Why It's So Cool To Live In Linköping - Part 5: Norin's Ost

If you’re not hungry when you start reading this blog entry, you will be by the end of it. Ost means “cheese” in Swedish and the mere sound of that word causes fika-loving Swedish hearts to soar.

In Linköping, we have a little cheese shop. Actually, there are two of these little cheese shops in Linköping and then one more up the road in Norrköping. These are the kinds of shops Americans walk into and think, “I love being in Europe!”

Most people might think of these kinds of shops being in France, Switzerland, Italy and other places where cows (and sheep and goats) roam, but we have one up in Sweden, too. We have one in Linköping. And, in this humble bloggers opinion, it’s the best little cheese shop in the entire country.

Go Linköping.

To conclude our five-part Linköpinglivin' series on why living in Linköping is so cool, we take a look at Norins Ost.

Lena and Mats Norin are the third generation of cheese shop owners in their family. Since 1931, making Norin’s Ost the oldest cheese shop in Sweden, the Norin family has provided Linköping with Swedish-made, and more recently France- and Italian-imported, fresh cheese of all kinds: Hard, soft, cow, sheep, goat, blue, white, sharp, mild, expensive, inexpensive, cheese that smells bad, cheese that smells good, cheese that you will hate and cheese that you will love.

It’s an acquired taste, but if you know what I’m talking about, the smell of a good cheese shop can’t be beat. (And if you have never been in one, you will want to leave at first waft, but stick with it - it gets better.)

As if merely importing and “maturing” (as opposed to the actual making) wasn’t enough, the Norin family spends time distributing their cheeses throughout Sweden, educating groups, business and individuals about the art of cheese, wine and virtually everything that makes for a good picnic as well as working hard to find the next great discovery in the wide world of cheese. Speaking of good picnics, you can also pick up marmalade, crackers, vinegars, olive oils, cookies, chocolate truffles, pesto, olives, mustard and dried fruits of all kinds at Norin’s Ost shops.

Fresh, local, variety, high quality, personal touch, Linköping knows where to get the best cheese for breakfast, lunch, dinner or fika. Just check out the website and observe what one American travel writer affectionately refers to as “a festival of mold,” the European cheese shop.

http://www.norinsost.se/

Pictures above:

1. Norins Ost is found on Storgatan above Stora Torget and also down on Nygatan below Trädgårdstorget in Linköping and on Knäppingsborg in Norrköping.

2 - 4: Cheese, glorious cheese.

5. Lena Norin and an American treasuring the time behind the glass at a European cheese shop.

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda in Sweden

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda in Sweden

After over two years, 100 weekly blog postings, hundreds of fikas, a few trips here and there and a lifetime of adventures and experiences as a privileged temporary local in Sweden, my days of watching and living everything Swedish are coming to an abrupt end.

On November 3rd (less than a month), I will step on a plane that will take me away from Sweden, only to return someday as a visitor. Where that plane will take me is something for a later blog entry, but for now I want to consider, in the midst of all the things I have experienced and enjoyed in this great land, a few of the things I wish I had been able to fit into my all-too-short Swedish escapade, but sadly did not.

In good ol’ American optimism, the following list can also be considered a list of goals for me to accomplish as a visitor to Sweden in the future, because I hope to always have a trip to Sweden planned in my future. Like most Americans I have talked to who have at one time lived here in Sweden, I shall miss it terribly when I am gone.

10 regrets, also known as goals for the future, from Sweden:

10. I never made it north for the midnight sun experience. In fact, even more than the midnight sun, I would have liked to get to the north of Sweden to compare and contrast the Sweden I have come to know with what life is like up there. Most people around here with whom I share this regret gently reassure me with the following words, “That’s okay, Sean. We’ve lived here our whole lives and we’ve never been up there….”

9. Not only did I never make it to the famed (at least outside of Sweden) Ice Hotel, but I didn’t even do the Ice Bar, which is located in Stockholm and Copenhagen. I take solace in the fact that this is a touristy experience that I never did, but then again, I loved all the other touristy things I did in Sweden (Skansen and the Vasa Museum over 10 times each – c’mon, I had visitors, of course!).

