Nikodemus Blog

I feel like the best way to make a difference in the world would be to do something that directly benefits other people and allows you to connect with those who are in need. And as Ms. Novogratz and many others have suggested, you cannot just show up, build somethings, and then leave. Instead, you have to help underprivileged people help themselves---something that is sustainable. I have often thought about that I would love to some day be a mentor, and especially a friend, for a kid from an underprivileged family. I know there are programs that already do similar things, but I would much rather do it on my own. Ideally, it would be a kid who I just randomly come across for some reason. Someone who is obviously a great kid with loads of potential, but who does not have access to some of the things that more privileged kids have. And I would want to approach it as a chance to get to know this kid and make a friend for life, and not as just being paired up with a kid in some program wh...

Now is a great time to be a hockey fan. The regular season for the National Hockey League (NHL) is just about to finish and all teams are gearing up for the playoffs---or at least the teams that actually made it to the playoffs. With only two more games left to play, and a few playoff spots yet to be claimed, the games are becoming more competitive and more intense. That added intensity makes watching the games even more exciting. And the best thing is that the LA Kings made it to the playoffs this year. Last year they missed it by just a few points, and for a while it looked like they were going to end up doing the same thing this season as well, but luckily they came through at the end. I adopted the Kings as my team when I first moved to LA, and there are currently two Swedes on the team, so it has been fun to follow them these past two years. Hockey is a weird activity if you think about it. It is basically a group of grown men skating up and down a rink, slapping around a piece ...

I thought "Born on Third Base" was a good book and an interesting read. Although I am well aware of the inequalities that exist in our society, it is sometimes difficult to think of strong examples that clearly show how the system is unfairly rigged against the least fortunate. What Chuck Collins did in this book, was to provide me with exactly that. He shared plenty of examples of how the system is set up---both intentionally and unintentionally---to benefit the wealthy, and what consequences that has on people from all levels of society. I think he made a strong argument for why wealth inequality is a bad thing for both poor and wealthy people. It is self-evident why wealth inequality is not a good thing for poor people, but the negative implications for the wealthy are not as obvious. However, if you just think about it for a second, it makes sense that wealthy people would not be able to enjoy their comfortable lifestyles if it wasn't for the fact that they were livin...

Raw Fish, Schnapps, Maypoles, and the Frog Dance Everything You Need to Know for Celebrating a Proper Swedish Midsummer Swedes are not known for their loud and brazen ways, but for one summer day in the month of June they come together in an often unhinged celebration of the longest day of the year. I think it is the fact that the sun is only up for a few hours per day during the winter months that makes Swedes absolutely worship this day. And for some reason, in Sweden, the combination of raw, pickled herring and fine aquavit liquor seems to be the only worthy way of celebrating anything. The Swedish midsummer is no different. We consume tons and gallons of both, while wearing homemade garlands and singing the numerous traditional schnapps songs. The only time we take a break from the eating and drinking is to dance around a pole in the ground, hopping around like a herd of frogs. To Swedes, this all makes total sense. There are a lot of things that go into celebrating midsu...

Although I did not enjoy the second half of the book as much as the first, I still really liked Growing a Farmer. I think one of the reasons why I didn't appreciate the second part of the book as much was the fact that Timmermeister's writing became repetitive. The first couple of "how to" chapters were fine, but when they carried over into most of the second part of the book as well it just became too much. At times, I found myself skipping a paragraph or two just to get through those parts as quickly as possible, and that is not something I do very often. And as opposed to many in our class who thought the "The Slaughter" and "Butchering" chapters were disgusting and repulsive, I rather thought they were just plain boring. I am really glad that I stuck with the book until the end however, because the final chapter was great and definitely worth waiting for. Maybe the fact that I was sipping on my second glass of red wine at this point had so...

Before I went to college, I worked for a year as a debt collection administrator for a private debt collection agency back in Sweden. When you hear the words “debt collection,” you probably have a lot of negative images popping up in your head. You are probably imagining some large, intimidating man coming to your house, taking all your stuff, and threatening to sell your property. This scenario is very far from reality. Debt collection is actually quite undramatic and most debts are repaid long before anyone has to come and take your belongings. Let me first break down for you how the industry works. If a person buys a good or service from a company, and after several reminders still fails to pay for that good or service, then the company will hand over the matter to a private debt collection agency. If this private debt collection agency is still unable to convince the customer to pay, then the private agency will hand over the matter to the government’s debt collection agency. ...