Hej,
David and I were all set to go to Växjo yesterday, but unfortunately a very bad rain and wind storm came through and our plans had to be scrapped. So instead, we stayed home and organized the garage a bit. When the owner of our house left, he left quite a bit of stuff in the garage and it was/is a big mess! I have never met anyone who has so much junk! He has brand new things in sacks that he never removed from the sack. He is not organized and it makes a mess just trying to find simple things. For example, he had some shelves here that needed to be put together. David and I searched and searched for the shelf pegs and could not find them, so we went over to IKEA and bought 60 pegs, costing about $20. Wouldn't you know, when we got back home, we found them in a cup sitting on a shelf. Neither one of us looked in the cup, who would of thought they would be there. We looked at everything else on the shelf! Oh well, lesson learned.
Since yesterday was 1st Advent (the first Sunday of Advent) the stores were opened from 3:00 - 7:00 pm. The residents of Älmhult also put all their lights and Advent candles in their windows. It does look pretty, but to me it is kind of funny, because it seems that if they don't have their lights up they might be punished. One of our neighbors was gone for the weekend, they were not home 5 minutes before they had all their lights hung and turned on. Sometimes it seems that there is some idea here that they must comply with society or else they be deemed an outcast. One of the ideals that made us like living in the States was the differences between people, religions and how we could celebrate those differences. I think people are afraid here to be different, which is really sad.
So as many of you know, we are experiencing less and less daylight as the days get shorter. The sun is coming up closer to 8:00 am and setting around 3:15 now. By 4:00 pm it is very dark. It certainly is a change from what we were used to. I did not understand the abundance of reflective clothing here in Sweden or the need for it, now I understand. You will see runners, walkers, cyclists wearing reflective vests. You see men wearing big, reflective green winter coats. Since it gets dark so early and so dark, you have to make certain that people can see you.
Another interesting thing we have found living here in Sweden, many of the ideals and such remind us of living in the States during the 1970s. For example, they have a law here that you have to put snow tires on your car before December 1st. So everyone has two sets of wheels and tires. I am not sure if they have heard of All Season Radials. Where we live in Sweden does not get feet and feet of snow, it is probably comparable to Chicago in the amount of snow fall and coldness. We are towards the southern part where it remains warmer. So, I do not see the point in getting another set of tires, because if it is that bad, I will not be driving. Additionally, it seems like a waste of resources to have two sets of tires. We do not really drive anywhere during the week at all. David rides his bike to work and if it is too bad, he will just walk. We do not have our tires yet and I am certain we won't have them until after December 1st since David is going out of town for the rest of this week.
Another example of living in the 70s is the fact that we do not have garbage disposals here. I cannot tell you how much I miss that little feature. As I have stated here before, the store hours are also reminiscent of the 70s. Malls are new here just like they were new in the States in the 70s. I cannot believe that they have just started opening malls probably within the last 5 years. There are other examples, but many times David and I feel like we have definitely stepped back into our childhoods. Sweden is modern as far as technology is concerned, but as far as day-to-day living it reminds us of the 70s.
I have some more to tell you about, but I will save it for later this week! Also on Wednesday, Älmhult is having a Christmas market, so I will try to get over there and take pictures and let you know about it.
Take care,
Bridgette
Monday, November 28, 2011
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends and family in the States! I hope you all have a very blessed day! I am certainly blessed by all of you.
Obviously, Sweden does not celebrate Thanksgiving, so while you are all visiting, eating and shopping, David will be working extra hours and I will be working at home! No turkey for us, probably leftover hamburgers! I am making a nice dinner tonight, so we will have our celebration tonight (if Italian food counts).
Not much has been happening here. We did go shopping this past weekend and found some new drapes for our bedroom and some new cleaner, whiter roller shades to replace the ugly ones that were in the kitchen! They have improved the room 1000 times over! I have been busy measuring and hemming the drapes for the bedroom, they are also an improvement!
This upcoming Sunday, we are going to go to another Julmarknad (Christmas Market) in Växjö. It takes place on the grounds of the culture center. I will take pictures and share with you next week. Also, Sunday marks the start of the Christmas season here because it is the First Sunday of Advent. No, in general, the Swedish people do not go to church, but 85% of the people in Sweden belong to the Church. Sweden is really more of a secular society. Anyhow, because it being the start of the Christmas season, many of the stores will be open for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon. I understand they will also decorate their windows nicely. I will report on this next week as well.