8. I never learned to like, or really even try, the Swedes’ beloved caviar-in-a-tube or liver paste that spreads like butter , both popular with the over 1,000 fikas in which I participated. Okay, I’ll admit, this one is NOT a goal for the future.

7. Unless something strange happens in the next few weeks, I will never have had to experience anything remotely having to do with Sweden’s health care system, which makes my personal defense of this “socialist” system a little weaker to my American friends and family…

6. In addition to the north, I missed Dalarna, the Glass Kingdom and the island off the east coast of Sweden, Götland, which apparently has an outstanding medieval city in Visby. And if that’s not enough, with all the travel I did, I never made it up to Norway…..ouch.

5. Though it vastly improved over the course of time, my “sj” and “sk” Swedish pronunciations always revealed me to be the English speaking soul that I am. I hate those letters….

4. Bilar and Äntligen bread, two of my favorite everyday foods in Sweden, are two of the many things I will regretfully need to be weaned off of.

3. The Royal Palace at Drottningholm. Yeah, missed that, too. But I saw the Vasa 11 times….

2. I never walked onto someone else’s property, threw down my tent and sleeping bag and stayed overnight. Nope, won’t be doing much allmänsrätt in the U.S., that’s for sure.

1. You know those high taxes I’ve been paying from my salary and every last cinnamon bun or train ticket purchase? Yeah, those high taxes. Well, I won’t ever see one krona of that in paternity leave, retirement, health benefits or education. Of all my Top 10 lists, this is the strongest #1 ever. This is one big regret that will take a long time to get over…

See you next week as we continue to bring the Sweden portion of this blog to a close, but don't think that, just because I happen to be leaving Sweden, this blog will be ending. Oh no, we've only just begun, everyone. We've only just begun....

The Stockholm Archipelago and the Swedish Love of Water

I admit this timing is bad.

It’s almost cruel to write a blog for a readership that is partially Swedish that talks about the wonder of water and the sweetness of sailing when the days are darkening and any remembrance of summertime smiles are overcome by the coming winter….and oh, it is coming. Trust me, winter is on the way….or so the Swedish mentality is always convinced.

Yet to write a blog about Sweden and, even though there have been officially 100 (!!!) posts as soon as I click “Publish Post” on this one, to not have anything about the Archipelago (Swedish: Skärgård) and the Swedish love for anything water is to miss an important element of life in this part of the world. And since this blog about Sweden is coming to an all-too-quick conclusion (more about that in the coming couple weeks), I have to get it in.

Bear with me, everyone. Perhaps you can just save this entry until next May…

The perception about Sweden in the rest of the world is the typical “cold, dark, polar bears in the streets” belief, so how could anyone enjoy the water or sailing in that kind of climate….? Well, no one does during the 10 months of winter.

However, when the sun comes out and shares it’s magnificence on an expectant Swedish populace, the only place to be is the lake, canal, river or sea nearest you. Swedes love the water, love to be by the water, love to swim, bathe, wade, float and sail in the water. It seems that nearly everyone has some sort of access to a boat or canoe or something water-oriented. Sailing and maritime culture dominate a Swedish summer. Swedes are known as some of the best travelers in the world, but no one in their right mind leaves Sweden during summer – just head to the röd sommar stuga and be by the water. A Swede couldn’t ask for a better “world’s longest vacation” than that….

There's a reason so many emigrant Swedes made Minnesota, "land of 10,000 lakes," home.

Those frequent Swedish trips to Thailand and the Canary Islands are saved for winter, of course, so one of the many popular places Swedes love to spend their summer is in the Stockholm Archipelago. This collection of 24,000 islands – I’ll say that again: Twenty-four thousand islands – is found about a 3 – hour boat ride outside of Stockholm, welcomes you to the Baltic Sea and looks like broken glass on a good map. One can just imagine the maritime paradise of these islands made of rock and left over from the Ice Age. Some islands are just big enough to step on and others have hotels on them. Swedish delight is not some fancy pastry, but a Swede in the summer finding his own private part of the Archipelago.

