Friday Gallery: Lucia

Apologies for the late posting but better late than never, right!

Some pics from Isolde's first* Lucia.  We weren't allowed to take any photos at pre-school (these days people worry where images of their children will end up) but we did take a few of just Isolde.  This year's celebration was rather low-key as the children in Isolde's room (Nallen) are still so little (aged 1-2), so we just sang a few songs together (i.e. there was no performance as such) and had fika. We had done a little collection for the teachers so they were given their Christmas presents at the same time.  One of them is unfortunately leaving for another job so hers was also a leaving gift.
 


I wanted to watch the Lucia celebrations on TV in the morning but Isolde just wanted me to switch to the children's channel.  Hopefully next year we can watch it together :)

With daddy at pre-school

 

Little Santa, Tomten, rides her "reindeer", practices sliding down chimneys (although Swedísh Tomten doesn't really do that...) and admires herself in the mirror.

 

Chilling in the evening with the little guy that arrived in the post from Marianne the same day.

 

* As in her first proper celebration at (pre)school. Last year we didn't do anything in particular.

Cottage Cheese* Music

Maybe this is already old to most people but I just discovered Erato!



* They are drumming on Swedish cottage cheese boxes

Pearl Necklace

No, it's not what I want for Christmas (well, jewellery is always on a girl's list...).  It's the string of cars driving in the middle lane on the motorway between Stockholm and Södertälje tonight on my way home from work.*  Always when I'm driving I get so annoyed (in a calm way as I'm a rather calm person) with all drivers who stay in the middle lane, even though it's empty in the right lane or they are driving too slow for the middle lane, or both.  Is it that so many Swedes are nervous drivers and stay in the middle to prepare for a shift of lanes or exiting (even though exits are mostly to the right) 13 km down the road, or because they don't want to have to change lanes if another car is entering (even though it's the entering car that has to yield and you don't have an obligation to move).  Tonight was extreme with a string of cars in the middle lane even though it was completely empty to the right.  Why?!  In a way, tonight was less of a problem since there wasn't much traffic, but when there is traffic, which is most of the time, these drivers are really blocking off a big part of the road.  The third lane between Södertälje and Stockholm is rather new (and there are now lights all the way) but if people are not using, what was the point of building it?!


* I decided to drive back and forth as it saves a lot of time, especially in the evenings.

Happy Midsummer!

Via Anna's iPhone

Unknown Customs

Read an old document (from work) on social customs in Sweden and learnt a few need things. Apparently...

• - Traditionally women were not supposed to participate in a cheer/toast (skål) but could skål each other, and juniors were not supposed to skål seniors if their own sex unless the senior had first toasted the junior. (Did not know that but doesn't surprise me.)
• - It is considered bad luck to skål in water. (Is it??)
• - Swedes serve dinner and dessert followed by coffee and more cake. (Maybe, but if so a small piece of chocolate or bisquit with the coffee rather than cake.)
• - Weddings can go on for a few days, and at least late into the night. (A few days?? I think they are getting us confused with India.)
• - It used to be unacceptable to use loud outdoor machinery on Sundays, for example lawn mowers, hedge clippers, etc. Nowadays, there are people who mow their lawns on Sundays after church hours (1 p.m.) but they may get some dirty looks from more conservative neighbours. (If there are any dirty looks, I'm sure it's just because it's disturbing someone's leisurely garden time rather than anything else.)
  

Show & Tell: No Christmas Eve Without...

I thought I'd tackle Erica's Christmas theme with the help of Annika's Christmas questionnaire!

No Christmas without...

GLÖGG - with or without alcohol? What do you put in your glögg?
Normally with alcohol but this Christmas I will take it easy with the alcohol naturally… I like both almonds (or hazelnuts) or raisins in my glögg.

FOOD - what could you not live without food-wise on Christmas? What do you have for breakfast at Christmas? Cooked or oven-baked ham?
Herring, oven-baked ham, meatballs, my mum’s beetroot & feta cheese salad. For breakfast I would like rice porridge (risgrynsgröt) at some point. I don't like Ris à la Malta though.

