Posts tagged w/ news

European Capital of Culture 2014

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Sep
9
2009

I really don’t know what to say. Much to my disappointment, it was Umeå, not Lund that became selected as the Swedish candidate for the European Capital of Culture in 2014. The jury made its decision yesterday and when the results were announced during a press conference, I know that the good people of Lund were just scratching their heads. And I understand. Believe me, I do.

I spent five years studying in Umeå, and while I admit that it was an agreeable place to live, its cultural claim to fame is rather questionable (and that’s a very delicate way of putting it, OK?), that northernmost opera house notwithstanding.

So unless in the coming years Umeå can produce some sort of a cultural miracle (which, personally, I don’t see happening), this whole European Capital of Culture bit will be nothing but a monumental waste of money. Money that could be better spent elsewhere. So maybe, in that respect the fact that Lund lost the bid is actually a blessing?

But that got me thinking. What would you say is the most culturally happening city in Sweden? Apart from the obvious choices of Stockholm and Malmö, of course.

  • Europas kulturhuvudstad – European Capital of Culture.
 
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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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You Will Be Assimilated

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Dec
3
2008

Resistance is futile.

Oh, wait! That’s a different movie!

I was going to write about something else, but then I started to read The Local, (because someone sent me a link to one of their articles – an opinion poll on the Swedish language) and now today’s topic has changed.

I don’t normally read The Local, because I have very little need for it at this point, but once in a while when I have to, it proves to be a very edifying read. So, what is The Local? In short, it’s an internet newspaper about Sweden in English. Put out by expats for expats. And it’s that expat perspective that sooner or later gets to you.

True, The Local might be the only way that fresh arrivals to Sweden can access any sort of news in English. But that’s not really true, SR (Swedish Radio) also has English language news, and they are not as biased as what The Local presents.

After a while you will notice the pattern – it’s always about how hard Swedish is, what a strange foreign country Sweden is, what odd creatures the natives are. And though I can almost agree with the last bit – they do seem odd until you get to know them, a steady diet of such info can really affect a person’s perspective – in a very wrong way.

I strongly believe that the sooner new immigrants can break the grip of The Local, start reading Swedish newspapers and forming their own unbiased opinions about the country, the sooner they will feel at home in Sweden.

It’s not as if Sweden was some wild, undeveloped country (with sincere apologies to all wild and undeveloped countries out there) – it’s a mainstream, western, European nation not that different from other mainstream, western nations. It might have a few quirks here and there, but all countries have them. That’s what makes them special.

You’re stuck in The Local rut but want to learn Swedish? Then make friends with the natives. How? Talk to them! It’s not as hard as it sounds. They may seem shy and skittish at first, but get a six-pack (though even half a pack will do, really) into any Swede and his/her cold, icy exterior melts to reveal a funny and engaging personality underneath. This is the ideal season to meet people. There are parties going on practically everywhere. And despite their tough appearances, Swedes are very curious people – chances are they WANT to meet you and talk to you, they’re just painfully shy and don’t know how to begin.

If you’ve come to Sweden to be with your Swedish partner, you already have a built-in support network at home. Use it! There are many of us who didn’t have that luxury and had to assimilate the hard way. But then again, how hard is it to make a new life in a modern, developed western nation when you yourself come from a modern, developed western nation? Or even from a modern, developed eastern nation, for that matter.

So, when you read The Local, take its opinion on expat life with a grain of salt. And then go out and form your own opinions on Sweden, Swedes and Swedish.

The Local does serve a purpose, it helps to make the initial transition from an English speaking environment to a Swedish one a little bit easier. Heck, our own regional newspapers could use a weekly section in English to cater to the rather larger foreign population in Västerbotten. But once you become proficient in Swedish, it is essential that you embrace the new language, and make every effort to use it on a daily basis. Even if it means getting your news in Swedish. Even if when you speak Swedish with a thick foreign accent, people automatically answer you in English. Don’t give up. The sooner you take that plunge, the sooner you will begin to feel at home in Sweden. Tough love baby, tough love…

PS. And I feel like a total hypocrite giving this pep talk, because I have one of those whiny and complaining expats at home. And he stubbornly refuses to take my advice.

 
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Illegal Immigrants in Sweden?

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Sep
28
2008

I’ve been reading the news like I always do and because this is Sweden, the news are not all that interesting. An elderly man died after swallowing his dentures. A hurricane warning issued for Norrland for this weekend. Yes, it’s blowing like crazy, branches are falling off of trees and stuff. For real. Three charged in a human trafficking case. Wait a sec! For real? I had to look up the story for you in English, and here it is.

Now, excuse me for a moment, while I’m scratching my head in disbelief. 49 people PAID money to be smuggled to Sweden. At least that’s what the story says, the actual number might be higher. Haven’t they done their homework before deciding on Sweden? Wasn’t the unusually low smuggling fee (10000 SEK) a tip-off that Sweden might not be the hottest destination for illegal immigrants?

