Posts in December 2008

Nyårsafton

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Dec
31
2008

Today is nyårsafton and everybody, their mother and their dog are getting ready for some mad partying tonight. Yet, I am staying home, because jag är förkyld.

Yes, I have a nasty cold, and so there’s no partying for me. I will stay at home, watch TV, and then watch fireworks, which they normally tend to fire in the playground right behind my house. I can watch the show from the comfort of my bedroom window. I will also do some designated driving for my friends in the wee hours of the morning.

But before you too disappear into your Systembolaget-fueled New Year’s eve madness, take a look at these two examples:

  • nyårsafton (def. –aftonen, pl. –aftnar, def. pl. –aftnarna) – årets sista dag – New Year’s Eve, 31 December
  • nyårsdagen (pl. -dagar, def. pl. -dagarna) - årets första dag – New Year’s Day – 1 January

See anything odd about this second word? No? Look again.

We don’t say “nyårsdag” but “nyårsdagen” – this word exists in singular only in the definite form.

And that’s probably the limit of our intellectual effort for today.

Remember, if you’re going to party hard – have someone else do the driving afterwards, or call a cab. It may cost an arm and a leg tonight, that’s for sure, but it’s better to start the year in one piece, safe and sound. And besides, nyårsdagen from the inside of a jail cell is not all that exciting.

Have a safe New Year’s eve and a fabulous New Year!
Kramar,
Anna

 
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The Days Between

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Dec
28
2008

Between what? Christmas and New Year’s, naturally!

I don’t know about you, but I am positively glad that Christmas is finally over. No more coming up with excuses to avoid eating lutefisk (lutfisk in Swedish, but “lutefisk” in English, OK?). Yay! And no more julskinka (Christmas ham). Yay! (The one we were treated to this year was particularly salty, more so than in previous years.) Unfortunately now all the leftover julskinka will go on sale and that means that my neighbor will buy about as many as her freezer can hold. And then she will keep inviting us over for dinner. Arrgh… She’s a sweet, older lady, and she lives alone and I just don’t have the heart to say “no” to her. So, we will politely go, bring cookies or a pie with us, and be subjected to julskinka until about Easter.

But that’s not what I wanted to talk about today. I wanted to talk about mellandagarna.
Why? Because if you are shopoholic like me, this is a very important time of the year, indeed. Why? Sales!!!

You see, the days between Christmas and New Year’s are called mellangarna, which literally means “the between days.”

  • mellan – middle, between

and

  • dag (def. dagen, pl. dagar, pl.def. dagarna) - day

Depending on how many weekdays there are during this time, it’s traditional to use up your remaining vacation/holiday days off during this period. Otherwise, depending on your company’s policy, you may lose them when the year ends. So, some people sit at home and rest after the excesses of julbord, some people book a sunny getaway to the Canary Islands or elsewhere. And some people, like me, go shopping!

You see, mellandagarna is also synonymous with after-Christmas sales. And we like sales, right? Especially in this unhappy economy.

So, now in Swedish:

  • Mellandagarna är traditionellt stora rea-dagar.


Hmmm… I wonder why I suddenly need a new pair of winter boots. Hmmm…

 
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Julafton!!!

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Dec
24
2008

It’s julafton (Christmas eve) and in Sweden it means many things, but the most important of them all will start at 3PM on SVT1. Kalle Anka!!! The sacred Swedish Christmas tradition!

How did Donald Duck become a staple of Swedish Christmas cheer, I am not really sure. Nobody is. But the fact is, it’s not really a proper Swedish Christmas without Kalle Anka.

It’s not really Christmas without a fully loaded julbord, either. Because we are picky eaters, we have a modified julbord – we’re not fans of lutefisk in this house.

But a traditional julbord should include:

  • -    julskinka (Christmas ham)
  • -    julkorv (Christmas sausage)
  • -    sylta (a very odd thing, which I actually quite like, known in English either as “head cheese” or “brawn” but it’s not cheese, and the head in question belonged either to a calf or pig, OK?)
  • -    köttbullar (meatballs)
  • -    prinskorv (more sausage, this one is normally fried)
  • -    inlagd sill (pickled herring)
  • -    strömming (more herring)
  • -    lax (salmon)
  • -    lutefisk (eh, that thing, which is fish cured in lye)
  • -    rödbetssallad (red beet salad) and other mostly pickled veggies
  • -    potatis, boiled, dilled, or a as a salad.
  • -    and of course risgrynsgröt (rice pudding). My friend’s grandma makes the best risgrynsgröt ever, and since I normally don’t eat dairy products, coming from me, this is a huge compliment, indeed.

