Posts under Geography

Valborgsmässoafton

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Apr
30
2009

It’s April 30th and we all know what that means in Sweden – it’s Valborgsmässoafton or Valborg. In English this celebration is better known as Walpurgis.

This year it also marks the start of a really long weekend. Tomorrow – Friday is Första Maj (May Day), then come Saturday and Sunday, and the world will return to work as we know it on Monday.

But let’s talk about Valborg for a second. This holiday is observed not only in Sweden, but also in other Nordic countries, as well as in some parts of Germany. Of course, as with most ancient celebrations in Europe, this one has pagan roots, as well. And while I’m not sure how Valborg is celebrated in other parts of Europe, I do know how Swedes celebrate it.

As with everything else in Sweden, there are many regional varieties of Valborg festivities. One tradition, however, that remains the same throughout the country is the lighting of huge bonfires. People gather around the fire, sing songs and consume copious amounts of alcohol. Technically, the songs are supposed to be about the coming of spring, but in reality, what I’m hearing from the outside, is just a general merry singing of people having a good time. My neighbors are grilling, and the smell of sausages is making me very hungry.

The largest bonfire in our town is constructed by the university students on a field in front of one of the buildings.

Here’s a short video of a very dignified Valborg celebration in 2007 with the local student choir providing the entertainment portion of the festivities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDIpdycJPig

Tomorrow we have a couple of May Day demonstrations in town, and somehow I suspect that with the current economic crisis, there will be more participants on the streets than in the previous years. So, I better look up the lyrics to “Internationalen” (The Internationale), because last year I was mouthing them in French. And what was I doing at a May Day demonstration? The weather was nice, the sun was shining and it was such a shame to stay cooped up at home.

Have a wonderful long weekend! See you on Monday!

PS. Today is also the king’s birthday. Grattis, Carl Gustaf!

 
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Hav or sjö?

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Apr
23
2009

When is a lake not a lake? When it’s a sea. Doesn’t make much sense, now does it? But unfortunately that’s how it can be in Swedish. Sometimes a lake is just a lake, but sometimes, even though it’s called a lake, it’s really a sea.

Of course, I am talking about the “hav” and “sjö” issue. And what inspired me to write about it was a heated discussion between a Swede and a foreigner I overheard on the bus the other day. The discussion was in English, the foreigner was asking lots of questions and the Swede was doing the explaining. Sadly, he wasn’t very good at it and I was seriously contemplating whether or not I should join in. But since one doesn’t just join random conversations taking place in public places in Sweden, I stayed silent. I was reading an interesting book anyway.

So, here’s my chance to add my 2 öre to the discussion, even though I seriously doubt that the foreign guy from the bus reads this blog.

But this was his question that started the whole discussion:
Why is the Baltic Sea called a “lake” in Swedish? And how come it’s not even called “Baltic lake” but “Östersjön” – Eastern Lake.
Hmmm… the easy answer is that: Since it’s to the east of Sweden, it’s called “eastern”, even though as far as I know the rest of the world calls it “Baltic”. That’s OK, I can live with that. Every language has its quirks and this is one in Swedish. And that was pretty much what the Swedish guy on the bus said.

But what’s up with this “sjö” (lake) business? That’s something the Swede had a much harder time explaining. And I can’t blame him. There’s Vänern, which is most definitely “sjö”, in fact Vänern är Sveriges största sjö and third largest in Europe.

So, if “sjö” means “lake”, then why do we have “Östersjön” (the Baltic Sea) and Nordsjön (the North Sea)? Well, the traditional reasoning is that those two seas were so well-known to the Vikings, they didn’t even consider them as seas, but as their own lakes. Fine, I can live with that, too. But then what about Sydkinesiska sjön (the South China Sea)? Was it also known to the Vikings? Mercifully, Sydkinesiska sjön also has an alternate name - Sydkinesiska havet. And that’s more like it. To make the distinction between lake-lake and sea-lake easier, the kind of lake that is a normal lake is called “insjö” in Swedish.

“Hav” means either a sea OR an ocean. So you can have for example Stilla havet (the Pacific Ocean) and Medelhavet (the Mediterranean Sea).