Please don’t get me wrong, Sweden is a great country, but really, if you’re going to be smuggled somewhere and live as an illegal immigrant, do yourself a favor and conduct some basic research before making your decision. And besides, Sweden has some of the laxest laws regarding refugees and asylum seekers in all of Europe, and to pay someone to smuggle you here is simply dumb.

And once you’re smuggled here, how do you propose to go on living? What will you say when at every step you are asked for your personnummer (social security number)? Personnummer in Sweden are created using your birthday followed by four seemingly random digits. But they’re not really random at all, one of them identifies your gender (guys get an odd number, ladies – even) and up until recently, those numbers could also show where you were born or if you were an immigrant.

Those ten digits define your life in Sweden. Without them, it’s impossible to do anything, including using a public restroom. You will need your personnummer when seeing a doctor, or a dentist (even a private one!), when opening a bank account, when trying to get a loyalty supermarket card, when applying for an ID card, when getting your mobile phone registered, when signing a contract with an internet provider, in some shops you will be asked for your personnummer when returning high-price merchandise. And that doesn’t even include the intended use of personnummer, which is as a taxpayer’s ID number. Your personnummer will be the first bit of info required by your prospective employer and without that your chances of getting a job will be slim to none.
True, there’s always the black market, but you’d be surprised than even many people in that grey area of economy will ask you for your personnummer to make sure you are in the country legally. To “work black” in Sweden means working without paying your taxes, not necessarily that the worker is an illegal immigrant. In fact, most people working “black” in Sweden are Swedish citizens or legal residents.

See what I mean? I have no idea how illegal immigrants can even survive in Sweden. Their numbers are estimated at between 60 000 to 100 000 and their lives are truly miserable. Because Sweden places more restrictions on healthcare provision for illegal immigrants than almost any other country in the European Union, according to Médecins Sans Frontières, getting medical attention if you’re here illegally might be almost impossible. And though Immigration minister Tobias Billström hinted that he was open to offering subsidized public healthcare to people without proper ID papers, this measure was rejected by Sweden’s parliament last May. This month the province of Skåne took things into their own hands and is planning to offer emergency dental care for illegal immigrants, but how well that will go over, nobody really knows yet.

But, back to our quest for personnummer. Where do you get it? As an immigrant to Sweden, legal of course, you get it at the Tax Office (Skatteverket).

Once you have the number, you will find yourself in a slew of government computers. You will magically appear in the population register and find yourself assigned to a local health clinic. Unlike in the US for example, here all those government systems are interlinked and they talk to each other. And it all starts at Skatteverket. From that time on, there’s really no need to remember your name, all you need is the number. But without the number you are stuck.

Ok, so we’ve established that being an illegal immigrant in Sweden is a bad idea. A really bad idea.

And speaking of, there is even a movie on the subject. “Förortsungar” (English title “Kidz in da Hood”) tackles the issue in a light-hearted musical way, but nevertheless, it can give you an idea of the kind of hardships that illegal immigrants have to deal with in Sweden.

 
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Job Scam Targeting English-Speakers

Posted by Anna Ikeda
Sep
25
2008

I was going to tell you about “tvättstuga” today, but then realized that there are more pressing subjects in the world today. And no, I am not talking about the American banking crisis.
I am talking about this article in The Local:

“An experienced scam artist has been targeting English speaking jobseekers in Sweden, luring them with promises of non-existent jobs, police say.”

A few people outside of Sweden can even imagine how hard it can be for a foreigner without any Swedish skills to enter the job market here. So an ad like that, seeking applicants for an office job and not requiring fluent Swedish was indeed a dream come true to hundreds of people.
In reality, neither the company nor the job existed. It was all an elaborate scam. But what’s puzzling is the motivation of the scam artist. He didn’t bilk his victims out of thousands of kronor, and his personal material gains seem rather slim – just a bunch of laptops purchased on credit. So why did he do it? The article claims it was simply for the thrill of cheating unsuspecting people and destroying their lives. From what I’ve heard from the English-speaking community here in Sweden, one poor guy actually quit his job in the UK and moved here for this non-existing opportunity, only to find out he’s been scammed. Another one, like in the article, declined a different job offer and moved from another city to Gothenburg.

And the saddest part of it all? There is nothing that the police can do, because much of the damage caused is not legally criminal.

But why was it so easy for a smart, sensible person to fall for this scam? As the guy interviewed in the article said: “When you’ve been trying to get a job for a long time, you don’t question [things].”

And this statement sums up nicely something that many prospective immigrants to Sweden do not realize, or simply choose to ignore – that getting any job here will be hard, and getting a nice, cushy office job will be even harder, if you don’t speak Swedish.

So, the moral of this story? If something looks too good to be true, then it probably is, even in Sweden.

PS. And the truly scary part of this is that the website of this non-existent fraudulent company is still up! The firm hosting it, even though notified about the case, did nothing to pull it down. And the scammer is thought to have moved to Copenhagen and might be targeting expats there.

 
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