One might say that everyone worldwide appreciates water, so why is the Swedish enjoyment any different. To that I will simply say that while most people in the world do indeed enjoy the interplay of sun and water, most people in the world have also never seen snow. Actually, I recently read that 3/4ths of people in the world have never seen snow.

Enough said.

Long live the anticipation for, enjoyment during and memory of the Swedish summer and the Swedes’ beloved world of water.

See you in the Archipelago.

Tallinn, Estonia....via the Baltic Sea

In what will probably turn out to be the last of many memorable trips I have taken during my 2-plus years in Sweden, this past weekend I ventured across the Baltic Sea on a cruise ship to Tallinn, the capital of Estonia and one of the best preserved medieval era cities in all of Europe.

Along with the other former Soviet Baltic states of Latvia (Riga) and Lithuania (Vilnius), Estonia is also trying to establish its own identity and break free of their recent Soviet past. While Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic have made the quickest strides West, the Baltic countries are smaller and not as geographically-advantaged as their former Eastern Bloc comrades and have therefore, had a harder time gaining their independent identity.

Additionally, with a population make-up of many different types of ethnicities and ancestry, Estonians will probably always look multiple directions for their heritage. Consider Estonia part Russian, part Northern Europe, part Central Europe and add a small sprinkling of Western Europe. There you have a country full of intrigue for the traveler coming over from Sweden, down from Finland or up from Central Europe.

As an American, I’m a sucker for a good medieval city. Cesky Krumlov (Czech Republic) and Brugges (Belgium) come to mind and Tallinn is right up there with them, except that Tallinn's old town is still part of the capital city of its respective country. The old city towers with their burnt red, cone-shaped tops as well as four different, high-steepled churches make up old city Tallinn’s charm from afar and good food, drink, handicrafts and creative capitalism attempts (along with all the normal historic and quintessential charm of an old European city) represent Estonia well from up close.

If traveling through Scandinavia, consider making the two-night and one day journey via the Tallink ferry from Stockholm (or from Helsinki for a four-hour ride). The cruise ship atmosphere and the reward of a still-undiscovered European old town are well worth the reasonable fare.

Here’s to Estonia and the other Baltic countries and their journey to continued identity independence and Western recognition.

Pictures above:

1. Estonia iconic images are of the cone-shaped tower tops in the old city.

2. A pleasant and affordable ferry ride with cruise ship amenities provides a fun alternative mode of travel to Tallinn from Stockholm.

3. Tallinn’s Old Town Square with Old Town Hall, the center of attention all seasons of the year.

4. Just another cobbled European lane for this American who continues to romanticize these types of cities….

5. A fun way to get around Old Town Estonia.

Gender Equality in Sweden

The "Battle of the Sexes," Swedish style.

When the world thinks about Sweden, one of the first things that comes to mind is the socially and politically progressive policies, laws and general attitudes. Wrapped within this is the perception, and perhaps the reality, that Sweden is a world leader when it comes to equalizing the genders.

Let’s take a closer look, based on one foreigner’s observations and a bit of informal research….

*One of the first things foreigners notice when walking around Sweden is the number of men pushing strollers.

*Married or not, your tax form is exactly the same and you will file individually (Swedes would be interested to know that a couple filing their tax forms together in the U.S. receive certain benefits).

*The term (and, I assume, the position) “Ombudsman” was first coined in Sweden…..

*All foreign men learn early and often not to open that door, pay for that meal or make any assumption on a date or in any social circumstance that she cannot take care of herself…

*When a couple has maternity/paternity leave, he almost always goes back to work sooner, because he almost always has the higher paying job (among other reasons).

*Inevitably, CEOs, Board members, high ranking officials and other positions of power are heavily male-dominated in Sweden.

*There is no expectation or assumption that, when a Swedish couple gets married, they will take his last name. Sometimes it is her last name that is taken or even an entirely new last name is made up.

