nordstjernan nords jer The Swedish Newspaper of America erica
Published by Swedish News. Volume 143 No. 21, December 15, 2015. Price per copy $2.50 Publ
Like mother, like daughter: Princess Estelle mimics her mom in an official royal hello.
Sweden, Page 2, 3
Our team traveled far - very far - to investigate the whereabouts of Santa during the summer, and although we didn’t find him then, these tracks from above the Arctic Circle in northern Finland show our progress and ultimate success in finding his summer domicile. / Page 25
Photo: Marko Junttila
Autumn in Haga Park where the Crown Princess family lives / Always the environmentalist, the King makes a splashy announcement to conserve water / The giant Christmas goat is still standing, but for how long / Climate change is such an important issue that both the prime minister and the king are at the Climate Summit in Paris.
Viewpoint, Page 6
Is it too little too late for Sweden?
Sweden, Page 7
Prime Minister Löfven announces a plan to tighten asylum policies for refugees.
Sweden inspires Santa’s lessons Helen Nielsen guest@nordstjernan.com
The Real Santa’s united campaign to end childhood obesity, founded by Sustainable Santa, has expanded in the past several years, placing Santas in farmers markets where they can pose for the traditional holiday pictures with children. More importantly, however, they give the kids and parents cards for their refrigerator, containing the three “Santa’s Food Rules.” The rules are designed to wean American children off their habit of consuming sugarloaded fast, junk and processed foods — a problem which has led to a major epidemic of childhood metabolic disease in America of which obesity is a leading marker. That problem is now spreading worldwide with an increasing number of McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Burger King Continued on page 4
Page 12, 15 Ulrika’s delectable cut gingersnap cookies.
Feature, Page 12, 15
Recipes for old fashioned Swedish treats that belong on every Christmas dessert table.
Feature, Page 18
There’s nothing, absolutely nothing like a Swedish Christmas.
Dashboard, Page 16-17
The Swedish American Santa Claus inspires children to eat healthy and live green.
Swedish Art in San Francisco
What is it that makes one person a cherished classic, while another is unknown? Barbro Osher, Honorary Consul General of Sweden in California, asked this at a presentation before a group of Swedish art and history lovers in San Francisco. It’s a question we all ponder about any number of things, but in this case Osher was referring to Swedish artists. If you’ve been following Ted Olsson’s articles about the centennial celebrations of the 1915 World’s Fair in San Francisco, you know that tenacious Swedes and Swedish Americans all over the U.S. took it upon themselves to make sure Sweden was well represented at that fair. Among many others, cherished artists – known and unknown – showed their art, and some incredible history was made. / Page 19
True to form an iconic brand rebounds / Three million “julbord” / The coolest hotel in the world / Most creative candle for Advent.
Sports, Page 30
Two-way race at the top of the SHL, Swedish Hockey League / Zlatan wins again.
Page 3 Löfven greeted by French President Hollande.
Photo by Kate Gabor/Kungahuset
This Week, Page 2
news in brief. page 2
Swedish News SD har fortfarande fel ... Gästledare
Sydsvenska Dagbladet 1 December 2015
... M och S måste klara av att visa varför.
H.R.H. Princess Estelle gives a thumbs-up to autumn in Haga Park. Photo by Kate Gabor/Kungahuset
Thumbs-up to autumn in Haga Park
The royal family shared a sweet seasonal greeting with Sweden on Nov. 23, expressed in photos of Princess Estelle. Playing in the leaves near the water at Haga Park in Stockholm, the future queen, who will be 4 in February, feeds the ducks and gives the thumbs up — a gesture she must have learned from her mother, Crown Princess Victoria, who is often seen doing the same thing. The crown princess family loves to spend time in Haga Park where they live. Their residence, Haga Palace, was built in 1802-1804. Throughout the 19th century, the palace was home to members of the royal family. It was renovated in 1930 and became the residence of Crown Prince Gustav Adolf and Princess Sibylla, the place where the current King of Sweden Carl XVI Gustaf and his sisters were born and raised. The King transferred its ownership to the government and from 1966 until 2009 the palace was used to accommodate distinguished guests of the Swedish government. It was then transferred back to the royal court as a wedding gift to Crown Prince Victoria and her husband, Prince Daniel, who moved into Haga Palace after their wedding in June 2010.
Splashy announcement to ban baths
King Carl XVI Gustaf is committed to saving the environment, so his idea to ban bathtubs isn’t altogether surprising. He acknowledged the suggestion was perhaps “lighthearted,” but there is validity to it. “Those small details have an enormous effect,” he said, in an interview ahead of the UN climate summit in Paris at the end of the month. The King was recently reminded of the impact fewer baths could make on the environment when he was forced to take a bath in a hotel room that lacked a shower. “It took a lot of fresh water and energy,” he said. “It struck me so clearly: It’s not wise that I have to do this. I really felt ashamed for (wasting so much water), I really did.”
En redan svag regering har blivit ännu svagare. Alliansen som helhet står och stampar och Sverigedemokraterna når nya höjder. Så kan resultatet av SCB:s stora partisympatiundersökning sammanfattas. Skulle svenskarna ha röstat så här om det vore val idag? Det är inte säkert – undersökningen gjordes huvudsakligen före omläggningen av migrationspolitiken i förra veckan. Att flyktingfrågan är viktig för väljarna råder det ingen tvekan om. Visar den höga siffran för SD, 19,9 procent, att partiet nu fått rätt? Knappast. I SCB:s undersökning, som presenteras två gånger om året, tillfrågas betydligt fler än i övriga opinionsundersökningar och resultatet anses därför mer tillförlitligt. För de större partierna ligger resultatet nära det i Svensk väljaropinion, en sammanvägning av flera undersökningar som Novus gör för Ekots räkning, och som presenterades i förra veckan. Om det vore val idag skulle det,
enligt SCB:s mätning, bli jämnare ansvar. Förhoppningen är att Sverige mellan blocken. S skulle landa på återgår till sin traditionellt generösa, 27,6 procent, en minskning med 3,4 men reglerade, invandrings- och flykprocentenheter jämfört med valre- tingpolitik så snart omständigheterna sultatet. M skulle med 23,5 procent tillåter. hamna ungefär på valresultatet. SD skulle öka med 7 procentenheter – i Men SD:s politik är en helt annan jämförelse med majmätningen är sak. SD bryr sig inte så mycket om ökningen 5,5 procentenheter. volymen, oavsett hur många flyktingar som kommer är det för mycket. MP fortsätter att tappa och landar SD bryr sig inte heller om integration på 5,9 procent. KD skulle med 3,5 – de som trots allt kommer till Sverige procent i väljarstöd åka ur riksdagen. ska istället assimileras. Regeringen, S och MP, får i underFlyktingmottagningen slukar resurssökningen stöd av 33,5 procent av er just nu, men den riktigt stora utväljarna. Andelen osäkra är cirka 19 maningen nu är just det politikområde procent. som SD struntar i. Integrationen. Sverige har en gigantisk uppgift Regeringen tappar, men alliansen framför sig, men leds av en historiskt har inte lyckats fånga upp dessa svag regering. En regering där desväljare. sutom det ena partiet, MP, inte riktigt Resultatet i SCB-mätningen speglar kan bestämma sig för om det fullt ut sannolikt den frustration som många står bakom de beslut partiet varit med väljare har känt över det vankelmod om att fatta. och den handlingsförlamning som Bostäder, jobb och skolplatser ska regeringen länge uppvisade i flykting- nu fram, sjukvården måste klara av att krisen. Ministrar skakade bekymrat ta hand om fler. Det kommer att kräva på huvudet när myndigheter slog nya idéer, ny politik, nya samarbeten larm och situationen runt om i kom- över blockgränsen. munerna förvärrades. I förra veckan kom så omläggningen. Det är fortfarande långt till valet – Sveriges asylpolitik blir dessvärre och väljarnas verkliga dom. tillfälligt mer restriktiv, en nödvändig anpassning till verkligheten och ett sorgligt resultat av EU:s oförmåga att ta ett gemensamt och solidariskt
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Not just another giant Christmas goat
We’re well into the season of Advent now, which means the city of Gävle, Sweden has inaugurated another giant Christmas goat (Gävlebocken). The 13-meter-tall (42 feet) straw goat sculpture was built in the main square of Gävle, on the east coast of Sweden. Erected in the town’s main square every year since 1966, Gävlebocken famously undergoes a battle against the weather and local arsonists – many people take pride in the giant animal, while others take pride in attempting to burn it down … both following the tradition of seeing if it will survive until Christmas Day.
Swedish Olympic champion dies
Swedish Olympic sprinter Linda Haglund died on Nov. 21 in Stockholm. The track and field star, 59, was an outspoken champion of equality, pay and sponsorship, a pioneer for women in sports in Sweden. She belonged to the Legends of 1956, a sports fraternity of outstanding Swedish athletes born in 1956 that included Björn Borg, Ingmar Stenmark, Thomas Wassberg and Frank Andersson. She still holds the Swedish records for several sprint distances.
Nordstjernan, December 15, 2015
Founded in New York City in September 1872 Executive Editor & Publisher: Ulf Barslund Mårtensson (editor@nordstjernan.com) – www.nordstjernan.com Editor: Amanda Olson Robison Managing editor & Production: Everett Martin Metro Editor: Eva Stenskär Sports Editor: Chipp Reid Design: Daniel Berubé-Arbello Contributors: Valorie Arrowsmith - Terry Lee Blunk - Julie Lindahl - Claes Magnusson - Ulf Nilson Kristina Hall - Leif Rosqvist - Ulf Kirchdorfer - Ted Olsson - Jeanne Eriksson Widman - Olle Wijkström - Bo Zaunders Publications Director: Mette Barslund Mårtensson (mette@nordstjernan.com; 800.827.9333 x12) Nordstjernan (ISSN 1059-7670) is published by Swedish News, Inc., 570 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10022 • Connecticut - P.O. Box 1710, New Canaan, CT 06840 Periodicals Postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Nordstjernan is published semi-monthly, except for the month of August. Post Master: Please send address changes to Nordstjernan, P.O. Box 1710, New Canaan, CT 06840 Subscription rates: 1 yr. - $55, - Two yr. - $99 - Outside US 1 yr. $167.
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news in brief. page 4
Making Life a Little Sweder
But we – all of us – do what we must as life goes on for us. And during the holidays, when a need for peace is inextricably heightened, we look to the comfort of what we know, of tradition. We Swedes and Swedish Americans are particularly aware of just how Swedish our traditions are at this time of year: How much more “Swedish” can we get than having glögg simmering on the stove, singing Lucia songs and eating pepparkakor on Dec. 13 (OK, that whole second week of De-
cember, probably longer), decorating our homes with straw goats, candle wreaths and jultomtar, and enjoying Janssons frestelse, julskinka and red cabbage at the julbord on Christmas. All these things – and all our personal traditions – build trust that will make our present more peaceful … and our future a little less scary. And like Staffan Eklund writes on p. 13, in these times of fear, we must trust each other – and I think we have something special to trust in our Nordstjernan community: All of us Swedes and Swedish Americans have something in common. We are to some degree or another here for each other. That common ground is so important to us, perhaps a reason for which we read this newspaper, yes? (I can’t let that go without suggesting that if you know others who should be part of
our community, do consider making life a little Sweder by giving the gift of a Nordstjernan subscription this holiday.) And so we can trust in our future because of each other. Quite literally, Nordstjernan can trust in a future because of you. Did you know that November, an otherwise extraordinarily grim month all over the world, was one of growth for Nordstjernan, the best in 10 years? That’s an incredible testimony to the trust in our community – and we thank you. We also wish you a very peaceful holiday - and a happy new year! God Jul och Gott Nytt År,
Amanda Robison, editor
viewpoint.
Malmö’s horrid emergency accommodation conditions Herein is the story of a country more focused on its international reputation – the Swedish PR machine – than with the real life, at home, ramifications of trying to be the savior of the world. Sweden, what on earth were you thinking? You were not. Priding yourself as the “humanitarian superpower,” I must ask how humane it is for hundreds of refugee children to be sleeping on concrete floors on cardboard boxes with a shortage of toilets, no showers, a lack of medical care and inadequate staff to oversee the children’s needs. Yes, this is happening. In Sweden. The Malmö emergency refugee accommodation has come under fire from the Save the Children Foundation and other authorities. The NGO reports that the Migration Board’s reception center at Malmö Mässan (Malmö Exhibition Centre) is so foul that it puts children at risk physically and psychologically. “We are greatly concerned about the children’s physical and mental health when living in a place such as this,” Elisabeth Dahlin, secretary general of Save The Children, said of the Malmö emergency reception center. “There is a lack of health care, there are children
sleeping on cardboard on the floor and there are no showers. It is unworthy and unhygienic and is risking children’s health.” The point of the exhibition hall as emergency reception center for asylum seekers was that refugees would be on the premises for a very short time while they register for asylum. Once registered the refugees would be transferred to more “permanent accommodations” around the country. Opening Malmö Mässan on November 20 seemed a better alternative then having new arrivals sleeping on the street — which was the case in midNovember. However, the processing time for asylum registration has become longer and longer, and therefore people are required to spend a greater amount of time at Malmö Mässan — sometimes up to five days. The Salim family is one of them forced to sleep on the floor at Malmä Mässan. Basim Salim, 40, is worried about his daughters who are 1, 6 and 10 years old. He is afraid they will become seriously ill. “Almost everyone here is sick and there are no mattresses to sleep on. It is terrible,” he tells Aftonbladet in a phone interview. “We are many
families here. Some have been here for five nights. This is not a good place for children. It certainly is not.” Close to a thousand people, children and families, share seven restrooms. The air is so stifling one can hardly breathe, reports a police officer on the scene. “It was not really our area,” said the officer who wishes to remain anonymous. “From the beginning they had no security guards at all. We became stewards so they would feel safe. There was staff who were afraid to go into the hall among the refugees, but we came with.” He believes the Migration Board does not have the knowledge to manage the situation and believes that MSB, The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, should take more responsibility. “The perception of many of my colleagues is that MSB has the right preparedness. It is an authority that is there for emergencies.” Regardless, the biggest problem seems to be leadership and management. Health care was in place for the first weekend but by Nov. 30, 23 nurses Continued on page 6
NORDSTJERNAN: Alltid mer att läsa—There’s always more to read! Call 1.800.827.9333 for your own copy. Nordstjernan, December 15, 2015
French President François Hollande welcomes H.R.H. King Carl XVI Gustaf to the Climate Conference in Paris.
Sweden is represented at world climate summit
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Prime Minister Stefan Löfven are with 150 other world leaders at the COP21 climate summit in Paris. The first meetings of the two week summit are aimed at forging an agreement to limit emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for climate change. “This is one of the most important meetings we will ever have,” said Löfven at a press conference in which he also pledged to continue his country’s track record of investing in renewable energy. “Sweden has been working for this for decades and I am proud to lead a government that gives priority to the climate issue,” he added. The Nordic country recently launched an initiative called Fossil-Free Sweden as it attempts to become one of the world’s first fossil-free nations by 2030.
