Basic Swedish Phrases to Know

A really quick list of Swedish phrases to know. Even though everyone our generation speaks English, it’s always nice to throw a few words in here and there in Swedish.

ja – yes
nej – no

tack – please (used at the end of a sentence); thanks, thank you
tack så mycket – thank you very much
varsågod – you’re welcome

hej or hej hej – hi, hello
hejsan – hi (informal)

god dag – hello; goodbye (literally: good day; can be used any time from morning until around 5pm)
god morgon – good morning (used until around 11am)
god middag – good afternoon (used around noon)
god kväll – good evening (used from around 5pm)

välkommen! – welcome!
välkommen till … – welcome to …

hej or hej hej – bye
hejdå – goodbye
god natt – goodnight
vi ses! – see you! (informal)
vi ses snart! – see you soon!
vi ses senare! – see you later!
ha en bra dag! – have a good day!

ursäkta mig – excuse me (to get someone’s attention or to get past someone); sorry
förlåt – sorry
inga problem – no problem
det gör inget – don’t worry about it

pratar du engelska? – do you speak English?

jag pratar inte svenska – I don’t speak Swedish
jag pratar lite svenska – I speak a little Swedish
jag pratar väldigt lite svenska – I only speak very little Swedish

var snäll och prata långsammare – please speak more slowly
kan du säga det igen? – could you please repeat that?

jag förstår – I understand
jag förstår inte – I don’t understand

jag vet – I know
jag vet inte – I don’t know

var är toaletten? – where is the toilet, please?

How much is a ticket to _____? Vad kostar en biljett till _____?
One ticket to _____, please. En biljett till _____, tack.
Where does this train go? Vart går detta tåg ?
Where does this bus go? Vart går denna buss?
Where is the train/bus to _____? Var är tåget/bussen till _____?
Does this train/bus stop in _____? Stannar tåget/bussen i_____?
When does the train/bus for _____ leave? När åker tåget/bussen till_____?
When will this train/bus arrive in _____? När kommer tåget/bussen till_____?

July 29, 2010 | 13 Comments »

Swedish Chef’s Bork, Bork, Bork

swedish chef

Yorn desh born, der ritt de gitt der gue,
Orn desh, dee born desh, de umn bork! bork! bork!

Recently, I fell back in love with The Swedish Chef. He was never my most favorite when I watched the Muppets but always a good laugh.

It’s funny how the subconscious Swedish culture entered America through the Swedish Chef, ABBA, and Volvo “baby carriage” station wagons back in the 80s. Today we know more about Sweden because of IKEA, H&M and the bikini team, a great achievement for America.

Here’s a collection of videos, twitter, Facebook, all social media The Swedish Chef makes himself known on.

Swedish Chef on Facebook – here

Official Swedish Chef Channel on Youtube – here

(Un)official Swedish Chef Channel on Youtube – here

LOST Slapdown, Part 15 – Swedish Chef [HD] - here

My Top 10 Swedish Chef Videos

Cårven Der Pümpkîn


Swedish Chef Reciting Shakespeare (323)


Animal and Swedish Chef Sing Happy Birthday


Muppet Show – Swedish Chef – making donut


Swedish Chef – Meatballs


Muppet Show – Swedish Chef – making chocolate moose


Swedish Chef makes Turtle Soup


The Chef goes flying into the Muppet newsroom when he pops a bottle of champagne.


The Muppet Show. Swedish Chef tries to make soup


The Muppet Show. Swedish Chef – Spring Chicken (ep.512)

Why did the chickens cross the road?
Because an angry Swede was chasing them with a cleaver!

And for Swedes being called dull and boring, the Jim Henson ensured the Chef would be the polar opposite with his eccentricities of shooting donuts and bazooka’ing pumpkins into pumpkin pies. Why can’t real Swedes be like the Swedish Chef?!

Color, excitement, madness!!

