Soda, do you know any good Danish jokes? When I went to Copenhagen for the Doper’s meeting (too bad you weren’t with us then) they told me a lot of Swedish jokes…you know about how ya’ll like to go to Denmark to buy cheap alcohol and get drunk. Of course, I didn’t believe a word of it. Anyhoo, we have 1 1/2 Danes on this board and the next time I see them I’d like to have a joke or two to share.
Slight hijack…some of us are meeting up in Dublin in October for a EuroDopers meeting, would you be interested in coming? I’m sure it will be a blast!
stuyguy, you just won’t give up on this Bikini Team matter? Do I really need to repeat myself? However, when and if I come to New York, I might just invade your place for a while. With or without fellow countrywomen. No bikinis though. That’s my final word.
2sense, hejsan! Hur mår du? Anyway, I’ve always had my meatballs with gravy, and so do most people I know. Oh well, those are minor things.
I don’t make my own glögg. I asked sodamom if she had a good recipe and she just looked at me like I was crazy. “What do you need that for? It’s July for Christ’s sake!” I’ll work on it, but knowing her, it’s most likely strong stuff. Sodamom doesn’t do weak.
I don’t know much about Uppsala or any pagan sites. Could you be a little more specific? I do know that there were people up there some 4000 years ago, but not much more than that.
Man, am I loving this or what! If I knew it would be this much fun I’d have started this thread a long time ago. Anyway, back to the questions…
Mr. Blue Sky, the Swedish Chef is just funny. And the reason he is funny is because I don’t see any similarity between him and any Swede I’ve ever met! That just kills me. We are so not like him.
Stereotypes I am tired of is (a)we all kill ourselves (b)we live in a communist sock puppet country (c)we are crazy about sex (well ok, I like it, but it’s not like it’s part of being Swedish) (d)Sweden is dark 6 months out of the year and polarbears walk the streets of Stockholm - I am not kidding, I’ve been asked this for real (e)a bunch of other things I’m too tired to remember here.
tatertot, first, I am honored you invited me to Dublin :feeling really warm and fuzzy: and I would so love to go. Being a student, I’m not superrich. But I might rob a bank… Will you come see me in prison?
I am so ashamed to tell you this, but your Danish friends are right… Swedes do go over to Denmark and get drunk. It’s pitiful really. I never do that, and I wouldn’t hang out with anyone who does, I think it’s so embarrasing. Instead we make fun of the Norwegians. Or we used to. Then they found oil and started winning the Olympics like crazy and it backfired. These days we just mope and sulk and go to Denmark to get drunk.
I’m loving this, too, soda. Mostly, I get to talk to a self-professed Swedish chick, but I also get to learn about a European culture.
Anyway, more questions:
Are you a hockey fan? What’s the prevailing national opinion when a Peter Forsberg plays hockey in America? Or, when a Mikael Renberg decides to come home?
I swear this is my last post about Kent. Anything else, I’ll e-mail you about. You mention that Hagnesta Hill is coming out soon in an English-language version. Do they have Swedish-language releases? If I was so inclined, could I get a Swedish-language release of Isola? What percentage of bands there sing in English compared to Swedish? Are there prejudices against bands based on the language they sing in?
I have to plead “stupid American” on this one, but I’m not sure if Sweden is part of the Euro currency or not. What is the prevailing national opinion on it, however? What do you think, personally?
soda, I’d be delighted to come visit you in prison. You wacky Swedes probably have lovely prisons since you’re all communist sock puppets. Heck, even if you’re not in prison I’ll come up there and see ya, I’ve always wanted to see a polar bear. Okay, enough teasing…
Speaking of being a poor student, does the government pay for all of your college education + a living allowance as they do in Denmark? Do you have the different levels of secondary education like they do in Germany, i.e. one for college prep, one for vocational skills?
BTW, I just love the Ordning & Reda stationery store! I wish we had one here, I could live in that place.
soda, you can ignore that above question. I got un-lazy and decided to do some poking on-line and found this discography page at CDNow (I’m posting this for informative reasons, not to make any money or anything). So, yes, there are Swedish-language albums. I didn’t find anything about an English-language version of Hagnesta Hill, though (just Isola seems to be available in English).
soda, you can ignore that above question. I got un-lazy and decided to do some poking on-line and found this discography page at CDNow (I’m posting this for informative reasons, not to make any money or anything). So, yes, there are Swedish-language albums. I didn’t find anything about an English-language version of Hagnesta Hill, though (just Isola seems to be available in English). **
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Actually, there IS an english version of Hagnesta Hill. It was released in Sweden back in april and the july 24th UK release is just around the corner.
Thanks for the answer sode. I’m huge
into musical theatre and also ABBA. There’s
talk about Mammia Mia and/or Kristen coming
to Broadway, plus maybe reviving Chess. If
they all happen at once, Bjorn & Benny will
be the 4th and 5th persons to have 3 shows
running on Broadway at the same time.
There are plenty of Swedish musical CDS–
Joseph, Jesus Christ Superstar, and a
version of Phantom of the Opera that
kicks ass. Also a lot of ABBA stuff. But
why isn’t there a Swedish version of Chess?
soda: OK, I’m a little slow on the uptake. So American guys dream about Swedish women, and Swedish guys dream about… Swedish women???
