I'm opinionated!

It turns I have a lot to say! Yip... I am opinionated! Who knew? So what does someone with a whole lot to say do with all these opinions and rants? Well, they write blog entries of course. This blog is more about my life in Sweden not so much about the things that get under my skin and make me what to throw a snowball across the room or slap someone. Nope, this is not the space for that.

So, if you are interested in reading my opinions....which of course you are (wink wink). There I go thinking I am important again (cough cough). But if you are interested you can read the introductions of my latest work below (note, most of it relates to African affairs and gender and is found on a blog called Africa Interpreted):

Internship!

As you know (or maybe don't because I have been so crappy at keeping you up to date lately) I am doing an internship at the Nordic Africa Institute. Our departments back at the university encouraged us to write blog entries on their graduate blog so that other people could read about the process, etc. I have writtentwo entries for them based on my time at NAI.

What the hell is floorball?

Taken from lcart.eu

I can't tell you how many times I have asked myself this question. I have quite a few friends that play it and I know that it is one of Sweden's most popular sports but the point of the game and how it works always seems to evade me.

Until I played it myself!

Every Monday at 4 a group of us head to the local hall to play some floorball as part of a work health plan. Needless to say it isn't very popular amongst us nerds who bury our faces in books and arch our backs at computers. We usually have between four to seven people every week which is well below the desired amount but does mean that we are always really stiff on Tuesdays!

Floorball was created in Sweden in the 1970s and is very similar to hockey. In fact, other than the ball and the stick I am not entirely sure there are any big differences. I would hate for my novice observations to piss someone off so I decided to do a little more reading about what exactly floorball is.

Foteviken Viking Reserve

After spending a lovely morning strolling through Hjärup and Lund, Oliver and I decided to take a trip to the famous Foteviken Viking Reserve.

14 Random facts about Sweden

1. Sweden has a population of roughly 9.4 million people
2. Pippi Longstocking is Swedish
3. Swedes are known for their Innovations. Swedish Inventions include: the zipper , marine propeller, the refrigerator, the computer mouse, the pace-maker
4. The Nobel Prize Ceremonies are held in Sweden and Norway every year on December 10th. The Nobel Prizes were founded by the Swedish inventor and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel, who invented dynamite in 1866.
5. The favorite food in Sweden is usually meatballs with potatoes and lingonberry sauce. (a berry type jam). Swedish pancakes are also a favorite.
6. IKEA and H&M are both Swedish brands
7. Sweden is full of music! Sweden has produced many famous musicians and musical groups over the years such as: ABBA, The Hives, Millencollin, The Cardigans.
8. Sweden is the land of the Midnight Sun! Every year, Swedes celebrate Midsummer (Midsommar) on the twenty-third of June. On this longest day, in many parts of Sweden the sun never sets.
9. All the Tsars of Russia including the last one, Nicholas II, were Swedish. This is because in the 9th and 10th centuries Swedish Vikings invaded Eastern Europe and founded the first Kingdom of Russia (might explain why they both value good Vodka)
10. Per capita Sweden has the most number of McDonald's chains in Europe
11. Sweden was neautral in both World Wars
12. The sun rises at 3:30 in summer and sets at 15:30 in winter
13. The first ice-hotel in the world was built in Sweden
14. On Christmas Eve every year at 15:00 most Swedes settle in to watch Donald Duck

Psalmer från köket (Kitchen Stories)

Did you know that you can hire DVD's from Stadsbibliotek for free? Yip! For free....they have a range of Swedish movies, international films, and documentaries.  If I am not mistaken you can take up to 5 DVDs a week which is a pretty sweet deal. So in my pursuit to learn more Swedish I have started watching more Swedish movies and it just so turns out I had to watch one for a course I am doing on ethnothgraphy. I think I am going to start doing some short Swedish movie reviews for this blog! Enjoy!

The film is primarily set in the kitchen of Isak, a cantankerous old man who lives alone and unwittingly agreed to take part in an ethnographic study on single men’s habits in the kitchen. Folke Nillson, the researcher assigned to observe Isak, encounters numerous problems in his endeavours to understand the habits of single men in the kitchen. The absurdity and simultaneous reality of the film makes it humorous and moving.