July 14, 2010 | 9 Comments »

Free Museums in Stockholm to Visit during the Summer

Stockholm is not a cheap city to visit on a budget. It’s almost an irony to say “Stockholm on a budget” because well, it can involve kebabs, pizza, and really disgustingly cheap stor stark beer or lättöl (light alcohol content beers).

Alas, there is some relief during the summertime in Stockholm.  Many museums have free days and some are free entirely.

Free Museums in Stockholm: Free ALL the time

Forum för levande historia (The Living History Forum)

This museum provides a haunting look at crimes against humanity and aims to remind us of the importance of learning from our dark pasts.

Färgfabriken (Center for contemporary art and architecture)

This museum boasts fun and serious exhibitions related to art, society, film, and architecture.  They also have interactive sections where you can get your own hands dirty.

Haga parkmuseum (Haga Park Museum)

Located in Solna, Haga Museum describes the history and architecture of the surrounding park.  The park grounds have The Turkish and Chinese Pavilion, Haga Ruins (Gustav III’s unfinished castle), a beautiful lake, and the bizarre yet gorgeous Copper Tents (where guards used to live) lies within the park grounds.  Take bus 515 from Odenplan to the park.

Haga Park Copper Tent by Linkahwai
Haga Park Museum

Dansmuseet (Museum for the Performing and Visual Arts)

This museum focuses on dance and theater from various cultures.  They occasionally have live performances.

Etnografiska museet (Ethnographic Museum)

Located on the northern part of Djurgården (take Bus 69 to get there), this museum hosts collections on humanity and Sweden’s interaction in conflicts.  The museum also boasts one of Europe’s Japanese Tea Houses which is open throughout the summer.  Call +46 (0)8-519 550 10 or send an e-mail to ulla.edberg@etnografiska.se about the tea ceremony times.

Stockholms medeltidsmuseum (The Museum of Medieval Stockholm)

This museum offers a look at medieval Stockholm set in an underground building just a stone’s throw away from the royal castle. The only visible remains of Stockholm’s medieval city wall are located, still intact, in the museum. There is even a medieval tunnel from the museum to the castle, which is very much closed to the public.

Stockholms Stadsmuseum (Stockholm City Museum)

An undiscerning blue-gray colored building at Slussen, the Stockholm City Museum provides an overview of the history of Stockholm from its founding to contemporary issues.

Tullmuseum (Swedish Customs Museum)

Not customs like culture, but customs as the annoying people who stand at the airports waiting to search you when exiting.  The Tullmuseum offers plenty of exhibitions about smuggling and anti-smuggling.

Kulturhuset

Kulturhuset offers temporary exhibitions throughout the year on everything from photography to theater to music and even comic books. Beware though, Kulturhuset is several floors and not all exhibitions are free.

Kungliga biblioteket (National Library of Sweden)

The museum houses the Codex Gigas, often called the Devil’s Bible. Unfortunately, the Codex Gigas is not viewable by the public.  They still have an impressive collection of historical documents.

Special Day FREE Entrances to Stockholm Museums:

Nordiska muséet (The Nordic Museum)

Free on Wednesday evenings but not valid from June-August.  They were smart knowing all the tourists visit then.  Nevertheless, the Nordiska Museum is located on Djurgården, near Vasa Museum, and hosts collections related to Swedish culture, food, holidays.  Currently on exhibition is a section dedicated to Swedish fashion and Swedish holidays.

Easter Eggs at Nordiska Holidays Exhibition
Easter Eggs

Kungliga Myntkabinettet (The Royal Coin Cabinet & Economy Museum) – Mondays all day – free admission

One of the royal museums of Sweden, the National Economy Museum host collections about the financial history of Sweden, coins, monetary usage, and medals.

Tekniska Museet (The  National Museum of Science and Technology)  - Wed 5-8PM free admission

This museum offers insight into how things work and why they work.  Current exhibitions are about space, sports, and transportation.  Sweden’s first passenger airplane hangs from the ceiling.

The next post will have information on free events and happenings throughout Stockholm during the summertime.

