God jul / Merry Christmas

What a glorious time of year.  I am blessed to be one of those who have mostly fond memories of this wonderful celebration and I thoroughly enjoy it.

Christmas, or Jul, is celebrated differently in the U.S. and Sweden in so many ways.

For those of you who are not Swedish, let me share a few insights.

The day Swedes celebrate is not actually Christmas day, but julafton, or Christmas eve.  Although only 3% of Swedes attend church, the first Sunday in Advent is the most likely day they will attend.

It occurs to me that the personality of a people group is expressed in so many ways.  I see Swedes as quieter than Americans.  There is very definitely positives and negatives to the differences, but I will not go into that here.  My point in bringing this up is that I see this difference demonstrated in the way that Christmas is celebrated.

Decor.  Sweden's Christmas colors are red and white.  Decorations that are seen from the street are typically limited to lit stars or candles in the windows, Christmas trees which are typically real as opposed to artificial, curtain panels are sometimes changed to reflect the holiday, jul bucks are seen.

Jul bucks are not reindeer but goats.  Notice that the Swedish flag is part of the decoration.  

Tomte are just crazy cute.  I mean seriously, how could anyone not squeal in glee when one sees them?  Of course, I am an American, so I would (at least quietly) squeal.  A Swede may be quieter and just smile. Traditionally, tomte were mischievous little beings, dressed in grey, not red, and who dwelt at farms.  Although they could be helpful and do chores, if the farmers did not treat their tomte nicely, then the tomte would cause problems for the farmers.  But I think that has been softened now.   The tomtar (plural form of the word tomte) are seen in both red and in grey, and I don't think people worry anymore about appeasing them . For more reading on this subject, here is a link:   

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomte

These are very familiar Christmas decor and versions of these are in most windows, traditionally appearing the first Sunday of advent.




Food: The Jul bord,literally, "the Christmas table",
borrowed from http://www.scandinaviafood.com/

Gravad lax, cured salmon
Julskinka, christmas ham
Inlagd sill, pickled herring
Rodbetssallad, beetroot-salad
Janssons frestelse, janssons temptation  (think scalloped potatoes with a few anchovies included)
Rodkal (rödkål), red cabbage
Gronkal, (grönkål), green cabbage
Kottbullar (köttbullar), meatballs
Prinskorv, prince sausage
Potatissallad, potato-salad
Graddsas (gräddsås), cream-sauce
Serve together with boiled green peas, edam-cheese, dark bread, butter, sweet grainy mustard and for drink christmas beer, snaps and julmust (Swedish cola of which I have previously spoken    : P ).

For more on the Julbord:
http://www.thelocal.se/20111222/38096


Christmas carols.

I find that the lyrics of Swedish Christmas carols to be pleasant but with little theological significance.  Now I only know a few songs, so I readily admit that there may be others that have deeper meaning.  That said, below are the translated lyrics of one song which we sang in church on the first Sunday of Advent.  Here is link to a home movie to the song being sung.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rwfrdy30XBw   The tune is lovely, and although the recording is amateurish, it is otherwise so Swedish I want to include it.

We light a candle in the Advent,
it warms those who are frozen.
We light a candle in the Advent,
it spreads light in our darkness here.
And all who are afraid and freeze on earth,
they should be allowed to sit at our table
when we light a candle of Advent,
when we light a candle of Advent.


In contrast, for my non-American readers, a few insights into how Christmas is celebrated in the U.S..

Christmas is typically celebrated on Christmas day, although Christmas Eve is not neglected and sometimes extended families split up their time between the two in order to visit everyone.

Although the percentage of Americans who have religious faith is far greater than the percentage of Swedes, I think as Americans become more secularized, less go to church on Christmas day, and more go on Christmas Eve, leaving Christmas day for the secular aspects of the celebration.  If an American rarely goes to church, the two days they are most likely to attend are Christmas Eve/ Christmas day, and Easter.

The Christmas colors are red and green.

Decor:  Well, although some is quiet and classic, it has more color and more bling. And yes, there is definitely a portion of the population that invest a lot of time and effort in "louder" decorations.

While visiting my sister and her family over the Christmas holidays, we parked in front of a house that was covered in lights.  The lights were set to music supplied by a local  radio station.  One tuned into the station and watched the light show.  The owners had a special North Pole mailbox in their yard wherein one could take a candy cane and leave a donation for a children's charity.

