Els socialistes bascos pensen que el lehendakari està dividint i excloent quan segueix treballant amb la 'consulta' sobre el dret de decidir. A mi em sembla que en Ibarretxe és massa ràpid fins i tot per al seu propi país, però el veig com un polític honest i humil quan diu que "si la sociedad no respalda los planteamientos me iré a mi casa, no pasa nada, esto no es dramático, es simplemente democrático".
Com estranger no puc deixar de contrastar la lluita basca – sovint individus que actuen sols i crean titulars als mitjans de comunicació – amb la catalana representada per la Plataforma pel Dret de Decidir, un moviment popular i poc sensacionalista. Em sembla que en Ibarretxe amb molta pressa s'ho juga tot a una carta, mentres que l’estratègia catalana és de tenir la paciencia per guanyar simpatitzants per endevant. Que son trets típics de les dues nacions? Que un catalan nacionalista normalment es sent més comode dins de l’Estat Espanyol que el seu equivalent vasc? Jo fins ara penso que sí.
Serà lògic si el Tribunal Constitucional espanyol formalment pararà la consulta del lehendakari. Molt més intressant serà de veure com hi reaccionarà la societat. Si les mides no provocaran una forta reacció, podrem deduir que el dret de decidir no te tanta significancia per als bascos en aquest moment. Per tant, no me sorprendria si Catalunya fos la primera comunitat autònoma a reivindicar-lo, encara que no serà enguany.
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During the coming months there will be a lot of discussion in Spain on whether an autonomous region should have the right to call referendums within its territory. October 25, lehendakari Ibarretxe plans to let the voters of the Basque Country have their say on the issue. He calls his project a consultation - since a region does not yet have the authority to call a referendum - but the Spanish state will most likely be able to stop it in the Constitutional Court anyhow.
The 'right to decide' is a good starting point for Basque as well as Catalan nationalists who want independence in the end. The populations of both regions can be expected to say yes to this right, although they would vote no if, subsequently, it would ever be used to determine whether the region should seek independence.
The Basque socialists accuse Ibarretxe of dividing the Basque people and even within his own PNV do some people consider his initiative unnecessarily provocative. As a contrast, in Catalonia there is a political Platform for the Right to Decide (PDD). Step by step they collect signatures among ordinary people and build up support among politicians on the municipal level.
Sooner or later Catalans and Basques will challenge the Spanish state and formally claim their right to decide and once one of them does so, the other one will follow. The question is which strategy will be the first to bear fruit – Ibarretxe’s top-down or PDD’s bottom-up. Did anyone say that politics is not interesting?
Saturday, 31 May 2008
An Odd Funfair / Una fira molt rara
The 12th Trapezi festival started today. We are not fast when we move around in the town – me and our two sons on the push chair – still I was surprised to miss more than half of the circus acts I thought we would manage to see. Take note – the performances seem to start on time.I cross my fingers that tomorrow will be as nice a day as today. With my wife keeping an eye on the boys I might be able to take some photos of the artist. And we will have to back to the odd funfair which has moved in on the Plaça de la Vila. I have promised my oldest son that we will go into the Teatro de Autómatas, whatever that is. And when he realizes that the chairs of the Ferris wheel are made of old toilets, he will probably want a ride there as well.
- - -Una tarda amb sol ha creat un bon ambient per al primer dia de Trapezi de 2008. Demà vol el meu fill gran que tornem a la rara fira que hi ha a la Plaça de la Vila, mentre que jo - amb la meva dona al meu costat - espero poder veure alguns actes des del principi fins al final.
No ha estat just que hem arribat tard als dos espectacles que hem volgut veure avui. Com pot ser que els artistes han començat puntualment? Que ja no som al sud d’Europa? Que ja no es tracta d’un esdeveniment cultural? Jo no entenc res.
Friday, 30 May 2008
Is This Important? / És important això?
Yesterday, Daniel García Peris, the driving force behind the Penedesfera came here to promote this project in an interview with local radio station Canal Blau. To add some Vilanova flavour he asked me to accompany him, although he was aware that that would be the first time I spoke Catalan in public.
As you might remember, I have started to prepare explanations to 'why I blog', but instead I received the question 'why it is important that people have blogs'. From a language point of view, I do not think that my answer was worse than expected, but the journalist’s face revealed his disappointment when I said that 'my blog only is important to me'. And that 'although I hope that it will be interesting for other people, I can not say that blogging is important'. Fortunately enough, the question could be passed on to Daniel who made long comment about 'bloggers being a manifestation of citizen activism and thus important for society as a whole'. That was obviously what the journalist wanted to hear. I can not help wondering if this how I will stand out during the coming Penedesfera days – as a cynic in a group of Internet optimists?
Does my lack of enthusiasm stem from my Swedish background? The average Swede does, after all, use the Internet quite a lot more than the average Catalan, so at least theoretically we might have lost some illusions which still exist here. For example, Facebook is growing in popularity in Catalonia, while I have the feeling that most of my Swedish friends lost interest in it months ago. What an interesting topic to investigate further!
Up-date: In case you would want to listen to the interview, there is a link to it from Daniel García Peris' blog.
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Encara que vull que tothom vingui a les jornades de la Penedesfera, espero que no hàgiu escoltat l’entrevista que la radio Canal Blau va fer amb en Daniel García Peris, impulsor de la comunitat, i amb mi. No per que vaig parlar d’una manera dolenta – per ser la primera vegada que vaig provar el meu català en públic, vaig ser content de parlar més o menys segons el nivell intermedi on sóc – sinó per que vaig presentar-me com una persona massa cínica.
La realitat és que vaig ser honest quan vaig respondre-li al periodista que la única persona per a qui és important el meu bloc sóc jo mateix. Quina sort que en Daniel va aclarir que la suma de tots blocs afegeix un valor important de participació ciutadana a la societat – la resposta optimista esperada.
Personalment no ho diria mai. Pertànyo a una generació que a Suècia es deia la irònica – una generació de debó postmodernista que quan erem joves no creiem en grans plans per al món. Molts de nosaltres teníem el somni de millorar la societat – o fins i tot treballavem activament per fer-ho - però d’això no parlavem. Si ho haguessin sabut els nostres amics, ens haurien acusat de prendre'ns massa seriosament – cosa prohibida entre la gent “irònica”. Encara avui estic programat així.
Actualització: Si voleu escoltar el programa, podeu trobar-hi un enllaç des del bloc d'en Daniel García Peris.
As you might remember, I have started to prepare explanations to 'why I blog', but instead I received the question 'why it is important that people have blogs'. From a language point of view, I do not think that my answer was worse than expected, but the journalist’s face revealed his disappointment when I said that 'my blog only is important to me'. And that 'although I hope that it will be interesting for other people, I can not say that blogging is important'. Fortunately enough, the question could be passed on to Daniel who made long comment about 'bloggers being a manifestation of citizen activism and thus important for society as a whole'. That was obviously what the journalist wanted to hear. I can not help wondering if this how I will stand out during the coming Penedesfera days – as a cynic in a group of Internet optimists?
Does my lack of enthusiasm stem from my Swedish background? The average Swede does, after all, use the Internet quite a lot more than the average Catalan, so at least theoretically we might have lost some illusions which still exist here. For example, Facebook is growing in popularity in Catalonia, while I have the feeling that most of my Swedish friends lost interest in it months ago. What an interesting topic to investigate further!
Up-date: In case you would want to listen to the interview, there is a link to it from Daniel García Peris' blog.
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Encara que vull que tothom vingui a les jornades de la Penedesfera, espero que no hàgiu escoltat l’entrevista que la radio Canal Blau va fer amb en Daniel García Peris, impulsor de la comunitat, i amb mi. No per que vaig parlar d’una manera dolenta – per ser la primera vegada que vaig provar el meu català en públic, vaig ser content de parlar més o menys segons el nivell intermedi on sóc – sinó per que vaig presentar-me com una persona massa cínica.
La realitat és que vaig ser honest quan vaig respondre-li al periodista que la única persona per a qui és important el meu bloc sóc jo mateix. Quina sort que en Daniel va aclarir que la suma de tots blocs afegeix un valor important de participació ciutadana a la societat – la resposta optimista esperada.
Personalment no ho diria mai. Pertànyo a una generació que a Suècia es deia la irònica – una generació de debó postmodernista que quan erem joves no creiem en grans plans per al món. Molts de nosaltres teníem el somni de millorar la societat – o fins i tot treballavem activament per fer-ho - però d’això no parlavem. Si ho haguessin sabut els nostres amics, ens haurien acusat de prendre'ns massa seriosament – cosa prohibida entre la gent “irònica”. Encara avui estic programat així.
Actualització: Si voleu escoltar el programa, podeu trobar-hi un enllaç des del bloc d'en Daniel García Peris.
Wednesday, 28 May 2008
Circus Festival Trapezi/Vilanova
The coming weekend is a particularly good time for families with children and other cirkus fans to visit Vilanova i la Geltrú – to experience the annual festival Trapezi.For a while I was planning to translate the program into English, but I realise that it is a bit too extensive and that the most important information – the classification of the acts (acrobatics, trapeze, jugglers, clowns etc.) and when and where they take place – is understandable in the Catalan version.
Two kinds of programs are available on the Internet – one chronologic version and one 18 pages long pdf-file with presentations of the individual artists. People who do not live here might want to print out the last pages of the pdf-file since there you find a map over the city centre as well as a comprised time schedule.
All open air circus acts (from 7 to 50 minutes long) are free of charge and take place in the squares of the town during the following hours: Friday May 30: 18.00-20.15; Saturday May 31: 12.00-13.30 and 18.00-20.00; Sunday June 1: 12.00-13.15 and 18.00-20.00.
In two tents in the field behind the technology centre Neàpolis, there will be 40 to 60 minutes long indoor performances. The nearby ticket office will open at 18.30 and the shows will run from 19.00 until after midnight throughout the three festival days. You will be able to buy food and drinks and to stress the social aspect of Trapezi, the bar will open until 02.00.
Let us hope that it will not rain in the weekend (it feels as if I were in Sweden) - I really look forward to Trapezi.
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Serà fàcil de trobar els actes que volem veure durant la dotzena edició de Trapezi/Vilanova - festival internacional de circ i firaires. El programa imprés està estructurat lògicament i te un disseny elegant en els colors que ja vam acostumar-nos a associar amb els programes culturals de la ciutat – vermell, blanc i negre.M’imagino que el Diari de Vilanova publicarà un resumen, però també persones que vindran des de fora podran aconseguir tota la informació abans de sortir de casa ja què el programa pot baixar-se de la xarxa – hi ha una versió cronològica i una altra (un archiu pdf de 18 pàgines) més completa.