FAMILY - do you celebrate at home or somewhere else?
At our parents’ house, splitting our time between Peter’s and mine. Last year was the first year we celebrated together properly; previously we went to our respective parents. This year we will start with lunch at Peter’s parents together with his godfather (annual tradition that I haven’t joined before). After that we will go to my parents in Södertälje and spend the rest of Christmas Eve there and also sleep over. Christmas Day we will visit my grandfather (who usually comes to my parents’ house but since he’s been poorly, he doesn’t feel up for it) and then head back to Stockholm in time for dinner at Peter’s parents. Usually his grandmother comes (but she’s also too poorly now) and his uncle and three cousins but they are travelling / celebrating elsewhere this year so instead Peter’s sister’s in-laws will come (and Peter's sister and her husband of course).

FOOD - eat first and then gifts, or gifts first and then food?
I prefer eating first but this year we may do gifts first since we will have had a big lunch, but we’ll see. Or we may eat a little bit less than normal and still do gifts afterwards.

SWEETS AND OTHER GOODIES - do you want home-made or bought Christmas goodies and sweets? Knäck with or without almonds?
Either! Both! This year we have a mix of bought chocolates and sweets and home-made toffee and fudge. Like knäck both with and without almonds. My grandmother used to make the best knäck. In the last few years I have made fudge instead as it’s both easier and better tasting. But I still like knäck. Don’t like ischoklad anymore though, too sweet.

TREE - what must hang in the Christmas tree? Do you have a colour theme? When do you bring in the tree, on the 23rd or earlier?
Lights, a moderate amount of ornaments, mainly in red, green, white, gold and silver colour. No specific colour theme more than that. Sometimes tinsel but we skipped it in ours this year (when I do use tinsel I vary from year to year, sometimes horizontal and sometimes vertical). And I prefer a REAL tree!

When I was growing up it felt wrong to bring it in before the 23rd but now I feel like a week before Christmas or so is okay, otherwise it’s such a short period. Last year our tree lasted to 13 January but I’m doubtful about this year’s version…

JULMUST - do you drink julmust, coca cola or mumma?
Have hardly ever tried mumma… Love must! No coca cola on Christmas!

TELEVISION - do you watch (the hour of cartoons with) Donald Duck (et al) every year? Have you seen "Karl-Bertil Jonsson julafton"?
Yes, it’s a tradition, though this year I will probably miss Kalle Anka as we will be in a car between Stockholm and Södertälje. Don't want Karl-Bertil every year, at least not all of it, but have certainly seen it MANY times!

GINGER COOKIES (pepparkakor) - home-made or bought cookie dough?
Haven’t baked any for years but last time made some from store-bought dough. But I don’t think it’s that difficult to make your own, or..?

SAFFRON BUNS - what do you prefer, saffron buns or ginger cookies? Saffron buns with or without raisins?
Saffron buns definitely! With raisins, but only two raisins. And I don’t like saffron buns with almond paste, yuck!

PRESENTS - Santa brings presents or presents are under the tree? Rhymes on the gifts or just plain address stickers? Do you buy gifts to many people? Presents for all or just for the children? Do you wrap the presents yourself and what sort of wrapping paper do you use?
Santa used to come in person when I was growing up, and the rest of the presents came from family, I think I always knew that. Now we don’t get a visit by Santa but maybe next year or the year after rather! I use just stickers but I would love to be good at rhyming! But we have never really done it in my family but my aunt and uncle always do, as do Peter’s parents. I buy for Peter, my parents, my brother, my grandfather and a few friends, and then we also buy for Peter's family too of course. Presents for ALL, not just for the children! I wrap those the shops don't wrap for me, which are usually most. I like wrapping and varying paper and ribbon. I think it's boring when presents only come in the box with a ribbon - I wrap it too usually!

MUSIC - Carola’s or Mariah Carey’s Christmas tunes? What is your favourite Christmas album?
I like most Christmas music, including Carola and Mariah, so no favourite as such. There are some very silly Swedish songs I don't like.

GAMES - Do you usually do some sort of activity on Christmas Eve, e.g. take a walk, play a boardgame?
Both features, it depends on the weather and timing of food and gifts. But usually we play at least a game of Trivial Pursuit or similar.