Sweden has a cultural head-start in gender equality because of the high social value placed on self-sufficiency. A woman is expected to provide for herself and if a man so chooses to help out in the typical family model, well then, great, but….

While you are hard pressed to find any laws or social policies that are not gender equal or neutral, it doesn’t take too long to find social attitudes, usually unconscious or unspoken, that betray a certain bias toward the one in the majority or with the power, in this case, the men. "Old Boys Clubs" are still alive and well in Sweden, perhaps even more than other countries (even though those Old Boys are arguably more conscious of and educated about their own natural prejudices than their peers in other countries and societies).

My conclusion upon observation from the outside is that Sweden’s population is indeed very sensitive to gender equality and expects a general attitude of self-sufficiency and equality among the sexes. Yet as with most societies, certain unconscious and subtle forms of discrimination are easy to find.

Not surprisingly, Sweden, while ahead of most if not all other countries in the quest for gender equality, still has a ways to go, something most Swedish women would probably tend to agree with, but you might have to really probe her in your questioning to get past the initial national pride of being a "world leader" in this area...

Why It Is So Cool To Live In Linköping - Part 4: Åbacka Cafe

In our occasional series virtually touring Linköping, and choosing a few of the many reasons why it is just so cool to live here, we’ve discovered one colossal cathedral, an oh-so-Swedish 19^th century-style restaurant, a “jätte roligt” woodcarver’s shop in Linköping’s Old Town and now we arrive to the premiere location to “fika” in all of Linköping….

Åbacka Café.

Åbacka Café, though opening only in 1998, sure seems like it was opened in 1898 or even 1798. This fika fare delight found just across the river from Linköping Centrum captures all-too many aspects of Swedish life in one quaint, you guessed it, röd små stuga (little red house). Some examples of quintessential Sweden uncovered in this quaint riverside hideaway:

• If you don’t know where it is, you might just miss it because it is so unassuming.

• The humble exterior masks the tasty treats and friendly service found just inside.

• Coffee, buns, pastries all around and, best of all, waffles. That’s right, waffles. Did I get your attention, America?

• The hours are a bit challenging – you need them more than they need you.

• Though open and accessible year-round, Åbacka Café is best enjoyed in the summer time.

• Outdoor seating in summer or indoors during winter, after a few moments at Åbacka Café, you are convinced your Mom would love this place….

For those here in Linköping, just cross the Drottningatan bridge and turn right. Hours are Saturday and Sunday, 10 – 17 in the off-season and daily 10 - 17 in the summer.

Die, Wasp, Die!

Despite a splendid summer’s day to start September in Sweden, Swedes know that, in the end, the calendar has the final say.

It doesn’t take long to find the silver lining to a fleeting Swedish summer. As the sun departs, so does something else synonymous with a Swedish summer, the only element of a Swedish summer no one celebrates or fondly remembers come December.

You can run, but you can’t hide.

It ruins picnics.
It alters Kubb matches.
It makes berry-picking a danger-filled activity.
It can make a Midsummer celebration a little less fertile.
It turns peace-loving Swedes into militant barbarians....

Swedes, and temporary Swedes, develop a sixth sense of unidentified flying objects in the summer time.

If there was a vote to increase taxes in order to eliminate this, it would be the first nationwide vote to be unanimously in favor.

What would hospital emergency rooms do in the summer time if not for this?

Unlike their European neighbors to the extreme south, no Swede would ever name a beloved transportation vehicle after this evil creature (“vespa”).

They move slowly, which is clearly divine license to kill.

No animal rights groups in Sweden would ever defend it.

I’ve heard that without these, and their similar species worldwide, the earth’s ecosystem would fail to the point of extinction of all natural life. If given the opportunity, Swedes would gladly take their chances.

Good-bye, precious summer. Good riddance, diabolical wasp.

In the Swedish Board Room and Working World

As August wanes and the shadows become noticeably longer and that breeze just isn’t quite as warm as it was a couple weeks ago, it becomes apparent that summer is leaving us way up here in the north. Even in Sweden, school has started, non-summer cities such as Linköping are startlingly full of people once again and business is in full swing.

