Posts under Culture

Swedish Photoblogs

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Sep
30
2009

I realized that we are long overdue for a classic picture post, because we haven’t had our fill of images from beautiful Sweden lately. But then I thought that we might as well try something different this time.

Instead of looking at my lame attempts at photography, I decided to share with you a couple of my favorite Swedish photo blogs.

First on the list is Stockholm by Pixels, a delightful photo blog run by Per and Peter.

I love this blog because those guys are super-diligent – a new photo appears every day. And as a blogger myself, I know that’s no easy task.
And the best part? Their write-ups are in English, so even if you don’t feel comfortable reading Swedish just yet, you’ll be OK.

Next on the list are Photos from Haninge by Steffe.

Steffe’s approach is a little bit different, his photos and their accompanying stories fall into the “slice of life” category, and if you ever wanted to see what life is like in a small(ish) Swedish town, this is the blog to visit.

And finally, the third blog in today’s round-up is Stockholm by Plenty. It’s a team effort by the guys of Stockholm by pixels and a few other assorted individuals brandishing cameras. The end result is a blog full of great photos posted with amazing frequency. And of yeah, it’s in English, too.

Since I haven’t asked for any of the blog owners’ permission to repost their photos here, I am not including any. Instead, I invite you to check out their work by clicking on the links in this post.
Enjoy!

 
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Vegans, Vegetarians and Organic Food

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Sep
27
2009

Is it easy to be a vegetarian in Sweden? While I admit, I am a dedicated dead flesh eater, I think that when it comes to vegetarianism, Sweden is a very accommodating country. At least that’s been my experience when hosting and catering for vegetarian friends.

Almost every restaurant, and even the tiniest sandwich shop I’ve been to clearly mark on their menus all the items suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Some places are more detailed than others, but it seems more or less standard these days to distinguish on menus between “vegetarian” (might include milk, and/or eggs) and “vegan” (no animal products whatsoever) options.

And is vegetarianism (and veganism) widespread in Sweden? Again, I’d have to say “yes”. The popularity of vegetarianism, and even more so – veganism is most prominent in college towns and on university campuses. And that seems to surprise many foreign visitors, because apparently the image of meat-loving Vikings living in a cold, barren country is what comes to people’s minds when they put “Sweden” and “food” in the same sentence.

But what’s been coming to my mind lately is “vegan”. Honestly, either I never paid attention, or I used to hang out with the wrong (steak-loving) crowd, but I’ve never met as many vegans in other countries, as in Sweden. And obviously, all these vegans must eat something, right? So if there are that many of them, veganism can’t be that hard to follow, even in the far north, right?

But as one friendly vegan told me, while it’s not exactly a hardship to be a vegan in Sweden, it’s much easier to be a simple vegetarian.

And even easier to be a person who eats everything, as long as it’s organic (ekologisk). And this, ladies and gentlemen is one of the things that I really admire about Sweden. This country takes its commitment to organic food very seriously. All organic products are labeled with a “KRAV” mark and the standards for assigning this mark are very high.

So basically, no matter what and how you eat, you will not go hungry in Sweden.

 
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Hats Off to Skatteverket - a happy tax story

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Sep
21
2009

Tax authorities normally don’t put big, happy smiles on people’s faces. Rather the opposite reaction is common. Skatteverket is not exception. Most people (yes, even in Sweden) grumble about taxes. And foreigners positively get a shock when they see their yearly Swedish income statements for the first time and see how much tax was deducted from their salaries.

So, for all those grumbling about taxes, today I want to tell you how wonderful Skatteverket really is and how it’s willing to go not just an extra mile, but a few thousand miles, if needed.

A friend of ours left Sweden earlier this year and returned home to his native South Korea. While in Sweden he had a good job and was making a nice salary. In previous years I had always helped him and his wife check their inkomstdeklarationer and file them with Skatteverket.

This year they got their tax return forms when they were already in Seoul. Since neither one of them speaks any Swedish, they asked me to take care of the yearly filing.

They were due a handsome tax refund, but were not sure how it would work with getting it in Korea. I wasn’t sure either. I remember how the American IRS does it – they just send you a check in US dollars and it’s none of their business if depositing it in the country where you live is a major hassle.

My friends no longer have a Swedish bank account, so they pretty much gave up on ever seeing their tax refund.

In the meantime, they received some correspondence from Skatteverket telling them that their refund is being processed and will be dispatched to them “shortly”. That was a couple of months ago. And because they asked me, I called Skatteverket a couple of times to see how this issue is going to be handled and I was told it would be mailed, as a check. To South Korea.

