Category: Culture

Sweden’s disgrace! 

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

  
In the latest poll today, over one fifth of the Swedish voting population would vote for the nationalistic right wing party, putting the party into position of the second largest political party in Sweden. 

Let’s be clear what this means. One fifth of Swedes support a party that has its roots in the nazi party, that has verbally and physically attacked minority groups and that believes in Swedish racial superiority. It’s a disgrace for all Swedes who believe in tolerance, openness and solidarity. 

It’s time to act. To speak out. This is not going away. As the established parties bitch at each other, the Swedish population grows tired of their rhetoric. Consequently, they feel more disengaged and resentful and turn to a party that seems to talk straight to their concerns and promises protection of the Swedish identity. It is scarily reminiscent of the past. 

Pastor Martin Niemoller, pictured above, wrote a famous poem after he survived the concentration camps of the Second World War. His poem criticised the cowardice of German intellectuals after the Nazi’s rise to power and their subsequent purging of one group after another. It’s worth reflecting over his words. They are very relevant today. Right now. In Sweden. About us. 

‘First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.’

Do these words resonate with you? Are we the cowards he’s referring to? Are we so comfortable and complacent that we just sit back and watch it happen? 

If, like me, you believe in a multicultural society, it’s time to take a stance. Write to your MP. Talk to your colleagues, neighbours and friends. Get involved. Share this blog. Root out those one in five and challenge them. Demonstrate. Communicate. Educate. 

Speak out. While you can. Before it’s too late. 

Top 5 Rude Swedish Place Names 

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

  

In Britain, and Sweden, there are many places with funny or rude names. 

What’s in a name? Does the name of a place say anything about its residents? For example, are the people of Uppsala upwardly mobile people? Or are the people of Sundsvall very sound in their values and morals? Maybe. If the name of place represents the type of people who live there, what does it say about the residents of these top 5 rude place names in Sweden? 

5) In the town of Mora there is a place called Rövhålet, which translates as ‘butt hole’. 

4) Bögs gård, north of Stockholm, literally means ‘Gay’s farm’

3) Kattsjärten in the county of Värmland is the evocative ‘cat’s arse’ in English 

2) Way up in the north of Sweden, you will find Sexträsk, which is the exotic place of ‘sex swamp’

1) But the most embarrassing must be the place called Djupröven, which is just outside of Uppsala. It means ‘Deep Ass’ in English. Says it all. 

There’s also a suburb of Stockholm which I’m always embarrassed to say. The suburb of Fittja sounds very much like the offensive word for female genitalia. Best to avoid saying it if you’re a foreign speaker of Swedish. 

What other funny or rude place names in Sweden do you know? 

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What Sweden’s New Year’s Eve has to do with Lord Tennyson 

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

New Year’s Eve in Sweden is like most other places in the world. Good food, fireworks, friends and alcohol frame in the event.

However, there is another tradition which is peculiarly English and particularly Swedish.

Almost every New Year’s Eve since 1896, a well-known person has stood on the stage at a Swedish open-air museum and recited the poem ‘Ring out Wild Bells’ by Lord Alfred Tennyson written in 1850. This may seem weird, but nowadays, the event is televised and attracts a large public. Translated into Swedish, the poem is called ‘Ring Klocka Ring’ and it has a very meaningful and deep content as we leave one year and enter into another. 

Various famous people, mostly actors, have had the honour of delievering this rousing poem throughout the years. Of the 20 narrators so far, only one has been a woman. However, this year the second female narrator – popular opera singer Malena Ehrman – will take the stage.

Below, you will find the text in English. ‘Ring out the old, ring in the new’ – and a Happy New Year to each of you!
In Memoriam, [Ring out, wild bells] – Lord Alfred Tennyson, 1809 – 1892
Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky

The flying cloud, the frosty light:

The year is dying in the night;
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.
Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Ring out the grief that saps the mind
For those that here we see no more;
Ring out the feud of rich and poor,

Ring in redress to all mankind.

