Today is National Day in Sweden, and it's feeling pretty bittersweet – at best – for foreign-born people in the country, given that this year the government has also chosen the day to bring in their strict new citizenship requirements.
Celebrating new citizens is typically a key part of National Day, so it feels for many of our readers that by choosing June 6th to bring in the new rules, the current Swedish government is tarnishing a day that should be about welcome and integration.
So it's no surprise that most of the readers who responded to our survey about National Day said they wouldn't be celebrating this year. I won't be either, but that's frankly because I never do – I'm personally not big on nationalism, so I also never did anything on Canada Day (July 1st, if anyone's curious) when my Swedish husband and I lived in 'my' country.
Swedish summer parties more generally though – that I'm up for! In fact, last week I went to my first real Swedish sommarfest. But although fest means “party,” I would not use the English word to describe this occasion – which was downright quiet, despite a fair amount of people showing up.
I don't mean to say that it was unpleasant: the light in Umeå at this time of year is truly magical, especially on a sunny day (or a sunny night – we are rapidly approaching round-the-clock light up here). There is a dewy, soft quality to the sunshine on summer days like that here in the Swedish north, and as I sat on the porch steps beside my 4-year-old looking out at the idyllic little garden, it was hard to believe the view wasn't a painting.
But it wasn't a party, or even a real backyard BBQ (despite the active presence of a BBQ) – at least not by North American standards. I've had Swedes here tell me that they can tell I'm Canadian because I'm "not as loud as Americans," but I find that hard to believe. The first time I met an American here, in my SFI C class, I instantly realized, for the first time, just how much Canadians and Americans have in common. The two of us together were so boisterous that the rest of the class – all hailing from Europe, Africa, or Asia – took to watching us instead of the Swedish teacher.
At a sommarfest (or at least one like this, attended mostly by middle-aged people and their tween children), there is no boisterousness; there's barely any noise at all. Nor are there any chairs. Instead Åsas, Annas, Jonases, and Johans all stand around somewhat awkwardly in little Swedish circles, making occasional conversation so quiet it barely registers from a metre away.
Yet in Sweden, I am learning, this is the way. So I took a deep breath, poured a little extra wine from the box on the communal table, and stationed myself in an appropriately-sized gap in the closest Swedish standing circle. After a few minutes of hanging around saying nothing, with none of the Swedes acknowledging my presence, I plunged in with my (quite lousy) Swedish.
And, as always happens when I take such plunges, the Swedes who had seemed to be ignoring me were actually very kind and open. The five or so of us stood around making slow, quiet conversation (I really have to work on remembering to be OK with long pauses) until a natural time came come for drifting away.
When my husband, daughter and I left the sommarfest later that evening, the first thing my husband said to me was, "I saw you go up and stand around in that 'Swedish circle'...nicely done. It isn't easy."
What have we been writing about this week?
It was another busy week for immigration news in Sweden: the government finally gave information on the 'safety valve' law for foreign-born young adults facing deportation that they announced back in March, so we did an article unpacking what it means for those affected.
Right on the heels of that, we broke the news that the last hope for adding transitional measures for those who have been stuck in the Swedish citizenship backlog – at least in advance of June 6th, when the new rules come into effect – failed when House Speaker Andreas Norlén denied the Green Party's request for an emergency revote motion.
We also got some answers (sometimes mixed ones!) from the Migration Agency on whether citizenship applications can be paused (possibly for the language and civics tests, but not for the new residency or income requirements), and under what circumstances those who choose to withdraw their applications might qualify for a partial refund.
In more general politics news, the highly-regarded annual election poll from Statistics Sweden came out and it showed that if the national election were held now, the red-green parties would get a majority government on their own. That means that the Social Democrats, the Left Party, and the Green Party would not need the support of the centre-right Centre Party in order to form a government.
And last but not least we published the results of our survey about how readers are feeling about Sweden's National Day this year. We also gave some tips on where you can celebrate, if you want to, and what's open and closed today.
That's all for now! I've been fighting a cold all week (yes, in June...this is the life of someone living with a preschooler), so I think I'll dip into the stockpile of NeoCitran (that's Nyquil if you're American, Night Nurse if you're British, and extra-strength combination cold medication if you have no idea what I'm talking about) that I've asked family to bring me from Toronto and turn in early. Sounds boring, but I'm stoked.
Mandy
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