Posted in Politics & Society, Swedish/svenska | Tags: Sweden, | Archive | 6 Comments »

If you don’t understand Swedish please read the previous post.

Linda Skugge lever i någon slags bubbla och förnekar fakta vem som helst som har den minsta koll på arbetsmarknaden i Sverige vet är riktiga. Läs och förundras över människans dumhet.

En gång i tiden (ca 2001) tyckte jag Linda Skugge var vettig. Men nu? Hur tänker hon egentligen? Vilka jobb pratar hon om? Har hon helt missat att det råder utbredd arbetslöshet i Sverige? Om ungdomar är för fina för att jobba varför är det de som utgör majoriteten av de anställda på McDonalds? Varför är det de som sliter som telefonförsäljare med provisionsbaserade löner? Varför är det de som hamnar på praktikplatser där de utför samma jobb som löntagare fast på bidrag istället för lön? Linda Skugge har noll koll på verkligheten! Och allt snack om att när hon var ung då fick hon minsann jobb hur lätt som helst. Hallå Linda, tiderna har förändrats!

Plugs: Angelica, Malin, maria

Posted in Yada Yada | Tags: Movies, Sweden, TV, USA, | Archive | 9 Comments »

On the IMBD forums I’ve seen a lot of people in favour or American re-makes because they think they’re easier to follow than subtitled movies in the original for them foreign language. There’s also many countries (Most of central and southern Europe) that dub just about everything in another language than their native one. For me as a Swede I have a hard time understanding what they find so difficult about subtitles. Sure in some less developed countries where a large percentage of the population can’t read it’s one thing but when Americans prefer re-makes and French and Germans dubbed movies it’s just silly. Personally my reading skills were good enough to follow subtitles when I was seven and it’s been working well for me ever since.

I think it’s especially silly when people (Americans, it’s always Americans) complain about how it’s hard to follow a movie in a language they don’t understand with subtitles they do understand. Personally I think it’s harder to follow a movie in a language you do understand with subtitles in another language you also understand.

The things is no matter how good the subtitles are not everything can be accurately translated. Take humorous puns like this for example: “What did the grape say when it got stepped on? Nothing – but it let out a little whine”. Translated to Swedish the words “whine” and “wine” have no similarity to each other which means that directly translated the joke no longer makes sense. The usual solution to this is replacing the joke with a similar one. It works but when you understand the spoken English and get the joke it’s a bit annoying reading a completely different joke in the Swedish subtitles. That is what you could call hard to follow. Hearing one thing in one language and reading another in another language. Yet here in Sweden where almost everyone understand English we don’t complain because we’re used to this.

What do I want to say with this? That people who think subtitles makes movies hard to follow should think about how we do it in Sweden and how we manage well despite the fact that most of us understand both the spoken language and the subtitled one. Dubbing makes movies look weird and re-makes… well isn’t that just extremely unnecessary? Just read the damn subtitles.

Plugs: Ashley, Becky, Cecilie, Karin, Rhea, alisha, Erin, Veronica, maria

Posted in Politics & Society | Tags: H1N1, Sweden, USA, | Archive | 6 Comments »

I woke up to a grey sky and rain. I actually like rain, in the summer. This time of the year it’s not very pleasant though since it’s already cold enough without getting drenched in freezing water. Alas, the misery of fall!

I’m off to work in less than an hour and I don’t look forward to going there. My last work may have been 2 (metric system) miles (20 minutes by car) away but at least I got to go there by car with dad. Now I have a job in my home town which of course is nice but which also means that I have to walk or ride my bike there. Even in the pouring rain.

Speaking of something else. I wonder when I’ll get the vaccine against H1N1. Everyone in Sweden are being vaccinated for free but right now only those in the risk groups. My sister had the vaccine a couple of days ago due to her being in the risk group because of her diabetes. The rest of us have to wait a while longer though. Are you getting the vaccine fellow Swedes? Are there any other countries that vaccinate their entire population by the way? Obviously considering the American health care system that’s not the case with USA.

And speaking of that. What do you think about the American health care reform? I think it’s great. It’s insane that people can’t afford health care in USA. Really insane.

Now I need to get dressed since I’ll be off in not too long. Laters!

Plugs: Karin, maria, admin, Maria, Malin

Posted in Yada Yada | Tags: Sweden, | Archive | 6 Comments »

It’s interesting how people from other countries think that the entire Sweden has the same climate. Of course that’s not odd since I sure as hell don’t know much about the climate of other countries than Sweden and our closest neighbours Norway, Finland and Denmark.

Still I can’t help but laugh when I read questions on traveling forums where people ask about dog sledding possibilities in Stockholm. We don’t get much snow here in the south and there’s certainly hard to find a dog sled in the Stockholm area. It’s the same with reindeers. There are none in the southern Sweden.

Another funny thing is how people from the southern Sweden think that the climate difference between the south and the north is way bigger than it actually is. When friends of my mother from the south where to visit us in my old home town in the north they asked about whether they needed to bring knitted sweaters and warm jackets with them. In June. The summer may be pretty short there but there is a summer! And it gets pretty hot there as well.