A mi em sembla tot ben preparat. Ara espero que no plogui (una idea habitual a Suècia però estranya per aquí) així que hi assistin la més gent possible.
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
One of the Reasons / Una de les raons
June 13-14, I will be in Gélida for the Penedesfera meetings – a first opportunity for bloggers from the Penedès region to see each other face to face and exchange ideas and experiences. Since I will take part in one of the round table discussions, it is high time I started to think about why I have a blog.The driving force for me to start Wirdheim in Vilanova was related to the expat community. I wanted to create a meeting point for my family and other foreigners living here and also offer support to newcomers in their integration. Over the time, my blogging has probably become more egocentric – nowadays I investigate and express my opinion about things which I am interested in also when they might be of limited interest to other people.
However, although I do not want my blog to serve as an immigration service or a tourist office, I think that there is a need to publish practical Vilanova information in English. Yesterday at 21.00, we urgently needed a pharmacy and thanks to up-dated information on the ajuntament’s web-site we found out which of them had the emergency service. Very easy, in fact, since nowadays we understand Catalan. Those who still do not, might prefer to follow the link from here.
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Els dies 13 i 14 de juny participaré a una de les taules rodones de les jornades de la Penedesfera. Per preparar-me vaig rebre unes preguntes i una d'elles és perquè tinc un bloc. La meva resposta avui en dia ja no és tan clara – sovint escric sobre assumptes que m’interessen a mi, sense adaptar-me als meus lectors regulars – però al principi tenia uns objectius molt més idealistics: de crear un punt de trobada amb altres estrangers i alhora ajudar-les a persones nouvingudes a integrar-se a Vilanova.
En ningún cas vull que el bloc es vegi com una oficina de turisme però pot ser hauria de tornar un mica a la meva visió original. Ahir a les nou del vespre vam necessitar una farmàcia amb tota urgencia i com ja entenc la llengua era fàcil de trobar el llistat de farmàcies de torn a la pàgina d'Internet de l’ajuntament. Espero que l’oficina de normalització lingüística accepti que vaig fer-hi un enllaç del meu text en anglés. En situacions d’emergencia hi ha pocs estrangers que volen aprendre idiomes.
Sunday, 25 May 2008
Visiting Sitges for Corpus Christi
Since medieval times, the Roman Catholic church has celebrated Corpus Christi on the Thursday 60 days after Easter Sunday. Even in central Barcelona can you on this day see people placing eggs on the jets of water fountains, a tradition called l’ou com balla (how the egg dances). From the beginning, Corpus Christi has had more of a popular than a religious character and historic records reveal that giants, ball de diables (people dressed up as devils, dancing around with fire crackers), monsters and other typical elements of a Catalan festa have their roots in this celebration.
One of the places which really preserves the tradition is Sitges. On the Sunday, people come from all around Catalonia to see the clove fair (mostra de clavells – 2.100 pots displaying more than a hundred kinds of the flower) or admire the flower carpets (catifes de flors) which cover most of the space in the town’s narrow streets.
Last time we went was a very sunny day so we had to struggle not only with the crowds but also with the smell of the flowers which started to rot in the heat. This year we had planned to go early but the rain forced us to wait until late in the afternoon. With all the water in the streets, many flower decorators had had to interrupt their job, but around Sitges’s Àliga (a fire spitting eagle) did we find some which can give you a flavour of how beautiful this is when the weather allows for it.- - -
El nostre plan era d’anar cap al Sitges ja pel matí per arribar-hi abans dels barcelonesos i també abans de que les flors comencin a olorar malament. Però pel temps que feia, hem hagut de sortir per la tarda i llavors no esperavem veure gran cosa.
Un elogi a tots els sitgetans que han finalitzat les seves decoracións però també a ells que han intentat de fer-ho, malgrat la pluja ininterrompuda.
Chikiliquatre's Success / L'èxit d'en Chikiliquatre
The commentators on Spanish TV all agree that Chikiliquatre succeeded in his mission: he saved the Eurovision - i.e. made the audience return to their TV-sets - in a country where people usually do not take much interest in it. Swedish media has not been especially nice to him, so I cannot help smiling when seeing that he (16th) beat Charlotte Perelli (18th), who one Swede after Swede foresaw would end up in the top five. Baila el Chiki Chiki grows on you, and we will hear him more than once on dance floors during the coming summer, not the least in Eurovision addicted Sweden.
I do not agree with my fellow countrymen that the wrong song won. I would have preferred to see Ukraine (2nd) as the number one, but Russia’s entry was my second favourite and very easy to remember. And what a good song Norway (5th) had, perfect for long trips in the car. Finally, who I thought deserved better positions? Bosnia-Herzegovina - eyes closed - (10th), Croatia (21st) and Denmark (15th) - I want to hear them again.
Up-date: Almost 14 million people in Spain watched the Eurovision during Chikiliquatre's performance. That is the highest audience figure in six years for a program broadcasted in only one channel. In Sweden the opposite happened - 2.800.000 people watched the show and although that is a high figure in a country with just over 9 million inhabitants, it is the lowest amount of viewers since 1996.
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D'els comentaris després de que guanyés Rússia, he entés que de veritat ha salvat el Chikiliquatre l’Eurovisió ja que la gent d’Espanya que havia perdut l’interés al esdeveniment aquest cop han tornat a mirar-lo. Això és un èxit tan gran com el seu resultat a la votació. No volem una altra Itàlia que ha decidit de deixar la competició.
I que bonica era l’emisió d’enguany. Un espectacle ben treballat - sobre tot les presentacions de les banderes dels participants - i un guanyador totalment correcte, encara que l’Ucraïna ha estat el meu favorit personal. També espero que us hagiu fixat a la canció noruega – preciosa.
Perdoneu-me, però penso que Suècia s’ha merescut la dolenta posició on ha acabat (18 de 25). Perquè l’Eurovisió és tan popular al meu país, hi ha molta gent que es veuen com experts del tema. A ells, el Chikiliquatre no els va agradar gens, o almenys no fins ara. Aviat canviaran de opinió, pam a pam però segurament. L’estiu que ve es bailarà el Chiki Chiki pertot arreu a Europa, i els suecs en serem especialistes. Al final no hi ha altres nacions que són tan aficionats a l’Eurovisió com nosaltres.
I do not agree with my fellow countrymen that the wrong song won. I would have preferred to see Ukraine (2nd) as the number one, but Russia’s entry was my second favourite and very easy to remember. And what a good song Norway (5th) had, perfect for long trips in the car. Finally, who I thought deserved better positions? Bosnia-Herzegovina - eyes closed - (10th), Croatia (21st) and Denmark (15th) - I want to hear them again.
Up-date: Almost 14 million people in Spain watched the Eurovision during Chikiliquatre's performance. That is the highest audience figure in six years for a program broadcasted in only one channel. In Sweden the opposite happened - 2.800.000 people watched the show and although that is a high figure in a country with just over 9 million inhabitants, it is the lowest amount of viewers since 1996.
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D'els comentaris després de que guanyés Rússia, he entés que de veritat ha salvat el Chikiliquatre l’Eurovisió ja que la gent d’Espanya que havia perdut l’interés al esdeveniment aquest cop han tornat a mirar-lo. Això és un èxit tan gran com el seu resultat a la votació. No volem una altra Itàlia que ha decidit de deixar la competició.
I que bonica era l’emisió d’enguany. Un espectacle ben treballat - sobre tot les presentacions de les banderes dels participants - i un guanyador totalment correcte, encara que l’Ucraïna ha estat el meu favorit personal. També espero que us hagiu fixat a la canció noruega – preciosa.
Perdoneu-me, però penso que Suècia s’ha merescut la dolenta posició on ha acabat (18 de 25). Perquè l’Eurovisió és tan popular al meu país, hi ha molta gent que es veuen com experts del tema. A ells, el Chikiliquatre no els va agradar gens, o almenys no fins ara. Aviat canviaran de opinió, pam a pam però segurament. L’estiu que ve es bailarà el Chiki Chiki pertot arreu a Europa, i els suecs en serem especialistes. Al final no hi ha altres nacions que són tan aficionats a l’Eurovisió com nosaltres.
Saturday, 24 May 2008
Catalonia - Argentina
Today, the average Swede is looking forward to the final of the Eurovision Song Contest. Catalans are much less excited about that event - what will stir up emotions here is - I could have added ‘as always’ - football. At 19.00 starts the friendly match between Argentina and Catalonia, expected to attract 45.000 spectators to Camp Nou and many more via TV3’s live broadcasting.In a football crazy country like Spain, the dream of an internationally recognised football team is one of the main fronts of Catalan nationalism. It is therefore quite natural that the movement Plataforma pel Dret de Decidir will be present around the stadium in order to collect signatures for Catalonia’s right to call referendums within its territory.
From a sports point of view, the Catalans do not stand a great chance of winning. They are debilitated since natural team members from FC Barcelona (Puyol, Xavi) are busy training for the Uefa Euro 2008 with the Spain team. Only goalkeeper Valdés comes from the blaugrana, and it is instead Espanyol which contributes with the biggest number of Catalan players.
They will meet a strong Argentina actively preparing for the Olympic Games of Beijing and full of players from Spanish premier league clubs. It goes without saying that Argentinean Barça-player Leo Messi will be the focus of all attention.
Apparently by tradition, one of the players comes from the amateur Catalonia team. This time, CF Vilanova forward Santi Triguero has been selected and although he represents a 3rd division club, he has been promised to also play. What a motivation for all young football fans of our town!
Up-date: In front of 42.380 spectators (of whom not a few were Argentinians living in Catalonia), Argentina won through a goal by Lavezzi, 17 minutes before the end of the match.
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Em sembla fantàstic que un jugador de CF Vilanova, un equip de la Tercera Divisió, va rebre l’oporutnitat de formar part de la selecció catalana per al partit contra l’Argentina d’avui. M'imagino la il•lusió que els deu fer a tots els nens i joves que juguen al futbol en la nostra ciutat. Enhorabona Santi Triguero i molta sort per aquesta tarda!
Personalment no espero gaire un bon resultat amb un adversari tan fort – un equip argentí que s’està preparant per als Jocs Olímpics de Pequín. Que els catalans recordin que el més important és lluitar i no rendir-se.
No trobo res sobre aquest matx en laVanguardia d’avui. Que és una decisió politica això?