The fact that there is no Swedish Bikini Team devastates me. I now have to question my whole reason for existence. How about a Danish Bikini Team or Norwegian Bikini Team? Somehow a Portugese Bikini Team, an Albanian Bikini Team, North Korean Bikini Team or a Samoan Bikini Team do not bring out the same images.
I hope this is what you were looking for lunasea. If not, I hope you like it anyway.
You will need
one English cucumber
one tsp salt
Rinse or peel the cucumber, then slice it really thin. Put it in a strainer and add salt and leave it for 30 minutes or so. But preserve the cucumber juice, you’ll need it later.
You will also need
three tbsp vinegar essence
three tbsp sugar
half a cup of water
a pinch (or two) of ground white pepper
the cucumber juice chopped parsley
Mix all ingredients, except the parsley and add the cucumbers. Sprinkle over the chopped parsley and put it in the fridge for an hour or so before you serve it. Goes really well with Swedish meatballs.
Swedish chic: Eons ago, when I was young, I got drunk with some Swedes and Finns. They were much the same when sober. But the Swedes got boring and depressing when drunk.The Finns started to get quite talkative, arguing, making stupid challenges etc. They did not pull out any puukko kives, though.
Would this be a typical situation with these ethnic stereotypes?
Being the kind of guy who believes in turning disappointments into opportunities, I would like to start a Swedish Bikini Team given that one does not exist. (Or so YOU say, Soda,…hmmm.)
Soda, I would like to make you the team manager and second scout. Okay? (Guess who’s first scout.) We have to recruit us some Olympic-caliber bikiniers pronto… Sydney is just around the corner. You go to your local health clubs and modeling agencies. I’ll go to IKEA.
Don’t fail me. The glory of the Swedish nation is at stake here.
Montfort, hockey can be fun. But I only watch when the national team is playing and only the big tournaments. We’re just happy someone like Peter Forsberg makes it big, and just as happy when someone like Mikael Renberg comes home. They make a ton of money and then they come back to the old country and gives a lot back, donates loads of money to help build new rinks and stuff.
Singing in English or Swedish really doesn’t matter. If it’s good, we’ll like it, if it’s bad it’s off to Japan. No offense, but some really crappy (IMHO anyway) Swedish bands have made it big in Japan after failing big time back home.
We’re not part of the Euro currency. Yet. I suppose it’s just a matter of time although it seems like the majority of the population would rather keep our own Kronor. It would be splendid to have if I were travelling all over Europe, but I like our bank notes. I’m not sure if it has been a big success where it has been introduced, you will have to ask Coldfire about that.
tatertot, I’ll make sure your name is on my “visit whenever” list when I go to prison. Just bring me a cake with a file baked into it. I hope there’s internet in prison…
Being a student in Sweden is almost perfect. It could be better, but compared to the US, I think it’s student heaven. I pay no tuition, and I attend one of the two most prestigious universities in Sweden, in Lund. The other one is Uppsala and no one can figure out which one is the better one. Anyway. I do pay a small sum (40 USD/semester) to the student union, but that’s mainly so that I can get in on all the fun student stuff. If I didn’t pay, I would still be allowed to attend classes and all, but I would not get credit for it. A full time student gets a grant of 1000 USD/semester and in addition, we can apply for a loan of an addional 2.500 USD/semester. We have the right to this loan for 12 semesters. If we do not want to lose these loans and grants, we must take at least 15 out of 20 credits per semester. If we don’t, we’re on our own until we have at least 3/4 of our credits again. Of course, they show leniency if you are get really sick or if a parent, spouse or sibling dies or anything really horrible like that.
We have different levels of secondary school too in a way, but there are not different schools or anything like that. And every student at the gymnasium take classes so that they have the basic qualifications they need to apply to the university.
Annie, although at least one of the B&B’s collaborated on all the musicals you mentioned, I’m pretty sure only Kristina is their own original work. I know that Chess was not a Swedish production in the beginning and therefore there is no Swedish version. At least that’s what I think. I might be wrong.
Uppsala was a major pagan site. I believe that it had a sacred grove. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica the temple was pulled down near the end of the 11th century.
I guess this sort of thing is not your bag. Maybe you could tell me if Uppsala is a major Christian area in Sweden. The Church often built major religious strongholds on top of destroyed pagan sites.
Soda, would you say that, on the whole, Swedes are more reserved than sociable towards each other, or is it the other way around? Are foreigners generally well accepted in Swedish society?
2sense: I’m a swedish guy studying in Uppsala and I must say it’s not a very christian city nor very seculiar. Although the dome (?) church has a big impact on the city since it can be seen from a far way. The christian capital in Sweden is my hometown Jönköping which is located just south of the lake Vättern. Jönköping is nicknamed the swedish Jerusalem because of all the churches and the high percentage of christians. But it’s still a nice and beautiful city =)
Feelgud: Yeah, swedish guys dreams of swedish women, atleast I do
Soda: Självklart är Uppsala bättre än Lund Kul thread du startade, Sverige verkar vara populärt.
Anyhoo, we have 1 1/2 Danes on this board and the next time I see them I’d like to have a joke or two to share.
Heck, even if you’re not in prison I’ll come up there and see ya, I’ve always wanted to see a polar bear. Okay, enough teasing…