So imagine our surprise when last week they got their check. In South Korean won (that’s the name of the Korean currency) drawn on a bank in Seoul. The tax refund came from Sweden via Germany (it seems that Deutsche Bank handles foreign tax refunds for Skatteverket) and the amount was neatly converted from SEK to South Korean won, minus the commission. So now they can just leisurely stroll to their local bank and deposit the money into their account without any major hassles. Without any exorbitant bank fees for depositing a foreign check, because for all intents and purposes, their check is not a foreign check.

How’s that for taking care of (former) Swedish taxpayers living abroad? I don’t know about you, but Skatteverket just earned my total respect. Hats off!

 
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Why Do We Learn Swedish?

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Sep
18
2009

“Why bother learning Swedish?” someone asked me recently. “Everybody in Sweden speaks perfect English,” the person continued, “so what’s the point?”

Hmmm… yeah, really?

It’s true that one of the first things that a visitor to Sweden will notice is that almost everyone speaks English here. Maybe not perfect English, but English that is easily understood and very fluent indeed.

I have seen scores of people who had spent time learning Swedish before their first trip here only to arrive sorely disappointed. Whenever they tried to say or ask something in Swedish, the answers came back at them in English.

One travel writer from Arizona, who had been invited to Sweden for a press trip, was quite stressed about her lack of Swedish skills. She didn’t believe me when I told her that she’d be fine speaking only English. She insisted I provide her with some basic phrases and expressions, because she’d been to Europe before, she said, and “none of them spoke any English.” She went to Sweden and I can only assume she had a great time, because she never got in touch with me after that.

It’s true that Swedes speak excellent English. I believe that the fact that their TV programming is not dubbed but subtitled has a lot to do with it. Swedish kids are exposed to English early on, and frankly, they don’t have much choice if they want to watch “The Simpsons”.

Then yeah, why learn Swedish at all? Especially if you’re just visiting the country for a couple of weeks? Or months? After all, it’s not like France or parts of Germany, where without some knowledge of the local lingo you are totally lost (like that lady on the news not so long ago who got locked inside a town hall building for the night in some French village).

If you’re planning to live in Sweden, then it’s a different story. Or is it? I know of people who’ve been living in Sweden for years and the only thing they know how to say is “tack” and “ursäkta mig.”

And that brings me to today’s question. If you don’t mind, could you share with all of us YOUR reasons for learning Swedish?

PS> And yes, a Swedish boyfriend or wife are very good reasons, indeed.

 
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Is Driving in Sweden Stressful? (I don’t think so!)

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Sep
15
2009

After reading the blog post about buying a car in Sweden, one of the readers (who also happens to be my good friend) sent me an email ranting about how frustrated and stressed she is when it comes to driving in Sweden. I emailed her back saying that she had no clue what she was talking about, and if she wants to see what frustration REALLY is, she should try driving in Italy or Greece. And for the record, I love both Italy and Greece, it’s just that I’d rather gnaw my leg off than drive there.

Sweden is a shockingly civilized country when it comes to driving culture and behavior on the roads. Of course, as in all other places, there are always possibilities of running into (or rather, colliding with) some jerk with a bad case of road rage, but personally, I must say that such incidents are rare. For the most part driving in Sweden is nothing when compared to, say, Bangkok, or Paris.

Even some of the most notorious foreign drivers I know (like ahem, ahem, the one writing this blog post), once in Sweden, they try to fit in and do their best not to stand out. They will stop at a crosswalk (or pretty much anywhere else too) as soon as any pedestrian makes even the vaguest of motions indicating the desire to cross the street. Of course, sometimes the pedestrian might be drunk and simply trying to stay upright and on the sidewalk, but still, if it looks like he/she wants to cross the road, the brakes will screech and the traffic will come to a halt.

For the most part, people in Sweden drive carefully and have good road manners. And even those who complain about driving in Stockholm or Malmö admit that such complaints wouldn’t even register on a grander, European scale.

And speaking of driving, did you know that back in the olden days, that is, before September 1967, Sweden had left-hand traffic? Yep, the switch was made on September 3, 1967, and this day is known as Dagen H in Swedish history. A.k.a. Högertrafikomläggningen - “The right-hand traffic diversion.”
The H stands for Högertrafik – right-hand traffic.

This photo was taken on Kungsgatan in Stockholm on the morning of September 3 in 1967, after the traffic switch. Fun, wasn’t it?

Now, THAT was what I would call stressful!

 
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