Enjoy the rest of your week and may your weekend be filled with many nice thoughts and lots of good memories!
Much love,
Bridgette
Obviously, Sweden does not celebrate Thanksgiving, so while you are all visiting, eating and shopping, David will be working extra hours and I will be working at home! No turkey for us, probably leftover hamburgers! I am making a nice dinner tonight, so we will have our celebration tonight (if Italian food counts).
Not much has been happening here. We did go shopping this past weekend and found some new drapes for our bedroom and some new cleaner, whiter roller shades to replace the ugly ones that were in the kitchen! They have improved the room 1000 times over! I have been busy measuring and hemming the drapes for the bedroom, they are also an improvement!
This upcoming Sunday, we are going to go to another Julmarknad (Christmas Market) in Växjö. It takes place on the grounds of the culture center. I will take pictures and share with you next week. Also, Sunday marks the start of the Christmas season here because it is the First Sunday of Advent. No, in general, the Swedish people do not go to church, but 85% of the people in Sweden belong to the Church. Sweden is really more of a secular society. Anyhow, because it being the start of the Christmas season, many of the stores will be open for a couple of hours on Sunday afternoon. I understand they will also decorate their windows nicely. I will report on this next week as well.
Enjoy the rest of your week and may your weekend be filled with many nice thoughts and lots of good memories!
Much love,
Bridgette
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Random Thoughts Four
Hej,
Here is my fourth list of random thoughts on things Swedish:
1. Dry Cleaners/Work Pants - In my town of Älmhult, there is no dry cleaners. I have not seen them in other towns, so at this point, I am not sure they exist here in Sweden. The Swedish are practical people and I think that they do not buy or wear clothes that need extra care such as dry cleaning. They even have these "work pants" that you can buy at the grocery store. They are quite ugly, but I have seen both men and women wearing them. They do not wear jeans to work around the house or yard, you must have your "work pants". No, I am not buying these pants, I will wear my jeans! They wear jeans to the office and out, but they are not working pants. Perhaps this is because jeans are very expensive here and it would be silly to ruin a pair of pants doing work around the house.
2. Store Hours/Bank Hours - This is probably a hard one to understand, especially if you are from the U.S. and know that many of our stores and banks are open an ungodly amount of hours each day. Well, here in Sweden, most stores are open from 10:00 am - 6:00 pm, except on Saturdays when they close at 2:00 pm. Two exceptions are the grocery stores are open usually from 7 or 8:00 am - until 8, 9, or 10 pm and the mall stores which stay open until 6:00 pm on Saturdays. Many smaller stores, especially in Älmhult are not open on Sundays. However, the bank is only open from 10:00 - 3:00 pm, except on Thursdays when they stay open until 5:30, get this - they are not open on Saturdays!!! Since the stores are not open any extra, it makes them extra busy on Saturday mornings when everyone is rushing to get all their shopping done. If you work, I think Saturdays are really the only time people have to shop. You can save a lot of money because you can't spend it anywhere!
3. Mail Delivery - The mail is delivered from Monday - Friday. If you get any packages, you have to pick them up either at the Post Office, before 10:00 am or after 3:30 pm or they will leave your packages at the ICA Maxi (grocery store). Larger packages get delivered this way, smaller packages will fit in your mailbox. Our mailboxes are lined up in a row along the street. The newspapers are also delivered to your mailbox, you don't get them on your front stoop.
4. License Plates - I forgot to tell you when we bought our car that the license plates come with the car - you do not change license plates with new owners or states like in the U.S. I think that when the cars are delivered to the dealerships, they have the license plate already attached. When the car changes owners, they just change the registration. This appears to be a more efficient and less wasteful because you are not always having to dispose of old license plates.
5. Number Lappers - The Swedish people are not very good at queing. You cannot just line up and everyone knows who is next. No, you have to get a number when you go into many of the stores and that is the order in which you are helped. I have actually had an old women race pass me into the Apotek (pharmacy) to make certain she got a number before I did. No big deal, she did not leave any sooner than I did! Even when you go to the grocery store and there is a line and they open another register, they will not say, "Oh, you were her first, go ahead!" No, they will just run over and get in the new line. I have also seen older men hang out at the front of the store near the checkout lines so when they open another line, they are right in line, even though their wife may still be finishing the shopping. They kind of hold a spot so they don't have to wait with the rest of us little people, who believe in letting those who are their first go.
