Homework time challenges both of us!

It has now been almost 2 months since Makaila started school and quite a few people are keen to follow her schooling. Friends, family and people in my greater network are curious not only about a Waldorf education, but about schooling in Sweden in general.

Before I go any further I can say she is loving every minute of it so far, both the school part and at the after-school-care. And her teacher tells me she is not the shy, reserved child that many of us knew a couple of years ago, but one who is active both in the class room and out of it. She is truly blossoming.

Even though I had planned to keep people updated and informed through the blog I haven't really felt able to compile my thoughts and observations into a single post and my girl is not the kind to come home and volunteer lots of information about her education - its more the blood out of stone style of communication!!

People at school seem to think there is a big difference between Waldorf education and mainstream Swedish school, not something I can respond to never having gone to school here. There are however plenty of similarities it seems, and I notice how different vastly different this school is to my experience - a lot of which has to do with the Swedish culture as much as the methodology. But I already touched on that in my last school post.

Her school day is a pretty short one, starting at 8.15 and ending at 12.40 (yes that's just after noon!) and in those few hours they seem to have quite a bit of break time - not quite like the long 9-3 days I knew as a kid. Lunch is as early at 10.15am and is eaten in the main cafeteria. They are served a hot meal each day and have a choice of two dishes plus salad. The big difference from daycare, apart from the choice, is the lack of dessert. Gone are the days of Klara's apple pie and all the other treats whipped up for the little ones. While on the subject of food I can also mention that they get a second lunch at about 1pm, once they get to after-school-care. While the "snack" there is not a hot meal it is substantial enough to sustain them until later in the afternoon.

Each Tuesday the homework books get handed out and in our weekly email the parents are also informed as to what the task is. Over the last few weeks they have been working on the letters of the alphabet, a couple each week and the homework is often to draw something starting with the letter they have been working on.


Going from what my girl has described the letters are taught in a way that gives as much feeling as possible to the letter. During our recent parent-teacher meeting we saw a beautiful bear's profile drawn on the board in the shape of a B. Wish I'd taken a photo of that to show you. Another letter that easily mimics an animal is an S. While snake is orm in Swedish, a snok is a common type of snake, so the Sammy snake concept still works. And so on, and so on. The idea is to involve all the senses, and both halves of the brain. Although Ty's teaching colleagues tell him that this is a pretty standard way to teach the alphabet in Swedish these days.


And those of you from the non-Swedish world might wonder if an almost 7 year old already knows her alphabet and the answer is YES, in English. Makaila is learning her alphabet all over again, this time in Swedish. And somehow its all different too. She also seems so much more eager to learn. I imagine the combination of learning in a group, longing to be able to read, and the methodology make it so much more tangible than the workbooks I have put before her over the years.

This week's homework is to practise writing the letters that have worked on so far - A, B, D, F, M, O, S, U and Ö as well as to try and use them to form words. She sat at the kitchen table tonight vigilantly working away while I cooked dinner.

The alphabet tree that Mormor gave her when she was little is now more useful than ever. It helped her visualise the letters while practising saying the alphabet in Swedish, and reminded her how to write them. Mind you she was careful not to press any letters, hear the spounds in English and completely confuse her brain.

Supporting a child with their homework is not always an easy task, something any parent knows, especially those with children much older than mine. Supporting a child in a language other than your own makes it all the more challenging and already I feel challenged, despite my fluency in Swedish. I looked at those letters and the only words that came to me were English ones. Dad, mad, sad, mum and bum just don't cut it as Swedish words! This is a concern Ty expressed long before Makaila started school and I didn't expect to feel the pinch as early as this. Saying that we did manage together to come up with quite a few words, it just took us some time.

Will be interesting to see what more challenges lie ahead of us!

Summer in Sweden

If I had a dollar for every time a Swede said that Sweden is beautiful in the summer I would be a rich woman. But it is true enough, it is a fantastic place to be on a summer's day.

We got an SMS at about 9.45 this morning - meet us at the beach - so we jumped out of bed and on to our bikes and headed to the water.

The Beach - Swedish style. Trees and grass all the way down (except for the odd sandy section) to the fresh water - I like it! Today was our first real hang-out-at-the-beach-for-hours day this summer and the kids, although still very tired from their jet-lag, loved it.