Food - Honestly, this really depends on what your ethnic background is and what part of the country you live in.  There is absolutely no one American Christmas food tradition.

Christmas carols.

The Christmas carols, as opposed to the silly, but fun, Christmas songs like Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, are rich in theology and meaning.  I do not pretend that these carols where written in the United States by Americans.  We are an immigrant country and our traditions are a compilation of many places and people groups.  The carols we listen to at Christmas time tell the story of Jesus Christ the Savior and why and how He cam into the world.  If one knew nothing of Christianity, one could read the lyrics to one or two Christmas carols and understand the core of the Christan faith.

I offer two examples of traditional Christmas carols enjoyed in the United States:

Hark the herald angels sing

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn king
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"

Joyful all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With angelic host proclaim
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
With angelic host proclaim
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"

Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth

Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see
Hail the incarnate Deity
Pleased as man with men to dwell
Jesus, our Immanuel
Pleased as man with men to dwell
Jesus, our Immanuel

Hail the Heaven born Prince of Peace
Hail the Sun of Righteousness
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n* healing in His wings  [*Risen]

Christ the highest Heaven adored
Christ the everlasting Lord
Come desire of nations come
Fix in us Thy humble home
Come desire of nations come
Fix in us Thy humble home


God rest ye merry gentlemen

God rest ye merry gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember, Christ, our Savior
Was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone Astray

O tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
Tidings of joy

From God our Heavenly Father
A blessed Angel came
And unto certain Shepherds
Brought tidings of the same
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by name

O tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy

"Fear not," said the Angel
"Let nothing you afright
This day is born a Savior
Of pure a Virgin bright
To free all those who trust in Him
From Satan's power and might"

O tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

Tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Comfort and joy, joy, joy, joy

Now to the Lord sing praises
All you within this place
And with true love and brotherhood
Each other, now embrace
This holy tide of Christmas
All other doth deface

O tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy

Tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
Tidings of comfort and joy

And so, as I write this blog on Christmas morning, in the United States, sipping my Starbucks coffee, with the multicolored lights shining on the tree, I wish you all the many blessings that Christmas brings:
Joy, peace, and a relationship with our loving Savior who came to earth to live and die in our place so that we could be united with Him here and for eternity.  He is Emmanuel, "God with us".  That is something to sing about.

Merry Christmas!!

Pippi Longstocking


I think a lot of Americans are familiar with the character "Pippi Longstocking", or in Swedish, "Pippi Långstrump".  Pippi is the product of Swedish author Astrid Lindgren.  She is not just well known in Sweden, but her image is often seen here.  As an example, this is an advertisement promoting some Christmas gifts.   (BTW: Before you get too excited about the cost, remember that the typical conversion is
1 USD to 6.5 SEK.)

Grocery shopping

So, obviously, one finds different items in the grocery store here in Sweden than in the U.S.  A full list of items that are, and are not, available in the two countries is too long for this light blog, but here are a number of items that my friends and I have noticed. We have limited our list to items that are impossible, or almost impossible, to find outside of specialty shops catering to immigrants. 


Items not seen in Sweden:
Canned pumpkin and pumpkin flavored baked goods
Ground sage
Chocolate chips
Decaf coffee - worth drinking
Decaf black tea
Root beer
Blocks of cream cheese - although whipped / soft cream cheese is easily available
          and found in many flavors
Raw/ uncooked crustaceans
Molasses
Pork/breakfast sausage
Cinnamon flavored gum
Peanut butter cups
Hersey's kisses
Corn meal
Grape jelly
Pierogi
Liquid vanilla flavoring
Non-organic peanut butter
Tapioca
Ranch dressing
100% corn tortilla shells
1/2 n 1/2
Pints, quarts, liters or whatever of real broth.
Pickles that are not sweet
Malt vinegar

(So now you know some of the items in American's luggage who are flying back to Sweden.)


The flip side:
I feel like I should apologize now to Swede's living abroad as these pictures may make you homesick.  Sorry!

Items not in, or hard to find, in US, but typical in Sweden:
Salt licorice
Boxed (rather than canned) tomato products, beans etc. (which are great)
DILL !  Lots and lots of dill!
Dill potato chips. - terrific (and I don't really care about potato chips)
Caviar ($3-4 a small jar)
Cardamom, and cardamom flavored things (rolls, chocolate etcetera)
Warm-smoked salmon (served cold). -----Amazing!

 

Smorgas torta (think very nice, mellow tasting, heavy on the mayonnaise,  party sandwich, in the shape of a torte.)

