War Children (Krigsbarn)

Another one of my Swedish friends (of Finninsh heritage) had this to add to the post about the Battle of Hullock and the Easter Rising:

"I saw this movie Saturday and was wondering if you know about the warchildren (krigsbarn).

During the WW2, Finland was under attack and it was decided that Sweden as a "neutral" country would take some of these children to live in peace until the war was over. 70 000 children between 0-14 years of age were shipped to Sweden during 1939-1945, my father's family included. Some returned to Finland, others stayed for good.
It was emotionally very stressful for the children and their parents. The children were shipped off, all alone, with a tag around their neck, to a country were nobody understood their language.

I guess this is the tightest bond between the countries in modern time.

Norway and Denmark had effects on their children as well, but in different ways. Their description of krigsbarn is different. I'm sure they too must've sent children to Sweden, but in 1945 Norway wanted to send 9 000 children to Australia because they had German fathers, for example..."

J Arrives

J arrived just three days ago. It was wonderful to see her after just over four lonely weeks. She came out of the airport with a single bag. When I asked where the other bags were, she said "we have to go pick them up."
"You just walked past them in the secure area. I hope security lets you back in."

They did. That could never happen in Chicago or Heathrow!

After days of nice weather, J's first three days have either been rainy or cold and windy. We spent more time at the grocery store than I had spent in the previous 4 week but we now have a stocked kitchen. My staple of peanut butter, bread, milk, a few oranges, and, well, that's about it, is now supplemented with meats, eggs, cereals, pasta, vegetables, and spices.

Find a short photo collage of the D&J Weekend on flickr.com.

Here's what J said in her first email back to family (with slight edits for the blog):
"D met me at the airport and we took a cab to the apt. I slept from the afternoon until 12pm today, mostly jet lag. Today, I got up and unpacked and organized the whole apartment to know where everything is and to make room since there are hardly any closets. But there is a little room off the bedroom....a nice study w/desk by a window and nice shelving on the wall. That is where I must put my clothes-on those shelves. It is actually cozy and I like it although it's a little non-traditional.
The apartment is very European and Swedish (at least to me)....tall ceilings, dormer windows that are tall w/big ledges, hardwood floors, decorated in Ikea furniture, lamps, pictures, curtains, and objects. We have 7 rooms that are big...just no closets. But we are here 'til Oct then get to pick a new place.

D and I walked to the grocery store. Imagine walking to King Soopers or Albertsons (although closer) and having to carry what you buy home. You'd buy just what you can carry and go often....and have to dress for all types of weather. Those cloth grocery bags from Whole Foods are coming in handy!

That is my lifestyle now....all walking and carrying....no car.....out in all types of weather. It has rained since I got here. D says it was nice before then and is the first rain since he arrived mid-March. And it is chilly and windy...it is a cold wind. I am glad I packed my silk undershirt and several jackets.....only a few sweaters but I can layer and I have my down jacket and a raincoat w/hood.

Since you walk so much here, shoes are a big deal. You're always walking on concrete and going up and down stairs in all weather. D says many people have walking boots or shoes and leave other shoes at their work. Rain boots are common. And maybe I will need to buy a warmer waterproof coat come winter. Maybe my long wool/cashmere will do?? I will definitely need a hat! But the point is, we will need a variety of weather gear.

Buying groceries was a challenge....products look different when the labels are in Swedish. Many are packaged differently. I need to bring a dictionary to grocery store.

Oh and I forgot to tell you that a teenage boy opened the toilet door on me while in flight as I was sitting on the john. It was my fault since I didn't have it latched well. We both gasped. No dignity left in me. He had to close the door 'cause if you're sitting it is hard to reach lath because as it opens in a odd way. But I could reach the lock once he closed it...er slammed it. Afterwards, I laughed and laughed. What can you do?"

The Battle of Hulloch and the Easter Rising

My adventure is spiced with meeting interesting people with interesting stories. An Irish colleague told me an interesting story about Irish history, with a personal irony folded in. We often hear of the human sacrifice in the Irish revolution of 1916, especially during the Easter Rising. The Easter Rising was a failure costing approximately 380 lives but did lead to eventual Irish independence from England. At about the same time, the Germans were gassing members of the Royal Dublin Fulisers in Hulluch, France. This was the first gas attack of the horrific World War I.