Even though Sweden is a relatively small country (when compares to the US, for example), different regions have their own regional varieties of julbord food, too. In Norrland, it’s not uncommon to find moose or reindeer meat dishes amongst all the fish and pork and beef.

And now, if you excuse me, det är dags för Kalle Anka och hans vänner. And presents, because in Sweden we give Christmas presents on the 24th.

God Jul till alla mina läsare!!!

I’ll see you here again on December 27th!

image: Wikipedia, because I’m not that ambitious as a cook. :)

 
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Julbocken and Other News

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Dec
21
2008

I received several emails from the readers asking me what I thought about the riots in Malmö. So, what did I think about the riots? Absolutely nothing. It barely registered on our radars here in Norrland. Much more exciting news is that Lindex is going to open a store in Lycksele next year – at least I know that Ceci will appreciate it, as she’ll be heading to Lycksele next spring.

Another important news is that as of December 15, 2008 people from outside the EU can come to Sweden for a limited time and look for a job. Especially needed are medical professionals, engineers, and other highly qualified people. But it’s a catch-22 situation, really. Most new arrivals don’t speak Swedish and to get a job in those highly specialized fields good Swedish skills are essential. Some say it’s really odd that Sweden is opening its job market when the unemployment rates are soaring and companies are going bankrupt.

But let’s return to Lyckselse for a moment. The Lycksele goat was set on fire last Friday.
No worries, it wasn’t a live goat, only a straw one. And it wasn’t as big as the most famous Christmas goat erected every year in Gävle. Normally, it’s the Gävle goat that gets torched, but this year its northern cousin has been burned.


Gävlebocken 2006. Image: Wikipedia.

“A Christmas goat?” I hear you say. Yep. Julbocken. It’s a leftover from the old pagan tradition where the god Thor used to ride in a chariot drawn by two goats, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr. (I mean, goats? A chariot? And here I thought that Thor was a fierce and important god.)

But that’s how the tradition of straw goats had originated. Some towns, like Gävle and Lycksele, construct their own massive straw goats, which is just an invitation for crazy pyromaniacs to set them on fire. But if you want your very own straw goat, you can buy yourself a miniature version. They’re sold almost everywhere before Christmas, from simple ones at julmarknader to more fancy versions at normal shops.


Straw goats at julmarknad in Umeå last year.

So, in Sweden, Christmas means a straw goat and Donald Duck on tv. But we’ll talk about Donald Duck on Christmas eve next time.

 
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Use of Capital Letters

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Dec
18
2008

In my last post I mentioned that “jul” in Swedish is written with a small letter. In all fairness, in some cases it IS written with a capital. You can see it especially in advertisements and greetings.

And in his comment, Luke from Sydney very aptly pointed out that it’s not only “jul” – names of the days of the week also begin with a small letter in Swedish:

  • måndag – Monday
  • tisdag – Tuesday
  • onsdag – Wednesday
  • torsdag – Thursday
  • fredag – Friday
  • lördag – Saturday
  • söndag – Sunday

For example: Vi reser till fjällen på måndag.

It’s the same with months:

  • januari – January
  • februari - February
  • mars - March
  • april - April
  • maj - Maj
  • juni - June
  • juli - July
  • augusti - August
  • september – September
  • oktober – October
  • november - November
  • december – December

For example: I Västerbotten börjar vintern redan i slutet av oktober.

But that’s not all. Unlike in English, in Swedish all nationality words also begin with a small letter. So, all the names of languages, and adjectives used to describe national origin, as well as nationalities, are all written with a small letter.

  • engelska – English
  • tyska – German
  • spanska – Spanish
  • svenska - Swedish

For example: Jag kan prata svenska, engelska och spanska.

En japansk person är en person från Japan. En kvinna kan också kallas en japanska.

So, just a little something to keep in mind when you write in Swedish.

 
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