've experienced German as a lot of old green trees and big fields and meadows. In the forest it's unusually much stinging nettles (brännässlor) and the fields are covered by sunflowers, wine plants and corn plants. All houses are made of stone and the village feeling is very obvious here... On Monday I start my job at Bosch, can't wait!
On Friday I arrived Svabensverk in Dalarna (Sweden) for a swing camp Friday/Saturday. It was awesome to get some lindy again, I had hardly danced any lindy since Herräng. Sunday I planned for lindy in Stockholm but I had some problems with my car and was towed to Falun where I spent the night outside the garage - waiting for it to open Monday morning. I had my bikes though so I did a ride around Falun and to the nice areas where I competed in XC skiing several years ago. I slept outside in a sleeping bag in the night but it became a bit cold w/ only 0C so at 5 am did I wake up and took a walk for about 2h, seeing Falun waking up, and walking around the Mine.
I got the car fixed (stupid electronics that was re-programmed handling the start of the engine) and took off for Nyköping and then I drove all the way to Lund and some swing dancing followed by a short time at the pub afterwards. There I met another guy from Copenhagen so next day I trained a bit with a friend (Annika physio terapist) and took off for Copenhagen with Lasse. There we had a trankey doo class (fun when doing the mirrored version!) and then biked around in Copenhagen.
Wednesday morning, I alone drove to Rödby in southern Denmark where the ferry brought me to Puttgarden in Germany. There I kept driving, was in a traffic jam outside Hamburg for about 1hour and then the Autobahn allowed me in 160-180 km/h driving against Stuttgart. I was still passed by black Mercedes and other faster drivers every minute but it's sweet when you actually can go really fast. Outside Stuttgart there was another traffic jam that stopped me about 20 minutes but then I arrived Abstatt (37 km north of Stuttgart) around 7pm. It was still +26 C and after unpacking, food and a shower it followed by driving to Stuttgart and the weekly lindy night!
It wasn't easy to drive downtown Stuttgart and it took me quite a long time to find the dance place but it was nice dancing again. It's so fun to hear the different choices of music too, it differs a lot depending on where you go (west/east USA, europe, sweden...) but the common thing is still swing dancing (lindy). I also got an out-of-town lindy jam while playing a Stockholm swing song. (for those who might not know, it's a common thing that out-of-towners and birthday 'kids' get into the jam circle where only these people stay for the entire song. Their partner is changed whenever someone else 'dare' to steal the jam person.)
Thursday I went downtown Stuttgart to deal with practical things, like a german mobile account and so on... but also to meet up with Malin, a friend from southern Stuttgart that I got to know in Herräng as a volunteer and dancer. It was great hanging out with her and later on we made dinner with some of her friends. Then we drove to Tübingen with some other friends (east of Reutlingen) for some clubbing in a Jazz keller. It was nice to do some "youth things" again, but I don't really like the fact that they allowed smoking inside. In general, Germans smoke a lot but as long as I don't get affected that's Ok for me... but passive smoking isn't too good. I stayed at Malins place this night and I like seeing how other people lives (in other countries) and also such a basal thing as breakfast can be interesting when doing it somewhere else. A balcony in south Germany, surrounded by other stone houses and green nature. We made a bike ride today to Tübingen (from Reutlingen, about 16 km) in the nice sunny weather with +30 degrees. Later, after a german dinner, I drove home to Abstatt again.
Today (Saturday) I've been fixing my bike and inlines followed by a lot of biking. First among all wine plants but also to the city Heilbronn just north of Abstatt. So far I've experienced German as a lot of old green trees and big fields and meadows. In the forest it's unusually much stinging nettles (brännässlor) and the fields are covered by sunflowers, wine plants and corn plants. All houses are made of stone and the village feeling is very obvious here... On Monday I start my job at Bosch, can't wait!
Herräng and Stuttgart
So, long time since last post. What has happened? I've been in Herräng for 5 weeks and I've got a master thesis job in Stuttgart where I'm moving in a couple of days. But first thing first I guess:
In the end of June I drove to Herräng but first I picked up my dance partner and did some social dancing and gymnastic training with her and her gymnastic troup. We arrived Herräng on Saturday afternoon and already the same evening it was a solo Charleston taster class. The first week, I was in the beginner-intermediate authentic jazz group, week 2 I volunteered and week 3 I was in the advanced 3 lindy hop. Week 4, the plan was competition/show lindy hop but my english dance-partner bailed out the same morning just before the audition and at this time the advanced group was full for leads so I took the int-adv lindy instead.
A typical day consists of 3-4 classes, 1h20m each between 10am and 7.20 pm. This usually means the free gaps is just eating, rehearsing or revising the class or change to dry shirt. After the last class I usually had dinner or some more revising of material is common and at 9pm there is a daily evening meeting. It's kind of a talk-show with Lennart as the front figure, combined with different performances, interviews with teachers and different "jokes". After the meeting different "taster classes" take place, it can be everything from learning blues or tango to someone teaching Michael Jackson's thriller choreography (w4). At the same time the social dance starts taking place on 3 different dance floors in Folkets Hus: the main ballroom, dansbanan and in the library. There is also a bar where troubadour's sometimes are playing...
The social floors keeps playing music as long as there are people dancing, but the main ballroom usually closes around 8-9 am. I often went to bed after the taster class and slept till 2 or 3 am and then had a shower and went dancing. Sometimes one or two more hours of sleep but sometimes dancing until closening, having breakfast and then go to class at 10am again.
