Posted by Anna Ikeda
Because there’s not much to say about the Swedish performance at the Olympics (Ara Abrahamian’s hissy fit resulting in his bronze medal being revoked and Carolina Klüft’s dismal results so far, and that’s it in a nutshell) I’m going to continue talking about the wonders of Norrland instead.
But first things first.
Did you know that an open-air museum was a Scandinavian concept? The first one was actually organized in 1881 in Norway, and ten years later, an inspired guy by the name of Artur Hazelius set up the famous Skansen in Stockholm. The rest is history. The word “skansen” became synonymous with an open-air museum, and the idea was copied all over Europe and beyond. And of course, all over Sweden, too. These days almost every town and village of any standing has its very own open-air museum. In English they’re known as “folk museums”, “living history museums”, “museums of buildings”, etc. and generally mean a place full of old buildings where the poor staff is forced to prance around in period costumes.
In Swedish they’re known as “friluftmuseum” or “hembygdsgård”, and believe it or not, there are more than 1 300 of them in this country. That’s one open-air museum for every 7 thousand Swedes (including babies and really old people). See? I tell you, this stuff is big over here. Really big.
Some of them, like Stockholm’s Skansen are truly superb, some are OK, and some need to serve free waffles during summer weekends to get enough visitors. I admit, I’m a totally sucker for open-air museums. I love them all, the dinkier the better. Last year while driving to Kiruna, I made my poor friend stop at every single one along the way. She finally drew the line at an outdoor tractor museum somewhere outside of Luleå, and I still haven’t quite forgiven her for that.
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Posted by Anna Ikeda
One good thing about being from (or living in) Umeå is that you’re not from anywhere else in Västerbotten. Because imagine the alternatives! You could be from a place like Lycksele, for example.
I’m sure that Lycksele is a perfectly delightful little town, or a large village depending on who’s talking, of about 9 thousand people. Delightful for a short period of time, that is. And considering the numbers of teens and young people from Lycksele who come to Umeå every Saturday night in search of adventure, excitement and really wild things, you can kind of guess they share my opinion. And don’t forget the housewives on shopping trips! Lycksele may brag that three chain stores have opened there in recent years, and they even have a Dollar Store (which is not really a dollar store at all, but a normal Swedish shop) in town, but that still doesn’t change the fact that to most Lycksele-bor Umeå is a shining metropolis filled with swanky shops and fashionable people. No Dollar Store can match that.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a charming town, but a charming podunk town, and the label of “Lapp Stockholm” is very misleading. But to be honest, I’ve never heard anyone except the Lycksele kommun (municipal district) and tourist office employees use that term. And even then, they whisper it quietly.
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Posted by Anna Ikeda
Today is our Queen’s name day (Silvia) and also the first day of the Olympic Games, but I’m not really that fond of either one. The Queen has always struck me as creepily Stepfordish. I mean, is that woman even real or is she just a life-size paper cut-out? You know, like those of Star Trek characters that you can buy if you’re geeky enough to attend sci-fi conventions. But personally, I would much rather prefer to have a stand-up cardboard figure of Lt. Worf than of Drottning Silvia (drottning = queen). And name days? I’ve never been a fan of them.
Anyway, where were we? Ah yes, the Olympic Games. You don’t need me to blog about that – just turn on your TV and you’ll get your Olympic overload.
So instead I thought I’d blog today about something actually useful. Maybe not as entertaining as making fun of Queen Silvia, but much more practical – namely, going to the dentist.
This is a topic that many, normally cold and indifferent Swedes feel very passionate about. Why? Many reasons, and I’m not going to discuss them here. But in short – it takes a long time to get an appointment with a “public” dentist and private dentists are very expensive. And even then, getting an appointment can be an ordeal.
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Posted by Anna Ikeda
I said last time that I would tell you about the Sami. In fact, I’ve been thinking about a Sami-themed post for quite a while now, or at least every time I listen to Transjoik. Though Transjoik is technically a Norwegian band, we’ll let them in here on an honorary membership. Sami, the people formerly known as Lapps don’t recognize normal national borders. They live in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. But who are they?
In Swedish:
- samer (noun plural, def. plural: samerna) – en folkgrupp som finns i norra Sverige, Norge, Finland och Ryssland – an ethnic group in northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia.
This happy Sami guy, Lars Jonas Johansson, lives nearby Tärnaby and welcomes visitors into his home. Just bring rubber boots if you plan to pet his reindeer - they sure poop a lot.
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Posted by Anna Ikeda
Last week when I read about the Swedish agriculture minister Eskil Erlandsson’s statement that he hopes to establish Sweden as haute cuisine leader of the world, I naturally assumed it was a joke. Or maybe that the venerable government official had one too many shots of Absolut. Because c’mon now, “Sweden” and “world-class” cuisine in the same sentence? I’m trying not to laugh too hard as I’m chewing on a bit of falukrov while eating in front of the computer. Yet it seems Mr. Erlandsson was totally serious.
Sweden may be famous for many things. Elks (yes, you can call them “moose” if you want), buxom blondes, gender equality, state-provided welfare, pop music, Saabs, Volvos (even though both are now technically American), Ikea and so on. But food? Nah, never heard of it. Unless we’re talking about the Swedish Chef here. Bork, bork, bork!
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