Swedish Olympics Withdrawal

I have an addiction. During the Winter Olympics I am addicted to the television. The Summer Olympics just are not the same. There are no crashes. Nothing crazy happens. What, a runner ran and tripped? Not exciting. A skiier flew off the track and into the tree? Crazy. A luge flies off the track? Okay, crazy and yet sad after this year’s death of the Georgian luge athlete. The world’s most dangerous Olympic Sport? Snowboard and his sister, Ski Cross.

And hey, nothing beats curling.

Or men’s hockey.

Or giant slalom.

Or the Super-G.

Now I have Swedish Olympics Withdrawal. And it’s made worse by SAD (seasonal affected disorder). Can you imagine SOW and SAD get together??!

On the fun/tragic/entertaining side, this year, Sweden set an Olympic record. Not official but the Swedes managed to have some of the most spectacular crashes. Anja Pärson crashed on her last jump on the Olympic Downhill skiing.

anja-parson-crash
But she showed everyone off by winning the Bronze medal in the Super G Alpine race.

Then, the oldest Olympic competitor in skiing, Patrik Järbyn crash during the men’s Super G. It was a pretty horrible blasting apart of skis.

(can only be seen in Sweden, boo)
Patrik could not return to compete. He luckily suffered no major damages. Considering this was supposed to be his last Olympics, I wonder if he will return again.

On Sunday, the men’s hockey match battled between the North Americans: Canada and USA. Never fear though, a Swede felt it necessary to appear at the gold medal hockey game. An amazingly awesome game; well done to both team.

And here’s the list of medals Sweden received at the 2010 Vancouver Games:
Gold
Björn Ferry – 12.5km Biatholan Pursuit
Charlotte Kalla – 10km mass start
Marcus Hellner – Men’s 30 km Pursuit (15C+15F)
Daniel Richardsson, Johan Olsson, Anders Södergren, Marcus Hellner – Men’s 4×10 km Relay Classic/Free
Anette Norberg, Eva Lund, Christine Lindahl, Anna Le Moine, Kajsa Bergström – Women’s Curling

Silver
Anna Haag – Ladies’ 15 km Pursuit (7.5km Classic + 7.5km Free)
Anna Haag, Charlotte Kalla – Ladies’ Team Sprint Free

Bronze
Johan Olsson – Men’s 30 km Pursuit (15C+15F)
Joan Olsson – Bronze Men’s 50 km, Mass Start Classic
Anja Pärson – Alpine Supercombination (Super G)
André Myhrer – Alpine Slalom

4th Place
Curling – Mens
Ice hockey – Ladies
Marcus Hellner – 15km long mass start
Anna Haag – 10km mass start
Anna Olsson – Sprint
Maria Pietilä-Holmner – Alpine Slalom
Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek – Biathlon

Tied 8th place with 11 medals against the other countries. Too bad Norway beat us with 23 medals.

And to that, the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games are over. Back to our real social lives.

March 3, 2010 | 7 Comments »

Sweden at the USA-Canada Olympics Gold Hockey Match

Couldn’t help but laugh at the Swede who’s routing for… Sweden … at the USA – Canada game? Whoops!

UPDATE: Canada scores first and “the place goes bananas.” USA ties the game with 24 seconds left in regulation. Canada wins the Gold medal in an overtime match against the US. Very awesome. Crosby puts it in. People are going crazy in Vancouver!

What about our Swedo? Evidently he wore this outfit so that his wife could find him on tv. Smart little Swede.
Where's Swedo? USA Canada Olympic Hockey Match

Medal Ceremony at the Hockey game. You can still spot the Swede.
Medal Ceremony Men's Olympic Hockey

Some Canadian fans know how to dress in style
Funny Canadians

What a way to end the Olympics!

February 28, 2010 | 5 Comments »

World Nutella Day in Sweden … Mumms!

I stumbled across the best food holiday ever: World Nutella day. And with the terrible things that happened this week, i really needed something happy.

The founders of Bleeding Espresso, Ms. Adventures in Italy, and At Home in Rome have set up feb 5th to be international nutella day. What does mean for those in Sweden? Skip the sugary Swedish Nötcreme, it has nothing on our delicious goodness from Italy.

Why is Nutella better than Nötcreme?