FRUIT - Is there any fruit you just have to have at Christmas?
Clementines but also other fruit so we can make fruit salad.


Further questions...

Advent star or candlestick in the window?
Depends on the room but we have more candlestick than stars

Do you want Christmas cards by post or by e-mail?
By post! I always send a lot myself!

When do you decorate for Christmas?
Usually a week or so before Christmas, when we take the tree inside. But the Advent stuff goes up for First of Advent of course!

What would be the ultimate Christmas present to you this year?
An iPad or even better, an eReader. I prefer still buying real books though but I’m a gadget fan at the same time…

Dipping bread in the grease from the ham (dopp i grytan), or not?
Not. My grandparents used to do it though, at least as long as my grandfather was alive, don’t think my grandmother was as keen.

Would you consider working on Christmas Eve?
Sure, if I had a job that required it.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! GOD JUL!

Markoolio & Tobbe Trollkarl Do Dirty Dancing

Such a great performance! Too bad this particular clip doesn't have the last few seconds (couldn't find another one), but I can tell you that they managed the lift! The performance is from a TV4 production called Dansfeber, where the proceeds from the tele voting goes to various good causes.

Dream Jobs

As a prelude to this week's Friday theme...

A survey among Swedish men and women resulted in the following list of dream jobs (out of list of 131 professions):

Women's dream careers
1. Economist / financial
2. Interior design / architect
3. HR Manager / Head of Personnel
4. Author
5. Psychologist
6. Doctor
7. Life coach / career coach (not student and career guidance counsellor, i.e. syokonsulent, I guess??)
8. Lawyer
9. Marketing
10. Animal carer (not veterinarian?)

Men's dream careers
1. Engineer
2. Entrepreneur (that's not a profession as such for me, it's more a tool for doing something if that makes sense??)
3. Musician
4. Pilot
5. Management (consultant)
6. Adventurer
7. Photographer
8. Author
9. Architect
10. HR Manager / Head of Personnel

I was really surprised that musician and adventurer are high on the men's list and life/career coach and animal carer on women's. Also, I didn't know so many people dream about writing books.

The survey has been carried out by Manpower and Kairos Future and can be found here.

Show & Tell: Half-Year Check, Second Half 2009

I'm over two weeks late with my Show & Tell posts so I thought I'd better get them done before it's time for the last theme of the month (and before Christmas). Nilla's second theme of the month was Lucia - more about that below - and her third theme, to provide a half-year check, i.e. an inventory of the last six months of 2009 through photos, starts here! (All photos can be enlarged with a simple click!)

JULY

I worked most of July. It was the first month of the Swedish Presidency of the EU so it was quite hectic despite it being the height of the Swedish holiday period. I went twice to London on business and to the political week in Almedalen (a Swedish institution!) as usual. A very good friend and colleague H. sadly left us for Oslo :( On the bright side Peter's cousin S. got married and we had a great time at the wedding, or the party rather (which included inpromptu rope jumping and climbing...).



AUGUST

August equals holiday! We spent a lovely week in the southern and south-western parts of Sweden, followed by 10 days or so in the US, seeing both the west and east coasts (which reminds me I haven't finished my travel diaries from there). Since I will definitely write more posts about the US holiday I have just included our Swedish road trip in the collage.



SEPTEMBER

I went back to work on 1 September. It was still summer though for most of September, resulting in lunches out on terraces and balconies up until the very end of the month! I went on a very interesting work trip to London, where we simulated the climate negotiations (which went roughly in the same directions as the real ones...) As for our social calendar, we fit in one wedding and two crayfish parties.

OCTOBER

October was cold, much colder than normal, and we didn't have much sunshine (though it wasn't as bad as November...). Highlights of the month were a Michael Jackson tribute party, taking a friend's daughter to Walking with Dinosaurs and attending our good friends C. & J.'s son's baptism.