Spanish Euorovision Song with Zero Points / Escalfament
As a child I used to travel quite a lot with my parents and younger sister, but never to Spain. So forget about Franco, forget about oranges and forget about the trips to Mallorca or the Canary Islands which so many of my class mates went on. When I look back it was probably only at the age of 12 when I formed my first impression of the country where we now live.
At that time, although I already had an interest for the Eurovision Song Contest, my taste of music was even less developed than today. Sweden was always my favourite and then I used to think that songs got worse the further away we came from Scandinavia. However, there usually was a limit, that is until 1983 when barefoot Remedios Amaya represented Spain. She ended up with zero points and I remember thinking that that was exactly what she deserved.
¿Quién maneja mi barca? is not without qualities, but why was not this woman sent to a world-music festival? What did she do in the Eurovision?
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Viure a Espanya – això és un somni per a molts suecs, però quan vivia a Suecia jo no era un d’ells. Els meus pares no solien buscar el sol durant les vacances i per tant no anavem al Sud d’Europa tot i que viatjavem molt.
Avui, dissabte, se celebrarà l’Eurovisió i he de confessar que una de les meves primeres impresions de l'estat on vivim ara era la canció ¿Quién maneja mi barca? de 1983. Diuen que el Chikiliquatre d’aquest any és un candidat “freaky” però os asseguro que a mi, llavors amb dotze anys, m’hauria sorprengut menys ell que la descalça Remedios Amaya.
La seva canció no és dolenta però com tampoc és típica d'Espanya, de veritat no entenc com va arribar fins al final. Sembla que els jurats de la resta d’Europa van pensar el mateix ja que es va quedar amb zero punts.
Friday, 23 May 2008
Pickpockets in Barcelona / Imatge dolenta
Last weekend, we had two groups of Swedish friends visiting Barcelona. In the first one, a young woman had her handbag stolen right upon her arrival, on the train from the airport to the Sants station. For the other group it seemed as if they would be able to make it, but on their last evening, one of the men had his wallet snatched in one of the alleys around the Rambla.
Before we moved here, I have been living Poland as well as the Czech Republic, but although Eastern European cities are infamous for pickpockets, it feels as if the situation here is worse. Just imagine how senior tourists will feel about going to Barcelona when they learn that an 80-year old Danish visitor has just died from the injuries she suffered from falling when a man had grabbed and fled with her purse.
Voilà, a real problem for politicians to work with, instead of spending time thinking about the damage which internationals media’s reporting on the water crisis might have done to Barcelona’s image. I was about to complain that petty crime never makes it to the headlines but with the sad news of today in mind, I guess we ought to be grateful for that.
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Avui va morir una turista danesa de vuitanta anys, que s’havia donat un cop per caure a terra després d’haver sigut robada. Amb conseqüencies tan dolentes, fins i tots els mitjans de comunicació han trobat l’espai per comentar el tema, però la delinqüencia a Barcelona és un problema de tots els dies.
El cap de setmana passat ens van visitar dos grups d’amics suecs. Del primer grup li van robar a una noia ja al tren del aeroport cap a Sants – un bonic primer record de la visita. L’altre grup va passar més hores sense problemes, però durant la seva última nit, un noi va ser víctima d’un carterista. Es diu que la criminalitat a Europa de l’Est és alta, però jo vaig viure allà i de veritat em sembla que la situació per aquí és pitjor.
Que deixin de preocupar-se els politics si el fet que ens porten aigua amb vaixells pot danyar la imatge de Barcelona. Jo sóc segur que això no els importa als turistes. El que va passar amb la pobra danesa és molt més greu. Encara no he pogut trobar la noticia en la premsa Escandinava, però es presentarà, d'això no cap ningun dubte. A molts turistes potencials no els agradarà gens.
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Actualització: Avui presenta el diari danés BT un article sobre els problemes que la filla de la víctima va tenir per rebre ajuda del consolat danés a Barcelona. Segons informa, demà dissabte publicarà el mateix diari un altre article amb més detalls sobre el assumpte - exactament com va poder preveure's.
Before we moved here, I have been living Poland as well as the Czech Republic, but although Eastern European cities are infamous for pickpockets, it feels as if the situation here is worse. Just imagine how senior tourists will feel about going to Barcelona when they learn that an 80-year old Danish visitor has just died from the injuries she suffered from falling when a man had grabbed and fled with her purse.
Voilà, a real problem for politicians to work with, instead of spending time thinking about the damage which internationals media’s reporting on the water crisis might have done to Barcelona’s image. I was about to complain that petty crime never makes it to the headlines but with the sad news of today in mind, I guess we ought to be grateful for that.
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Avui va morir una turista danesa de vuitanta anys, que s’havia donat un cop per caure a terra després d’haver sigut robada. Amb conseqüencies tan dolentes, fins i tots els mitjans de comunicació han trobat l’espai per comentar el tema, però la delinqüencia a Barcelona és un problema de tots els dies.
El cap de setmana passat ens van visitar dos grups d’amics suecs. Del primer grup li van robar a una noia ja al tren del aeroport cap a Sants – un bonic primer record de la visita. L’altre grup va passar més hores sense problemes, però durant la seva última nit, un noi va ser víctima d’un carterista. Es diu que la criminalitat a Europa de l’Est és alta, però jo vaig viure allà i de veritat em sembla que la situació per aquí és pitjor.
Que deixin de preocupar-se els politics si el fet que ens porten aigua amb vaixells pot danyar la imatge de Barcelona. Jo sóc segur que això no els importa als turistes. El que va passar amb la pobra danesa és molt més greu. Encara no he pogut trobar la noticia en la premsa Escandinava, però es presentarà, d'això no cap ningun dubte. A molts turistes potencials no els agradarà gens.
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Actualització: Avui presenta el diari danés BT un article sobre els problemes que la filla de la víctima va tenir per rebre ajuda del consolat danés a Barcelona. Segons informa, demà dissabte publicarà el mateix diari un altre article amb més detalls sobre el assumpte - exactament com va poder preveure's.
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Good Vibrations / Bones vibracions
I am setting myself up as a sales agent (autònom). Currently I am looking into the condom business and must say that it is different from what I expected. The argument that condoms are the best protection against sexually transmitted diseases does not sell and as the manufacturers are searching for new ways to market their products, my perception of national characters is being challenged.Being a Swede living abroad, people from other countries often tell me how open minded they believe that we are when it comes to sex. And although I cannot claim to recognise myself in the stereotype, I certainly have thought us to be a lot more liberal than the, in our eyes, prudish English or traditional catholic Spaniards.
Not so any longer. After a market survey revealed that as many as one third of English women own one or more sex toys, UK based Durex decided to add dildos and stimulator rings to their condom range and they are now the leaders in promoting “sexual wellbeing”. By shifting the distribution from seedy porn shops to honourable pharmacies and with sophisticated feminine packaging, they intend to make the purchase less embarrassing. And it works, not only in England but also here in Catalonia is it now possible to leave a pharmacy with a pack of bandaids, some headache pills and a vibrator. As if that would not be enough, TV advertising on a daily basis shows us how a married couple wakes up in their bed and realise that it is time to ‘fill their life with good vibrations’.Swedish quality condom manufacturer RFSU has been slower to enter into this market and since they have a dominating market position in the Nordic countries, customers have had to wait. But today media reports that they will launch a similar offer. True, Durex Play is the pioneer, but the Swedish alternative Trust in Lust has a more inspiring name (at least to me but, admittedly, I am not a native speaker) and more fun-oriented packaging. Let us see if this will be enough to stir up the imagination and fantasy among my fellow countrymen. The English and Spanish are ahead of us and we have a reputation to live up to.
- - -Els suecs tenim molt poques inhibicions sexuals, ho coneixeu tots no? Això és una fama que ens persegueix pertot arreu del mon i el dilema de la meva generació – diguem els nens d’aquells suecs sense tabús – és que molts de nosaltres no podem identificar-nos-hi. Però, clar, quan nosaltres mateixos ens comparem amb gent de un país catòlic, com ara Catalunya, ens pensem ser més liberals i sense prejudicis.
Per tant em sorpren el desenvolupament que podem veure a les farmàcies. És cert que per aquí encara es poden trobar farmacistes que per convicció religiosa no volen vendre pastilles anticonceptives (cosa que no ocorre a Suècia) però alhora hi ha cada cop més botigues on es venen massatgedors i estimuladors per a ella i anells per a ell.
Si avui aneu a una farmàcia a Suècia (encara és un monòpol estatal que es diu Apoteket, vereu que no n’hi ha res de similar. RFSU - la nostra marca de condons de qualitat i fins i tot ètics, ja que l’empresa reinverteix el seu benefici en una ONG – fins fa pocs anys era considerat radical per celebrar el plaer sexual, però aquesta vegada no som progressistes. Acaban de llançar-se unes joguines eròtiques, però fins el mes de juny la venda es realitza únicament a través de l’Internet.
Imagineu-vos si tota la gent del nostre barri a Vilanova ja està jugant. No seria una vergonya si nosaltres, com representants locals de Suècia, fòssim els últims a aceptar les noves tendències? “Omple la teva vida de bones vibracions” ens repeteixen a la publicitat a la tele. Ja hem entés. Hem de defendre l’honor de la nostra nació.
Tuesday, 20 May 2008
Unconstitutional Independence / Independència inconstitucional
Summing it up as “trips to nowhere, risk projects” since it is “unnecessary, out of place, since it divides and confuses” was how Zapatero rejected the Basque lehendakari (president) Ibarretxe’s proposals, when the two of them held a meeting on the referendum on independence which the Basque nationalist party PNV is planning to call for 2010.
Although Ibarretxe’s plan is to create a broad agreement on the question for the referendum among all parties with representation in the Basque parliament, Zapatero responded that it will not be allowed to take place, since it does not the respect the constitution and democratic rules.
The problem with Zapatero’s answer is that, applied as a general rule, a small part of an existing state would never be able to gain its sovereignty democratically since the majority of the state as a whole most likely will vote against it.
Although the circumstances were different, those who favour Basque or Catalan independence can use the referendum which resulted in an independent Montenegro as an example to how the international community might react. On that occasion, as long as the voter participation reached 50% and 55% of the votes given were in favour, the EU in advance committed to respect the outcome.
The question is rather whether the Basques are prepared to vote on independence. I do not think they are, because in the Basque country there are a lot of people who first and foremost feel Spanish and in the anonymity of polling stations they can be expected to vote no.
