Category Archives: Uncategorized

Birthday Gifts

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When I picked up my mail this morning, a package was waiting for me in the lobby. It turned out to be a slightly late birthday gift from my sister Jessica. She had sent me a really interesting book about the Romas in Europe (a topic that I feel very strongly about – I will write more about it at some point), a very pretty notebook, and two bookmarks that she had made with photos of Stockholm on one and of our summer house on the other. Tack så jättemycket min söta syster!!

(I think the idea was that she would give it to me this summer, but in the end, I never came to Sweden so I couldn’t get it.)

Join Slow Food USA!

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Apparently, Slow Food USA is having a special membership drive right now and is offering memberships for $ 25 (or of you want to donate more). If you are here in the US, check out their campaign at http://www.slowfoodusa.org/JoinTheFoodFight5 Slow Food organizes nice food events from time to time, like get together at farmers markets, hold cooking classes at restaurants, and develop school gardens. But more importantly, they support local farmers and advocate for better school lunches and more sustainable food systems among politicians. Admittedly, I have attended few of these events I joined about a year ago (I blame my intense travel schedule last year), but it is definitely an important organization so I encourage everyone to join! There is nothing so central to our health and environment as food, nor are few things so enjoyable and social!

Columbus Day

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Today is Columbus Day in the U.S. and even though not everyone is off today, this is a Government holiday, which means I am also off work today. And as during all holidays in the U.S., there are big sales all around town this weekend. I am however too busy studying these days, so no shopping for me. I will instead bring my food policy books down to Java House, my neighborhood cafe, and have breakfast in the sun. I am not sure if I am supposed to celebrate this day in any particular manner (or maybe this day is to remember everyone that was here before Columbus came and the consequences his “discovery” had on their lives and culture?), but I am definitely enjoying have the day off!

Help Needed!

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I started my Masters Program in Food Policy last week and it is incredibly interesting. I am so glad I got accepted! One of the things that they advice us to do is to ask our friends and family to send us articles and other information that they might come across on food related topics. This can be topics such as agriculture, environmental issues related to food production, food culture, and nutrition. So now I am asking you for help with this. If you read anything that you think might be of interest, please forward it to me. Thank you very much in advance!

Lunch and cappuccino – a faux pas in Italian food culture

Presents

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Maria is the only friend I have who is a royalist. Since I moved here, I have met a few other Swedes who are also for the monarchy, but other than that, I don’t really know anyone who is for our current constitution. This, however, is not representative for the Swedish population, where about 60% is for the monarchy (though the support was about 80% a decade ago), and so I think Sweden will have a King as Head of State for many more years.

But to encourage my interest for the royal family, Maria brought a Swedish gossip magazine, where I could learn about the daily lives of the royal families from all over Europe (including Greek “Prince” Nikolaos, who does not seem to have realized that Greece abolished the monarchy in 1974), and a box of the Wedding Chocolates that was made specially for the Swedish Crown Princess’ wedding this summer. The box doesn’t seem to have been the expected success since Maria got it for 80% off the original price, but the Chocolates were great! They did not convert me into a monarchist though, but maybe if I got another box…

Don’t Be A Sue!

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Yes, I have to admit that I am a bit of a Glee fan. I don’t follow the show religiously but I enjoy watching it if it is on when I am at home. With all the singing and dancing that I have done throughout my life, I especially enjoy the performances. But the show also has some great characters, like Sue! During the latest episode, they showed this add however in one of the breaks. And I agree: Don’t be a Sue!

A New Blog Provider

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No, you have not been misdirected – my blog provider has changed. Seems like MSN/Messenger finally realized that they did not provide the best services in this area, and offered all its users to transfer their blogs to WordPress instead. And fortunately, all my old posts were migrated to my new blog (though not all my photo albums as far as I can see), so most of it is still intact. This also means that from now on I am using the same provider as Carl Bildt, Sweden’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, and other important bloggers! I realize I have to do something about the layout though…

Election Time in Sweden

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It is elections in Sweden later this month. Swedish citizens (and some residents) are voting in parliamentary, regional, and municipal elections on the same day. Since I am no longer a Swedish resident, I am only allowed to vote in the parliamentary election. Non-Swedish citizens residing in a certain municipality since a few years are on the other hand allowed to vote in the local elections. (As opposed to here for example, where you have to be a U.S. citizen to vote in any election.) The reason for the rules around the local elections is of course that the largest share of people’s income taxes in Sweden goes to the municipalities, where also much of the government services are provided. And no taxation without representation!

