Terese Fredenwall in Leipzig and a day off

This week was pretty full of dates, monday I was at Roxette's concert in Berlin, which was pretty awesome, Tuesday I was so tired but worked long, Wednesday school and yesterday it was NRW time from 4:25 in the morning to 23:00 in the night. The good thing is that I was off today and will be off on monday as well. 

We went to Leipzig today in the afternoon. Even though I was off from work today it wasn't really my day. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong today, talking about how to get winter tires on my car and not having the right screws, being late almost the whole day (I hadn't even packed my suitcase 2 hours before the trip and was recharging cameras in a hurry), being in the never ending traffic jam that is happening in Berlin every day but especially on Fridays when the whole city is getting somewhere else. So we had a big delay of almost 1 hour when we arrived in Leipzig. The last I had eaten were 2 toast around lunch time so we were starving (I don't even know what Anja had for lunch). We arrived at the hostel 6:15 pm and the concert was to start in about 1:45 hour. We just got changed, prepared the room and off we went. We thought that we would find something to eat on the way there.... but nope. So we went around in Leipzig trying to find something to eat with the HUGE bag packs we have. But nothing. I wasn't able to carry on going or to think. 

So we went to that English Room Terese would play at. When we stepped in the lady at the counter told us in ENGLISH that we could leave our coats in another room and pay afterwords. I was looking at her and thought she thought we must be from abroad having so much stuff with us, while Terese is still pretty unknown here in Germany. So I told her that we do understand German and she was giving me a not understanding look. SO did Anja. When we went into the room where we would leave our jackets she told me if I wouldn't think that there is a connection between the ENGLISH ROOM and English speaking people. I was looking at Anja then, thinking about what she said. In the same moment we started laughing soooooo bad. This coincidence became the running gag of today's evening. 

The concert was cool and so was the location. It was like sitting in someone else's living room. Very familiar and intimate. 

We got to chat with someone from Australia, who was funny and interesting and had some good laughs  with Terese, Simon, Bengt and Tobias. 

Pictures are going to be uploaded very soon I guess. Tomorrow we will have some sight seeing and then we are going to Halle in the afternoon. Tomorrow is the second concert - this time in an Irish Pub - but now I'm prepared, no more German if another nationality is involved in the name of the location ;)

Sleep tight;)

4th concert/lecture Fristad

Right now I'm sitting on a bed in the middle of nowhere. Thank GOD they have an internet connection .... remember? I am addicted lol Today kinda sucks. The weather is grey, we received our very first parking fine ever in the morning and I can tell you that Sweden seems to be extra expensive when it comes to fees and penalties lol. 350 SEK, which is awesome compared to Germany where it is sometimes cheaper to get a fine than paying the actual parking taxes hehe .... just what my boss told me. Whatever.

I'm freezing ... need to take a picture so that you all can see that I am in bed, having 2 sweaters on and a short shirt.... a scarf around my neck .... tights socks and the blanket ... Anja seems to be fine so it is obviously me having problems buuuuuut aaaaanywayyyyy. Here comes today's report about the concert yesterday:

Yesterday's concert was surprise surprise not in Fristad church. I really owe GOD a lot that he always makes us being there in time, so that we made all the concerts so far lol.

So we went to Borås from Gothenburg in the morning. When we arrived we had so much time left, since we couldn't check in before 5 pm. So we had lunch in a Thai restaurant. We spent 2 hours there or even more. At least it was warm in there and since Borås itself doesn't have that much to offer this was definitely a good decision.

We arrived at church one hour before the concert. We had been to that church before in 2007. Even there everything that could went wrong went wrong but that's another story. Se we were waiting one hour in front of the church. I was of course freezing. None came. After half an hour we went to the church to see what was standing at the board. There was a poster of Jenny saying that the concert/lecture was in Kyrkans Hus (Church's House). I remembered that I had been there before. (additional comment: I'm blessed with a good memories when it comes to places and buildings, not to forget my inbuilt radar as Anja would call it. I can easy find my way even in cities I've never been to before.) So we drove to that place.

