by Linnea Falk, FE23

I got the chance to interview my dad, who has been through a lot in his life. This interview will only cover a tiny bit.

Linnea Falk: What is the scariest thing you have done?

Christer Falk:  I know. The scariest thing I have done must have been when I went skydiving from four thousand meters , I thought I was gonna die for real. I was terrified.

Linnea Falk:  Where did you do that? And how long ago?

Christer Falk: New Zealand. It was… I think it was about 23 years ago.

Linnea Falk: Were you there with anyone?

Christer Falk: Yes with your mother, she also did it, she was just as terrified as me.

Linnea Falk: Why were you there?

Christer Falk: We wanted to go to New Zealand to explore the country, there were natural experiences everywhere. The country is made up of two big islands and we were on both of them. There also was an earthquake there, which happens often in New Zealand. But me and your mother managed to not get hurt, we ran out from the house and just stood in an open landscape, and nothing happened to us or the house –– but we were really nervous and it was strange for us… and it was funny because the people who lived there was used to it and didn’t care, but we panicked. 

Linnea Falk: Okay sounds scary. What in your life are you most proud of ?

Christer Falk: Oh that’s easy, that I have the most beautiful daughters that I love, and will forever support them.

Linnea Falk: Hahhhaha. How was your childhood?

Christer Falk: It was great, but it was sad that my parents separated so early. I missed my dad very much and especially when we moved to South Africa, because he was left alone in Sweden, so I missed him.

Linnea Falk: What was it like in South Africa?

Christer Falk: It was different…. At that time there was something that was called Apartheid, when blacks and whites were separated, it was awful. I was only seven years old and I noticed that everything was strange. And my mother did not manage well, so we just stayed for one and a half years. We were supposed to live there forever, because my mother had met a man there, but it didn’t work out so well between them.

Linnea Falk: What was school like there?

Christer Falk: It was very different from the Swedish school system because  teachers were much stricter, and we had school uniforms, which I liked. I was beaten by my teachers with a ruler if I got a bad grade on an exam. And then I had to stand in the dunce corner if I spoke during the lessons 

Linnea Falk: Did that happen to you a lot?

Christer Falk: Yes in the beginning I felt like I was beaten almost every single day. But it was only because I was used to the Swedish school system, but I learned to behave like they wanted. I just had to sit still and not talk to anyone until after the lessons.

Linnea Falk: How did you get interested in what you work with today?

Chirster Falk: That’s a great question… It was a coincidence, I have always been very interested in technology and that’s why I became an engineer. I studied at KTH to become an engineer, but then there was another student in my class that got a job at the patent and registration office. And it sounded very interesting, so I applied for a job there also, and I got it, and after that was hooked on patents and inventions. And it’s  fun because it is technology that is at the forefront all the time, I work with brand new technology. 

Linnea Falk: Is there anything in your life that has been an eye-opener for you?

Christer Falk: Yes. To become a dad… I will come to another matter as well. But there is so much love to give. I think I have mentioned before that when Hanna your big sister came, I thought that I could never love any child as much as this girl, and then you came and it was absolutely incredible, there was just as much love, that was an eye-opener, I thought the whole time is was never gonna work, but it did. 

And then another one is that if you want something very much… have a dream, then it’s often fulfilled. If you have a big dream about something special it will come true. I think that’s kind of cool.

Linnea Falk: Is there anything in your life you have been traumatized over?

Christer Falk: Something that traumatized me?

Linnea Falk: Yes.

Christer Falk–  There was a scary thing that happened when I lived in South Africa. I was chased by a man there…a scary old man, but I had my bicycle so I could ride away from him, but I know whether if I hadn’t taken my bike that day he would have kidnapped  or killed me. I was terrified, and after that I got tunnel-vision. But I don’t know if that was traumatizing, I got away….

Linnea Falk: What is your best decision you have made?

Christer Falk: My absolute best decision was marrying your mother, because otherwise you wouldn’t have existed.

Linnea Falk: For how long have you two been together?

Christer Falk: We have been since 12 December 1992, it is almost 31 years now.

Linnea Falk: How did you meet?

Christer Falk: We  met each other for the first time at a housewarming party at her friend Kattis´s.

Linnea Falk: And then?

Christer Falk: And then we met at a dance place where I knew she would be… or I hoped she would be there, so I went there and I heard from my friend that she hoped I would be there also. And we talked the whole night. And then 12 december 1992 I asked her out to take a coffee with me in the old town in Stockholm on Lucia. And after that it has always been us.