Designer Christmas trees

Strange, scary, loving christmas trees are now on exibition at the lobby of designer hotel Birger Jarl in stockholm.

Fashion designers have been invited to style their christmas tree. Among the designers are Odd Molly, Cheap Mondays & Dagmar.

There are roses for mother, skeleteon parts to symbolise that Christmas is dead and fishes and nets to symbolise all the typical? items swedish people hang in the trees.

The Christmas trees can be seen up until New Year.

Nearsighted Swedish men

In 1930 less than 10% of the swedish young men drafted to military service were nearsighted, today around 40% are. Why?

The only solution scientists can think of is that people today spend most of their time in front of a computer screen or reading books and magazines. This is not what our eyes were meant to do when they were developed during evolution.

Young boys today can spend all their free time playing computer games, some might spend 10 hours per day with a concentrated look into the screen 40 centimeters away. The eye simple does not practice during this time and seems to grow to big causing nearsightedness.

What to do? Limit computer time? Is it possible?

I just know that I'm soo happy that there were no computers available when I was a young kid. I had to live irl....


irl = in real life :-)

Typical swedish woman?

Young Swedish woman Heidi Andersson won a silver medal at the 2006 World Championship Armwrestling recently.

She became famous in Sweden when she starred in the documentary movie "Armbryterskan från Ensamheten". The documentary depicts her life as a professional armwrestler. See it if you can, a wonderful movie.

The championship was held in Manchester UK and there were 800 armwrestlers from 44 countries participating. Sure glad I wasn't there to shake hands with all of them...

Be a star on the bus

All buses in Stockholm will get camera surveillance. At New Year 2006 the project will start and by the end of 2007 all buses will be equipped with the new system.

Bus drivers are happy and commuters will probably also benefit from less problems since all travelers will be identified if troubles arise on the bus. So far buses in Stockholm are very safe; it's mostly during nighttime that there can be serious problems in Stockholm.

Another step to make the situation even safer for the drivers is the complete ban of cash handling on the buses. You will not be able to buy a ticket from the driver next year; you must buy the prepaid tickets available at various locations close to the subway and kiosk around town.

Hectic first weeks!

First weeks for new right wing government have been hectic to say the least!

Several new ministers have been exposed as cheaters. Everything from black market wages to maids, not paying fee's for public service TV and tax fraud with pensions and properties.

It would seem that the new government of Sweden does not really lead the way for the country in a good way. But maybe this is the right wing way, to be egoistic and try to evade and cheat to maximize personal gain and not to care about the welfare, elderly and poor.

At least the journalists have an early Christmas this year. They just need to open the sack and out pops one juicy story after another.

Question is: can Swedish people now trust the new government with their record of cheating, lying and evading... or is this the new way of the kingdom Sweden; the more we cheat the smarter we are?

One minister is now on sick leave and can't be interviewed, a typical Swedish way; ministers on sick leave after a few problems arise, would this be possible in the U.S or Japan?

Probably not. The typical way of Sweden is the kind, soft way. These poor ministers now need a rest after these naughty journalists exposed them this way. Can't they understand it would be better if people didn't know about all this? Then these right wing politicians could keep minding their own business... which they seem to do very well...

Sweden now has a new government!

A not so typical government. The right wing parties have combined to form an alliance to rule Sweden for the next 4 years.

It is not often during modern times that Sweden has had anything else than the old well known socialistic government.

Now the right wing parties have promised a lot of changes, here are the basic structure and most important areas for focus:


More freedom of choice - People in Sweden shall be able to choose whether they want private or government services. All parts of society shall be more commercialized so that it is possible to make money and thereby stimulate a higher variety of services to the people.

More people must work - Sweden has a high unemployment both because unemployed people have good benefits and can live a good life as unemployed and because companies do not want to hire more workers.

More students shall leave school with an education - as it is now a lot of unmotivated students do not learn anything in school and some can't even read when compulsory school is over.

Older and long-term sick people in Sweden need more attention - the way to do this is to privatize more parts of the healthcare. Then people who have a lot of money can buy better services and the others also get a better service in the public hospitals because of less pressure on the remaining staff.


The rest of the declaration is basically describing these major changes in more detail.

Sweden might become the wonderful place it once was again with all these valuable promises.

Today is Kanelbullens dag! (cinnamon roll day!)

Fourth of October is the day of the kanelbulle. Today resturants, bakerys are fully loaded with kanelbullar and everybody want's one. Some resturants even give away a free coffee and kanelbulle after lunch.


Repaeted from previous post:

Kanelbullar (cinnamon rolls) is something very typical Swedish. As soon as a Swedish person hears the word or sees one of these their mouths begin to water, they start checking the whereabouts of the nearest coffee place.