July 3, 2010 | 9 Comments »

The New Questions on Swedish Dating

It’s that time again! The dying questions for swedish men is chock full of goodness of information.  Before we start on our new questions about swedish dating, here’s a summary of what we know about swedish men and women.

Swedish men:
Are very good listeners
Are quiet and shy
Help doing house work
Cook dinner, breakfast or a little smörgås
Give the look
Are respectful
Like foreign girls (who doesn’t like anything exotic?)

Swedish women:
Want romance too
Love confident men
Are beautiful
Like foreign men
Are sensitive at heart

And now the A-Z of questions we still discuss and ponder about.  A big thanks to all the readers who continuously comment and share their love stories.

  • If I like you (i’m a girl), can I text/call you first?
  • Can you summarize Swedish dating culture in one/two words?
  • Is Swedish boy interested in me if we chat online for several months and have wonderfully intense conversations?
  • Do you think some Swedish men can fall in love with a woman that is curvy or a few extra pouds or is this a sign of laziness with their culture?
  • Do Swedish men prefer texting/emailing to phone calling?
  • What is the best place in Stockholm to find a Swedish guy?
  • Do Swedish women give the look too?
  • What in general seems to be the Swedish man’s standing point on women who have children from a previous relationship?
  • Do Swedish men give compliments randomly to women? If not, are they trying to hit on the girls?
  • What are signs of flirtatious behavior?
  • Why do men need to be on the verge of blacking out to hit on women?
  • Does the ‘player’ culture exist?
  • How the hell do you ask out a swede?? or make “a move” on him?
  • Do they like blonds or brunettes?
  • Is it true Swedes are very rude?
  • Is it true that Swedes hate monogamy?
  • Do they fall in love really hard?

It’s not easy dating Swedish women.  And the swedish male proves to be both confusing and amusing.  Just remember, they’re still people too, and sometimes a man is just a man.

June 26, 2010 | 281 Comments »

Swedish National Day in Sweden or AKA Sunbathing

Today is June 6th, National Day in Sweden – Swedish flag day or a day off to sunbathe and drink Carlsberg if you will.

If you missed the blue and yellow flag waving, gun toting, candy eating, BBQ grilling and BudLite, well then, you’re probably dreaming of the American 4th of July celebrated in splendor of excess.
Cow with a Swedish flag
Of course being Sweden, National Day is a summer holiday to enjoy the weather and possibly wave Swedish flags. Nationaldagen became a red day in 2005 in the hopes of Swedes celebrating the independence from [Norway, Denmark, Finland, the darkness?]. This year, National Day is special because it commences Love Stockholm 2010, a 14 day celebration of the Swedish Royal Wedding.

Either way, I started with good intentions of going to Skansen to see the festivities and the King. I made it as far as huge rocks with a view to Kungsholmen and took a nap. Some people grilled, others made out, Swedish girls in bikinis suntanned, and I slept in the glorious sun.
Stockholm Stadshuset and view to Stockholm City
Being lagom people, no one was running down the streets screaming the national anthem and waving flags. Unless of course you’re a racist. In Sweden, waving flags and loving Sweden too much indicates racist tendencies. Obviously.

If you are not a racist and just like waving flags and singing songs (about small frogs and such), here is the de facto national anthem of Sweden, Du Gamla Du Fria. It is not the official national anthem of Sweden as attempts to make it the “official anthem” failed.

Du Gamla, Du Fria was originally known as Sång till Norden (Song to the North) written by Richard Dybeck in 1844. In 1938, Sveriges Radio played the song at the end of evening transmissions and the song was epitomized as Sweden’s national song, despite the lack of official recognition.

Du gamla, du fria

Du gamla, Du fria, Du fjällhöga nord
Du tysta, Du glädjerika sköna!
Jag hälsar Dig, vänaste land uppå jord,
Din sol, Din himmel, Dina ängder gröna.
Din sol, Din himmel, Dina ängder gröna.

Du tronar på minnen från fornstora dar,
då ärat Ditt namn flög över jorden.
Jag vet att Du är och Du blir vad du var.
Ja, jag vill leva jag vill dö i Norden.
Ja, jag vill leva jag vill dö i Norden.

