An Alien in Sweden

A blog about my move from England and my new life in Sweden.
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My first Midsummer!

Friday, June 24th, 2011

So today I experienced my first Swedish Midsummer.

We did not travel far, about an hour down to a lovely little place called Vardnas in Ostergotland. If you read my last blog, you would see, that I did not know what to expect with my first Midsummer in Sweden. After spending the last two amongst several thousand rather tipsy Swedes in London, it was something that I was really going to enjoy.

We arrived at around 2pm and paid 25 SEK to enter (£2.50) and parked the car then took a slow walk into what looked like a small valley. Vardnas is a very tiny place but it’s beautifully located by a lovely river and Treetop Mountains all around.

The weather was not that kind as the sun was tending to play hide and seek throughout most of the day. Some Swedish people had come dressed for summer, others winter. I adopted to wear small, short sleeved shirt!

The first thing I saw was the children walking out to the Midsummer Pole (Click here to view the video)

Then the pole was erected, albeit with no help from the wind (Click here to see)

What followed was some lovely dancing with everyone involved and of course there was the song about the frogs and the pigs, that I have now learned the words too “små grodorna” (Click here to see!)

It didn’t last as the dances were soon over and then a wonderful jazz band played some lovely songs.

Above all, it was a great local Midsummer and one that I will always remember as my first in Sweden.

Happy Midsommer to you all!

Some photos

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Midsummer – Where are the celebrations?

Tuesday, June 21st, 2011

This will be my first Midsummer in Sweden.

The past two years I have spent with thousands of other Swedes in Hyde Park London. I must admit that I had nothing but sheer fun those two years past and really am looking forward to this weekend.

However I am really unsure about how people here celebrate. My impression was that it there would be some kind of gathering in each city or town but from the people I have spoken to this does not seem to be the case. It appears it’s more of a private family tradition that is done.

Being new here I wanted to just go to the local park maybe take some food and drink and have a good afternoon with others but when I contacted the local organisers the reply was one of “Sorry we don’t do anything for Midsummer.”
I was surprised.

Maybe it’s just here in Norrkoping that this is happening, but what are other areas doing? Is it true that it’s more of a family event or maybe it’s just the London experience that gave me the impression that it was for more of a larger gathering.
Either way I am going to thoroughly enjoy myself this weekend and a blog will follow with my first real taste of this celebrated holiday!

Ps a note to the local.se. Any chance we can start to embed videos in our blog posts? ;)

Would love to hear your views on how it should be celebrated!

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21 Days to go – No reason left to stay

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

21 Days to Go

A facebook friend of mine is moving to Japan on Friday. Like me the thought of spending another year in the UK is becoming less and less appealing.

Firstly I would like to clear one thing up. I don’t hate the UK, nor do I hate living here. I was born in Britain, I am proud to be British and I will always be British no matter where I live. But like my facebook friend and I we have become tired of the way that the country has become over the last few years.

Before the new coalition government took power in May the previous government seemed to act like tenants leaving a property. Gone was the love, gone was the caring they just ran it into the ground for the next government to clean up the mess. Crime and Unemployment are at an all time high and even after living in London for ten years I have noticed the difference.

I am old enough to know that Sweden is not a country paved with gold; it has its problems just like the UK. There is unemployment, crime and issues just like we have here. But after spending the last eight days in Sweden, my last ‘visit’ before my move I have realised that I am making the correct decision.

There will be many things that I will miss (note to self. pack Reggae, Reggae Sauce, Vinegar and Mustard!) but there are also plenty of opportunities through work to come back to the UK and enjoy the things that currently I am taking for granted.

The UK has gone downhill the last few years and I have made the big decision to move to a country where I cannot speak the language fluently nor do I know how to drive on the other side of the road. A country where I will be paying more taxes and ridiculous amounts of money for a half full pint of beer.

But the very society that Sweden has, the society that my friends deem as “boring” is what appeals to me. I want a country with stability, a system where the emphasis is on family life and not just about ‘number one’ It is a decision that I have not taken lightly. It’s been two years of thinking, planning and experiencing to reach.

Yes Sweden is my new home. But my heart will always be British.

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Sweden will not change me

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

A lot of people that I have been speaking to have been saying about how life will be different in Sweden and asking if I was scared about moving to such a different country.

Of course there is a little bit of apprehension and adjustment that needs to be made but simply my answer is no. I am simply moving from one European country to another, the way of life is not that different and the ethics, cultural setup and economic systems are more or less the same.