  • Nutella is made from hazelnuts and chocolate, nötcrème is made from hazelnuts and vegetable fat and sugar.
  • Nutella comes in a delicious jar, nötcreme comes in a 20 gram plastic bag
  • Nötcreme, is light brown and looks a lot like something that came from the toilet….ewww.

Alright Swedes, so let’s Nutella Day tomorrow!

To celebrate Nutella day, eat Nutella on crêpes, waffles, or pancakes. Or make Nutella cupcakes. Mumms! And of course, share the love with friends.

And you can buy Nutella in Sweden at any grocery store. It’s usually found in the jams (sylt) section.

nutella day

If you take photos, be sure to post a link here.

February 4, 2010 | 6 Comments »

Violence in Sweden

Whenever people think of Sweden, they think of Switzerland, the land of the Alps, chocolate, and serenity.  Sweden fulfills the serenity and peace; and for most people, a safe country.  Considered a boring country to many because nothing happens except an occasional mob of girls beating each other silly at the H&M stores.

This week I was reminded that just because the world perceives Sweden as a safe country, crazy people still exist.  Bat shit violent crazy.

A week ago, I was planning a business trip abroad and so the night before was working late, putting my papers together, cleaning the kitchen and doing laundry (i am a good housewife).  The little Swede was still at the office with his coworkers because of a project.

At midnight, I finally finished my chores and sat down to watch “How I Met Your Mother.” I can’t remember the episode, but it was funny, as always.

Some fifteen minutes later, the door burst open and I could hear Porbjórn screaming ‘honey, honey’.

That was when things got fuzzy in my head.

I ran to the living room and there was blood all over his face.

I started cleaning his face thinking he had a terrible fall on the sidewalk. The fucking Stockholm City does not clean the goddamn streets of ice, even the most trafficked streets in the city.  The only street cleaned is the one block on Drottningsgatan; it’s been cleaned so well, you would never know snow existed.  The Stockholm government is pretty stupid at actually shoveling the snow, because probably that would be too hard for the workers.  Idiots…

But falling on the ice was not the reason.

He was beaten.

He was on his way home and crossed the street from the tunnelbana station exit. As in usual Stockholm car driver asshole-ness, the driver didn’t really want to yield to him even though the pedestrian had the right of way.

And Porbjorn crossed the street like any normal person does when they see a green light.

Then the driver turned his car and drove after him.

Crazy driver drove onto the sidewalk.

He jumped out of the car, and chased down my little Swede.

And then the crazy fucking man grabbed Porbjorn and then starting punching him.

Not with his fists, but with a gun.

A gun.

The love of my life was beaten by a fucking asshole, who was probably high on meth, with a gun.

After spending the night in the hospital getting stitches, the police escorted us back home.  The Swedish police (polis) were also in shock, this doesn’t happen in the city, especially with a gun. We don’t know if this fucker will ever be caught but if so, he will be charged with attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.  Ghastly words: attempted murder.

As a side note, guns are illegal in Sweden except for certain hunting ones which require taking a long exam and background check in order to obtain.  This is the not the stupid philosophy of waiting 7 days for an automatic gun in the US.  You wait months for a hunting gun.  And a handgun? Forget it.

Our Porbjorn will require surgery to fix some of the broken bones.  But I am thankful because he has no neurological damage.  He may have a small scar.  The sad part is that our emotional damage will last a long time.  As of now, I’m still living in the surrealistic world of comprehending and processing the trauma.

And just a week after he proposed, life gave us a bitter pill of reality to swallow.  I can’t even think of more words to write because it’s so personal and heartbreaking.  But I know that through the help of family and friends, we will get through the trauma; my love will be stronger for him.  And we will make stronger bonds as partners.

If you ever thought violent crimes are uncommon in Sweden, they are… until you meet someone who experienced it.

January 30, 2010 | 21 Comments »

A Swedish Engagement

It happened! The little Swedish boy proposed. O M G! OMG OMG OMG

The back story…

Today is our two year anniversary of first meeting. Since we started dating right after we met, well we are using the 18th as our anniversary. And as a friend pointed out, today is Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year. Take that Blue Monday!

We decided on Sunday to take a nice walk around Södermalm in the afternoon. We went home shortly after sunset, drank Pol Roger champagne, did home pedicures. I had this really cool scraper to clean my feet, an osthyvel for the foot!
Södermalm Frozen
Anyway, we had dinner at the Italian restaurant nearby, came home and chatted. Then I decided to head to bed (because I love the comforter) and we played silly question games like, “If you were a fruit, what kind of fruit would you be?” Hehe, I know. Totally lame.