Catalan politicians do not seem to feel the same urgency as their Basque colleagues. Here, the most radical nationalist party, Esquerra, is debating whether a referendum should be called for in 2014. The traditional nationalists, CiU, might be perceived as independentistes in Madrid, but only last did the bigger one of the two CiU parties, CDC, formally include a sovereign Catalonia as one of their alternatives for the future.
In the end, what PNV and now also CDC advocate in not necessarily independence but the right to decide (dret de decidir). To me that sounds reasonable. It cannot be good for a democratic state to rule out any attempt by a region to leave it as unconstitutional and therefore undemocratic.
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L’estudi que presenta Avui que un 52% dels Catalans votarien favorablement en un referendum sobre la indepenència del país em sembla exagerat i incorrecte. Si ja existís un desig tan fort de sobirania, perquè sortiria el PSC tan reforçat de les últimes eleccions estatals? Més aviat penso que hi ha una majoria silenciosa que sí vol autonomia, però dins de l'Estat Espanyol.
No obstant això estic totalment d’acord amb CDC que la independencia ha de ser una de les alternatives dins del dret de decidir i per tant em molesta la resposta que ha rebut el lehendakari Ibarretxe d’en Zapatero avui: “viajes a ninguna parte, aventuras, no; porque es innecesario, es inconveniente, porque divide y porque confunde".
Si únicament es refereix a la versió actual de la constitució espanyola per valorar quines propostes són democràtiques i quines no, és clar que un referendum sobre la independència d’una comunitat autònoma sempre serà indemocràtic. Per cert, la situació era distinta, però la UE va establir un exemple amb el cas de Montenegro. Allà va aceptar la comunitat internacional la decisió de la gent que vivia a la regió i no cap l’opinió de la resta de l'estat on pertanyia.
Although Ibarretxe’s plan is to create a broad agreement on the question for the referendum among all parties with representation in the Basque parliament, Zapatero responded that it will not be allowed to take place, since it does not the respect the constitution and democratic rules.
The problem with Zapatero’s answer is that, applied as a general rule, a small part of an existing state would never be able to gain its sovereignty democratically since the majority of the state as a whole most likely will vote against it.
Although the circumstances were different, those who favour Basque or Catalan independence can use the referendum which resulted in an independent Montenegro as an example to how the international community might react. On that occasion, as long as the voter participation reached 50% and 55% of the votes given were in favour, the EU in advance committed to respect the outcome.
The question is rather whether the Basques are prepared to vote on independence. I do not think they are, because in the Basque country there are a lot of people who first and foremost feel Spanish and in the anonymity of polling stations they can be expected to vote no.
Catalan politicians do not seem to feel the same urgency as their Basque colleagues. Here, the most radical nationalist party, Esquerra, is debating whether a referendum should be called for in 2014. The traditional nationalists, CiU, might be perceived as independentistes in Madrid, but only last did the bigger one of the two CiU parties, CDC, formally include a sovereign Catalonia as one of their alternatives for the future.
In the end, what PNV and now also CDC advocate in not necessarily independence but the right to decide (dret de decidir). To me that sounds reasonable. It cannot be good for a democratic state to rule out any attempt by a region to leave it as unconstitutional and therefore undemocratic.
- - -
L’estudi que presenta Avui que un 52% dels Catalans votarien favorablement en un referendum sobre la indepenència del país em sembla exagerat i incorrecte. Si ja existís un desig tan fort de sobirania, perquè sortiria el PSC tan reforçat de les últimes eleccions estatals? Més aviat penso que hi ha una majoria silenciosa que sí vol autonomia, però dins de l'Estat Espanyol.
No obstant això estic totalment d’acord amb CDC que la independencia ha de ser una de les alternatives dins del dret de decidir i per tant em molesta la resposta que ha rebut el lehendakari Ibarretxe d’en Zapatero avui: “viajes a ninguna parte, aventuras, no; porque es innecesario, es inconveniente, porque divide y porque confunde".
Si únicament es refereix a la versió actual de la constitució espanyola per valorar quines propostes són democràtiques i quines no, és clar que un referendum sobre la independència d’una comunitat autònoma sempre serà indemocràtic. Per cert, la situació era distinta, però la UE va establir un exemple amb el cas de Montenegro. Allà va aceptar la comunitat internacional la decisió de la gent que vivia a la regió i no cap l’opinió de la resta de l'estat on pertanyia.
Monday, 19 May 2008
Love and War in Barcelona / Curtmetratges al MACBA
During this spring, MACBA, Barcelona’s Museum of Contemporary Art, has shown opera films under the umbrella name Petites històries del Cinema. The program is centred around short films which can appeal to children, and coming Saturday, May 24 at 17.30, will be the last opportunity to experience this.
Among others, what I understand to be two classic cartoons - Rabbit of Seville (1950) and What’s Opera Doc (1957) - will be presented. Both were made by Chuck Jones as a parodies on typical opera themes. However, the highlight will be Love and War by Fredrik Emilson, a Swedish friend of mine. The work proves his skills in several disciplines – he wrote the screenplay, music and libretto but then also directed the film. If you download his trailer you will understand why I am convinced that these will be the most touching 14 minutes of the evening.
All in all, the event is expected to take less than an hour. Even our small children will hopefully be able to stay calm that long.
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Sí, sí, el dia d’entrada lliure als museus era el diumenge passat, però encara que calgui pagar, el dissabte que ve (dia 24 a les 17.30) us recomano asistir a la última part del programa Petites histories del Cinema - una mostra de cutrmetratges d’opera més o menys indicats per als nens – al Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona.
Una pel·lícula que em fa molta il·lusió de finalment poder veure, és el Love and War fet pel suec Fredrik Emilson, un bon amic meu. “Òpera delirant composta i animada pel mateix autor. Una conilleta i un ós s'enamoren, però un conflicte bèl·lic s'interposa en la relació” és com MACBA presenta la seva obra. Descargueu-ne el tràiler i ja veureu perquè sóc tan segur que ell nos presentarà amb els moments més commovedors de tota la tarda. Vegem-nos allà. No us hi passeu.
Among others, what I understand to be two classic cartoons - Rabbit of Seville (1950) and What’s Opera Doc (1957) - will be presented. Both were made by Chuck Jones as a parodies on typical opera themes. However, the highlight will be Love and War by Fredrik Emilson, a Swedish friend of mine. The work proves his skills in several disciplines – he wrote the screenplay, music and libretto but then also directed the film. If you download his trailer you will understand why I am convinced that these will be the most touching 14 minutes of the evening.
All in all, the event is expected to take less than an hour. Even our small children will hopefully be able to stay calm that long.
- - -
Sí, sí, el dia d’entrada lliure als museus era el diumenge passat, però encara que calgui pagar, el dissabte que ve (dia 24 a les 17.30) us recomano asistir a la última part del programa Petites histories del Cinema - una mostra de cutrmetratges d’opera més o menys indicats per als nens – al Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona.
Una pel·lícula que em fa molta il·lusió de finalment poder veure, és el Love and War fet pel suec Fredrik Emilson, un bon amic meu. “Òpera delirant composta i animada pel mateix autor. Una conilleta i un ós s'enamoren, però un conflicte bèl·lic s'interposa en la relació” és com MACBA presenta la seva obra. Descargueu-ne el tràiler i ja veureu perquè sóc tan segur que ell nos presentarà amb els moments més commovedors de tota la tarda. Vegem-nos allà. No us hi passeu.
Adaptabilitat portuguesa / Portuguese adaptability
Recentment, el parlament de Portugal va prendre la decisió de canviar l’ortografia del portugues amb l’objectiu que convingui amb la versió de Brazil. Això significa que s'adoptaran les lletres k, w i y i també que ja no s'escriuran consonants que no es pronuncien (desde ara cal escriure otimo en comptes de optimo).
Com es pot predir hi ha hagut protestes contra la reforma, però els politics van posar-se d’acord que les mesures simplificaran la comunicació entre els països que tenen el portuguès com llengua oficial i que la estandardització reforçarà el seu paper.
Tant de bo prenguin nota els defensors del valencià com llengua separada del català, la gent que no aceptan que la Unió Europea va anomenar-la català/valencià. Des d'el punt de vista purista entenc la seva crítica però que és més important - que una llengua s’utilitza per facilitar la comunicació o que s’escriu de la manera fonèticament i historicament més correcta? A mi em sembla que els portugueses van trobar el camí cap al futur.
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Portugal has recently decided to modify its orthography of the Portuguese language, by adopting the Brazilian way of spelling many words. Neither the introduction of the letters k, w and y, nor the removal of silent consonants (optimo will now be spelled otimo, since that is how it is pronounced) comes without protests, but a parliamentary majority has voted through the reform. The benefits are obvious – standardisation will increase the understanding between the states which has Portuguese as their official language and thereby strengthen its role in the world.
I cannot help making a comparison with Catalan, Valencian and the Balearic Catalan. Above all in Valencia, there are people who oppose that the European Union group Catalan and Valencian into one language. Although I admit that they have a point from a purist point of view, I am convinced that the more isolated a language becomes, the less people will take the trouble to learn it. With 230 million speakers, Portuguese is hardly a threatened language. If only the same could be said for Valencian.
Com es pot predir hi ha hagut protestes contra la reforma, però els politics van posar-se d’acord que les mesures simplificaran la comunicació entre els països que tenen el portuguès com llengua oficial i que la estandardització reforçarà el seu paper.
Tant de bo prenguin nota els defensors del valencià com llengua separada del català, la gent que no aceptan que la Unió Europea va anomenar-la català/valencià. Des d'el punt de vista purista entenc la seva crítica però que és més important - que una llengua s’utilitza per facilitar la comunicació o que s’escriu de la manera fonèticament i historicament més correcta? A mi em sembla que els portugueses van trobar el camí cap al futur.
- - -
Portugal has recently decided to modify its orthography of the Portuguese language, by adopting the Brazilian way of spelling many words. Neither the introduction of the letters k, w and y, nor the removal of silent consonants (optimo will now be spelled otimo, since that is how it is pronounced) comes without protests, but a parliamentary majority has voted through the reform. The benefits are obvious – standardisation will increase the understanding between the states which has Portuguese as their official language and thereby strengthen its role in the world.
I cannot help making a comparison with Catalan, Valencian and the Balearic Catalan. Above all in Valencia, there are people who oppose that the European Union group Catalan and Valencian into one language. Although I admit that they have a point from a purist point of view, I am convinced that the more isolated a language becomes, the less people will take the trouble to learn it. With 230 million speakers, Portuguese is hardly a threatened language. If only the same could be said for Valencian.