I’ve been fortunate enough to travel the world and in those travels have seen things that changed my life. I have been amongst what I would describe as some of the best and worst environments that one can imagine. In those travels I have needed to adapt in order to survive so Sweden will be no different.

To simply summarise Sweden will not change me. I will change Sweden.

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My thoughts on the Royal Wedding

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Wedding

Well the waiting is over and the Royal wedding is finally upon us. It’s been strange to be caught up in this media frenzy and to witness first hand how another country, the country I will soon call home has viewed it.

Now if this was the UK the media would be in overdrive now and it would no doubt be even more popular than the World Cup. I can barely remember when Prince Charles and Princess Diana got married but I can recall the whole country coming to a complete standstill. But that was then and this is now and of course times have changed.

Like the UK, Sweden seems often divided between the royalists and those who think that a royal family is an outdated system that is a burden on taxpayer’s money. My own opinion is that having a royal family is a good thing providing it benefits the country in some way. Here in the UK the Queen not only sits on the throne but also is head of the Commonwealth, albeit with minimal power.

This year has seen The Crown Princess Victoria and her soon to be husband Daniel Westling overcome a lot of adversity and issues surrounding his background and I have admired the way that they have stuck together. Then we have the younger sister Princess Madeleine whose fiancé had an alleged affair with a Norwegian student and there own wedding was cancelled.

It just goes to show that being part of a monarchy does not change who you are as a person. You will still have the ups and downs to deal with in life, still have the issues about being loyal and true to the person you love. So to Madeleine I say “Plenty more princes in the sea”

To Victoria and Daniel. Congratulations and may you have a long and happy marriage.

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Can social media help the Swedish Church?

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

A falling faith in Scandinavia.

I read a report on the Sweden.se today that many people were turning their backs on the church in Sweden and that long term fall in members has led to a decline in baptisms and weddings.

Firstly I’d likely to point out a few things. Firstly I am pagan and secondly I have no issues at all with other people’s religions or faith, unless that is you are a scientologist. I read that the Church of Sweden has expressed its concern in the decline of confirmations, worshippers and members since 2004 but are now more concerned with the lack of weddings and baptisms that usually boost the attendance in churches.

Now I now little of the Swedish religious culture but it appears that as we have moved well into the 21st century the more opportunities where you can get married will naturally see a decline in church weddings. When my parents were wed the only place you could get married in was a church or registry office yet the explosion of civil weddings and getting married abroad will have dented the Church.

Over the ten years since the church was separated from the state, the proportion of the population retaining a membership of the church has fallen from 82.9 percent to 71.3 percent, with 73,400 people leaving the church in 2009. Those figures are worrying for any church. If the pattern continues then by the end of the century there will statistically be no people left to attend. Jonas Bromander forecast that the fall in the faithful would continue and settle at around 60 percent in ten years.

Yet is the Christian Church out of touch with modern times? How can the young raised in an age of social media and internet be attracted to a society that many deem to be out of touch and old fashioned?

These questions offer a very interesting discussion and it’s one that I would like to hear your opinions of. I’m not after a religious debate, what I am seeking is can our modern day society assist in brining people to a religion whose attendance is clearly in decline? Would the churches of the world use things such as blogs, webcasts and podcasts to increase members.

Would love to hear your thoughts.

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Off with his head

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Often when I am walking past Buckingham Palace in London I tend to cringe a little inside. Day after day tourists arrive in their thousands wanting to see The Queen. The fact that The Queen is rarely in Buckingham Palace nor has she made a public appearance in decades it’s also the actual Royal Family itself that makes my curl up inside.

The UK has without any doubt one of the worlds most famous Royal families, dating back almost 1000 years the likes of Henry VIII, Queen Victoria and our current Queen Elizabeth II are known worldwide. Yet the current Queen has had to deal with more publicity and heartache than any other in history. Her children have married, cheated and divorced. The inquest into Diana’s death, the scandal of butlers stealing and blackmailing. No wonder her highness stays away from it all.

Yet today I read that the forthcoming wedding of Sweden’s Princess Madeleine and Jonas Bergstrom has been called off over his alleged affair with a 21 year old Norwegian student. Now this is not to be confused with the much larger wedding of her sister Crown Prince Victoria later this year. But again I question the value of countries monarchies. In the UK the wealth of the Royal Family, with the exception of Prince Charles, is paid for from what the British public earn (Charles income is from the revenue of Cornwall) but time after time it is just a pure embarrassment caused by the Royals that seem to damage any lasting reputation.

I know little of Sweden’s monarchy and its history but what I do know is that it is something the Swedes are proud of. With the younger Princess being cheated on it will no doubt cast a shadow over the main royal wedding later this year. But the question that I want to throw open to the readers here is “How much does Sweden care for its Monarchy?”

