Drinking fountains.

Having lived my life in the U.S., I took drinking fountains for granted.  For those of you not familiar with the U.S., let me explain that it would be hard to find a public building that does not have at least one drinking fountain.  Buildings of significant size, like shopping malls or schools, would have several.  In Sweden, and this may be the norm in all of western Europe, drinking fountains are hard to find.

This is a picture of a water / drinking fountain in stortorget (the big square) in town.  I am sure there are more, but as I write this, I can only think of one other location in the area which has one.  To be fair, there is a large, chain department store which has plastic cups in their lavatories.  The other day, when at the mall which has a fountain - I was so surprised and pleased to see one that I took a drink "just because".  ; )

Summer vacation in Sweden / Europe

Have I ever written about this?  First let me say that I honestly think that the U.S. has to up its game when it comes to vacation.  The U.S. has no minimum number of guaranteed vacation days and I think that is wrong.  Since so many seem to misunderstand the U.S.'s system, let me offer a little clarity.  Although there is no guaranteed minimum vacation, and many starting jobs have only one to two weeks vacation per year, as one gets older one earns more vacation time.  My husband, for instance, when in his 50's had 5 weeks of vacation per year.

The Swedes, depending upon their age, are federally guaranteed 4-6 weeks of vacation per year.  A Swedes right to take ~ 3 of those weeks consecutively during the summer is guaranteed by federal law.  That sounds great right?  Well, as I have been known to say many times about many situations, there is good and bad to everything.  For instance:

I know of  a couple who in July of two different years had to wait ridiculously long to get medical care because (aside from the fact that the Swedish healthcare system requires waiting) it was July.  I will give specifics so you understand: The husband was diagnosed with a very small blood clot in a secondary vein of one leg.  He was immediately put on a blood thinner and the next day was given a standard tight stocking to wear on that one leg.  He was also given an appointment for 5 days later to be fitted for another sturdier stocking.  The stocking fitter stated that due to size, the stocking had to be made specifically for him (he wears a size 14 US - big but not crazy big).  He was told the stocking would arrive in around 10 days.  Now for those not in healthcare - let me tell you that basically all this would have been done prior to the patient leaving the US hospital on the first day!  Except that in the states he would have been given a stocking for each leg,not just the affected one.)  Anyway the stocking was due to arrive in about 10 days.  It arrived 4 weeks later and by then the doctor had told him he didn't even need to wear it.  Yup.  And then there was the time I went to a city office (let me restate that - a government office) that in July was only open two hours a day.  I recently read that due to increased violence, the city is increasing its police force.  We currently have 706 police-persons.  But since during the summer 1/3 of them are on vacation at any one time...!  

Below is the sign from a local restaurant.  Even during the year this resturant is only open for lunch, Monday - Friday.

This sign, posted in June, basically translates to, "From tomorrow and for the whole summer we are closed.  Wishing you all a sunny and nice summer.  See you in August !"  Yup.  I will never get used to this.  

 

KAFFE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have I ever mentioned Sweden and my's mutual love affair with coffee?  While there is an American brand that still has my heart, I have never once had a bad cup of coffee in Sweden. 

OK - so the following is great.  I love it!

Sweden has unique words that mean seconds and third helpings of coffee.  YUP!!!!!  Totally true. The words just refer to coffee.

So: 

Vill du ha kaffe? = "Do you want to have coffee?"
Påtår? = "Do you want to have a second cup of coffee?"
Tretår? = "Do you want to have a third cup of coffee?"  

And the obvious answer to all of these questions is: 


Ja tack! = "Yes thank you!"

Note - although most Swedes I know drink their coffee black, if you go out and want something else, it is often served in a heavy glass.  Which, though attractive in its presentation, has no handle.