This is what I love about living in Norway: This morning I was walking to work and passed a woman in the street. She looked familiar and I was deep in my own thoughts so I just said “hi”. She said “hi” back and gave me a smile. That was when I realized that I`d …
Sweden
Today is the national day of the Sami people who live in the north of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Hurray! Actually it`s not entirely true to say they only live in the north of these four countries. They used to have large settlements far south, at least in the Nordic countries (not so sure …
Today is the first Sunday in Advent and it`s also the 1st of December. Christmas is right around the corner and I`m sure that what`s on everyone`s mind is what Scandinavians eat for Christmas. Right? 😉 To understand the Christmas food in the three Scandinavian countries you have to know a little about the financial …
Did you ever wonder how IKEA finds name for all the furniture they sell? They have Kramfors, Imfors, Håbol, Leksvik, Hemnes, Sandnes, Roskilde, Björkudden, Kaustby, Helmer, Elmrik and many thousand more. Well, wonder no more – it has been revealed. And Denmark is considering going to war with Sweden over it (not really, of course, …
I have been contacted by more than one person wanting to date Scandinavian people or even marry one of us. My reply? Tough luck! Because Scandinavians don’t date. We hardly even have a word for it. The Scandinavian word for ‘date’ is really old-fashioned and one my grandmother might have used but probably didn’t because …
A few years ago I wrote a fanfiction called Highway to Hell about road rage on a European highway. It described how the heroine was stuck behind a truck and had the hero of the story flashing his lights to get past her, much to her annoyance. But this summer I drove 6400 kilometers in …
I went to my birth town Copenhagen this weekend and the main purpose was to see the Viking exhibition at the National Museum. If you follow this blog, you probably already know that I`m fairly interested *cough* in Vikings and seeing this exhibition was high on my list of things I wanted to do.
I love football. Not the American kind – no, I love the kind which is actually played with your feet. There`s a reason why I dedicated a fanfiction to football: Dead on the Football Field. Wednesday I had a jaw dropping experience: Swedish footballer Zlatan Ibrahimowich scored an incredible goal against England. Lean back and …
I really shouldn`t be doing a count-down of the best Scandianvian actors because I`m bound to forget someone important or I may include someone who made a bummer movie I haven`t seen. But then I really want to show off all the handsome talented actors we have here in Scandinavia – so here goes: 1, …
I`s not just one word – it`s both a noun and a verb. In Norway it`s koselig (noun) and kose (verb), in Denmark hyggelig (noun) and hygge (verb) and I believe the Swedish words for it is mysigt (noun) and mys (verb). So what is koselig/hyggelig/mysigt? What is that word that can`t be translated and …