My colleague says "As my grandfather was fighting in the trenches with the Royal Dublin Fulisers, I regret that we, the southern Irish, don’t remember their courage and sacrifice. There were 35,000 Irish killed in WW I who are more or less forgotten. The victors write the history books and in this case it was the Irish Republican Army (the original IRA) who fought and eventually won independence. My personal irony is that my other grandfather was in the IRA shooting British at the same time as my maternal grandfather was in the British Army. Should the two of them have been in Dublin in April 1916, I might not be here saying this!!! Thankfully, my other granddad was from Cork (250 km south of Dublin!)."

This sort of imbalance is frequent all over the world.

As I write this, the BBC and CNN Europe airing in Stockholm are dwelling on the tragedy of the Virginia Tech shootings and suicide. They are interviewing the shooter's former teachers, roommates, classmates, etc. trying to understand the psychology of the shooter, a Korean immigrant named Cho. They are evaluating and scrutinizing the gun laws in the US. It seems ironic that 33 people die tragically in the US, a country of 400 million while the ticker at the bottom of the TV screen says 166 people died in a suicide bomber blast in Baghdad, Iraq, a much much smaller country. If they did a psyscho-analysis of the Baghdad suicide killer equivalent to the one afforded Cho, I think we'd all learn a lot: the West and the Islamic world. Instead we over-simplify it as a horror of war or the insanity of fundamentalism or whatever....

Ah, I wax political, sorry.

Getting the big bucks...or what a 50 says about a country

The 50 kronor bank note has Jenny Lind on the front. She's a Swedish opera singer that died in 1887. It's noteworthy that Swedish money has a female on it. I'm pretty sure American paper money of any denomination does not. Having a female on some of the money is apropos given that Sweden has the most gender equality of any nation on Earth, or pretty close to it. On the back, you see a Nyckelharpa (Swedish harp) which is consistent with the Swede's love of music.


Wikipedia has more on the kronor.

Oh, BTW, these bucks are bigger than American money so technically these are "the big bucks."

Helenelund and Ulriksdal

There are subcultures with every hobby whether it be bicycling, bass fishing, woodworking, orienteering, traveling, chess, wine tasting, or socializing. One of the favorite Swedish hobbies is sailing on the many waterways in the Stockholm archipelago. I visited a small communuty marina in Helenelund (or very nearby in Sollentuna) and saw people making a social event out of sailboating and they were on land! Now that I think about it, sailing combines the exercise and fresh air of a casual bike ride, the joy of woodworking, the intellectual challenge of chess, travel opportunities, and offers a perfect place to sip wine and to socalize. One could even fish. What a sport!

I also discovered something the Swedes call colonies, one shown in the photo here. They are a group of tiny houses with a small garden. Up close they look like quaint one room houses. I'm told they are just little getaways. People, apparently those that don't go sailing and those without a cabin in the archipelago, go to the colony for some summer weekend variety. I saw people, mostly older folks out in their garden and tinkering around there house. It seemed like a peaceful place.


The other thing I discovered just off the bike path between my apartment and work is the Ulriksdal castle. (There are plenty of Flickr folks that have nicer pictres than mine of the castle and grounds. Just do a search.) It's not a giant stone castle like you find in Germany but it is a large well kept estate - now a park. It always surprises me how taking a slightly different path can produce rewards.

You'll see a few of these shots on my flickr.com collection called April 15, Spring Sunday. Remember you can view as a slide show or individually if you want to see the a short description of each shot.

Shots from fabulous spring Saturday

This Saturday was a warm spring day that brought the masses outside. It was the first day since my arrival in mid-March that I was able to ride my bike in shorts and no gloves. I really want to take photos of people but haven't yet figured out how to do that. Asking them if I can take a photo always makes them suspicious and saying the photo would be on www.flickr.com would probably not appeal to them. Being quick with the telephoto is also hard. However, the spring day did bring out a lot of interesting people. I want to get some shots of the incredible healthy looking old folks (my age!). The kids are also interesting, fashion-wise, that is.