The room was already filled when we arrived. The first row was empty as usual. Good for us. So again we unpacked our equipment. It didn't take long and it started. Jenny was blinking at us when she went on stage smiling big. Right in the beginning her music stand fell with a loud sound and while the audience was shocked by that sound Jenny just laughed and asked Staffan to talk about the content of "The Sky Proclaims Your Glory" since this was a situation that would make necessary to do a small program until the music stand is repaired. So he started to talk about the intention of the song.

The program was the usual one except that she didn't tell the funny stories, which I really missed and that she finally sang the song she was talking about before. That moment when she realized that God will always be at her side no matter what. Before she just told the text "Då skall Guds frid, som är mer värd än allt vi tänker, ge era hjärtan och era tankar skydd i Kristus Jesus." I got goose bumps all over my body when I finally got to hear this song I had heard so much about already.

After the performance Jenny was of course signing books while Staffan was packing the equipment. The priest came to us and asked why we were filming and taking pictures and I told him that we sort of belong to Jenny and are kinda traveling with her. So he was fine with that explanation. When Jenny was finished with the book signing almost all the people were sitting in another room having coffee and cake.

"Coffeetime", she shouted and this time I didn't dare to say against her order lol I had learned from the past. She came to us and said that someone from her family was there. If we had time to wait because she needs to talk to that person first. Of course we had time. Where should we go? So Anja and I went into the other room as well and took a seat on another table having coffee and talked about the performance we just had experienced. When Jenny was done she came to us. She grabbed a tea and a muffin and asked what we wanna do. "Maybe an interview? Or maybe you don't wanna do another interview.", she smiled waiting for an answer. An interview would be fine we told her since we had prepared some questions that might be interesting for her fans, but she should have her tea and muffin first.

Out of a sudden she asked if we knew each other's families which we confirmed. She asked Anja of I look more like my mother or my father. I told her that Anja never met my father, dunno if I said more but then she said: "You know what? You always remind me of my sister when I talk to you..." I was starring at her. My mind was off thinking sister ... sister ... just a moment that must be Malin??? In that moment she got my "Jessi-sight". (People who know me know what I talk about lol raising one eyebrow because of surprise. My face is like an open book.) She was laughing "Yeah I think it's just cheeks they look like hers". Dunno what else she said, I had to sort my thoughts. I told her that people said before that I look like her in some angles and she agreed that. I told her from the morphing tries and the funny outcome and we laughed again.

By that time she had finished her muffin and the tea and we went to the stage again, since the light would be better for an interview. We did the interview and Jenny picked the winner of the tour poster contest. (The interview will be on The Jenny Source asap.). When this was done, we got dressed since they wanted to close the place, hugged each other and went home.

Hugs

/J.

Here comes the picture of freezing meeeee grab a hot cup of tea and enjoy:

3rd Jenny concert/lecture Stenkyrkan

And so it was .... Stenkyrkan. If you google Stenkyrkan you find a lot of entries actually. At least that happened when I did it at the hostel in the middle of the night. I was convinced before that it would be the one in Skärhamn, but after Jenny said Stenungsund once I got totally confused and wasn't sure if we had printed the way to the right one.

Either way we went to bed around midnight and had to get up at 6 am. This time even I was tired, when the clock sounded in the morning. We left the hostel at 7 am and drove all the way up to Gothenburg. I was reading most of the time ... the book I brought is almost finished.

We had to wait in Gbg until our room was ready. We were staying at our fave accommodation, which is Aprikosen B&B, very recommended. So we were again in a hurry since the concert was supposed to start at 3 pm already.

It was a nice day, the sun was shining. I loved the ride there with all the bridges and nature. The snow was almost untouched at some places. We arrived at the church One hour prior the concert. None was there... We went up on the hill where the church was situated ... no poster that would tell that Jenny was going to perform. We can't have the wrong church we insisted lol as if that would help. So we had to wait ....

During our tour this was the 3rd concert and the third time something was going wrong. First concert ... wrong church ... 2nd concert ... wrong time ... 3rd concert no hint at all if something would happen there .... waiting was what we had to do...

