Categories
Travel

Copenhagen Card

Like the “Norway in a Nutshell” tours, the Copenhagen Card is specially designed for tourists and includes admission to more than 80 attractions and public transportation.

Hearing Danish on the radio earlier, there was an inexplicable sense of joy, much like a “Cantonese version” of Swedish. The canal boat guide quickly switched between Danish and English, just like Copenhagen’s unpredictable weather. Drinking a freshly brewed Carlsberg in the sunshine is probably one of the must-do things here.

In addition to the bicycles that fill the streets, the blue glowing card swipers on the bus and subway seem to be robots that silently rule the city, and the fact that we chose a capsule hotel with shared bathrooms is very much like a scene from an (anti-)utopian novel.

After visiting the New Carlsberg Art Museum and the Copenhagen Zoo, the most striking observation is that visitors can get so close to cultural heritage and wildlife. For a while I thought all the sculptures from B.C. were replicas, or that the lions could just jump out.

Whether it’s Gauguin, Matisse, kangaroos or flamingos, it may not be unusual for people who live in Beijing. We may have the knowledge, but the same art or natural world can have a completely different feel because of the different way it is presented.

No matter how advanced the technology, a subway gate will never be cooler than a machine that allows you to swipe your ticket conscientiously. Copenhagen made me believe that a system based on trust has to be the most avant-garde.

Categories
Football

Waiting for Afrden Asqer

In the afternoon I went shopping and happened to see groups of parents waiting outside the football ground for their daughters to finish training. This is not a common scene, as schools here are usually very close to where people live, but Norrköping only has one training ground, which is also the field for the adult teams.

I have just heard that Chinese footballer Afrden Asqer has ended his loan contract with Mjällby AIF early and has not played any official matches. Although Samuel Adegbenro, the Allsvenskan’s former top scorer, had a disappointing season with Beijing Guoan, the number of Chinese players who can really break into the Swedish league can probably be counted on one hand.

Among my footballing friends who play together at the weekends is a father and son. The son, about ten years old, trains in Norrköping. His every move is much more sensible than others, and soon he probably won’t play with us anymore. For the kids who play football here, it can be a lifelong hobby, even if they don’t become professionals.

Originally, I thought I could return to the scene when the Chinese players arrived in September. The appeal of the Nordic teams is not their overall level of skill, but their steady development system. As for when they will produce another genius like Ibrahimovic or Haaland, it’s probably not something that can be “planned”.

Categories
Life

Summer has finally arrived

The forest barbecue originally planned for this Saturday has been changed to a picnic due to a “fire ban”. But as Kolmården said in the promotional email “Summer has finally arrived”, the zoo that has brought so much joy will be open on weekdays starting next week.

Even though I got a beautiful picture book called “Flowers of Sweden” during the last book promotion week, I still need to be completely immune to pollen if I want to observe them closely. This makes the delayed spring especially touching.

The good news is that I found out that the Nike Run Club has not gone out of business, but like Google Translate and LinkedIn, it has said goodbye to China. During my first recovery run with voice guidance from a coach, I found that both people and pigeons walking on the road were faster than me, but at least I started again.

There is a saying in Sweden: “A life without love is like a year without summer.” Perhaps only those who have lived here can understand it best.

Categories
Social

Update on ChatGPT

After the initial honeymoon period, ChatGPT also began to show some unimaginable responses, such as “The group of children in the southern village deceived me because I am old and powerless” was written by Bai Juyi and then changed to Li Qingzhao after being questioned, and Dou Wentao and Leung Man-tao hosted the Lecture Room program together.

There were also very different reactions when it was mentioned, with a friend from the Go club becoming a paid user to try out GPT-4 in advance, and a classmate writing essays saying, “If you want to learn Swedish, please don’t use ChatGPT.” Another friend was worried about privacy issues and said no from the start.

Some universities and companies have blocked it, while some teachers have dedicated their classes to explaining the problems of writing code with it. It is still a process of adaptation, whether for the practitioners involved, users in general, or even non-users.

And for someone who works with languages every day, the process is still very exciting.

Categories
Social

Jin Yong Library and the Four Trees

Over the weekend I saw a rare appeal article by Liushen Leilei asking the relevant parties not to demolish the Jin Yong Library in Jiaxing City, and it reminded me of a “Save the City Trees” notice I saw on the street a few days earlier.

It said that the city government of Norrköping had approved the cutting down of four large trees in the city center to make way for a new five-story building and open space. In response, a certain environmental group will hold a demonstration somewhere, sometime, and they hope that more people will join them in the fight for the city’s trees.

In addition to the notice, a banner was hung that was so prominent that passersby stopped to look at it and take pictures. It seemed more visual and vivid than the SFI lesson on “Democracy and Society” and reminded people from afar that this is how we deal with things.

When I finished reading the message with Google Translate, I could hear Leung Man-tao’s voice in my ears:

“It doesn’t guarantee success, it doesn’t always work, but it’s a spiritual light that illuminates the world.”