It’s December 13 today and for all Swedes this day is known as Lucia Day. Lucia is a creature of goodness and light, she is a shining angel illuminating the way to the Christmas season.

The Lucia celebration originates from the Middle Ages when December 13th was the longest night of the year according to the Julian calendar. The Swedish Lucia has little in common with her namesake, also known in English as Saint Lucy, the Sicilian fourth century martyr. Missionaries brought the legend to Sweden and since the Vikings celebrated their pagan midwinter festival on December 13, the Lucia legend merged with this festival of light.

Me and my siblings at Lucia back in 1987 or something like that
(I’m sure you’re both happy I posted this in the blog).

Read more

If you’re in Sweden I’m sure you haven’t missed the news about the suicide bombing in Stockholm this Saturday, the first in Swedish history. A man, belived to come from Tranås just outside Jönköping, first blew up his car and then himself on a street close to one of the busiest shopping streets in Stockholm, Drottninggatan The two blasts occured 200 meter from eachother and injured two people and killed one (the bomber).

The first man on the scene said “It looked like the man was carrying something that exploded on his stomach. He didn’t have any injuries to his face or his body and the stores nearby weren’t damaged. All the windows were whole.“

Approximately ten minutes before the explosions occurred, Swedish news agency TT received an email, also addressed to Säpo (the Swedish Secret Service), in which a man (most likely the bomber himself) reached out to “Sweden and the Swedish people”. He cites Sweden’s silence surrounding the cartoons by Swedish artist Lars Vilks which portray the prophet Mohammed as a dog, and the Swedish troops in Afghanistan, saying in audio files attached to the email that “now your children, daughters and sisters die like our brothers’ and sisters’ children die”.

“Our actions will speak for themselves. As long as you don’t stop your war against Islam, the degrading of the prophet and your stupid support of that pig Vilks,” the man said. He also urges all Mujahideen (muslim fighters) in Europe and Sweden to take action. “Now it’s time to act, don’t wait any longer. Fear no one, don’t fear prison, don’t fear death.”

It seems like the suicide bomber failed to hit his target, given that he blew himself up on a side street to Drottninggatan and not on the busy shopping street itself. I can only imagine the damage he might have caused if he succeded. Also it doesn’t seem like something he planned on his own which is scary since their might be more attacks coming.

Sedan 2006 delar nyhetsmagasinet Fokus ut utmärkelsen Årets Svensk och i år går utmärkelsen till Robyn med motiveringen:

Grattis Robyn, du är helt klart värd det. Me likie!

---

Swede Of The Year has been awarded by the weekly news magazine Fokus since 2006 and an unanimous jury has decided this year’s award goes to pop star Robin Carlsson a.k.a Robyn with the following motivation.

“In her ways and with her conscious artistry she has proven that it is possible to reach the highest levels of popular music without being shallow. By releasing her records on her own label she demonstrates great entrepreneurship, which also enables her to have complete control over her creative process. In all her characteristics she is a role model to both young girls, boys as well as to men and women.”

Robyn proves we don’t have to follow along with what other people expect for us, but that we can achieve things the way we want to.

Omöjligt tänker du, men det finns faktiskt sådana. Hittade riktigt stilrena klösbrädor från Tysklandsbaserade Cat-on och någon av dem skulle gärna få flytta hem till oss. Dock är de gjord i wellpapp, vilket jag iofs tror Nova skulle älska eftersom hon hoppar i varje pappkasse och kartong som det ges tillfälle till och gärna käkar lite på dessa också. Men frågan är hur länge de håller, de var inte jättebilliga så man vill ju helst inte att de slits ut för fort.

Bilder lånade från Cat-on

My sister gave me a tip the other day about a site called NyanländiSverige.se. The site is intended for those who just have arrived in Sweden and contains information about the Swedish society.

Saw an article in Aftonbladet (a Swedish tabloid newspaper) yesterday about a little Norwegian girl that got stuck when she was licking on a pole. Her dad had to scrape her tongue loose with his nail and it ripped. Ouch, sounds really painful! Lesson learned the hard way!

Experts state that the best way to get loose if this ever happens to you is to pee on the tongue. I’m glad we have experts on the subject.

Today on December 10 it’s what we refer to as Nobel Day. The day is celebrated annually and on this day the Nobel Prize is handed out. The Nobel Prize has been awarded to people and organizations every year since 1901 (with a few exceptions such as during World War II) for achievements in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature and peace and it’s considered the most prestigious award in the world. Read more