 

 

Flavored cheese in a squeeze tube.  Flavors can be various seafoods, meats etc. 

 

Various types of what American's call Wasa bread,

 but Swede's call knäckebröd or "crispbread".  Here it takes up an entire in the grocery store aisle and comes in many sizes, shapes and flavors.  When I ask a Swede what they miss most when living abroad, the answer is typically knäckebröd or salt-licorice.

 

Salmon.  Its just better here.  (Although I have never lived in an area in the States where it is relatively local.  So Salmon in the north-west is likely to be just as good, but I have only lived on the Great Lakes and the Gulf Coast, and salmon don't show up there.)

Kifer- plain or you pick your flavor
Many flavors of Hellman's mayonnaise
Many Knorr products

 

I am not totally sure I should include this item as I think it is German.  And frankly, I don't love it, but it is a snack food that is similar to cheese puffs but are peanut flavored. 

 

 

My favorite type of Swedish bread.  It is solid and has a lot of varied seeds.   I love it.  The only bread I like better is a similar bread in Germany that is...just better somehow. 

 And, of course, a French baguette - in France  - is pretty hard to beat - though I would take the rougher bread for daily consumption. 

 

Elderflower beverages

Pear flavored : ice cream, candy, chocolate, beverages etcetera

 

 

This might be the most Swedish candy. They are OK.  Not amazing, but one does tend to drop a few in one's mouth when there is an open bag around. 

 The candy, which are kinda like flavored tough marshmallows, are in the shape of cars. 

The name, "Bilar", means cars.  Under the name, it says,

"Sweden's most purchased car."

 

Many flavors of artificially-flavored bouillon (fish, veal, turkey, chicken etc.)
Matvete-  think wheat berries  (I never liked hot cereal because I could never get past the mucky texture, but matvete isn't mucky.)
Creme fraiche
And now that it is getting to be Christmas (Jul) time:

 

Julmust.  A very popular seasonal cola drink.  To me, it tastes like inexpensive, off-brand, kinda flat cola.  But I am not Swedish.  I was told that Coke sales go down in Sweden during Christmas time because of this beverage.

What can I say....

 

And finally:

 

Pepperkokor.  A very gingery, very crisp gingersnap.

They are very nice alone - BUT -

Our first Christmas time here, we were at a friends and shared some glögg (mulled wine, warmed with whole blanched almonds and raisins)

and pepperkakor on which we spread blue cheese and fig jam. 

Oh! My! Gosh!

That last days of summer....

Now first, let me acknowledge that the US, just for fun, predicts how long winter will

last by whether a groundhog sees its shadow on a particular day. 

 

 

 

See the following website for more details:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day

 

I only mention it as a comparison. 

 

Here in Sweden there is a tradition that states that it continues to be summer

until there is one full week of temperatures below 50F.

 

It's the same all over....

                         Two items one is unlikely to see in the States.

For this first one, I have a feeling I could write, "You know you are in Sweden if..."

I went to IKEA this week. 

- BTW, Prior to moving here, I never noticed that the IKEA logo's colors are basically the same as those in the Swedish flag.  It is pretty obvious now, but I simply didn't think of it. 

Anyway, so I went to IKEA with some friends and, not surprisingly, I found lingon sauce (think cranberry) available via a pump container.  Lingon is well loved here.  

Reflectors. 

- On adults' outerwear.  Let's be practical.  A lot of Swedes walk and / or ride their bicycles to get around town, which is great.  It is good for their health, it is good for their pocketbook, and it is good for the environment.  Anyway, in the cold-weather months much of the day is spent in the dark.  Today, October 25th, the sunrise and sunset times are:  07:59 and 17:45.  Tomorrow, after the time changes, the sun will only be up from  07:01- 16:42.  And on December 21st, the sun will only be up for 7 hours and 2 minutes, from 08:35-15:37.  So with up to 17 hours a day of dim to dark weather, reflectors are not just for children's cloths.  They are a sensible safety precaution. 

Side note:  In the States, songs of Autumn typically speak of the harvest and the beautiful Fall colors.  Here, Autumn (höst) songs seem to often speak of the coming darkness. 

As any American will tell you, Americans recycle.  Yes indeed.  Please do not think that we throw all of our trash into the garbage.  Thank you very much.  Sadly, some Americans don't do all they could.  Swede's are, I believe, more faithful to recycle.  

