I’ve been a bit off the map with local activities. Partly because of the Mallorca trip, but partly because I was spending the last few weeks cross stitching furiously in all of my spare time. I had the idea to cross stitch a custom design as a Birthday present in April.

13000 stitches later, I barely made it in time! But make it I did, so I was celebrating the two important events on April 30 with a very sleepy spring in my step.

Valborg

Valborg in Uppsala is apparently a pretty big deal.

Ok, so… a really big deal.

I am not much of a crowds person, but the vibe around the city was so nice. It was just a bunch of happy people enjoying the day (and getting… really really drunk).

I went by Ekonomikumparken, had a waffle, and was right up at the front for the speech and choir singing at Carolina Rediviva at 15.00. That night a friend and I went to the bonfire at Ulleråker - next year I should go to the one at Gamla Uppsala.

Cross stitching

I got into cross stitching so much that I now want to do more of it. It was almost like a meditative experience for me. Maybe it also remidns me of the nice years I spent living with my grandparents in Kherson, cross stitching with my grandma.

I made a couple of new small designs with the help of ChatGPT and converted them into cross stitch patterns with FlossCross:

Axis & Allies

We played Axis & Allies yesterday (read: started playing Axis & Allies yesterday). We’re doing it with two players, P playing Germany and Japan for Axis and me taking turns for USSR, UK, and US for Allies. I’m trying to use my spy charms to my advantage, but I don’t think it’s working - I’m getting my ass kicked.

Nuclear conflict simulation

Our nuclear conflict simulation had its final round of synchronous peace talks last week. We did not reach a formal agreement, but got pretty far. And the control group rated my delegation (Belarus) as the second-best on both strategic thinking and negotiation skills! We managed to position us as leaders in the negotiations, making a substantial impact toward deescalation with relatively little leverage compared to other countries.