However, as the research continues the observer becomes the observed and soon enough the two men find themselves becoming friends, despite being warned not to do so. Sheding light on issues related to ethnography the film has some alarmingly funny and bizarre scenes!

Just for laughs

Today a friend posted a comedy clip from RAW on Facebook. I had never heard of RAW before but it turns out they are a Comedy Club inb Stockholm.... They have had tons of international guests. So if you are looking for a spot to watch some comedy this might be a good stop.


This is the video that was put on Facebook and if you know even just a little Swedish you will find this funny (fastfoward past the intro interview to get to the good stuff!)



Here is another one, it has nothing to do with Sweden but I find this guy funny!



For more funniness check out their website!

Happy International Women's Day

Taken off of New World Encyclopedia

If you didn't know it today, March 8, is international women's day. So I went onto a Lund Facebook group (knowing full well that lund is swarming with people of numerous nationalities) and asked how do you say Happy International Women's Day in your language....and this is what I got! It's totally awesome! (I can only hope that that's what they all actually say and that noone is cursing at me :) I just love seeing all of these different texts saying the same thing right next to each other (Yes! I am a nerd).

Royal Addition

Big news in Sweden today...looks like there is going to be a royal addition very soon. Read more about it on The Local

Thoughts this Valentine's Day

Being in Sweden this February has been quite a different affair to what I experienced in both South Africa and South Korea. There hasn't been a barrage of hearts, flowers, and candy filling shop windows. There have been a few decorations but not the Valentine's mayhem you would see in SA.

Actually the only odd thing I did notice is that as soon as February hit a lot more lingerie adverts started to spring up. There is now one at almost every bus stop. Is this just coincidence? I have also seen more vanilla heart pastries in stores and being advertised in the paper and of course there are invites to all sorts of Valentine's Day parties including tag parties.

Yummy looking Vanilla Hearts (taken off of kingarthur.com)

The advert that's at most bus stops

I don't know if it's just me but tag parties strike me as being totally weird. What is a tag party? Well you go to a party and you were a tag or a different colour shirt to indicate your status: single, taken, not sure. How primitive? I don't mean to sound like a bitch here but seriously! So what if you happen to be wearing a taken tag at a party that is clearly made for a bunch of horny people only looking for single tags, or hoping to sway the likes of a confused tag, you are likely to be spending the night playing with your straw. It just sounds like a party that as you walk into the room all you would be able to smell is sex and desperation. And then, what if you are wearing an available tag (putting yourself totally out there) but still noone approaches you. Eish! OK, ok maybe I am overanalysing this and being a little to catty here it's more than likely just going to end up being a big piss up like any other party.

Moving right along....as I was saying, not much commercial hype around Valentines in Sweden (or should I say Lund because I have no idea what the rest of Sweden looks like at the moment).

The only tie Sweden has to Valentine's Day is that in the 1960s flower sellers inspired by American counterparts started to promote flowers for Valentine's Day (so it had commercial beginnings) and it started to gain some momentum in the 1980s. And that is about as detailed a history there is for Sweden and Valentine's Day but from what I can tell people still like going out for dinner and spending some quality time with people they care about (whether a lover or not) and Valentine's Day appears to provide the perfect excuse.

I like this! Although the commercial side of Valentine's Day back home could get overwhelming it was always a nice excuse to stop and do something with someone you loved. And yes I know there will be people saying but you should appreciate the people you love everyday but unfortunately, I'd hate to break it to these die hard romantics, that's just not reality. Inbetween stressful jobs, studying and all the other crap that requires our attention on a daily basis loved ones don't get the attention they deserve and Valentine's Day provides the perfect excuse to remind yourself to do something special for someone who is special to you!!

So Happy Valentine's Day everyone I hope you have a great time whether you are reading a book, cuddling with someone special (which would be epic considering the snowy weather today), going to a tag party, or just watching a movie.