And suddenly Jenny showed up with Staffan. We were back in our car by that time since it was so cold outside. So we took our stuff and went up the hill again.

Jenny was waving at us, when we arrived and placed our equipment. They were about starting the soundcheck when a man with a big camera walked up to her. He was obviously from the press. He wanted to take a picture of Jenny but she showed him that he should wait until she is dressed up. It didn't take long and the concert/lecture started.

It turned out to be a meeting from the youth groups around Stenungsund. Obviously all groups from the churches in the whole district had met to see Jenny and to hear how God changed and influenced her life.

The show started ... they sang "The Sky Proclaims Your Glory", which turned out to be a part of a musical that was written during one of the meetings at Åh by Simon Petrén, Staffan Birgersson and Terese Fredenwall. Jenny presented her book .... read.

Suddenly she looked at Anja and me. She said that people might wonder who the people in the first row are that take pictures and film. And that this was another part of her life besides church. Ace of Base! And than she was pointing at us. Said Anja and Jessi are from my fan club, running the Jenny source .... asked how many years we had done that .... we should stand up to say hi to the rest of the people.

We had all our equipment on our knees and I had problems to raise myself lol people must have thought I'm having a serious problem with my coordination when I stood up .... turned back and waved to the others. Did I mention that the church was full?

She asked how many years we were running the sites ... I got 5 in my mind .... She said people should visit www.jennyberggren.net / The Jenny Source. That was cute lol. I still blushed and was just overwhelmed. She said that we are free to do whatever we like in that place and she was just presenting us so that people won't wonder what (crazy) people are jumping around.

Well the concert went on... Jenny did a great job. I hear my fave story with the basketball game again ... it is getting better every time I hear it. Still can LOL when Jenny is changing her voice and makes that sound when she got hit by the ball. Another fave is when she is talking about the first interview in Denmark. I so love when she is telling those funny stories.

So the concert was over. Jenny was signing books again, we were waiting as usual. Suddenly the reporter walked up to us. He was presenting himself and said that was funny that we were here because he was visiting our site to get background information on Jenny in preparation of the interview he was going to do later on.

He asked how long we were doing it and I told him the whole story how it all started .... German fanclub in '96, Ace of Base site and then the Jenny site. He asked how we raised money for that and the traveling, if we had sponsors .... no we do it on our own I told him. He asked for our names and if he could write about that. And suddenly I was right in the middle of an interview ... in Swedish. Anja was just laughing at me. He told me that he had read Jenny's book and also about the attack. I wasn't prepared what would come now. He asked me if I have problems with the fact that the attacker was from Germany. I told him that it's not a matter of nationalities. It could have been anyone. It's not that Germans are esp. violent. He asked me if I feel guilty. I said I wasn't since I have nothing to do with that. It must have been my tone or something else my face did that made him apologizing. He explained that he was a reporter that has to ask stupid questions I told him that he doesn't have to wonder to get fitting answers then.

We finished the interview there since I wouldn't have said anything more anyway. I wasn't sure what he he would do out of that anyway, so I thought it might be for the better. Then he asked me to assist him to put the lights so that he could take pictures of Jenny. So I did. Jenny was sitting behind a window by that time signing books and must have been thought I'm crazy.

When she had finished the book signing she was pointing to the other room that we should take a seat and have some tea. So we went there, drank tea and talked to Staffan, who is really gorgeous. Jenny was doing the interview and the pictures while we talked that. We talked about his background, songwriting, music in general and ended up talking about dialects in Swedish and German, churches and belief. It was nice to just sit there and talk. Jenny joined us later on and we continued that way.

It felt like we were sitting there for hours, I have no idea how much time we spent. But then we had to go. We were saying good bye until the next concert in 2 days "the day after tomorrow" got another meaning by now lol and hugged each other.

When we prepared our car to get home, Jenny drove by and tooted loud. We waved a last time and continued preparing our car.

/J.