Ring out a slowly dying cause,
And ancient forms of party strife;
Ring in the nobler modes of life,

With sweeter manners, purer laws.

Ring out the want, the care, the sin,
The faithless coldness of the times;
Ring out, ring out my mournful rhymes

But ring the fuller minstrel in.

Ring out false pride in place and blood,
The civic slander and the spite;
Ring in the love of truth and right,
Ring in the common love of good.
Ring out old shapes of foul disease;
Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;
Ring out the thousand wars of old,
Ring in the thousand years of peace.
Ring in the valiant man and free,
The larger heart, the kindlier hand;
Ring out the darkness of the land,
Ring in the Christ that is to be
 

 

                                                                                                                                                          

 

 

Don’t choke on the almond

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

And so it is Christmas. Like many places around the world, Sweden celebrates on Christmas Eve. Festivities throughout the day include eating the Christmas ham, receiving a visit from Santa, opening presents, drinking, playing board games and eating more. 

But the day usually kicks off with a steaming bowl of rice porridge. This delightful dish is made of rice, milk, sugar and cinnamon. Deep inside the porridge, there is often an almond. Presuming you don’t choke on it, if you find the almond it means you will be married during the following year. In the south of Sweden, and in Denmark, Norway and Iceland, the person finding the almond receives a gift. During the 1920’s it became trendy in Sweden to replace the almond with a ‘porridge doll’ made of porcelain and hide that in the porridge instead. 

Really superstitious people will even leave a bowl of porridge outside tonight to appease the house gnome who, according to legend, can make your cows dry up if he’s pissed off. 

But hopefully nobody should be pissed off on a day like today. And with family and friends gathered around a twinkling Christmas tree, a bowl of steaming hot rice porridge is a great way to kick off a lovely day. 

  

Wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome – to Sweden….

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Cabaret_Trio

Last night I went to a performance of ‘Cabaret’ at Stockholm’s ‘Stadsteatern’. Starring popular singer, Sarah Dawn Finer, the story never felt more relevant. Set in and around the decadent Kit Kat Club, the familiar story depicts the slow and insidious growth of Nazism in pre-war Germany. As Hitler’s politics start to become more accepted, life initially goes on as usual inside the nightclub. But slowly, even the performers  cannot ignore the hardening attitudes, the anti-semitism and what is necessary to survive.  As the Nazis rise to power, and ‘Germanness’ falls into focus, the characters have to make a choice: stay or go.

One of the main characters is an American author based in Berlin. As he is confronted by the rise of Nazism he stands up against it saying ‘if you don’t stand against it, you stand with it’. Somewhat remniscent of a US President in a speech against terrorism, this hit a raw nerve. Just because we are not actively and vocally against something, does it really mean that we are for it? Is it that black and white?

As right-wing politics yet again take hold in Europe, what can we learn from the past? If we stand by and say nothing, do nothing, are we in effect accepting it? Are we saying it’s ok? And if we don’t stand up for others, who will stand up for us when we need it?

In the musical Cabaret, we see the nightclub as a metaphor of Berlin, slowly falling more and more under the influence of dark powers. We see the characters numb themselves in alcohol and we see one main character bend to the norms of society by demonstratively removing his makeup – stripped of his uniqueness and his humanity.

Never has it felt more relevant than today. ‘You are not German’ is today expressed as ‘You are not European‘ or ‘You are not Swedish’. And as I was consumed in the musical, I thought to myself, can we do it differently this time? Can we beat the negative forces in society and come out of it victorious? Or are condemned to repeat the mistakes of the past?

Sweden’s forest cemetery 

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

  
Today I visited a peaceful, magical place in Stockholm – Skogskyrkogården – the Forest Cemetery. 

Built between 1919 and 1940, this location combines a burial ground with a chapel of rest and a coniferous forest.

Listed since 1994 as a World Heritage Site, the Forest Cemetery is a wonderfully serene place to say goodbye, to remember or just to visit. 
  