 

This picture is the area under our kitchen sink.  The only garbage bin is the blue one.  Although we simply do not have room under there for every different type of recyclable, when it gets taken down to the trash room, we separate it by newspaper, packaging paper, plastic, colored glass, clear glass, metal, and now we are recycling food (including meat products).  The food is turned into energy which is being used in the local buses (and maybe elsewhere?).  John and I are having trouble figuring out a good plan for where to put this latest addition, and I think something is going to end up being suspended on the cabinet door.  As I said, Americans recycle - although I do not know of an area in the US which collects food scraps.  Typically however, we now place all the recycling in one container and let the sorting machines deal with it

But however it is done, recycling rocks.

 

 

 

It occurred to me as I was swimming this moring, that you may be interested to know that apparently having a life-guard on duty is optional in Sweden.  Or at least it is in Malmö.  The place where I used to swim in Malmö, a large public pool, always had several life guards watching the swimmers.  But where I swim now (not as often as I should), is a smaller pool at a club.  Occasionally a guard is in the room, but typically not.  I have also only rarely seen guards at beaches.  - For non-American readers: for a pool or beach in the US to not have a life guard on duty is rare. 
Anyway - just thought I would share. 

Elections

It makes me smile that I am getting SMSs (texts) asking who I will be voting for in the upcoming Swedish elections.  I guess SMSing is just the next step in technology, as I used to get phone surveys in the US.

And from The Local, the English language Swedish news-source:

Politics

Elections 2014

Sweden's Prime Minister hopes to cling on to power. Photo: TT

Tight race as campaign enters final week

Published: 08 Sep 2014 10:17 GMT+02:00
Updated: 08 Sep 2014 10:17 GMT+02:00

UPDATED: With less than a week to go until Sweden's general election, mixed opinion poll results and undecided voters suggest the outcome is far from clear.

• Alliance close gap to red-greens in new poll (07 Sep 14) 

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's Alliance has been performing badly for months and over the summer it appeared extremely unlikely that his government could get re-elected.
But as The Local reported on Sunday, fewer Swedes are planning to vote against the Alliance than a week ago and support for the Social Democrat-led opposition is dropping.
Sweden elections: Who's who in politics?
However, just how much the Red-Green lead has narrowed varies widely according to different opinion polls.
Sunday's survey by Novus put it at 8.6 percentage points but another survey released over the weekend suggested an even smaller gap of 4.5 percentage points, down from 7.3 points a week earlier and around 10 percent a month ago.

The poll by Stockholm-based research group TNS Sifo includes responses to the election manifestos revealed last week by the governing Alliance and the Social Democrats.
It suggests that an extra 135,000 votes for the Alliance could put them neck-and-neck with the Red-Greens, indicating that the election result could be much closer than many had previously speculated.
Sweden allows its citizens to cast their ballots in ahead of polling day in some parts of the country, but a fall in advance voting also appears to suggest that many voters remain undecided.
According to Sweden's Election Authority website, 881,364 advance votes had been recorded by Monday lunchtime, compared with 912,156 a week before the election in 2010.
There is also speculation that turnout could be lower than in previous years.

Sweden elections: How do they work?
Political commentator Dr Stig-Björn Ljunggren told The Local he believes the final outcome won't be too surprising.
"It is very unlikely that there will be such a dramatic change that the Social Democrats don't end up in government," he said on Monday.
But he argued that it was plausible that Fredrik Reinfeldt might attempt to stay in power if the gap between the Alliance and the Red-Greens continues to narrow.
"There are a lot of people speculating that the Prime Minister could seek help from the Sweden Democrats," he added.
"However everyone who knows him will tell you he hates everything they stand for, so I think that is very unlikely."
Dr Ljunggren said he believed there were several factors that could influence the election's outcome during the final week of campaigning:

• A political scandal involving any of the party leaders or top candidates
• Russia flexing its muscles further in Ukraine. Voters are more likely to select a sitting government during a international crisis
• Unexpected new policy announcements on key election issues such as healthcare, unemployment or immigration

On Sunday Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said that he was still "completely convinced that we can still change people".
He told reporters "a lot of people have indicated that they're still uncertain, and in that sense it's an open race".
"I will fight to do that all the way until the polling booths close," he added.

Welcome!

I know, I know: it has been too long.  I'm sorry.  Let's put it be behind us, and move on.  

I thought it might be interesting for you to take a look around our apartment.  Although Sweden is different from the U.S., it is not so very different.  I, however, took pictures of some of the things in our apartment that, for good or bad, differ from State-side homes in which we have lived.