Ok, so if “hav” means “ocean” and there’s Stilla havet to prove it, then what about “Indiska oceanen”? Hmmm… a very good question. Luckily, you can say either “Indiska oceanen” or “Indiska havet” – both are fine.

And what about the Atlantic Ocean? To make things even more interesting, it’s simply called “Atlanten”.

  • sjö (def. sjön, pl. sjöar, def.pl.: sjöarna) – stort område med vatten som inter inner och med land runt omkring, insjö – lake (or a sea in some cases
  • hav (def. havet, pl. hav, def.pl.: haven) - saltvattnet som finns runt jordens landområden – ocean or sea.
 
Posted under Geography, Swedish Language
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Vilhelm Moberg and Swedish Emigration to the US

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Mar
25
2009

A couple of days ago I stumbled upon the Immigration Explorer on The New York Times website and I’m ashamed to admit, I’ve been playing with it like a little kid since.

A few things surprised me, though. One – that the Norwegian and Swedish data have been divided into two groups. Why is it surprising? In other sources, I’ve always seen these countries lumped together under the common label of “Scandinavian” immigration. And since Norway and Sweden used to have this love-hate relationship going on for many centuries, it makes me wonder just how accurate such a “by country” division really is.

Another thing that surprised me was how relatively small-scale the “Scandinavian” immigration was. True, it was immense when compared to the population levels back in those days in Sweden (and in Norway, too). But when you see those immigrants alongside other nations – Italians, Germans, or Poles, for example, then you come to realize how just tiny the Swedish numbers were in comparison.

And here’s another thing that surprised me. We’ve always been taught that those immigrants settled primarily in Minnesota and in the rural Midwest. But when you look at the Immigration Explorer, you can see pockets of Swedes (and Norwegians, too) all over, including California. And surprise, surprise, it looks like Chicago had the largest concentration of Swedish immigrants for several decades.

Still, Minnesota is the place that everyone thinks of when talking about Swedish immigration to the US in the 19th century. That’s the place that Vilhelm Moberg wrote about in his epic series. That’s the place where these days you can meet the quintessential blond, blue-eyed folk, who will cheerfully announce: “Yeah, I’m Swedish!” And then give you a blank stare when you attempt to speak Swedish to them. (That particular American quirk always drove me up the wall. No, you are not Swedish. You are of Swedish origin. There’s a difference.)

But let’s talk about Vilhlem Moberg (1898 - 1973) for a minute. Have you read his books? Or, if not, have you at least seen the movies? And don’t feel bad if you didn’t like the films. Even though the first one was nominated for four Academy Awards, I hated it. I watched it on TV as a kid, and then later on I rented it on video (video! ha! who remembers those days?) when I was all grown up and better prepared to understand the story.

Personally, it was the first book in The Emigrants series, titled simply “Utvandrarna” that broke my heart. The other books in the series are: “Invandrarna”, “Nybyggarna” and “Sista brevet till Sverige”. In a poll conducted by Sveriges television in 1998, the entire series was voted as the most important Swedish books of all time.

I’ve eventually read all four books, but “Utvandrarna” and “Sista brevet till Sverige” are my favorite among them. The whole series should be considered “essential reading”, be it in English, or in Swedish, for any Swedophile. It has a gripping story, historical bits, cultural themes, and enough Scandinavian melancholy to fill buckets. But most of all, it’s also simply great, classic literature.

 
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Kiruna stadsflytt – Where They Really Move Houses

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Mar
12
2009

And I mean “move houses” in more ways than one. They are literally planning to move the entire city center to a new location. Historical houses will be taken apart, moved and put back together in their new locations. Some buildings will be demolished, either fully or partially, and then replaced with new, or partly new constructions at the target site.

Along with the buildings, the inhabitants of Kiruna have to move or reconstruct the sewage and water pipes, electricity supply grid, railway station and parts of the European highway E10.

And all this has to be done by 2033. So next time don’t laugh when you hear that someone in Sweden is “moving house”, OK?

Why are Kirunabor doing it? Well, they have no choice, really. Their lovely town sits on a huge iron ore mine - LKAB (incidentally also a very interesting place to visit - they have guided tours, ask at the tourist office), and as the result of the mining work, the ground is cracking and the town is sinking.