Swedes are eating less red meat
Swedes eat a lot of red meat – an average of 87 kilograms (192 pounds) per person per year, according to the Swedish Board of Agriculture. Last year that number was markedly lower, however, and a Sifo survey shows that one in five Swedes says they now eat less red meat to reduce their impact on the environment. One of the largest demographic groups to do this (33 percent) is women ages 30 to 49 who live in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmo. Many of these women influence what others eat since they are the meal planners in their families. Some are preparing more fish or chicken instead, some more vegetables. However, another 33 percent surveyed said they weren’t cutting down on red meat, and 17 percent responded they were “hardly” doing so. Statistics from the Agriculture Department show the overall amount of meat-eating is down in Sweden, including among royal family members, and the organization Svenskt Kött (Swedish Meat) is noticing. “Today we have consumers who are more and more aware,” says Marie Forshufvud, CEO of Svenskt Kött. She says when Swedes do eat red meat, they are choosing better, more expensive cuts. “Often it’s about choosing the Swedish meat,” says Forshufvud, who doesn’t think the decline is a problem for producers in Sweden. It is of course natural that they recommend local rather than imported products, which has shown to be good for many reasons: “Farming in Sweden is more effective. A large part of beef production is based on dairy farming. The cows produce both meat and milk and there is an efficiency in this — makes the Swedish production less of a strain on the environment,” says Forshufvud.
You know you’ve been in Sweden too long when ...
1. It doesn’t feel like lunch unless it’s a hot, full course meal drenched in gravy. 2. You eat unlimited amounts of sausage products without worrying about your nitrate intake.
The Exchange Rate: $1.00 = SEK 8.70 12.02.2015
Photo: Arnaud Bouissou/SG COP 21
These last few weeks and months haven’t exactly been peaceful - anywhere. And to be honest, it’s been with a sort of heaviness that we’ve published various bits of news, especially about what’s going on in Sweden. Especially because it’s very political. Especially because it’s about people’s lives.
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feature. page 6
Message from a Swedish Santa
Santa explores healthy vegetables available to eat and plant at the Annual Heirloom Food and Seed Expo in Santa Rosa, CA, September 2015. Continued from page 1
franchises in other countries promoting “fast” processed foods filled with added sugar. After they give them the cards, the Santas then send the children into the farmers market on a treasure hunt to look for signs saying “try a Santa’s Garden Bite HERE.” There the farmer/vendors give children samples of fresh, raw or fermented whole foods: bits of raw bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower; tastes of fermented cabbage, a thimble full
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Nordstjernan, December 15, 2015
A typical Santa House in a farmers market in California where the movement started, where parents can take a picture of their children with Santa, and Santa and talk to them about heathy eating and living a sustainable lifestyle.
of kombucha, dehydrated unusual fruits such as star fruit, Hachiya persimmons and blood oranges. The bread vendors are urged to promote wheat-less breads, as wheat turns into sugar once inside your body. The mushroom man gives them a beech button raw mushroom, and so on — all of them whole foods. The kids love it, and the parents realize there
is hope for their child beyond McDonald’s and Cheetos. It’s Santa’s Three Food Rules which have their roots in Sweden. And specifically, it’s the Swedish love for lördagsgodis (Saturday candy) which is influencing the culture shift advocated by the American Santas. The three rules, designed to get the kids
OFF the bad stuff, are: Rule 1) If you’re hungry, eat an apple. But if you’re not hungry enough to want to eat an apple, you’re likely not truly hungry and the thought will pass. The American snack food industry has consistently spent billions promoting eating snacks out of boredom or habit. Rule 2) Treat treats as TREATS. There is nothing wrong with “special occasion” foods, and some of the Swedish Christmas food is the world’s best. But in American they promote eating cinnamon buns, cookies, pizza and other “fast treats” daily, and “daily” is not a special occasion! Thus it doesn’t deserve a special occasion treat. Rule 3) The “S” rule: no sodas, no snacks, no second helpings, no added sugar or salt, and no sweets — except perhaps on days that begin with the letter S = Saturday or Sunday. That’s the practice of lördagsgodis. This year the International Brotherhood of Real Bearded Santas, (IBRBS) the largest of the American Santa organizations, has printed thousands of the Santa’s Three Food Rules cards with the image of the contemporary American Santa on the flip side. They are available to their more than 1,000 members across the nation. While not all santas work in farmers markets, the fact that they will be distributing the rules designed to get the children off the bad stuff is of enormous importance. This year, in addition to sending the children into the farmers markets on that treasure hunt to seek Santa’s Garden Bites, the members of the Real Santa’s United are advocating “Eating the Rainbow” — while eating real food. Many parents, however, don’t actually know why, or what that means. The fact is that colored vegetables can provide high levels of different vitamins and minerals. Eating a combination of them can yield optimum health. The santas urge the parents to make the colors into a game for shopping at the farmers market (and for planning and planting a garden). The kids love the bright colors and parents can create a game at the market where kids select and eat as many red things one day, orange the next, purple the next and so on. Or they can market for veggies in the child’s favorite color. This makes shopping and eating more fun for them. The santas all have posters at their market “Santa House” explaining the unique vitamin and mineral contests in the red, yellow and orange, green, blue and purple, and white veggies and fruits.
Öland, Göteborg and Sylt
Sustainable Santa, whose mor (mother) hails from Öland and far (father) from Göteborg, and Mrs. C, whose family comes from Sylt, the island in the North Sea off the west coast of Denmark, recently completed a 38-day trek around California matching up Healthy Happy Santa members of the Real Santas United with farmers markets all over the state. Toward the end of the trip, Sustainable Continues on next page
feature. page 7
The campaign of the sugar-free Swedish tomten called Sustainable Santa, whose efforts were chronicled in the December 15, 2014 story of Nordstjernan, has spread across America. Santa participated in a project with a group of courageous, concerned doctors on the faculty of the University of California-San Francisco Medical School, led by Dr. Robert Lustig, head of pediatric endocrinology, which has been tracking our progress through their Institute for Responsible Nutrition (IRN): http://www.responsiblefoods.org/sustainable_santa_hits_the_road The doctors were debuting their newest documentary “Sugar Coated.” Three years in the making, including research of the “secret files” of the sugar industry, the film conclusively demonstrates: 1) Sugar is toxic – and added sugar (added sugar is in 74 percent of American packaged and processed foods) creates metabolic disorders. 2) The sugar industry, which not only includes the sugar producers but also breakfast cereal, soda, candy, etc., has known for many many years that what they are producing will cause diseases in children and adults; their advertising and misinformation campaigns hide or confuse the public of these facts. 3) The parallels with the tobacco industry are apparent. The heads of tobacco compa-
nies testified before the U.S. Congress that they had “no knowledge” that tobacco was addictive nor “any knowledge of the links between smoking and the development of lung cancer.” They, of course, were eventually caught in their lie(s). Sugar is also addictive, and the sugar industry has known this but worked hard since the 1980s to suppress that knowledge. Sustainable Santa’s role at the documentary debut was to present a bag of coal to the “embodiment of the medical misinformation,” Dr. SweetStuff (who had candy canes and candy bars, soda cans and other added-sugar items in his lab coat). Sustainable Santa told him in several languages to “stop adding sugar!” (in Swedish: “sluta billsätta soker!”), handed him the large lump of coal and told him to “go sit on it!” The documentary is available to view online at https://vimeo.com/ ondemand/sugarcoated With the 1,000+ IBRBS santas passing out the Santa’s Food Rules cards, maybe this sugar-free Swedish tomten and his Danish partner will see you at a farmers market, too. We can’t wait to see you.
Farmers give kids slices of raw bell pepper, bits of broccoli and cauliflower, all whole food fresh, raw or fermented.
Santa explores healthy vegetables available to eat and plant at the Annual Heirloom Food and Seed Expo in Santa Rosa, CA, September 2015.
Naughty “added sugar” Dr. SweetStuff gets coal this holiday for being so harmful to the children.
Santa helps Alice pick veggies to plant in the Community Garden.
December 15, 2015 Nordstjernan
Viewpoints. page 8
Photo: www.benjaminteitelbaum.com
Sweden’s Self-Inflicted Nightmare
Benjamin R. Teitelbaum teaches Nordic Studies and International Affairs at the University of Colorado, Boulder. www.benjaminteitelbaum.com
Sweden’s message to migrants in Europe is clear: Don’t come here. “Even we have our limits, and now they have been reached,” a defeated-sounding migration minister, Morgan Johansson, explained during a press conference on Nov. 5. “Those who come to our borders may be told that we cannot guarantee them housing.” That message, nailed down this week when the government announced that Sweden was reintroducing border controls, was a sudden shift from an administration that had claimed there were “no limits” to the number of refugees it could accept. The reversal testifies not only to intensifying challenges Sweden faces abroad, but also to the dysfunctional nature of its immigration debate at home. Sweden’s backtracking is part of a larger trend as Europe struggles to deal with the hundreds of thousands of Middle Eastern and African asylum seekers. States that together with Sweden had been advocating generosity and openness — like Austria and Germany — now too are tightening their policies and calling for Europe to reinforce its external borders. Their efforts have turned to repatriating those without legitimate claims to asylum as well as relocating part of their
ducing the bulk of asylum seekers migrant populations to other, less in Europe. But 20 percent of inundated EU states like PoSweden, like land, France or Denmark. this year’s foreign aid budGermany and Austria, get has been redirected overestimated its capacity. to domestic migration Making progress on either front promises Casualties of this miscalcula- agencies, and officials tion will not only include its have suggested they to be a challenge. Indeed, in response to the domestic welfare institutions, will take even more out Swedish government’s but also — tragically — its of next year’s budget. cries for neighboring global humanitarianism. states to take some of their Reducing foreign aid in refugees, Danish migration such substantial amounts minister Inger Stojberg said her promises to fuel the same instacountry would not be coming to the bility and desperation that is causing the rescue, adding: “Sweden has had an irrespon- migrant crisis. Worse yet, by refocusing its sible refugee policy for years. They have put humanitarian effort on individuals healthy themselves in this situation.” enough and wealthy enough to take themselves to its shores, Sweden is shunning those Sweden, a country of 9.6 million, has lately abroad in greatest need. been absorbing 10,000 asylum seekers each week, and expects the total number coming The government’s slow response to all this into the country this year alone to reach seems baffling. But the seeds of the current 190,000 — a population greater than that of debacle were sown earlier, when immigraSweden’s fourth largest city. Since the inten- tion became an untouchable centerpiece of sification of the immigration crisis in Sep- Sweden’s politics. For the past five years, the tember, municipalities have complained that nationalist Sweden Democrats party has been they lack housing, teachers, classroom space the only force opposing the country’s refugee and doctors for the newcomers. The police policies. Born in the late 1980s through the have acknowledged they’ve lost the ability to fusion of an anti-tax populist party and a neomonitor the whereabouts of foreign nationals Nazi activist group, the Sweden Democrats within the country. Migration agencies have have grown exponentially since entering signaled that they can no longer ensure that Parliament in 2010. Their rise has nonetheunaccompanied minors passing through their less been condemned and hotly contested by offices will be transferred into acceptable a mainstream weary of seeing the country’s living conditions. And leaked emails have reputation for tolerance tarnished. Far from shown government officials are panicking introducing new restrictions to immigration, over how they will pay for associated costs. the Sweden Democrats have caused the political establishment to entrench itself: Any In an effort to pay for increased immigra- move to restrict immigration is now seen as tion, Sweden’s government is now dipping a concession to paranoid nativism. into its foreign aid budget. Sweden conPrime Minister Stefan Löfven has called the sistently ranks as one of the world’s most generous providers of foreign aid, supporting Sweden Democrats “neo-fascists,” and like efforts to expand educational opportunities, all other mainstream party leaders — on the provide access to water, and promote political left as well as the right — he has refused to and economic development in regions pro- communicate with them. But on the heels of
his administration’s about-face on its own immigration policy, his past attacks on the party seem awkward. When members of the Sweden Democrats began criticizing his policy months ago for its blindness to logistical and economic pitfalls, he dismissed them. The party also argued early on that money for humanitarian purposes would be more efficiently and equitably spent through foreign aid than immigration, and he disregarded their argument as a convenient excuse for a xenophobic agenda. He may have been right, but so were they. And therein lies the problem. The real nightmare for Swedish politics is not that it now includes the kind of continental-style far-right party it once thought itself immune to. It is rather that mainstream forces have surrendered all critical perspectives on immigration to a party with which they can neither collaborate nor bear to see affirmed. Had a transparent and dynamic public discussion been taking place in Sweden during the past months — a discussion that acknowledged both the need for human solidarity and the limitations of the country’s infrastructure — a more sustainable immigration policy might have emerged. Instead, it seems ill-fated policies will not be altered until the country brings itself to the brink of collapse. By Benjamin R. Teitelbaum Benjamin Teitelbaum teaches Nordic Studies and International Affairs at the University of Colorado, Boulder, is the author of the forthcoming book “Lions of the North: Sounds of the New Nordic Radical Nationalism.” This Op-Ed first ran in the NYT online on Nov. 14. Reprinted with permission by the author.
Malmö’s horrid emergency accommodation conditions Continued from page 3
had left the exhibition center because they could not work under the prevailing conditions. Some nurses have returned and an infirmary has been established outside in a mobile home, says section manager Rebecca Bichis of the Migration Board. Lassen Lähnn, team leader, Red Cross in Malmö, confirms the situation. He does not want to criticize Migrationsverket but finds it very difficult to see families in such conditions. “You do not see daylight and it is the same light (inside) around the clock,” he told Göteborgs Posten. “Such things are not good for anyone.”
Nordstjernan, December 15, 2015
The following testimony comes from a police officer who posted on Facebook: “So much misery and life stories. All these poor children. I stepped around the children and arms were sticking out under the covers where they are snug tight in a row, sleeping on cardboard on the concrete floor of the exhibition center.” “Sad child, sick children with 40˚C fevers (104˚F) and no food or medicine. Children of this age who are too quiet and peaceful. Children who can see a parent through a fence when viewing each other for the first time in a year and a half.” Rebecca Bichis confirms the policeman’s description, telling Expressen, “We have the capacity for a thousand people and it can be true that there were 938 people who shared toilets. But they were cleaned constantly,
ceaselessly from early morning until 9:00 at night. Now we are moving the operation to another part of the exhibition hall where there are two to three times as many toilets. We will then clean the part we used previously and if necessary, we can then alternate between the spaces.” Sweden. Were you naive? Yes. Irresponsible? Without a doubt. But why are you not learning? There were many in Sweden who alerted the public and politicians to such risks. Had you listened, you would have heard the voices of those pointing out your folly. I heard them … expats, locals, journalists, bloggers, neighboring countries all concerned about the ramifications of taking on so many. And yet, as I write, the Green Party (MP)
is calling for a national gathering in Malmö to discuss how the capacity of refugee reception can be increased. Dissatisfaction with the government’s new refugee policy, MP Malmö members are writing critical letters to the party, and petitioning to hold a vote. So disappointed are some of the members that they are leaving the party. The manifesto reads: “Now is the time to stand up for human rights and a humane migration policy. Our vision is a world without borders, where everyone has an opportunity to move, but no one is forced to flee. We will always work for a more humane and open policy and we will never make it harder for people to come to Sweden,” reports Göteborg Posten (Dec. 1, 2015). Lisa Mikulski
musiktidning. page 9
“It pains me to report that Sweden is no longer capable of receiving asylum seekers at the high level we do today,” said Prime Minister Stephan Löfven (S) who was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Green Party spokesperson Åsa Romson.
In what is being called a complete reversal of Sweden’s open door policy, yesterday’s announcement comes only two weeks after the implementation of border control. Löfven was very clear that the measures being announced on Tuesday were being put in place to reduce the stream of refugees so that Sweden has some “respite”. He pointed out that the Nordic nation has received 80,000 asylum seekers in the last two months. “We simply can not do any more,” said the Prime Minister.
