Blogs are paid more and more attention. Germany’s most popular news site Spiegel Online compliments in their daily + English (!) category Spiegel Surfs the Net:

When you get bored reading regular media like us, these are great places to waste time without wasting your brain.

Indeed, this is exactly what I have experienced in the last few months. I can spend hours/days/… with reading really interesting stuff. I eventually have to realize that it’s simply impossible to absorb every seemingly juicy blog source. It appears really hard to implement an efficient information filter in my head. Am I a slave of distraction?
But this is actually not a new problem, caused by blogs in particular. Blogs are just the new fashion of publishing information. Attributes: Beyond the scope of mass media, versatile and often straightforward language styles, independent and free in thoughts.

Just one example: I would have never expected that the daily episodes of a German sole trader can be so much of interest to me. His readers get a perfect insight into his profession and the variety of tasks and topics he has to deal with. My respect for this guy has grown dramatically! Still, retailer or even cashier is not the career of my choice, but Der Shopblogger! is a thousand times better than every damn reality show ever.

Also established journals want to use the hype and start blogging: German business paper Handelsblatt launched its blog network Handelsblatt global reporting, where its foreign correspondents write about more personal impressions, encounters and stories. I would really like to know if the reporters required such a platform or if they were forced (or lured by money) to contribute to this fancy medium.
Anyway, the platform also includes the experiences of Swedish correspondent Helmut Steuer. Up to now, he has only published two articles, but I’m looking forward to comparing his point of view to my adventures in northern Sweden.

That’s all I have to say. I hope you don’t mind the German links…

I still can’t believe it: For the first time since my arrival in Umea seven month ago my corridor was arranging a corridor party – and I went to bed one hour before midnight! What happened?

Well, I still don’t know if I have caught these mean bacteria in Russia, Finland or Sweden. Anyway, I was rather peaky and didn’t manage to kill the virus with alcohol (which normally works out pretty well). I could only participate in the fabulous Indian dinner, prepared by (almost) the whole corridor and managed by chef de cuisine Kattis. I’m unable to name the dishes, but they tasted delicious! Find below some of the few pictures I was able to shoot before I fell asleep…

I’ve heard that some people have been in my corridor and couldn’t find me. Now you know why. Fortunately you found some other international parties to go. At least only one or two times somebody knocked on my door, thus hampering my attempts to sleep…

I’m still pretty sad that I missed the whole mess; I hope you guys had a nice time!