Public Transport's Deadly Sins

1) Someone standing on the wrong side on the escalator is a classic that is never acceptable. Count on it happening when you can hear your train rolling onto the platform and the next train is not until ten minutes later...

2) Children should not travel on public transport, especially if they are loud. It only takes one screaming baby for you to take the car to work for the next 20 years.

3) To listen to music is always nice - but only if you have chosen it yourself. A lively ring tone, accordion players and kids with a yearning for tinnitus and leaking headphones is a big no-no!

4) Body odour is another classic. Eat a lot of garlic, avoid showering for a week and wear something you found in the rubbish and you can guarantee a whole train car to yourself.

5) Something everyone should know: a bus/tube train is not the same as a moving fast-food stand. Neither kebab, pizza or beer smell as good as it tastes. Travel first. Eat later. That is how you do it.

6) Rush hour and Monday morning on the underground: person in large bulky jacket, with a ruggsack and bad body awareness who suddenly turns around. How many passengers get an elbow in the neck and a ruggsack in the face?

7) Okay, they are old and frail and do not know where they are getting off. But do they need to stand first in the queue, talk to the driver for 10 minutes and then hobble towards a seat at the back of the bus? Count on a 15-minute delay.

8) Everybody running towards the train have a chance to catch the train, but only one makes it. Despite the car only being half full. Why? This is what surely happened: the person who made it first threw him/herself in, realised s/he made it and stopped abruptly just inside the doors. Nobody else succeeded in getting inside the car since s/he was blocking the opening, the doors closed and the train started rolling with the rest of the group still on the platform.

9) Zero manners and etiquette in public transport: don't get up for elders, put your feet on the seat, brag about your latest shag or malarkey your best friend really loud on your mobile phone, cough without covering your mouth and do not let those leaving the train get off first.

10) Give your accessories a seat. Of course your doggy or your bag shouldn't have to be on the floor!

List found in Östermalmsnytt (my translation/interpretation).

Show & Tell: Four Things You Should See in My Town

This week's Show & Tell theme (from Maisoui this month) is Four Things You Should See in My Town. If you thought I'd show you my favourite haunts in Stockholm you'll be disappointed. Instead I will tell you about Södertälje*, the town I grew up and lived in until I was 19. My family and some of my friends still live there so Södertälyeah is still a big part of my life.


So, if you're ever in Södertälje, you shouldn't miss:

1) Tom Tits Experiment

Tom Tits Experiment is a hands-on science museum for all ages (so you won't be stared at if you go there without any accompanying kids, trust me). It has four or five floors and a park full of showcases and experiments answering those questions you have always asked yourselves: what does a brain feel like? How heavy is a pregnant belly? How to make your own space rocket? You can play with water, try bicycling on a rope and go up in a hot-air balloon. It also has a great shop with fun, pedagogic, genuine toys (far from the Toys 'R Us crap).

If you're wondering who Tom Tit was "he was an imaginary figure who carried out a range of scientific experiments in the French magazine, l'Illustration, and in several books published at the end of the 19th century".


2) Sydpoolen

Sydpoolen is an adventure water park type place but of the indoor kind and thus a bit smaller than some of the outdoor kinds, or proper water parks; I guess adventure pool is a more appropriate name. It also has a gym, a spa and other stuff adults like; especially when those adults have grown tired of the slides and the wave machine, which is likely to happen a few hours before the kids do. I haven't actually been there for a long time (read: years) but I hear people visit Sydpoolen from all over so it seems to remain popular. When I was little we had to go to Eskilstuna for an adventure pool so I remember how happy were were when they rebuilt the place and transformed it from a regular pool house to an adventure place (when I was ten if I remember correctly).