“We must give the reception system a respite,” she said. “The way to do that is not beautiful. It is extremely cruel.”
Deputy prime minister, Åsa Roman and Prime Minister Stefan Löfvén at the press conference on Nov. 24.
Some of the changes to be put in place are: • Swedish Aliens Act will be temporarily (valid for three years) adapted to minimum requirements under international and EU law. The quota is usually less than a few thousand per year. • Only temporary resident permits will be provided to asylum seekers. This does not apply to quota refugees who will continue to receive permanent residence. Exceptions will be made for children and families who registered before the new rules were announced. • Temporary residence permits shall be
valid for three years for refugees and one year for subsidiary protection. • Family reunification will be restricted. • Medical age assessment is reinstated. • ID checks will be enforced on all modes of public transportation coming into Sweden. Reactions on social media were immediate and often divided. According to Göteborgs Posten, Löfven was barely finished with his list of actions before the KDU chairman, Sara Skyttedal posted on Twitter, “Wow. They’re doing everything we require.”
Left Party leader, Jonas Sjöstedt, said, “Sweden was a light in the darkness for many who were forced to flee. Now it turns off the light. People on the run will be hard hit.” “I am worried it is not enough,” said Anna Kinberg Batra, leader of the Moderates. She nonetheless welcomes the changes. The Prime Minister has informed German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussem and the European Council President Donald Tusk of the new polices. Lisa Mikulski
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Over the weekend, refugees arriving in Malmö were forced to sleep on the street because accommodations could not be found. There is not only a lack of accommodation, but a serious lack of resources for municipal social services such as education, health care and assistance. Several municipalities have announced that they can no longer accept unaccompanied children, reports SVT. The Prime Minister directed harsh criticism toward other EU countries whom he says have not taken their share of the responsibility in the refugee crisis. By changing the current immigration policy to EU minimum levels, “more asylum seekers will have to seek and obtain protection in other EU countries,” said Löfven. The announcement seemed particularly difficult for the Green’s deputy prime minister, Åsa Roman, who broke down into tears. She described the changes as drastic and draconian but necessary when 80,000 asylum seekers had arrived in the last two months.
Photo: Victor Svedberg, Flickr, Creative Commons
Sweden closes its doors
Speaking at a press conference in the afternoon of Nov. 24, the Prime Minister announced the government’s plan to drastically tighten asylum policies - a move which could see thousands of refugees turned away at the border.
WARNING: This product can cause mouth cancer.
December 15, 2015 Nordstjernan
The Pacific states. page 10
Swedish Vörtlimpa Don’t you just love the taste of vörtlimpa? Especially around Christmas time? Swedish vörtlimpa was originally made from the fermented brewer’s wort, produced in beer making. While there are many excellent recipes that still include stout beer as a key ingredient, it is also quite common to make variations flavored only with the combinations of orange rind, fennel, caraway, and anise seeds. Here’s a US-friendly recipe. Preparation time: 3 hours. Cooking time: 30 minutes.
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Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups orange juice, 1/4 cup butter, 1/3 cup dark molasses, 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, 1 tsp fennel seeds, 1 tsp caraway seeds, 1 tsp anise seeds, 1 pg active dry yeast (2 1/4 tsp), 1 Tbsp salt, 2 Tbsp freshly grated orange peel, 2 1/2 cups medium rye flour, 2 to 3 cups all-purpose or bread flour. Preheat oven to 300 degrees, turning off immediately once heated. In a small saucepan, combine orange juice, butter, molasses, brown sugar, fennel seeds, caraway seeds, and anise seeds. Bring to a low boil; maintain low boil for 5 minutes. Remove from burner and cool until mixture is lukewarm. Once liquid spice mixture is warm - but not hot - to the touch, whisk in active dry yeast, salt, and grated orange peel. Place liquid in mixing bowl and gradually stir in 2 1/2 cups rye flour. Continue to add in 2 to 3 cups of all-purpose flour until dough is soft and pliable (it will be slightly sticky). Let dough rest for 20 minutes. Either by hand or with the dough hook of your mixer, knead
dough lightly, for about 5 minutes, until dough is stiff and smooth. Place dough in bowl greased bowl with either oil or butter, flipping once to coat with grease. Cover bowl with clean towel, place in warmed oven, and let rise until double, about 1 hour. After dough is raised, punch down, divide into 2 halves, and shape into 2 round loaves. Place loaves on lightly floured baking pan or pizza paddle (if you use a bread stone in your oven). Cover with towel and let loaves rise on the counter until doubled, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375 degrees. When loaves have raised, place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until they are dark, crusty, and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. Yield: 2 loaves (12 servings).
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Nordstjernan, December 15, 2015
A collection of essays written for Nordstjernan. 1.800.827.9333 ext.10
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The columnist at age 6 or 7, stjärngosse at Lekskolan (Preschool)
Glögg and julskinka ... okay but, stjärngosse? Wet wool socks. I am standing in my grandmother’s vestibule, a very sizeable room to leave off your coats and shoes. At my young and clumsy age I have not noticed until it’s too late the invasion of wet snow from huge adult shoes pooling onto my feet inside wool socks. It could be worse and it is. I am a stjärngosse, wearing my father’s white dress shirt as a gown and I have a cone-shaped, tall hat on my head that does not feel very steady. Then I have to keep track of a stick with a golden star attached to it, a lollipop that cannot go into the mouth. The things they do to little boys who still need to
learn to tie shoes and tell time! But I know this is a very important occasion, on this day of Santa Lucia—to visit my mormor because my independent mother, who usually does not take orders or kindly so from her own mother, does not want any fuss today and it is clear we must go and make our visit. Yes, my little brother is in tow also, but at my age he doesn’t matter. Besides, my grandmother will give me all the attention. Not exactly Christmas sentiments, but I am sure I am not the only Swedish boy to have felt this way. Nor the only one who had to wear his father’s dress shirt (likely an old one with a hole for some event that borders on the holy) instead of having a costume sewn for the occasion. I felt poor and slighted for not
‘Stjärngossen’ The stjärngosse [Star boy], though not always a popular tradition with boys today, has his most likely origin in Catholic times and is, from its beginning, related to Epiphany rather than Lucia. When Sweden was Catholic (until Protestant Reformation in the 1500s), mass was held in Latin and common people didn’t under-
having a custom-made costume. I also did not like that all the fuss was made over a blond girl with candles in her hair. I really did not know anything about this celebration, other than I had to wear a stupid outfit, a girl with lots of candles in her hair got all the attention and I was pushed to visit my grandmother, whom I normally begged and loved to visit. It was probably the costume that was making me grouchy during this Christmas time event. To this day I don’t like to wear costumes. Even if it means champagne and adults losing their inhibitions as if a little mask would the trick. This is supposed to be a Christmas column, about celebrating Christmas in Sweden or doing it the Swedish way. I must summon some happy memories (note to all Swedes: summon happy Christmas memories). And I must forget about the Christmas column I wrote last year, about Santa Claus and Jesus at the mall. Thank God that one did not make it into Nordstjernan—it would really have put a damper on the holiday season and filled publisher Ulf Barslund Mårtensson’s mailbag with lumps of coal, I mean heated correspondence. Actually I do have many happy memories of Christmas in Sweden and Swedish Christmas celebrations, but in the interest of full disclosure I thought I must share the good, the bad and the ugly. Julskinka is what was so beautiful about Christmas in Sweden. Just looking at the specially prepared ham, seeing the breading on the outside, along with just the right sliver of fat—I am definitely a fan of Swedish Christmas and thank the porkers that continue to make it possible! I think one of the advantages of the Swedish Christmas is that we have lilla julafton and also julafton. Getting a present on the 23rd of December is great. Why put it off until the 25th. Even better is the Swedish custom of celebrating julafton on the 24th, at night. It happens at a time when young and old, early and late risers alike, are awake and can enjoy exchanging gifts. It is lovely not to see or smell family members and relatives au naturel. It is amazing how the more puritanical Americans share the way they look when they just wake up, have not yet brushed their teeth or taken a shower in their celebration of Christmas on the morning of December 25. In addition, why torture little children by having them wait so long for their presents. Give them the pardon of a Swedish lille julafton! What I really enjoyed about our Swedish Christmas was having a jultomte (Santa Claus) who distributed the gifts from a sack, and as we grew a little older, retrieved the gifts from around the tree. It wasn’t that I believed in Santa Claus—even during my formative years as a tortured stjärngosse I could tell it was my uncle behind the badly taped cotton beard, donned quickly after the evening meal
stand much of the sermons. For Epiphany the church used to arrange for a play to make it more understandable for churchgoers, with a dramatization of kings arriving to Bethlehem led by a boy carrying a bright star to guide them. And as for the “Staffansvisa,” in another, slightly tweaked interpretation of legend, the star boy represents “Staffan,” the holy Stefanus, one of the first Christians in history. According to this, Staffan was King Herod’s stable hand at the time of the birth of Christ. As he saw the star after the birth Staffan supposedly ex-
Born in Sweden and raised both in Europe and the U.S., Ulf Kirchdorfer , is as Swedish American as we come. Ulf, who has a Ph.D. in English, is currently teaching modern American literature and English composition at Darton College. He was selected the Carnegie Foundation U.S. Professor of the Year for the State of Georgia in 2001, and served as Board of Regents Distinguished Professor of Teaching and Learning in 1996-1997 and 1997-1998.
like indigestion. And the year my grandfather was a tomte (as in jultomte), I think my very young and little brother could have spotted him as a non-mythological creature right away. But that was the fun of it—silly adults! I liked having the jultomte officiating over the ceremony because he distributed the gifts in a way that created anticipation, right then and there, while gift-recipients-in-waiting, with bellies full, digested and listened for the next name to be called out. To this day, I prefer this Swedish gift distribution practice over the American one which I have observed to consist of everyone diving into their pile or stash, with feigned and faint interest in others’ gifts after-the-fact. Of course I am not saying that I was really interested as a child if my father received a razor or my brother got new clothes (or if I received new clothes for that matter). But the anticipation created by jultomten slowly giving out presents is laudatory, as much as the welfare state steadily giving is repulsive (see, I have to sneak in something ugly along with the good). On a serious note, whether you celebrate Christmas in Sweden, in America, anywhere on the globe, if you are Swedish, have Swedish relatives or family, or are generation X to the Xth power Swedish descendant and really know nothing about Sweden, a Swedish Christmas is worth celebrating. It comes, as do all Christmases, during a time of the year when expectations have been turned up to an incredibly high volume. Even if we know we should ignore this volume, it is very difficult to do so. By now and in this issue you have read all sorts of great ideas that can make Christmas Swedish and beautiful. Don’t stress over having to make every kind of dish imaginable and making everything look as beautiful as in Nordstjernan’s photos. Instead, choose one item, more if you are a holiday masochist, and take some time this season and really enjoy the item. As you eat julskinka or open the door to an Advent calendar, be in the moment. Give yourself the gift of contemplation or daydreaming. Even if it means remembering the indignities of being a stjärngosse. This has been Ulf Kirchdorfer, a.k.a. SuperSwede, wishing you a God Jul! And an even better Gott Nytt År.
superswede@nordstjernan.com
claimed that a larger king than Herod had been born. Herod, who according to history stoned all first-borns of Bethlehem at the time, became so angry that he had the young boy stoned. Saint Stephan is only mentioned in the New Testament, however, as a deacon in the early church of Jerusalem; he was stoned after defending his faith later in life. Saint Stephan is venerated as a saint and considered the first martyr of Christianity. December 26 is St. Stephen’s Day, the “Feast of Stephen.”
December 15, 2015 Nordstjernan
feature. page 12
God Jul och Gott Nytt År till alla våra släktingar och vänner
Anna & Håkan Back Suzie, Tim, Danny & Ryan Rooney Betsy & Steve Stapleton Maya Back
God Jul Gott Nytt År
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Three Crowns Ball in Chicago It was a festive evening of conversation, dinner and dance music as the Swedish American Museum celebrated its Three Crowns Ball gala at Evanston’s Crystal Ballroom on Nov. 7. The annual black-tieoptional, fund-raising event recognized the Center for Scandinavian Studies at North Park University and its director, Dr. Charles Peterson, also dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Peterson and his staff were honored for developing programs that promote academic and cultural interest in Nordic countries, as well as opportunities for students to study in Sweden for bicultural and bilingual careers in education and business. The evening also offered guests several opportunities to take home prizes from a silent auction, which included first-class tickets on Delta Airlines, a Koval Distillery tour, a Chicago Blackhawks jersey signed by Jonathan Toews, a precision Electrolux vacuum, sightseeing tours, and spa and salon packages. The program concluded with a raffle drawing that offered some lucky winners gift certificates, an overnight stay at the Union League Club including dinner and tickets to SACC-Chicago’s annual Lucia Luncheon. For more info on the museum, see www. swedishamericanmuseum.org
The Center for Scandinavian Studies at North Park University in Chicago and its director, Dr. Charles Peterson, were honored during the Three Crowns Ball, the annual dinner-dance of the Swedish American Museum.
Swedish American Museum executive director Karin Moen Abercrombie with Three Crowns Ball honoree Dr. Charles Peterson and emcee Erik Kinnhammar.
Mardee Kasik and Bob Gramen at the 2015 Three Crowns Ball.
The Three Crowns Ball chairman Kathy Voss and committee member Jodi Beavers.
Marie and Johan Landfors are considering items at the silent auction.
United Swedish Societies of New York
Emily and Olle Rostund with James and Adrienne Filkins.
December 15, 2015 Nordstjernan
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Treats from Sweden Want to know what Swedish celebrities make for Christmas? Of course you do. We do, too. On singer/entertainer/actress Pernilla Wahlgren’s blog we found the following recipe for “Snöbollar” (snowballs). We’ve been impressed with Pernilla’s cooking and baking skills in the past, and can’t wait to give this a try. Especially since it is so simple.
Pernilla’s snowballs Ingredients for 20-25 snowballs 7 oz. white chocolate 1 cup coconut flakes 1 Tablespoon lemon juice Additional coconut flakes for decoration 1. Melt the chocolate in a pot over low heat. 2. Add the coconut flakes and the lemon juice.
3. Put the pot aside until the batter is lukewarm. 4. Form little “snowballs” with your hands and roll these in a plate filled with coconut flakes. Put in the fridge until cold. Check out Pernilla’s blog for more of her recipes—in Swedish only: http://pernillawahlgren.se/bloggar/pernillas-blogg
Roasted gingerbread with glögg sauce and ice cream In times of glögg making, this also sounded like a winner. (A find in “Allt om mat” a few years ago) First, the most time-consuming and involved task is that of making the gingerbread. This particular recipe will give you an old-fashioned kind of gingerbread. Ingredients: 2 sticks butter 2 eggs 1 3/4 cups brown sugar 2 3/4 cups flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon cardamom 1/2 teaspoon ginger 1/2 teaspoon cloves 1/2 teaspoon grated orange peel 1 cup currants 10 dried and cut apricots peel from one orange 3/4 cup milk 1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F. Butter and bread a cake pan (make sure not to use a small pan). 2. Melt the butter. Mix egg and brown sugar. 3. In another bowl mix flour, salt, baking powder, spices, currants, and cut apricots. Pour the mixture into the egg batter with the melted butter. 4. Add the orange peel and the milk, and pour the batter in the cake pan. Bake in the lower part of the oven for about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Do a stick test to make sure the cake is dry inside. You might have to cover
Nordstjernan, December 15, 2015
Christmas cinnamon truffles Makes approx. 20 truffles< (Photo above)
Chop the chocolate coarsely • Bring cream, vanilla, Cinnamon, and honey to a boil • Pour the mix through a sieve over the chocolate and stir it until smooth, then mix in butter • Pour mixture into a dish and let it set at room temperature • Cut out cubes and roll them into small balls • Coat them with cocoa powder.
