Starting from week 7, children in Sweden gets a week of from school. This week is called sportlov (sport’s break) and it happens at different weeks in different parts of Sweden. The southen children enjoy the time off first (week 7) and the children up north get their holiday four weeks later – mostly because the weather is so unbarebly cold up there now. The break was actually “founded” back in the 1940ies in order to save a week’s worth of heating in all the schools…
Anyway. I’m not sure how much sport that’s actually happening during this week (I certainly never did any, but that’s probably just me in general…) but thought I’d share a fun piece about Swedes and sport with you – taken from the excellent book “Xenophobe’s guide to the Swedes” – to give you an idea on what might be going on up there:
“By the time Björn Borg left world tennis in 1983, a wave of Borgomania inspired every local authority in Sweden to build lavish indoor and outdoor tennis facilites which produced champions such as Wilander, Edberg and Järryd. Swedish seeds continue to germinate like dandelions on tennis lawns around the world.
Stenmark has similary inspired Sweden’s victories on international ski slopes. The greatest annual ski event in Sweden is the Vasaloppet, a 10 000 strong cross country skiing (längdskidor) marathon which winds its way along a 53 mile trek from Sälen to Mora. The role model for this event is Gustav Vasa, who got on his skis in the Middle Ages to recruit farmers between Sälen and Mora for a march on Stockholm to overthrow the foreign-dominated government.
Bicycling is almost as popular as recycling with enthusiasts of all ages taking part in an annual 180 mile race around the scenic Lake Vättern. A common summer sight is a husband and wife and their 1 3/4 children pedalling along wearing crash helmets and little else, like a formation of contented extra terrestrials.
The Swedes are world champions in orienteering, a form of philately where the participants, armed with compasses and ordnance maps, jog all day through endless forrests to have their passbooks stamped. The are expert pathfinders; in post offices and wine shops they are the first to find the queue-eliminating ticket dispenser.
In winter, some Swedes make a contest out of running naked from hot saunas to roll around in the snow before heading back into their steaming sanctuary.
Moose hunting (Älgjakt) is an initiation which is supposed to turn little boys into men, but more often excessive alcohol comsumption turns the men into guntoting little boys. With shots being fired at anything that moves, the wise moose stands absolutely still and watch with amazement.”
By the way, lov is a tricky word. I found four different ways iof using the word, so beware!
1. lov – tid då man har ledigt från skolan – time off from school
2. lov – vändning, sväng – a turn of a boat ( a sailing term)
3. lov – svar eller förklaring som säger att man får göra något, tillåtelse – permission to do something.
4. lov – beröm – praise
Ha ett härligt sportlov!