The boys (the big ones) hung out in the shade and talked. The girls and the kids swam and lapped up the sun. I don't feel like it is summer unless I get to swim and today I got my chance.
The littlest of the girls just hung between naps with whoever would hold her and was very content doing so.
Then we rode home again - we rode a total of 17.77km - that is 11 miles for the Canadians!! Not bad for a six year old.
It was all made possible by our latest contraption - a tow-bar which hooks our bikes together, lifts her front wheel and locks in her steering. It took us hours to put the thing on yesterday (literally) so we were thrilled to get out and use it today. She loved being big enough to ride with us, to be able to keep up with us and yet rest and enjoy the ride when she needed to. It is fun to see what a buzz she gets from being so independent (yet not) - no more sitting on the back for her and we can go for real bike rides with her in tow!! Yippee!!

Let's hope summer hangs around for another few weeks yet.

June is for the students

Those of us from places far away, or at least from the other side of the Swedish border are generally amazed by the truckloads of graduation high school students driving around the streets singing, shouting and honking their pleasure. With music blasting from speakers, champagne, wine and beer flowing and birch branches decorating the truck, these youth embrace their coming of age, the boys in their suits and the girls in their skimpy white dresses.


June is much like the November I remember as a student - a mixture of final exams and papers to be submitted, interwoven with sunshine, parties, outings and celebration. A cruel kind of mix - especially after a long Swedish winter. Who can sit inside and study when the sun is shining so warmly? Still, they manage to get through it with the end of school looming in the distance, the carrot is the summer holidays that await.

For those in the younger years June is so much more than classes and I found that many of the classes I should have been teaching were cancelled to make way for the school play, swimming lessons and school trips.

From the end of May until the second week of June we see a string of student graduations and school-breakups, starting with the year 12s. By the second week of June school is officially out and everyone is done with their break-up parties, concerts and speeches, just in time for Midsommar. This year as they days and truck-loads of students rolled down I couldn't help but feel for them as they rain poured down on them, day after day.

Even our own day-care break-up was drenched in rain requiring the execution of plan B - the inside picnic. The plan and the history is that the 6 year olds lead the procession from daycare, through the park to where the parents await with a big picnic. Four days of rain put an end to that and the last minute plan meant that the procession went from one end of daycare to the other where the parents awaited,
all crammed into a couple of tiny rooms.
An anti-climax but what can you do? Summer in Sweden!! The kids didn't seem too perturbed by it, even if it meant they couldn't run around on the grass like they usually do.My own graduation girl had her last day of daycare, school and Grade 1 await in August and she can hardly wait.

Den blomstertid nu kommer or The summer days of beauty are here.

www.liveinsweden.se

Apologies for my quietness..... www.liveinsweden.se is my focus and I am trying to fill it with content just as fast as I can, so I can open it to the public by the end of the month, or so....

Juggling that and my work that actually brings in the pennies leaves me with nothing but thoughts of what I could be writing about.

My writing will be very sporadic, so until my next post, enjoy the blossom, the lime green of the new leaves and all the other joys of spring.

On the weekend my darling children did just that - they played in this forest under our balcony for a couple of hours until the rain finally brought them in. They sat on a big bolder talking and fishing into an imaginary lake, with a roof of blossom and new growth over their heads.

Hope you too are enjoying all the simple pleasures in life, the seasons, the long days, the sun and the rain. It is spring - a time of beginnings.

Twitter and Business In Sweden

I wrote a little while ago about Twitter and ever since I became a Twitter groupy and spoken positively about it. It's kind of like when everyone joined Facebook. Friends and family in Canada nagged and I said "yeah, yeah, yeah" until I joined, not only Facebook but the nagging committee too.

And I have to say I still speak positively about Facebook - it has put me in regular contact with some people who were and are very dear to me. It has had a huge value in my life but ultimately I see it as a part of my personal sphere - even if there are some great company sites I still tend to keep it fairly private.

Twitter on the other hand offers entrepreneurs, organisations, companies, students, researchers etc etc a fantastic opportunity to have a voice in big wide world - at least on the world wide web. And there is a ton of material out there telling us why Twitter is good for business - Google it yourself!What is interesting to see is how Swedish companies are getting into Twitter and through Twitter this morning I found this blog listing the who's who of Twitter profiles. I'm sure the list of small business/entrepreneur profiles would be oh so much longer...