Jenny in Malmö

So the second thing was in Malmö. We had one day in between where Anja drove us from Kil to Halmstad, where we had booked a hostel. The hostel itself was an adventure since it was a former home of poor people, after that a place for old people, a home for drug addicted and now is a youth hostel. It had the style of a school and even smelled like that and we were lucky that it was just one night we had to stay there. Definitely the worst hostel I ever slept in. We arrived there around 4 in the afternoon and I was hoping to get to see Halmstad at daylight but since we had to wait for the host for a long time it was dark when we finally were on our way into town. So all we did was eating a pizza and go back to the hostel.

We went to bed early, since there was nothing else to do. I woke up around midnight and hoped it was already time soon to get up, but as it was midnight I had a long night in front of me. Woke up again at 7 ... so I got to read 2 hours. Thank God I brought a big book (approx. 600 pages) since I obviously need like 4 hours less sleep than Anja. Which means that I spend time reading before I get tired and wake up early ... so more reading.

ANYWAY ... so we went to Malmö the day after, arrived there around 12 pm. So we parked the car (Malmö has really high charges for parking I can tell) and went to the central station where we guessed the tourist information would be. And it was. So we got a map to find out where the church is. After that we went to the city center I did some shopping, we had lunch at the golden M and then we went to the church. There we got to know that Jenny's book presentation would be at 9 pm and not 8 as we thought. So we went back to the hostel. Unfortunately we took a wrong road so our way back took more than one hour, while the hostel was actually 10 minutes away as we realized later. So after we had a long trip and saw more of Malmö as we actually wanted we arrived at the hostel. We checked in and prepared ourselves for the evening.

When that was done we went to the church, which wasn't open yet so we went to the shopping mall right across the street to get something to eat. Nothing was open so we had a look at the other stores. We just had a small break and wanted to go along when suddenly Jenny was walking by. She wore a hat and had somehow Michael Jackson style and was looking for food as well as we got to know later on.

So finally it was time, we went into the church, which was huge. Jenny was waving at us, while I was still amazed by the huge dome and the organ lol. So we went up to her. She told us that she didn't have any rehearsals that she is just going to talk not to sing and that the choir is singing popsongs. We agreed that this was interesting.

We started to prepare our stuff when Jenny left. And the program started as planned. The choir was singing. Jenny was talking about her book. I'm always amazed that I heard the program so many times already and can still laugh at the funny parts e.g. when Jenny is talking about her basket ball experience and still get a clump in my stomach when she is talking about the attack or how her mother told that she had cancer. I still think about my sureties in life when she is talking about how she experienced God and how HE helped her through the rough times. It's just a touching experience everytime.

After that they had a service, which we also attended. When this one was also over Jenny sold and signed her book. She came back to us afterwards, sitting in front of is telling us that it was so cold that one is freezing his ass of. And she was right. She said do you wanna have a tea, you are freezing and I said no. Yes she said, come on, got up and went with us to the back of the church where they were serving those things. So what should I do? Of course she was right, I was feeling better when I was drinking that tea. Jenny was caught by a woman who was talking to her... and talking ... and talking.

Then she suddenly left. I just thought well and there she goes and we don't have a clue where the concert tomorrow is. Jenny seemed to hear my thoughts because in that moment she was turning around, like she just remembered that she had forgotten us. She came back to us to say bye. I asked her about the church and she told us that it was Stenkyrkan. So we were saying bye for that night because Jenny was going back home the same night and it was 11:30 pm already.

So we went back to the hostel and it was the first night I fell asleep right away, because I was so tired and we had to get up at 6 am again to go back to Gothenburg.

Walking in the footsteps of Jenny is still a lot of fun ...

That was the Malmö experience ... don't think I will go there again .... just for another Jenny performance =)

Hugs

/J.

On Jennytour in Sweden 5 concerts in 8 days

All my muscles are aching. I have no idea if it is because of the long rides with the car, because of all the different accommodations and beds we were visiting the past days. We have collected so many memories and impressions that it already feels like 1 or even 2 weeks. And it is so much fun.

Anja and I started our journey in Kil, which is near Karlstad. It was so nice there with all the snow. Our flight was delayed more than 1 hour, so we really had problems getting to the church in time. On the road I made the wish (we call it wish of the day lol Anja and I) that the church should be right across our room so that we won't have to look for it.

