Oh Narile…while you are back there…
Do Swedes look down on Americans for falling for that whole Ikea thing?
Are there any other good bands that we need to import here in the States? I’m already hooked on Anekdoten and Kent (and, oh, I admit, I like the Cardigans, too).
How similar is Sweden to other Scandinavian countries as far as politics and general culture?
My gramma (whose maiden name was Lund, BTW) came over when she was very young…ow, but I wish she were online so you two could compare notes 
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Swedes here delight in torturing others at Christmas time with that particular delicacy known as “lutefisk”. Now, I love pickled herring and thing gravlax done right is sublime. But come ON, LUTEFISK? You guys still eat that crap over there?
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Is it true, as gramma once told me, that every self-respecting Swede knows the entire life story of the guy who wrote (please pardon the phonetic spelling) “Tregaray kon ingen vora, den gud schleela bjorna skora. Schvar na ne po himmle festat. Fogan ay echenda nestat”?
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Do you have a favorite recipe for glogg?
Also, if your ever in the Minneapolis area let me know…I’ll take you out to Aquavit and see how you rate the food.
What’s up with ABBA? Were they really monstrously popular? Has Agnetha broken her silence? Did she really stop speaking English?
soda,
While in Stockholm (a great city) once, I visited the Vasa (a truly wonderful vessel.) What other great attractions in Stockholm would you suggest experiencing?
American guys think of Swedish women as the ultimate. What kind of women (what nationality) do Swedish men think of as the ultimate?
And Americans are superclean too. I think we started this superclean thing. For some reason there’s a belief that European women do not shave their armpits or use deodorant.
To answer that question about the high suicide rate, I think it’s due to the long Winter without the sun. It happens in American cities like Seattle too.
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Did your name inspire the Seinfeld episode, or was it the other way around, or was it a coincidence – like Newton and the other guy (who didn’t stand on the shoulders of giants) who invented Calculus. (Damn them both.) Or is it short for, say, Bakingsoda?
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How exactly does one play the sport of Bikini? And is your national team as good at it as they look.
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When you and the team come to New York will you need a place to stay?
I have a request for a recipe. One of my freinds is 1/2 Swedish and she used to make pickles. They aren’t the cooked kind like over here. My wre very fresh and light tasting. Do you have any ideas? Thanks for any help.
Oh, you guys crack me up! I love having my very own thread. I will do my best to shed some light on what really goes on in Sweden (topless bikini teams, wild orgies and the likes ;)).
sili, family is important to me and to most other people I know. When I was a kid my brother and I had dinner with my parents every night, not just at weekends. I have noticed that many Americans work such long hours that the kids are off to bed before they even get home. I think it’s sad. But yes, just this weekend we had a big family gathering, some 30 people in our backyard barbecueing and having loads of fun.
Narile, if you think you can hide behind kellibelli you are dead wrong! I will get you both and bubble and froth all over you! I am sweet, and although I might not quench your thirst, I’m pretty sure I can satisfy your appetite…
Coldfire, maybe it’s because so few of us die in car wrecks? Seriously, I think it’s because of the long winters. It’s damn depressing to wake up at ten am and not see the sun. It’s depressing to have to work for the few hours of daylight there is, and when it’s time to go home it’s already dark again. Personally I just get out a good book and stay in. I know summer is on it’s way. To my knowledge, I’m the only one here who speaks Swedish, and I can handle anything you can think of (see Olentzero’s post).
Montfort, us Swedes have fallen for IKEA too, so we don’t blame you! I have plenty of IKEA stuff, and I think most of it’s brilliant. Unfortunately, you can never find a great piece of furniture that your friend or neighbor won’t also find. However, when I get my degree and start making some serious money, I will gradually replace some of it with (I would say better, but that’s not quite the word) other stuff. Anekdoten? I have never heard about it. Are you sure it’s not Dutch? It sounds like a Dutch name. Where’s Coldy when we need him? But Kent is a great band, wait for their next release in English, Hagnesta Hill, it’s better than Isola. Other bands you might want to check out is The Wannadies, big i Britain, I’m not sure about the US. Then there’s Thomas Rusiak and STHLM Teddybears too. I have no idea if you’ll like that, it’s not Kent type music, but I like it. Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland are very similar in many ways, both regarding politics and culture. There are plenty of differences too, but I doubt I’d feel as lost in Denmark as I did when I first went to France.
sandyr, nice to meet you! Treasure your heritage, it’s well worth it. My parents eat lutfisk at Christmas, and for the life of me, I can’t understand why. I think it’s nasty, but a lot of people love it. Not enough to eat it all year round is all I have to say about that… I used to know the words of the hymn “Tryggare kan ingen vara”, but I have forgotten them completely. As for the life story of the man who wrote it, ask again in a year or so when I’ve finished my Swedish lit course at the university. Glögg is good, but I don’t make it myselt, there’s a great readymade glögg called Blossa, I just buy that. I can find a good recipe if you want one, send me an e-mail. And if you ever come back to the old world let me know. I’ll show you the good times!
Mr. Blue Sky, ABBA is our pride and joy. For a while it wasn’t OK to like ABBA, but things have changed. We like them, they’re cool. Agneta didn’d stop speaking English, she stopped speaking. She was never into being superfamous, and basically hated it. So she’s been minding her own business for ages. Then she had her own personal stalker and things got ugly for a while, but they’ve quieted down.