3½ oz dark chocolate ½ vanilla bean 2 cinnamon sticks 3½ tbsp whipping cream 2 tbsp honey, neutral flavor 2 tbsp butter cocoa powder
Christmas Brownie
the cake with aluminum foil the last 20 minutes so as to not have it too dark. Let cool. Glögg sauce Ingredients 1 cup red wine 1/2 cup sugar grated orange peel, cinnamon stick, cloves and ginger to taste 1 Tablespoon cornstarch 1/4 cup red wine 1. Bring to a boil wine, sugar, and spices and let simmer for 5 minutes. 2. Take the cold wine and stir the cornstarch into it, then add to the glögg mixture. Boil for 2-3 minutes. 3. Cut your gingerbread into thick slices and roast them in a dry, hot pan. Make sure to roast both sides. Serve the warm, roasted gingerbread with the glögg sauce and vanilla ice cream.
A friend in Sweden sent this wonderful recipe, which we recently tried and love! It’s a classic brownie with a twist: The chocolate has been replaced with Christmas spices; ginger, cardamom and cloves – a perfect addition to the julbord. For this Christmas brownie, use a springform pan. Ingredients: 100 g butter, 2 eggs, 1 cup sugar, 0.5 Tablespoon ginger, 0.5 Tablespoon cloves, 1 Tablespoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon cardamom, 2/3 cup flour.
“Pepparkaks-kladdkaka” – say it quickly several times in a row if you can – we call it Christmas brownie. Call it what you want, chances are you will eat it before you have even figured out a better name.
Instruction: Preheat oven to 390 F. Melt the butter and let it cool. Butter the springform pan. Beat
eggs and sugar, then stir in the melted butter, the spices and the flour. Pour the batter into the pan and let bake in the middle of the oven for 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle a bit of powdered sugar on top to make it look more festive.
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feature. page 15
Trust in troubled times [Tillit i en orolig tid] In Swedish, the word for “trust” is a palindrome. Whether read forward or backward the letters are the same word: tillit. “Tillit” expresses an attitude to life that is vital in every language and culture. “Tillit” is under threat, however, not least in our time, when the fear of terror is spreading across our world. What does fear do to us in the unknown, in an encounter with other cultures, traditions and religions, in the meeting with another, the homeless in the United States or a refugee in Sweden? A few weeks ago, many of us saw a short video in a news clip and on social media: A blindfolded Muslim man stood on a square in Stockholm with a sign in front of him which read: “I am a Muslim. Not the same as a terrorist. Do you trust me? I trust you.” There he stood, this Muslim man, blindfolded. Anyone would be able to hit him, spit on him or stick a knife in him. But he just stood there with eyes covered and arms outstretched — an expression of trust. Many people went up to him, children and adults who said hello and hugged him. Many said, “I trust you.” Some said, “I feel love” or “I’m going to hug you, are you prepared?” Also expressions of trust. The film clip is followed by the information that 142 people chose to embrace this brave man named Ashkan. Then comes a quotation: “This clip is particularly important in these times, we must not let fear take over and hatred grow.” I agree. This is an important film with an important message. Without trust, it is difficult to live. If we let the fear take over, we lose trust in one another. We live now in Advent — in anticipa-
Staffan Eklund.
tion of the baby whose birth we once again will celebrate and rejoice in. Jesus, who was born on the fringe of society, in a stable, and who then became a refugee. Maybe it’s just the defenseless child that can teach us to live in trust? A small child can really not do more than receive: The love and care from the next of kin. Through this the child shows complete trust. I pray: God, you come to us as a child. Time and again, you do it. In the newborn baby’s eyes you exist in a breathtaking presence. I glimpse those eyes sometimes. Help me remember that it is you. Amen (Prayer by Bishop Caroline Krook) Staffan Eklund is the pastor at the Church of Sweden/Svenska Kyrkan in California www. svenskakyrkan.se/losangeles.
Ordet ”tillit” är ett palindrom. Vare sig jag läser framåt eller bakåt så bildar bokstäverna samma ord: tillit. Men ordet uttrycker också en livshållning som är livsnödvändig – och hotad, inte minst i vår tid, när rädslan för terror breder ut sig över vår värld. Vad gör den rädslan med oss i mötet med det okända, i mötet med andra kulturer, traditioner och religioner, i mötet med den andre, en hemlös här i USA eller en flykting hemma i Sverige? För ett par veckor sedan kunde många av oss se en kort film på ett par minuter via ett nyhetsklipp: en muslimsk man med förbundna ögon står på ett torg i Stockholm med en skylt framför sig, där det stod: ”Jag är muslim. Inte samma sak som terrorist. Litar du på mig? Jag litar på dig?”. Där står han, denne muslimske man, med förbundna ögon. Vem som helst skulle kunna slå till honom, spotta på honom eller sticka en kniv i honom. Men han står bara där med utsträckta armar - ett uttryck av tillit. Man får se många personer komma fram till honom, både barn och vuxna som hälsar på honom och kramar om honom. Många säger: ”jag litar på dig.” Någon annan säger: jag känner kärlek, eller ”Jag tänker krama dig, är du beredd? Också uttryck av tillit. Filmklippet följs av uppgiften att 142 personer valde att krama denne modige man, vid namn Ashkan. Sedan kommer ett citat: ”Detta klipp är extra viktigt i dessa tider, vi får inte låta rädslan ta över och hatet växa”. Jag håller med.
Vi lever i Advent – i väntan på barnet, vars födelse vi på nytt får fira och glädjas över. Jesus som föddes i utkanten, i ett stall och som sedan blev ett flyktingbarn. Kanske är det bara det värnlösa barnet som kan lära oss att leva i tillit? Ett litet barn kan ju egentligen inget annat än att ta emot: kärlek och omsorg från de närmaste. Genom detta visar barnet fullkomlig tillit. Jag ber: Gud, du kommer till oss som ett barn. Gång på gång gör du det. I det nyfödda barnets blick finns du i en hisnande närvaro. Jag skymtar den blicken ibland. Hjälp mig att inte glömma att det är du. Amen (Bön av Biskop Caroline Krook) Jag vill önska dig en God Adventstid! Staffan Eklund Kyrkoherde Svenska kyrkan i Los Angeles och San Francisco www.svenskkyrkan.se/losangeles
Blind Muslim Trust
En viktig film med ett viktigt budskap. Utan tillit är det svårt att leva. Låter vi rädslan ta över förlorar vi tilliten till varandra.
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Old fashioned favorites Cookies belong on every dessert table at Christmas. Here are two simple and quick recipes for two old fashioned favorites from Sweden. Cut gingersnaps
(Skurna pepparkakor) Yields 75 cookies
125 grams (4 ounces) almonds 200 grams (1/2 pound or 1 stick) butter 180 grams (1 cup) sugar 140 grams (1/2 cup) Golden Syrup (You can get the syrup at Sockerbit in New York or online at scandinavianbutik.com or www.scottshometownfoods.com) 2 tsp ginger 2 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp cloves 1 tsp bicarbonate 360 grams (3-1/2 cups) all purpose flour Turn oven to 300˚F. Chop the almonds roughly. Stir butter, sugar, syrup, spices, bicarbonate, almonds and flour. Put the dough on your baking surface and work it until it is supple. Split in two and shape thick rolls. Wrap in plastic and put in refrigerator for a couple hours or until next day. Cut the rolls into thin slices and put on trays prepped with parchment paper or butter. Bake for 12 minutes.
Raspberry cave
(Hallongrottor) Yields 50 cookies 200 grams (1/2 pound or 1 stick) butter 1 tsp vanilla sugar 90 grams (1/2 cup) sugar 270 grams (2-1/2 cups) flour Fill: 1/2 cup raspberry jam
Mix the ingredients. Split the dough in two. Make flat and wrap in plastic, refrigerate for 30 min. Make four rolls and cut each into 12 slices. Put on the pan and make a thumbprint and fill with jam. Bake at 350˚F for 10 minutes. Ulrika Pettersson, who shared these recipes, knows a thing or two about cookies. She was born and raised outside Östersund in Jämtland, in what she describes as a rather large and loving family. “Also, growing up you could safely say there were no holds barred when it came to cookies.” She was active in sports, played soccer and snowboarded but also photographed and began as a photo assistant at age 20. This led her to graphic design and education at the Miami Ad School. After her education she moved to Stockholm and worked as a designer for 10 years. “In Stockholm, I met my husband who’s in the same industry; and eleven months after our daughter Emmy arrived, we moved to
Cut gingersnap cookies, Skurna pepparkakor
Raspberry Cave, Hallongrotta
New York. We wanted to try something new. I think it’s in my DNA to try new things and try our different directions in life. I freelanced as a designer but felt it had just become a job. “I have to follow my heart when I do things, so I sat down and made a list of things I enjoy doing. I seriously checked if I could become a soccer trainer but felt the road may be a bit too long. Baking is something I have always done and it ended up in third place on my list. I saw an opportunity to develop this: the great Swedish tradition of gathering over coffee, over fika, seven kinds of cookies, etc. And the simplicity of the cookies — a few good ingredients and it becomes so good!“ Said and done. Unna Bakery (www.unnabakery.com) was born. Ulrika found inspiration for Unna Bakery’s graphic identity from traditional coffee gatherings, which always include lace tablecloths and flowers on the table. “The logo has its origin in old stamps for porcelain,” she says. “And there is a U and B, which has became my symbol.” The response to Ulrika’s homemade cookies has been good. She spent fall weekends at the Gansevoort Market in New York, offering her delicious cookies to the finicky New York crowd. She’s at present trying to find another market hall, however, since a bakery has opened on the Gansevoort premises. Her cookies are also sold at Schaller & Weber, at Budin Cafe, Scandinavia House and Scandinavian Butik in Connecticut. “And online course!” Ulrika enthusiastically adds. “Recently the local Swedish Chamber of Commerce used my cookies in goody bags, and the Swedish fashion brand Gudrun Sjödén used me and my cookies for events. I’m constantly working to find new places where the combination of high quality homemade and the traditions of the homeland complement each other.” For inspiration or to get information on where you can find the cookies, follow Unna Bakery on Twitter, Instagram (@unnabakery) or FB (/unnabakery). For more general info, see www.unnabakery.com
Ulrika Pettersson of Unna Bakery
God Jul www.smorgasbandet.com
December 15, 2015 Nordstjernan
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Göteborg, Sweden and Global
True to form an iconic brand rebounds— Volvo is known for building unique cars, and now, after years of decline, sales are on the rise in America. Since day one, the new Geely-Volvo plan has been consistent for five years: to launch new engines, new technical solutions and brand new models. And the effects of this ambitious Swedish multi-billion dollar development program are showing up in record sales. In the U.S. sales are up nearly 20 percent over (October) 2014, and the first new car of the new model program — the all-new Volvo XC90 — recently became the 2016 Motor Trend SUV of the Year. That’s good news for the company that closed a deal for a $500 million factory in South Carolina this summer, its first U.S. plant. Above: Next new model, the S90 to be launched to the public in Detroit in January, 2016.
The new Volvo plant in the U.S. is set to open in 2018; but picking up your own new car at the factory in Sweden will still be an option, in fact it has never been more popular. Hardcore Volvo fans continue their pilgrimage to the classic factory on the outskirts of Göteborg, Sweden. Travel
Sweden
By the end of November and first half of December it is time for friends or colleagues in Sweden to gather at restaurants for the “Julbord” - the Christmas dinner table - a buffet combining traditional Christmas fare with the delights of the ordinary smörgåsbord. We saw a statistic somewhere that roughly 70% of the employed in Sweden are invited to a Julbord by their companies. That’s over three million guests... and a good start for many restaurants if the numbers hold. Image above from the classic julbord at Operakällaren, Stockholm. For more info, see www.operakallaren.se
Amie and Mark Mitchell of Simsbury, Connecticut (right) were among the first Americans to pick up the New Volvo XC 90 at the Volvo factory in Göteborg last summer. Mark, himself a Volvo man, celebrated his 50th anniversary with the iconic Swedish carmaker. (Indeed, the Volvo dealer worked for the tourist delivery program in Sweden in 1965 when he was only 16 years old.) “The program continues to be one of the best deals in the world if you want a new car and a great place to travel to and explore,” says Mitchell, who picked up his twenty-first car this way in August. “Sweden is a wonderful country to visit and the new Volvo is a fantastic way to get around in the charming Nordic country. You buy a car and get a vacation.” Mitchell and Amie, who is from Stockholm, visit Sweden every summer: “We go back and visit Amie’s folks and eat her mom’s great food! I love Sweden and its pace of life. We love to golf and explore the Baltic. If you need any travel advice please check us out on the web at mitchellvolvo.com and we will be happy to help you. If you go online at www.volvocars.com/us the whole Volvo Overseas Delivery program is explained.”
The Mitchells of Connecticut picking up their XC90 in Göteborg.
Herr & Fru | Mr. & Mrs.
SWEDISH ANTIQUES & GIFTS
Handcrafts & Gifts from Sweden — Vintage Art, Ekelund Linens, Bengt & Lotta Designs Gotland Fur Creations — all displayed in a historic Victorian farmhouse in Olney, MD near Washington D.C. Local on the Web!
Her: “Finally, lutfisk!”
Her: “No Christmas without lutfisk.”
Him: “But none of us like it.”
‘Name’s days’ of the Swedish Calendar: /Kommande två veckors namnsdagar
God Jul Gustavian Furniture Mora Clocks Ekelund Linens Jobs Purses & Trays Paintings Mona Svard Products
Handcrafts & Gifts from Sweden displayed in an 1870 yellow Victorian farmhouse in Olney, MD, near Washington D.C.
16644 Georgia Ave., Olney, MD 20832 301.570.2557 • www.klaradal.com
Nordstjernan, December 15, 2015
Food f Gifts f Decorations 1.800.851.3466 1116 Commercial Street, Astoria, OR
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In New York In Stockholm In Kiruna Lund In Los Angeles
December 15: Sunrise 7.12 a.m. 8.39 a.m. Under the horizon 8.31 a.m. 6.52 a.m.
Sunset 4.29 p.m. 2.46 p.m. 3.33 p.m. 4.46 p.m.
Her: “I like the tradition.”