Jag städs vill dig tjäna mitt älskade land,
din trohet till döden vill jag svära.
Din rätt, skall jag värna, med håg och med hand,
din fana, högt den bragderika bära.
din fana, högt den bragderika bära.

Med Gud skall jag kämpa, för hem och för härd,
för Sverige, den kära fosterjorden.
Jag byter Dig ej, mot allt i en värld
Nej, jag vill leva jag vill dö i Norden.
Nej, jag vill leva jag vill dö i Norden.

Now go ahead and sing your heart away to Sweden’s free and ancient most beautiful land on the earth.

June 6, 2010 | 26 Comments »

Voting Bias & Sweden’s Fail at Eurovision 2010

I love Eurovision. After months of torture on national television to vet the “best” singer/group to represent their country, it culminates into a three night debacle of entire Europe fighting for the top song rights.

This year, Sweden had a massive train wreck. It was so bad that voters killed the Swedish singer, Anna Bergendahl, with the song, This is My Life. Definitely her life but not the life European voters wanted. Maybe she was not that bad, but in a contest where text message voters determine the best of the train wreck to the worst, we’re looking at a low barrier.


Listen to Sweden’s Eurovision 2010 song entry

And Sweden’s failure to enter the Eurovision 2010 finals means for the first time (in the new voting system that is five years old), Sweden does not have a finalist. At least Anna will be forever remember as the singer who could not get Sweden to the finals. Poor girl, there’s always another Melodiefestivalen next year.

Still, I watched Eurovision this past Saturday, forgoing parties and purple beer bags for silly clown outfits and out of tune depressing songs at the European finale. Think American Idol marries Survivor and ends up with a show broadcasting to one billion people.

The best part of Eurovision is not the songs but the voting. Eurovision is the platform for peaceful voting to gain political extra credit points with other countries. Research done by Dr. Derek Gatherer collects the voting results from 1975 to 2006. Here are the major voting blocks:
derek gatherer eurovision voting pattern
No real surprises there. Iceland gave its douze points to Denmark, though Denmark snubbed Iceland and Norway by giving its douze points to Germany. Bosnia Herzagovina gave 12 points to Serbia and vice versa. Cyprus and Greece are always accused of favoring each other. Russia gave its douze points to Armenia and 10 points to Georgia. Georgia, with its ongoing ethnic cleansing wars with Russia, gave zero points and awarded 12 points to Belarus and 10 points to Armenia. I guess Russia is trying earn some brownie points.

For the full voting results you can visit wikipedia or see this voting results chart.

Oh, who did Sweden give its 12 points to? Germany! Denmark really got the kick out of them.

May 31, 2010 | 8 Comments »

Swedish Feminism 101: Don’t Let Daddy Walk You Down the Wedding Aisle

As Sweden gears up for the Royal Wedding between Crown Princess Victoria and douchey looking Daniel Westling, plenty of scandals surround the wedding.

First up, Daniel had a kidney transplant last year therefore his health is poor now. Supposedly. If he says he’s ready for the wedding, so be it.

Next annoyance is that Swedes are feeling less inclined to pay for the wedding. While the Swedish media exclaimed, “all the hotels in Stockholm are booked!” the reality is different. I searched on Expedia and several top hotels are available during the wedding weekend. No shortage there. Festivities being paid for by the city and taxpayers is more than 10 million kronor (and the king putting in another 10 million).

And, the feminists are angry. And so is the archbishop performing the royal wedding ceremony.
He said,

“Giving away the bride is a fairly new phenomenon that occasionally happens in the Swedish Church…I generally advise against it, since our wedding ritual is so clear when it comes to the equality of husband and wife.”

Because feminism in Sweden is strong, this is considered a serious lack of judgment on the Princess’ part. Unlike American feminism where women quickly place a double standard, Swedish feminism sticks to its goals. The Crown Princess wants her father, King Carl XVI Gustaf to walk her down the aisle at the wedding ceremony. While this is common practice in the United States, in Sweden it is customary for the couple to walk down the aisle together.