OrganicMatter, I’m not from Stockholm and I hardly ever go there. But it is beautiful and in my opinion the whole town is a gem. Get a tourist map and enjoy. You might miss a few things, but that will only give you a reason to come back.
Major Feelgud, gee I wonder why we are thought to be so wonderful… Is it because of our intelligence, our looks or our humour? All of the above, I’d say. So Swedish guys don’t cross the bridge to get water if you get my point :D.
stuyguy, listen very carefully, I will say this only once. There is no such thing as the Swedish Bikini Team. At least not in Sweden. The same goes for Swedish massage. There is no such thing! As for my screen name, I was introduced to another board by a friend whose screen name was whiskey and it went something like this “Please welcome my friend. She and I go back a long time. She’s called soda.”
Yours truly,
soda
We’ll settle for a picture of you in a bikini! 
Has a moose ever bitten your sister?
Me? In a bikini? Surely, you must be joking. Íf all the men (and some women) would spend their days drooling over my picture, this board would not be half as fun .
I don’t have a sister, and no one I know has ever been bitten by one. But I know this crazy guy who sells moose turds to German tourists. Does that count?
SEZ YOU!!! 
:mad: :eek:
Thanks soda! An American friend of mine who’s spent some time lately in the UK and France has recommended the Wannadies to me, too, so maybe I should check them out.
Anekdoten is a progressive rock band from Sweden, but they’ve been lumped in with the “death metal” people, so I doubted they had mainstream recognition there. I saw them at a prog rock festival in the US last month and was very impressed.
Anyway, some new questions for my favourite Swedish chick:
When’s the new Kent album coming out?
Which American TV shows do you get there? Do you Swedes laugh at our puritinistic approach to things?
Where in the States have you been before? What were your immediate impressions when you got here?
Thanks for answering our questions, soda.
DRY, I really need to work on my modesty. I doubt anyone would spend so much time drooling over my picture that it would make a difference on the board.
lunasea, I think I know what you are looking for. We call them pressgurka and I’m searching for a recipe. I’ll get back to you ASAP.
Montfort, if Anekdoten has been lumped with the death metal people it’s no surprise I haven’t heard about them. But on the other hand, it’s more likely that you might enjoy Thomas Rusiak and STHLM Teddybears. I have heard one or two singles from the English version of Kent’s Hagnesta Hill, so I suppose it’s on its way.
We get plenty of American shows. Friends, Frasier, Spin City to name a few sit coms. Dawson’s Creek, Felicity and the likes. But my favorites are ER, NYPD Blue, and Homicide. Sometimes we laugh at you, sometimes we don’t. But in general, we wonder why you think it’s better to show people killing each other than loving each other.
I have been to (and this is the short version, sodapop - aka my dad - is barbecuing in the backyard) Hephzibah, GA, Santa Cruz, CA, and (I know it’s not the States, but at least it’s North America) Vancouver, BC. Loved it, hated it, was amazed and bored. All at the same time. I always want to go back and I always want to go home.
Yours truly,
soda (who really is working on being more modest)
What is Duvemala? Why is it featured in so
many of B&B’s post-Abba stuff. Kristen from
Duvemala, Duvemala Hage, Fran Duvemala till
Broadway, Fran Water to Duvemala.
And also, how would you translate TANK OM JORDEN VORE
UNG? Something about thinking and a garden for young,
but I can’t get the right translation.
Annie, this is the deal with Duvemåla. Once there was a great author who wrote an epic trilogy about some people who emigrated from Sweden in the 19th century. It was called The Emigrants (go figure ;)). Its main characters were Karl-Oscar and Kristina and the place in Sweden they left was called Duvemåla. When B&B decided to make a musical out of this epic they focused on Kristina who never forgot her Duvemåla, hence the title Kristina from Duvemåla.
I suppose they use their enormous success with this musical as a final of sorts, as in “our best stuff, from the beginning (i.e. Waterloo) to Duvemåla” and also that it’s a long way from Duvemåla to Broadway.
Tänk om jorden vore ung means what if the world was young. Don’t ask me what that is supposed to mean, I have no idea.
Yours truly,
soda
Though you may not realize it, we have a long history together. Let me explain.
In 1638 your forebears founded New Sweden near present-day Delaware. The Dutch from New York – where I’m from – got jealous and went down and kicked some Swedish butt. (The English, in turn, kicked some righteous Dutch butt and got New York and Delaware in the process… but I’m saving that turn of events as an excuse to hit on whoever starts the “Ask the Limey Chick” thread.)
So, as a gesture of good will and hatchet-burying, I – a representative of your former oppressors – wish to reestablish relations with you and your country(wo)men. Let us have a summit at my place. Bring the Bikini Team… a treaty always looks so much better when there’s a whole bunch of signatures on the bottom.
Hi soda,
In my family ( morfor was a Lundberg, mormor an Engstrom ) our meatballs are never served in gravy. Gravy BAD! How about back in the homeland?
Please post your glögg recipe! My sister makes a batch every Yuletide and I would like to compare.
I have a question about Uppsala. Is there anyting left of the old pagan holy site?
What’s the feeling on the Muppet’s Swedish Chef? Do you take offense or do you find it humorous? How about other “stereotyping” of Swedes?