When my friend Josh and I first moved here in the fall of 2007, we did not know the first thing about Sweden. For example, we didn’t know that everyone knew how to speak English, and that they knew it quite well.
Ahhhhh… the Christmas season. There is fresh snow on the ground, the air is fresh and crisp, and the wonderful smell of firewood burning in the fireplace lingers outside. (By the way, that’s one of my favorite “smells” of this season!) How best to celebrate this cozy season than with glögg, the Swedish version of mulled wine? I was introduced to glögg my first year in Stockholm and have since thrown a glögg party every year, just like any truly Swedish person would do.
I’ve done it. I’ve gone on the Finland cruise and survived. It was a #TrulySwedish experience, that’s for sure!
If you read my other post, then you would remember that Josh and Kellee were going on the cruise yesterday. I left out a key fact that I and some other of Josh’s friends would also be going. I left this out because it was meant to be a surprise for Josh, and who knows if he was going to read my blog post (he didn’t). Anyway, I’m back and this is what I found.
In Stockholm, there is a truly Swedish activity that everyone makes fun of – taking the ferry overnight to Finland. Also known as the booze cruise, it’s an opportunity for the lone cougar to attack her young 25 year-old prey, or for the young male cub to pounce on a more mature tigress. The possibilities are endless. They’ve even done a reality TV show on the cruise. Yep, this is the Tallink/Silja Line ferry to Finland.
Box wine in the US is reserved for tacky afternoon picnics where you need a convenient and cheap way to transport alcohol. The wine is often bland and is almost a guaranteed way of getting a headache.
But that’s not the case here, is it? I see many of you smiling with recognition. Continue reading
Swedes are ever loyal to their pocket calendars. These little brown things that they throw in their purses or their laptop bags with the week numbers clearly labeled. Some calendars even have little perforated tear-sheets where you can dog-ear which week you’re in, making it easy to simply flip right back to it. I have seen people go into a mad panic when they lose their calendars.
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