flaming birthday cake

Three years ago this blog made its debut as a collection of thoughts about life. It quickly morphed into a place to explore Swedish in an caustic, witty, and artsy way. I learned it was easier and way more entertaining to discuss Swedish life and habits without the silver lining.

For readers it’s a blog to share opinions about life in Sweden, dating, more dating, and cultural differences.

LiS writes about everything from the harsh opinions about Sweden (receiving numerous “fuck you”s) to irritation with buying alcohol and renting an apartment to a happy swedish and happy indian engagements to the sad truth that violence is in Sweden too.

Reading happy stories is rarely entertaining (unless it involves cute pandas or bunnies or baby animals). What makes stories interesting involve heart break, emotion, occasional wrath and grief.

When I first started in 2007 I had 5-10 visitors a day. Today, thanks to all my readers and passer bys, the blog has 600 unique visitors a day.

Tjooohoooo!!! Thank you all lovely readers for your support and witty comments throughout the past three years. Let’s hope for more to come!

Living in Sweden Series
Living in Sweden: Finding a Job
Job Posting in Sweden
Living in Sweden: Swedish CVs and Job Interviews
Living in Sweden: Finding an Apartment: Part 1
Living in Sweden: English Bookstores
Learn Swedish: Don’t Sätt på en Skygg Lapp

I love Iceland Series
More Photos from Eyjafjallajökull Volcano
Amazing Photos from the Volcanic Eruption in Iceland
The Confusion between Scandinavia and Nordic
Photos from Isafjordur, Iceland
Iceland: A Trip around the Ring Road
Iceland: Visiting the Island Up North
Old Norse Mythology, Myths, and Gods
What we do in Iceland during the winter
Tjoruhusid: Isafjordur’s Amazing Fish Restaurant
Viking Poison Strikes: Icelandic Brennivin
Isafjordur: A buccolic city in the West Fjords
First Days in Isafjordur

On a fun note, here are the most popular search phrases (eliminating Lost in Stockholm related phrases):
swedish girls
swedish men
dating swedish men
dating swedish women
living in sweden
swedish girls are easy
swedish guys
i hate sweden
swedish girls dating
living in stockholm

And on a bizarre and funny note, weird search phrases that has a good amount of people searching:
why are swedish girls so beautiful
why are swedish men so hot
why are swedish people so boring
swedes suck
why i hate sweden
swedish people suck
swedish sex
do swedish men shave balls

Cheers to everyone! Happy birthday blog!

On September 19th, 2010 millions of Swedes and voting adults will take to the polls and vote on the national election for Parliament (riksdag). The newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, created a fun quiz to help you figure out what political party you best support based on a 25 question quiz.

You can also see the Swedish political barometer for the past four years (2006-2010) on a near monthly basis from Dn.se.

The quiz is in Swedish but I have translated the quiz questions into English below.

Take the quiz here, Valkompassen 2010. Let us know what Swedish political party you would vote for in the 2010 Valet!

1. Sverige ska delta i nato-ledda militära operationer som exempelvis i Afghanistan
Sweden will participate in the NATO-led military operations like in Afghanistan

2. En global skatt ska motverka valutaspekulation
A global tax will discourage currency speculation

3. Privata sjukvårdsförsäkringar ska kunna komplettera den offentliga sjukvården
Private health insurance shall supplement the national health system

4. Statliga museer ska ha fri entré
National museums will have free admission

5. Sverige ska snarast införa euro
Sweden shall soon adopt the euro

6. Licensjakt på varg ska tillåtas
Wolf hunting license shall be permitted

7. Värnskatten ska avskaffas
Shielding tax should be abolished

8. Det behövs en lag om kvotering i bolagsstyrelser
There needs to be a law on quotas in corporate boards

9. FRA:s signalspaning på kabelburen trafik ska inte tillåtas
FRA’s signal to cable-borne traffic is not allowed

10. Invandringen berikar Sverige
Immigration enriches Sweden

11. Fler unga kan få jobb om las ändras och regeln sist in först ut stryks
More young people can get jobs if the rule of “last in first out” is eliminated

12. Individualiserad föräldraförsäkring ökar jämställdheten
Individualized parental insurance enhances equality

13. Avdraget för hushållsnära tjänster ska avskaffas
The deduction for household services should be abolished

14. Det ska vara förbjudet att för eget bruk fritt ladda ner upphovsrättsskyddat material från internet.
It should be prohibited for personal use to freely download copyrighted material from the Internet.