‘Paradise Sweden is just a myth’

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

winter österlen

I’m fortunate enough to have a country house in the south of Sweden. The rural area, known as Österlen, is as beautiful as it is deserted – long stretches of sandy beaches, rolling open fields, wind-torn buildings and wind-bent trees. Being there has always been a retreat for me, but it hasn’t always only been relaxing.

Nagging away at the back of my mind has been a slight feeling of discomfort, like a distant memory that you just can’t recall. I sometimes feel ill at ease walking out to the barn, in case there’s something lurking in there. Or when I suddenly realise I’m alone on a stretch of beach, just the lapping of the sea to keep me company. Or when I’ve gone for a long walk and find myself surrounded by high fields of corn and approaching a bend in the road. Or when darkness descends. Or the fog rolls in.

This feeling of discomfort I have one man to thank for – author Henning Mankell. This popular Swedish writer, who died yesterday age 67, is responsible for the internationally acclaimed series of books and films about Inspector Wallander. The stories he wrote are full of violence, strangeness and critical social commentary. He set his narratives in the town of Ystad, and the surrounding countryside of Österlen, where I have my holiday home. Quoted as saying ‘ that Sweden is supposed to be a paradise is just a myth’, he populated his stories with rampaging murderers, gangs and psychopaths.

Henning Mankell passed away after some years of fighting cancer. He left a massive legacy of books and storíes behind him and will be remembered as the author whose international success opened the door for other Swedish detective novelists.

And as he rests in peace, he leaves us with the unwelcome insight that peace is in fact just an illusion.

GÖTEBORG 20070922 - Henning Mankell, regissör, deckar- och barnboksförfattare Foto Måns Langhjelm / SCANPIX / Kod 9200

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Was Spock Swedish? 

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

  
According to the World Values Survey, Sweden is one of the most rational non-secular countries in the world: decisions tend to be made on logical rather than on emotional or hypothetical grounds. 
One area in which this manifests itself in Sweden is in the separation of church and state. Policies and legislation spring out of political, and not religious, ideologies. Unlike other countries where religion has a strong influence on how the country is run, Swedish politicians base their arguments on statistical and factual information. God is never mentioned in political debate, not even by the far-right Christian Democrat Party. If they mentioned God, it would probably send them swiftly packing out of the Parliament building. 

This is why what is currently happening in the USA is so fascinating. In the USA there is a strong connection between God and rhetoric. In the USA you simply don’t become President unless you mention God several times in your speeches. With this background, it’s not surprising that extremist Christians can arise, such as marriage registrar Kim Davis in Kentucky. The delightful Ms Davis abuses her position of authority and refuses to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples as it collides with her Christian views. In doing this, she denies these couples their legal rights and interprets the law to suit her own religious agenda. This has caused outrage in the USA and she has been ordered to back down, but continues to righteously defy the courts. And is allowed to do so. Prison is next in line, but she cannot be dismissed as her position is one for which she has been publically elected. 

This is a simple, but insidious, example of how religion, law and social legislation do often not make for a happy marriage. What would happen if we all decided to interpret the law according to our own religious convictions? Chaos. Religious dogma. Moralising power mongers.  In Sweden, Ms Davis would have been stripped of her official duties long ago. 

One secular quote reflects Swedish society in a nutshell. And it’s from Star Trek’s Spock in 1982: 

‘The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.’

It’s logical. May Swedish society live long and prosper. 

Swedish revolution 

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Whoever thought of Swedes as a pacifistic,  neutral people needs to think again. After a racist advertising campaign was put up in the underground system by Sweden’s right wing nationalistic party, people decided they’d had enough. Crowds appeared at the station in question and demonstratively tore down the offending advertising. 

Swedes are taking a stand against the rising racism and xenophobia in society. Recent polls show that the party representing these attitudes has become the largest opposition party to the government. 

I feel at times that the open and tolerant Sweden I love is something of the past. But these reactions and these pictures show that the majority of Swedes will not take this sitting down. They will take to the streets and they will act to defend the rights of all people living in this particular spot on the planet.