Pink Thursday?

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

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Today is ‘Skärtorsdag’, or Maundy Thursday in English. In Sweden it’s celebrated by children dressing up as witches. This tradition originates from the belief centuries ago that tonight was the witches night, where witches would make their journey to Blåkulle – the Blue Mountain. It was a night of danger and evil, and Swedish people would bar their doors to their houses and barns and leave outside gifts that would make the witches’ journey easier – food, milk, clothes, broomsticks. Today, Swedes give the children sweets and money.

But why is it called Skärtorsdag’? The word ‘skär’ means ‘pink’. But does that make today Pink Thursday?

Actually not.

The word ‘skär’ has another, pre-Nordic meaning that is more relevant – ‘clean’.

If you know your bible stories, today being the day before Good Friday is the day when Jesus gathered his disciples together for the last supper, introduced communion, and was later betrayed by Judas, and condemned to death on the cross. It is the day evil was said to be released – hence the witches described earlier in this text.

Prior to the last supper, Jesus washed the feet of the disciples. And he washed them clean – a symbolic metaphor for purification and the washing away of sin.

So, today isn’t Pink Thursday – it’s Clean Thursday.

I’d better start mopping the kitchen floor then.

Sweden’s Got Talent

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

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All over the world. the franchised talent shows ‘Country’s got talent’ and ‘X Factor’ unveil contestants with surprising talents. We all know about Paul Potts, Susan Boyle and recently the fantastic Sam Bailey in the UK, who caused a storm when they opened their mouths and sang. This storm was mostly caused by the contradiction of their appearances and their incredible singing capabilities. The same applied to America’s Got Talent’s sweet singing, musical goth by the name of Andrew de Leon.

What about Sweden then? The current series of ‘Talang’ has shown a breadth of skill and inventiveness but I’ve felt, in comparison to the UK and the USA, it’s all a bit amateur. Until last night. Up on the stage walked Glenn Edell,a seemingly shy unemployed father. He stood on the stage, shaking and opened his mouth to sing. And he proved that Sweden’s got talent.

Still, the surprise factor was lacking a little. Compare it to this fantastic 8 year old Norwegian girl Angelina Jordan who recently blew audiences away with her bluesy, jazz voice. She’s so good, you almost suspect foul play.

So, Sweden does got some talent. But does Norway got more?

Austrian stereotypes of Swedes

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

I was in Vienna at a wedding this weekend and mingled with the other guests. When they found out I lived in Sweden, they wanted to talk about Stockholm and Swedish people. They were very pleasant and what was interesting is how stereotypes persist. Amongst other stereotypes, they thought Swedes were reserved and formal. When I explained that maybe some are but it’s not the case entirely,they actually looked sceptical.

This is the funny thing about stereotypes – they’re often outdated and almost always wrong. How can a single characteristic be applied to 9,000,000 Swedes, or 70 million Brits, and still be accurate? Stereotypes can be fun to talk about but if we start believing them, we’re in trouble. Instead, let’s look at the individual to form our perceptions of that person (understanding we can still be wrong) and try to avoid sweeping condemnations of the collective. I think we’ll get a lot further in our cultural sensitivity that way.

Swedes – the healthiest in the EU?

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

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The image of the healthy, well-trained Swede has found support in some research from the Europabarometer released recently.

 According to this research, ‘41% of Europeans exercise or play sport at least once a week, while an important proportion of EU citizens (59%) never or seldom do so.’

Generally speaking, ”citizens in the Northern part of the EU are the most physically active. The proportion that exercises or plays sport at least once a week is 70% in Sweden, 68% in Denmark, 66% in Finland, 58% in the Netherlands and 54% in Luxembourg. The lowest levels of participation are clustered in the Southern EU Member States. Most respondents who never exercise or play sport can be found in Bulgaria (78%), Malta (75%), Portugal (64%), Romania (60%) and Italy (60%).”

So, Sweden tops this research at 70% of interviewees saying the exercise at least once a week, closely followed by Denmark and Finland. Why might this be? Why could there be such a difference between Scandinavian countries and the Southern European countries?

  • One answer could be the climate – maybe the long, dark winters require some kind of exercise regime in order for us to survive?  
  • Another answer might be ‘peer pressure’ or ‘training hysteria’ as it’s sometimes called in Sweden. Does a tendency to Group Think mean that we follow what others are doing in order to be ‘in’?

I think a major contributing factor is values. We all know that values differ from group to group , and that those values often determine the desired behaviours of the people.

According to the respected ‘World Values Survey’, in Scandinavia, and in Sweden especially, a strong value is self-actualisation, or self-realisation. In other words, we as individuals have the right to be who we want to be, live how we want to live, think what we want to think and make the most of ourselves in the way we choose.