NOVEMBER


If October was bad weather-wise, November was just pure misery. Stockholm had 17 instead of the usual 55 hours of sun (average). Luckily we saw some sun on a weekend trip to Berlin (which I blogged about here). November featured the births of two babies in my circle of friends, a christening and a surprise party for a friend who turned 40 (same friend whose son was baptised the month before). We also bought some wild boar from a friend whose husband goes hunting and made minced meat (among other things); the mince are now meatballs that we will devour as part of our Christmas meal tomorrow!



DECEMBER

And now it's December, a month dominated by Advent and Christmas preparations. Which brings us to Lucia. Nowadays, at least for the last four years, the only Lucia celebration that I'm a part of is the one at work. I'm not a singer (even though I always used to be on the school choir) so I don't join the other girls (yeah, mostly girls), instead I just enjoy the glögg and lussekatter with the performance. But when I think of Lucia in general I think about memories of Lucia performances with my cousins for my grandparents at 6 am in the morning, being one of the contestants for the "role" of Lucia in ninth grade (didn't win needless to say), going to pretty wild "Lucia wake" parties during upper secondary school, and celebrating Lucia at (or organised by) the Swedish churches in New York, London and Brussels.

December also saw a great colleague leaving us after four years - he's the one in the Pippi wig! :)

Check out my last inventory from June!

Wednesday Recipe... or Swedish Homogeneity

As I've been home with a cold for two days I haven't really been flipping interesting recipes in the kitchen. I did make an omelette for lunch today but there wasn't anything special about it, and tonight I devoured a frozen pizza (Peter is having dinner at his parents - it's his dad's birthday - but I didn't feel like going).

So I thought I'd re-tell a cartoon strip I read in Svenska Dagbladet the other day. It's part of the series Stockholmsnatt ("Stockholm night") by Pelle Forshed and Stefan Thungren.

I read several blogs owned and written by Swedes living abroad and being an ex-expat myself I find discussions about Swedish character and Swedishness quite interesting. One thing they (not just bloggers but also "experts") say about us Swedes is that we are very fashion conscientious. For example, did you know that many fashion houses try their designs on the Swedish market before deciding whether to give them a go elsewhere?! The positive side to this is that we all look pretty good most of the time; the negative is of course that we all look the same, i.e. boring. Guess you can't have it both ways!

Anyway, here's the strip and a translation:




Guy 1: "So, this thing about Swedish fashion design being conformed is actually nonsense, there is an obscene amount of brands to choose between these days..."

Guy 2: "Yeah, but does that matter when all of them seem to have the same idea at the same time. Autumn has looked like one long sequel to Brokeback Mountain..."

Guy 1: "Oh bother! I could see right away that you are wearing Our Legacy and he Acne... The buttons and the seams give it away, completely different feeling. For me the difference is as as big as between dotted and striped..."

Guy 2: "Okay..."

Guy 2: "Apparently eskimos* have like 32 different words for snow... If you constantly live in the same barren environment I guess you are forced to become creative and see nuances in everything."

Guy 3: "Do you also get a feeling that we are approaching a solution to the mystery of the Swedish fashion people's..?"


* The pc word is "inuit" I know.

Remembering

Today it is not just the anniversary ("anniversary" sounds so positive, isn't there a better word?) of the World Trade Center attacks but also the death of Anna Lindh, one of my all-time favourite politicians. She was passionate about the causes she believed in and had her heart in the right place She was a true diplomat and would have gone far in the international political arena, had her life not ended in such a tragic and meaningless way that afternoon.

Sweat or Sweets

Before last week I hadn't been to the gym for almost 6 months (and admittedly, before that I wasn't a regular either, except perhaps last winter when I was reasonably good). But now I've been to the gym three times in the last six days!

To keep this up I need your help! The gym has a "drive" they start every new term: if you go at least twice a week between September and December they give you something. But a bag with the gym's logo isn't going to motivate me really (maybe if it was a shirt or a voucher towards new trainers or something but an ugly bag??). Hence I need you.

If you have a look in one of the right-hand columns you can see that I've started logging my exercise sessions under Anna's Gym Challenge. I don't ask for much, just a quick glance at the log once in a while and an occasional cheer! :)


P.S. But for those who abhor exercise and want to order Swedish sweets (I'm thinking primarily of them expats!), I have found the perfect site for you! (They sell other Swedish stuff too, not just edible things, so it's safe to have a look even if you're trying to stay away from the good stuff!)

