Step-by-step in Sweden

I’m finally done with the basics.  That is to say, I have finally completed the Swedish language.  All those SFI courses, grund courses, and Svenska B lectures are over with.  May those days never come back again, Amen!  I honestly think Svenska B was a waste of time, but hey, it’s required for most qualificaitons.  

The next step is educating myself through Swedish.  I still need all the patience in the world.  I always thought of myself as the patient type.  Whatever happened to that Tani?   I think I had left it in America.  No worries.  My husband and I had recently taken a nice month-long vacation back home in the warm peach state.  I got the chance to find that hidden sack of patience in my old room in Atlanta and took it with me to Sweden.  So what’s my purpose of being so patient?

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1.  I need a job.
2.  I need a degree that is appropriate for this country.  In other words, I need to get educated in SWEDISH.  Make my karriär you know?  Not career, silly.   
3. I still need a svenskt körkort.  An American driver’s license stays only in America, whether I like it or not.
4.   I need a permanent residence permit.  Because as of now, I am NOT getting any kind of financial aid.

My dad tells me knowledge is power, and that is so true.  He also says to “always follow your dreams” and I am lucky to have parents who would say that.  But if I really want to follow these sayings, there is one thing I need to start doing, despite all the pressure.  And that’s being patient.  

Just wait and watch world! 

Art of the Day: His Ghost

I missed drawing on paper so much that I just took a long break from the ipad. I guess digital art isn't my thing.  I love sketching... I scribble on and on and never erase.

Isn't it scary to even think about it? How we're all going to lose our loved ones.  It's the harsh reality.

The worst feeling ever.  Losing the one you love.  They went through hard times and joy together.  There was a time when they would playfully ask each other "What would I have done without you?" They had 4 beautiful kids, raised them, got to see their weddings.  Some had kids, some just married. Their house became empty once again.  They moved into that house when they were in their mid-20s.  So young and energetic.  So many memories embedded in every single part of their home.  Now they were weak and aging.  All they needed was each other.  They mystically ask each other sometimes, "What am I going to do without you?"  One day it hit the woman.  She realized she was the only one asking herself that.  It stung her inside badly.  All she heard was her echo in that empty house.  "God knows how much I miss you...."

Rant rant rant

I miss thunderstorms.  I miss that feeling of rush going through the body right before a huge storm hits the area.  Haven't seen one in more than 2 years, because Sweden is a place where no such thing exists.  There are no big waves or lightning.  They have no bagels or real nestles chocolate chips.  I still haven't gotten used to the 3 extra letters on the keyboard that mess the entire board up.  I have to start looking at the keyboard while typing nowadays.  I am still not used to putting spaces between the correct amount of numbers in a swedish phone number.  It's hard for me to understand how the lamest slowest least helpful people have the same jobs year after year (like that stupid girl who works at Gallerix) while hardworking well-educated immigrants sit and wait in the employment office to get their names called for nothing.  Like my in-laws say, "nowadays they want you to have a damn degree in CLEANING to be a janitor."

I'm a bit tired of seeing nothing but Volvos on the roads.  Oh, let's not even start with the drivers here.  The only reason there are less accidents here is because more than half the people take other sources of transportation, leaving an almost empty freeway.  It's funny how this country gets on your ass about being a qualified Swedish driver  yet you still see crazy drivers (unseen by cops).   So pointless to spend thousands on traffic schools, courses, and tests when you will get failed for it anyway.  It's less about learning defensive driving and more of getting used to the game.  Or sucking up.  Like, money comes out of our ass or something.

Swedish sometimes becomes irritating because everybody sounds the same.  Same expression, same tone.  It is hard to be unique.  You have to use more adverbs instead of adjectives for something good, because "bra" (good) is an overly used word.

Ok? I'm complaining.  It's my day to rant about this country's dryness in ...well..everything.   DRY DRY land.  Not much touches me because it's so damn dry!  

But hey, no country is perfect.  It's made out of people.  You have flaws..yeah, I know, I do too.  So no point in complaining about how the world treats us.  It's what we make of it.

Yup, I have no idea why I wrote all this....

I feel light-headed though!

Art of the Day - Is There Hope?