6. Waffles - The waffles here are very sweet! They do not use waffles for breakfast like we do, they are more of a treat. The first time I had a waffle here, they served it with a fruit jelly and lots of whipped cream. They looked at me strange when I asked for just a little of each. By the time I was finished with it, the waffle was melting, like cotton candy does. David and I bought a waffle iron a few weeks ago and we used the recipe that came with it, it called for 1 1/2 cups of sugar. My waffle recipe calls for 1 tablespoon. We now make our recipe from home, we do not like our waffles that sweet!
7. Candy - Speaking of sweet, you would not believe how much the Swedes like candy! I have never seen so many people eat so much candy. They like the gummi like things, like gum drops and they love all the candy that sticks to your teeth. Even their dark chocolate is much sweeter than we are used to. The grocery stores have huge displays of loose candy to buy by the kilo. The selection is much larger than I have seen in the U.S. I think at one store they have about 3 aisles devoted to candy, loose and packaged.
8. Breaks - As many of you know I spent three weeks working at IKEA. I did not realize how regulated Swedish society is to the clock and their breaks. When it is time for break, they drop whatever they are doing and go for break. These are mostly office workers, not people working on an assembly line. When it is 12:00 - they all scramble for lunch. There is no such thing as taking a later lunch, no you must go at 12:00. I think many of the people also eat dinner at 6:00 pm. It is hard for David and I who are used to eating and taking breaks when we feel like it, not necessarily when everyone else does. One thing that I learned, this is when you can socialize with people, during the break time. Otherwise, you are mostly required to be in business mode not socialization mode. No, we do not necessarily eat dinner at 6:00, we do it when we feel like it. I am more a person that likes to do things when I feel like it, not because the clock is telling me to. One funny story, when I was working, one of the girls that I was working with, the minute the clock hit 12:00 or 5:00, she was done! She was not giving a minute more, even if she was in the middle of ironing a sheet or building a dresser drawer. She could not understand why I worked longer or did not take a break. Yes, I got paid for all the time I was there, so it was not like she was not going to get paid for doing extra. This is just not part of their society. Quite different from the ways we know.
Life is definitely more interesting here in Sweden. I am finding it a challenge to learn all these little rules, but I am not letting it rule my life. I am just being me and making certain that I am a good ambassador for the U.S.
I will come up with another list soon!
Take care.
Love,
Bridgette
Here is my fourth list of random thoughts on things Swedish:
1. Dry Cleaners/Work Pants - In my town of Älmhult, there is no dry cleaners. I have not seen them in other towns, so at this point, I am not sure they exist here in Sweden. The Swedish are practical people and I think that they do not buy or wear clothes that need extra care such as dry cleaning. They even have these "work pants" that you can buy at the grocery store. They are quite ugly, but I have seen both men and women wearing them. They do not wear jeans to work around the house or yard, you must have your "work pants". No, I am not buying these pants, I will wear my jeans! They wear jeans to the office and out, but they are not working pants. Perhaps this is because jeans are very expensive here and it would be silly to ruin a pair of pants doing work around the house.
2. Store Hours/Bank Hours - This is probably a hard one to understand, especially if you are from the U.S. and know that many of our stores and banks are open an ungodly amount of hours each day. Well, here in Sweden, most stores are open from 10:00 am - 6:00 pm, except on Saturdays when they close at 2:00 pm. Two exceptions are the grocery stores are open usually from 7 or 8:00 am - until 8, 9, or 10 pm and the mall stores which stay open until 6:00 pm on Saturdays. Many smaller stores, especially in Älmhult are not open on Sundays. However, the bank is only open from 10:00 - 3:00 pm, except on Thursdays when they stay open until 5:30, get this - they are not open on Saturdays!!! Since the stores are not open any extra, it makes them extra busy on Saturday mornings when everyone is rushing to get all their shopping done. If you work, I think Saturdays are really the only time people have to shop. You can save a lot of money because you can't spend it anywhere!
