swedenusa

The president discusses income taxes in his weekly radio adress. Click on the seal for a portion of the speech.

“You think you know who you are. You have no idea.”

It got the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Motion Picture (the mother of all awards). I must say, rightly so. Crash is not the everyday Hollywood production movie with everything predicatble in it. It’s a collection of life stories masterfully weaved together in this close to 2 hour long movie. This movie takes a critical look at society and how prejudice and unjustice is something that we all carry and how it effect us all, wether we want to see it or not.

It is rated R in the US for language, sexual content, and some violence. In Sweden it’s rated 7-year olds may see it with guardian, though I might say 11-13 might be more appropriate because a child would just not understand the depth of this movie.

I saw this movie in the US while it was still playing in the theatres and I just watched it again this week at work with the clients. It’s a very thought-provoking movie.

On Sunday we decided to get out. The sun was shining and we were inspired to be in nature. Our first thought was to bring our own “fika.” Being a Swede we can’t just go somewhere without having “fika”! So we finally decided to go to Taberg. Taberg is actually a little suburb south of Jönköping but it gets its name from the hill “Taberg.” The hill is a nature preserve with great walkpaths for shorter hikes through the forest up and down the steep hill. On top of the hill there is a “cabin” or rather a restaurant with great “fika.” Coffee and icecream for me! Very nice. The whole family sat in the corner of the room with all the windows that way we could see the great view from several directions around the table.

Every year they have old cars drive up and the owners “parade” them. I haven’t seen it but on the picture to the left, it looks rather nice!

On Saturday, I went with my brother to Filipstad. It’s a small little town but it’s also beautiful. My brother had a seminar about Jehovas Witnesses and the Watch Tower. If you want to hear it you can go to his webpage www.besked.se. Of course it’s in Swedish! Andy did a great job explaining the organization, what it teaches, but most of all how the individuals in the organization are doing mentally and psychologically. It was respectful, humble, yet truthful and with an intellegent edge.

I spent most of the weekend typing away on my school paper. I’m getting close to done, which is always a plus!  

Nothing is as beautiful as the spring in Sweden. The blue sky, the warm sun, the cool wind. Most of all… the flowers. They are everywhere. Cute little spring flowers in every park, on all the lawns and on the side of the roads. Bursts of green is shining through. Not too much on the trees yet, but the grass is getting green. People start to feel like they have more energy. It’s not dark in the mornings when I leave to go to catch my train. It’s still light out when I leave from work on my late Wednesdays. Taking the dog out for a walk is a pleasure!

It’s getting warmer. We don’t have any snow. It’s still cool and a spring jacket is a must. In the mornings you probably would like to keep a warmer sweater underneath the jacket.

I love it. Spring is here. I just hope we get to enjoy it for a while before it gets too warm!

When I was in Sweden last time, Emanuel was telling me about this song and I stumbled upon it today…so here is the video Emanuel…Enjoy.

Wish I could be there to celebrate your birthday!

Easter is a rather large holiday in Sweden. Good Friday or Long Friday as we call it in Sweden (it was the day our Lord suffered - long day of suffering) as well as the day after easter day are considered holidays. Most everyone have those days off from work. Easter starts with “blue Monday.” I’m not sure why we call it that. It continues on “Pink Thursday”, “Long Friday,” Easter Eve, Easter Day, and ”The day after Easter Day.”

Most people have brought in branches that they put in water. They are then decorated with colorful feathers, tiny little wooden chickens and hens. It’s beautiful when little green leaves starts to come forth. It’s a greeting that spring is on its way.

Traditionally, the branches were brought in for whipping the children so that they would be kind. This was done on Monday (the day after Easter Day). The children in turn would give their mothers breakfast in bed the following day. I have recently heard that it was tradition too that the bachelors in town would run around and whip the maidens who in turn would give them coffee and cookies. The following day the “favor” was returned and the maidens would whip the men. This sounds very bizarre if you ask me. I never heard of this tradition until just the other day! Supposedly it kept going until the 1900’s.

