LearnSweden Blog

På Semester

     

The light has returned to Sweden. Our children are out of school and it's time for our annual pilgrimage to the summer grounds. All of us here at LearnSweden are preparing for Midsommar this weekend. Friends and family are coming from all over so that we can be together celebrating the longest day of the year.

     

As is our tradition.....we will continue this celebration until the beginning of August. Every summer sees swedes and Sweden taking time off to spend time with our families and to just be free . We call this time "semester".     

       

We are "on Semester" from our blog but not from the business of teaching Swedish.  All of our students and teachers will be as scheduled. Summer is the perfect time to learn Swedish. Take a look at our courses,we would be happy to welcome you.

We wish you a great summer and will be back at the beginning of August. Until then feel free to read the blog from beginning to end and know that we are having many wonderful adventures to share with you when we return.

We are now officially on semester!

  

The Boss

By Per Svangren

The Boss is in town. A friend of Sweden, Bruce Springsteen is visiting Stockholm, for three sold out concerts, at the Stockholm Stadium. Playing with him is the E-street band and also Nils Lofgren from Sweden.

     
Bruce is a frequent guest  here in Sweden, and he says it's because he loves Sweden and also because he has so many fans here. He showed us this by starting his concerts, with Ida´s summersong from Emil in Lönnerberga.

      
The first two concerts were done in the rain and the temperature was just a few degrees over zero, so it was just the music, the songs and the entertainment, that warmed the audience. And it really did, the visitors were so pleased with the concerts and the papers gave him such good reviews. We also liked what we heard from our balcony, 3 kilometers away.
So today, Sunday it was his last concert and the weather was a Swedish summer in the best way, warm and sunny. So we, my wife and I, decided to find some tickets. But we were not the only ones. So the quite cheap prices that were found outside the arena at the other two concerts, were raised and there were nearly no tickets to buy. So what to do?

       

     

    
Well what is the second best choice? It is to listen and not see. So we together with a lot others, sat outside the arena and enjoyed the music and were also enjoying a picnic. It was a lovely evening, listening to "Born to run" and all other great songs performed by the one and only, The Boss.

                         

                         

                                            

        

      

Sweden EU Elections

   by Per Svangren

 

Sunday the 7th of June, Sweden went voting, for which of the eighteen politicians will represent Sweden in The European Union. All the traditional parties are able to vote for and some other groups as well.The results will come later this week, but already today Monday, we will know more or less the results.

  
There has been a lot of campaigning activities during the last few weeks and Saturday was the most active day of all. Then you could meet most of the politicans in town. They were serving meatballs, signing bath balls, playing football or just talking and telling one why, we should vote for them.

    

      

     

    
 
We went to vote at mid day and there were not so many people there. We put our vote in an envelope and then went home again.
                         
The EU (European Union) Parlament has 736 members, from 27 countries in Europe. The numbers of members from each country depends on the number of citizens in each country. The parliment is placed in both Brussels (Belgium) and in Strasbourg (France).

Hooray Tomorrow is National Day!

    

National Day is celebrated on June 6th. This is a new tradition which started only a few years ago. Before that June 6th was flag day. I can't think of a better way to share National Day on the LearnSweden blog than to leave you with a most beautiful look at this incredible country. May you have a very festive weekend wherever you are.

    

            

Here are the words to the Swedish National Anthem Du Gamla Du Fria

                           

Du gamla, du fria, du fjällhöga Nord,
du tysta, du glädjerika sköna!
Jag hälsar dig, vänaste land uppå jord,
din sol, din himmel, dina ängder gröna,
din sol, din himmel, dina ängder gröna.

Du tronar på minnen från fornstora dar,
då ärat ditt namn flög över jorden.
Jag vet, att du är och du blir vad du var.
Ja, jag vill leva, jag vill dö i Norden!
Ja, jag vill leva, jag vill dö i Norden!

Thou ancient, thou freeborn, thou mountainous North,
In beauty and peace our hearts beguiling,
I greet thee, thou loveliest land on the earth,
Thy sun, thy skies, thy verdant meadows smiling.
Thy sun, thy skies, thy verdant meadows smiling.

Thy throne rests on mem’ries from great days of yore,
When worldwide renown was valour’s guerdon.
I know to thy name thou art true as before.
Oh, I would live and I would die in Sweden,
Oh, I would live and I would die in Sweden.

Steamboat Day

       

An early June tradition of setting sail on one of Stockholms white steam ships happened yesterday. It is known as Skärgårdsbåtens dag. The whole fleet of old steam ships as well as other passenger boats leave Stockholm and sail to the small town of Vaxholm. The voyage last 90 minutes. Once in Vaxholm, all the shops and restaurants are open. Live music fills the streets and live folk-dance teams perform for the occasion. The steamboat parade returns to Stockholm after a couple of hours.

