Unweather in Umeå

Weather, not unweather

One of the quirks of the Swedish language is the word for storm being o-väder, or literally un-weather, which is a word I really like. Other un- (or im-) words range from the sensible like omöligt (im-possible) to stranger things such as odjur (un-animal = monster) , olycka (un-luck = accident) and oktober (=un-november).

2 weeks ago I travelled down to Linköping to do some electron microscopy. It rained every day, and was kinda miserable like Melbourne at its worst. But all the talk for the whole week was about the class 3 unweather that was coming this weekend. A couple of years ago the storm Gudrun hit and did massive damage with its 126km winds, and people were expecting the same this time around. But in the end it wasn't nearly as bad, though in some areas there were big winds, and large snowfalls causing power outages and traffic chaos. My train to Stockholm was delayed due to the storm, so was my train to the airport, but unfortunately the flight wasn't delayed and I barely made it. The landing in Umeå though was the roughest I've ever lived through, with the plane demonstrating all possible directions of movement (pitch, yaw, and sudden plunge).

Then there was a 30min wait for a flygbuss (airport bus), before we were told that the next one is 1.5 hours away - because they are only scheduled to meet SAS flights, not Flynordic, the cheaper competition. This is true even when two flights arrive within 10 minutes of each other, as happened when we arrived and I could see the bus leave just as the first Flynordic luggage hit the belt. I don't know exactly what the business relationship is between the 2 companies, but why not make money from the Flynordic passengers as well?

Weatherwise, the following days were mild. I was in Umeå for cocktail party #3, a celebration of Ander's turning ('filling') 30 years. It was also the same weekend as the Umeå jazz festival, Sweden's biggest and with an international profile. (The Stockholm jazz festival struggles to survive, luring in audiences by defining artists like Sting as 'jazz'.) Actually Saturday night was totally clear, and we got another dose of Northern Lights when we left to clubbing, and Sunday was a beautiful sunny day, and even with a hangover the walk into town to find breakfast was enjoyable.

Stacey Kent - a really good singer, who amongst the standards sang a french song by Henri Salvador that was a mesmerising highlight. The other concert we got to see was Kurt Elling - an unbelievable singer with a rich voice and control and technique... if you ever get the chance to see him, go. Due to the cocktail party committments and shopping and delays with some concerts, these were the only two concerts we got to see, but they were worth the 80 bucks. Or would have been, as due to some error somewhere I got my ticket without paying. Wayne Shorter was the headlining act, and was sold out so I didn't get to go, but friends said he was showing his age (70+), and left most of the playing to the rest of the band, so no great loss.

Check out the Kurt Elling website and have a listen - click on an album, scroll down and select listen. Or you might find it easier through the Bluenote site here.

And to all you lonely brass players out there, move to Finland. I will be. One of the big bands on the open stage had an all female trombone section... can you believe it? (Insert blowing/pulling/tongueing pun here________________).

Daniel, the toastmaster for the evening, Bengt, and birthday boy Anders.

Daniel kept everything going as a toastmaster should - plenty of toasts, and lots of 'back in the days' stories, such as when he and Anders... well, they were very amusing, but you kinda had to be there.

A Swedish conundrum: 6 complete strangers order a taxi at the airport, through the Flygtaxi office. One gives his name. We wait. It doesn't come. We get the office guy to ring again. In the meantime another taxi arrives, with no passenger waiting for it. I suggest we hop in. We are told it is the wrong company, not the one we ordered, and the guy who gave his name wants to wait for right taxi, after all, he doesn't want to put the taxi driver out. Before this becomes an issue, our taxi arrives.

This is how the Swedes are. Generally, they follow the rules, and strive to be be fair. Talking to other Swedes, there was some sympathy for my position, which was that the taxi was late, so bugger it. But generally, waiting for the ordered taxi would have been the right thing to do. This is the second time I was in this situation, and got the same response. Your thoughts?