Thursday 

Thursday is when according to swedish mythology the witches flew to “Blåkulla” a hill where they gathered to meet with the devil. These myths came about around 1500 when the hunt for witches were common in most of Europe. There is no actual hill with that name but there are many theories about where it is. A prominent theory is the hill “Blue Maiden” because boats would not get close to it since it often would be storms or accidents around it.

Today it’s the day for the children of Sweden. They dress up as little old ladies or easterwitches. They make cute little easter cards and walk around the neighborhood knocking on doors, handing out cards, singing songs and in return they get easter candy. It’s also common with easterwitch/old lady decorations.

Thursday is also a day of remembarance. In the evening most churches have a “Getsemene” service. It’s held in the evening and the light is turned down low. There might mostly be candle light. The service is mostly prayer and maybe communion.

Friday 

Friday is mostly quiet. There are usually a service then too, maybe even communion then as well. As a child I mostly remember it as a long day of waiting. All the stores are closed. Kids are waiting for the day when we can eat lots and lots of candy.

Saturday & Sunday 

This is the holiday of celebration. It’s when God restored us. It’s when we through Christ’s sacrifies can have a close personal relationship with God. It’s a celebration of hope of Jesus’ return. God showed his love for us through his own death, and resurrection.

In Sweden, we celebrate with food… The grocery stores sell the most during this holiday and Thursday is the single most busy day for grocery stores. We actually eat more than during Christmas. I heard on the news today that we consume about 6 million eggs an hour in Sweden. Remember we are just 9 million people total! Even though, Sunday is the day Jesus rose again, we celebrate on Saturday.

It’s also the holiday of candy! Candy happen to be extra cheap as well. Sales everywhere. We put the candy in little eggs and everyone gets one. We got one at work from our boss and it had about 2 pounds of candy in it. We had already bought a bunch and put in little eggs one for each client. Needless to say… I’ve eaten a lot of candy!

 The Nicene Creed:

We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen. 

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,
the only Son of God,
eternally begotten of the Father,
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
of one Being with the Father.
Through him all things were made.
For us and for our salvation
he came down from heaven:
by the power of the Holy Spirit
he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary,
and was made man.
For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered death and was buried.
On the third day he rose again
in accordance with the Scriptures;
he ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead,
and his kingdom will have no end. 

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son.
With the Father and the Son he is worshiped and glorified.
He has spoken through the Prophets.
We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.
We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.
We look for the resurrection of the dead,
and the life of the world to come. Amen. 

 Yes, I did it! I finally got the result of my take-home-exam. It consisted of 3 questions. I was allowed no more than 1500 words per answer so all in all about 4500 words or about 7 pages. Each answer was worth up to 7 points or 21 points total.

I wrote out my answers in reverse. The 3rd question first and I got 5 points on that, the 2 questions next (all about psych-theories, my specialty!) and I got 7 points! Whoohoo. Well the first question… not so good. To my defense, I didn’t have all the litterature and so I only got 2 points. Who cares! I passed! You need 11 points to pass and I had 14! I’m very happy!

I am so excited that Sam will be here soon. He already purchased tickets and put in his 2 week notice. He’ll be visiting his fam out in Montana for a couple of weeks before coming to Sweden. We will be moving into our new apartment together once he arrives!

This week I’m focused on writing my research report or 10-page paper for school. I have the week to myself since my brother and his family is on vacation. It’s probably best to try to get it done before Sam gets here. Once he is here we will be running around all over town getting to know the city and setting up our new home. So… this weekend I have to type, study, type, and type some more.

With that, I’ll wish everyone a Happy Easter!

Jon Stewart on House majority leader Tom DeLay’s resignation:

“Was it because of a money laundering charge stemming from a redistricting scheme he engineered? Or perhaps it was his close ties to lobbyist and convicted felon Jack Abramoff? Or perhaps it was the time he beat up Fonzie — and stole his hair…”

I put in my 2 weeks notice at work and bought a ticket to Sweden for May 5th. I am coming over Mirjam! This weekend I went to Camp Lebanon with my church-It was a blast! A great way to say goodbye and spend quality time with everyone. I am going to Montana to be with my family at the end of the month. Here are some pics of us camping…