Some Swedish Ads

It's not very often that I get the opportunity to watch Swedish television....actually one of the only ways I get a chance to is when I log onto SVT which shows all of the programs and movies currently aired on national Swedish television. This is a great site to have if you want to watch more Swedish television to help you learn. I am still watching children's programmes because the adult stuff is too difficult for me.

But, I digress. Often when I watch something on YouTube Swedish adverts come up before so I thought this could be a nice and fun post where you can watch some funny Swedish ads.....





I saved the best for last and ofcourse showing you adverts without showing you something from IKEA would be incomplete...so here you have it :)



This IKEA ad was banned in Sweden and I guess you could see why but it is funny nonetheless. Actually, quite a few ads have been banned in Sweden but not all of them are as lighthearted....the one below actually made my jaw drop, and not on a good way



I could keep posting but there seems to be a plethora available online including everything from a Lufthansa ad about Swedish Women to Condom Ads so for now I will leave you with these...enjoy :)

Tis the season to be jolly

 

.........tralaaalalalalaaaaa la la la laaaaaaaaaaaa......

Did you know that there are some seriously bizarre Christmas traditions out there? I did a show for radiop AF today and I decided to focus on weird and wonderful Christmas traditions.

And when I say weird I mean weird. We spoke about everything from streets being closed in Caracas, Venezuela so that people could skate (with rollerblades) to church mass on Christmas to "The defecating man" in Catalonia, Spain which is literally a nativity figure of a man taking a dump to symbolise fertilizer. Others include, stirring to the right when making pudding in Britain so as to bring about good luck; people in Norway hiding broomsticks on Christmas Eve to stop evil spirits from stealing them, single women throwing shoes in Czech Republic searching for love, and hollowing out a log putting sweets in it and trying to make it "poop". These were all incredibly fun and made me wonder a bit about some odd traditions in Sweden over Christmas time.

Turns out on Christmas Eve every year at 15:00 TV1 airs "Donald Duck and his friends wish you a Merry Christmas". Most of Sweden stops what they are doing and settles in to watch this old Disney film. This tradition has been going on since 1959 when Swedes had just started to buy their own personal televisions. It's called Kalle Anka (pronounced kah-lay ahn-kah)  in Swedish and oddly enough "Kalle" is a nickname for "Karl" and "Anka" means duck. So in their film their duck is called Karl, not Donald. Why at 15:00 you might ask? Well apparently this is the best time for a break in the day whether you had lunch before or plan to have dinner afterwards it allows you to plan your time so that you are able to stop what you are doing and sit down with your family to engage in the fun.


Tis the season to be jolly! Just a little something to get you in the mood and bring back all those warm fuzzy memories!

Another Swedish Christmas tradition emerged 40 years ago in a town called Gavle. Originally an act of vandalism every year the city Gavle erects a giant goat made of straw to mark the start of the festive season. Every year vandals do everything they can to try and destroy the goat including setting fire to it. Others try to protect the goat. And so the battle ensues. The goat has managed to make it to Christmas 10 times in its 40 year history. The vandals seem to be winning this war :)


Taken off of ottocontest.blogspot.com


It's strange how things become tradition. Something that makes that time meaningful and a little more special. A memory frozen in time!

I love these Swedish traditions they are quirky and strange but they are also fun, different and somehow totally Swedish! So if you feel like doing something Swedish this year...be sure to sit down at 15:00 on the 24th and watch some old school Disney magic! (Or burn a giant goat made of hay ;)

Drunken Woes....

Taken from http://geoventurer.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/sweden-surprises/

When I found out that I had got a scholarship to go to Sweden several stereotypical images flushed my mind! I thought that I would soon be living among some freakishly tall, beautiful, blonde people who like to drink beer and vodka, go on nature walks, as well as occasionally dress up as Vikings.

Well, sorry to disappoint but there are not as many blondes as you might expect....in fact I would say that there is a good mix of many hair types including pink and orange! There are some people that tower over me (although come to think of it thats not too difficult) but for the most part people only seem marginally taller. And yes, they do sometimes dress up at Vikings and more often than not this is at drunken parties!

And that's what I wanted to talk about...not drunken parties per se but what makes them drunk....yip, I want to talk about the good old booze!