We had 1 hour left until the concert started when we arrived at the B&B. So we were preparing ourselves and I asked the host where the church is. He said just look out of the window, it is right across the lake. I was cheering within me, thinking yes, it worked. So we went there, but when we arrived no people there. Which was strange half an hour before the concert would start. So we were studying the poster and found out that they changed to church. So we had to find the other one and we didn't have much time left. So on the road again we asked people where the church is and arrived 10 minutes before the concert started.

We could see Jenny during the window sitting there, getting her thoughts sorted on a piece of paper. So we went in unpacked our things, had people looking at us, why 2 girls that don't belong in this church unpacked all that equipment.

The concert started, Jenny and Staffan came out and Jenny was smiling big, giving us a silent "Hi!" before she started the show. Since the lights were strange our cameras went crazy and I had to hold mine so that it would focus right. The concert and book presentation was really nice and we were enjoying every second from it.

Afterwards Jenny had to sign books. We were waiting for her until the last book was signed. So she came to us, asked us how we were and if we wanna eat something. answering yes, we would appreciate that she showed us the way to a room where they had sweet buns, coffee and tea. So we got our food and sat down at a table.

It took a while but then Jenny came to us. She was slapping Anja friendly with a CD on her head, grabbed some food and sat down next to Anja. Staffan joined us just seconds after that and took his place next to me.

We were talking about the trip we had made, the concert, the next concert, what our plans are, that we almost missed the concert because they moved it etc. So it was a cosy atmosphere and we had so much fun. Then Jenny told Staffan to ge more buns for all of us so he went to the kitchen and got 4. So Anja grabbed one and so did I but when I had mine I realized that the only thing I had eaten all the day was sweet stuff (started with a toast and nougat on it in the morning, had a chocolate bar on the aircraft and some cookies at the B&B because we were so hungry) and now I should eat another one? So I gave it to Anja. Jenny was away in between to get more to drink for her an Anja, so when she was back so said. But you have to eat one as well. I told her that I can't but she decided I have to. So she was pushing that plate to be saying "Jessi, eat me, eat me ... Jessi" .... so I gave up and ate the last piece.

So summarizing that day ... it was so great. We were enjoying ourselves so much and had such a great time thanks to Jenny.

More from the other concerts will follow soon ...

hugs

/J.

Anja and I at the airport waiting for the flight to take off:

My little life - the past month

Well it has been quite a while since my last blog. I wanted to write ealier, but then I thought it's maybe not writing so what has happened?

I'm didn't do that much with my project ... nothing to be honest... I simply haven't had time.

I was working much - as usual - when I was home I was working on updates for www.jennyberggren.net and when I was not busy with these things I was rehearsing with Big Ben. We released our album and had a nice cosy concert on the 4th of December. It was cool and I was excited as I never have been before. Don't know where this come from. My throat was totally dry and I had problems being concentrated because of that. But the concert went well. The audience liked it and that's the most important. Nobody didn't take notice of my clumsy mistakes during the choreography lol

well and I have been to 2 Jenny Berggren concerts with Anja again. It was awesome as usual- Jenny did a great performance at both gigs. And I met nice people again and also some new ones. Katie was going with us and we had a blast. We met Najs, Louiza, Julya, Alex and Dimitry, who we haven't met before. And we met the funniest priest ever. Joachim is priest in Kungsbacka and guess what born in Berlin in the district I am living in. It was a pleasure to talk with him and all the people at church. I was really enjoying myself.

Yeah then yesterday I had x-mas party at work. It was funny and nice.

And tomorrow we will have our last performance with Big Ben this year. We are going to perform the x-mas set on a x-mas market in Berlin. After that we will meet up and have some x-mas celebration within the band so this is also going to be fun.

Meanwhile I plan our next Sweden trip already. This time it's 5 Jenny Berggren concerts in 8 days, so this is going to be exciting. We will go to a town near Karlstad (never been there before), we will visit Halmstad (as Roxette fan a must), will see Jenny perform in Malmö, have a great time in Fristad, where we saw her 2 years ago, Alingsås will also be interesting etc. So at the moment i'm spending my time with booking of accomodations and planning this trip as well.