December 16 December 17 December 18 December 19 December 20 December 21 December 22 December 23 December 24 December 25 December 26 December 27 December 28 December 29 December 30 December 31
Assar Stig Abraham Isak Israel/Moses Tomas Natanael/Jonatan Adam Eva Juldagen Stefan/Staffan Johannes/Johan Benjamin Natalia/Natalie Abel/Set Sylvester
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New York, NY
Christmas Season started early in New York with the annual church bazaar, which typically draws thousands of eager shoppers during the three-day event. A busy time for all staff and volunteers—above Maja Inde, deacon at the church, is busy refilling the shelves with bags of the ever-popular kanelbulle. (Quite possibly among the world’s three best cinnamon buns, after your spouse’s and mother’s, i.e., ...) More Travel
A snice Swedish hotel
You’ve likely heard of the Ice Hotel, but did you know it’s made new every year? The more than 65 rooms of the 2016 Ice Hotel have literally been carved over the last 5-6 weeks, anticipating the season’s grand opening date on December 11, 2015. Since the first Ice Hotel in 1989, a new hotel is built after the previous one melts in the spring. Among the deluxe suites, ice and snow rooms, there are also 19 hand crafted art suites this year, whose artists and themes were chosen from some
130 submission ideas like “the elephant in the room,” “hibernation,” “counting sheep,” “the great escape” and more. Yes, the suites are cold — they are carved of natural ice and snow (known as snice), after all — but there are warm room options, too. There’s even an Ice Church, open especially for weddings. At the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden, winter adventures await — both outdoors and indoors. For more info, see www.icehotel.com
Jukkasjärvi, Sweden
Imagine a large chamber built entirely of snow and ice. There are shiny ice tables,. ice benches covered with reindeer skin, and an ice-bar where drinks made with vodka and brightly-colored Nordic berry juice are served in rectangular glasses made…you guessed it…entirely of ice. The barflies who come to stand in heavy overalls and odd-looking fur hats with flaps to sip these cool cocktails come from all over the world— Britain, Japan, America, Australia and everywhere in between. It feels like one has stumbled into a futuristic scene from a Star Wars film, but this is just part of the charm of Sweden’s Ice Hotel. Since it was started in 1989, the Ice Hotel in the former Saami village of Jukkkasjärvi has attracted thousands of visitors, many of whom voluntarily choose to spend the night cuddled up on an ice bed (see Survival Guide). The hotel is recreated every winter, starting at the end of October, when artists and builders start work, ahead of the first guests who arrive in mid-December. The hotel, which is built of 30,000 tons of snow and 4,000 tons of ice, attracts more than 14,000 guests each season. In addition to the Icebar, shown above, visitors can check out the Icehotel cinema, the Iceart exhibit or the Ice-church, where weddings and christenings are frequently held.
10 Tips for sleeping on a bed of ice 1) Don’t shower just before you go to sleep, because moisture on your body can freeze. 2) Change into dry socks before you sleep; warm, moist skin will give you cold feet. 3) Make sure that you have selected a sleeping bag with a zipper that works; we guarantee it won’t be fun to fumble about with the zipper in your private igloo. 4) Make sure that the sleeping bag is long enough; you won’t want to have your entire head exposed. 5) Don’t forget to wiggle into the shroud-like inner-bag the Icehotel provides, which goes inside your regular sleeping bag; you’ll love it. 6) Pull the zipper tightly shut so that only your nose is exposed, you can even pull the shroud up over the nose if you want. 7) Don’t keep your entire head inside the bag, even if sorely tempted; remember, condensation? 8) Wear long johns and a t-shirt to bed; morning clothes can be kept warm under your sleeping bag; the felt liners of boots go inside the bag. 9) Above all, don’t share your ice-bed with someone who snores 10) If you have to sleep beside a snorer because of marriage or bad luck, have a phone or iPod equipped with soothing music close at hand, to drown out the sound.
FOODS - CLOTHING - HOME - CRAFT - CULTURE
NORDIC MARKETPLACE
Creative Advent ... We found the year’s so far most fun and creative candles for the four Sundays of Advent at Connecticut’s Scandinavian Butik, www. scandinavianbutik.com
December 15, 2015 Nordstjernan
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Photography: Henrik Trygg – Stockholm Visitors Board
Kinneviksgranen, the Christmas tree at Skeppsbron in Stockholm, annually given to the city’s people by the Kinnevik Group. At 125 feet, allegedly the tallest real Christmas tree in the world.
Christmas in Sweden: Holiday like no other Christmas is indeed a serious matter in all of Scandinavia. Not serious in the true meaning of the word, but rather it’s considered a time of year when on a mandatory basis you take time off to celebrate with friends and family. Whether due to pagan traditions, the generally dark Scandinavian winters or an urge to socialize during a time when travel inside the countries isn’t always so inviting, it is there, and it is important to make the most of it. In case we miss touching base with you again prior to the actual days - wishing you just this, this Christmas. GOD JUL While children are probably most focused on Santa’s visit, for a majority of adults the food has an integral role. Christmas food has always been especially important to us, and this will not change. Christmas is based on traditions that go back decades and centuries, and each family has developed its own “rituals” for this important holiday period. What we do have in common is that certain ingredients and components appear in virtually every Christmas buffet. This goes back to how we used to make use of everything that was available at Christmas time. This, in combination with modern-day preserving methods, has resulted in a number of traditions. A Swedish Christmas is a cross between both heathen and Christian traditions. The actual word for Christmas, jul, can be traced back to Old Swedish. During heathen times
Nordstjernan, December 15, 2015
we celebrated a midwinter sacrifice at about the time of the winter solstice, the day when the sun returned to the northern latitudes. It wasn’t difficult for the wise and ingenious priests to puzzle together both the heathen and Christian beliefs when Sweden became christianized. By approximately 100 A.D. the Church had already established December 25th to be the date of Jesus birth. One can also explain why just Christmas ham wound up on the Christmas smorgasbord. The wild boar was probably tamed sometime during the Bronze Ages. Its meat was tender and succulent and soon became the cult animal of the Vikings. Valhalla was the Vikings paradise and where warriors met to hold nightly feasts. Every night they dined on a special boar named Sarimer which was roasted over an open pit. Beautiful amazons served mjöd, a beer brewed from honey and hops, to the warriors. Then, abracadabra, each morning lively little Sarimar reappeared in his pen once again, grunting happily and eagerly awaiting a new slaughter for the evening feast. Dried fish, preferably cod and ling, were the Vikings most important provision during their long journeys at sea. This eventually evolved into lutfisk and wasn’t served more often during times of fasting than it is today. During the Catholic period in Sweden the Christmas fast wasn’t over until Christmas Day. That is why we still dine on lutfisk on Christmas Eve.
Rice pudding is a later tradition. People used to put both coins and small figurines of the Christ Child in the pudding; nowadays we sometimes use an almond instead. The one who gets the almond - and has come of age - will marry during the coming year. In addition, everyone must try to make up a little verse while eating the pudding. No poet laureate has ever emerged thanks to this tradition… but it’s great fun! The Swedish Christmas actually begins on December 13th with the celebration of Lucia, which combines a tradition from the Western part of Sweden together with an Italian saint. By the time “lusse” rolled around every year, all of the autumn farm chores of slaughtering, brewing, and baking had been completed. Both city dwellers and country residents had time to socialize now, and there was such an abundance of food that everyone - almost was able to make a glutton of himself. Our modern Christmas smörgåsbord is very lavish but also features much fruit and greens, thereby making it much more balanced than its predecessor. We pickle two or three different kinds of herring and make homemade liver pate or sausage from family recipes handed down from one generation to the other. Now, however, we don’t devour everything on a single occasion but rather spread out our dining enjoyment throughout the holiday season.
We have even begun to follow the AngloSaxon tradition of dining on turkey on Christmas Day, something unthinkable only 30 years ago. In every Swedish home there exists a special little pot filled with simmering spiced wine just waiting for guests who might pay a visit during the period from Lucia until Tjugondag Knut, that is to say January 13th, the day when Christmas is thrown out. This is literally the case now as this is the date when one usually throws out a Christmas tree that is shedding needles badly and seems to have done its part to enhance the Christmas season. We exchange Christmas gifts on Christmas Eve. Our Swedish Santa is anglicized and allied to the Catholic Bishop Nicolaus, Santa Claus. In most Swedish families the father suddenly needs to run an errand at about four o’clock in the afternoon on Christmas Eve. While he’s away, Santa usually shows up carrying his heavy sack… Long ago the Christmas smörgåsbords of different provinces distinguished themselves from one another. For example, in Hälsingland one churned much more butter at Christmas and moulded two cones in which a branched candle was placed. There was one branch for each family member. The butter from these cones was never eaten but remained on the table as a symbol of family fortune and was considered to be an extra blessing. In Hälsingland, one also ate a roast of veal seasoned with cloves instead of ham. Ulf Barslund Martensson, Staff research and Professor Jan-Öjvind Swahn
feature. page 21
Swedish Art circa 1915 Rediscovering buried treasures from the World’s Fair of 1915, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. Ted Olsson, San Francisco ted@nordstjernan.com
In October the DeYoung Museum began its retrospective of the fine art displayed at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts (PFA) during the world’s fair of 1915. Curator Jim Ganz, who hosted the superb Zorn retrospective, had quite a task in choosing which art to exhibit: PFA had 120 galleries for national and international galleries, and the DeYoung had only a few galleries for the retrospective … and, of course, everything depended upon how many of the works from the 1915 world’s fair he could locate. Ganz decided to focus on three areas: onethird of the exhibit would be on American artists shown at the 1915 fair; another third focused on the seminal spectrum of French Renaissance of the previous quarter century; the last third about the foreign art exhibited in an annex added behind the PFA, which opened half-way through the life of the fair. Sweden, France and Italy had substantial exhibit space in the PFA, but Ganz’s foreign section in the retrospective focuses on the “annexed” art of Norway, Germany, Hungary and Italy. After the fair, the Palace of Fine Arts was preserved from demolition, and the man who selected the additional foreign art used the PFA to show these new works, forming the basis of the city’s Museum of Modern Art. To give a perspective on the phenomenal Swedish art in the 1915 exhibit, we arranged for an illustrated lecture by Elsebeth Welander-Berggren, executive director of the Sven-Harry Museum in Stockholm: “Svensk Circa 1915: Swedish Art at the Time of San Francisco’s Panama Pacific International Exposition.” Welander-Berggren is an associate professor at Gothenburg University, the for-
Painter and interior designer Carl Larsson (1853-1919) had one gallery to himself at the Swedish pavillion. Julafton - Christmas Eve.
mer director of Prince Eugene’s Waldermarsudde Museum, and an author of many books.
Swedish art in context
Welander-Berggren explained that few countries had participated as much as Sweden in American expositions. The 1915 world’s fair would have been the seventh in three decades that Swedes had exhibited here, so it’s understandable that they weren’t initially eager to participate again. But the local Swedish population here, led by the Swedish American Patriotic League — a congress of local clubs founded after San Francisco’s first world’s fair of 1894 — raised substantial sums and commitments of support to change the government’s decision, and Sweden Please call for a consultation: became the first country (650) 903-2232 to commit to participate in this fair. Laurie A. Bonilla, Attorney at Law Swedish art was be800 El Camino Real West, Suite 180 coming recognized in Mountain View, CA 94040 both Europe and Amerhttp://www.avvo.com/attorneys/94040-ca-laurie-bonilla-18001.html ica. Many articles in www.bonillaimmigration.com the widely read English magazine, The Studio, Naturalization, employment-based, and family-based circulated between 1897 immigration legal matters in Santa Clara, San Francisco, and 1911. Anders Zorn’s Marin, Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Mateo counties. reputation as a socialite portraitist was as well Ms. Bonilla has been practicing Immigration Law since 1987. known in the U.S. (espeShe is a member of the Washington State Bar and is authorized by Federal Law to represent persons before the US CIS. cially on the east coast) as John Singer Sargent’s. Zorn and many others
U.S. Citizenship: Why not Now?
had abandoned Sweden’s Royal Academy to found Konstärsförbundet (Federation of Radical Artists) to experiment with new art. Welander-Berggren said when it was thought of at all, Sweden was perceived as ancient yet modern, sometimes even as an alternative or successor to European art. Swedish art was awarded medals at international fairs and bought by prestigious museums. And all this from a small country in a remote, cold part of Europe whose population was still mostly rural. At the time, in the midst of a huge wave of emigration from Sweden to the U.S. (1880-1920), there was a large and flourishing Swedish immigrant community here in San Francisco, which could now afford the art of its homeland. Welander-Berggren quoted American author Maud Oliver from 1904: “In no country in the world is art more national, more animated, or more true than it is in Sweden today.” Of course we don’t know to what degree Oliver was a prophet crying in the wilderness, but it is Welander-Berggren’s professional opinion that while the Art Nouveau style was intense in Europe, Sweden was creating its own unique national romantic style, using some of the same vocabulary. What was distinctive, she claimed — given its geography, climate and long, dark winters — was the Swedish culture’s obsession with light and nature, both a melancholy and nostalgic wistfulness in paintings and folk songs, while artists were simultaneously awakening to the beauty of the commonplace. Welander-Berggren complimented San Francisco for its sheer audacity of hosting the world’s fair just nine years after the city’s
devastating fire and as war was consuming Europe. Of course when planning began, countries were not at war, but it was equally amazing that, big or small, more than 50 nations from around the world were willing to participate in this fair: The PFA held art from Japan, France, Uruguay, Italy, Cuba, China, the Philippines, Sweden, Portugal, Argentina, Holland, Austria, Hungary and Norway. Even with the official backing of the Swedish government and the local support of Swedish-Americans, Swedish art would not have been at this fair but for the singular contribution of industrialist and Swedish Foreign Secretary Knut Wallenberg, who privately donated the additional SEK 50,000 (about $5740) to cover the cost of insuring the art that was sent here. With that Elsebeth Welander-Berggren set the parameters of her talk: “Svensk c.1915.” She had hoped to focus her lecture entirely on the Swedish art at the fair; however she found that all the reliable sources in Sweden — the Swedish National Library, the major museums, the Swedish Handicraft Association — were bare: no photos, no articles, nothing. Perhaps this was a result of the effects of war and severe internal political problems. So, rather than presenting on specific pieces of art, she instead spoke about the Swedish artists who exhibited at the fair.
The Swedish Pavilion
The remarkable Swedish Pavilion, with its 100-foot tower, was designed by Sweden’s master architect/artist, Ferdinand Boberg. He was famous in Sweden and around the Continues on page 22
December 15, 2015 Nordstjernan
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Like glass and ceramics, Sweden has a venerable tradition in silver, dating back at least as far as the 13th century, with a gold and silver gild dating back to the 14th century and lasting until the mid-19th century. So, silverware was also displayed in the Swedish Pavilion, featuring its two famous firms: C.G.Hallberg (est. 1824) and The many Swedish artists at the time represented a wide variety of styles—Here John Bauer’s Prinsessa Princess K.Anderson (est. in a mystic forest accompanied by trolls, left, and Bruno Liljefors’s Vinterhare Winter Hare (1908). 1892). By 1905, the Wallander and Gunnar Wennerberg again. latest year Welander-Berggren could find Continued from page 19 This is noteworthy for at the time, according data, the nation produced almost 10,000 to Welander-Berggren: “It was revolutionary pounds of silverware for a population of more world for designing many of Sweden’s build- for artists to be involved in the design of ap- that five million. The identifiable objects were ings at other world fairs. Most other nations plied art.” two pieces by Ferdinand Boberg, one for distributed their industrial exhibits among Before this period Europeans used nameless K.Anderson and one for C.G.Hallberg. The those of all nations in the fair’s themed pal- artisans to create prints, which could be mass- cloissoné case and stunning metallic urn were aces typically dominated by U.S. exhibits. produced for transfer to ceramic production. more decorative than earlier simple coffee and Yet, by retaining all its exhibits in its own As in the case of glass, these artists were then tea service pieces. pavilion, Sweden gave a comprehensive view inspired by applying their new Swedish floral of its government, society, culture, industry, palette to decorate bone china, earthenware The Palace of Fine Arts technology and entrepreneurism. It retained and stoneware. This became so popular that With that the lecturer turned her attention to 157 exhibits in the pavilion, including more the factories had to hire more employees; by the art in Sweden’s nine galleries in the Palthan a dozen exhibits on Swedish companies the turn of the century, Gustavsberg employed ace of Fine Arts. Showing us the map of the and organizations, many of which are still 500, Rörstrand 900. These works in glass and interior galleries of the PFA we saw that like prominent today. ceramics were clean, stylized and gleaming: Sweden, several other countries had multiple The Swedish Pavilion also housed social simply stunning. galleries, too. However, Sweden’s galleries rooms for lectures and 17 exhibits of its cultural fine arts and handicrafts. Among these exhibits were etchings by Zorn and Boberg, and paintings by Kallstenius and Schultzberg, as well as furniture and decorative arts, such as textiles, which Welander-Berggren believes may have been the same ones displayed at Sweden’s Baltic Exhibition in Malmö, 1914. The exhibit with the Swedish dolls in provincial costumes will be featured in February at the reopening of the Hearst Museum on the UC Berkeley campus.