But you know when the big guys get into the groove it just might be worth looking at. It offers enormous potential to communicate with those who want to be kept in the loop - your open hours, your service updates, product updates, immediate problems or opportunities, what you need or what you can offer. I suspect it just might overtake our B2B and B2C communication. Check it out!

Frog Season is upon us in Sweden

Spring is here in all its glory, and so are the frogs. A warning was just released from Stockholm City Council that it is now that frogs, toads and salamanders are in the process of migrating, especially on warm, damp nights and that we need to watch out for them while driving.

At this time of year there are countless amphibians on the move from their winter hibernation in forests and gardens, to their summer residences in lakes, ponds and streams. They are particularly vulnerable crossing roads where they fall victim to traffic, bicycles, pedestrians and even curbs that are too high to climb.

In greater Stockholm there is plenty of water for our amphibian friends and they can easily be spotted crossing the road, especially around Spångavägen in Bromma, around the Kyrksjön (lake) and Kyrksjölöten (nature reserve), as well as around Gubbkärrsvägen near lake Judarn and on the roads around Långsjön on the border between Stockholm and Huddinge in the south. Other vulnerable areas include Järvafältet, Isbladskärret on Southern Djurgården and the forrested area of Solbergaskogen.

Want to help? You can join FrogFriends by donating either time or money. It is one of the many frog groups around the country.

And if you see a friend on the road - gently pick it up and carry it to the side, or better still, down to the water. You should be very gently with these delicate creatures, have gloves on (for their sake not yours) and/or put them in a bucket to transport them. That's just what we did with this sleepy little guy we found over Easter.


And last of all, take photos and report your observations to Stockholm's species catalogue.

Swedish Education Debate Heating Up

While I read about the latest proposals today (and welcome them) I have unfortunately not had a chance to write and will have to leave you to listen to Radio Sweden's English coverage of the debate.

I've expressed my opinions in the past with these blogpost 1 & blogpost 2 and while I welcome these proposals I am skeptical about whether or not they will ever be used given the competition for students.

The opposition to the proposal is about as predictable as the sun rising in the sky each day (be it behind clouds or in full view) but it is refreshing to hear that the Teachers' Union gives it the thumbs up. Hopefully it will spark a full blown debate about the discipline and disturbance issues faced by both students and pupils.

SvD1, SvD2, DN, The Local

Easter in Sweden

Easter lillies (as they are called in Swedish) have their name for a good reason.
I love Easter in Sweden - it is so symbolic of spring and regeneration.Click here to listen to Radio Sweden's coverage of all the Swedish Easter traditions.

Holy or Maundy Thursday is Skärtorsdag in Swedish

And Skärtorsdag literally means pink Thursday (not too sure about that one).

According to folk law today is the day the Witches flew to Blåkulla to consort with the devil. This resulted in all sorts of activities to make their journey more difficult, such as hiding broomsticks and rakes so the witches could not fly on them, painting crosses on their front doors and lighting the odd bonfire to scare them away.

These days the tradition is for kids to dress up as Easter witches, with scarves on their heads, brightly colored clothing, rosy cheeks and painted on freckles. The go from door to door in their neighborhood handing out hand-made Easter cards and wish their neighbors Happy Easter.
We had a little Easter witch knock on our door this morning, only to return a few minutes later to collect her friend. Once the two of them announced they were heading off their brothers wanted to join them and it wasn't too long before they all headed off.

30 minutes later they had handed out all their cards and had 2 baskets filled with candy, chocolate, sultanas, chips & apples!

But they are so cute, how could anyone refuse them?

The Australian-Swedish abduction case an embarrassment for the Swedish police?

Melbourne dad finds kidnapped sons and shows up Swedish cops

Interesting and scary to read some of the responses to this story on the expat forums around the place...... The Swedish authorities have not gained a whole lot of credibility from this case.

Who cares enough to help look for Thor Danielsson Wang?

On the 14th of February 2009 a Swedish child Thor Danielsson Wang, just one year old, disapeared during a visitation with his father Yen-Cheng (Andrew) Wang in California, USA. Chances are the father has already left the country with the child, to Taiwan or Argentina.