3. Mail Delivery - The mail is delivered from Monday - Friday. If you get any packages, you have to pick them up either at the Post Office, before 10:00 am or after 3:30 pm or they will leave your packages at the ICA Maxi (grocery store). Larger packages get delivered this way, smaller packages will fit in your mailbox. Our mailboxes are lined up in a row along the street. The newspapers are also delivered to your mailbox, you don't get them on your front stoop.
4. License Plates - I forgot to tell you when we bought our car that the license plates come with the car - you do not change license plates with new owners or states like in the U.S. I think that when the cars are delivered to the dealerships, they have the license plate already attached. When the car changes owners, they just change the registration. This appears to be a more efficient and less wasteful because you are not always having to dispose of old license plates.
5. Number Lappers - The Swedish people are not very good at queing. You cannot just line up and everyone knows who is next. No, you have to get a number when you go into many of the stores and that is the order in which you are helped. I have actually had an old women race pass me into the Apotek (pharmacy) to make certain she got a number before I did. No big deal, she did not leave any sooner than I did! Even when you go to the grocery store and there is a line and they open another register, they will not say, "Oh, you were her first, go ahead!" No, they will just run over and get in the new line. I have also seen older men hang out at the front of the store near the checkout lines so when they open another line, they are right in line, even though their wife may still be finishing the shopping. They kind of hold a spot so they don't have to wait with the rest of us little people, who believe in letting those who are their first go.
6. Waffles - The waffles here are very sweet! They do not use waffles for breakfast like we do, they are more of a treat. The first time I had a waffle here, they served it with a fruit jelly and lots of whipped cream. They looked at me strange when I asked for just a little of each. By the time I was finished with it, the waffle was melting, like cotton candy does. David and I bought a waffle iron a few weeks ago and we used the recipe that came with it, it called for 1 1/2 cups of sugar. My waffle recipe calls for 1 tablespoon. We now make our recipe from home, we do not like our waffles that sweet!
7. Candy - Speaking of sweet, you would not believe how much the Swedes like candy! I have never seen so many people eat so much candy. They like the gummi like things, like gum drops and they love all the candy that sticks to your teeth. Even their dark chocolate is much sweeter than we are used to. The grocery stores have huge displays of loose candy to buy by the kilo. The selection is much larger than I have seen in the U.S. I think at one store they have about 3 aisles devoted to candy, loose and packaged.
8. Breaks - As many of you know I spent three weeks working at IKEA. I did not realize how regulated Swedish society is to the clock and their breaks. When it is time for break, they drop whatever they are doing and go for break. These are mostly office workers, not people working on an assembly line. When it is 12:00 - they all scramble for lunch. There is no such thing as taking a later lunch, no you must go at 12:00. I think many of the people also eat dinner at 6:00 pm. It is hard for David and I who are used to eating and taking breaks when we feel like it, not necessarily when everyone else does. One thing that I learned, this is when you can socialize with people, during the break time. Otherwise, you are mostly required to be in business mode not socialization mode. No, we do not necessarily eat dinner at 6:00, we do it when we feel like it. I am more a person that likes to do things when I feel like it, not because the clock is telling me to. One funny story, when I was working, one of the girls that I was working with, the minute the clock hit 12:00 or 5:00, she was done! She was not giving a minute more, even if she was in the middle of ironing a sheet or building a dresser drawer. She could not understand why I worked longer or did not take a break. Yes, I got paid for all the time I was there, so it was not like she was not going to get paid for doing extra. This is just not part of their society. Quite different from the ways we know.
Life is definitely more interesting here in Sweden. I am finding it a challenge to learn all these little rules, but I am not letting it rule my life. I am just being me and making certain that I am a good ambassador for the U.S.
I will come up with another list soon!
Take care.
Love,
Bridgette
Monday, November 14, 2011
Catch Up
Happy Monday ~ I have lots to catch you up on. As you know, I have spent the last three weeks working temporarily at Ikea of Sweden. The purpose of my job was to help prepare an exhibit that will be seen in the next several weeks by Country Managers down to the Store Managers. I spent my time ironing sheets, duvet covers, and curtains. Additionally, I sewed curtains, duvet covers and built furniture. I also learned how to install lights on top of PAX wardrobe units and how to hang curtains from suspended ceilings. I truly had a great time doing all of this work and at the end of the three weeks, the exhibition was looking absolutely stunning. The Country Managers arrived over the weekend and starting today they will see all the new products that have been created. On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, David will give the same presentation on the new mattresses 12 times to 12 different groups of Country Managers. I am glad that I am not him!