15. Sjukförsäkringen ska vara tidsbegränsad
Health insurance should be limited

16. Betyg i årskurs sex behövs
Exam scores in grade six are needed

17. Gröna skatter behövs för att förbättra miljön
Green taxes are needed to improve the environment

18. Alkoholmonopolet ska avskaffas
The alcohol monopoly should be abolished

19. Förmögenhetsskatten ska återinföras
The wealth tax will be reinstated

20. Det behövs en lag som begränsar antalet friskolor
There needs to be a law limiting the number of independent schools

21. Inkomstskatten ska sänkas ytterligare
Income tax will be reduced further

22. Turkiet bör bli medlem i EU
Turkey should join the EU

23. Uranbrytning ska tillåtas i Sverige
Uranium mining is allowed in Sweden

24. Sextimmarsdag med bibehållen lön ska införas
Six hour work days should be given the same pay

25. Monarkin ska avskaffas
The monarchy should be abolished

I was a bad American-Swedo. I skipped out on the Swedish Royal Wedding and Love Stockholm in favor of Germany. It wasn’t my idea, the Swede wanted a weekend away from the festivities.

Instead, my friend Andrew attended the Kortege and snapped some spectacular photos. He also is a blogger and photographer at Ett Foto. Unfortunately, he was not invited to the delicious banquet dinner to eat Norwegian lobster, cod, chilled green pea soup, whitefish roe, char, poached quail egg, asparagus and beetroot from Gotland, veal sirloin from Stenhammar, strawberry mousse with rhubarb and vanilla ice cream in white chocolate. Mumms! Except the green pea soup.

It’s beautiful to see Crown Princess Victoria’s wedding go through without a hitch. Her younger sister, Princess Madeleine, spent the past two months in scandal when her douchebag ex-fiance cheated on her; ending the engagement and canceling their royal wedding.

Royal Swedish Airforce

Swedish Flags flying high

Royal Submarine at the wedding ceremony

Crown Princess Victoria and husband, but not frog, Prince Daniel

The 250kg wedding cake made of strawberries, champagne mousse, pulled sugar, and soft almond meringue.
swedish wedding cake
The speech by Prince Daniel. It was really beautiful and lovely. Brings chivalry backs to Sweden and sets the bar high for all the Swedish men.

The transcript to Prince Daniel’s speech. He did speak in both English and Swedish.

För nio år sedan hade jag förmånen att lära känna en ung kvinna med en härlig humor, en stark pliktkänsla och dessutom väldigt, väldigt klok.

Vi blev vänner. Ju mer jag lärde känna henne desto mer oemotståndlig blev hon.

De här åren med dig Victoria har flugit förbi, har varit de bästa i mitt liv.

There have been times when Victorias official duties have separated us. Often taken her to faraway countries and continents. I will never forget some years ago when she left for one of her many trips, this time to China.

We were going to be apart for a whole month. The night before she left she got home late after an official engagement, and she had many preparations to make before the long month of duties ahead. Instead of getting some valuable sleep she stayed up the whole night writing.

In the morning after she had gone I found a box. And in that box I found 30 beautiful letters addressed to me. One for every day she would be away.

This romantic gesture is typical of you Victoria. It says everything about the loving person you are.

Once upon a time the young man was… perhaps not a frog, in the beginning of the fairytale… as in the story first told by the Grimm brothers. But he was certainly not a prince.