His mother Mia Danielsson has sole custody and they are both registered as living in Sweden. Seven weeks have now passed and Thor's case seems to have fallen between the cracks, nothing is being done.

The American authorities say that it is the Swedish authorities responsibility to assist their own citizens. The Swedish authorities (UD) say it is not their problem.

Consequently an online petition has been set up demanding the Swedish Foreign Affairs Department (UD) act on the matter of Thor's disappearance and that the Swedish police become involved in the case. The signers of the petition do not accept that our Swedish citizens should find themselves helpless and without rights when in another country. Help is needed immediately to find this little boy so he can be reunited with his mother.

The petition is in Swedish but the above text gives a general translation. If you want to sign the petition and put pressure on the Swedish government and police to act, write your name in the left box, and the place you live in in the right box. The tick, or checked box means your name will be visable on the list, Skriv under means sign.

Why is this important? Apart from the fact that it is yet another case of child abduction, which is terribly traumatic for the child/ren, it is a matter of responsibility. We live in an international community, we move around and might be somewhere else for months at a time. But we still need to know someone will come to our aid in times of trouble. It is not enough to stand back and say - well it didn't happen here, they were out of the country at the time, not our problem.

Sign here.

The Southern Cross Club, The Canadian Club and other expat communitites

We went to Djurgården today for an Easter egg hunt put on by the Canadian Club for the kids. I saw the event last year and thought about going so when it came around again this year I had already decided and was not going to be deterred by the drizzle this morning!I set off with the kids and Ty - who complained about having to go out but dutifully followed along. He didn't ask any questions until we were almost there, and I was glad, I knew what the reaction would be.

When I first moved to Sweden I knew I would only be here for a set period of time - 15 months. In that time I had no desires to meet other Australians - that was not what I was coming to Sweden for. And rightly so I met plenty of Swedes, but no other Aussies.

When I moved back here in the mid 90s I knew I would be here for a few years, and I didn't feel quite as willing to absorb myself in the Swedish culture at the expense of my own. Consequently I started the Southern Cross Club - Servicing Aussies in Stockholm, which later opened up to the New Zealanders too. I still had a number of Swedish friends but became active in building an Australian community. It was a great time, we had a lot of fun and I made many life long friends, the type of friends you make not just because you happen to be the same nationality living in some faraway place, but the type of friends you would choose at home too.

That's part of what happens in these international communities - you have one thing in common - your nationality. You have the same frames of reference, watched the same stuff on tv as a kid, listened to the same music as a teen, your mum cooked the same type of food for the family, you went to the same type of school, you often know or can at least relate to where the others come from, if you don't know it well you might have been there or know someone who lives there, generally you a product of the same sort of culture. You can laugh at each other's stories, you understand each other's humor - you are a product of the same culture, pretty much. While the social aspect might be nice for a while, ultimately there needs to be more than the fabric of our culture that binds us together.

Since the SCC disbanded a few years ago I have met a several Aussies that have been here for many years yet never came in contact with the club. They had no need, no desire, no interest. There are those who say they have never had to go out looking for friends, those who say they never had time, those that had no interest in socialising or networking with their countrymen. I also met many both through the club and independently who lived a very Swedish life until one day they reached a point where they started yearning for their countrymen, for their roots. It was then that they went in search of a club.

That time often comes with children and wanting your young ones to have a balanced cultural upbringing. It is no longer either politically correct or accepted as the right thing to do - to absorb children in one language, one culture. These days it is generally accepted and understood that our language and traditions are a part of who we are, that we want to pass them on to our children and that it is enriching to do so.

While many say they don't have time for new friends, I love to get out and meet new people. And when you go to these events, with your countrymen, it is freaky, but fun, to meet someone who was born in the same hospital, someone who was also standing on the banks of that same river during the Millennium, someone who has mutual friends, someone who has had similar experiences since moving to Sweden, someone who also has a three-nationality family. And all the time I thought I was the only one.......