Today, I started my Swedish Lessons! I will be taking them 3 times a week for 2 hours each time. I can now tell you my name, where I am from, where I currently live and ask how you are. However, I am not comfortable doing it quite yet. I have a lot of practicing to do.
The winter darkness is starting to set in. The sun is coming up between 7:45 and 8:00 and setting by about 4:00 right now. By the winter solistice, we will only get about 6 hours of light a day. I will let you know how it feels and such.
This past Saturday, David and I went to a Christmas Market in the afternoon. This was the last weekend that it was going to be close to us. The Market was located about 30 kilometers from our house and it took place on an old estate/farm called Huseby Bruk, which was very nice and along a river. The cost was 80 Kroner/person to enter, about $14 in U.S. However, the booths were located in the old buildings on the estate and there was not much room to walk through and browse. I was hoping to get some gifts to bring back at Christmas, but I was somewhat disappointed in their selection and the fact that you could not get through the buildings. I am a bit claustrophobic and do not like to be in tight places with a lot of people. We did see some interesting things, like a choir singing Christmas songs in a set up that looked like the Whack a Mole game. All you saw were their heads. We also saw a lonely Santa Claus, he did not have much action. One thing you would notice is there is no drinking of alcohol at these events, because Sweden has a very tough DUI law, basically, you cannot drink more than 1/2 glass of wine and be safe from getting a ticket or put in jail. Also, the Swedish people do not really eat at these types of events, like perhaps you would see in the U.S. The whole atmosphere was quite mellow and subdued. Here are some pictures of the estate. As you can see the sun was setting and it was dark when we left. We arrived about 3:15 and left about 5:15.
Here are the pictures of Santa and the Choir:
I forgot to show you the dresser I made for the exhibition. Remember, I was making making a dresser in any way I wanted to show how you can be creative with this dresser (Tarva) from Ikea. This is my finished product:
I had another idea, but when I received these glass knobs that I purchased, I wanted to just highlight the knobs. They really brought out the golden color in the wood. If I can, I will show you the other finished dressers as well. They came from all over the world and were quite interesting.
On Sunday, I finished making curtains for the kitchen, so we will no longer be on display for the walkers and bicyclists to look at. Actually, it makes the room softer and not so hard looking. In doing all this, I decided to replace the curtain in my bedroom, so now I am on a search for new curtains!
Hopefully tomorrow I will share more random thoughts about Sweden with you.
Vi ses (See you)
Bridgette
Today, I started my Swedish Lessons! I will be taking them 3 times a week for 2 hours each time. I can now tell you my name, where I am from, where I currently live and ask how you are. However, I am not comfortable doing it quite yet. I have a lot of practicing to do.
The winter darkness is starting to set in. The sun is coming up between 7:45 and 8:00 and setting by about 4:00 right now. By the winter solistice, we will only get about 6 hours of light a day. I will let you know how it feels and such.
This past Saturday, David and I went to a Christmas Market in the afternoon. This was the last weekend that it was going to be close to us. The Market was located about 30 kilometers from our house and it took place on an old estate/farm called Huseby Bruk, which was very nice and along a river. The cost was 80 Kroner/person to enter, about $14 in U.S. However, the booths were located in the old buildings on the estate and there was not much room to walk through and browse. I was hoping to get some gifts to bring back at Christmas, but I was somewhat disappointed in their selection and the fact that you could not get through the buildings. I am a bit claustrophobic and do not like to be in tight places with a lot of people. We did see some interesting things, like a choir singing Christmas songs in a set up that looked like the Whack a Mole game. All you saw were their heads. We also saw a lonely Santa Claus, he did not have much action. One thing you would notice is there is no drinking of alcohol at these events, because Sweden has a very tough DUI law, basically, you cannot drink more than 1/2 glass of wine and be safe from getting a ticket or put in jail. Also, the Swedish people do not really eat at these types of events, like perhaps you would see in the U.S. The whole atmosphere was quite mellow and subdued. Here are some pictures of the estate. As you can see the sun was setting and it was dark when we left. We arrived about 3:15 and left about 5:15.