For the past couple years, the readership of Linköpinglivin’ has been evolving. What started out as solely family and friends quickly became a whole lotta native Swedes. Then came foreigners visiting Sweden who were searching for something else and accidentally stumbled upon this peculiar, but informative, observation of Sweden and the Swedes in English. For any English speaker coming to Sweden to do work, this blog (or so I have been told) comes up repeatedly in all sorts of contexts (from directions to cafés to baby strollers and more).

I’ve recently started to consider particularly useful topics for the foreigner (be they American or not) to be aware of should their professional or personal life bring them to Sweden. This week’s topic will probably not be of much use or interest for a Swede, could perhaps provide some small interest to the American who is interested in business and company culture, but will be crucial for the foreigner coming to work in Sweden and wanting to understand the subtly different Swedish work world.

As with most considerations of culture and differences when examining Sweden, one must first start with the all-important Swedish Jante Law of “thou shall not consider thyself better than others.” Swedish equality and desire for participation and consensus is the key to understanding the Swedish work world. Bosses are not better than their subordinates and well-educated people are not paid nearly as much as their peers in other countries in comparison with less-educated employees. Decisions are made not necessarily by an authority at the top of a hierarchy, but by a group that only goes forward when consensus has been reached. Meetings are vital. Facilitating, not deciding, is often the role of the Swedish manager or CEO. There is still accountability and responsibility, of course, but this is not nearly as evident in the day-to-day behavior of employees.

Communication between colleagues is also a bit different due to the cultural expectation of non-confrontational communication. Communication is simply more courteous and softer, sometimes even sacrificing clarity amongst colleagues or within companies. All individuals in the company are accessible for everyone else – once again, no one is better or off limits to anyone else due to Jante’s famous law. Equality and personal pride are highly valued in all circumstances. In this way, communication and overall business in Sweden is much more like Japan than it is a European or American business environment. Teamwork, not individual achievement, is the most valued element of a Swedish work environment.

The Swedish office is noticeably more informal than the American or British counterpart. Jeans or slacks, along with an open collar and rarely a tie, is the norm. One should not stand out too much by dressing up or down (Jante Law, again), as opposed to the American rule of “you should dress for the next job you want.” Though in this age of globalization, one could make the argument that attire expectations are now guided more by industry than country, such as the informal and almost-juvenile dress expected at high-tech companies with young geniuses creating software for the next century.

A few other areas or interesting tidbits about the Swedish business/work world:

*With few exceptions, an 8 or 9 – 17:00 work day is expected throughout all industries in Sweden. If you work too much or not enough, you will stand out from your colleagues. If you haven't noticed yet, this is not a good thing in Sweden…

*Despite their nationwide pride in equality, the Swedish woman often has just as hard a time climbing the corporate ladder as her counterparts in other countries. There are still many “old boys clubs” throughout Sweden connected to University days, sailing clubs and other long-held, male-oriented fraternities.

*Unions are strong throughout Europe, but none more so than Sweden. It is virtually impossible to terminate the employment of a Swedish worker, unless there is some blatant breach of trust. This may sound good for the workers, but there are unfortunate consequences such as pushing employees out in other, arguably more emotionally painful ways, as well as lots of short-term contracts without company commitments to their workers. One realizes that there are two sides to every coin with having this much power to the people, in this case the work people.

*Emails in Sweden will often go without a response if the recipient is not in agreement or is uncomfortable with the topic of exchange. Rather than confront a difficult situation and cause a losing of face of one party or another, the lack of a response will serve as the clearest form of non-confrontational disagreement, which is understandably misunderstood by (and aggravating for) foreigners.

Okay, enough of a boring blog entry. If you have read this far, you must be coming to Sweden to take a job...congratulations.

Check back next week for some more fun from Linköping.

(Pictures above are of the most famous companies in Sweden, and one close to my heart that is slowly getting there….)