Annika Borg, a priest and theologian, believes Hollywood’s movie weddings influences Swedish brides to have the American way. She says, “It’s unfortunate that Sweden’s future head of state has chosen to follow a practice that is not Swedish tradition.” That’s because only 1 in 10 Swedish weddings “give the bride away” by the father.

Of course the view by the Royal Court is different.

“This has a bigger dimension. This isn’t a father giving away his daughter to another man. The symbolism is that the king is leading the heir to the nation’s throne to the altar — and to the man who has been accepted.”

I understand the Hollywood sensationalized fairy tale weddings. There’s no movie where bride’s father didn’t walk her down the aisle. And they are beautiful. If I had a western wedding, I want both my parents to walk me down the aisle or no one at all. Because both my parents participated in my upbringing, they both have the right to take part in this important tradition.

While some traditions last, others are subject to change. A dowry was traditional for thousands of years, but no longer common practice. And there’s the obsession with dads and daughters. Forgetting the cute ‘daddy’s daughter’ ideology, the real traditional wedding is about about cutting an expense, the daughter, for a price to the new owners (a dowry). That’s why patriarchal power still exists with the man in such weddings, they “give away” the daughter. I prefer my parents to say “we give our daughter blessing to marry this man” than “we give our daughter to this man.” See the difference in semantics?

Of course, Victoria should do what she wants but I find it strange to not follow Swedish traditions. I want to know why she came to such decision. The Royal Court’s statement justifies a practice that is archaic and American.

Does it make sense for the King to lead the future Queen down the aisle and give her to the common man? Or maybe the issue is not about feminism but about traditions, should this still happen anyway?

I wonder if more Swedish brides will be “given away” after the royal wedding or will stick to Swedish traditions.

May 27, 2010 | 22 Comments »

Love Stockholm 2010 and The Swedish Royal Wedding

The wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling is less than a month away on Saturday June 19th. For Sweden, this is akin to the late Lady Princess Diana’s wedding to Prince Charles. Crown Princess Victoria will inherit the throne from her father King Carl XVI Gustaf. Oh, and daddy will walk her down the aisle.

For Stockholm, it means two weeks of partying and events for the city in the amorous events of Love Stockholm 2010. The two week celebrations begins on Swedish National Day, June 6th and concludes on the day of the wedding, June 19th. If you are not of the 660 invited guests taking part in the 20 million kronor wedding affair, be sure to see one of the special events organized by Love Stockholm.

Some highlights are:

Pop Up Art 100 – art exhibition by young Swedish artists
Pop Up Art is an organization for and by young artists. The aim is to create unique and interesting art exhibitions which serves as a meeting place between young art and our audience. Pop Up Art 100 consists of 100 artworks, 100 cm wide and 100 cm high, from 100 young Swedish artists.


Shake My World invites you to Single lunches with various lectures


A Princess Wedding – past and present
This guided tour will tell the story of Lovisa Ulrika, who came to Sweden to marry the Crown Prince in 1744. They had never met. Lovisa Ulrika was a Preussian princess, with taste for culture and music. The “Drottningholm music” was composed for her wedding and the Drottningholm theater built for her pleasure. In Duke Carl’s pavilion in front of the theater, there is an exhibition with opera costumes suitable for royalties.


We love the History of Sweden!
The exihibition ”History of Sweden” will give you an exciting experience of the last 1000 years of events and developments in Sweden. Meet kings and queens, rascals and clergymen, knights and maidens, craftsmen and workers, witches and common people from ten centuries in a captivating mixture!
Admission: Adults 70 SEK, senior citizens, students 50 SEK, groups (more than 8) 40 SEK. Free admission up to 19 years.


Love tour for singles in Swedish
”Thine for ever” is the inscription often used for example in wedding rings. People promise one another eternal fidelity and lifelong love. In the Middle Ages, however, love was seldom the cause of marriage. There were often other reasons, not least financial. A marriage might be of importance to the whole family. But of course there was love. Runic inscriptions on sticks and bone show that even people in medieval times were capable of writing passionate declarations of love. This tour in Swedish takes up a wide range of different themes.


