'The Waves' by The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

13 April 2019

Today's volunteering activity with Konserthuset (The Concert House). I love concerts. This concert is different from the usual concerts as it has a huge screen with a soundless film being played and accompanied by the music from the orchestra. The concert is titled 'The Waves' (Vågorna in Swedish) and the film showed marine life in its habitat, the pollution that is killing the marine life, and strong waves at the end of the film. 

Our tickets were 3 rows from the front. So, you can imagine that my neck was aching after the concert. Haha!

Work : Presentation Techniques Course at Åkeshof Slott

8 April 2019

Today, I had the privilege to stay in one of the rooms in the premise of Åkeshof (Aw-kays-hov) Palace (in Swedish, it is called Åkeshov Slott). To me, this does not look like a palace but more like a mansion. I was here for a Presentation Technique Course and I did learnt a lot. You can read about my progress in this post. Anyway, I am writing this post to share how the castle looked like from its inside, the room that I stayed in and the food that I ate. It is not that I get to enjoy this environment often, so I took photos. In fact, I was the only one in the group who took photos. Yes, this happens when you move to a new country and experience new stuff. You take photos that locals think it is nothing unusual. 

The castle is located just next to a train station called Åkeshov. Extremely convenient. 

Upon arrival, I took coffee in a uniquely-designed cup.

The paintings here are not as elaborate as the ones in the Royal Palace (that is a huge palace). 

Swedish Milestone - 5-minutes presentation

Last 2 days, I attended a Prensetation Techniques course and I surprised myself with another personal milestone for my Swedish. I presented an impromptu 1-minute talk titled 'My time as a photo model' and it was not from personal experience either. I created the story and just blabbed on. I was so nervous and I spoke so fast. The trainer told me to slow down. This, I never expected that I could talk so fast in Swedish in front of 8 people. 

Then, I prepared a 5-minutes speech (35 minutes preparation) where I presented a proposal on my job service to a company. The last time I prepared such a speech was in December 2018 where I prepared a 6-minute speech for my national exams a week and half before and I had to memorize my speech. For the 5-minutes speech, I did a bit of impromptu adjustment and after 2 times seeing myself in video, I know what I should work on. 

I spoke a bit slower and I was less nervous, but I could present a job-related proposal in Swedish. I was extremely happy and proud of myself. This, I never thought that I will experience this now. But I did not know that I could either until I was put in the situation. Naturally, this is thanks to my colleague who brought me along for meetings and a proposal presentation. I could have never achieved this much within this short time without her, and my partner too whom I spoke Swedish to everyday. 

Yes, I am jolly proud of my progress. 1 year and 10 months. 

Opera - Skapelsen (The Creation)

5 April 2019

Volunteer activity with Kompis Sverige at an opera play titled Skapelsen (The Creation) - how earth was created in 7 days, love stories narration of 4 couples and the play ended with a real wedding solemnisation and an after party. Different couples will be wedded at every performance slot. I wondered if it is a free wedding, though. There is a live orchestra for you and you have a willing audience to witness your wedding. Why not, right?

The first day in the play reminded me of Tarabas from The Cave of the Golden Rose where everyone is clad in dark clothes and in a dark place.

I like this 1.5 hour play as it has English subtitles for the opera at separate screens (my Swedish is not at a level that I can understand Biblical words). I wondered if this is done for every opera play in this theatre. This is my first time experiencing this in all my theatre's visits. 

This is the story 4 couples - the first was a Palestinian man who was separated from his Syrian girlfriend due to the war and reunited in Sweden after 5 years. 

Kung Roger Opera

2 April 2019

Today, I watched an opera for the first time at the Royal Opera, titled Kung Roger (King Roger), thanks to Kulturkompis. I went with 2 friends from the group (where we meet 4 times in a span of 6 months). Depending on tickets availability, we get to enjoy these cultural events without a fee. I have met up with this group twice. This is our third outing together. The first time - Millesgarden and the second time - Hallwy Museum.

This is my first time in the hall and it is beautiful! It looked so grand.  

I expected an old school opera performance but instead I got a modern scene with the king in a suit, fantastic technical props, Matrix-like scenes, Swedish subtitles (opera was in Polish) above the stage which was a bit inconvenient because I have to shift my gaze to the top to read the subtitles to the scene to watch the play and a huge screen above the stage that showed a snake trying to kill the king (in the beginning). Sometimes, I got tired doing that and decided to focus on the play. No photos and videos allowed during the show, so I only took a picture after the opera ended. There was an orchestra below the stage that accompanied the entire opera.