The first kiss did not change that. His transformation was not possible without the support of the wise king and queen, who had ruled the kingdom for many years, and who were full of wisdom, experience and had good heart.

They knew what was best and guided the couple with a gentle hand, generously sharing all their experience.

Jag känner en stor tacksamhet mot eders majestäter kungen och drottningen, för ert helhjärtade stöd, och för det sätt som ni har välkomnat mig in i er familj. Mina tankar går givetvis också till min egen familj. Till min mor och min far, och min syster och hennes döttrar.

Mor och far, under hela min uppväxt har ni givit mig er villkorslösa kärlek. Ni har hjälpt mig med er klokhet, och ni har hjälpt mig att bygga en stark självkänsla och trygghet genom sunda värderingar som har väglett mig genom livet.

I dag, när vi färdades genom Stockholms gator, då möttes vi av en otrolig glädje och värme. Ett minne vi kommer att bära med oss djupt inne i våra hjärtan, för alltid.

Under de år som Victoria och jag har haft tillsammans har jag känt ett stort stöd från människor som jag har mött. Det har varit väldigt viktigt för mig.

Tack.

Jag känner en djup respekt inför de uppgifter som ligger framför mig. Det kommer utan tvekan att bli en stor utmaning. Jag ska göra mitt yttersta för att leva upp till de förväntningar som kommer att ställas på mig. Jag kommer göra mitt yttersta för att stödja min hustru, Sveriges kronprinsessa, i hennes viktiga gärning.

Älskade Victoria. Jag är så stolt över det vi har tillsammans. Jag är så lyckligt att nu få vara din man. Jag ska göra allt jag någonsin kan för att du ska förbli så lycklig som du är i dag.

Victoria, störst av allt är kärleken. Jag älskar dig så.

BTW, happy summer solstice! 18h 38m 25s of daylight. Sunset at 22.09 tonight. If any single Swedish boys are mingling on Midsommer, be sure to say hi.

It’s summertime and it means walking around the city, eating ice cream, and hanging out in the park.

Recently though, I get annoyed when in a park or any grassy area where a Swede can lie down and be a solar panel. There’s garbage everywhere. Specifically, snus and cigarette butts.

Cigarette crap is disgusting.

cigarette litterWhy is there no where to sit?  Why do people have to throw their butts everywhere?  Gross.  And why, in a city that is the “Green Capital of Europe” no one has bothered to clean up the parks?

Bottle caps, cigarette butts, snus pouches litter the parks all over the city.  What’s wrong with people?  The park grass is not a garbage bin.   I am tired of seeing Swedes’ sucked on, drool disposed crap on the ground.   With so many Swedes being concerned and downright fascist about the environment, few care about the implications of tobacco litter.  Tobacco litter is dangerous for animals, the ground, and the water supply.  Think about the 375 million pounds (500,000,000 liters) of worldwide tobacco litter produced in ONE year.

In 2003, 6,700 tonnes of snus were sold in Sweden. Another seven billion cigarette sticks were sold in Sweden. Seven billion cigarette pieces is 350 million packs of cigarettes sold per year. Or put it this way, 3.5 million liters is pure cigarette butts.
litter butt

And where are the campaigns to reduce cigarette/snus waste and clean up in Sweden?   None that I visibly see.  There’s no Parks and Recreation Department here that deals with cigarette and snus garbage on a national scale.   What about Keep Sweden Beautiful programs?  Or “NO LITTER” signs on the highways and in parks.  California has a $1000 litter fine if you’re unlucky and get caught.  A hit to the pocketbook will scare anyone.

Surely, in a country that prides itself on eco-friendly products, recycling, and public transportation, they can get off their high horses and clean up the parks and cities in Sweden.  I especially love people who call themselves “socialists, marxists, or liberals” and then proceed to put out their lit cigarette on the grass and leave it there.