Here are the pictures of Santa and the Choir:
I forgot to show you the dresser I made for the exhibition. Remember, I was making making a dresser in any way I wanted to show how you can be creative with this dresser (Tarva) from Ikea. This is my finished product:
I had another idea, but when I received these glass knobs that I purchased, I wanted to just highlight the knobs. They really brought out the golden color in the wood. If I can, I will show you the other finished dressers as well. They came from all over the world and were quite interesting.
On Sunday, I finished making curtains for the kitchen, so we will no longer be on display for the walkers and bicyclists to look at. Actually, it makes the room softer and not so hard looking. In doing all this, I decided to replace the curtain in my bedroom, so now I am on a search for new curtains!
Hopefully tomorrow I will share more random thoughts about Sweden with you.
Vi ses (See you)
Bridgette
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Fall Pictures From Sweden
Here are some fall pictures from around Sweden. Enjoy! This is a lake we drove by near Ljungby. You are seeing the reflection of the trees and clouds in the lake. Yes, it was that still!
Here are some pictures of the moon as seen from the front of our house last night. It was rising as the sun was setting. Pretty cool! The sun is rising about 7:30 in the morning and setting by 4:15 in the afternoon. These pictures were taken about 3:45.
Swedish Culture Class
As many of you know, last Tuesday, November 1st, David and I attended our Swedish Culture Course. The course was 6 hours and had quite a lot of interesting information in it. We reported to class at 9:00 am and the first thing was to participate in fika and come back to the room to watch a movie. What is fika you ask? Fika is a Swedish break where they provide "sandwiches". When I say "sandwich", it really is half a roll, usually a whole grain roll, with a bit of butter and a piece of cheese. Then they provide either sliced cucumbers or sliced peppers (paprika in Swedish), depending on the day. The fika we had at the Swedish Culture course had many more selections, they had fruit, yogurt, cheeses and "sandwiches". Ikea provides fika twice a day at their offices, usually a sandwich in the morning and fresh fruit in the afternoons.
Anyhow, while everyone ate we watched a 10 year old movie on why living in Sweden is so great! They interviewed people from different countries, including a couple from the U.S. on why they liked living in Sweden. The movie was interesting, but very dated!
Our instructor was from Britian and has lived in Sweden for 11 years. She married a Swedish man that she met abroad and subsequently moved here. She understands the frustrations of dealing with the Swedish ways and helped us feel more comfortable with our surroundings.
She then explained some of the history and interesting facts on Sweden. I will try and share them here with you and help you understand more about Sweden and their people.
Even though Sweden looks like a very large country, it is bigger than the State of California, only about 20% is really inhabited. 20% of Sweden lies about the Artic Circle and 60% of it is located north of Stockholm. Sweden only has about 8% of their land that is available for farming. 56% of the country is made up of trees and forest along with 36% reindeer! Yes, there is such a thing as reindeer, but I am not sure if they fly! With so much of the country made up of trees, no wonder timber is their largest industry. Water and steel (iron ore) makes up the rest of their natural resources. Sweden is also very large in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals (Astra Zeneca).
Roughly, 9 million people live in Sweden, the majority of them live below Stockholm. Stockholm is the largest city at 1.4 million, with Gotenberg coming in second at 700,000 and Malmo with 360,000. In 1900, 90% of the population lived in the country and today 80% of the populations lived in towns. Quite a difference! Yes, it is where the jobs and life are really located, which brings people to the city.
79% of the men work along with 74% of the women. The 74% of women working is the highest percentage in Europe. The ecomony here is based on a two-income household. They have a very generous maternity/paternity leave up to 16 months with your normal pay. You will be guaranteed a job when you come back to work, not necessarily the job that you had when you left. Another interesting fact is that it is very hard to get fired in Sweden. The employer has much documentation to do and the things you can get fired for in the U.S., like drinking on the job, you cannot get fired for here. They will send you to rehab, before they fire you! Employers are required to pay 3x your salary in payroll taxes, so they take all of this very seriously.