Göteborg (and the introduction of video on Linköpinglivin')

You probably know by now that advanced technological prowess is not my strength in cyberspace, but even I had to enter the world of video blogging at some point. Come take a ride on Linköpinglivin' for the first time as we "do" Göteborg!

Also known as Gothenburg.

Americans have never heard of Gothenburg, much less Göteborg (pronounced “Yerte-bori”). Sweden’s second city, located on the west coast, and the leading shipping port in all of Scandinavia is a virtual unknown to my fellow countrymen and women. I should know. I had never heard of Gothenburg until first coming to Sweden.

We Americans generally know that Stockholm is in Sweden. We might know that Oslo is in Norway, but the only thing we know about Oslo might be the Peace Accords. We love to say "Copenhagen," but don’t know whether it’s Danish or Dutch, but it doesn’t really matter because we don’t really know the difference between the two, anyway. Finally, Helsinki is an unforgettable English word and most know it’s connected to Finland, but many aren’t sure which is the country and which is the capital!

Without further ado, this weekend I finally made the excursion to Göteborg. If Stockholm is the distinguished, responsible, refined, “first-born,” city of Sweden, then Göteborg is the laid-back, enthusiastic, energetic and fun, younger sibling of Sweden’s cities. Göteborg, at least on a summer weekend like we just had, is a playground.

In just over 29 hours in Göteborg, some friends and I walked through a botanical garden and found meat-eating (and therefore, one’s imagination can declare “man”-eating) plants, strolled the “Champs Elysées” of Sweden on the Avenyn, ducked under low-hanging bridges during otherwise peaceful canal rides, were soaked, thrashed and dropped 10 stories on roller-coasters at Sweden's most beloved amusement park, discovered the wonderful world of nature and science at yet another impressively planned, presented and educationally-oriented Swedish museum and even managed to make it outta town before the skies opened up and reminded us that Sweden’s summer is quickly fleeting….

I almost never went to Gothenburg because I knew I would regret not going more often…Sure enough, that has happened.

For you Swedes familiar with Göteborg, here are some thoughts and observations on various elements of this enjoyable city:

Botaniska Trädgården: A great stroll for a family or couple – and a perfect leisure time activity in between more adventurous parts of this playground. Special bonus points for the Botaniska Trädgården when I even saw drinking fountains, some of the first I've seen in Sweden!

Liseberg: I thought Swedes only got excited about Melodifestivalen and Zlatan, but Liseberg is pure Swedish childlike enthusiasm. A must on any trip to Göteborg, as you well know.

Universeum: Fun for kids, fascinating for adults, so leave yourself at least three hours and don’t miss the interactive exhibits!

Paddan Canal Tours: Watch your head. That tour guide is not kidding! Hilarious….

Avenyn: Probably better at dusk and evening – not much during the day, especially if you consider shopping poisonous to a tourist weekend, as I do.

And don’t forget that splendid Göteborg Pass because if you ever have a chance to save money in Sweden, you must do it!

Pictures above:

1. The harbor and the maritime environment is the heart of Gothenburg's past and present.

2 - 4. The well known, albeit touristy, Paddan Canal Boat Rides are informational and, for a country known for all things-safety, dangerous! Watch your head, as we did....!

5. Keep the mice and small children away from this plant, known to digest meat and found in the greenhouse of the Botaniska Trädgården, along with certain worldwide jungles and rain forests.

Summer Olympics According to the Swedes

Att dunka – “to dunk” in Swedish.

This verb was used early and often in yesterday’s U.S vs. China men’s basketball opener watched by an estimated 1 billion people worldwide. Normally a little uncomfortable with American dominance (this team has had to start over and "re-learn" to play basketball like a team in order to win gold on a world-level, which hasn’t happened since 2000), I now find it fun to actually root for the U.S. basketball team again. If they do win gold, they will have earned it. But this is a blog about Sweden, not the U.S.

Let’s make one thing clear in the beginning. Given the choice between the Summer and Winter Olympics, most Swedes will choose Winter. The reasons are obvious and recent national success only increases this Olympic selection.