I really miss the Southern Cross Club, especially now I have children. Luckily I am still surrounded by plenty of great Aussie friends so my kids get their fare share of the culture, the humor, the warmth. Today was a nice chance to give them a little taste of Canadian culture - well as much as you can get racing around on the grounds of Rosendal's Palace with other Canadian-Swedish kids.It is great that there is someone organising events, things that the kids think are fun and that give the family an outing, events that create both variety and tradition. Going to events like this where you don't know people and you mix around anyway is one of the things that makes life here in Sweden feel more normal than it does otherwise. And one of the important things the kids learn from this is to mix with kids they don't know, something they don't get a whole lot of in everyday life. Its good for their social skills.

Yey for the Canadian Club of Sweden! - and aren't we lucky to have three countries to choose from? We are also lucky to live in a city where there is a whole range of clubs. Wouldn't it be cool if someone did a register of who lives where around the country so you could find other expats when looking for fun things to do throughout the year......

Spring is finally here for the start of the school holidays

No parent loves that time between winter and spring, real spring.

The snow melts and creates puddles everywhere (that the kids love to play in - along with damp sandpits), they come in with wet, muddy boots leaving a trail of dirt, water and sand behind them. Their outside clothes need to be hung somewhere to dry (great if you live in an apartment!!) and inevitably the sand from daycare and the gravel from the paths manages to find its way into your home, which then needs to be vacumed or at least swept everyday to stop it from being spread around the entire home.
Swedish kids are pretty well decked out when it comes to wet-weather clothes, that's because they tend to be outside everyday, rain, hail or shine. And they love it - kids love playing in the rain and the puddles if they are allowed, and Swedish kids are allowed. If they weren't there's a chance they wouldn't go out for weeks on end......
But it sure is nice when things dry out a bit and the roads and paths are swept of gravel, it is suddenly so much easier to keep the place clean.Yippppeeeee!! Spring is finally here, for now. And its a good thing too, as the school holidays, or the spring break starts today. I think we can safely put the snow gear away, even if not the wet weather gear.

Swedish-Australian kidnapped kids found

A Swedish mother accused of kidnapping her children and stopping them from returning to Australia and their father has been arrested.

I wrote about the case back when they disappeared in November, the whole international custody issue and kidnapping makes me feel ill.......

Parents need to know that in the event of separation - the children stay in their country of residence - unless the parents can come to some other agreement - which rarely happens.

news24, GP, aftonbladet

Podcasts In Stockholm's Underground Railway

Since some time in March carriages on the green line in Stockholm's subway have been decked out with podcast boxes.

I didn't think that much about it when i stepped on to the train last week, except that I noted it was one of the new trains with advertising on the outside. But getting on the train it was apparent that this was no ordinary carriage and there was an overwhelming feeling of red. Every single advertising opportunity in the carriage was taken by SR's new podcast posters.

Under every second or so window there was a box and the poster above the window told you what podcast was available - just insert your headphones, press the reset button and listen to the podcast available from that particular box.

Both a cool idea and a clever marketing concept. You can download other Swedish podcasts from SR's website, including a range of podcasts available in English.

Why sit and stare at the wall, the paper or out the window when you are on your way somewhere when you can listen, learn and be entertained? It makes perfect sense to me - now I will just have to remember to throw in my earphones.

Spring Depression affects many

I looked at the clock tonight at 7pm and thought Wow, things change quickly! Its not just because we changed to summer time, or daylight savings a few days ago but because the days are now quickly becoming longer and longer - we're gaining 5 minutes a day, that is 35 minutes a week! You sure do notice that from one week to the next.

While you would think that we would be thrilled to have the light back after a looooonnnnngggg winter (winter in Sweden is always long) it seems the light sets off winter depression in something like 3-5% of the population. As many as one in five feel mild symptoms of spring depression or at least spring tiredness.

Depression is a word that gets thrown around a lot in this country and I'm not sure if it is because there is good reason for it, or if the whole things becomes a bit exaggerated and self-fulfilling. A friend of mine has always talked about her spring depression and it is only as I write this I begin to think about my own reaction. Most years I have managed to escape to Australia during the winter but I have noticed that the years I don't go, I have run out of energy come February. I have felt flat, tired and well, worn out. Spring depression perhaps?