Design Bernadotte in Örebro
During the summer an exhibition is displayed on Sigvard Bernadotte’s activities in the handicrafts and industrial design. Here are beloved and familiar objects Margret bowl, opener Red Clara and the classical laminate pattern “Virrvarr”. Visitors also encounter a rich selection of silverware, office appliances, spectacle frames and much more out of Sigvard Bernadotte’s production design.


Make Musik STHLM : We will rock you Stage
All the outdoor concerts of Make Musik STHLM are free and open to everyone. Come and join us to celebrate music, either you want to play or listen to it!


You can visit the Love Stockholm website to get the full program which will be available in June.

love stockholm 2010 map

I will also put together a fun facts and bits about the Royal Wedding in the next post.

May 24, 2010 | 12 Comments »

Online Swedish Tax Declarations 2010


It’s that time of year again when the flowers are blomming, birds are singing, and Skatteverket (the Swedish Tax Agency) is awaiting the tax returns of its citizens. And the real irony? Filing taxes is easy. Indeed!

In April, you should have received your Deklaration statement (on pastel yellow paper). It will tell you how much income, capital gains (from stocks/shares) you have that’s officially listed. From this information, Skatteverket tells you how much you owe to the government or if lucky, they owe you.

If you don’t own other shares, houses, or have deductibles then you can file your taxes online, by SMS, phone, or paper. Just this year alone 3,089,286 people filed their taxes online.

To file taxes online you either need e-legitimation (via bankID, Nordea, Telia, Posten) or a pin code which is listed on your declaration papers. Follow the instructions and you will login into your account where you can review all your tax information before accepting it.

2009 was the first time I filed so could only file by paper. That involved signing off on the yellow declaration and mailing it in. I also filled out a form to receive direct deposit to my bank account but Skatteverket must not have received mail. I still received a check that had to be cashed at the bank.

This year, I could file online. That took 5 minutes. Then I went to my online banking and made a transfer to Skatteverket to pay my taxes (damn you Swedish taxes!).

Most likely, unless you own a house or were given shares in your company, you can do a simple, EZ as it’s called in the US, tax file in Sweden.

And don’t forget, if you are a US citizen living abroad, you still have to file taxes in the United States. Oh Joy!

May 2, 2010 | 6 Comments »

Party on Swedes! Valborg and Cortège in Sweden

View of Södermalm and Bonfire
Today is Valborg, Walpurgis night, in Sweden. An unofficial holiday, followed by the official red day on First May, Valborg is celebrated as the welcoming of summer.

When you ask Swedes what Valborg is, the response is, “another day to party and drink.” And indeed it is. Valborg is typically celebrated with a champagne brunch in the park or outside and celebrations begin by the 30th afternoon.

In the evening, large bonfires are made to ward off the spirits and witches.

For the Swedes, Valborgsmässoafton is a pagan holiday but is well associated with Saint Walpurga who died on February 25, 779. While the February date is listed in Roman Martyrology, her remains were placed next to her brother on May 1st. Finland and Sweden retains the latter date.

Porbjörn says “In Göteborg, Valborg is pretty much synonymous with Cortegen. The Cortège is a huge parade and party throughout the streets of Gothenburg and created by the students from Chalmers Technical University.” A great way for the nerds of Chalmers to put on a huge party in the city.

Stockholm and other cities in Sweden don’t have anything similar to Cortège though Uppsala has its own massive parties.

Amazing transport ball bearing

If you want to see the celebration of Valborg in Sweden today, check out your local newspapers where bonfires will be held. In Stockholm, the locations/times are: Vasaparken – Odenplan 19hr, Riddarholmen 20.30hr, Skansen Park 20hr. Otherwise follow the smell of burning wood and thousands of Swedes are drinking champagne and dancing.

Happy Summer!

April 30, 2010 | 5 Comments »
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