I was almost falling asleep after drinking lots of champagne and dreaming of dancing oranges (don’t ask why).

Then a shy boy asked:

So i’ve been thinking all day, and just couldn’t figure out a good time. but since it’s our two year anniversary…will you marry me?

He even had that cute swedish boy look.

It was at home at midnight. He didn’t get down on one knee or whisk me off to Finland on a boat. But it was perfect, and Swedish: a quiet, intimate, loving way to say the best “I love you”

Stay tuned for a monsoon wedding and preparations.

PS: There is no ring yet. We’ll get there soon!

January 18, 2010 | 33 Comments »

Results of Poll 2010

Last week I asked what you would like to see on the blog for 2010. You can still take the poll for another week but here are the current results:
LiS-poll2010

A whooping 21% want to see more stuff about dating. If people choose it because it was the first on list, this could result in a slight bias. Never fear, I will cover lots more about dating and sambo life in Sweden.

Next up 16% chose answers about living in Sweden and 10% chose anything about Sweden. Basically, I will do more to write about successfully moving, living, and surviving in Sweden for 2010.

At 11% people voted for more personal stuff. I dunno how person you guys want me to be. :P But I will try to talk more about life but still maintain my nebulous persona.

At a tie with 10% of the votes each are: foodalicious, travel photos, and hating on the Swedes. As I love cooking, I am going to make more of an effort to take photos and write recipes to share. Since I already have tons of travel photos, this should be easy to do. Since hating on the Swedes totally made me laugh, I will write more. Turns the 10 things I hate about Sweden is one of my post popular posts, even though I don’t hate the country (just Bolaget ;).

Fashion and news are going to be wiped off for 2010. There maybe one fashion post about it, we’ll see. And there maybe news if it’s really funny or controversial, like the Pirate Bay being acquitted accidentally.

And last, the Other category is screwed up. I cannot see what you wrote in there. Please write below what you would like to see. I know @mike_rooseboom wrote more stuff about Swedish bands.

Let me know! And thank you all for taking the time to do the poll.

January 14, 2010 | 1 Comment »

Yes We Can, Maybe: Nobel Prize Dinner 2009

It’s that time of the year. No, not stuffing yourself silly with lussekatter and glögg, nor putting up Christmas decorations. It’s …

wait for it…

wait for it…

yes-we-did
(my hideous rendition of a once beautiful design from Depresident, a political t-shirt shop. )

It’s the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize with Obamarama!

If you missed out on the news, President Barack Obama was awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize “for for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples.” Now people, I love Obama because of what he stands for, but a Peace Prize barely a year into his presidency is pretty hilarious. Back in 2007 former Vice President Al Gore received the Peace Prize along with the IPCC and that was awesome. He has worked a lot with climate change and definitely deserves it.

Obama, now has huge expectations to fulfill. If he does not perform 501%, I’m sure some redneck Fox News psychos will bash him on his Swedish socialism style. Because you know, Sweden, Socialism, and Obama equal death for the conservatives.

Anyway, let’s leave the dude alone and see what happens.

On a more delicious side; the Nobel Prize Dinner. Here are some fun facts about the dinner:

  • 23,000 flowers from San Remo, Italy. Alfred Nobel lived there during the last years of his life.
  • 1300 Guests attend the ceremony today
  • 113 Male guests attended the first ceremony in 1901

So while peons like myself are not invited to celebrate in the festivities in Oslo or Stockholm, we can all watch it online here.


The 2009 Nobel Dinner Menu (for Stockholm):
Lobster consommé with shellfish tartare, lobster and Kalix bleak roe

Truffle-stuffed quail with parsley root, Brussels sprouts and port wine gravy (extremely delicious)

Lemon and fresh cheese mousse with sea-buckthorn sorbet (interesting and possibly delicious)

I still have not figured out what the vegetarians and shellfish allergic people eat though.

Vins:
Jacquart Brut Millesime 2002, Magnum

Chateau la Dominique 2001, Saint Emilion Grand Cru Classe

Tschida ba Seewinkel 2006, Neusiedlersee

Ohh, there are no photos up yet, but I’ll try to post a couple soon.

December 10, 2009 | 9 Comments »

Google Wave Invite Contest: Write, Subscribe, Win

New UPDATE: Nov 17th: Lots of invites to share again. Please just follow below. Have issues, then Twitter me.