Saturday, 17 May 2008
Espanya ecologista / Green Spain
Les coses podrien ser pitjors. Aquí ens molesta el temps que ha durat abans que el tren d’alta velocitat hagués arribat a Barcelona i que encara trigarà molts més anys abans que es pugui anar fins a la frontera francesa. Alhora a la región occidental de Suècia, on jo vaig néixer, hi ha un agrupament de polítics de tots colors que veuen la nostra situació com un bon exemple. La UE dóna soport a projectes d’infraestructura d’aquest tipus, sempre que les autoritats locals facin el mateix. En els anys 2000-06, l’Estat Espanyol va dedicar molts diners a línies d’alta velocitat. A Suècia, un país que es veu com un símbol de modernitat i ecologisme, no s’ha invertit res.
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It took time for it to arrive, but since the AVE – Spain’s fast speed train – started to operate the route Barcelona – Madrid, positive comments clearly prevail. With the 630 km journey between the two biggest cities now only taking 2 hours and 38 minutes, even business people consider environmentally friendly trains to be an alternative to travel by air.
People in my native Scandinavia tend to believe that they are Europe’s ecologic conscience, but when it comes to high speed train that is not the case. Today, politicians in Western Sweden protest that Sweden is making poor use of the EU support available for this kind of projects. To go by train from Göteborg, Sweden's second biggest city, to the Norwegian capital Oslo – a distance of 300 km – takes almost 4 hours.
- - -
It took time for it to arrive, but since the AVE – Spain’s fast speed train – started to operate the route Barcelona – Madrid, positive comments clearly prevail. With the 630 km journey between the two biggest cities now only taking 2 hours and 38 minutes, even business people consider environmentally friendly trains to be an alternative to travel by air.
People in my native Scandinavia tend to believe that they are Europe’s ecologic conscience, but when it comes to high speed train that is not the case. Today, politicians in Western Sweden protest that Sweden is making poor use of the EU support available for this kind of projects. To go by train from Göteborg, Sweden's second biggest city, to the Norwegian capital Oslo – a distance of 300 km – takes almost 4 hours.
The Image of Barcelona / No ens preocupem
Lately, the ajuntament of Barcelona has expressed concerns that the water crisis is giving the city a bad reputation internationally. Personally, I am convinced that we will not see any drops in the tourism statistics. The Catalan capital has a solid reputation.
While I do not consider that we need help, I must confess that the presentation of Woody Allen’s latest movie - Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona – in Cannes today, comes with a fantastic timing. The director himself believes that it will make North Americans want to visit the city and its beaches, to see the mix of old and modern architecture, the mix of cosmopolitan and genuinely Mediterranean influences with their own eyes.
For the movie, Spain’s two most famous actors were explicitly selected for their exotic seductive charisma. Neither of them is Catalan – Penélope Cruz comes from Madrid and Javier Bardem from Gran Canaria. While Woody Allen is well known for his strong affection for certain cities, he apparently is not so fond of countries. It does not matter - when he promotes Barcelona the whole of Catalonia will benefit.
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En Woody Allen diu que el bonic ambient que ell va intentar de captar en la seva última pel·lícula, ens semblarà totalment normal a nosaltres, ja que vivim per aquí. Jo no en sóc segur. Més aviat penso que Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona podrà ajudar-nos a retrobar el mite de la capital catalana. Oblidem els problemes que tenim en les infraestructures, oblidem la manca d’aigua – Barcelona és única en el mon.
I no ens preocupem de les negatives notícies que es van presentar en la premsa internacional quan va arribar el primer vaixell amb aigua de Tarragona. Personalment conéc una empresa estrangera que és en el procès d'establir-se aquí i almenys els turistes suecs segueixen venint com sempre. La imatge de Barcelona queda forta i no n’hi ha ningú que no vingui per por de no poder dutxar-se.
While I do not consider that we need help, I must confess that the presentation of Woody Allen’s latest movie - Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona – in Cannes today, comes with a fantastic timing. The director himself believes that it will make North Americans want to visit the city and its beaches, to see the mix of old and modern architecture, the mix of cosmopolitan and genuinely Mediterranean influences with their own eyes.
For the movie, Spain’s two most famous actors were explicitly selected for their exotic seductive charisma. Neither of them is Catalan – Penélope Cruz comes from Madrid and Javier Bardem from Gran Canaria. While Woody Allen is well known for his strong affection for certain cities, he apparently is not so fond of countries. It does not matter - when he promotes Barcelona the whole of Catalonia will benefit.
- - -
En Woody Allen diu que el bonic ambient que ell va intentar de captar en la seva última pel·lícula, ens semblarà totalment normal a nosaltres, ja que vivim per aquí. Jo no en sóc segur. Més aviat penso que Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona podrà ajudar-nos a retrobar el mite de la capital catalana. Oblidem els problemes que tenim en les infraestructures, oblidem la manca d’aigua – Barcelona és única en el mon.
I no ens preocupem de les negatives notícies que es van presentar en la premsa internacional quan va arribar el primer vaixell amb aigua de Tarragona. Personalment conéc una empresa estrangera que és en el procès d'establir-se aquí i almenys els turistes suecs segueixen venint com sempre. La imatge de Barcelona queda forta i no n’hi ha ningú que no vingui per por de no poder dutxar-se.
Thursday, 15 May 2008
A Dangerously Scenic Road from Barcelona to Sitges / Vistes perilloses
Expats who are about to move to Catalonia, ought to consider Vilanova i la Geltrú as a possible future home. Here you have the opportunity to live close to the beach, but for a lot more affordable prices than what you have to pay in the metropolitan area. At the same time, this is a proper town with relatively well organized public services.Communication with Barcelona - the city centre as well as the airport - by car is very efficient, as long as you are prepared to take the tollway (€ 5.10 in each direction). Earlier, when I used to go to Barcelona only in the weekends and for pleasure, I honestly did not mind to pay. However, nowadays, when I go there for work and almost every day, to save money I feel obliged to take C-31; a curvy single lane road which clings to the side of the Garraf mountains.
There could have been construction works to make this road slightly straighter, by adding bridges in some places, but after the intervention of Jordi Baijet, the mayor of Sitges, the money is instead being invested in adapting the road for tourism by adding rest stops at the most scenic spots. That was a wise decision. Although measures are also being taken to improve the safety standards, in any rational infrastructure planning, this road should not be used by commuters. Some of the curves are scarily sharp and the steep slope down into the water commands respect, not only when you meet one lorry after the other on its way to the quarry located halfway.
If you decide to move to Vilanova, or to Sigest for that sake, you will appreciate the new, improved C-31 when you are in the mood for exploring our proximity to the sea. On all other days, you will probably do like I and start to think about how you can influence local politicians to come up with a safer alternative.- - -
“Paisatgistica… però poc útil” és la perfecta descripció que va escollir el Diari de Vilanova per a l’article sobre la carretera C-31. Personalment sóc totalment d’acord amb el Jordi Baijet, l’alcalde de Sitges, que el projecte de millores que s’està duent a terme actualment és el més correcte. Una carretera penjant en les muntanyes sobre el mar és ideal per a l'ús turistic.
Alhora és clar que la comarca Garraf necesita una solució moderna per a la comunicació amb la capital catalana. Aquest paper, òbviament, no pot complir una carretera que és insegura o, quan plou, directament perillosa i on almenys els meus nens es maregen per la cantitat de curves.Si us sembla que em vaig despertar tard en aquest assumpte, tinc la excusa que treballava a Tarragona abans. Llavors no m’importava pagar el peatge les poques vegades que anava cap a Barcelona. Peró, ara s’han canviat les coses i he d’anar-hi més o menys tots els dies.
Com una persona relativament nouvinguda, penso que tinc el dret de posar preguntes encara que la majoria dels vilanovins ja s'ha rendit: Si és tan difícil de baixar les tarifes del peatge d’una manera general, per què no es pot introduir un descompte per a nosaltres, la gent que vivim per aquí? Ens estimaríem més la seguretat que no pas les bones vistes.
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Henrik Larsson’s Sixth Championship / La tornada d’en Larsson
Fans of Henrik Larsson will be delighted to hear that the former player of FC Barcelona (and more recently, although temporarily, also of Manchester United) has accepted to play for Sweden in the Euro 2008 of this summer.
Sweden manager Lars Lagerbäck has had an obvious preference for senior players – the average age of the Sweden national football team is 29,35 years this time – however, 36-year-old Larsson will be in a class of his own.
As a Swede, I hope that experience will bring us success during the coming games. What the high average age says about the future of Swedish football is an question which I am happy to pass on to more knowledgeable people.
- - -
Aficionats d’en Henrik Larsson, que jugava en FC Barcelona durant les temporades 2004-05 i 2005-06, tindran la possibilitat de veure’l de nou aquest estiu. L’entrenador de la selecció sueca, el Lars Lagerbäck, va confirmar que el Larsson va acceptar de participar en el campionat europeu de futbol. Serà el seu sisè gran campionat. Amb 36 anys, el Larsson serà el major de tots els jugadors suecs si no de tot l’Euro Copa 2008.
Sweden manager Lars Lagerbäck has had an obvious preference for senior players – the average age of the Sweden national football team is 29,35 years this time – however, 36-year-old Larsson will be in a class of his own.
As a Swede, I hope that experience will bring us success during the coming games. What the high average age says about the future of Swedish football is an question which I am happy to pass on to more knowledgeable people.
- - -
Aficionats d’en Henrik Larsson, que jugava en FC Barcelona durant les temporades 2004-05 i 2005-06, tindran la possibilitat de veure’l de nou aquest estiu. L’entrenador de la selecció sueca, el Lars Lagerbäck, va confirmar que el Larsson va acceptar de participar en el campionat europeu de futbol. Serà el seu sisè gran campionat. Amb 36 anys, el Larsson serà el major de tots els jugadors suecs si no de tot l’Euro Copa 2008.
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
Montilla Unexpectedly Clear / Claretat poc esperada
As of the estatut (the Catalan statute of autonomy), by August 9 this year, a new model for the financing of public expenses is to be implemented. Since the negotiations by necessity will create tensions among different geographical factions of the ruling socialists, important personalities from that party recently tried to delay the revision. Former socialist prime minister Felipe González and Andalucian leader Manuel Chaves suggested that the changes can wait until it becomes clearer what effect the current cooling of the economy will have on the state coffers.