A kanelbulle and coffee is like a hand in a glove, they go toghether like they were made for each other (which they probably were). The smell of a freshly baked kanelbulle and a cup of steaming coffee (or tea) is a dream come true.

Have a go at it in your nearest coffe house that serve freshly baked kanelbullar. I would actually recommend Nybergs cafe in Stockholm, a great bakery and nice 50's atmosphere.

First Swedish lobster sold

Yesterday was the yearly premiere for Lobsters. The swedish ones went for up to 1700 SEK per kilo. (you can check this in your currency on Yahoo or other currency converters) but rest assured, it's quite expensive, especially as there is not all that much meat on a lobster....

There was 23 kilos of swedish lobsters available and all was sold.

Swedes are more and more keeping up traditions like this, the years first swedish fresh potato and the first swedish strawberries also cost 100 times more than what they cost a week or so after the premiere in the shops.

Well, maybe it's good to keep the wheels rolling....

Sheep in tree rescued by firemen

In south of Sweden there was an alarm to the firedepartment. Please help us to get our sheep down from the tree... At first the firemen thought is was a joke but it turned out that a hungry sheep had climbed a fallen tree to the height of about 6 meters to get some juicy fresh leaves it spotted from the ground. It was the first time to help a sheep down said the firemen, usually cats are the one's that need help to get down. A group of kids who followed the drama afterwards thought the sheep should be named Tarzan after it's brave climbing adventure.

Hot dog breads

Record sales this summer for hot dog breads

Hot dog breads has been difficult to find in shops this summer. Football championships and other events has increased sales. Hot dogs are incredibly popular in Sweden and just about everyone has eaten them as they have gotten hungry when in the city. Each and every day one of the largest producers make two million hot dog breads to satisfy the consumers (note that Sweden has a population of about 9 million people). It's actually a perfect quick meal when your outside. Kids also love them and it's one of the most popular meals at a kids party.

So how do you enjoy a hot dog? Well the basic add on would be tomato ketchup and mustard. To this you can add sweet relish (bostongurka in Swedish) and other more or less interesting things.

Work 21 minutes in Sweden

To be able to buy a BigMac you need to work 21 minutes in Sweden.

As everything else it's goes much faster in Tokyo, you need to put in 10 minutes work there to buy the BigMac.

Here are some other times reported by the UBS bank study.

Tokyo 10 minutes
New York 13
Sydney 14
Toronto 14
London 16
Berlin 17
Copenhagen 18
Oslo 18
Helsinki 19
Paris 21
Stockholm 21
Beijing 44
Bogota 97

Scandinavian countries have a similar profile, Copenhagen 18, Oslo 18, Helsinki 19

Other findings according to the UBS study show that Oslo is the worlds most expensive city to live in closely followed by London, Copenhagen, Tokyo, New York, Stockholm and Helsinki in a approximate order.

I would agree with the study, at least as far as the fact that it's very expensive to stay in Oslo. Stockholm is a bit cheaper but since the wages are lower than in Oslo it might end up being about the same cost of living.

World heritage music

Is there such a term, if not I think there should be. Recordings that has the potential to be remembered for being unique, their pioneer influences etc.

For me, one such recording would definitely be Miles Davis "Kind of Blue". I will never grow tired of listening to it and I would find the world to be a poorer place without it. Preserve it, mark it world heritage and send it out into space as a greeting for other civilizations to experience!

There is a Swedish recording that has the same potential. It's Jan Johansson’s recording "Jazz på Svenska", it fills all the criteria’s for world heritage music and it is typical Swedish as well.

It is the Swedish temperament mixed with jazz into a unique blend that sounds really Swedish to my ears. The feelings during our cold dark winter days, the midnight sun during summer nights, everything can be found in this recording. Jan Johansson must have been a true genius at conveying feelings through his piano skills. It is probably no coincident that it is the most sold Svedish jazz record ever.

Sweden has jogging bears ?

A policeman who was out running in the forrest near Stockholm yesterday was chased by a large bear!

The policeman is happy to be alive he told the press. Out running in the evening he suddenly noticed that something big was running along side of him and after a quick glimpse he saw that it was a large bear. For a moment he thought, well, at least I got to be 39 years old. He tried to stay calm and kept on running at a steady pace. After a while the bear stopped following him and he dared to look back. The bear had sat down and was just sniffing the air.

So what actually happened, does Swedish bears also try to keep fit? Or was he simply not in good enough shape to catch a Swedish policeman? Truth is probably that bears in Sweden are pretty friendly as nobody really shoots at them. Though the policeman said he was happy to have experienced this one when it wasn't in a bad mood.

