Talk to me Genius

I've got this life over here now and it's usually very good. I get homesick every now and again. Sometimes I slide into a depression (because I miss my old friends, family) but it luckily doesn't last for more than a part of a day. I've gotten really strong. I think I'm an expert in waiting as long as I've got something really good to look forward to. I've got a small but solid support network here now when stuff comes up. On my team: I've got people that understand how this country works and other people that are learning just like me. I miss the States but I don't miss not having health care and stuff like that. I miss Chicago but I don't miss the crime. It's not a greener pasture over here. Finding work has been extremely tough. This culture can fuck with me sometimes. The simplest things I used to do and took for granted can now take a whole day of planning and searching. I'm working now. I won't talk about it online. But I'm speaking English and I work with other people who have Swedish girlfriends and aren't from this country. You have to find your place, see where you can squeeze in. Once you find that place you have to nurture it and eventually grow and bust out of it and take the good ones with to the next step.

I ride my bike everywhere and I wear a helmet. I don't think I'm cooler than them, but Swedes ride really carefully and it's boring to ride on the bike path behind them. I wear a helmet not because I'm afraid of what a car might do to me but because I'm afraid of what of those giant over-sized Swedish grandma bikes might do to me. These bikes have bells, lights, whistles, full fenders and they're totally practical. They make sense. I will never ride one. But they can. I think it's better than a car. I used to think Volvo's were pretty cool (the old stationwagon ones) but nobody drives them over here. All of the cars on the streets here are new. A new Volvo is like a new Chevy. Drive it into a lake or something.

I'm rambling but that's the point. I wanted to tell everyone in Chicago that I'll be back at the end of September. I'll be staying for two weeks. This isn't an accident; I'll be in Chicago on September 30th. That's the day that I'll turn 30 years old. I couldn't think of a better place to be on a day like that. So I hope to see a lot of you around then.

I hope your summer goes really good. Summer can be a time of too many unknown variables for me and ruin it. I think this summer is going to be above average for myself. My friend Simon has a little boat with an outboard motor and I think he's going to come and pick my ass up by the water behind my apartment. I don't know where he'll take me, but I'll let you know when I get somewhere and offer up a full report.

My camera broke and these words are all I've got.

Mike

ADDITION:
Just thought of this:
If anyone has any contacts/ideas on how to get tickets to the Cubs v. Pirates game on Sunday, Sept. 23 @ Wrigley, please let me know. It looks like it's the only game I'll be able to catch this year. I didn't have any luck ordering them from the Cubs website. Please help if you can. Shoot me an email with strategies.