Ikea Uproar

Apparently Ikea has upset the world, well, at least a few thousand fans, by changing the font in this year's catalogue. From the picture in the article I, despite being Swedish and all, can't see the difference but granted, I haven't looked inside the catalogue.

According to the article, the Ikea catalogue could also be the world's most printed book. Of its kind, I guess, since I wouldn't call it a book as such. But okay, could be.

Super Fat Tuesday

Today is not only Super Tuesday (or Super Hyper Tuesday as it's called this year) but also Fettisdagen, the Swedish Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras or whatever name it has in your country. Basically it is stuffing-yourself-with-lots-of-unhealthy-stuff-before-Lent-starts day. In Sweden we eat semlor, a really simple cardamom bun with whipped cream and marsipan.

In the UK it's pancakes, in Iceland salty meat and peas and in Poland pickled herring with vodka.

Lullun in Greenland has also written on this topic today and Beverly has some excellent recipes for a different style of semla (which would definitely not be approved by traditionalists).

Swenglish

I read a quote from Swedish linguist, comedian, film director and TV presenter Fredrik Lindström about Swedes and the English language:

When people say that they speak fluent English, as well as they speak Swedish, then I want to take them out in the kitchen, pull out a kitchen drawer and say: Talk about these things now!

I think he's so right on! Swedish politicians and officials working at EU institutions and international organisations often turn down the possibility to receive simultaneous interpretation with the argument that their English "is perfectly fine, I don't need it", when they are really not at the level needed to discuss matters properly, or run their own cooking show in English for that matter. They don't realise that they are limited in their comprehension, vocabulary, creativity in using the language, etc.

I have lived in English-speaking countries for five years and work in an English-speaking working place, but I'm still aware of my limitations and feel that I learn new words, expressions and subtlities of the language every day.

Swedish Lesson

I want to introduce you to How to learn Swedish in 1000 difficult lessons. Thought it would be a good way for you, my international friends (and other foreign visitors to my blog), to learn Swedish. Here's the author's intro:

"Francis Strand is a 44-year-old American magazine editor living in Stockholm. He is married to a Swedish man, which is legal in Sweden, more or less. The two met in Barcelona in July 1998 and were married in June 2000. Strand has 'a high opinion of Swedes'. Although he loves the country and people, his attempts to become fluent in Swedish have been less than successful."

I especially find the "more or less" comment intriguing...

Ikea Saves the Day...

...or marriage rather. At least according to the new book "Great Ikea! A Brand for all the People". Apparently Ikea is the place to go if you want to find romance or harmony.

The author, Elen Lewis, claims that Ikea lets the men be men and confirms their manhood. Likewise the already married man's "hunting instincts" are satisfied when he "hunts" furniture for his home and gets to spend money in front of wife and kids, which in turn arouses the woman. According to Lewis, Ikea is one of the few brands that can actually change your life.

The book doesn't enlighten us as to which instincts, except the "natural" housewife ones, women satisfy by going to Ikea.

7 reasons why Ikea saves married bliss:
1. Non-assembled furniture. When the man succeeds at assembling shelves and tables, his manhood is confirmed.
2. The hunting instinct. Treat your marriage to a trip to Ikea so the husband can "hunt and gather" for the home. Will bring happiness.
3. The feeling of creating a home together creates harmony in the marriage.
4. Sex. Women are turned on when the assembling goes smoothly. What happens when there are screws missing (which is often) is not clear. Nor how men react to handy woman.
5. The beds. It is estimated that at least every ten babies in Europe were made in a bed from Ikea.
6. The food. Many couples allegedly choose Ikea's meatballs as their first choice for a romantic Valentine's Day dinner. What??!!
7. Wedding. A Canadian couple chose to get married at Ikea.

Margot Wallström

For those of you who don't know (of) her, she's the Swedish EU Commissioner. Previously the Commissioner for the Environment, she's now Vice President of the Commission and responsible for Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy . Recently she too has joined the blogger community, visit her blog.