Vasaloppet !

That is: "The Vasa Race".
If you are wondering what "Vasa" means or is, it was part of King Gustav Vasa's name. Vasa (1596-1560, reigning 1523-1560) led the Swedish War of Liberation and is considered the "father of the nation".  In 1520, during his quest for liberation, Vasa fled from Christian II's soldiers. skiing from  Mora to Sälen.  
In 1922 a cross country skiing competition was established that continues today.  The racers travel a reverse route from what Vasa did, and ski 90 km. from Sälen to Mora.  Vasaloppet is the world's oldest and longest cross-counrty ski race.  I is huge participation at just under 16,000 people.  There are a total of 17 different races, so, if I understand it correctly, all 15,800 are not in the same race.  An aditional fun note is that because the race takes place between two small towns, with Mora having just under 11,000, and Sälen having a mere 652 inhabitants, there are not nearly enough hotel rooms for the racers.  Thus, some of racers stay in residents homes.  - And I have no idea where the rest stay!
Vasaloppet is held on the first Sunday of March.  Some friends of ours, Eva and Göran, invited us to join them to watch the race.  Göran kindly picked us up and took us to their home in plenty of time for the 08:00 start.  It's OK - the coffee was ready when we got there. 

And they're off!

Lest we faint from hunger, this was the first of our breakfast.  

This is a picture of those who are going before the racers, creating the tracks/ paths. 

Blåbar soppa.  That is, blueberry soup, which is essentially hot blueberry juice.  It is good for you and it is delicious.  It is offered to the skiers as they are racing  - and to the watchers as we were sitting.  

The winners typically cross the finish line after around 4 hours.  

A fun time was had by all.  At least all of us watching.  

SMS

SMS = short message service = (phone) text

Texting is commonly used here.  You might say - "It is used in the States too."  True, but here it has business uses I have not seen in the US.   

3 examples - 

SMS are consistently used to send reminders of doctor and dental appointments.  I presume those few people left who are not able to receive texts get these messages another way. 

SMS are used to bid on real estate.  It is quick and easy - but I think "dangerous" to be in a bidding war on property via SMS.  It would be, I presume, very easy to go over one's budget by pressing a few keys. 

SMS are used to confirm ones annual tax statement.  In Sweden, ones tax form is short (costly) and is drawn up by the government.  One receives their filled-out tax form in the mail.  If one agrees with it, one can send an SMS confirmation. 

Nyckelharpa

In Swedish, nyckel means "key", and harpa means....harp.

Several weeks ago, John (my husband) and some friends were playing together and one of the musicians brought her nyckelharpa.

The nyckelharpa is a  traditional Swedish instrument, dating back ~ 600 years, predating the violin by about 150 years.

If you would like to listen to a brief description of how it makes sounds and listen to a demonstration of it being played, Griselda Sanderson does a nice job in the following YouTube video. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgbMVIYv57I

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!

Football (Soccer), Zlatan, and Stortorget (The Big Square)

A local hero and football (soccer) megastar, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, the son of Bosnian immigrants, was born and raised in Malmö.  Zlatan played in Sweden from 1994-2001, and currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain (PSG).  Although he plays for France, his face is everywhere here and he is well loved.  Thus, when the PSG was scheduled to  travel to Malmö for tonight's second leg of their Champions League competition, fans were disappointed and frustrated when tickets quickly sold out.  Thus, hero to the rescue: Zlatan, feeling it is a pity that the entire city could not fit inside the stadium, generously booked Malmö's large square to publicly broadcast the  match live! Pretty cool!

image borrowed from thelocal.se

Noon in Stortorget.  Setting up for the the upcoming game.

Rapunzel?

I was in Lund a few weeks ago and saw this at Lund's cathedral.  

: )

  

Refugees and immigration

Anyone who is even semi-conscious is aware of the refugee situation that is happening in Europe.  

In 2015 Sweden has taken in 10,000 unaccompanied children.  

In the past week, 6,500 refugees (of all ages) have arrived. 

(source: http://www.thelocal.se/)  I am impressed with the Swedish attitude toward these people who are, as I understand it, running for their lives. 

I was in our central train station on September 10th.  It was crowded with immigrants and immigration police.  There were also volunteers distributing water bottles and fruit.  

The concept of immigration is not new to Americans.  All my grandparents were born in Europe.  In the United States, if you ask Americans about nationality, you are typically not asking if they are American citizens, but rather are asking about their ethnic heritage. 

To learn a little more about immigration in the United States, here are a few sites  This is, of course, the tip of the proverbial iceberg on this subject.

• Immigration 1789-1930  (Harvard University) http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/timeline.html

• Scandinavia to U.S. immigration 1789-1930 (Harvard University) http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/immigration/scandinavian.html

• And just to give more current news: Specifically regarding refugees and asylees in the U.S. in 2013 (U.S. Dept of Homeland Security)  http://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/ois_rfa_fr_2013.pdf

•  From 1892 to 1924, Ellis Island was America's largest and most active immigration station, where over 12 million immigrants were processed.  I have visited Ellis Island and it tells of wonderful, inspiring, and heart-breaking stories. It was especially interesting and personal to me as my father, at age 12, passed through Ellis Island with his family in ~ 1935.  They were returning to the U.S. after spending 7 years back in Poland. http://www.nps.gov/elis/learn/historyculture/index.htm