For a while it seemed that Zapatero would side with them, but then José Montilla, president of the Generalitat de Catalunya, wrote a surprisingly sharp article on the topic in El País. Almost immediately did he receive support from the other Catalan parties, which served as a reminder about the balance in the Spanish parliament. If the Catalan socialists PSC would ever decide to vote with the other Catalans, and not with its sister party PSOE, then PSOE's only option to obtain a majority would be to co-operate with the opposition party PP.
Possibly, that was the perspective Zapatero had in mind today when he decided to speak out. Hopefully, however, it was common sense that made him promise that his government will live up to what has been outlined in l’estatut and put an end to the unintentional injustice of the current system. While Catalonia contributes the most to the state budget, money transfers make it possible for some financially weak autonomous regions to offer their inhabitants better public services than what we have here.
When did we last see the Catalan president gain so much respect?
- - -
A late update: Today, Wednesday, LaVanguardia informs us that Montilla has asked PSC's 25 members of the Spanish parliament to remain firm on the issue of public finances. He did not, however, want to comment on how PSC will vote in case PSOE again changes its mind.
- - -
L’article que vaig escriure el José Montilla al País fa uns dies deu haver sigut millor rebut que ell mateix no esperava. Com primer pas van mostrar-li el seu soport els altres partits catalans. Avui, no únicament ha promès el Zapatero que se sigue trevallant amb el dia 9 d’agost com termini per canviar el sistema del finançament públic de Catalunya, sinó també ha demonstrat que va internalitzar l'argumentació presentada pel president català.
És clar que el Montilla té qualitats de què jo no m’havia adonat fins ara.
For a while it seemed that Zapatero would side with them, but then José Montilla, president of the Generalitat de Catalunya, wrote a surprisingly sharp article on the topic in El País. Almost immediately did he receive support from the other Catalan parties, which served as a reminder about the balance in the Spanish parliament. If the Catalan socialists PSC would ever decide to vote with the other Catalans, and not with its sister party PSOE, then PSOE's only option to obtain a majority would be to co-operate with the opposition party PP.
Possibly, that was the perspective Zapatero had in mind today when he decided to speak out. Hopefully, however, it was common sense that made him promise that his government will live up to what has been outlined in l’estatut and put an end to the unintentional injustice of the current system. While Catalonia contributes the most to the state budget, money transfers make it possible for some financially weak autonomous regions to offer their inhabitants better public services than what we have here.
When did we last see the Catalan president gain so much respect?
- - -
A late update: Today, Wednesday, LaVanguardia informs us that Montilla has asked PSC's 25 members of the Spanish parliament to remain firm on the issue of public finances. He did not, however, want to comment on how PSC will vote in case PSOE again changes its mind.
- - -
L’article que vaig escriure el José Montilla al País fa uns dies deu haver sigut millor rebut que ell mateix no esperava. Com primer pas van mostrar-li el seu soport els altres partits catalans. Avui, no únicament ha promès el Zapatero que se sigue trevallant amb el dia 9 d’agost com termini per canviar el sistema del finançament públic de Catalunya, sinó també ha demonstrat que va internalitzar l'argumentació presentada pel president català.
És clar que el Montilla té qualitats de què jo no m’havia adonat fins ara.
Monday, 12 May 2008
Taekwondo - Championship of Catalonia / Campionat de Catalunya
My feet have not been my friends during the last few weeks. Due to what I believe is a serious double sided Achilles infection, not only did I recently miss my exam in taekwondo for the next belt level, but I cannot even attend classes as I usually do.Yesterday, Sunday, I had the opportunity to watch the sport when the top representatives of the club where I train, Chois Vilanova – lead by Alfonso Rubio and Marta Calafell - took part in the Championship of Catalonia, in the disciplines techniques and exhibition.
Before we reached the prize ceremony, my wife signalled that the children were bored and that we had to go home. This was far from Chois Vilanova’s best competition ever, but they achieved some results worth mentioning.
In the women’s competition of poomsae (Korean for patterns) Marta Calafell took home the gold medal in the class senior II. She is thereby directly qualified to represent Catalonia in the Championship of Spain, which will take place in Madrid, June 8. Vanessa Aguilera won a silver medal in the class senior I and Patricia Rubio did the same among junior women.In the women’s competititon of poomsae in teams of three, Vanessa Aguilera, Laura Castro and Patricia Rubio won a silver medal.
Chois Vilanova's mixed exhibition team only won a bronze medal this time. Some technical mistakes brought down the score of an otherwise well synchronized program.
- - -
En general sóc content amb el Diari de Vilanova, però les pàgines dedicades als esports no tenen equilibri. L’ultim número pot servir com exemple. D’un total de 17 pàgines, la meitat (exactament 8,5) tracta d'esdeveniments de futbol. Aquest esport és tan interessant que fins i tot els equips que jugan en la lliga comarcal de Futbol-7 es mereixen ser presentats amb fotografies en color. De l’altra meitat, tenim dues pàgines per a l’hoquei sobre patins i tres per al bàsquet. Tots els altres esports comparteixen les 3,5 pàgines que quedan.
Al mon de Taekwondo, Chois Vilanova té un nom conegut, ja que el club sol aconseguir bons resultats en els campionats tant del país com de l’estat. El 11 de maig de 2008 va participar al campionat de Catalunya, celebrat al pavelló Mar Bella de Barcelona. Aquest cop va guanyar una medalla d’or, tres de plata i una de bronze.Desgraciadament, no sóc un talent de la fotografia esportiva. No obstant això he decidit de publicar unes quantes de les imatges que vaig agafar. El divendres que ve ja veurem com el nostre diari presentarà el mateix tema.
Barça’s Less Celebrated Title / Una part del Barça va guanyar
Catalonia ought to be celebrating, since Barça won today. If only I had been writing about football – a sport which you must start to follow at least superficially, unless you can afford to distance yourself from other men here – but unfortunately I am not.
The football section of FC Barcelona had yet another disappointing evening. In Frank Rijkaard’s last game as the coach of the club, they symptomatically lost 2 – 3 to Mallorca, and this at home at Camp Nou. Before the match, there were calls on the fans to bring black handkerchiefs to reveal their grief over the club's results in the liga, of which it is already clear that Real Madrid will be the winner. Instead people preferred to stay at home - the spectator count was apparently unusually low.
It is of limited comfort that FC Barcelona Sorli Discau, the roller hockey section of the same club, took home the European Cup. Not only is that almost a tradition – they have won this cup eighteen times by now – neither do the victories bring any new attention to Catalonia, since the finals tend to be internal Catalan affairs. This year, it was l’Alnimar Reus Deportiu which the team blaugrana defeated with 5 – 2.
Until now, I know very little about this sport and I must improve on that. It is probably the only sport where our local team, CP Vilanova l’Ull Blau, plays in the same league as the European champion.
- - -
Quant al tema de hoquei sobre patins confesso que la meva integració en la societat catalana és més que dolenta – no conec res de res. I així tot i que visc a Vilanova on l’equip local, CP Vilanova l’Ull Blau, juga en la mateixa liga com el titular de la copa d’Europa.
Siguem feliços que almenys una part del FC Barcelona segueix funcionant com cal.
The football section of FC Barcelona had yet another disappointing evening. In Frank Rijkaard’s last game as the coach of the club, they symptomatically lost 2 – 3 to Mallorca, and this at home at Camp Nou. Before the match, there were calls on the fans to bring black handkerchiefs to reveal their grief over the club's results in the liga, of which it is already clear that Real Madrid will be the winner. Instead people preferred to stay at home - the spectator count was apparently unusually low.
It is of limited comfort that FC Barcelona Sorli Discau, the roller hockey section of the same club, took home the European Cup. Not only is that almost a tradition – they have won this cup eighteen times by now – neither do the victories bring any new attention to Catalonia, since the finals tend to be internal Catalan affairs. This year, it was l’Alnimar Reus Deportiu which the team blaugrana defeated with 5 – 2.
Until now, I know very little about this sport and I must improve on that. It is probably the only sport where our local team, CP Vilanova l’Ull Blau, plays in the same league as the European champion.
- - -
Quant al tema de hoquei sobre patins confesso que la meva integració en la societat catalana és més que dolenta – no conec res de res. I així tot i que visc a Vilanova on l’equip local, CP Vilanova l’Ull Blau, juga en la mateixa liga com el titular de la copa d’Europa.
Siguem feliços que almenys una part del FC Barcelona segueix funcionant com cal.
Saturday, 10 May 2008
Learning Catalan - What Is In It For Me ? / Com n'aprofito jo?
In Catalonia of today, there is a fine balance in the number of people who prefer Catalan to Spanish. The current weak position of the country’s own language (llengua pròpia), has one of its reasons in dictator Franco’s support to Andalusian families to move here. While back then there were active policies to make Catalonia more Spanish, today it is what we can call market forces that threaten the status of Catalan. Catalonia is the by far most popular destination for foreigners who move to Spain and, once here, these new inhabitants prefer Spanish to Catalan.
While small children will imitate any language being spoken in their daily environment, without questioning its usefulness, adult learners are much more rational in their language studies. It is therefore not surprising that only 12,7% of the immigrants to Catalonia learn to speak and write Catalan, while 75,7% answer that they are capable of speaking and writing Spanish.
Although I strongly recommend all foreign residents of Catalonia to learn Catalan, I understand that most people simply do not see this as a priority. Let us be honest: only if you want to integrate fully and understand local traditions as well as the political debate, does Catalan become a necessity. For all activities of daily life, Spanish is enough.
Since we arrived here, I do not know how many times I have heard politicians claim that the llengua pròpia is a tool for integration. Hopefully, the report on foreigners' language preferences, as presented in LaVanguardia today, can reveal the emptiness of such statements. Since there is a massive political majority in favour of supporting Catalan, it is time to re-think the current system and find new ways to motivate immigrants to learn the language.
- - -
A mi no em sorpen que la majoria dels nouvinguts a Catalunya prefereixen el castellà al català. No defenso gens aquesta opnió, però l’entenc, ja que no fa falta saber parlar o escriure el català per organitzar-se la vida per aquí.
Personalment penso que cada persona que vé per aquí per quedar-se, té l’obligació d’aprendre el català. No obstant això, mentres que no es pot exigir per llei – el castellà també és llengua oficial de la comunitat autònoma – és necessari motivar-los als estrangers per que aprenguin les dues llengües.
