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Monthly archives: May 2012

Frogs in the Road

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Sign that says "frogs on the road"

Sign that says “frogs on the road”

 

This is my final post as Work blogger for Sweden.se. It’s been a great experience for me. I began writing in October, 2011 while I prepared to move to Sweden and waited for my work visa. I moved to Uppsala and began working as a technical writer in Stockholm in late November. That was nearly six months ago. The gift of writing a blog was that it made me really pay attention to the little things in my transition from American life to Swedish life.

I’ve come a long way, baby.

  • I learned to drive in Swedish roundabouts and reacquainted myself with the manual transmission.
  • I navigated the complicated waters of being a foreign citizen in Sweden; learned how to work with the Migration Board and the Tax Agency.
  • I convinced a Swedish bank to let me open an account so that I could get receive paychecks from my employer; then waited the months it took to get registered in Sweden so that I could have an account with more benefits, such as the ability to send money owed and to pay for things online.
  • I learned to ride the commuter train to work and complain about the delays like a real Swede
  • • I watched wacky cartoons and film clips on Christmas and New Year’s eves. Crazy old lady and her butler, anyone? (Who knew about these hidden Swedish customs?)
  • I basked in the amazing gluten-free alternatives readily available in Sweden. Wow, gluten-free bread can actually taste good!
  • I discovered that Swedes love candles and there are even lit candles at my workplace, outside restaurants and in the airport.
  • I discovered what the Swedish ice claw is (not a horror film!)
  • I found out that offices in Sweden can be highly mobile. In my office, there aren’t even any landlines.
  • I worked on having a Sweden-friendly CV and cover letter. They didn’t have to be in Swedish but they had to have the right tone.
  • I went to my first social and professional networking meetings in Stockholm. that took all my courage for some reason.
  • I got my work permit extended, obtained a personal number and a Swedish ID—keys to accessing the benefits of Swedish society and moving freely in and out of the country.
  • I learned about feathers and witches at Easter and bonfires and rafting at Walpurgis.

I learned that, in Sweden, sometimes you dance around the Christmas tree or the May Pole singing about frogs. And sometimes there are frogs in the road.

You can read my own blog at http://3menandaswede.blogspot.se/

Thanks for reading!

Kristin Lund

May 10, 2012

Bikes and Birthdays in Sweden

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bike

My trusty "Made in Sweden" bicycle...The color makes it easy to find in a bike stand full of bikes.

 

I love how so many people use bicycles in Sweden as a central form of transportation. Although I have always owned a bike, I can’t say that I have ever used it seriously as transportation. Now that I have moved to Sweden and don’t own a car, I am even more interested in this bike-riding culture.

I recently inherited (well, long term borrowed) an old 3-speed bike from my friends. They had an extra bike that used to belong to Helen’s mother who is now an old person’s home. It’s a women’s bike, bright orange with a rack on the back. It’s the kind of bike that I wouldn’t have been caught dead riding back home in Northern California where everyone rides a souped-up mountain bike even if they are just going on asphalt to the local 7-11. But this bike is perfect. It has the requisite bell for letting people know you are approaching from behind on the bike/walking path. It has a sticker that says it was made in Sweden and is of “Sweden quality.” You don’t get too many things that say that, it’s more likely to say it was “designed in Sweden” which means it was made somewhere else. The bike has a full chain guard and long tire fenders—perfect for when protecting pant legs from chain grease and muddy conditions.

I filled the neglected bike’s tires, oiled the chain, tightened the gear changer on the handlebars, and adjusted the chain guard so it would stop rubbing against one pedal. Then I took her for a spin. Not bad for an old lady’s bike. Not bad for an old lady. I was ready to ride to Uppsala for Walpurgis (Valborgsmässoafton).

But no sooner did I get the bike all ready for my trip to Uppsala, then I read that more bikes are stolen in the Spring in Sweden than any other time of the year. Last year, 65, 000 people in Sweden reported a stolen bicycle. And the day that the most bikes are stolen is on Walpurgis when there are twice as many bicycle theft as any other day.

Oh no! I can’t get my friend’s mother’s bike stolen! The good news is that bicycle thefts actually decreased during the last ten years, according to 8 Sidor (25 april 2012)

And since we’re on the subject of statistics in Sweden, 8 Sidor had some more interesting facts and figures this week as well. Did you know that the 15th of April is currently Sweden’s most common birth day? In other words, more Swedes are born on this day than any other. Second place goes to the 22nd of March and the 10th of April. When I mentioned these statistics over lunch at work, all my Swedish peers knowingly nodded and said something along the lines of, “Well March 22 is obviously a Mid-Summer celebration thing and the other dates are due to summer holidays.”

But this does not explain why it appears that in the future,  summer will have the most Swedish birthdays instead of Spring. Throughout the 2000s, the most Swedish children were born in July. Last year, according to 8 Sidor, the most children were born on the 8th of June.

Hmmmm…wonder how they’ll explain that away at work?

Kristin Lund

May 6, 2012

“10-voice Blow to the Body,” “Armed Horse” and Other Interesting Uppsala Police Reports

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Swedish police car

...About to respond to an armed horse call...Photo by: Riggwelter (CC BY 3.0)

 

I have always loved reading the police reports in small town newspapers. It’s simply great reading. It gives you a sense of what’s going on around you–the stuff that you might not otherwise know about. Recently I stumbled across the police report in an Uppsala newspaper called, well, “The Uppsala Newspaper (Uppsala Tidningen). There I read my first Swedish police report in the April 26-May 3, 2012 edition. At first I thought I would tell you about it, or maybe translate some of the text and fix the Google translation. But you know what? This stuff is even better with the crazy Google translation. So, here it is, almost in its entirety (some repetitive shoplifting removed), including some hilarious translation…*

*Yes, there are real victims in these reports. My heart goes out to them. Read more » >>

Kristin Lund

May 3, 2012