The apartment building in which we live was constructed in 1910.  It is very solid.  The walls are, as you can see, quite thick.  I think they may be plaster over brick.  I know when I try to drive a nail in one I meet with limited success.  Also note in the picture that the walls are white.  This is not just common, but I will go as far as saying that having non-white walls is uncommon.  Lastly, and this will be hard for you to see, around the perimeter of the door frame is a white electrical cord, secured with white hooks.  Because the building is so old, and the walls are somewhat impermeable, when one adds electrical outlets, or whatever, the wiring is run this way. One of these days, we will get around to paint over the wire, which is what one does.

What I love about this door is that it is on the interior of our apartment.  It is between the livingroom and what is, for us, the second bedroom and the full bath.  Having said that, the second bedroom has a door to a back stairwell, so it may have once been a maid’s quarters.  Maybe.  I have no way of knowing.  But I like it.

This is the door to exit our bedroom.  I love the pattern on it.  Yes, it is wood.  Above the door is a storage closet.  Note how tall the ceilings are.

City living.  We love it, although I admittedly miss gardening and seeing green.  But I really do love walking out of our apartment and being able to go to a shop or grocery store etcetera.  Again, more white, thick walls.  Notice there are no screens on the windows.  In Malmo, there are, pretty much, no flying bugs.  We are right on the water and it is breezy, and bugs just don’t hang around.  The opposite is true farther north in Sweden.  There, I understand, one can kinda get eaten alive if one doesn’t cover-up (including donning a cap).

I love this little chandelier.  There are few things to say about it.  One it was purchased at IKEA.  Of course.  Two, although electric, it involves (fake) candles.  As .  Three, it is plugged into an outlet on the ceiling.  Convenient?  Yes.  But: because of that, when one moves, one takes their ceiling lamps with oneself.  That is totally fine, but it was a surprise to us, when we moved in, to find that we had no ceiling lights! 

Our kitchen.  It was remodeled around 2008.  Three things of note.  One: our small, weak microwave. Small enough that my large plates cannot fit in it.  Of course I am sure there are bigger ones in other apartments, but this is ours.  Hey, it warms my cup of coffee just as well as another microwave.  Two: Note the electrical outlet above the water-kettle.  That triple outlet (with and electrical adapter plugged in) was the only outlet visible in our entire kitchen.  When the kitchen was remodeled by two owners-ago (how does one say that?), even that outlet was not there.  It was added later.  Yup.  So what did we do when we wanted another outlet on the opposite side of the room?  We accessed the outlet that was in the cupboard above the microwave, plugged in a very long extension cord, and traced it around the wall and window trim and floor boards until it reached where we wanted it.  Sound familiar?

I could write more, and maybe someday I will, but I really need to post this!

 

A side trip to The Neatherlands

John had a business trip to the University of Twente, in Enschede, The Netherlands. So we bought an additional ticket and I happily went along.

For around half the days, it rained.  And I mean rained.  For around 30 hours straight.  When I asked the waitress about it, she said, "Well, this is The Netherlands." 

But on the days it did not rain, I walked or took a bus into town.

So neat and orderly.

Below is the theater building.  : )

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When the conference was over, we spent an over-night in Delft.  It is beautiful.  

Picture perfect. 

And of course...dessert. 

Östersund

Several days ago, John and I had a lovely few days as guests of friends in lovely Östersund.  John mentioned that when someone receives a gift that is beyond what one can repay, one is left to simply gratefully, thankfully accept.  And so we did.

The sleeper berth between Stockholm and Östersund

 Passing loads of lumber on the train. 

A local comfort food, "Kans".  A meat-filled steamed dumpling, served with a soft buttery cheese and, not surprisingly, lingon (think cranberry) sauce. The meat reminded of me of corned beef. 

Marshmallow farms.  : D

This floating raft has a sauna in the center. 

On the mountaintop

I was delighted how many wildflowers there were.  And this flower was the most plentiful.  

Waves of them were everywhere. 

Listening to the sound of silence on the mountaintop at ~ 1:30 AM

Gold.  "Hjortron", or what English speakers call "cloudberries". 

These much loved berries only grow in the north, and (as I understand it) only grow wild.  Thus, they are hunted down, and if there is an area where they can be found routinely, it is often a closely held secret. 

It is cooked into a jam, and is delicious warm over creamy vanilla ice cream (etc.) 

Fika on the veranda.