Posts Tagged ‘Systemet’
King for a day – Salary weekend in Stockholm
Kungen i baren
Just another small observation from the land of the midnightsun: When people get their salaries, hell breaks loose. The phenomenon is called “lönehelg” – “salary-weekend” and happens twelve times per year, always on the weekend after the 25th.
The entire working population gets paid that day. Swedes then feel so rich, Read the rest of this entry »
Open doors lead to chocolate. Only in Sweden.
Forgot the key
Just this today:
“Staff forgot to lock in internees. On thursday night, the staff on duty forgot to lock in six prisoners in Norrtälje, three of them convicted for murder. The prisoners used the opportunities to bake chocolate fudge cake in the shared kitchen and watch TV: “The cosiest evening we have had in a long time”, says one of the captives.”
The power of chocolate.
Brought to you by Sonja Catani.
Found on SVD and my friend Aftonbladet.
Kindergarten, Media Circus and a letter from the Queen
"Oh dear......"
When I woke up this morning, P. was still sleeping and I took my phone to read some news. I often start with Svenska Dagbladet and Spiegel, to then check what Aftonbladet has to say. Aftonbladet is an equally good mirror for the Swedish collective mood, as BILD in Germany. Neither of them known for fantastic journalism, but both read by so many citizens, they have a loud voice.
If you have read previous posts, you are familiar with my scepticism Read the rest of this entry »
Broken busses and beautiful surfaces
British thoughts under Swedish tree
Someone interviewed Johan Hakelius in Dagens Nyheter the other day. He has written a new book about extravagant British ladies, none of which are alive today. Johan is known for his love for England and long gone centuries. He is also quite cynical and not at all lagom in his statements.
His British-Swedish insights made me smile. Read the rest of this entry »
Communication, choices and a cut-out-comedian
21.10 h
Swedish elections today!
Pretty exciting. The question is if the future will be red or blue.
The first drastic change is that Sverigedemokraterna apparently will get some seats in the government. A dramatic and scary development. And a subject discussed by every other Swede these days.
Something I haven’t heard anyone say (except for Jesper while making salad) is that – Read the rest of this entry »
Really good noodles, the matrix and a rainbow.
The Matrix
Neo: “I used to eat there. Really good noodles. I have these memories from my life. None of them happened. What does that mean?”
Trinity: “That the Matrix cannot tell you who you are.”
Sometimes Swedes are afraid. They are afraid to stand out from the masses. To stick out their head, to swim against the current.
Partly it’s not very much appreciated by those masses and partly its something you just don’t do.
People will look at you strangely, wonder where you come from and unconsciously conclude that there might be much more suspicious under your Filippa K coat. Read the rest of this entry »
New members for SD – a surprisingly peaceful solution
Discovered over a sojalatte
Creative people often produce excellent work under time pressure. Filip and Fredrik are no exception. They are journalists, writers, comedians and TV-hosts and they are always together. Almost ten years ago they started their own little shop called Framgångsfabriken ”successfactory”, which rejoices the swedish population with a lot of spontaneous action ever since.
With one week left to the elections they have now come up with a brilliant idea about how to save us from Sverigedemokraterna, Read the rest of this entry »
Nordic mañana
Det fixar vi sen.
“They are kicking us out of the apartment!”
“Boat sinking now!”
“The city hall is on fire!!”
“What? Where? What can I do?” would be an expected reaction. And the Prussian part of me instantly throws a net of structure over the situation to identify priorities and a timing for solving the mess. Whereas many of P’s fellow countrymen easily switch to relax-mode. This might come as a surprise to many, but there are quite some soft beats and ganja in the Swedish soul. Read the rest of this entry »
Capitalists, caffe latte and free-range wine
Barn och mammor ska leka hemma.
Talking about Folkuniversitetet yesterday, I remembered an almost forgotten figure from those times: The communist teacher. M. and I had named her after her daily attempts of teaching her view on swedish culture as an addition to verb forms and impossible pronunciation.
Every morning she entered the classroom with a bunch of free magazines or flyers under her arm, that she must have collected during her investigative afternoon strolls through Stockholm. Read the rest of this entry »
They said the sun would come at 12.00h
14:15h, Lilla Värtan
They have not been very reliable this summer.
We woke up to wind that never was predicted and the big baltic rainstorm arrived early last tuesday.
New in the north, I often laughed at sunny swedish mornings, welcomed with a blank look: ”But they said it would rain!” Instead of ”Good morning! Coffee?” and took it as an example of the Scandinavian weather obsession.
Of course wrong predictions can get you into serious trouble when dinners are planned long in advance and all guests arrive exactly at 18.00h.
But it began dawning on me that the source for irritation isn’t solely unexpected winds.
”They” are not the weather guys. They are some kind of higher authority. They seem to sit somewhere with a very big joystick, causing insecurity and confusion when things go wrong.
To this day I have not entirely understood if ”They” sit in the same imaginary building as ”They” giving out rental contracts and those in charge of personal numbers. They seem to be connected to a system you can freely complain about and expect stuff from. ”I should get a 3 bedroom apartment”. A bit like parents.
Fatherland, motherland, my new homeland.
14.15: the sun just came.