The decorative arts
Turning to Sweden’s decorative arts, Welander-Berggren presented Sweden’s tradition in glass, which began in the 17th century and would have been best represented here by Kosta (est. 1742) and Reijmyre (est. 1810) — Orrefors wasn’t founded until 1916. Glass and crystal, so significant to Swedes for the way it captures light, was the medium identified with the Nordic country’s artistic superiority for another three-quarters of a century. Sweden’s leadership in modern glass manufacturing was heralded in 1900 when Reijmyre invited women to join its design team, not just as typical cheap labor. In her discussion of the textile artists, Welander-Berggren noted that all Swedish women, particularly rural women, were superb and artistic at sewing, embroidering and weaving, according to their provincial or local traditions and their individual artistic pride. Yet the artists shown at PFA were Alf Wallander and Gunnar Wennerberg — men. Ceramics from Sweden’s two most accomplished factories, Rörstrand (est. 1726) and Gustavsberg (est. 1825) were distinctive among its decorative arts for having fine industrial designers — among them Alf
Nordstjernan, December 15, 2015
Elsebeth Welander-Berggren provided such delight and insight into the superb Swedish art on exhibit at PPIE 1915.
were cleverly arranged: Rather like IKEA, one had to view much of each gallery’s art in order to pass into the next gallery. WelanderBerggren praised Sweden’s Commissioner of Art, Anshelm Schultzberg, not only for his selection of all Swedish art, but for the esthetic displays in his galleries. Among Sweden’s constellation of artists, Larsson, Fjaestad, Liljefors each had a gallery of his own. Zorn, while represented in U.S.-borrowed etchings, was not otherwise represented at the fair for fear of sending his art abroad at a time of war. The gallery for Gustaf Fjaestad — known as “the master of the white frost” — featured his beautiful large tapestry “Running Water,” sculpture and furniture, as well as his paintings, for which he received the Medal of Honor, as well as a silver medal for his engravings. His paintings of nature in winter contributed to the national romantic style. Commissioner Schultzberg had nine paintings. Having won the King’s Medal at age 24 and a scholarship to the Royal Academy, he was appointed Art Commissioner for St. Louis 1904 World’s Fair and other fairs. He too was remarkable for his winter scenes. One of the remarkable stories in the presentation was of the artist Elsa Backlund-Celsing. The name Celsing is so unusual in Sweden that Welander-Berggren was able to track down the artist’s grandson, who showed her the two Elsa Backlund-Celsing paintings that were actually at the fair. Welander-Berggren was able to share photos of these paintings. In the presentation, artists were represented by other pieces in their bodies of work but not the ones shown at the fair: Emil Österman’s large painting of reigning King Gustav V was shown; Axel Törneman was represented as one of Sweden’s first expressionist painters; John Bauer had several colorful works and whimsical fairy sculptures; Erik Hedberg was one of Sweden’s best landscape painters; Gottfrid Kallstenius painted romantic and melancholic paintings; Axel Fahlcrantz had representative work; and Axel Kulle was represented by “The Skåne Fisherman” in this lecture. Among Sweden’s Gold Medal winners were: Oscar Hullgren, whose paintings focus on water, air and light; Alfred Bergström, a landscape painter; Wilhelm Behm, painted nostalgic landscapes; Helmer Osslund, an initiator of Swedish modernism; and Oscar Bergman, a woodlands landscape painter. Carl Larsson had one gallery to himself, centered on his huge midsummer idyll on the far wall, as seen in one of Schultzberg’s photos of the galleries, loaned by Charlotte Bernstrom. Without being able to identify all the paintings on the wall, Welander-Berggren noted that this gallery looked exactly like the Larsson room at Sweden’s 1914 Baltic exposition. She showed us nostalgic paintings from Larsson’s book A Home (1898), which sold almost half a million copies and established the folk art interior decoration standard for Sweden. The Bruno Liljefors room showed paintings, tapestries and busts on pedestals. Liljefors was famous for his pictures of animals and we were shown seven of these — all were beautiful, but “Sea Eagle Returning with Prey to its Nest” was notable for its rugged drama on rough seas. Continues on next page
feature. page 25
The last Swedish gallery consisted of 129 drawings, prints and etchings with 57 sculptures. Welander-Berggren showed photos of three pictures actually displayed at PPIE: Alfred Sahlén’s June Night (1911), Ernst Norlind’s Study Head and Torsten Schonberg’s etching The King’s Barque (1913) — the very boat that bore King Gustav and Queen Silvia to their marriage, as it did their daughter, Crown Princess Victoria and Prince Daniel to theirs. Also in this gallery were an exquisite row of six subtle female sculptures by Ruth Milles (sister of the sculptor Carl Milles of Millesgården fame), represented by two photos. Finally we saw David Edstrom’s bas-relief, Ellen Key, which had been shown at PFA. Altogether in the nine galleries, Sweden had 440 works of art in the Palace of Fine Arts (the U.S. had 4,556). According to WelanderBerggren, 42 artists were represented with 252 oil paintings, 16 artists with 57 sculptures, and 37 with 129 drawings, engravings and etchings. And barely 20 percent of those were female artists. Swedes took home two Grand Prizes (Bruno Liljefors and Carl Larsson), two Medals of Honor, 14 gold medals, 12 silver medals, and one bronze medal. Elsebeth Welander-Berggren concluded by saying, “The objects around us show our reality, our identity and our dreams. Together they root us to both the past and the present of our culture.” n
Another Swedish artist of the time
“Svensk Circa 1915: Swedish Art at the Time of San Francisco’s Panama Pacific International Exposition” was followed by a presentation by Whitney Chadwick of SFSU’s Fine Arts Department. Professor Chadwick spoke about the contemporaneous expressionist and prolific Swedish artist Hilma af Klint, now famous but in her time barely known because she rarely exhibited — and when she did, it was typical portraits or landscapes. Chadwick explained that af Klint (18621944) was a remarkable artist whose abstract paintings predated those of Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian and other modernists. Af Klint indicated in her will that her paintings, notes and other materials should not be released until 20 years after her death, so she had no influence upon artists or the art loving public of her time, although she has since been highly regarded. One of the most interesting aspects of af Klint’s work during the first decade and a half of the 20th century, was how it paralleled so many scientific discoveries and technological marvels. It expressed how much any lifestyle depended upon understandings of natural phenomena and innovators harnessing forces of time and space, and revolu-
tions in the sciences of geology, evolution, physics and astronomy. Hilma af Klint’s artistic experiments were as rigorous and documented as the experiments of her scientific and technical peers. She was prescient in the proscription in her will for it is very likely that none of her work would have been understood or appreciated by the general public of that time. Having been trained at the Royal Academy in portraits and landscapes, her technical command Svanen (The Swan), No. 17 (1914-1915) by Hilma af Klint of her media was superb, but af Klint’s private pictures ex- the justly famed revolutionary French paintceeded the grasp of most contemporary ers at the beginning of last century, while viewers. She wisely waited until others yet we are ignorant of many of these worthy unknown had primed the world for her art. Swedish artists? For some, fame is enduring; for some, it Consul General Barbro Osher, herself a great connoisseur of art, remarked that may be long in coming, fleeting or withheld: many of the Swedish artists whose work whatever will we, will be — “que sera sera.” was displayed in 1915 were unknown to so Perhaps we can learn as much by searching many of us. What is it that makes one person the past as we do celebrating today’s artists, a cherished classic, while another, equally or foreseeing future ones in our midst. or more talented, is unknown? How many Ted Olsson other accomplished yet unknown artists are there? How is it that we appreciate and adore
See for yourself!
Farmer in Brittany, Axel Törneman. (1880-1925)
Neglinge Gård (Neglinge Farm) by Oskar Bergman. (1879-1963)
Bilderboken (The Picture Book) Elsa Backlund-Celsing. (1880-1974) Right: Fiskebåtar i hamn (Fishing boats in harbor) Anna Boberg (1864-1935)
Although I cannot adequately describe the beauty and range of media and subjects, I have taken time to list all the artists discussed by Elsebeth Welander-Berggren, for I hope you readers will google images for each of these artists. If so, I recommend using Google Chrome because the results will include many Swedish and foreign sites as well as offer you an English translation, using Google Translate. If you really want to marvel at the caliber of Swedish art and artists as did the audience at this presentation, search the artists least known to you from this list of Swedish artists from Elsebeth Welander-Berggren, all of them featured at the 1915 World’s Fair in San Francisco (with the addition of Hilma af Klint, not famous then, but certainly famous now): Elsa Backlund-Celsing, John Bauer, Vilhelm Behm, Oskar Bergman, Alfred Bergström, Anna Boberg, Ferdinand Boberg, Axel Enoch Bohman, David Edström, Josef Ekberg, Algot Eriksson, Axel Fahlcrantz, Gustaf Fjaestad, Erik Hedberg, Oscar Hullgren, Jean Jahnsson, Gottfrid Kallstenius, Axel Kulle, Bruno Liljefors, Karl Lindberg, Nils Emil Lundström, Ruth Milles, Ernst Norlind, Helmer Osslund, Emil Österman, Arthur Sahlén, Torsten Schonberg, Anshelm Schultzberg, Axel Törneman, Alf Wallander, Greta Welander, Gunnar G:son Wennerberg, Anders Zorn. See also some of the Swedish arts organizations: K.Anderson, C.G.Hallberg, Gustavsberg, Kosta, Reijmyre and Rörstrand. December 15, 2015 Nordstjernan
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Ordförande Ordförande Sekreterare Sekreterare
Våra Vänner
Wishing our friends & clients the Holidays & New Year. Wishing our friendsthroughout & clients The and Van Horn's peace & happiness a 2007 Margit Forsberg - Monika Davidson Margit Forsberg - Monika Davidson peace & happiness throughout Karen the Holidays & New Year. filled withAnnMarie, many happy hours in beautiful Alain Pinel Realtors Alain Pinel Realtors the Holidays & New Year. Richard III, Rick Dylan, The Van Horn's SVEADAL Jorgen Margit Forsberg - Monika Davidson 167 S. San Antonio Road 167 S. San Antonio Road Jean Stohl NelsonMargit Forsberg - Monika Davidson Jeff,JUL Elise, Stephanie & Bryan AnnMarie, Karen Anderson Butik GOD Alain Pinel Realtors Los Altos, CA 94022 Los Altos, CA 94022 & Alain Realtors Richard NYTT 167 S.Pinel San GOTT Antonio Road TOLL FREEÅR III, Rick Dylan, 650-941-1111 650-941-1111 God Jul on 167 San CA Antonio Road GOD JUL ViviAnne Bob & Donna Peterson Jeff, Elise, Stephanie & Bryan Los S. Altos, 94022 1-800-782-4132 GOD JUL ÅR GOD JUL Gott Nytt År Los Altos, CA 94022 GOTT NYTT 650-941-1111 Regstad God Jul www.andersonbutik.com GOTT NYTT ÅR God Jul - The bestseller Bob & Donna Peterson 650-941-1111 the Holidays & New Year.
God Jul Gott Nytt År
ague
God Jul – Merry Christmas
All the recipes you need for a Swedish traditional Christmas, translated for the American household and modified to fit today’s lifestyle. 72 recipes – the perfect book for Christmas!
CarolMarilyn, & Tony Kurt Laudando Christopher, Alexandra & Erika Carol & Tony Laudando
Wishing every Bob & Donna Peterson Wishing every Wonderful Ch
GOD JUL GOTT NYTT ÅR
SVEADAL och & & Donna Peterson a Merry Christmas andCh A MerryCLUB Christmas WishingBoball our friends AforMerry Christmas & och Wonderful SVEADAL CLUB God JulÅrÅR Wishes You and Yours GOTT NYTT A Very Merry Christmas Happy New YearYear SVEADAL CLUB Gott Nytt A Merry Christmas & Swedish Ladies Society A Happy New Year A Happy New and Happy New A Merry Christmas & of San and och önskar Wishes You and Yours Happy Holidays Francisco e & Evelyn Forsman You and Yours ERNEST MALLEWishes LANTZ from &önskar A Happy New Year from Gott Nytt År A Prosperous New Year önskas vänner ochA klienter and a 2007 Happy New Year Happy AND God JulSIRI M.New Happy Holidays Holidays God Jul ELIASO önskar Antonio & Helene MacPherson Happy FAMILY God Jul Gott Nytt År filled with many happy hours in beautiful from Swedish American Patriotic League Kerstin erican Patriotic League The Talbots ERNEST & MALLE LANTZ Gott Nytt År GottRamona Nytt År a 2007 from God Jul andand a New Year & Harry SVEADAL AND and a 2007 Jean Stohl Nelson GreetingsSwedish American Patriotic God Jul SIRI M. ELIASO Eriksson-Splawn Jean Stohl League Nelson filled with many happy hours in beautiful Greetings from Gayla Bell - President East Bay Chapter FAMILY tArea Bayfriends Chapter Marilyn, Kurt Gott Nytt År filled with many happy hours in beautiful Swedish American Patriotic League Billigaste & Familj SVEADAL Gott NyttNelson År Christopher, Alexandra Erika Jean&Nelson - Secretary / Treasurer California Jean Stohl God Jul Karin Sayegh Ellen Morrison SVEADAL God Jul Ellen Morrison East Bay Chapter & mine Jean Stohl Nelson Priset Carol & Tony Laudando East Bay Chapter President Secretary Gott Nytt År Secretary Gott Nytt År — all the recipes you need for a classic Swedish Christmas today
Call 1.800.827.9333 ext 10 or see www.nordstjernan.com for a sample and easy order
Karin Sayegh Till Walter Nyland Karin Sayegh President Treasurer
ell Brennan
Ellen Morrison Ellen Morrison Secretary
President Sverige. Walter Nyland
Secretary
God Jul Walter Nyland God Jul Gott Nytt År Treasurer all our friends Gott NyttWishing År
Christmas Wishing all all our our friends friends Wishing everyone a A Very Merry Wishing and
A Very Very Merry Merry Christmas Christmas God Jul God Jul A Garanterat! A Prosperous New Year and Wonderful Christmas God Jul and God God Jul Jul A Prosperous Prosperous New New Year Year Merry Christmas and and A och Walter Nyland Treasurer Treasurer
önskas vänner och klienter Antonio & Helene MacPherson
Gott Nytt År 1204 Fifth Avenue önskar San Rafael, CA 94901
önskas vänner och klienter Antonio & Helene MacPherson
The Talbots
önskas vänner och klienter &klienter Harry önskasRamona och Antonio &vänner Helene MacPherson Antonio & Marilyn, Helene MacPherson Kurt
bestNew wishes Year God Jul Happy for a Happy New YearThe Van Horn's&
The Talbots The Family TheTalbot Talbots Ramona & Harry Christopher, Alexandra & Erika RamonaCarol, & Harry Marilyn, Kurt Carol & Tony Laudando Kurt, Marilyn, Marilyn, Kurt & Erika Christopher, Alexandra Christopher, Alexandra & Erika Christopher & Erika, SIRI M. ELIASON Carol & Tony Laudando AnnMarie, Karen Carol &Kaley Tony Laudando Alexandra, & Wayne Wood
Merry he Van Horn's Christmas Gott Nytt År The Van Horn's Richard III, Rick Dylan, ard III, Rick Dylan,The Van Horn's Ruby Nichelini AnnMarie, Karen Nordstjernan, December 15, 2015 Jeff, Elise, Stephanie & Bryan e, Stephanie &and Bryan Wishing everyone a Binetti AnnMarie, Karen Mary Ann & Bob Nichelini & Family Bob & Zaida Richard III, Rick Dylan, Richard III, Rick Dylan, Carol & Ed Madigan & Family Jeff, Elise, Stephanie & Bryan Ulf & Birgitta Ström Wishing everyone aa Happy Jeff, Elise, Stephanie & Bryan Wishing everyone Wonderful Christmas
ERNEST & MALLE LANTZ 415-454-4932 Fax: 415-454-5783 AND www.skytours.com FAMILY nnMarie, Karen
Chri
feature. page 27
Santa at Rest Remember last week’s introduction to Tomteland—Santa’s Winterland in Dalarna? Well, we weren’t able to locate Santa’s summer hangouts near Dalarna, and it turns out not only is his main abode at the North Pole, but he also has at least two other homes. After we found his other Nordic residences, we were able to secure proof of how he spends the other 364 days of the year. We used to think teachers had it easy (they don’t)—off for months in the summer—but here’s a man who works for 24 hours, then if he has his due diligence down, he theoretically
Summer or winter, here’s one seasonal worker who keeps busy ...
has time off for 364 days before he’s on again. Those 24 hours are no doubt hectic: According to some projections he has to cover close to 317,000,000 miles in 32 hours (across different time zones), traveling at 1,800 miles per second (and that’s assuming he never stops)! Alas, at his home near Rovaniemi north of the Arctic Circle, we finally tracked down proof of his activities during his long time off. Photographs: Rovaniemi Tourism and Marketing (Rovaniemi claims to be the official hometown of Santa Claus, although we of course know better!)
