Corona has hit Scandinavia and Iceland hard. We have so many sick people, but fortunately “only” two who have died so far; one in Sweden and one in Norway. Norway has 933 people sick, Sweden 813, Denmark 801, Iceland 117 (which is a huge number for a country of only 350,000 people) and Finland 144. …
Sweden
Hair candles? Singing about an Italian saint? Lusekatter? It’s Lucia Day in Scandinavia today. Every year on December the 13th you’ll see thousands of Scandinavian children (and adults) with white dresses and candles in their hair, singing the Lucia song in schools, kindergartens, and workplaces. This is in memory of Lucia of Syracusa who suffered …
Which Scandinavian winners of the Eurovision Song Contest do you remember? Bobbysocks? Olsen Brothers? Surely, you remember ABBA? Denmark and Norway have chosen the winners of this year’s national Eurovision song contests and Sweden will pick theirs next Saturday. I figured I would celebrate this by looking back at all the Scandinavian winners of the …
Is Scandinavian politics just about free education, free healthcare, long maternity/paternity leave and high taxes to pay for all of this? Lately many non-Scandinavians have pointed to Scandinavia–either as a political system to copy or something to scare people with … because, you know, socialism. So are the Scandinavian Social Democracies (we do not call them …
I wanted to make a list of the best contemporary Scandinavian music but quickly realized that I hadn’t been paying attention. Luckily, I have a daughter who spends quite a few hours every day listening to music and luckily she doesn’t mind teaching her stone age-based mother a thing or two about what I should …
There are plenty of ways to die here in Scandinavia. Most of them are the same ways people die in other countries but the Scandinavian edition of Mother Nature does have something special in store for those of us living in – or visiting – this cold corner of the world. Warning: Do not read this …
After 6-10 months of snow, sleet and rain, something strange makes Scandinavians stare at the sky. A big yellow ball not only brightens up the day (and night) – it sends heat to our cold corner of the world. So what do we do when we’re no longer the place where the sun doesn’t shine? 1, …
200 years ago today was the last time a Nordic country was at war with another Nordic country. That calls for a celebration! Foreningen Norden (an organization to promote Nordic cooperation) celebrated this event by posting this picture on their Facebook page: Are you familiar with all the flags?
Coming to Scandinavia to go to school or study may be a great way to get under the skin of Scandinavia and Scandinavians. If you’re from outside the EU, it’s easier to get a student visa than a work permit or a residence visa but the main advantage of coming here to study is that …
When I was a kid in Denmark my grandfather told me this joke (he told it to me around 100 times since this was his favorite joke): A Swede asked a taxi driver to find him a place that was ‘rolig’. The taxi driver took him to the nearest cemetery. Now, this joke may not …