The climate doesn’t differ that much during the summer. It’s during the winter that the climate difference gets big. The temperature, the amount of snow, the length of the winter vary greatly depending on which part of the country you live in.

After ten years in the south the short winter, early spring and lack of snow still amazes me. In February I see signs of spring while people who grew up here think I’m crazy. But the thing is as soon as the snow is gone and the temperatures goes above 0C (32F) I think it’s spring time. Because spring in the north isn’t as much about flowers as it is about melting snow.

God I’m so happy I don’t live there anymore. Because I hate cold weather and snow and love sunshine, green forests and flowers.

Which season is your favourite?

Plugs: Marie Claire, Karin, Deanna, Grace, tiff k, Rachel-Rebecka

Posted in Yada Yada | Tags: School, Sweden, Web Design, | Archive | 6 Comments »

I’ve now applied to nineteen classes at colleges from Blekinge in the south to Luleå in the north. They’re all distance education classes though so I can study all of them from home. The plan is to study two or three classes. I’d like to study one coding based class, one involving graphic design and a third one about Java, PHP or databases.

A couple of the classes I’ve applied to are:

Web development – Introduction
CSS based web design
Web publication: Technique , design, communication
Picture and graphic design for the web
Web design with JavaScript and Document Object Model
Databases and object oriented programming in PHP
Animation with Flash
Basic Java programming

Some things I’m familiar with. Other things not. Whichever classes I get into I’m still excited.

Speaking of something entirely different. I always see cool candy in American movies and think “oh, I’d like to try that”. Obviously that’s often kind of impossible since I live in Sweden. So I thought, would anyone like to exchange candy with me? You don’t have to live in the US, anywhere but Sweden is cool. You send me candy from your country and I’ll send you candy from Sweden. Anyone interested?

Plugs: Alyssa, Elizabeth, Angie, Joebs, Kimmy, tiff k

Posted in Politics & Society | Tags: Languages, Sweden, USA, | Archive | 12 Comments »

I hate when it’s assumed that American things are universal things. Like A Wikipedia article I read a couple of days ago, written entirely from an American perspective with examples only taken from USA.

Another example is one of those silly IQ tests I took online. It wasn’t a real IQ test, more like a test of how much you know about the world. Still, the problem was that half of the questions were all about USA. So since I didn’t know much about American presidents and such I’m apparently stupid.

But why should I know who the founding fathers were? I live in Sweden. We have our own famous politicians. Not to mention musicians, writers, artists, athletes and actors.

For about twenty-five years I thought Evel Knievel was a Star Wars character. I mean, just listen to the guys name! It really could be a space opera name! I understand that he’s quite a legend in the US but once again, why should I know that? I’m Swedish.

Speaking of USA. Which English do you guys speak and write? American or British? My English is probably a mix of both but in school I was taught British English. It’s hard not to mix in American English though since I no longer study the language but only encounter it online, in movies, music and books. And of course American English is the most common in all of those medias. I still try to use the British words as much as I can though. After all, I’m European.

Plugs: Angie, k0ph, Kimmy, Grace, Becky, tiff k, Vashael, Joebs, maria, Wtfbbq, Of flamers and political history « W H I R L W I N D

Posted in Politics & Society | Tags: Racism, Sweden, | Archive | 16 Comments »

In some Swedish schools it’s forbidden to wear clothes with the Swedish flag on because it’s associated with racism. It’s absolutely absurd! By doing so we’re giving our flag to the racists. We’re saying that the flag is theirs. It’s not. They might use it as a symbol of the things they stand for but what the Swedish flag truly stands for is Sweden as a country.

Apparently there’s people who are offended by others wearing clothes with the flag on. At least that’s what the principals at those schools say. In actuality it’s not the clothes they’re offended by but the opinions of some of the people wearing those clothes. If a immigrant wore a shirt with a Swedish flag on I doubt his/her immigrant friends would find that offensive. However if someone with racist opinions do they probably will.

But is the solution to forbid our flag? Of course it isn’t. It’s not a racist symbol but we’re pretty damn close to making it so. What we should do is reclaim the flag. Take it back and let it stand for what it’s meant to stand for.

Another thing which isn’t a bad thing but now is considered bad is calling yourself a patriot. Or nationalist. People associate patriotism with racism but the true meaning of the word is simply a person who love her/his country. I love Sweden. I love our freedom, our political system, our equality, our history. So I’m a patriot.

Does that also make me a racist? Of course it doesn’t. It hasn’t anything to do with politics at all. I simply love my country. You can do that no matter if you’re far-left (as I am) or far-right.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard a far-left person call themself a patriot. Most definitely because of what that word is associated with. But I’m a patriot. And a socialist. And a anti-racist.

What do you people from other countries think of this? Are things like this in your countries?

Plugs: Angie, Nimil, Pauline, maria, Shiri, scott, Ivy, Kristine, tiff k, Gabriella, Gel, Malin, Jasmin, Nicki, Becky

Posted in Politics & Society, Swedish/svenska | Tags: Sweden, | Archive | 1 Comment »

Here’s a post in swedish. If you don’t understand swedish read the previous entry instead.

