Hello again,
Apologies for my absence in the last few months.
Anyway - so - life in Malmö.
A friend of mine was singing in a gospel choir on Saturday. Not just any choir. This choir was composed to 1000 people from southern Sweden who came together for two shows put on in one evening.
I took the bus part way to the concert hall. On the bus I saw the following poster put out by Sweden's Marabou chocolate company, established 1916.
The poster reads,
I ett århundrade har vår chocklad fått people att komma varandra närmare. Så när vi fyller 100 år vill vi bjuda in hela svenska folket till att göra samhället lite snällare. Det finns nämligen en gest som du bäde blir gladare och mer generös av:kramen.
Och det finns sannerligen ingen brist på månniskor som skulle må bra av mer generositet. Därför lovar vi att skänka en krona till Rädda Barnen varje gång du hashtaggar en krambild med #kramkalas.
Då gör du inte bara dig själv något gott, utan också de som behöver det som mest - barn på flykt.
Which translated (via google translate as I wasn't 100% sure of every meaning)
For a century, our chocolate got people to come closer. So when we celebrate 100 years, we want to invite the entire Swedish people to make society a bit nicer. There is in fact a gesture that you will make you be happier and more generous: the hug.
And there is certainly no shortage of people who would benefit from more generosity. Therefore, we pledge to donate a dime to Save the Children every time you hashtags a hug image #kramkalas.
Then you will do good for both yourself and also those who need it most - child refugees.
Nice right?! - Don't get me wrong - all of Sweden isn't all huggy and lovey and generous. Sweden is not heaven on earth. That said, this is terrific and I wanted to tell you about it. .
As I was walking from Malmö's Central Station to Malmö Live - the brand new hotel/theater/restaurant/ convention center etc., I was struck again at what a lovely city this it. Here are a picture from my walk. The very tall building on the right is Malmö Live.
Also along the walk was the new home of the UN's World Maritime University. - Yes, the UN's!
And then on to the concert house and the concert. The choir was both on stage and filled the balconies.
Choir director, Jonas Engsröm
Guest director, Gerald T Smith from Washington, DC
Soloist Aaron Marcellus NY,NY - Terrific. I couldn't find a link that did him justice
Soloist Laila Adele, Stockholm - Also terrific, and I couldn't find a link that did her justice either!