Facts about Cigarette butts:

  • Cigarette butts can take 5 to 12 years to fully biodegrade due to the cellulose acetate
  • Plastic pieces are found in the stomachs of fish, birds, whales, and other marine creatures that mistake them as food.
  • Wind and rain carry cigarette butts into waterways, where the toxic chemicals in the cigarette filters leak out and threaten the water supply and creatures living in it.
  • Cigarettes contain over 165 chemicals – Some of the chemicals smokers inhale and reside on cigarette butts:
  • Benzo[a]pyrene: found in coal tar and cigarette smoke and it is one of the most potent cancer causing chemical in the world.
  • Arsenic: deadly poison that causes diarrhea, cramps, anemia, paralysis and malignant skin tumors. It is used in pesticides.
  • Acetone: It’s one of the active ingredients in nail polish remover.
  • Lead: Lead poisoning stunts growth, causes vomiting, and causes brain damage.
  • Formaldehyde: causes cancer, can damage lungs, skin, and digestive systems. Embalmers use it to preserve dead bodies.
  • Toluene: highly toxic, commonly use as an ingredient in paint thinner.
  • Butane: highly flammable butane is one of the key components in gasoline.
  • Cadmium: cause damage to the liver, kidneys and brain, and stays in the body for years.

Source: Litterbutt.com

Stockholm can do better. If you smoke or snus, save the environment and throw away the butts in a proper trash bin. Not on the ground.

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.

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.

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.

Just a quick post about nothing related to Sweden (unless Arlanda airport is deserted) but of our nordic country neighbor Iceland.

I came across some more amazing video and photos gathered from the volcano region in southwestern Iceland and have to share them with you. There is also a large collection of photos of the volcano posted last month.

This video is from Sean Stiegemeier who flew to Iceland on his own to capture this video. Music is from Jónsi – Kolniður.

In the video there’s a clip of a famous airplane in the middle of nowhere. If you want to visit it, the aircraft is on the beach of Sólheimasandur.

Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull – May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.

Here’s another video of the first volcanic eruption by the Raw Iceland Team.

Volcano eruption in Iceland from Enrique Pacheco on Vimeo.

And a few more photos of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano from Flickr photographers.
Wrath of Hell - Eyjafjallajökull Eruption

Iceland - Under Construction

And the last photo, a stunning photo by Rakel Ósk Sigurðardóttir of Icelandic horses with the volcano in the background.
icelandic-horses


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!

As if Iceland needed to be in the news any more than it had in 2008 and 2009. When the rumors of a worldwide financial meltdown came to light in 2008, most people squarely blamed the small island nation in the North Atlantic Ocean called Iceland. Few people cared about the little country and even fewer ever visited the nation before then.

Soon after, Icelandic citizens were blamed for the world meltdown in the finance industry while failing to see the Wall Street gambling addiction. Iceland was just another catalyst in a series of wreck less, amoral decisions made by big American/British/pick another banks to make more money at the expenses of long term financial stability.

And now, the small Nordic nation has created a second global export: ash. While shellfish, scallops, lax, and other goods languish in the country because of the inability to reach Europe, Iceland is on the defense of “it really wasn’t our fault.” And it isn’t their fault.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c
Volcanolypse 2010
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

The Eyjaflällajökull glacier and volcano is wrecking havoc on the airline industry (estimated losses at 1.7 Billion dollars and counting), shipping, and travelers alike. More than 1.2 million passengers are affected and airline delays from the volcanic eruption are bringing the cargo world to a halt too. Now the airline industry is blaming governments for being too cautious and the governments are blaming the airline industry for being too wreck less.

Either way, the volcano eruption exported something much more than ash: few days of peace from the bustles of the 21st century world. We can at least admire in the awe of the Earth’s spectacular natural events of a volcanic eruption.

That’s why even though Volcanolypse 2010 conquers Europe, thank Iceland for giving us a few days of simplicity in life. Or enjoy a good laugh from the The Daily Show.