Sättet det byggs på i Sverige är rätt förskräckligt. Istället för att bygga vad som behövs byggs istället vad som inbringar mest pengar. Det är väl rätt självklart egentligen, i ett kapitalistiskt samhälle, men det är synd.

Nu har jag inga exakta siffror men jag tror nog att om du ser till efterfrågan så är det små och billiga lägenheter som behövs mest i dagsläget. Byggs det då sådana? Oh nej. Istället är det turning torsos och strandläge för hela slanten. Medan unga människor inte kan flytta hemifrån förrän de är tjugofem och studenter som fyttar på grund av studier tvingas bo i andra hand.

Vi unga och inte så rika människor kräver inte mycket. Ett eget hem är ändå ett eget hem, trots att tapeterna inte är så nya och utsikten inte särskilt vacker. Inglasad balkong, helkaklat badrum och egen tvättmaskin är lyx vi inte behöver. Vi vill bara ha någonstans att bo.

Jag önskar att det gjordes en satsning på billiga bostäder för unga. Att det byggdes små ettor utan onödig lyx som folk i min ålder och ekonomiska situation (en inkomst på max 8000 i månaden) har råd med.

Jag utgår självklart från mig själv men jag tror nog att många i min situation håller med mig. Jag vill flytta till Jönköping men det finns nästan inga lediga lägenheter så i dagsläget spelar det ingen roll vad jag får för lägenhet, så länge den har kök och badrum (gemensam dusch i källaren är ett no-no).

Så här går det när allt är privatägt och endast pengarna styr. Varför bygga för dem som behöver det men inte har pengarna när man istället kan bygga för dem som inte behöver det men har feta plånböcker? Hej kapitalism.

Plugs: tiff k

Posted in Yada Yada | Tags: Christmas, Sweden, | Archive | 31 Comments »

Christmas is near and I was thinking of the different ways christmas is celebrated all over the world. This is how we celebrate chrsitmas in Sweden:

We celebrate on the 24:th. We don’t open the presents in the morning and we don’t have christmas stockings. My family however open one or two gifts in the morning and those usually contains the new clothes we’ll wear later that day. Nowadays that’s not all that exciting since I now get to pick out my outfit myself so it’s not like what I get is a surprise.

Most people in Sweden eat a nice lunch and by 3 around 50% (offical statistics) of the poulation watch “Donald Duck and his friends wish you a merry chritmas”, a one hour show which is a mix of clips from various Disney movies. This is very traditional and it’s the second most watched tv show in Sweden.  Imagine that, for one hour 50% of the swedish population watches the same tv-show. A cartoon.

After that most people eat a christmas buffé. Baked ham is for Sweden what turkey is for USA. Warm rice pudding is also important. Other traditional food is beetroot sallad (strips of beetroot with mustard maynoaise), lutfisk (lye-treated codfish), Janssons frestelse (casserole made of potatoes, onion, pickled sprats and cream), meatballs, sausage, pickled herring, gravad lax (raw salmon cured in salt, sugar, and dill), dopp i grytan (bread dipped in warm ham stock). Julmust (a soft drink only sold around christmas and easter) is the common drink. There are many variations of the christmas buffé and I of course eat my semi-vegetarian option mostly consisting of fish dishes and soy food.

After the dinner christmas presents are opened. They either lie under the christmas tree (in households without small children) or are delivered by someone dressed up as Santa Claus.

And that’s pretty much the swedish cristmas.

How is christmas celebrated in your country?

Plugs: katie, Jane, kitty, Gel, katty, Jon, Kya, Mohammed, Olivia Kitty, Pim, Belinda, Angelica, Chelsea, marian, Sarah, Michelle, Viona, chiui, Amber, Julie, Wayne John, Alice, Marie Claire, tiniwini, Kristen, Ally, Mihoriel

Posted in Yada Yada | Tags: Sweden, | Archive | 14 Comments »

A foreign custom I find weird is how people abroad not take their shoes off when they enter someones home. In Sweden entering someones home with your shoes on is conscidered rude.

I think this is a nice custom. I mean, it’s a lot less cleaning to do. And you can walk around barefoot in your home without getting your feet all dirty. Isn’t it gross getting out of the shower and walking barefeet on a floor where people have walked around with their dirty shoes on?

I’m not sure why we have this custom in Sweden. I think it might have something to do with the weather. We have long winters and during the season when the snow is melting it gets muddy and wet. In southern Sweden pretty much the entire winter is muddy and wet since the snow rarely stays.

I’ve read other theories about it being because many Swedish homes have wooden floors which walking around with your shoes on could be damaged. I’m not sure about that though. Are wooden floors uncommon in other countries?

Anyway. I think taking your shoes off when you’re inside is common sense. You don’t wear your jacket inside so why wear your shoes? And shoes are dirty! If nobody wears their shoes inside it’s not like your socks will get all that dirty. Besides. You can make your socks a fashion accesoire.

Meet my new affiliates Adriane and Michelle!

Plugs: Jason, maria, kitty, Gel, Lars, Laura, Emz, Wayne John, Nikkole, Chris, Mallory, Lauren, Ria