Tuesday, 30 June 2009

Water skiing


Me on skiis, Tobias behind the wheel.

Soon water ski action


Lets see how i will manage. In case of death i better post this before :-)

Voxnan jacuzzi



Swimming mom


At sisters cottage with mom waiting for sun to heat me up before entering the voxnan river.

Saturday, 27 June 2009

Hawaii by foot



Today I decided to explore the island by foot. First up to Diomonds Head which is a crater that can be seen from Waikiki/Honolulu, the walk turned out to be a lot longer than expected but managed to get up to the top with the reward of a great view over the south shore and the surrounding mountains. Once I got down I jumped on a tourist bus and eventually got of not far from where I am staying. From there I followed the shore in opposite direction and jumped into the ocean every now and again to cool of. Have probably walked at least 20 kilometers today in flip flops and my feets are a bit in pain I must admit. Now I will go and do some shopping before starting to pack and get ready for my early flight in the morning.

EdMedia, Hawaii


Yesterday I had my presentation and it went quite well. Not that big audience so a lot of nervousity without reason. In the afternoon I took some hours of and went to beach where I rented a surfing board and tried out some surfing. Was tricky but managed at least a couple of times to get onto the board and get carried of by the wave :) My stomach is however all red today from laying on the board :( For this morning I booked a snorkling tour and went out on a boat. Was a great experience to swim with turtles and dolphins for the first time. There was also lots of beautiful fish but that part could not beat east african snorkling with all it's beautiful corals. Now noon and time to head for conference that is finishing this afternoon. Will join the closing dinner tonight at the polynesian cultural centre which seems to be fun as well. So all well on this side and nice to be done with the presentation so that I can now enjoy my time. Tomorrow will be a day of before flying home, have yet not decided what adventures I should book myself for as there is so much one can do however everything is quite expensive.

Wednesday, 24 June 2009

EdMedia Hawaii


At EdMedia in Hawaii and just received an outstanding paper award :) (Picture on Flickr) Now getting nervous for tomorrows presentation as I feel the pressure. Hawaii is by the way beautiful and glad I managed to get here although some flight problems along the way where I arrived 12 hours later than expected after missing my connection in Los Angeles.

Friday, 19 June 2009

Midsummer eve celebrations


Went to Koli to supervisors cottage to celebrate Tuuli's graduation. Some canoeing, bbq, swimming and sauna contributed to a nice evening. Surprisingly we even got nice weather.

Thursday, 18 June 2009

Broadband

After long time of Kbit/s it is nice to experience decent Mbit/s

Wednesday, 17 June 2009

Joensuu Finland


Got stuck at department as it is raining and don't feel like walking back in rain. Watching football online in lab hoping for rain to stop. south Africa leading 2-0 against new Zealand in confederations cup.

Wednesday, 10 June 2009

Bollnäs, Sweden

I am at home in Bollnäs visiting my parents. I should be in Joensuu by now but when I was to catch a train today the train never came. When I went to information I was told there was a bus to replace the train but as there was no information about it I missed it and ended up waiting for a train that never came. As I had booked a train with a small margin at airport there was not time enough to take a later train and I had to make a new travel plan. Very annoying I must say especially having cheap tickets that could not be rescheduled. At least I got to spend some more time with family and to see Sweden beat Malta in the world cup qualification game. Tonight I got a letter with information about the kid I am supporting at the orphanage my mother once used to work at in Kenya. His name is Jacobo and looks like a smiley little fellow according to the pictures.

Sunday, 7 June 2009

Sat 6th June, Lugano& Milano

Had a day of in Italy before heading back for Sweden so took the chance to do some exploration and went to Lugano and Milano. I saw many nice buildings and cathedrals. Went to the famous shopping street in Milano but my wallet was too small for fashion shopping.

Friday, 5 June 2009

Como, Italy

On my way to catch the boat for the conference dinner I walked through the lovely town. It was a lovely boat ride to the venue with a great view of the lake and the surrounding mountains.

Thursday, 4 June 2009

IDC 2009, Como, Italy


Attending a great conference on interaction design and children. Just gave my presentation and it went quite well, was a bit sleepy and nervous but managed to deliver the speach and at least some people found it very interesting. Yesterday I attended a great workshop on reducing the digital gap for marginalized children. Especially interesting was a talk on: The Role of Digital Storytelling for Empowering Marginalized Youth in Refugee Camps Yesterday evening I passed by the big chatedral in Como and man was it impressive apparantly not that exceptional with italian standards but for sure one of the most impressive houses for worship that I have seen.