A Swedish Treat

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As I write this, our Swedish visit is all but over and I am really quite disappointed. Sweden is a wonderful country, one that I would have liked to spend more time in. The contrast with the States could not be stronger, although the weather has been much the same as New York (grey, nothing above 10C). We have been treated particularly well by the Fredriksson's, in a manner in which our own mothers would be proud. This has been a nice change from looking after ourselves for a while. The next step, our bus tour around Europe, will be an interesting combination of the two. Anyway, this is what we have been up to over the last few days.

April 12
Today we headed up to Uppsala to meet Lisa at her university campus. We caught to train up, which was a bit interesting at times because of the language difficulties. Victoria ended up asking a young Swedish ‘emo’ kid if our stop was coming up. For you oldies, emo is new musical culture best summed up as ‘sad punks’. Except this sad punk was very nice and was carrying his cat with him.
I’ve read (and seen) that in Sweden, there are no crazy people on the streets - this is a nice change from America, where some areas appear to be ‘crazy people only’ - the craziness is evenly disturbed throughout the people ; every Swede is a little bit crazy. This pretty much sums up Sweden for me, and I like it.

So, Uppsala. My first impression was that it was cold, grey and very bleak. A bit like Palmerston North (sorry Mum but its true). As it turned out though, Uppsala is a very nice university community. We spent much of the day walking around the town, taking in the sights (pretty much one impressive Church) and the atmosphere, which was much more interesting.

As a university town, Uppsala is young, possibility hip and quite liberal. Although it is reasonably sized (6-figure population, about half students), there is a very friendly and personable atmosphere that perhaps only develops when large populations of young people are a long way from home. A feature of this community is the bike population, which must greatly outnumber the cars. Cycling is very common in Stockholm as well, with lots of cycle lanes, even cycle lane lights, but the amount of bikes in Uppsala was in another category. These were not new bikes either - most looked like they came from the 70’s. Apparently bikes are often ‘stolen’, particularly late on weekend nights, so no one bothers to buy anything nice.

At night Lisa had a dinner party for us and some uni friends, which was very nice. Lisa owns her own flat in Uppsala, which is kind of cool. I am very jealous of her situation and the Uppsala way of living in general; a young intellectual community, cycling around. I do feel that it’s something I have missed out by going to Massey Albany, oh well.

April 13

I hadn’t slept all that well, so today was a bit of a difficult day. It started with us all getting up at 7 to catch the train back to Stockholm, through various stops, of which I still remain oblivious. Today’s adventure was a boat trip out to Sandholm, a small island off Stockholm. Accidently, Stockholm itself is based on a series of islands, connected by bridges, which is pretty cool.

The weather was cold, wet and windy, the overall emphasis being on cold. The boat trip out through the islands was a bit of a blur, until I had a coffee and livened up a bit. The island community itself is fairly interesting, as at this time of the year the islands and homes appear very exposed; it is hard to imagine them as the ‘Summer houses’ which they apparently are. Nonetheless, there is something appealing about living in such isolation. I imagine that I could get a lot more work done there, away from all the distractions of civilisations Of course, once I found out that I wasn’t getting any more work done, I would eventually invent my own obstacles and these obstacles would be unlikely to be as pleasurable; I don’t think they play cricket here.

Anyway, Sandholm was much bigger and seemed like a nice place to be, although the weather continued to be terrible. Apparently the place is a sailing Mecca and the population grows massively during the summer. Today, however, it reminded me of the Scottish highlands, and did have much of the same rugged beauty.

The exertion was a good one, but I was very tired when we got back, and was very quickly to bed.

April 14

A bit of a quiet day today, did nothing much but shop, particularly at the world’s biggest IKEA (homeware) store, as described by Victoria;
“ Four stories of pure furniture heaven. Each story for a room in the house; kitchen, bedroom, lounge and general furnishing (office/laundry etc). A round building, with every possible household setup imaginable, and cheap, just the way I like it. We have nothing like it at home, not just the brand, but the style. The Swedish have a wonderful sense of design; simple, minimal, comfortable and colourful. If I was to live in one store, it would be that one. And the kids stuff is SO cute! It’s like a giant doll house for grown-ups (and Chris). I’m going to miss it. “

Like all shops, it was a bit blah for me, although the Swedish do have a great knack, and joy, for creative design; these home design stores, along with non-brand jewellery and fashion stores are everywhere.

Otherwise, we tried to go Nobel Museum, but it was closed, so we spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the very pleasant streets.

April 15

Today was a more eventful day, starting with a bloody good sleep in, which I desperately needed. We then headed into town, and accidently ran into the royal procession; it seems that they had company over. There were various ridiculous looking authority figures on the edge of the crowd, before the arrival of a police motorcade and a horse-cade. The royals themselves arrived in horse-drawn carriages.

The Swedes seem to love their royals, having a completely different relationship with them than we do the English royal family. Something to do with them actually living in the same country, I suspect. They appear here as fairly loveable celebrities. Anyway, the procession was a bit of a performance, interesting to watch but nothing more, although Victoria liked all the tradition involved.
After that we moved onto the Nobel Museum, which was small but interesting, like a journey through history, before meeting Lisa (who had gone back to Uppsala for a class) to go to the Modern Art Museum. I loved the museum, which featured an Andy Warhol exhibition. I’m reading a bit about postmodernism at the moment so the gallery was quite thought provoking. Good experience.
So, that is just about the end of our Swedish expedition, save our trip to the airport for an 11am flight. We have loved Sweden, as a first experience of Europe it has best brilliant. The people have been friendly and welcoming, even when we haven’t been able to speak the language. Sweden has really fascinated me; I can’t work out it’s secret - what is Sweden hiding to make it so good. The people seem to be absent of all hatred; no strong nationalism, no race problems, no sporting rivalries, no homeless (there are signs of an underclass, but a very small one).

Taxes are much higher than New Zealand, allowing for free health care and education (mothers get 12 months leave on 80% of their last job - the unemployed, but no one seems to resent it. There is a strong environmental consciousness, no overt commercialism, the buses run on time, government seems to be totally transparent (all information available online; from government contracts to the costs of the MPs latest taxi fare). The people are all very fit (and remarkably good looking), there is barely a fat Swede. What is their secret? I would love to be able to read their newspapers to see what is really going on. I tried to do an internet search, but all I came up with were American nuts celebrating the failure of Sweden. I wonder if they have been here.

In New Zealand we have been told for so long that the forces of global capitalism were inevitable; the free market is the only choice. Here in Sweden, they seem to have been able to avoid this same threat, although capitalism still exists here; it is very much a social, as opposed to socialist democracy. Perhaps it is the same as World War II, where Sweden stayed officially neutral, but in the end was quite compliant with capitalism, benefitting the Swedes, but not the rest of the world. I wonder if this is the same with Sweden. After all, those homewares have to have been made somewhere.

Nonetheless, I love you Sweden! Let’s see if the rest of Europe lives up to it

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Photos

Lisa's place in Uppsala
I'm starting to think it might be rude to take pictures of people's toilets. What do you think?

Lisa and Victoria in Uppsala
Bench was heated so it could be sat on in the winter

Seems like no one likes the US
I think they were preaching to the converted a bit in Sweden

Student accomodation in Uppsala
After the nuclear fallout, housing prices came down to student levels

Sandholm
Lunch with the Fredrikkson's

Stockholm
Animal rights have come a long way since the days of St. George

Royal Procession
Cutting the tension proved more difficult than was first thought

Royal Procession
Shit stinks everywhere, even in Sweden