However, this is Sweden. And wherever in the world the blue and yellow is being represented, the country is well-aware and usually tuned in. With not one, but two public (and, therefore, commercial-free) television channels showing almost round-the-clock coverage from "Peking," if a Swede doesn’t know every last thing there is to know about these Beijing Olympics, it’s their own fault.

After initially whining that I couldn’t get my American Olympic coverage over the internet, and was “forced” to watch the Olympics from a Swedish perspective, I have enjoyed the experience of watching these beloved (to an American) games from another perspective. Here are some observations so far:

*Since we’re only seven hours behind China, most of the coverage is “direkt” (also known as “live”). Always fun to be watching something as it happens and not avoiding seeing scores and results until NBC finally gets to show it 10 hours later….

*American Olympic coverage is often criticized for being overly focused on only American athletes. Sweden is guilty of this as well and I am sure every country is “overly focused” on their own athletes – and hey, for non-Americans reading this, it’s good for you to know that at least some people in the U.S. care about what athletes from other countries are doing!

*But give the Swedes credit, their excitement around and coverage of the American men’s basketball team, Michael Phelps’ quest and other storylines, both American and others, has been a pleasure to watch. And the minor sports, the ones you only hear about during the Olympics no matter what country you’re from, get just as much coverage as anything.

*Handball looks like it would be really, really fun!

*If there is a darling of these Olympics for the Swedes, it is 14 year-old Sarah Sjöström. For those dabbling in the Swedish language, yes, her name is Sarah “Lake-Stream.” You guessed it. She’s a swimmer….I love Sweden.

*As an American, I am embarrassed by our focus on the “medal count.” Does it really matter who gets the most medals? And if it does, then shouldn’t it be a reflection of the population of the country? Shouldn’t the U.S. be doing a lot better than we're doing since we have 300 million to choose from? And shouldn’t China be disqualified from the next Olympics if they don’t get at least 1/7th of all the medals since they have 1/7th of the people in the world? And shouldn’t winning the decathlon count as 10 medals? The medal count is the height of national self-absorption and the opposite of what the Olympics are all about. Go Palau!

*Speaking of the Olympic spirit, did anyone see the medal podium embrace of the two female athletes – one from Russia and the other from Georgia? That’s what the Olympics ARE all about.

*Watch for Swedes Stefan Holm (high jump), Susanna Kallur (hurdles), Carolina Klüft– the most well known of Swedish Summer Olympic athletes since her heptathlon gold in Athens (triple and long jump) and Stefan Nystrand and Therese Alshammar (swimming).

*Countries like Sweden will only finish the games with 7 – 10 medals total, but those winners are celebrated like no other. Emma Johansson, the surprise silver-medalist in a cycling event yesterday, became a household name overnight. There’s some more Olympic spirit brought to you by the blue and yellow, a silver is "good as gold."

Pictures above:

1. Beijing Olympics. I was first introduced to the Summer Olympics when they were almost literally in my backyard in 1984 - Los Angeles. What a great summer that was!

2. Emma Johansson wins Sweden's first medal of the games.

3. Sarah "Lake-Stream" is a 14 year-old Swedish swimmer.

4. "Att Dunka" - Kobe Bryant

5. Georgian (on left) and Russian medalists embrace on the medal podium even as their countries were beginning a war.

The Abbreviated Summer (even in Sweden)

It’s August (and, yes, a now-annual re-formatting exercise. Isn't it better than the dark background and light lettering - kinda like the move from MySpace to Facebook, don't you think?).

Anyone who has a job that relates to University students knows that August means “Your summer is over. Ready or not, here they come!” Though I live and work in Sweden, a place known for an endless summer holiday, my summer is essentially over (and the recent rain in Linköping only serves as a cruel reminder of the inevitable).

However, if summer is concluding, it means that Linköpinglivin’ is back up and running, hopefully better than ever as I begin to give some conclusion and closure to my cherished Swedish experience. My current plan is to terminate my work here in November/December to be home in time for an American-style Lucia and Christmas (I gotcha covered, Mom). You will hear all about my mixed emotions regarding this as the next few months unfold, but for now, know that I will be valuing every moment of my fleeting time in a country I will always remember fondly (and be visiting often - that’s a promise).