No es podrian crear maneres de donar prioritat als estrangers que han arribat a un cert nivell de coneixement de la llengua? Per exemple, durant el proces d’incripció dels nens a les escoles es podria assignar uns punts adicionals a les families on els pares parlen la llengua pròpia.
Es parla molt del català com una "eina per l’integració", però això son paraules buides com demostra el meu cas. Abans de que no comprengués el català, el veia com molt difícil d’informar-me sobre la societat de Vilanova i la Geltrú. Ara quan ja el parlo més o menys bé, és veritat que puc aprendre moltes coses gràcies al català, però per arribar a aquest punt de coneixement vaig passar per tantes aferas que ja em sento integrat.
El que va motivar-me a mi d'aprendre l'idioma va ser el fet que el Diari de Vilanova s’escriu en català. Si haguessim viscut a Barcelona en comptes d’aquí, hauria pogut rebre tota l’informació sobre la vida local en castellà de LaVanguardia. Siguem honestos: això hauria retardat amb molt el meu aprentatge del català.
While small children will imitate any language being spoken in their daily environment, without questioning its usefulness, adult learners are much more rational in their language studies. It is therefore not surprising that only 12,7% of the immigrants to Catalonia learn to speak and write Catalan, while 75,7% answer that they are capable of speaking and writing Spanish.
Although I strongly recommend all foreign residents of Catalonia to learn Catalan, I understand that most people simply do not see this as a priority. Let us be honest: only if you want to integrate fully and understand local traditions as well as the political debate, does Catalan become a necessity. For all activities of daily life, Spanish is enough.
Since we arrived here, I do not know how many times I have heard politicians claim that the llengua pròpia is a tool for integration. Hopefully, the report on foreigners' language preferences, as presented in LaVanguardia today, can reveal the emptiness of such statements. Since there is a massive political majority in favour of supporting Catalan, it is time to re-think the current system and find new ways to motivate immigrants to learn the language.
- - -
A mi no em sorpen que la majoria dels nouvinguts a Catalunya prefereixen el castellà al català. No defenso gens aquesta opnió, però l’entenc, ja que no fa falta saber parlar o escriure el català per organitzar-se la vida per aquí.
Personalment penso que cada persona que vé per aquí per quedar-se, té l’obligació d’aprendre el català. No obstant això, mentres que no es pot exigir per llei – el castellà també és llengua oficial de la comunitat autònoma – és necessari motivar-los als estrangers per que aprenguin les dues llengües.
No es podrian crear maneres de donar prioritat als estrangers que han arribat a un cert nivell de coneixement de la llengua? Per exemple, durant el proces d’incripció dels nens a les escoles es podria assignar uns punts adicionals a les families on els pares parlen la llengua pròpia.
Es parla molt del català com una "eina per l’integració", però això son paraules buides com demostra el meu cas. Abans de que no comprengués el català, el veia com molt difícil d’informar-me sobre la societat de Vilanova i la Geltrú. Ara quan ja el parlo més o menys bé, és veritat que puc aprendre moltes coses gràcies al català, però per arribar a aquest punt de coneixement vaig passar per tantes aferas que ja em sento integrat.
El que va motivar-me a mi d'aprendre l'idioma va ser el fet que el Diari de Vilanova s’escriu en català. Si haguessim viscut a Barcelona en comptes d’aquí, hauria pogut rebre tota l’informació sobre la vida local en castellà de LaVanguardia. Siguem honestos: això hauria retardat amb molt el meu aprentatge del català.
Thursday, 8 May 2008
French No to Europe's Asset / No hi veuen la riquesa?
France will not ratify the European Union Charter on Regional and Minority Languages, although the country originally signed it back in 1999. Today, the French Culture
Minister Christine Albanel has clarified that the charter is contrary to her nation's principles and that it would be difficult and costly to apply. So much for the EU’s proud statements “Languages: Europe’s asset” in English or “La richesse de l’Europe” in French.
Among the French citizens who will not see any improvement of the status of their language, are the Catalan speakers of Catalunya Nord, but, after all, they need not worry, since there is a thriving Catalan culture on this side of the state border. For Occitan (langue d'Oc) the situation looks much worse. There still are an estimated 610.000 native speakers of the language, but the number is steadily declining. Christine Albanel promises to seek alternative ways to support regional languages for the sake of “French diversity”. Let us hope she manages to change the current trends, before the Val d’Aran (Aranese is a kind of Occitan and official language in one province of Catalonia thus, yet again, on the Spanish side of the border) becomes its only remaining stronghold.
- - -
Com podem llegir a Avui, la ministra francesa de Cultura, la Christine Albanel, va explicar les raons perquè el govern francès no va ratificar la Carta Europea de Llengües Regionals o Minoritàries. Va “assenyalar que l'idioma 'nacional' segueix tenint un paper simbòlic i un rol 'insubstituïble'". No cal subrattllar que es tracta del francès, no de cap altra llengua. Pot ser que encara falti molt treball per defendre la llengua catalana, però si comparo la situació d’aquí amb la de Catalunya Nord, diria jo - un estranger - que els espanyols d'avui no són gens opressius.
Ara demano que em disculpeu. He d’anar cap a la sofa de la sala d’estar, perque començarà Polonia. Amb la excepció de les notícies és l’únic programa de televisió que segueixo amb regularitat. Avui faran un “Especial Acebes”. És una carta segura.
Minister Christine Albanel has clarified that the charter is contrary to her nation's principles and that it would be difficult and costly to apply. So much for the EU’s proud statements “Languages: Europe’s asset” in English or “La richesse de l’Europe” in French.
Among the French citizens who will not see any improvement of the status of their language, are the Catalan speakers of Catalunya Nord, but, after all, they need not worry, since there is a thriving Catalan culture on this side of the state border. For Occitan (langue d'Oc) the situation looks much worse. There still are an estimated 610.000 native speakers of the language, but the number is steadily declining. Christine Albanel promises to seek alternative ways to support regional languages for the sake of “French diversity”. Let us hope she manages to change the current trends, before the Val d’Aran (Aranese is a kind of Occitan and official language in one province of Catalonia thus, yet again, on the Spanish side of the border) becomes its only remaining stronghold.
- - -
Com podem llegir a Avui, la ministra francesa de Cultura, la Christine Albanel, va explicar les raons perquè el govern francès no va ratificar la Carta Europea de Llengües Regionals o Minoritàries. Va “assenyalar que l'idioma 'nacional' segueix tenint un paper simbòlic i un rol 'insubstituïble'". No cal subrattllar que es tracta del francès, no de cap altra llengua. Pot ser que encara falti molt treball per defendre la llengua catalana, però si comparo la situació d’aquí amb la de Catalunya Nord, diria jo - un estranger - que els espanyols d'avui no són gens opressius.
Ara demano que em disculpeu. He d’anar cap a la sofa de la sala d’estar, perque començarà Polonia. Amb la excepció de les notícies és l’únic programa de televisió que segueixo amb regularitat. Avui faran un “Especial Acebes”. És una carta segura.
Wednesday, 7 May 2008
Integration-In-Progress / Integració incompleta
With the exceptions of a Swedish speaking American and a Dane, the lunch which my wife and I organised on our balcony last Sunday became a “Swedes only” event. That was not what we had planned, since several of our Swedish friends are married to local people. However, that was how things turned out since our cultural sensitivity functions were switched off when we set the date. One of our "native" friends could not come since it would not be accepted for him not to visit his mother on el dia de la mare. Another one refused to drive anywhere near the coast, since this was the last day of a long weekend (pont) and traffic on the way back to the metropolitan area was predicted to be chaotic.To celebrate our origin we treated our guests to Thai food - nowadays standard fare in the weekly menu of an average Swede. Ginger marinated chicken skewers with a peanut sauce, cilantro-spiced sausages, a chili-spiced cucumber salad, fried noodles phad thai gung, fish cakes, vegetables wok-sauteed in oyster sauce, a mild massamun curry and a slightly more spicy (with European measures, that is) red curry with pineapple and prawns was what we had cooked.
At the end of the lunch, some members of the currently leaderless SWEA choir improvised a little concert of Swedish spring songs. Sometimes it is nice not to fully be integrated.
- - -
Encara que ens agradi molt la cuina catalana, a vegades manquem del menjar tailandès que vam aprendre a apreciar durant els anys que vivíem allà. A Suècia d’avui hi ha restaurants tailandesos a cada cantonada, també a ciutats petites com la meva. A Catalunya no és així. Ni a Vilanova ni (més sorprendent) a Sitges no n’hi ha res. Per cert, n’hi ha uns a Barcelona però l'únic on serveixen plats que tenen el gust de Tailàndia, té un nivell de preus tan elevat que no podem permitir-nos anar-hi tan sovint com volem.
L’alternatiu que ens queda és cuinar nosaltres mateixos i el fem amb regularitat. Llàstima que prop d’aquí no hi ha botigues que vénen una àmplia gama d'ingredients asiàtics. A Vilanova és fàcil de comprar coses per a la cuina àrab, la llatinoamericana fins i tot per a la rusa, però, per aconseguir aliments tailandesos hem d’anar al altre costat de les muntanyes de Garraf. Tanmateix no em qeixo. Avui en dia trobem tallarines d’arrós i llet de coco ja als supermercats del centre de la vila. Fa tres anys, quan encara estàvem nouvinguts a la ciutat, això era imposible.
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
Catalonia's Strength on the Internet / Nació.cat
Right before the presentation of the Penedesfera, blogging journalist Saül Gordillo made a presentation of his book Nació.cat, about how the Catalan Countries managed to create its own so called generic top-level domain ".cat". The two letter combination .ct was out of the question, since this territory is not a sovereign state, so instead the enthusiasts who fought for a uniquely Catalan Internet identity decided to use a three letter combination, standing for the language and the culture. In representing a nation without a state, .cat was the first of its kind.
American based ICANN which approves generic top-level domains pulled the brakes on the project more than once. One of the funnier situations was when they doubted about the Catalans’ cultural intentions and assumed that the real reason for the letters CAT, was that they planned to address the international community of cat-lovers. Therefore, still today, cat related web pages are only allowed to register at .cat as long as the cat, or rather its owner, is a Catalan.
Another detail is that .cat did not need any approval from Madrid, but neither would it have had the strength to withstand much political pressure against its existence. What a fortunate coincidence that there was a change of government in 2004, to Zapatero’s socialist who are relatively open to regional autonomy. The minister of industry who got the issue on his table happened to be a certain José Montilla. In this man's current function, as the President of the Generalitat, he must be quite content with his earlier decision.