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Exploring Scandinavia

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Lately I have been getting the travel bug again. As the weather is getting warmer I always tend to drift off thinking of warmer climates. I have been very lucky in my life and have had the fortune of travelling Europe, America, South America, the Far East and Australia and it has not broken the bank.

With enough pre-planning travelling can be a very cheap experience and offers us the chance to see new parts of the world that we would not normally get the chance to see. I know that one day I will return back to Australia and South America but right now my heart is really set on Scandinavia which might sound odd as I will be moving there in a year.

But the more I research the more I want to know. The history of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark is as old, if not older, than most European countries yet it’s a history that is so unknown. Moving to Sweden I know that I will have the chance to explore much more in my time there so this year I’ll be travelling a lot to the other Scandinavian countries to find out more about this illustrious history.

I have not had a hot holiday for several years now but will have the fortune of visiting Japan this August when I know the weather is going to be warm, but it’s not all about the weather. The world is truly an amazing place and as people we are so lucky to live in times where travel is fast, affordable and not too much of a burden.

We have beauty within our own countries that we can also enjoy but there is little harm in hopping on a plane to a new location that we have never been to before. That’s the real beauty about travelling, it’s going to a new place, facing the unknown and learning something new to improve ourselves as people in both knowledge and culture.

Now where did I put my suitcase?

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What my friends think of Sweden

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

When I say to my friends “I am moving to Sweden” the first thing that the reply is “Swindon? Why would you want to move there?” It is only when I correct their pronunciation that they understand, yet even then there is always a look of uncertainty on their faces.

I did a small experiment the other week. I asked ten of my friends to list 5 things that immediately came into their head when I mention the word Sweden. The results were very similar and here were the top 5.

Ikea

Abba

Sven

Ulrika

Chef

• 1.Ikea
• 2.Abba
• 3.Sven Goran Eriksson
• 4.The Chef from the Muppets
• 5.Ulrika Johnson

If I were a Swede I would find this rather insulting. For a country with as much history as our own their global recognition are a chain of stores, a band from the 1970’s, a failed football manager and his mistress and finally a puppet (I did not include expensive beers as three of my friends quoted!)

Sweden is a country that sits nearly on the top of Europe yet so many people are unaware of the true beauty of this country. Since I began really researching the history I would say that my top 5 would not be too similar from that above but Sweden has a history so rich and important that many of my friends would be surprised at just how wonderful this country really is.

In a few years time Sweden will not only be my home but it will also be the country that I will hopefully be a citizen of and there is no country I would rather belong to than this.

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Royal weddings are not what they used to be

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

I have been reading with interest lately about the forthcoming wedding of Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling. The Swedish monarchy is much like the monarchy here in the UK in it’s setup of their roles in today’s society.

The wedding is rumored to be costing the country around $12m which is a lot of money to spend. Some 2,500 soldiers and employees at the Defence Ministry will participate in a wedding day parade. The cost has not been announced. A total of 4 million kronor has been allocated to the Foreign Ministry to deal with the international press, along with diplomats and international royalty.

Westling is not of Royal decent. He is an equity partner in three fitness gyms, and met Victoria in 2002 while he was her personal trainer. The engagement to the Crown Princess, 33, was announced last year.

I can see many royalists having issues with this but my take is different. The days of Royal families marrying into other monarchies ended centuries ago. If you take the most famous Royal Wedding of recent times, Prince Charles and Princess Diana you could see just how this setup was doomed. Diana was the daughter of the Earl of Spencer and the rest is history. Unfaithfulness on both parties and one divorce later and it left the nation divided on the issue. Of course there was a rather tragic ending to this tale but it highlights for me just how an “arranged” royal wedding cannot work in this day or age.

Look at Prince William, the eldest son of Diana and Charles he witnessed the fallout of his parents marriage. With impending rumors of his engagement to Kate Middleton the scenario between himself and his parents could not be different. Diana’s parents were Earl of Spencer. Kate Middleton’s parents air a pilot and an air stewardess and she comes from a working class background who met the Prince at University. They are happy in love.

Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling are in love and in this day and age where all we read about is marriage break ups and relationship failures then a Royal Wedding is just what is required to lift spirits and put a smile on people’s faces in this rather gloomy time.

Sweden and the UK will both be experiencing Royal Weddings shortly. But unlike before both are marrying those outside of the Royal circle. If they are in love then who are we to say what is right and what is wrong?

Best of luck to them!

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