Linköpinglivin’ is currently receiving approximately 500 hits per week from what I think is about 300 – 400 monthly readers, but since the last entry in late June, it has received over 2,300 hits. Sharing my journey continues to be one of the most surprising and rewarding elements of my time abroad. Thanks for continuing to meet me in cyberspace, Swedish-style.

There’s still plenty of Sweden life to be discovered and uncovered in the coming months. Undoubtedly a few fun facts and top 10 lists will grace this blog yet again, as well as a couple more reasons why Linköping remains one of the coolest places to live in all the world!

For now though, a few pictures from my summer, which included stops in London, Seattle, Santa Barbara and the hometown of La Canada near Los Angeles and was highlighted by the visit of what will probably be my last visitors to Sweden: Heather Doud, Jennifer Ratcliff and Rachel Owen. While their journey was long and their visit too short, it was indeed as memorable as predicted from Stockholm to Linköping. Thanks for the visit to the land of the Vikings, ladies. See you in December!

(And as the Summer Olympics get started before the next Linköpinglivin’ entry, I expect all of you Americans following this blog to keep a special eye out for the blue and yellow Swedish representation. Heja Sverige!)

Pictures above:

1. Left-to-Right: Rachel, Jenn and Heather strike the Viking pose in Stockholm.

2. Overlooking Stadshuset on a classic summer’s day in Stockholm.

3. With friends at Dodger Stadium – Los Angeles, California.

4. Big Ben says “hello” rising above the English flowers in full bloom.

"Super-Size Me" - Swedish Style

There’s an ice cream shop here in Sweden.

In fact, there are many ice cream shops in Sweden as Swedes are known for being some of the top consumers of ice cream in the world. However, there’s no ice cream shop quite like Söderköping’s Smultronstället just east of Linköping located right on the Göta Canal.

When you say “Söderköping” to any Swedes south of Stockholm, their eyes light up, an excited smile comes across their face and they ask you about the “glass” (Swedish for “ice cream").

Smultronstället is one of few places in Sweden where Swedish cultural moderation is thrown out the window in the face of pure, unhindered, unlimited, extra-large indulgence. “Super-size me,” Swedish style.

Smultronstället takes the Swedish cultural law of “lagom - not too much and not too little, just right” and laughs at it.

The ice cream servings, toppings, decorations, environment and indeed festival at Smultronstället is larger than any I’ve ever seen anywhere, including my home country, which is known for doing nothing, especially ice cream, in moderation.

Speaking of the USA, Smultronstället has close to 30 different themed ice cream presentations ranging from places to holidays to happy occasions of all kinds. All presentations reflect something of that theme, of course. What is the USA theme, you ask? Five scoops of mouth-watering ice cream, topped off with a sugar donut – and one more scoop on top of the donut, just to make sure. Add some apple pie filling in the middle, a flashing guitar icon, an American flag and there you have the USA-themed Smultronstället ice cream concoction named “Rock ‘n Roll.”

Apparently, donuts are as synonymous with Americans as peanut butter...

Let it be known that this is the very first time I have EVER had donuts and ice cream in the same dessert.

Let it be known that I only ordered this life-shortening creation in order to take a picture of it – with all of you in mind, obviously.

And finally, let it be known that the next time I go to Smultronstället, I’ll be ordering the “Rock ‘n Roll” again, because I had no idea how good donuts and ice cream taste together….

Speaking of unhindered indulgences of the American kind, I’m off to the USA this week, for the first time since October, and, along with all the Swedes, will be taking the month of July off and away (from the blogsophere), relaxing and vacationing, enjoying and embracing all that summer has to offer.

Thank you for regularly reading Linköpinglivin’ and being my cyber-companions on this continually enjoyable and memorable Swedish excursion. I’ll be back in August to give it a few more months in Linköping and, of course, on Linköpinglivin’.

Trevlig Sommar och vi ses snart.