Although of course not Santa’s official home, his house in Rovaniemi Finland, right, isn’t half bad as second homes come ... For more info, see www.santaclausvillage.info
Välkommen till
Lördag 19 December kl 15.00
Julgudstjänst med julspel
Därefter Julfest med skinksmörgås, lussekatter och dans kring granen. Kanske tomten kommer på besök
Vi ses i Luther Hall, Los Althos Lutheran Church 460 S El Monte Ave, Los Altos VÄLKOMMEN!
Church of Sweden at Norwegian Seamen’s Church 2454 Hyde Street, San Francisco • Tel: 415-632-8504 Mer information: www.svenskakyrkan.se/sanfrancisco
Välkommen till
Tisdag 15 December, kl 18.30
Veckomässa med kyrkkaffe
i Emanuel Danish Lutheran Church, 16881 Bastanchury Rd, Yorba Linda. Fredag 25 December, kl 07.00
Julotta med kyrkkaffe
kören medverkar och kyrkkaffe serveras. Senaste nytt om våra aktiviteter hittar du på vår Facebook- och hemsida!
God Jul & Gott Nytt År önskar vi i Svenska kyrkan Los Angeles
Svenska kyrkan, Los Angeles 1035 South Beacon Street, San Pedro, CA 90731 Tel. 310-832-6800 • Epost: losangeles@svenskakyrkan.se Hemsida: www.svenskakyrkan.se/losangeles På facebook heter vi “Svenska kyrkan i Los Angeles”
December 15, 2015 Nordstjernan
feature. page 28
Light is important in Swedish culture, from the candles lit at midwinter to the midnight sun of Midsummer.
Go Toward the Light
In Uppsala, the Fyris River’s bridges and trees were outlined with lights, and all the apartment windows lit with stars. Later that month the park would glimmer with ice sculptures. Sweden was sparkling. My husband Brian and I had chosen to travel in our third extended visit to Sweden during my second Fulbright. The first stay, for Brian’s Fulbright in Uppsala in 1988, we landed in a heavy snow storm which was followed by dark days. The second stay, for my Fulbright in Gothenburg in 1998, we experienced west coast weather with freezing rain ... and dark days. This time, early in 2011, we caught the end of the Christmas season. The city was still lit up and festive, and we were able to attend a splendid Russian Christmas concert (on the Orthodox calendar) at Uppsala Cathedral. In Gothenburg, we had learned from our friends the expression “nu går vi mot ljuset.” A fairly literal translation is “now we move toward the light.” After the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year, each day gets a little lighter until we reach Midsummer at the opposite side of the calendar — that joyously light, longest day of the year. I knew these facts but had never deeply reflected on them. In Uppsala my friend Dag Blanck, historian and director of the Swedish Institute for North American Studies, made the significance of these calendrical markers even more apparent to me when he pointed out the way daylight increases more as we approach the equinox toward the end of March, when the increase in each day’s minutes of daylight is greater than at other intervals in the year. Approaching the equinox, we don’t just move toward the light, we accelerate toward it. At Uppsala’s northern latitude this difference is perceptible and important enough to be a topic of conversation. A sensitivity to the light as the days wax and wane is deeply embedded in Swedish culture, making the solstices high points in the celebratory calendar. While I’ve never fully experienced the midwinter side of the calendar, I have witnessed Midsummer in Sweden in two localities. Those experiences piqued my interest and inspired me to spend several years’ research and writing to
Nordstjernan, December 15, 2015
produce my latest book, Pole Raising and Speech Making: Modalities of Swedish American Summer Celebration (Utah State University Press, 2015).
The light of summer
My first Midsummer experience in Sweden has probably been shared by many American tourists. In 1988, very nearly at the end of our first several-month sojourn in Uppsala, we took in Midsummer at Skansen, the famed folklife museum on Djurgården in Stockholm. Everything was historically detailed there — costumes didn’t just look like peasant clothing, they looked hand-stitched. The Midsummer pole was bounteously decorated with greenery and flowers, and it was hoisted up using large poles crisscrossed and secured together with ropes. This impressed me at the time as a potentially very dangerous process. The men on one set of poles had to alternate their lifts with those on the other sets. But truly this group was experienced enough to make this traditional process look quite easy. As the men hoisted the pole upright, the crowd of observers shouted with each heave: Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! It brought me to tears with joy. Our second Midsummer experience in Sweden was at a smaller locale, a village close to Gothenburg where we’d been invited by friends at the end of our 1998 stay. There the attendees clearly knew each other and the crowd was much smaller. But the Midsummer pole raising was almost industrial in its efficiency. Much like a reuseable artificial Christmas tree, this was a re-usable pole hinged at the bottom so there was no chance of slippage as it rose into place. The task was accomplished in seconds, and a troupe of well-rehearsed folk dancers in traditional costumes performed dances around the pole. Back in the United States, I’ve been able to attend a few Midsummer pole raisings close to my home in Idaho. In the New Sweden, Idaho farm community about an hour’s drive north of Pocatello, a third-generation Swedish American, Dave Sealander, has established an annual Midsummer celebration on his family’s
historic farm. Based on what Sealander has observed in Poulsbo, Washington, the New Sweden celebration includes a pole raising with the old-fashioned and perhaps rather dangerous crisscrossed lifts that I first saw at Skansen. It is also performed by a small group of acquaintances interested in folk tradition, involved in all the steps required to decorate and raise a very tall pole from the ground to an upright position. At New Sweden the pole raising is an impressive accomplishment, and because everyone is involved, it is satisfying work, like a rural work party that works hard together then feasts and dances together.
Researching immigrant traditions
These encounters with Midsummer and my realization of the importance of solstices to Swedish culture prompted me to wonder whether what we see today in Sweden and in Swedish America reflects the practices of the Swedish immigrants of a century ago and earlier. To answer that question I traveled to study archives around the Rocky Mountain west, in the midwest and in Sweden. Focusing particularly on Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado, I sought sources from the decades when Swedish Americans flocked to those states to work in extractive industries and railroading, the period that was the height of Swedish immigration, 1880 up to the beginning of United States involvement in World War I. Traces of evidence about Midsummer practices crop up in a variety of sources: Swedish American newspapers, letters, diaries, photographs, speech scripts, reminiscences and oral histories. These traces help us recreate a sense of Midsummer events of the 1890s in places like Salt Lake City and Denver. Did they raise Midsummer poles, for example? Only some and not even most Midsummer celebrations actually included a pole-raising. Instead, speeches were just as important to these events. And the one main activity of central importance was an excursion in the countryside for an outdoor meal. Those picnics depicted in photographs reveal Swedish Americans dressed in their Sunday best and seated around tables with
Pole Raising and Speech Making Hardcover, 6” x 9” 208 pages ISBN: 9780874219982 Jennifer Eastman Atteberry is professor of English at Idaho State University where she teaches folklore and also chairs the Department of English and Philosophy. She twiced enjoyed sojourns in Sweden, in 1988 as a Fulbright Senior Scholar at University of Gothenburg and in 2011 as the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in American Studies at Uppsala University. Her studies of Swedish culture in the Rocky Mountains have been published in several periodicals and have resulted in two books. Her latest, “Pole Raising and Speech Making” was released by Utah State University Press in November, 2015.
tablecloths and cutlery. The speech-making was eloquent, and I turned up beautiful examples from Dr. Charles Bundsen, the Denver physician who established the tuberculosis sanitarium there and whose papers are at the Denver Public Library. Bundsen was proud of his Swedish-Americanness, wearing a Swedish flag on his lapel in response to hazing for his ethnic background when he was a medical student. He was a frequent orator at Denver gatherings, using these occasions to express Swedish American virtues. In one memorable speech he described his feelings on returning to Sweden with the Orpheus Singers, to be greeted at the shore by a Swedish chorus singing “Vårt Land” (Our Country). This was an occasion for Bundsen to be beset with tears of joy and nostalgia. My investigations of Midsummer in America revealed many such moments of joyful and deeply meaningful celebration. Midsummer is little known in most corners of America, but for those with Swedish roots it has remained on the mental celebratory calendar as a time to reconnect with their roots and reflect on the importance of light in Swedish culture, from the candles lit at Midwinter to the enjoyment of late-night sunshine at a Midsummer picnic. By Jennifer Eastman Atteberry
viewpoints. page 29
Olle Wijkström olle.wijkstrom@nordstjernan.com
Uppåt väggarna är ett gammalt användbart uttryck. Det finns mycket just nu, som är helt uppåt väggarna. Härom kvällen tvingades en båtlast av flyktingar sova under bar himmel på torget i Malmö. Det blev kallt på torget. Några frysgrader. Ont om filtar. Dessutom hängde regnet i luften. Å andra sidan är det minst lika uppåt väggarna, att folk skall behöva bli flyktingar och skräckslagna jagas iväg från sina hem. Vad är det för fel på oss människor? Vi tillhör alla människosläktet. Varför har vi och våra ledare i olika länder icke varit förnuftiga nog att organisera vår värld på sådant sätt, att människor kan leva i fred och slippa vara vettskrämda och frysa på främmande torg? Som levande människor bär vi alla ansvaret. Det går inte för sig att bara kasta skulden på galna diktatorer eller fanatiska religionsutövare. Samfällt borde vi vara kraftfulla nog att skapa den värld vi - åtminstone huvuddelen av oss - vill leva i. Trampa i klaveret är ett annat bra uttryck. Vi har förmodligen alla av oss upplevt klavertramp. Ibland kan det kanske vara roande att se någon annan trampa i klaveret. Framför allt om denne ”någon” själv skrattat åt folk, som gjort bort sig. Själva aktar vi oss noga för att blamera oss. För någon vecka sedan rapporterades i tidningarna, att polisen letade efter en Practice your Swedish
Helt uppåt väggarna farlig terrorist. Det påstods, att en man, som sades ha deltagit i terrorverksamhet utanför Sverige, nu var på väg in i Sverige. Enligt polisen planerade han att utföra ett terrordåd i Stockholm. Givetvis uppfattades detta med oro i hela Sverige. Inte minst på grund av de terroristattacker, som nyligen ägt rum i Paris och medfört döden för ett trettiotal människor. Folk följde noga på TV och radio hur jakten på den flyende terroristen utvecklades. Skulle polisen lyckas få fast terroristen, innan han lyckades genomföra något av sina hemska uppsåt? Några dagar senare visade det sig, att den farlige terroristen inte alls försökt gömma sig. Han fanns redan på ett asylboende i Boliden. Han hade t.o.m. sin namnskylt på dörren. Polisen hade därför aldrig behövt skrämma folk, som var skrämda över, att en farlig mördare gick lös. Sedan dess har hela affären lugnat ner sig. Polisen behövde bara ringa på dörren och ursäkta sig över, vad som inträffat. Allting hade tagit större proportioner än tänkt var. Alla har rätt att trampa i klaveret! Ett tredje gångbart uttryck bygger på att någon vill visa sin omgivning, att nu ska de minsann få ”se på andra bullar”. Rejält handlingskraftiga människor vill ofta visa sin omgivning, att de har förmåga att klara upp bekymmersamma situationer. I stunder av förlåtande eftertanke kan jag
Swedish idioms
Helt uppåt väggarna [Totally up the walls] Trampa i klaveret [Step into the clefs (or accordion...)] Se på andra bullar [Show other buns] Ana ugglor i mossen [Assume there are owls in the bog] Dra dit pepparn växer [Take a trip to where the pepper grows]
mycket väl tänka mig, att chefen för Säpo hade ambitionen att visa svenska folket, att han hade kraften att hitta en eftersökt terrorist. Säkert resonerad han. Hellre ta till något drastiska åtgärder än att beskedligt invänta, att någonting betydligt allvarligare händer. Många andra målande uttryck tränger sig på. ”Att ana ugglor i mossen” är ett av dem. Särskilt nyfikna människor anar ofta ugglor i mossen Just när det rör sig om sådana allvarliga saker, som brott mot landets säkerhet, ligger det nära till hands att ana ugglor i mossen. Kvarglömda väskor på järnvägsperronger väcker givetvis farhågor. Det är inte endast polischefer, som ibland drabbas av aningar om ugglor i mossen. Många människor tänker stundom med glädje på – och kanske hoppas - att andra borde förpassas bort. Eller i varje fall förflyttas i skymundan. ”Att dra dit pepparn växer” heter uttrycket. Förmodligen är sådana tankar inte helt främmande för de ansvariga inom poliskåren, som blivit hånade för att ha jagat förbrytare, som redan hade sina namnskyltar fästa på de dörrar, där de bodde. Då bör vi besinna att det är lätt att raljera. Svårare är att fatta raska beslut i trängda situationer.
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1.800.827.9333 - ext 10 December 15, 2015 Nordstjernan
local events. page 30
More events and list your own, at www.nordstjernan.com-EVENTS
l California
12.13.2015 12:00 AM - 12:00 AM St. Lucia Festival and Swedish Dinner Smorgasbord Dinner - Jul Bazaar (served from 5PM to 5:30PM only) Glogg Santa Lucia Pageant Santa arrives (please bring gift for child w. name on gift) Dancing around the Christmas tree RSVP with money mailed in by Dec. 8th. to Linnea Koagedal, 14 Steven Drive, Petaluma, CA. 94952 Price: Non member Adult $ 25.00 - Children 6-14 $ 8.00 Children 5 and under are Free. Please incl. with reservation For additional inf. e-mail: linneak@pacbell.net. VASA Order of America - Linnea Lodge No. 504. 707-763-1080. linneak@pacbell.net.