3) Torekällberget open-air museum


Torekällberget is an open-air museum, also called living history museum, à la Skansen. Torekällberget is much smaller though as it's only representing life in town and country over the last few hundred years from Södertälje and its vicinity (the county of Södermanland), while Skansen is supposed to represent all parts of Sweden. Torekällberget doesn't have a Swedish (animals) zoo like Skansen but has typical Swedish farm animals - goats, pigs, cows, etc. - in the country part of the museum, which doubles as a petting zoo. I especially like the old store in the town part where you can buy old-fashioned bisquits and sweets. I've also always been fond of the old school and the automobile exhibition (hope it's still there!). There is also a very good restaurant and a smaller café/lunch place for hungry visitors.


4) The anthroposophy community


There is a big anthroposophic community in Järna outside Södertälje. Anthroposophy is a spiritual philosophy based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner. It emphasises inner development and an approach to the spiritual world that is similar to that of the scientific investigation of nature. The anthroposophic centre in Järna is well-worth a visit. You will see interesting architecture, eat good organic (and often vegetarian) food - or buy some locally grown products to take home - and perhaps see a play at the culture house. There is also a school (Waldorf pedagogy) and a hospital, mainly for palliative care.


* For those of who don't know, Södertälje is located southwest of Stockholm and it's part of the greater Stockholm region but more of a separate town than a suburb. The tube doesn't run that far but a commuter train will take you from Stockholm to Södertälje in 45 minutes and a car in 25-45 mintes depending on from where in Stockholm you start and on traffic.

Images from Vaksalaskolan, Sydpoolen, Torekällberget and Antroposofi.info

....Ask What You Can Do for the Climate

Our problems are man-made, therefore they may be solved by man.
No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings.
John F Kennedy

Granted, things might be changing in the midst of the financial crisis, but the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency's yearly survey on people's attitudes to climate change that was presented three weeks ago did have some uplifting information.

• 8 in 10 Swedes think that they can contribute personally to putting a halt to climate change, which is a clear increase since 2002 when "only" 68% said yes and roughly the same response as last year

So how do people contribute*?

• by choosing public transport - 54%, up from 45%
• by taking the train instead of air travel for long-distance journeys - 76%, up from 71%
• by car-pooling - from 54% to 59%
• by leaving the car at home - 57% compared to 33% seven years ago
• by lowering the indoor temperature - from 36% to 59%
• by driving slower (eco-driving) - 63%, up from 41%

What other measures wouldn't people mind taking?

• buying energy-saving domestic appliances - 86% answered "absolutely"
• driving a car with a better fuel-economy - 77%
• taking the train instead of a plane - 76%
• decreasing the energy use in the home - 75%

But when asked if people were willing to eat less meat, only 40% said yes.

67% wants more information on climate change, especially help with choosing goods and services that reduce CO2 emissions.

What else did people say?

• 100% said that they knew or had heard about climate change
• 96% thinks that Sweden has already been affected or will be affected by climate change
• 71% thinks that it is very important that Sweden takes action against climate change
• 84% thinks that Sweden is able to do something to halt climate change
• 80% thinks that they themselves can do something
• 67% wants more information on how they can reduce their own carbon footprint through news in the media, while other information sources are preferred by between 21 and 46

Finger crossed that the EU agrees its Climate & Energy package (the 2020 package) in the coming weeks!

* Figures compare 2002 and 2008 if not otherwise indicated

The Icing on the Cake

Last night I went to an ice hockey game for the first time in 15 years or so! My hometown team Södertälje played the Stockholm team Djurgården. Södertälje hasn't won a single game for the last six games (out of 15 matches played since the beginning of the series) but last night they won with 5-3!! I guess this means I need to go to all the games for the rest of the season since I clearly bring some luck! (Especially since they are still at the bottom of the league and need to win a lot more matches!)

Peter and his two friends who are Djurgården fans (though not huge fans; none of them had been to an ice hockey match for a while either) were not that happy of course but they still enjoyed the game since it was quite a happening one with lots of goals, beautiful play (mostly by Södertälje) and some action (read fights).

We were seated quite close to the Djurgården supporters and I must say that despite the fact that I had to cover my ears a lot for the shouting, it was quite interesting to watch as some sort of social study.

So a fun night for me and I may go again soon!