I was amazed to know that Sweden is the most honest country, they always try to do the right thing. They complete their taxes on time, many with no errors and they have a very high voter turn out rate! I find it very interesting that the Lutheran Church (A Calvinistic form of it) here is the State Church, but no one really goes to church, but 80% of the people belong to the church.
The affluence of Sweden has really happened in the last 100 years, mostly due to the exporting of cars (Volvo and Saab). Swedish society is very tolerant. Since they are a hardy people, they do not complain, even about work! They feel if you complain you are weak and spoiled. Up until about 20 years ago, Sweden was a very homgenous society. Now, they are seeing an influx of immigrants from the Middle East, among other places. Swedish people believe in jantelagen - average, not standing out. They think everyone is equal and has a fair chance. I guess that is why they all dress very similarly and keep up with fashion among each other. Currently, the big fad here is where Converse sneakers and skinny jeans. No, I do not have a pair of Converse, I do not think it is me.
In the 1930s a gentleman named Per Albin Hansson, helped turn around the Swedish society and basically changed the country to a socialist country. He wanted to build a society to be like a family (folkhemmet) based on equality, caring, cooperation and helpfulness.
We have found out that many times the people of Sweden appear tolerant and open on the outside, but inside they still have those Calvinistic characteristics. So far we think that living in Sweden has been an educational experience. Attending this class also made us more aware of the action and attributes that we encounter when we are out experiencing Swedish life.
I think this is a lot of information for now, if you would like to have more information or would like me to explain something else, please let me know and I would be happy to.
Take care and I do have more to write soon!
Love,
Bridgette
Anyhow, while everyone ate we watched a 10 year old movie on why living in Sweden is so great! They interviewed people from different countries, including a couple from the U.S. on why they liked living in Sweden. The movie was interesting, but very dated!
Our instructor was from Britian and has lived in Sweden for 11 years. She married a Swedish man that she met abroad and subsequently moved here. She understands the frustrations of dealing with the Swedish ways and helped us feel more comfortable with our surroundings.
She then explained some of the history and interesting facts on Sweden. I will try and share them here with you and help you understand more about Sweden and their people.
Even though Sweden looks like a very large country, it is bigger than the State of California, only about 20% is really inhabited. 20% of Sweden lies about the Artic Circle and 60% of it is located north of Stockholm. Sweden only has about 8% of their land that is available for farming. 56% of the country is made up of trees and forest along with 36% reindeer! Yes, there is such a thing as reindeer, but I am not sure if they fly! With so much of the country made up of trees, no wonder timber is their largest industry. Water and steel (iron ore) makes up the rest of their natural resources. Sweden is also very large in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals (Astra Zeneca).
Roughly, 9 million people live in Sweden, the majority of them live below Stockholm. Stockholm is the largest city at 1.4 million, with Gotenberg coming in second at 700,000 and Malmo with 360,000. In 1900, 90% of the population lived in the country and today 80% of the populations lived in towns. Quite a difference! Yes, it is where the jobs and life are really located, which brings people to the city.
79% of the men work along with 74% of the women. The 74% of women working is the highest percentage in Europe. The ecomony here is based on a two-income household. They have a very generous maternity/paternity leave up to 16 months with your normal pay. You will be guaranteed a job when you come back to work, not necessarily the job that you had when you left. Another interesting fact is that it is very hard to get fired in Sweden. The employer has much documentation to do and the things you can get fired for in the U.S., like drinking on the job, you cannot get fired for here. They will send you to rehab, before they fire you! Employers are required to pay 3x your salary in payroll taxes, so they take all of this very seriously.
I was amazed to know that Sweden is the most honest country, they always try to do the right thing. They complete their taxes on time, many with no errors and they have a very high voter turn out rate! I find it very interesting that the Lutheran Church (A Calvinistic form of it) here is the State Church, but no one really goes to church, but 80% of the people belong to the church.
The affluence of Sweden has really happened in the last 100 years, mostly due to the exporting of cars (Volvo and Saab). Swedish society is very tolerant. Since they are a hardy people, they do not complain, even about work! They feel if you complain you are weak and spoiled. Up until about 20 years ago, Sweden was a very homgenous society. Now, they are seeing an influx of immigrants from the Middle East, among other places. Swedish people believe in jantelagen - average, not standing out. They think everyone is equal and has a fair chance. I guess that is why they all dress very similarly and keep up with fashion among each other. Currently, the big fad here is where Converse sneakers and skinny jeans. No, I do not have a pair of Converse, I do not think it is me.