UPDATE WINNERS!: Here they are: Stefan (@lostinsweden), Demmos, Sam, Erik. Congrats guys!

I may be getting more invites tommorow, saturday, so stay tuned if you have not received one yet and want to participate in the contest.

I received a Google Wave invite today from my friend, RS and thanks dude. I evidently had no idea so many desire an invite and I have a few extra invites left. If you want to get a sneak peek at the GW preview and a free invite to it, you are in luck! I will pick four people who follow the rules below by tonight, Friday, at midnight (that’s Swedish time, whatever that may be for you).

What you need to do:
1. Subscribe to my RSS feed. Please don’t subscribe, only to unsubscribe, that’s not cool.
2. Link to this page or any other blog post you love/hate on Lost in Stockholm from your blog/website.
3. Write a comment below that you did it, yay!
4. Send me a confirmation by via the contact form below of the link and email addy you use to subscribe to the RSS feed. This is to keep things private for you.

Here is the contact form:

October 2, 2009 | 6 Comments »

101 Tasks to do in 1001 Days

There’s this one cool site (i forgot now the URL) that has a project to do 101 things in 1001 days (a little over three years). So far I have 36 things on the list but by the end of the month I hope to have the list done. This is way better than making a new year’s resolution as this just keeps on going.

Travel

  1. Visit 10 new countries
  2. Ride in a hot air balloon
  3. Go snorkeling in the Caribbean
  4. See friends in North Carolina
  5. Go to Svalbard (75N 75N)
  6. See the Northern Lights (auroras)
  7. Visit Japan and see two of my very good friends
  8. Have a pina colada in Mexico
  9. See some country in Africa…Morocco, Eqypt maybe
  10. Visit Finland by boat (hello weird drunken swedish-finnish boats!)
  11. Go to Australia / New Zealand
  12. Take the ship to Patagonia
  13. See penguind in their habitat
  14. Take a cruise in the Caribbean
  15. Visit Gotland during the summer

    16. Personal

  16. Do henna / menhdi for girls at least five parties
  17. Learn skiing without a concussion

  18. Take the flight simulator course with Navin

    19. done!

  19. Read Swedish at least once a week to the SO
  20. Get a drivers license in Sweden
  21. Get engaged; just as any girl would want!
  22. Take a flying course
  23. Pass Level III in Swedish and take the exam
  24. Learn to make an excellent Cosmopolitan
  25. Get rid of this damn flabby belly! Go away flabby tummy!
  26. Read Harry Potter again and again and again
  27. Jog in a 10k marathon
  28. Write a book, long or short, doesn’t matter
  29. Find a Dunkin Donuts and eat the most delicious donuts ever!

    30. Career

  30. Really get down and dirty with the technical side of my work
  31. Get promoted to the next level
  32. Have 4-5 more training workshops to help fellow coworkers
  33. Rule the world, hehe

    34. Blog / Photography

  34. Reach 1000 visitors per day on the blog
  35. See the Love Refugee project to fruition
  36. Blog at least once a week
  37. Master my camera, the Nikon D200, before it kicks my ass
  38. Photo Mondays on the blog – share my photos
  39. Shoot 2-3 weddings (hired or otherwise)
  40. Get a tilt shift lens

If you write a list of your own, be sure to share the link here. =)

September 17, 2009 | 6 Comments »

Photo Monday: Midnattsloppet 2009 – Stockholm’s Midnight Run

This Monday’s photos of Stockholm is from the Stockholm’s Midnattsloppet (August 15th, 2009) on Saturday night. Now a midnight run would entail running at midnight but for some odd reason, the first heat began at 22:00 and the race officially finished at 00:20. More than 21,000 people run the Midnattsloppet and even teenagers run in the Lilla Midnattsloppet.

The midnight race began in 1982 by a group of runners from Hammarby (a suburb of Stockholm) who wanted a more exciting way to train. It is a 10k run around the island Sodermalm, though previously was in Kungsholmen, and occurs every summer. If you want to join in on a great part marathon, this is the place to do it. And today, the race is also celebrated in Gothenburg and Copenhagen.

midnattsloppet 2009 - dancers!
The dancers crossing the finish line

midnattsloppet 2009 - The finish line
Buildings on Hornsgatan are lit up in beautiful colors as the runners cross the finish line.

August 17, 2009 | 1 Comment »
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