Click over to flickr.com to see the 30 shots from my Saturday. I recommend viewing as a slide show. If you want to view the description of any photo, just click on the photo when you see the whole collection displayed as thumbnails or click on the link "details". For those readers who are new to www.flickr.com, when you view as a slide show, moving your cursor provides you with different options. Putting the cursor near the top of the photo give you the option of speeding up or slowing down the show. Putting it at the bottom shows you the whole collection as thumbnails. Putting it off to the side maximizes the picture being displayed.

Of Church Boats and Wife Carrying

Some of my colleagues are Finnish. They've described to me two very Finnish pastimes: church boat racing and wife carrying races. I have stolen the photos here: the church boat photo came from wikipedia and the wife carrying came from a web site. I also stole some of the descriptions.

There are records of church boats from the 1600s. At that time the church started to demand that everyone confess and take part in church services. In the lake districts and by the shores, a boat was the fastest transport because the journeys were long and roads were non-existent. Church boats disappeared by the 1920s because railways, steamboats and coaches and the freedom of religion law made church boats unnecessary. Now church boats have become racing events. One Finn told me it was because originally the men would get their family into the boat and see a neighbor close by in his boat. Then the testosterone would kick in and the two men would unofficially race. Nowadays, church boat racing is popular at Finnish campgrounds and competitions.

There has been a revival in church boats in recent years. Finland's Rowing Association sponsors many church boat racing events and many competitors trains. One Finn told me he trained a lot but didn't train by actually rowing a real boat. Then during the race he developed terrible blisters.


The following is quoted from the web with a little editing on my part: The idea of Wife Carrying Competition originated in Sonkajärvi, Finland. In spite of its humorous aspects, it has deep roots in the local history. In the late 1800’s there was a brigand called Rosvo-Ronkainen in the area, who is said to have required his troops to prove themselves physically. Since, in those days, it was common to steal women from the enemies villages, being able to carry wives (the enemies wives) would be a desirable trait.

In those days the soldier would not only get a new wife but as an incentive to route the enemy, receive the equivalent of the wife’s weight in beer. Nowadays, the old custom morphed into a racing competition, the winners get beer, a bag full of wife carrying products and a statue with wife carrying motif. There are also prises for first and second runners up and "most entertaining" couple. I assume that the modern events do not include village sacking and other men's wives. I also have no idea what would be in a sack of "wife carrying products."

There are a team and sprint competition as part of the more serious wife carrying world championships.

In the team competition the track is the same as Wife Carrying World Championships but three men in the team carry the wife in turns. At the exchange point the carrier has to drink the official "wife carrying drink" before continuing the race. The winners receive wife carrying products and statues. The team with best costumes will be awarded with wife carrying products and statues.

In the sprint competition the length of the track is 100 meters, and the surface of the track is sand and gravel. The track has a water obstacle, about one meter deep. The contestants run the qualification round 5 to 10 couples at a time and the first three of each heat will continue in the next round until there are just three couples left to compete in the final. Winners will receive MP3-players, wife carrying products and statues. MP3 players! Whoa, now that seems out of place.

There is a cheerleaders’ competition for the spectators. Four to six spectators or fans form a group that takes part in the competition. They often have "helpers" in the audience to add humor to the event.

I suggest thigh exercises and a petite wife to be competitive.

I ate a vacuum cleaner.

From my February post entitled "Puncherelle - not for dieters" you know that a vacuum cleaner, "dammsugare," is a delicious Swedish dessert. I finally bought one. It was indeed delicious. I highly recommend them for people without athletic ambitions. A healthy breakfast might be two dammsugaren and coffee (with no sugar).



I also bought two tubes of McVities Digestive Crackers, actually Digestive Biscuits, imported from Britain. The fact that they call these digestive implies all the others are not digestive. It's it a bit like buying "combustive" gas or a "drivable" car? Anyway, I can down half a tube with a glass of milk. Better than Oreos, I think.


On another note (a "different horse of another color" as Groucho Marx once said), my quotes became stars this week. Specifically, my new computer has a Swedish keyboard so the "-key has moved and the *-key is there instead, right next to ö, ä, and å. My fingers keep closing parenthesises when I want to open parenthesis. The trickiest thing, though, is that some keys have three symbols. Press the key to get one, press shift plus the key to get the second, press the ALT Gr key to get the third. I wonder if Mavis Beacon )the famous typing teacher) has a *Teach Yourself Typing" DVD for these keyboards.

