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.