In the 1930s a gentleman named Per Albin Hansson, helped turn around the Swedish society and basically changed the country to a socialist country. He wanted to build a society to be like a family (folkhemmet) based on equality, caring, cooperation and helpfulness.
We have found out that many times the people of Sweden appear tolerant and open on the outside, but inside they still have those Calvinistic characteristics. So far we think that living in Sweden has been an educational experience. Attending this class also made us more aware of the action and attributes that we encounter when we are out experiencing Swedish life.
I think this is a lot of information for now, if you would like to have more information or would like me to explain something else, please let me know and I would be happy to.
Take care and I do have more to write soon!
Love,
Bridgette
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Yes, I Survived and Passed Swedish Culture Course!
Hej,
No, I have not forgotten about all of you, just have been busy with my temporary job at IKEA. The job is interesting in the fact that I am not sitting at a desk, looking at a computer all day. Along with another girl, Hanna, we are responsible for ironing and dressing all the beds for the Bedroom and Bathroom Division showcase area. This is not an easy task, we have to make the beds look beautiful, with no wrinkles, and tight enough to bounce a kroner off of! I am enjoying the physical labor and the reward at the end to see all the beds so nicely made up. Hanna is 18 and grew up here in Älmhult. We share culture about the U.S. and Sweden. Getting to know her has been a blessing. I feel comfortable enough with her to ask questions about Swedish words, traditions, etc. and she can ask me questions about American traditions. We are a great team!
David and I attended A Swedish Culture Course today from 9-3. The class explained about the history of the Sweden and the Swedish people. The instructor also helped to explain about why the Swedes behave the way they do. Sometimes we find it very strange and frustrating. I will go into more details when I write again. I want to be able to tell you all what I learned today.
Also, on Sunday, David and I drove to Växjö to do some shopping. On our way there we took a wrong turn or more accurately, we forgot to make a turn. Well, we ended up driving through this beautiful nature preserve, which also had the ruins of a castle. The cool thing about it was it was very foggy and the nature preserve was rich in a deep red color from the leaves of the trees. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking! Wouldn't you know, neither of us had our camera, so I was unable to take any pictures. David and I plan to go back to explore and take pictures.
Otherwise, we are doing well. David is off to Zurich tomorrow for one day. I promise to write again soon and give you more information on Sweden and the culture. You will find it very interesting and I cannot wait to share it with you.
Take care,
Bridgette
No, I have not forgotten about all of you, just have been busy with my temporary job at IKEA. The job is interesting in the fact that I am not sitting at a desk, looking at a computer all day. Along with another girl, Hanna, we are responsible for ironing and dressing all the beds for the Bedroom and Bathroom Division showcase area. This is not an easy task, we have to make the beds look beautiful, with no wrinkles, and tight enough to bounce a kroner off of! I am enjoying the physical labor and the reward at the end to see all the beds so nicely made up. Hanna is 18 and grew up here in Älmhult. We share culture about the U.S. and Sweden. Getting to know her has been a blessing. I feel comfortable enough with her to ask questions about Swedish words, traditions, etc. and she can ask me questions about American traditions. We are a great team!
David and I attended A Swedish Culture Course today from 9-3. The class explained about the history of the Sweden and the Swedish people. The instructor also helped to explain about why the Swedes behave the way they do. Sometimes we find it very strange and frustrating. I will go into more details when I write again. I want to be able to tell you all what I learned today.
Also, on Sunday, David and I drove to Växjö to do some shopping. On our way there we took a wrong turn or more accurately, we forgot to make a turn. Well, we ended up driving through this beautiful nature preserve, which also had the ruins of a castle. The cool thing about it was it was very foggy and the nature preserve was rich in a deep red color from the leaves of the trees. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking! Wouldn't you know, neither of us had our camera, so I was unable to take any pictures. David and I plan to go back to explore and take pictures.
Otherwise, we are doing well. David is off to Zurich tomorrow for one day. I promise to write again soon and give you more information on Sweden and the culture. You will find it very interesting and I cannot wait to share it with you.
Take care,
Bridgette
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