                             

         

        

        

Today's photos by Torbjörn Bergsdal

Fresh Produce on the table

      

     

    

One of the best early spring produce I know is asparagus. In the middle of May we have the first Swedish reen aspargus. It is so lovely. So yesterday we bought this years first aspargus from Gotland. I like green aspargus best and of course the early spring, that are so fresh and fine. You don´t need to peel them, just boil them and eat with butter and salt or with Hollandaise sauce.
My favourite is with truffled butter, that I have prepered during the truffle season in the fall and kept itin the freezer during winter. This truffle butter I also use with meat or other things during winter. If you don´t have truffel butter you can use truffle oil insted or just ordinary olive oil.
This is the way I make aspargus
 
Boil water together with salt and truffle butter
Put in the asparagus and cook for three minutes
Put the asparagus into ice cold water, to make them stay green
 
Serve with Italian dry ham, oil and baalmic vinegar (the older the better)
 
To drink? Sparkling water or a Pinot noir

     

   

     

   

   

The Stockhom Marathon

       

Each year, on the last Saturday in May, there is the Stockholm Marathon. Last Saturday in a very sunny and warm Stockholm it was time again. All around the town:
     

    

42.195 meters, a lot of water, a lot of sweat and a lot of running, there are some winners. There are winners that manage the whole marathon, that manage to do a better time than last year and of course thera are winners with the best time, both male and female.

      

     

    
We have been walking around Stockholm and stop to watch all the runners, and all that sweating around the town. We were so glad, not having this on our bodies, from running around in the heat.

    
The winners this year are:
Paul Kipkemei won at 2.15,34, seven minutes before the best Swede in third place. That is about 20 kilometers/hour and the best woman was Isabellah Andersson, born in Kenya, but now married to a Swede and a Swedish citizen, ran all the way at 2.33.52.

     

 
 

For my Mother on Mother's Day

By Per Svangren

           

Sunday ,the last of May, it was Mother´s Day in Sweden. In the US it was a couple of weeks ago and in Poland it was last Sunday. My children celebrated their mother (my wife) two weeks ago, because, she was away this weekend.
So is this day important? Well I don´t know? .....but for some it is, for me it is not. I rather like my children giving me a dinner or so, any day of the year, than on a special day, decided by someone else. I am sure they who think the day most important are the dealers, who want to sell flowers, chocolate or whatever it is.
 
So what did I do this day for my mother? I invited my mum, together with my sister to a picnic in Kronobergsparken, at Kungsholmen in Stockholm. My dad came along as well. Remember his celebration for father's day ?
 
It started up very well with  fantastic weather, warm and sunny, so we had to find a place in the shade and with a bench so my parents were able to sit and eat. I had cooked all morning and together with my sister and daughter, we had carried all the things to the park, which is just outside our flat.
 
The day was perfect, we sat there for five hours, eating, drinking and chatting. the dinner was: Salad with gorgonzola, pears and walnuts and after that oven baked fish and vegetable bags with shrimps and cream sause. To end it all up we had  cheesecake with pear and coffee.

I hope you and your family had a wonderful day too.

                        

      

     

     

    

                                        

Let the Future Sing

     

How often do you have the opportunity to hear international children's choir music in Stockholm Sweden ? Well not enough. This whole week you can take advantage of this opportunity to participate as active listeners to Let the Future Sing. The festival is arranged by Adolf Fredriks School of music. You don't even have to plan ahead. You can buy your tickets at each concert.

Some of the performances this year are by:

Estonia

Romania

Hamilton Children's Choir of Canada

Pro Musica Girls Choir from Hungary

The Right to Roam

Allemansrätten (Everyman’s Right) is an old tradition which guarantees each person the right to enjoy nature without restricting access to it.

    

You are allowed to pass over any ground, field or woods, as long as you respect the land and the owner’s property. Please, however, do not camp too close to a private home, you can only camp at a place for just one night, but you must put up your tent in a place so you can’t see the owner’s house. You may not walk in a fenced in area, or in cultivated farmland. If you should open a gate you must close it behind you. You are not allowed to pick protected flowers and you must always take your litter with you.

   

   

   

     

Always make sure that if you want to have a campfire that it is allowed and make sure it is completely put out before leaving. Often times after a dry spell it is forbidden to light a fire. This tradition doesn’t just pertain to the land but to the sea as well. You can travel by boat over any water, and gather wild flowers, berries, and mushrooms from anywhere.

    

   

   

Sweden has 26 national parks which have been selected because of their areas of superior natural beauty but you can find incredible green areas within cities as well. In Stockholm you can enjoy wonderful walks and bike rides in Djurgården but for the true nature seekers why not take an excursion to Ekoparken.

Ekoparken is the world’s first national city park stretching in a 7 mile arch from Ulriksdal Palace to the archipelago islands of Fjäderholmarna. This green lung area is so large that you need a full day of some serious hiking to explore it on foot. If you can wait until winter, however, you could do a bit quicker perhaps on skis or on long-distance skates.

There are quicker ways to see the park and that is by boat. The Brunnsviken Runt is an inexpensive boat trip. On it you will see three royal parks; Djurgården, Haga, and Ulriksdal, and the palaces of Ulriksdals Slott, Gustav III’s Pavilijong, Haga, and Rosendals Slott. So enjoy your right to roam.