Where's the Kayak Trip office? And why not?

I found some nice multi-day kayaking trips in the archipelago near Stockholm. So today I decided to scope it out. First I had to take the pendeltåg to central station, then get on a subway to Tekniska Högskolan (Technical University) and then take a bus to Norrtälje. I really needed to go to Västermäs but I ran out of time. Looks like I'll have to try again next weekend - it's still too cold to kayak now, anyway. I took a few photos in Norrtälje . Be sure to click on slideshow. I had a quick snack and headed back to the apartment.


Coke also has it's "zero" add campaign going on: I saw three Zero adds at bus stops. They are self-explanatory.

A Morning Jaunt to Kungsträdgården

I walked to Odenplan this morning and took bus #2 to Kungsträdgården (The King's Garden). I was actually looking for the Catholic church. I found several church's (kyrka) but I passed the Catholic church several times before I found it. It's entrance is part of an office building and was marked by a small gold cross outside. Even the Lutheran church just on the otherside of the park was easily identifiable as a church.

I've never seen a church in an office building. Once inside, though, it looks traditional.

It was Sunday on the Easter weekend so many businesses were closed. However, I still found many resturants to choose from. I like the food in Sweden but, when I saw a Friday's (aka TGI Friday's) I felt I needed a greasy hamburger. There are exactly two Friday's's in Sweden and both are within a kilometer of each other. I think I got more greasy fat today in one meal than in all the past 3 weeks.

I wound up walking the area for two hours and taking a few photos, which I put on flickr. Click
on "slideshow".

J Speaks

Easter Weekend/Holy Saturday Post: Well, well, it's time I enter a blog. I am considered the "trailing spouse" in such corporate LTA (long term assighnments), and true to the name-here I'm trailing behind! I've yet to experience with D the adventures of Sweden as I am handling last minute preparations. (Picture me cleaning the yard of winter's remnants; dead leaves, broken tree branches, and of course the constant dog poop!) If that isn't a pretty picture, I am also having fun (quit my job 3 weeks ago) sharing the news with friends, meeting friends and my children for lunches and coffee here and there. Also, cancelling subscriptons, changing mailing addresses, visiting the bank, filing income taxes, and prepping the house for the August wedding of our oldest son. Then there was the one day D called and said "go buy long underwear....I've heard it is a must for the winters here"...and off I went. Also, I've run out for extra luggage and circuit adaptors. D has needed me back here to DHL (think intern'l Fed-Ex) papers back and forth that needed his signature. One day I visited his work 3 times and had to recruit all the secretaries for faxing, copying and notorizing. Thanks, girls....this is taking a whole TEAM!!!! Everyone there is just great. Whenever I am over there, I see people in the halls, etc. and someone always asks how things are going. It feels like family. Also, we couldn't do this without the support and enthusiasm of our 3 children. They are incredible human beings. Our oldest and his fiance are taking the dogs and our youngest will be staying at the house for awhile and taking care of it and our cat. What would I do without them?????? I will miss them the most.

I also needed to get all required immunization shots and my doctor visits up to date such as dental cleaning, physical exam, much of what was required for me to pass thru the immigration board. I am happy to say I passed thru and I have a work permit also! Will I work? Maybe...I will see. If I can go to D to Ireland or wherever, I'd love to have a flexible schedule so I can go. D was rushed thru immigration to get onto the job site asap. But for me....it's not SUCH a rush although I will happy to be a couple again. Can I say that again???? I will be happy to be a couple again!!!! Plans are for me to fly out Tues. Apr. 17th. I've loaded my ipod and started packing.

I did get to visit Sweden in '00 when D was there for a 6 mos. assignment, so I remember much about it. Living there for longer will be very different and I look forward to it and see it as a gift and a blessing. My job is to go and support D in every way I can. Also, I look forward to learning Swedish and seeing old friends whom I met both there in Sweden and here in the States. I've already bought some language CD'S and have started learning. I can't wait for the adventure to begin over there!!!