Fermented fish delicacy

Swedish producers of fermented fish are angry. Shops have already started selling the fermeted fish before the official premiere. The famous Swedish fermeted fish, in Sweden it's called Surströmming, is supposed to be available to the Swedish fermeted fish lovers on the third thursday of the month August.

But shops are already selling it to be able to cash in on this once a year festivity. Not only do they ruin the excitement of the premiere producers think but also there is a quality problem as the cans are supposed to be left the last few days to finish of the fermentation process so that the fish is really rotten by the time we eat it!

So have you tried it? I have and I'm actually happy to leave it in the can until it explode... ok, so it might be fun to try it once but a delicacy? Not as far as I'm concerned. The snaps, maybe a glas of Absolut is better and really necessary to wash down the surströmming.

A taste for bread

A typical taste in sweden is the taste for bread. You can find a great variety of bread in a Swedish bakery. Dark, white and everything in between. Smörgås is the word used for the combination bread and butter and maybe something else. Not to be confused with the well known term Smorgasbord which is something completely different. The Swedish Smörgåsbord is a great buffe dinner and should be enjoyed when you are really hungry, plenty of heavy food to make you really full. Here's an example of one of my favourites breads. A great dark fruitbread and of course it is ecologically grown.

Kanelbulle - Cinnamon Roll

Kanelbullar (cinnamon rolls) is something very typical Swedish. As soon as a Swedish person hears the word or sees one of these their mouths begin to water, they start checking the whereabouts of the nearest coffee place.

A kanelbulle and coffee is like a hand in a glove, they go toghether like they were made for each other (which they probably were). The smell of a freshly baked kanelbulle and a cup of steaming coffee (or tea) is a dream come true.

Have a go at it in your nearest coffe house that serve freshly baked kanelbullar. I would actually recommend Nybergs cafe in Stockholm, a great bakery and nice 50's atmosphere.

Safety first - 安全 第一

Stockholm is a great city for a bike ride, e.g. during the part of the year without snow. A majority of bicycle riders in Stockholm wear helmets. After many campains about safety cyclist now start to accept the minor inconviniences with wearing helmets and enjoy the protection and safety the helmet brings. Besides, a cute woman looks even cuter in a nice helmet I think.

Gay parade Stockholm

Continuing with a part of the last post theme, the annual gay parade "Pride" was on yesterday in Stockholm. It's a fun event with a big parade through the streets of Stockholm city. Lot's of costumes can be seen, one wilder than the other.

A beautiful horse with a beautiful man? Some male Geishas with an attempt to wear a kimono, however a little wrong I suspect.

So if you like parades, book next years Stockholm visit already!

Typical Swedish orchestra

Typical Swedish orchestra

Bo Kaspers Orkester, a great mix between jazz and a bit of pop music.

Sweden is a small country with lot's of well known artists all over the world. Most famous is of course ABBA. I never really liked ABBA when they were a band recording all their hits. Nowadays I find it's ok to listen to them sometimes.

Bo Kaspers record titled Hittills (meaning: Up Until Now) is more like my style. Listening to it with it's everyday lyrics I feel good and relaxed. It's not ordinary love songs and it's not heavy social critisim. It's like everyday life is for most people. About parties you went to, trips you did, jobs you had and everything else. I also like the fact that they sing in Swedish, it feel's more original this way.

The band is top musicians with every knowledge of jazz there is to know and they combine it to their very own Bo Kasper sound. If you want to hear what good Swedish music sounds like this is one of many records I would truly recommend. I listen to it and enjoy very often.

Typical Swedish delicious lunch

Here's an example of a typical Swedish delicious lunch. As opposed to other nordic countries Swedish people often eat a full cooked lunch. In Norway and Denmark people often eat a more sandwhich style lunch. Finland is similar to Sweden in this respect.

This lunch was about as delicious as it get's. Maybe you could find more delicious food by paying much more money but for the average lunch price around 65-70 swedish krona this was one of the best I had. In fact it was so delicious that I almost ate to fast to enjoy it fully.

The menu

Meat made of beef with warm potatosallad, feta cheese and sun dried tomatoes. Side sallad with mostly watermelon (it's nice in warm weather). Humus and olivepaste for the homemade delicious bread. Wow, I wish you could try this one :-)

Dessert was coffee with milk and homemade chocolate balls covered with coocos.

Ah.. longing to next lunchbreak.....