It was back in 2003 when the mine informed the city about the problem. Apparently, the cracks in the ground were spreading faster than initially believed. So, during 2004 it was decided that the town needed to be moved. In 2007 the new location was agreed on and soon after that the work began.

Of the buildings that are going to be moved, the most important ones are Kiruna kyrka (church) and stadshuset (city hall).

When I spoke to a representative from the tourist office about the logistics of such a move, she explained that the church is not a problem. It’s a wooden structure (the largest such structure in all of Sweden), so it can be easily taken apart and re-constructed elsewhere.

It’s a lovely church, by the way, the design is inspired by a Sami kåta (Sami tent) and it’s absolutely impossible to imagine Kiruna without it. The cost of moving the church? About 25 million SEK.

Stadshuset is the problem. It’s a large building, you know, your average city hall size.

So how do you move it? Apparently, there is a company in Italy that has the required technology and offered to do the work. The building will be cut into four pieces, each piece will be then transported and somehow put together at the new place. The cost of moving the city hall? Plus minus 50 million SEK.

You can read more about Kiruna stadsomvandling on the official Kiruna city webpage dedicated to the move.


So, moving house? Yep, we do that too. No problem.

Images: Wikipedia under CC agreement

 
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Airports in Stockholm

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Feb
3
2009

I just got to spend a day in Stockholm, and as you’ve probably realized, that doesn’t happen every often. Stockholm is simply too far. And getting there can be quite pricey, too. In fact, it frequently turns out cheaper to fly from Stockholm to another country than it is to fly within Sweden. True, you’d have to fly from Skavsta on a budget airline, but still, you could go to Paris if you wanted.

Bus and train from the north are a bit cheaper than flying, but who’d want to spend 10 hours sitting on a bus? Well, I did. Not that I wanted, but I had to.

And that gives me an idea. Let’s talk about travel options within Sweden today. Of course, the most obvious way would be flying. And of course the most obvious choice of an airline would be SAS. SAS stands for “Scandinavian Airlines System” and it’s not even a purely Swedish airline. If I remember correctly, it’s shared among Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

  • SAS bildades 1946 genom en sammanslagning av tre nationella flygbolag i Danmark, Norge och Sverige.

SAS is just like all the other typical legacy carriers. Big, expensive, and not all that customer friendly (unless of course, you fly in Economy Extra or Business Class, then they’re very friendly). You have to pay for your food and drink not only on domestic flights, but these days also on international flights within Europe. A cheap ticket on SAS is still sometimes double or more of what a budget airline may charge for the same route.

A budget airline that serves our town and connects it with Stockholm is Norwegian.

Yes, even though the name says “Norwegian” the airline does indeed fly within Sweden as well. Its tickets are much cheaper than SAS, but the departure and arrival times may not be as convenient.
But if you’re not too picky about that, there are some real deals to be had. And the best part? Even though it’s a budget airline, it flies directly to the big international airport at Arlanda in Stockholm. Well, it’s technically in Stockholm, even though some people have been known to call it “Uppsala International.”

The airport located right in Stockholm is Bromma. It’s served by a bunch of low-cost domestic carriers and Malmö Aviation, which as the name suggests, flies mainly to Malmö and a couple of other destinations, such as Umeå and Brussels.

And finally, the other two airports that the likes of Ryanair would like you to believe are in Stockholm are Skavsta (really in Nyköping) and Västerås (really in Västerås). Both are quite a long drive from Stockholm proper.

So next time when you hear about those super cheap airfares to Stockholm, double check just which Stockholm the airline flies to. If it’s Skavsta, you may be in for a very unpleasant surprise, especially if you booked connecting trains from Stockholm Central or connecting flights from another airport. Since Skavsta is about 90 minutes (in good traffic) by bus from Stockholm Central, be sure to allow plenty of time for this transfer.

PS. I am not mentioning Skyways in this post, because does anyone even know what’s happening with them?

And we’ll talk about trains and buses another time. :) (Yes, you guessed it, I’m traveling again!)

 
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