While other countries, such as Bulgaria and Romania, are focusing on how to survive the day, many Swedes are focusing on self-development, education, environmentalism and, not least, physical appearance and health.

So that Sweden comes out top in this research is not surprising. In Sweden, most of the serious ‘survival problems’ of life have already been solved, allowing many citizens to focus on other things.

Such as themselves.

If you’re interested in reading more about the research, find it here.

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Dirty Swedes and their bad language

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

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When watching the aftermath of the long-distance skiing on the TV, one of the participating in skiers described the track as difficult. A lot of snow had suddenly come and the interviewee described it as ‘kräksnö’. Directly translated this means ‘vomit snow’ – big flakes that dump into piles on the floor.

What is it with the Swedish fascination for creating emphasis by adding disgusting words to other words???

Other examples are:

 – ‘Snordyrt’ – Snot expensive

 – ‘Asfult’ – Cadavre ugly

– ‘Skitroligt’ – Shit fun

– ‘Knullrufs‘ – Fuck hair

– ‘Kukjävel’ – Cock idiot

– ‘Fisförnäm‘ – Fart noble (snobby)

 

And you thought Swedes were politely spoken?!  

From Sweden to Kazakhstan

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

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Am currently in Kazakhstan, a country worlds away from Sweden. The 8th largest country in the world, Kazakhstan is the largest land-locked nation of the globe. And home to Borat. The feeling here is a mix of Chinese, Russian, Mongolian and Central Asian. The contrasts between rich and poor, old and new, traditional, contemporary and Soviet are stark. And right now, it’s cold. Minus 10 degrees and snowy, the mountains tower above the former capital of Almaty and host a wide range of winter sports. Although there’s snow, you couldn’t feel further away from Sweden here. And that, for me, is part of the joy of travelling -stepping outside of our daily routines, comparing differences and appreciating both them and what we have in our own lives.

Swedish vanity

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

A visiting friend of mine from Austria was walking in Stockholm taking in the sights. When I met her later that day, I asked what her biggest impression was. And her answer surprised me. It wasn’t about the beautiful buildings, the amount of water or the narrow streets. No, she said the following:

‘Well, the men really like their hair gel here don’t they’.

She was struck by the fact that the men on the street were pimped up, groomed and well styled. She perceived this as vanity.

It reminds me of a joke once told to me:

‘Why do Swedes always go outside when there’s lightning?’
‘Because they think someone’s taking a picture of them’

Are Swedes more vain than other nationalities?

What do you think?

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Demand a redirection of Swedish aid to Uganda!!!!

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

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This is a human rights challenge!!

Sweden prides itself on being a democracy that believes in equality and human rights. It is the Swedish brand, the Swedish identity and the Swedish discourse. Part of this self-image is embodied in the large amount of overseas aid Sweden provides to developing countries or nations in need. Rarely disputed, this money is taken as a natural redistribution of Swedish tax payers money in the name of solidarity and humanism.

In a true democracy, Swedish citizens, which I have become, should have a right to influence how this tax money-funded aid is divided and where it goes. In the light of this, I want to take a stand. A stand for humanism, for human rights and against one current Swedish aid policy.

I am talking about Uganda. Earlier this week, the Ugandan President signed a vile law outlawing homosexuality. The draconian law increases penalties for homosexual acts, including life imprisonment for ‘aggravated homosexuality’. One Ugandan politician justifed the law by saying that in fact they are being tolerant (as requested by the Pope) because ‘at least we are not massacring them’.

It might be convenient for us to look at Uganda and think that their laws don’t affect us. But it’s when the rights of minorities or the disenfranchised are at risk that we must stand up. Nobody is protected until we are all protected equally under the law. And one way for a nation to speak up is via aid programs.

Sweden provides 250 million Swedish kronor to Uganda in aid. Of that amount, approximately 85 million goes directly to the government – the same government that just signed the anti-gay law. Denmark and Norway have redirected its aid in protest of this new law but the Swedish government refuses to do so. They want to observe the situation first and see what happens. This weird neutrality, for me, contradicts directly with the Swedish brand of human rights and equality. I wonder if the Ugandan law had been targeted at Jews, white people or at a specific tribal group, if the Swedish government had reacted differently?

As a tax payer in Sweden, I do not support aid being provided to Uganda. I demand that the Swedish government redirects the aid currently donated to the Uganda government.

I encourage everyone write to Aid Minister Hillevi Engström – hillevi.engstrom@regeringskansliet.se or call her on 08-405 10 00 and demand an immediate redirection of aid from Uganda.

Also mail The Foreign office on utrikesdepartementet.registrator@regeringskansliet.se

Or why not the Foreign Minister Carl Bildt on carl.bildt@regeringskansliet.se

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