The Swedish Word "Jantelagen"

Find out what "Jantelagen" means...

http://blogs.sweden.se/expat/2012/11/18/jantelagen-means-humility-and-restraint/

Jantelagen discourages standing out from the crowd. Photo by: Carolina Romare/imagebank.sweden.se

Adventures in Swedish Banking: The Card Reader

New post...

"My Two Cents About Personal Banking in Sweden"

http://blogs.sweden.se/expat/2012/10/17/my-two-cents-about-personal-banking-in-sweden/

My bank issued me this card reader. I found it quite complicated in the beginning to use!

“Winter is Coming” to Sweden

Stockholm City Hall. Photo by: Anna Andersson/imagebank.sweden.se

Please read my recent post "Autumn in Stockholm...“Winter is Coming”" over at Sweden.se

http://blogs.sweden.se/expat/?p=2177

The Viking Gift That Keeps On Giving

These are Swedish scientists at Chalmers in Göteborg. You'll have to imagine British ones. Photo by: Jan-Olof Yxell/imagebank.sweden.se

Have you heard about the Viking artifact they found in Britain many years ago?

It is, in fact, a Viking turd.
 

Here's what went down. (Yes, these jokes just write themselves...)

During excavation prior to construction of bank vaults at Lloyd's Bank in York, England in 1972, archaeologists found a mineralized Viking Age human stool or “coprolite.”

Analysis of the find produced knowledge about what they euphemistically refer to as “the producer of the stool” on the Archaeology of York website. Scientists discovered that the Viking had eaten “cereal bran and other unidentified organic matter. ..[that]confirms other forms of evidence which suggest that diet at this time included meat, fish, shellfish, cereals, fruit and nuts.” 

On a more “ooh, gross!” note, they could also see that the individual had a good amount of intestinal parasites. You can find out more using the links below.

Here’s a list (in pictures) of significant finds in York.

Here's more information about the coprolite.

But wait, the story gets even better! 

The coprolite (don’t say I never taught you a new word) was accidentally dropped and broken into pieces during a school visit to York's Archaeological Resource Centre. Read about this titillating event on The Guardian Newspaper’s website.

Still with me? All humor aside, check out the tiny writing tablets they also found in York. Very cool!

Swedish Humor

I absolutely love when I come across somebody's humor unexpectedly. Maybe it's in something they say that is otherwise serious. Maybe it's something they say in an email.

Maybe it's out in the middle of a field.

What?

Yup, I stumbled across somebody's humorous installation in the middle of a seldom-seen field in a northern part of Öland, a long, skinny island off the eastern coast of Sweden. I was on vacation and out for a walk with a group of adults and kids.

There, on the side of this seldom-used dirt road, was a viking boat grave.

This isn't it. But here's what they generally look like so you have some sort of reference:

Here's what another boat grave looks like, also on Öland. Photo: C. Michael Hogan

The one we found was also a bunch of large stones in the rough shape of a viking boat.

The stones were set down in the field in the shape of a boat hull.

...But wait, there was a sign explaining things...

...So we stepped forward to read the sign,,,

...See below for the translation...

Translation (trying to be "Old Swedish"...doesn't really translate?):

This type of boat grave (?) of the type, spurius, positioned facing south, derived probably from the early 2000's
constructed in the days of Ch. Sachs and T. Birath

These Swedes. A veritable laugh riot.

Watching Women's Olympic Soccer in Sweden

It's a whole other cup of tea, watching the Olympics from a foreign country.
Admittedly, I am not a huge Olympics fan. I like looking at how fit everyone is (seriously, swimmers and their shoulders!) but I find it a little dull in general. However, I am a HUGE soccer fan.

Women's soccer fan.

The US Women's team celebrates a goal in the qualifying matches (photo: Yahoo Sports)

Sometimes I watch men's soccer but I don't find it nearly as interesting.

It was a little difficult at first to figure out how to watch the games I wanted to watch. I would turn on the Swedish TV and they would have a sort of "Olympics magazine" type thing going where they just talk right through the actual bits I wanted to see. This guy, in particular, André Pops, does tend to go on and on...Dude, show the American games!

André Pops is ruining my game! (photo: Folkbladet.nu)

Yeah, so obviously Sweden is going to concentrate on their own teams. And they have shown the Swedish women's soccer team but I knew the team wasn't going to go far (they squeaked through the qualifying matches and lost to France in the Quarter Finals.) But the US women, they are so worth watching!

One day when I turned on the TV to watch the US game, old André just talked and talked with a couple of other windbags and then finally they said, ..."and now we will show you the second half of the US game."

Argh! Agony!

I surfed over to NBC's website in the US to see if I could see the highlights. Bingo! They have lots of highlight videos. So I clicked "Play" and then I got a message that said the videos could only be watched in the USA.

Double agony!

Then I finally cottoned onto the fact that Swedish TV (SVT Play) is showing the games on their website. Even the US games. Hallelujah!

Now I am living in bliss as the US team just beat New Zealand in the Quarter Finals. Whahoo!


My favorite player? 

Well, since you asked...It's been Abby Wambaugh for a long time. Go, Abby, go!

Abby Wambaugh fights North Korea for the ball (photo: Yahoo Sports)

Favorite coach? 

Of course it's Pia Sundhage, the US women's coach. She is admirably calm and collected on the sidelines...never screaming...always looking like she just plain old enjoys soccer. And where is she from?

Why, Sweden, of course!

PIzza Swedish-Style

Yum!

I present you my not-so-comprehensive research on pizza in Sweden. From what I have seen, Swedes don’t order one larger pizza to share but rather each person orders a single one for themselves. And boy howdy do they have some crazy flavors!

Because I avoid eating gluten, I don't eat much pizza. But I have found that pizzerias here in Sweden usually offer a gluten-free crust so I have tried it. Sometimes it's a good alternative, sometimes not. And like all things gluten free, it costs more. One must add 15 kronor to the price when asking for gluten- free. My friend says that is strange because since it is missing something, it should be cheaper. (ha ha)

Okay, but what about those crazy flavors? I present to you a selection of flavors from the local joint in Uppsala. (I haven't noticed that you can "build your own" from scratch, instead you choose one of their flavors--though I am sure you can add or remove items...)

Cheapest (65 kr. approximately $9.28)

The "Calzone" pizza has ham, mushrooms, and shrimp.

The "Campagniola" pizza has salami, onions, and shrimp. (What is it with all the shrimp on pizza?)

The "Oriental" pizza has hamburger meat and onions.

The next level of pizzas, a little more expensive… (75 kr.)

The "Big Ben" boasts ham, asparagus, and...béarnaise sauce.

The "Hawaii" has ham and pineapple (okay, normal) and then…bananas (ewww!)

More expensive… (85 kr.)

"The Amigo" offers hamburger, leeks, paprika, pepperoni, tomatoes, taco sauce, and béarnaise sauce

Most expensive… (95 kr.)

The "Pescatore" has shredded pork, pineapple, bananas, shrimp, and, wait for it...curry

What's your favorite flavor? Weirdest pizza you've ever seen? Post a comment. I'm curious!