Three naked men

Three naked men were found walking in the night by swedish police this week. Completely naked except for a bag of strawberries, the favourite swedish summer berries. The story behind it reveals that the men had been swimming and sauna bathing with some girlfriends who subsequently had stolen all their clothes and left them completetly naked. The men accepted their situation and begun their nightly walk back home when the police spotted them. End was well, the police gave the men a lift home.

Another story about not so typical swedish women's way of taking power over men.

Hot off the news

In Stockholm a young woman who was raped by a young man at a party that went over the top later tried to kill the abuser. Not very typical Swedish but kind of interesting. I would guess many sympathies lies with the young woman. Which crime is worst, a rape or a murder attempt? Both are horrible but the woman at least had a reason for her outrage, the man was just trying to get off and enjoy himself by seriously hurting and humiliating an other human. That makes it in many ways a more serious crime.

It will be interesting to see the verdict in this case. Sweden is known for a very liberal almost kind policy towards criminals. They are not considered evil but people who had a bad start in life and now needs not punishment but treatment and a new chance in life. Sounds good, at least on paper. Maybe the victims of violence and crime do not share this enthusiam for psycological
treatment rather than punishment.

Typical Swedish day

Typical swedish summer day; today I went for a bike ride, a walk in the forrest and a swim in a small lake and picked and ate a few blueberries as I walked in the forrest.

Swedish people are very fond of nature, many own or rent a small red cottage where they spend the most part of the 4 weeks holiday. Swedish people like to grow their own vegetables if possible, favourites are raspberries that hopefully should be ready in time for midsummer.

This summer has been the best for many years, lot's of sunshine and high temperatures. I'm enjoying myself and I will go swimming as often as I can.

Typical male?

Typical male..typical male? don't know.. What is a typical male anyway? Somebody who likes women, who likes sports and to get drunk in bars? I can only relate to the first criteria. Yes, I do like women a lot but not just because they look good or sexy or whatever but I find peronality is at least as big a turn on. A woman who is serious about her life is a very attractive person. A woman who is strong and knows what she wants.

I dont think I "understand" women, it's probably impossible as ones look on women will always be from the opposite side. As John Lennon lyrics says "For the other half of the sky..."

Still I think women are the better part of the sky. With more women in powerful positions in the world there just might be less aggression, less violence and more love.

I love Marianne

Swedish people like candy!

Yes, go into any supermarket and you find mountains of candy at the exits. Cleverly placed at a low level so that families with kids can't pass them without buying a bag for every child so that they can endure the waiting in the line without screaming.....

Kids grow up to be good candy consumers and this is not exactly the healthy kind of sweets that are made of beans etc. This is the red, yellow, blue colored stuff that is made of sugar, chemicals and preservatives, yummy... for the dentists...

So how am I typical in this sense? Well, yes I too have been feed this stuff since I was a kid, I have now managed to get out of my addiction but of course there are some higher quality stuff that I still cannot resist. Like one of Swedish (and Finnish) peoples favorites, Marianne! If you never tried these you are lucky enough to have a great experience ahead.

Treat yourself a few of these and the world suddenly looks a lot better!

Music

I have more and more realized how much music means to us.

Music is a direct injection of feelings into our conscience. Music can release stress, change our mood, make us happy or thoughtful. Music has a direct connection into our brain it seems. No words are necessary, just the vibrations in the air.

Music is also universal. Even if there are cultural differences in music, there is no real need for translations. We feel the rhythm, we appreciate the tonal changes, we hear the humor, we hear whether the musician is skilled or just a happy amateur. Music speaks everybody's language and leaves nobody out.

What is typical of Swedish music? I think there might be an element of melancoly in it but in the global world of today influenses quickly can change that. But many Swedish folksongs do have that element to them.

One of my favorites, "Jazz på Svenska" by Jan Johansson is a great example I think.

Travel somewhere

Image of Helsinki airport departure hall

By the way, travelling is really great. Not so much the actual transportation with times to match, planes to catch and the almost inevitable waiting somewhere along the road as much as the fact that you find new places to be inspired by, take pictures of for your memory and the possibility of finding new friends of a different culture.

1st post

gday! so many thoughts, so many things to tell. If only time permits it might be fun.

This summer has been the best for many years in Sweden, I'm enjoying and appreciating it very much. I think that might not be typical swedish, many people in sweden are not used to warm weather for sustained periods of time and prefer the cooler climate we usually have in summer, somewhere between 15-23 deg.

Another typical swedish thing is that many people leave sweden for holidays during summer! why? this is the best season in sweden, it should be enjoyed. I believe traveling is better to do during autumn, when it's cold, dark and the long winter is ahead.

Already proved that I'm not typical, no way, I'm sure I'm a typical swede....