We often tend to let our weakness get to us which slowly degrades our happiness piece by piece.  To make it worse, we pity ourselves with that annoying question "why me?" You think your stuck so deep that there's no way out. 

The ugly truth is you're no angel.  Nobody is.  And it's not just you.  We all go through tough times.  Grieving never gets you anywhere in life.  Instead, always look for the light.

Guerilla (গেরিলা) 2011 - a must-see Bangladeshi film

Even as a Bangladeshi I would be the last person to suggest people to watch any bangla movie, with the exception of this amazing film, Guerilla, based on true incidents of the 1971 war for liberating Bangladesh.  The new generation might find it difficult to believe and even assume that many scenes of the movie are exaggerated, but this was the REAL DEAL.  

Guerilla (গেরিলা) is a movie directed by Nasir Uddin Yousuff, based on Syed Shamsul Haque’s novel “Nishiddho Loban” with Joya Ahsan playing the lead role as "Bilkis". There are also several patriotic famous songs played during the movie which only enhances the quality of this poignant film.  The brilliant director presents an outstanding cast, with every character serving a significant role throughout the events of the war.  For example, the famous music composer  Shaheed Altaf Mahmud, who composed the song " “Amar Bhai-er Rokte Rangano Ekushey February”, was portrayed amazingly in the movie by Ahmed Rubel. 

To be honest, I never really understood the true meaning of the song before watching this movie.  Not just this song, but all the patriotic songs. My eyes opened. 

I was even impressed with how good Wadud played the role of the Pakistani Major with his almost flawless (Pakistanis can judge the accent hehe) urdu!  

There is only so much I can brag about this movie but seriously, it made me speechless.  You have to see it to believe it.  The struggle bangladeshis went though for freedom. Not many people out side of Bangladesh are aware of the real story, or the true feeling of 1971.

You have to see Guerilla! 

New Bangla Music

Bangladesh’s  small music industry has definitely improved, as it finally attracts the young Bengali generation around the world.  We will always have the inspiring classics, like Rabindra Sangeet, which express the deep meaning of music, but there is also this newly emerging generation of talent which is slowly expanding more genres with amazing qualitative effort, both vocally and instrumentally.

Popular Bengali singers like Habib Wahid and Hridoy Khan have grasped the public’s attention with their new soothing tunes.  Bangladeshis abroad that have never really taken the time to listen to bangla songs before have suddenly found modern tunes of today’s new singers to be unique. 

We only hope to see the melodious world of Bengali music thrive over time with the young and talented generation of today.  In order for music to thrive, new voices and tunes need to be exposed, which is already taking place, and not only in Bangladesh but also in the western world.  I have just the perfect example for that.  Two names.  Fahim Aziz and Sajid Sarker. 

Fahim Aziz is a talented Bangladeshi singer and song writer living in Canada whose first song was “Gopone Dekchi Tomai”, composed by the brilliant Sajid Sarker.  After getting fantastic reviews from their first song from both Bangladeshis and non-bangladeshis all around the world, they continued to create more unique and melodious tunes which led to their next song "Majhi" and "Na bola Kotha".  Now they have finally released an album called Shihoron, which is combined with several other wonderful artists and heart-warming tracks, all composed by Sajid Sarker.    

Fahim Aziz is one of several young Bangladeshi artists living abroad yet showing true passion for bangla music with meaningful songs which many of us can relate our lives to.  It’s quite hard to find a Bengali song with both good tune and good words nowadays.  Either the music is amazing but the lyrics are meaningless, or vice versa.   I do believe that Fahim and Sajid are doing an impressive job at keeping both good lyrics and music.

Visit their official facebook group:    http://www.facebook.com/groups/116320272489/

And also http://www.facebook.com/Shihoron.Sajid to check out their demos. 

I recommend everybody (especially here in Sweden, since many of you are not aware of Fahim and Sajid) to listen to their album.  The music comes from the heart. Trust me, it will not disappoint you.

Gopone Dekchi Tomai (first song)

Song: Gopone Dekchi Tomae

Singer: Fahim Aziz

Lyrics: Fahim Aziz

Tune: Fahim Aziz & Sajid Sarker

A song composed by Sajid Sarker