The jazz week was very good and inspiring, I really learnt a lot and want to do this kind of dancing more. The lindy weeks were good too, but at this time they felt more like "any camp" as one learn new moves, practice technique and rythms as well as music adjustion and styling are tought. The volunteering week 2 was interesting. I was distributed mainly to the school crew who cleaned changing rooms and toilets e.g. but in the spare time I was also in the passport control or wherever help was needed.
The 5th week, the crash-down week, was different even if it was volunteering. We worked hard, both physically and mentally, from 9am to 11-12 pm. We had tons of beds and bikes to bring to two different barns and storage rooms but also all the tents and the metal bars to take care of and dismount. In the end we cleaned and painted everything, as detailed as scrubbing the asphalt. It was a huge fellowship working with this though, and in the night we often spent a few hours together at the camp fire.
Getting the chance of staying in Herräng for 5 weeks in a row is a huge privilegium and I'm glad I got the chance of doing so this year; next I might not have this opportunity due to work or other circumstances. I still recommend everyone to taking the chance at least once in their lifetime, to experience Herräng just because it is its own little bubble, a lindy heaven, independent of what happens in the rest of the world. The "best" dances are often catched after 4-5 am when the floor is less crowdy, but if you stand to dance the entire night, you can always follow Peter Loggin's advice of pretending it's a vide game: jumping over one's leg or avoiding a stiletto heel gives you extra points while the other person is loosing points...
I was just about finish my notes here, but as I mentioned Stuttgart I better tell you something about that too. I've got a master thesis project (Diplomarbeit, examens arbete) at Bosch vehicle unit in Abstatt, just north of Stuttgart (Germany). I'm very glad to get the chance of moving down to central Europe and having just 100 km to the Swizz border and even closer to any other place in Europe then I had from Luleå in Sweden to the southern parts of Sweden. I'm staying at least till February 2009 for writing my thesis but there are lots of lindy camps around Europe and I'll try as much as I can to get around a bit and see what the "continent" has to offer. I'm moving there within 2 weeks, hopefully the Wednesday just coming up.
In the end of June I drove to Herräng but first I picked up my dance partner and did some social dancing and gymnastic training with her and her gymnastic troup. We arrived Herräng on Saturday afternoon and already the same evening it was a solo Charleston taster class. The first week, I was in the beginner-intermediate authentic jazz group, week 2 I volunteered and week 3 I was in the advanced 3 lindy hop. Week 4, the plan was competition/show lindy hop but my english dance-partner bailed out the same morning just before the audition and at this time the advanced group was full for leads so I took the int-adv lindy instead.
A typical day consists of 3-4 classes, 1h20m each between 10am and 7.20 pm. This usually means the free gaps is just eating, rehearsing or revising the class or change to dry shirt. After the last class I usually had dinner or some more revising of material is common and at 9pm there is a daily evening meeting. It's kind of a talk-show with Lennart as the front figure, combined with different performances, interviews with teachers and different "jokes". After the meeting different "taster classes" take place, it can be everything from learning blues or tango to someone teaching Michael Jackson's thriller choreography (w4). At the same time the social dance starts taking place on 3 different dance floors in Folkets Hus: the main ballroom, dansbanan and in the library. There is also a bar where troubadour's sometimes are playing...
The social floors keeps playing music as long as there are people dancing, but the main ballroom usually closes around 8-9 am. I often went to bed after the taster class and slept till 2 or 3 am and then had a shower and went dancing. Sometimes one or two more hours of sleep but sometimes dancing until closening, having breakfast and then go to class at 10am again.
The jazz week was very good and inspiring, I really learnt a lot and want to do this kind of dancing more. The lindy weeks were good too, but at this time they felt more like "any camp" as one learn new moves, practice technique and rythms as well as music adjustion and styling are tought. The volunteering week 2 was interesting. I was distributed mainly to the school crew who cleaned changing rooms and toilets e.g. but in the spare time I was also in the passport control or wherever help was needed.
The 5th week, the crash-down week, was different even if it was volunteering. We worked hard, both physically and mentally, from 9am to 11-12 pm. We had tons of beds and bikes to bring to two different barns and storage rooms but also all the tents and the metal bars to take care of and dismount. In the end we cleaned and painted everything, as detailed as scrubbing the asphalt. It was a huge fellowship working with this though, and in the night we often spent a few hours together at the camp fire.
Getting the chance of staying in Herräng for 5 weeks in a row is a huge privilegium and I'm glad I got the chance of doing so this year; next I might not have this opportunity due to work or other circumstances. I still recommend everyone to taking the chance at least once in their lifetime, to experience Herräng just because it is its own little bubble, a lindy heaven, independent of what happens in the rest of the world. The "best" dances are often catched after 4-5 am when the floor is less crowdy, but if you stand to dance the entire night, you can always follow Peter Loggin's advice of pretending it's a vide game: jumping over one's leg or avoiding a stiletto heel gives you extra points while the other person is loosing points...
I was just about finish my notes here, but as I mentioned Stuttgart I better tell you something about that too. I've got a master thesis project (Diplomarbeit, examens arbete) at Bosch vehicle unit in Abstatt, just north of Stuttgart (Germany). I'm very glad to get the chance of moving down to central Europe and having just 100 km to the Swizz border and even closer to any other place in Europe then I had from Luleå in Sweden to the southern parts of Sweden. I'm staying at least till February 2009 for writing my thesis but there are lots of lindy camps around Europe and I'll try as much as I can to get around a bit and see what the "continent" has to offer. I'm moving there within 2 weeks, hopefully the Wednesday just coming up.