Sunday I will take of for my "private" holidays in Sweden. Hope we will have snow. I love snow, at least in winter. My suitcase is packed and I'm excited to go there. Will write some updates on my life there as well ...

So have a great time until I am posting the next time.

Hugs

/J.

X-mas time with Big Ben

And so it was ... We have been rehearsing the past months and weeks for our secret band project, which is a X-mas CD with a mixture of very well known, traditional X-mas songs, some popsongs from other bands and some own tracks. Last week we went in the studio and finished the recording for 10 songs in just one day. It was a long day, but the result is nice.

Yesterday we shot the video for the x-mas version of our song "Love Is Strange" which had already been on "Redeemer" but now for the cosy winter time we made a new, softer version. The videoshooting was nice. As you know we do our own video with my camera and we are very good in making no budget videos, which you can watch on You Tube btw. www.youtube.com/bigbenexclusive is the link.

Posting a picture from me and Ben from the video, which is going to be online on Wednesday (check the You Tube channel):



The big x-mas concert is happening December 4th in Berlin and I'm really looking forward to it.

Would love to see you all there =)

hugs

The busy week is over

The past week was quite busy, since I had so much to do. 2 highlights were the 6 km company run we had last Wednesday ( I was 5th out of 7 in our team) and ran a total time of 37,9 minutes which I was more than satisfied with, since I never ever did this before. I was training at the gym and ran those 6 km there 2 times prior this big run, but in reality this is something totally different. Taking into consideration that it took me 53 minutes at the gym when I ran the first time 37,9 minutes is more than I expected.

Friday we had another concert, which was great. We re-arranged the show completly, performed a new song, which the audience really liked and it was just great. Thanks again to everyone who came to see us. IMO this was the best concert so far.

Bad news is that I still haven't managed to get a room for the book fair Anja and I are travelling to in 2 weeks. First I had to wait for the confirmation of my boss that I can go and now, no room is left. Well there are rooms left but far beyond our budget so to say. I have already a bad conscience that I had to ask my friends again, since I don't want to cause trouble in their lives. The last chance is Eva, who is actually a fan of Big Ben and meanwhile a good friend. Still I don't want to cause trouble at her place either. Either way she offered a room and I'm so grateful for that, she probably can't imagine. So I really hope I can get this solved within the next days, since I get stomach ache already when I think of the fact that we have nowhere to go when we arrive there.

So that was my week.

Hugs
/J.

Update on my little life

It has been quite a while since I wrote last time here .... I'm quite busy, but who isn't these days? Now it is Sunday again 10 p.m. and I'm trying to relax a bit before another busy week starts tomorrow. Since I'm doing that sport thing I'm barely at home anymore during the week. Well I wasn't that much home before but it's just getting less and less ....

Tuesday I ran 6 km for the first time. It was tough and it was the big test before it is getting serious this wednesday, when the big run takes place. I don't wanna make a whole jerk out of myself so I was actually training for this one. I never ever ran more than 2 km and that was in school .... didn't even get through this one without a break (I'm a bad runner actually) so I was so proud of myself last Tuesday. Although I won't do it again before or after the run this week =) Still wondering how I got in all this.

Friday I was having a look at our location for this Friday's concert. If you didn't get a ticket yet, you should really consider coming. This feels so good. We redid the whole show I set up before summer. Changed the setlist and how more surprises.
The location was still differnt and I'm currious how it will look like when we get there this Friday, since they had a refurbishment and didn't seem quite ready when I was there last Friday delivering the posters for the advertisement.

Saturday we had the best rehearsals since weeks. I think we all are longing for to perform again.

And then I finally got my holidays signed this week. I had booked the flight weeks ago, since this short trip to my second home Gothenburg will last only 4 days, which means 2 days of from work, but still since there is so much to do until the end of this month it was hard to get it signed. So on Friday I finally started looking for a room. And guess what the whole city seems to be booked. no room available .... currently waiting for response from a private room we rented 2008. It's so annoying. I was looking forward to those 4 days and now something like this happens. well keep you updated on this.