My Easter Dinner

Let me tell you about a fantastic Swedish family I know. They had me and some other visiting Americans over for Easter, treating us to a traditional Swedish Easter meal, which includes herring and eggs. More on that later. The meal included fresh cheeses, a lasagna-like dish, roasted lamb, a Mediterranean salad with black olives and ricotta cheese, lax (thinly slices smoked salmon), and potatoes. Bo said that a Swede, especially the older ones, will ask "where's the potatoes?" like a I might ask "where's the beef?" Potatoes are a stable agricultural product of Sweden and they are, indeed, excellent.

Four types of herring were available. Herring is one of those foods that takes a bit of courage to take the first bite. ("Twas a brave man that first ate a raw oyster" or maybe very hungry.) I like, but not love, herring in tomato or mustard sauce. The picked ones are stronger and I've heard is an acquired taste.

The dessert was a thin chocolate cake, almost a brownie, sprinkled with powdered sugar with fresh raspberries and ice cream as a topping.


This family is amazing. They all speak at least two languages and play music and have traveled the world. Below you see a photo of their basement sound-proofed music room with the family plying a song for us.



The other American family is also fantastic. They also are world travelers. One parent hales from Australia; the other from Calgary, Canada born of Norwegian immigrants. She speaks some Norwegian and will be learning Swedish, a close relative, very quickly. Both are avid orienteers, a sport originating in Scandinavia and very popular all over the world. Orienteering may become a new hobby for D & J, too.

Both families have relatives spread all over the world and yet manage to maintain close family ties. They visit each other periodically, write or email frequently, and use the old fashioned phone: skills D & J will be honing in the upcoming months.

Easter is one of the most important Swedish holidays. They stress Easter witches more than the Easter bunny, although candy plays a big part. Read all about the Swedish Easter traditions here, which says "In Finland and Sweden, traditions include egg painting and small children dressed as witches collecting candy door-to-door, in exchange for decorated pussy willows. This is a result of the mixing of an old Orthodox tradition (blessing houses with willow branches) and the Scandinavian Easter witch tradition. Brightly coloured feathers and little decorations are also attached to willow or birch branches in a vase. For lunch/dinner on Holy Saturday, families traditionally feast on a smörgåsbord of herring, salmon, potatoes, eggs and other kinds of food."

Friends in a new country make the experience far more rich than simply doing the tourist thing....

My trip to Täby - Easter Eve 2007 (5 photos)

Täby is a small town north of Stockholm by about 15 kilometers (between eight and nine miles). I took bike paths all the way which took me by some water and through neighborhoods, as you can see in the photos. The day was very clear and sunny but cold (9 Celsius = 48 Fahrenheit) and windy, which made it seem even colder.




The homes are very consistent in color. I am told that the Swedish government has an approved color list, much like my Home Owners Association in Colorado. Only these colors are permitted to keep the countryside looking consistent and to prevent eye-sores. The two colors shown in the photos are the most prevalent. I have seen some older homes in white or grays. I've also seen some modern homes in other colors.

This Easter, many homes had picnic tables and chairs in the yards for family gathering but I think the cold prevented the hoped for outdoors meals.

How did Superman Do it?

If you're standing on the commuter train (pendeltåg) platform (spår) and the marque says "se upp för passerande tåg" which means the next train is coming by really really fast and if you aren't where you're supposed to be you will die. Whne this train does whiz by, the ground shakes and you remember the Doppler effect. You can feel the giga mega zillion units of momentum (mass times distance divided by speed, kg x m/s). As the photo shows, the speed tops out at over 200 kilometers an hour, about 125 mph. I wonder how Superman could be more powerful than a locomotive. I can easy beleive he was faster than a speeding bullet and able to leap tall buildings, but being more powerful than the Arlanda Express is just too hard to believe.


America should have more mass transportation but I honestly don't know how we'd idiot-proof the stations. There are no fences to prevent idiots from jumping on the tracks or drunks falling on them. In America, idiots and drunks win multi-million dollar lawsuits killing good ideas senselessly and encouraging even more people to become lawyers.

Yes, occasionally a person is killed in Sweden by a train or subway - usually a drunk person or a suicidal person. However, nobody sues. So the trains and subways keep on rolling, as they should. (P.S. My apologies to whomever I stole the photos from on Flickr.com.)

Norrmalm Sunday Afternoon, Photo Collage