Catalan is strong in the virtual world. While the number of speakers makes it the earth's 84th biggest language, it ranks as 23 according to how often it is being used on the Internet. Today .cat has approximately 27.000 registered web-pages. It costs much more to run a web-page at .cat than as .com or .es, but as Saül Cordillo joked tonight: "Catalans are used to paying more than others!"
- - -
La lluita per un domini de primer nivell genèric propi als Països Catalans al Internet, .cat, es pot veure com un bon model per al catalanisme al nivell internacional. Va ser una campanya bé co-ordinada de recollir i presentar signatures, que va tenir un èxit enorme sense fer res de soroll. Durant la seva presentació a Vilanova aquesta tarda, el Saül Gordillo va fer un paral·lel amb els esforços per tenir una selecció catalana de futbol. D'això es sempre parla molt en tots els mitjans de comunicació però, fins ara, sense cap resultat.
El .cat va ser el primer de representar una nació sense estat. De veritat penso que haurieu de ser molt orgullosos d’aquest simbol.
American based ICANN which approves generic top-level domains pulled the brakes on the project more than once. One of the funnier situations was when they doubted about the Catalans’ cultural intentions and assumed that the real reason for the letters CAT, was that they planned to address the international community of cat-lovers. Therefore, still today, cat related web pages are only allowed to register at .cat as long as the cat, or rather its owner, is a Catalan.
Another detail is that .cat did not need any approval from Madrid, but neither would it have had the strength to withstand much political pressure against its existence. What a fortunate coincidence that there was a change of government in 2004, to Zapatero’s socialist who are relatively open to regional autonomy. The minister of industry who got the issue on his table happened to be a certain José Montilla. In this man's current function, as the President of the Generalitat, he must be quite content with his earlier decision.
Catalan is strong in the virtual world. While the number of speakers makes it the earth's 84th biggest language, it ranks as 23 according to how often it is being used on the Internet. Today .cat has approximately 27.000 registered web-pages. It costs much more to run a web-page at .cat than as .com or .es, but as Saül Cordillo joked tonight: "Catalans are used to paying more than others!"
- - -
La lluita per un domini de primer nivell genèric propi als Països Catalans al Internet, .cat, es pot veure com un bon model per al catalanisme al nivell internacional. Va ser una campanya bé co-ordinada de recollir i presentar signatures, que va tenir un èxit enorme sense fer res de soroll. Durant la seva presentació a Vilanova aquesta tarda, el Saül Gordillo va fer un paral·lel amb els esforços per tenir una selecció catalana de futbol. D'això es sempre parla molt en tots els mitjans de comunicació però, fins ara, sense cap resultat.
El .cat va ser el primer de representar una nació sense estat. De veritat penso que haurieu de ser molt orgullosos d’aquest simbol.
The Penedès Blogger Community / Penedesfera
Earlier this year, Daniel García Peris took the initiative to create the Penedesfera. What started as a list of blogs made by people who have some kind of connection to the Penedès region, in now meant to develop into a blogger community.As such, the Penedefera could serve as a civil counterpart to the political initiative to group the sub-regions Garraf, Alt Penedès, Baix Penedès and, partly, Anoia into an administrative entity – a so called vegueria (in itself a topic I will have reasons to come back to, later on). However, being for the vegueria of the Penedès valley is not at all a pre-requisite for registering a blog in the Penedesfèra.
In a few days, the web portal of this initiative will be fully operational and today, Tuesday, Daniel García himself had personally come to Vilanova to present it. Compared to other geographically based blogger communities in Catalonia, our page will be advanced and allow for multiple ways of entry - via maps, profiles or summaries.
Out of 230 blogs listed today, about 210 are in Catalan, so publishing above all in English, I am proud to have been invited to take part in the round table discussions during the coming Penedesfera days in Gelida, June 13-14. It will be my official "coming-out" as a Catalan speaker. Yet another good reason to keep on studying.
- - -
Quina vergonya això de la participació vilanovina a la presentació d’en Daniel García Peris de la Penedesfera avui. Vam ser només sis persones que hi érem per escoltar-lo, i un de nosaltres va ser en Carles Campuzano (CiU), un politic blocaire que ja està força vinculat amb aquest projecte. Representants del ajuntament, del mon empresarial, de l’oficina de turisme – no us interesa aquesta iniciativa? O sou tots tan moderns que preferiu seguir-ne el desenvolupament directament a l’Internet?
Monday, 5 May 2008
A Good Excuse / Moltes excuses
The last few weeks I have spent a big share of my time preparing for the Generalitat’s certificate of knowledge of Catalan and Saturday, May 3, was the day when I and all other people in Catalonia who are on the intermediate level (B) took our tests.
Here in Vilanova, out of 40 people who had signed up, there were only two of us who identified ourselves by NIE, the rest had DNIs, revealing that they were Spanish citizens. Most locals sign up for these exams by necessity – a great number of official positions stipulate that you have to possess a certain level of skills in Catalan, and many of those who went to school during the Franco years still do not do so. I have to admit that for me, the formal recognition of the language level were I consider that I belong, was not of such importance – I saw the test rather as a motivator not to relax in my studies.
With many of the other examinees being native speakers, it was the oral part which I feared the most. It represented only 20% of the total score, but you need to be accepted here in order to obtain an overall pass. Fortunately enough, the examiners made great efforts to reduce our nervousness and create a relaxed atmosphere. My feeling is that I got a pass, but even if I did not, this was the most enjoyable time of the whole exam process.
Before we came to the oral exam, we had already gone through the other four parts. At least as I understand it, the advantage with those is that you have the right to score below target on an individual part, as long as you have other ones which compensate in order for your total result to be over 60%.
In the listening comprehension part, I certainly felt much more confident with the multiple choice questions than with those where we had to write answer sentences by ourselves. The reading comprehension was not simple, but I still believe that it will be the part where I have my highest rate of correct answers. In my two texts of free composition – a letter to a friend and an argumentative article – I am convinced to have comparative advantages of not being an inexperienced writer, although my language as such is far from perfect. So it is in the final part, grammar and vocabulary, where I have the strongest doubts about my result. As if to make matters worse, we had to write all answers by pen, not pencil, so I had to return a totally messy answer booklet after having realized that I had put almost ten items in a row on the wrong line.
Not only did the exam take a good five hours to go through, the tests are only organised once a year. For those who plan to sign up for next year, I strongly advise you to go through the sample exam, to avoid surprises. And now I will have to keep my fingers crossed for quite some time – only by July 28 will the Generalitat publish our results.
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M’imagino que sóc a punt de perdre la vostra confiança. Més o menys directament després de comunicar la meva intenció d’escriure també en català, vaig haver de fer un gran descans. La primera raó n'era familiar. La meva avia que viu a Praga, la capital de la República Txeca, va celebrar el seu noranté aniversari i vaig anar-hi amb els dos nens. Al petit pis que la meva mare té allà no disposem de xarxa i la meva solució - que jo sortés sol per cercar un locutori d'internet mentres que els nens dormien amb els seus avis (doncs amb els meus pares) - no va tener gaire èxit. La segona raó era purament física – encara ara tinc amdos tendons d’Aquil·les greument inflamats. La tercera, finalment, era més bé profesional: el dissabte passat vaig presentar-me per la prova del certicat de nivell intermedi (B) de català.
Com va anar l’examen? A veure, més que res sofreixo per les respostes dolentes de què m'estic adonant tot el temps des de que vaig sortir de la sala del examen.
Si vaig intentar fer el millor possible? En tot cas, d'això no cap ningun dubte. Espero que hagi aprovat, però serà amb un marge molt just.
Here in Vilanova, out of 40 people who had signed up, there were only two of us who identified ourselves by NIE, the rest had DNIs, revealing that they were Spanish citizens. Most locals sign up for these exams by necessity – a great number of official positions stipulate that you have to possess a certain level of skills in Catalan, and many of those who went to school during the Franco years still do not do so. I have to admit that for me, the formal recognition of the language level were I consider that I belong, was not of such importance – I saw the test rather as a motivator not to relax in my studies.
With many of the other examinees being native speakers, it was the oral part which I feared the most. It represented only 20% of the total score, but you need to be accepted here in order to obtain an overall pass. Fortunately enough, the examiners made great efforts to reduce our nervousness and create a relaxed atmosphere. My feeling is that I got a pass, but even if I did not, this was the most enjoyable time of the whole exam process.
Before we came to the oral exam, we had already gone through the other four parts. At least as I understand it, the advantage with those is that you have the right to score below target on an individual part, as long as you have other ones which compensate in order for your total result to be over 60%.
In the listening comprehension part, I certainly felt much more confident with the multiple choice questions than with those where we had to write answer sentences by ourselves. The reading comprehension was not simple, but I still believe that it will be the part where I have my highest rate of correct answers. In my two texts of free composition – a letter to a friend and an argumentative article – I am convinced to have comparative advantages of not being an inexperienced writer, although my language as such is far from perfect. So it is in the final part, grammar and vocabulary, where I have the strongest doubts about my result. As if to make matters worse, we had to write all answers by pen, not pencil, so I had to return a totally messy answer booklet after having realized that I had put almost ten items in a row on the wrong line.
Not only did the exam take a good five hours to go through, the tests are only organised once a year. For those who plan to sign up for next year, I strongly advise you to go through the sample exam, to avoid surprises. And now I will have to keep my fingers crossed for quite some time – only by July 28 will the Generalitat publish our results.
- - -
M’imagino que sóc a punt de perdre la vostra confiança. Més o menys directament després de comunicar la meva intenció d’escriure també en català, vaig haver de fer un gran descans. La primera raó n'era familiar. La meva avia que viu a Praga, la capital de la República Txeca, va celebrar el seu noranté aniversari i vaig anar-hi amb els dos nens. Al petit pis que la meva mare té allà no disposem de xarxa i la meva solució - que jo sortés sol per cercar un locutori d'internet mentres que els nens dormien amb els seus avis (doncs amb els meus pares) - no va tener gaire èxit. La segona raó era purament física – encara ara tinc amdos tendons d’Aquil·les greument inflamats. La tercera, finalment, era més bé profesional: el dissabte passat vaig presentar-me per la prova del certicat de nivell intermedi (B) de català.
Com va anar l’examen? A veure, més que res sofreixo per les respostes dolentes de què m'estic adonant tot el temps des de que vaig sortir de la sala del examen.
Si vaig intentar fer el millor possible? En tot cas, d'això no cap ningun dubte. Espero que hagi aprovat, però serà amb un marge molt just.
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