A recent article in SvD suggests that the best way to cure, or at least ward off spring depression, is not through medication but through light. While daily exercise is generally considered the best cure for mild depression, daily light is best in the spring and I know a combination of the two has cured my friend. Once upon a time we would have withdrawn in the darker part of the year and not been our or performed as much. While that is no longer the case we still need to allow our body clocks some time to make the change, and accept that feeling a little flat or down is all part of our cyclical rhythms.

So if you too are feeling like your battery has completely run out of juice the advice is - eat well, sleep well, exercise and spend 30 minutes a day outside in the light.
How about you? Are you suffering as the days get longer or loving every minute of it?

Processing the Geek Girl Meet-Up

Fantastic to see how much Swedish publicity there has been since this event, with coverage from SvD both before and after (here, here and here), Aftonbladet, MedieVärlden and VeckoRevyn.

As I posted earlier, the day started with registration at 9.30am and as usual when I attend meetings, seminars and the likes I did not know a soul - the GGM was no different either. I have to confess I was a little star struck throughout the day, to think that I was mixing with girls that had attended the very exclusive (in my books) 24-hour-business-camp and I recognised some of the names and the projects discussed throughout the day.

The meet-up was opened by the three instigators Andie Nordgren, Heidi Harman och Mengmeng Du with Beata Wickbom as moderator.


Beata is by far the best moderator I have seen here in Sweden - her style was sharp, to the point and extremely productive. She encouraged networking to the max and gave the girls every chance to put themselves in the spot light, speeding up a process that can otherwise take eons. It kind of reminded me of the American style of the BNI meetings and each time someone in the audience made a comment or asked a question she had them up on their feet, concluding with what challenges they were facing in their work and what they were looking for.

In the lead-up to lunch she did the same thing, singling people out, asking their challenges and want they wanted, then turning to the rest of the group to ask if anyone could help with that. In minutes she had strangers making contact and then eating lunch together to discuss something of mutual interest.

It was potentially a horrifying moment for many - the sort of necessary pill that needs to be swallowed, but one that you feel all the better for having taken it. No jante law allowed here!

In the short term nothing sprang to mind, at least no immediate challenges that I thought this group could help me with, but had I had more time to think about it I could have used the moment more constructively - I will know for next time! I ended up joining others to talk to a venture capitalist - would love to have a little cash injection into my project..... or find someone to work with.

Even though it was very goal focused and we were asked even when we registered online how we would contribute, there was no doubt that the atmosphere was a friendly, relaxed one - everyone was there because they wanted to support women in the industry and be with other women from the industry. Many expressed their frustration of being in male-dominated world and were clearly thrilled at being a part of this gathering. And everyone was welcome - from students to experts. The range of women seemed to be wide, with the web being the common interest and surprisingly I didn't feel out of my league the entire day - I even got to contribute some information/tips during a couple of my conversations and send a link off to someone with something I had found (!) It seems I have gathered some knowledge in the last couple of years.

The presentations were only 30 minutes each, including question time, so things went pretty quickly. I made notes and with my laptop on my knee it was great to be able to get straight out onto the net and check out the things they were referring too. I got lots of ideas and inspiration but I think the most valuable presentation I listened to was Anna Oscarsson's use of Bambuser and how she covered the recent Pirate Bay trials. I was highly impressed by her and Bambuser and will be having a close look at it soon - as is often the case - I knew it existed but just have not had reason nor chance to find out what it is really all about. It opens up a whole lot of interesting opportunities. Watch her summary of the Geek Girl Meet-up here:



There were plenty of other presentations that I thought were great, interesting and would like to listen to again, so as to be able to better absorb them. There were also plenty of presentations that I missed and would like to have seen. Annika Linde made a live broadcast from each of the presentations although the connection was not the best so unfortunately they are not the best recordings. They are all in Swedish but you can check them out under Recent Activity on her Bambuser page. I plan to listen to what I missed! From what I understand it was a spontaneous action that was appreciated by all and I have no doubt that preparation will be made for filming at the next meet-up.

If anything was missing from this action-packed day it was time - it went so fast and there was little time to get your teeth stuck into anything and limited time to chat to the other participants. It was one of the few occasions here in Sweden where I have found it very easy to talk to people, everyone was open and approachable in a way I have not seen elsewhere. In fact I think I can safely say that the quality of this day was far superior to any of the other entrepreneur events I have attended here in Stockholm.