Taken from http://www.woot.com/forums/viewpost.aspx?PostID=4525771

Sweden is famous for Absolute Vodka, which is brännvin (literally "burn-wine"), that is, it is distilled from fermented potatoes or grain. Long ago, people used to make their own brännvin and some still do it today although, from what I hear, it is highly regulated.

Sweden has massive tax on its alcohol (Vodka is 40%) and it is under a government monopoly. That is, only the government is able to sell and distribute alcohol above 3.5 %. This explains why it is so expensive to drink in Sweden.

If you want to get an ordinary draft in a bar you are looking at paying between 50-60SEK (R55-R65) and you could end up paying just as much for a 'special' bottled beer! Crazy right? I mean in South Africa you would pay R20 (25SEK) for a draft and in South Korea you would pay even less, 2000Won (R12, 15SEK). So drinking in Sweden is expensive business and I'm not quite sure how some students manage to go out four times a week and get wasted!

Well, I guess they get smashed because they drink before they pitch up at the party (pre-parties are VERY popular! It's no wonder why). Alcohol in the state owned bottle stores, Systembolaget, are cheaper than restaurants and bars but in comparison to the rest of the world it is still pricey. For a mediocre bottle of wine you are looking at paying about 100SEK (R120).

And it is so unfortunate that it is that expensive because Lund has some awesome little pubs and bars where you could see yourself slowly slipping into a drunken stupor if you didn't have to watch your wallet steadily burn a hole through itself.

Now the beer you buy in bars is generally of a really good quality! I don't know if you can say the same about the beer you buy from convenience stores. Convenience stores are allowed to sell drinks that have a volume of under 3.5% and once I bought Eko-Beer from my local grocery store! It was horrible! Bleh! One the first sip, your like, Mmmmm, that's not too bad, but, by the time you get halfway through the can you feel your throat closing up and refusing to have anymore! Anyway! Don't drink Eko-Beer!!

Ok, so now I have been blabbing for a while...but now you know a little bit more about the drinking situation here in Sweden. So have some sympathy! When you are out tonight, raise your glass and have a drink for me and maybe through some bizarre form of osmosis I too will get drunk!!!!

Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Avl%C3%B6ningsafton_-_R%C3%B6sta_ja!_1922.jpg

Bicycle, Bicycle, BICYCLE

"Why won't you let me ride my Bicycle, Bicycle BICYCLE", a famous lyrics from a song by Queen pops into my mind regularly while I am in Sweden. Not only because it is a ear worm and when I hear it on my PC it is invariably glued to my brain for the next couple of days but also because there are so many of these two-wheeled inventions darting and cruising around Lund.

Sure, its' not the bicycle mayhem of Amsterdam or Copenhagen but I have never lived in a place before where a bicycle is actually the main mode of transport. I see men in suits on their way to work, and women dressed to the nines with high heels and all happily glide along without messing up their perfectly done up hair.

Another way that you know that they are serious about bicycles here is the range of bicycle attachments and contraptions you see. There are the three wheeled covered bicycles for when it's raining, bicycles with baby seats, bicycles with baby carriages so that your kid doesn't get wet when it decides to rain (which is apparently a lot).

Taken off the website babyology

Taken off motherearthnews.com

taken off electric-bikes.com

Beyond the contraptions it's the skills you witness. I can barely keep my handlebars straight most of time (which is evident when you consider that I had a mild crash the other day when a kid and I connected and I was left with several bruises). But, people here have some mad skills. They are off their seats before the bike stops seemingly standing next to it while they guide it into a parking spot, they smoke, sms, and even hold umbrellas all while going a lot faster on their bikes than I could even hope to be on a bright, sunny day with no wind and both hands on the handlebars.


taken off of 4to40.com


taken off of ask.metafilter.com

Now I don't have any photos to prove these things to you because I feel like a bit if a turd whipping out my camera at every little thing that makes me go ooooh and aaaah but I promise you it's true and pervasive and I hope that before I leave Sweden I would have mastered the ability to park by bicycle in a fashion that is a little more elegant than my current heavy handed manoeuvring that makes me look like a bull in a china-shop.