Category Archives: Vocabulary

Nyårsafton

31
Dec
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 [...]

By Anna | Also posted in Grammar | Comments (4)

The Days Between

28
Dec
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. Yay! And no more julskinka (Christmas ham). Yay! (The one we were treated to this year was particularly salty, more so than in previous [...]

By Anna | Also posted in Culture | Comments (1)

Julafton!!!

24
Dec
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 [...]

By Anna | Also posted in Culture | Comments (3)

Julmarknad and “skriva ihop”

16
Dec
2008

This year, because I was away, I missed our local julmarknad. No big deal, really, because it’s tiny and not all that interesting (went last year, and the year before, and the year before-before, and so on) and held only during one weekend at our local skansen-type attraction – Gammlia. Yet, the official city hall [...]

By Anna | Also posted in Culture, Grammar | Comments (3)

Hög tid för vinterdäck

23
Nov
2008

On Friday I took my car in to get winter tires put on. And it was about time. Driving on snow and ice covered roads was becoming rather hazardous. Driving with spiky tires is a little bit better.

Most manly men I know change their tires themselves, but lacking a handy wrench monkey, I go to [...]

By Anna | Also posted in Culture | Comments (0)

Adventures in Healthcare, part 1

6
Nov
2008

A few years ago my friend discovered a black spot on her skin. She went to the clinic (vårdcentralen) and showed it to the doctor there. The doctor told her to wait and see if it would disappear on its own. A couple of weeks later, the spot was still there and she asked me [...]

By Anna | Also posted in Culture | Comments (9)

Vinterdepression

29
Oct
2008

Returning to Sweden after we changed to winter time last weekend was a bit harsh. Suddenly it gets dark at 4PM here. And it will only get worse. That’s one of the joys of living in the North. I like winter, don’t get me wrong, it’s the darkness that kills me.
So, to make sure that [...]

By Anna | Also posted in Culture | Comments (7)

The Wash Post

25
Oct
2008

I am still away and still receiving calls for help from my dearly beloved. Last night it was the wash that required five urgent phone calls to get my urgent attention.
We don’t own a washing machine. Actually, our apartment is not even set up for one. Instead, there is something in our building called “tvättstuga.” [...]

By Anna | Also posted in Culture | Comments (7)

The Diary of Dairy

23
Oct
2008

I am out of town for a while, actually I’m out of Sweden for a week, and I’ve been gone for only one day and my dearly beloved already managed to call me four times.
“I need milk,” he says, “I’m at the store and I don’t know what kind of milk to buy.”
Errr… normal milk, [...]

By Anna | Also posted in Culture | Comments (15)

Hej Kära Peter!

19
Oct
2008

Peter’s comment on the post below made me think. I don’t write that many letters in Swedish. In fact, I don’t write that many letters in whatever language – I’m probably the world’s worst correspondent, as my friends no doubt can tell you.
So, in order to properly answer Peter’s question I had to dig deep [...]

By Anna | Also posted in Culture | Comments (8)