Most of the girls continued on and went to an afterparty in Gamla Stan - as far as I know everything from the day/evening was covered by an impressive list of sponsors. These girls have got talent - they pulled off a very informative and inspiring day, attracted all the right people and managed to get sponsors to foot the bill. That's quite an achievement. I will be much faster to sign up next time!

You can read more here: Twingly Blog Search, Flickr, Twitter (didn't manage to get my Tweets to register on there), Swedish Bloggy and Jaiku.

Summer Time or Daylight Savings Starts Tonight in Sweden

So make sure you put your clocks forward one hour - yes that's right, tonight is the night we lose one hour of sleep.
Ty and I were talking about it and whether or not tonight was actually the night. A quick look at the main news sites - DN & SvD revealled absolutely nothing and I couldn't help shake my head - is it just my imagination or is the majority or reporting done after the event??

Anyway I found this site and confirmed that indeed tonight was the night - and was pleased to see that at least SydSvenskan warned their readers.

Swedish Prince Carl Philip's own silverware on show at Svensk Tenn

Svenskt Tenn open a new exhibition tomorrow and it will include silverware designed by our very own Swedish Prince:
Setting the table The exhibition elaborates on the table-setting theme using classic, modern and other styles, with a large selection of our most beautiful products. It also shows how table settings can signal new thinking, harmony, extending the boundaries - and also awakening curiosity and bringing pleasure.

It seems that our Prince has been studying design the last couple of years, initially at Forsbergs Design School here in Stockholm, and then at the Rhode Island School of Design in the US where he apparently won a competition to develop the logo for Martha's Vineyard Museum, under a pseudonym.

The Prince has now followed in his great uncle Sigvard Bernadotte's footsteps as a designer working in silver and the silverware is the first to be launched under his own brand CPB. The production is in cooperation with MEMA/GAB, one of Europe's leading producers of handmade silverware.
The only photo I have seen of the silverware is in SvD but they do not have the article online. Good for you Carl Philip I say, but unfortunately there seems to be a lack of overall publicity for the event - in true Swedish style we will undoubtedly find out more after the opening of the exhibition. I found an article in Swedish Elle and a couple of local papers and this blog (Swedish) for those who can't get enough of royalty. Not even any info on the royal website nor a CPB website - is this another example of jante law??? Anywhere else it would be shouted from the highest rooftops!

The exhibition will be on until May 7th and the silverware will be available in store from the middle of April.

Edited to say I found this photo - click on it to see where it came from:
At the end of the blog post you will find a link to another post about the competition in the US.

Victoria's Wedding Date Announced - Book Your Hotel Rooms Now

With the Royal date of June 19 2010 being announced just a couple of days ago, hotel rooms are already starting to be booked.

It seems that many hotels have daily prices - so the price on the day the hotel is booked is the price you pay - even if the booking is for June 19th 2010.

The announcement has been made on the Royal Website, sadly the translation has not yet been made into English - you would think it would be done at the same time, considering the international value of such news.

Victoria and her Daniel will follow a long line of Bernadotte weddings on June 19 with Victoria's own parents being married on that day in 1976.

It has been interesting to follow the coverage of the Royal Family ever since the news of the engagement. The wedding has sparked debate about the relevance of royalty, who will pay for the wedding with a facebook group calling for it to come from the royal budget (not the taxpayers'), whether or not it is time for the King to abdicate and hand down the reins, whether or not she should be marrying a commoner and what public opinion's response is, the commercial value of a wedding and a royal family in terms of tourism, the effects of the wedding on public opinion and the 200th anniversary of the Bernadotte family in Sweden, discussion about his title and the equality issue - why does he become a prince but a queen becomes a queen, how the royals handle the press and the feedback on YouTube, what will his role be, as well as how he waves and how hard it will be for him to learn the ropes.

Read a comment in the media yesterday that this royal wedding does not have that much international interest and that few Europeans would probably even know we had a Crown Princess!! Classic example of Jante Lagen - and amazing that it exists even on this level. The statistics on my blog of visitors from around the world prove otherwise!

If nothing else hundreds, thousands of news articles have been produced on Victoria, Daniel and the royal family - both here in Sweden and abroad.

SvD, SvD2, DN,