I do believe that in a democracy, everyone has the responsibility to vote. It doesn’t mean that you cannot cast a blank ballot to show your disapproval with participating parties, but it is still important to go to the polls. However, it is difficult to know what to vote for after six years abroad and I am probably more familiar with U.S. politics by now than with the Swedish’ parties agendas. So I took a test in the Swedish newspaper SvD to see where I stand on the political spectrum. I normally dislike these tests because everyone who takes them always ends up being classified as a Folkpartist (a supporter of the People’s Party, which are increasingly becoming a populist party and whose policies I really dislike). I normally vote for the Environmental Party, who are are in the middle, but slightly to the left, but since they prior to this election have established a formal collaboration with parties even further to the left, I have been considering switching party. Now that I took the test, I was quite sure that it would place me further to the right because as an economist, I do have certain views on taxes and the market’s role in providing services that are more in line with the currently ruling non-leftist Alliance. But it seems like my environmentalist, feminist, and pacifist views out-weighted my views on taxes and charter schools, and the test concluded that my views are mostly in line with the Environmental Party. Not sure how accurate the test was though, because after the Environmental Party, apparently my views were apparently mostly in line with the Left (former Communist) Party… Anyway, next weekend, I am meeting up with a group of Swedes here, and we will go together to vote at the embassy in the House of Sweden, and after that have lunch in Georgetown. I am not sure if we will talk politics though. In Sweden it is kind of taboo to tell people what you vote for.

So Far Away And Yet Impossible to Escape

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I am not sure if anyone has noticed that I, despite being Swedish, has not mentioned the royal wedding between Swedish Crown Princess Victoria and Daniel Westling in this blog? It’s been on purpose. I am not a royalist, and even if I did think it quite sweet at first (also since they did it in the typical Swedish way, after eight years as couple and after living together for a while, and with both of them well in their 30s), it became too much in the end and I found the media circus quite ridiculous. After all, the whole system is so outdated and feels like it belongs in a museum or in history books rather than in one of the most progressive countries in the world. (I am not even going to get into what people that I meet in other countries think about it.) I was even invited to watch the wedding here with a group of Swedes, but passed because I really couldn’t be less interested. But Friday night when I was out with P and A, we started talking to a group of people next to us. As soon as one of the girls (M) heard that I was from Sweden, she told me that she had been to some kind of horseback riding camp in Colorado with Princess Victoria when they were teenagers. According to M, they didn’t know who Victoria was at the time, and it wasn’t until M saw her in a gossip magazine in Europe that she realized who Victoria was. M also told me, while sipping her wine and lighting another cigarette, that during that camp, Victoria gave her her first cigarette (a Marlborough Light). If this is true or not, I cannot say. Maybe M just wanted a royal excuse to continue smoking in the 2010s. Regardless, it seems like no matter how far away from Sweden I am, I cannot escape the Swedish royal family!

In terms of royalties, I do have a favorite princess though, and that is the one below!

 

Exhausted After A Relaxing Day

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My region had its annual end of the fiscal year picnic today and we were all invited to some sports / golf park out in Virginia. (Kind of like these country clubs that rich people hang out in and sip drinks at in TV soaps) Everyone were invited to bring their families and they had prepared BBQ and other food, and beer, ice tea, and pink lemonade. (I made myself a lovely hamburger – there are no burgers like here in the U.S.!) Then there were games like football (i.e. soccer), volleyball, and tennis. And a pool. Guess were I ended up after lunch? It was wonderful to just hang out in the sun for a few hours with the only interruption of an occasional swim. It was also nice to hang out with my colleagues in a more informal context, though I always feel a bit weird to be dressed in bikini around my colleagues. And it is strange how tired one can be after doing nothing for over half a day. I guess it was all that exercise I got from cooling off in the pool now and then….