12.13.2015 10:00 AM - 05:00 PM Christmas Fair SWEA-LA's 36th Annual Swedish Christmas Fair! Lucia pageant, folk dancers, Swedish food, crafts, books, jewelry, toys, Jultomte and Swedish "fika." . SWEA LA. 562.888.4038. ChristmasFairSweaLA@gmail. com. http://losangeles.swea.org/ 12.13.2015 10:00 AM - 05:00 PM SWEA-LA Christmas Fair SWEA Los Angeles 36th Annual Christmas Fair will be held at Torrance Cultural Arts Center in Torrance. The fair, popular with Scandinavians as well as with all nationalities, will feature fine artisans at booths presenting the best of Sweden offering fine art, books, jewelry, toys, Christmas collectibles, and much more. The top prize at the raffle this year is a round trip ticket, to one of these Scandinavian capitals, Oslo, Stockholm, or Copenhagen and is donated by Norwegian Airlines. Make sure not to miss the Lucia pageant at 12:00 PM and 3 PM! SWEALAChristmasfair@gmail.com. www.swea.org/losangeles
of Sarasota. (941) 705-7700. gimshaug@mac. com. www.swedishclubsarasota.org
l Georgia
12.13.2015 06:30 PM - 09:00 PM Lucia concert Nordic Lodge's annual Lucia concert! Coffee and sweets will be offered after the concert. . Nordic Lodge. 770.361.1074. rygert@ bellsouth.net. www.vasaorderatlanta.org
l Iowa
12.13.2015 06:00 PM - 12.14.2015 12:00 AM 36th Annual Julfest The Swedish Club of San Francisco's 36th Annual Julfest/Christmas Party! Glögg, Lucia procession, herring table, dinner and entertainment, Långdans and ring dance. For more info email lduffstiles@gmail. com or call 650-344-8144. The Swedish Club of San Francisco. 650-344-8144. lduffstiles@ gmail.com.
12.13.2015 06:00 PM - 10:00 PM Lucia Fest - Lucia pageant Iowa City Swedish Club Lucia Fest - Lucia pageant, Smörgåsbord and music. This "Julbord" is a potluck combined with the family celebration of Lucia. Please bring a dish to share that will serve 8-12 people. Swedish meatballs, Potatis Korv (potato sausage), Sylta (pork, veal, & beef), smoked salmon, and scalloped potatoes are just some of the best Lucia dishes enjoyed in past years. Please remember to bring your own plates and silverware! The club will be supplying the ham, coffee, glögg, barnaglögg (non-alcoholic) and water. The Sankta Lucia ceremony and music program will follow dinner. The highlight of the evening will be the arrival of St. Lucia and her attendants bearing lussekatter and pepparkakor. To make a reservation: Please RSVP to Jeanne Nelson (Jeannenelson@mchsi.com) 319-3541762 by Sunday, December 6. Iowa City Swedish Club. 319-354-1762. Jeannenelson@mchsi. com. www.iowacityswedishclub.com
l Florida
l Illinois
12.13.2015 02:00 PM - 12.14.2015 12:00 AM Julfest and Glögg Party Join us for our annual Scandinavian Christmas Party! Glögg, sandwiches and delicious desserts! Raffles, music and fun get-together with other Scandinavians!. Nordic Heritage Club of South Florida. 561 737-6476. carolrune@aol.com. 12.13.2015 05:00 PM - 07:00 PM Julkonsert & Julbord Svenska kyrkan in Florida’s Julkonsert & Julbord Welcome to the church's traditional SWEDISH CHRISTMAS! Christmas dinner takes place after our atmospheric musikgudstjänst in the Congregational Church. We have limited places so register quickly. $50 / members $60 / non-members $25 / ages 10-18 years $3 / ages 9 and under Welcome!. Svenska Kyrkan in Florida. 954-604-0605. florida@svenskakyrkan.se. www.svenskakyrkan. se/florida 12.13.2015 06:00 PM - 09:00 PM 27th Lucia Celebration Do not miss our popular Lucia Celebration! The Swedish Club of Sarasota presents its annual Sankta Lucia pageant. This year we celebrate this unique and festive event for the 27th time! This is a very traditional event. Due to the popularity of the program, doors will open at 5:30 p.m. Please try to be there early! After the performance Lucia and her attendants will leave the sanctuary by candlelight and the Club will serve coffee and seasonal glögg to drink plus various baked goods for all guests. Admission is $10/person; free/ children under 13 No reservation necessary Directions to St. Armands's Lutheran Church: When you come to St. Armand's Circle from the mainland, the church is on the right hand side, just before you enter St. Armand's Circle. Parking is available in the back of the church. We look forward to see you there! Varmt välkomna - The Swedish Club of Sarasota. Swedish Club
12.13.2015 01:00 PM - 03:30 PM Scandinavian Jam Wake up your ears, exercise your fingers and play along with us! Musicians and instructors Mary Allsopp and Paul Tyler co-host a Scandinavian Jam at the Swedish American Museum the second Sunday of every month. Join us for an afternoon of traditional roots music starting with instruction from 1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. New tunes are taught in the call and response “aural” tradition. The afternoon continues with a brief snack, and the jam session kicks off at 2 p.m. Build a repertoire with the unique tones and unusual rhythms of Scandinavia. Recording devices are encouraged. Bring your instruments, request your favorites, share a tune, and play along on what you can, sit back and listen when you want a break. We are a group of musicians who enjoy spending time together, and would enjoy having you sit in with us! Contact Scandi.Fiddler@yahoo.com or PTyler@ameritech.net with any questions.. Swedish American Museum. 7737288111. lnordstrom@samac.org. http://www.swedishamericanmuseum.org/museuminfo/news/event/ scandinavian-jam-36/ 12.13.2015 04:45 PM - 09:00 PM St. Lucia Celebrations in Andersonville 4:45 p.m. at the Swedish American Museum and 7 p.m. at Ebenezer Lutheran Church Andersonville’s Lucia celebration includes a procession starting at 4:45 p.m. from the Museum and returns for a program at 5 p.m. At 7 p.m., the celebration continues at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 W. Foster Ave., Chicago, with holiday songs, readings, and a final Lucia procession. Interested in getting involved in the celebration? Click on the below links for more information.. Swedish American Museum. 7737288111. lnordstrom@samac.org. http://www.swedishamericanmuseum.org/museuminfo/news/event/
svensk fika, läsa tidningar, låna böcker samtala och tända ljus i kyrkan och be för något som är angeläget Hos oss kan du ta en
Öppettider 13 dec –26 dec
st-lucia-celebrations-in-andersonville-2/ 12.18.2015 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM Hejsan–Children’s Story and Craft Hour Join us at the Brunk Children’s Museum of Immigration for a story and craft hour on the third Friday of each month, September through June. All ages are welcome to attend with a caregiver for this free (with admission) program. While there is no additional cost to attend, reservations are appreciated and can be made via email to snyman@samac.org.. Swedish American Museum. 7737288111. lnordstrom@samac.org. http:// www.swedishamericanmuseum.org/museuminfo/news/event/hejsan-childrens-storyand-craft-hour-5/ 12.18.2015 06:00 PM - 10:00 PM Holiday Shopping in Andersonville Are you a procrastinator when it comes to holiday shopping? Are you at your most productive when the stress of a quickly approaching holiday is giving you a little extra motivation? Then join us for our second night of Late Night Andersonville, just a little “late-er” than usual. On Dec. 18 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., take advantage of four more hours of the same discounts from Late Night Andersonville, plus once again enjoy free entertainment, refreshments and pictures with Santa.. Swedish American Museum. 7737288111. lnordstrom@samac.org. http://www.swedishamericanmuseum.org/museuminfo/news/ event/late-er-night-andersonville-4/ 12.20.2015 04:00 PM - 05:00 PM Svensk Julgudstjänst (Swedish Christmas Service) Join us for a traditional Swedish Christmas church service down the street at Ebenezer Lutheran Church, 1650 W. Foster Ave., Chicago. Led (in Swedish) by a priest from the Swedish Church in New York.. Swedish American Museum. 7737288111. lnordstrom@samac.org. http://www.swedishamericanmuseum.org 12.20.2015 05:00 PM - 07:00 PM Julmiddag Family Dinner A festive and traditional Swedish Christmas Smörgåsbord is catered by Tre Kronor. Tomten (Santa) will be present and give julklappar (presents) to all the children. There will be a Lucia procession and everyone is welcome to dance around the Christmas tree. Cost is $60/Museum members; $70/ non-members; $20/kids 12 and under; free/ under age 2. Prepaid reservations are required; RSVP by Dec. 15 by phone, email or by purchasing your ticket on the Museum's website (www. swedishamericanmuseum.org). . Swedish American Museum. 7737288111. lnordstrom@ samac.org. http://www.swedishamericanmuseum.org 12.25.2015 06:00 AM - 09:00 AM Julotta Julotta - candlelight, non-denominational church service in Swedish and English. Bishop Hill. 309-927-3345. www.bishophill.com
l North Dakota
12.13.2015 03:30 PM - 05:00 PM Lucia Celebration Our Lucia program will feature a musical introduction, dancing around the Christmas tree, the Lucia procession, crowning of an honorary Lucia, crafts for the children, and a lunch of Swedish and other treats along with coffee and hot chocolate. The free-will offering will go to the Salvation Army. Plundering of the Julgranskaramel from the tree will end the
5 East 48th Street, New York, NY 10017 Tel: +1 (212) 832-8443
www.svenskakyrkan.se/newyork
SÖNDAGAR
MÅNDAGAR
TISDAGAR
ONSDAGAR
TORSDAGAR
FREDAGAR
13 dec Högmässa 11.00
Caféet öppet 12-18
Caféet öppet 12-18
Caféet öppet 12-18
Caféet öppet 12-18
Caféet öppet 12-18
Caféet öppet 12-16
JULAFTON 11-18
JULDAGEN
ANNANDAG JUL
11.00 Samling vid krubban 15.00 Kalle & Karl-Bertil 18.00 Julbön
7.00 Julotta Därefter stängt 7.00 Julotta i Gloria Dei
STÄNGT
Ung Svensk i NYC 14-16
Caféet öppet 12-18 Ung svensk i NYC 14-16 12.15 Middagsbön 18.00 Aftonbön 20 dec Högmässa 11.00
Nordstjernan, December 15, 2015
Caféet öppet 12-18 12.15 Middagsbön 18.00 Aftonbön
Caféet öppet 12-18 12.15 Middagsbön 18.00 Veckomässa
LÖRDAGAR
local events. page 31
event. . The Three Crowns Swedish American Association. 701-255-5005. dhswenson@msn. com.
l Nebraska
12.13.2015 05:00 PM - 10:00 PM Swedish Smorgasbord & Concert Enjoy the Christmas season with the Burt County Brass Quintet Christmas Concert followed by a delicious traditional Swedish smorgasbord.. Swedish Heritage Center. 4026855652. foodpride1@ yahoo.com.
l New York
12.13.2015 02:00 PM - 03:00 PM Lucia The Lucia Pageant is one of the most popular and unique Christmas season celebrations in the Swedish culture. The pageant is about Saint Lucia who the Swedes “adopted” from the Italians. It is said that Saint Lucia appeared during a famine in Sweden during the Middle Ages carrying food to the farmers across Lake Vännern. The pageant occurs during the darkest time of the year so it is also a celebration of the light glowing from Lucia’s candles.
The Lucia celebration, sponsored by the American Scandinavian Heritage Foundation and the Scandinavian Studies, is followed by coffee and juice, lussekatter (sweet, saffron flavored buns). These buns are shaped like curled up cats with raisin eyes. Traditional folk dances will be performed by the Thule Lodge Children’s Swedish Folk Dance Team.. American Scandinavian Heritage Foundation and the Scandinavian Studies program . 7167087226. Maria.Malmstrom@ me.com. http://www.scandinavianjamestown. org/events.htm
l Wisconsin
12.13.2015 05:00 PM - 07:00 PM Lucia Celebration Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin invites you to celebrate Santa Lucia day with our traditional candlelight procession as we sing and tell the story of St. Lucia. Join us for this beautiful festival of light for the start of the Swedish Christmas season. Dance around the Christmas tree - visit with Santa Claus - enjoy coffee and treats -buy raffle ticket. Join us Sunday, December 13th for our Lucia Celebration, 5 – 7 p.m., at Whitnall Park Lutheran Church, 5847 Lilac Lane, 105th and Forest Home Avenue (just east of Hwy. 100) in Hales Corners, WI Visit us at www.sahswi.org or call 414-352-7890 for further information. . Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin, Inc.. 262-781-6113. swedishamericanhistoricalwisc@gmail.com. www.sahswi.org
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12.25.2015 07:00 AM - 12.25.2015 09:00 AM Julotta Swedish American Historical Society of Wisconsin welcomes you to celebrate Christmas at our traditional Julotta with hymns and liturgy cherished in Sweden and treasured by Swedish immigrants and descendants from the 1800s to the present. Join us Christmas morning for the service at 7 a.m. - Whitnall Park LuA SWEDISH AFFAIR theran Church, 5847 Lilac Lane, 105th and Forswedensfinest.com est Home Avenue (just east of Hwy. 100) in Hales Toll Free: (888)867-9567 Corners, WI Worshippers are invited to enjoy coffee and treats following the service. Visit us at www.sahswi.org or call 414352-7890 for further informaA quarterly journal devoted to Swedish tion. . Swedish American HistorAmerican biography, genealogy, and ical Society of Wisconsin, Inc.. personal history. Founded in 1981. 262-781-6113. swedishamericanhistoricalwisc@gmail.com. www.sahswi.org Subscription Subscription $28 per$30 calendar year. per year Subscribers Subscribers are areinvited invited to to aa genealogical genealogical Workshop in Salt Lake workshop in Salt Lake City City each each autumn. October.
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December 15, 2015 Nordstjernan
sports. page 32
SAIK, Frölunda take charge in SHL
Skellefteå’s Terry Broadhurst batles with Brynäs Marc Zanetti during the second period of Skellefteå win over Brynäs November 28, 2015 in Skellefteå. Ola Westerberg/Bildbbyran Chipp Reid, Sports Editor chipp@nordstjernan.com
It is starting to become a two-way race at the top of the Swedish Hockey League between its two most consistent regular season teams, Skellefteå AIK and Frölunda. SAIK has been the most consistent regularseason team in the SHL for the past five years, finishing no lower than fourth in any season. For the Indians, the return to the top of the table is welcomed news after several upand-down seasons that saw Frolunda finish anywhere from third to seventh. However, just like Skellefteå, Frolunda always manages to be in a playoff position. Both teams had somewhat slow starts to the season as once more, the siren call of North American dollars lured several key players to the American Hockey League and the NHL. SAIK lost five players to the NHL draft, including leading scorer Victor Arvidsson, who now plays for Anaheim. Skellefteå dropped its first two games of the season before roaring to life, winning 19 of 21 matches. The Indians have watched as 10 players moved to North America in the past two seasons, including its top scorers from last season, Jacob Larsson and John Dahlstrom. Replacing what is essentially three full lines in the past two seasons had caused the Indians to stumble somewhat, but they returned to stability this year with an exclamation point. The Göteborg club had its best 20-game start to the season since becoming Frölunda HC in 2004-05, and it doesn’t particularly look like it’s slowing down either. With
Nordstjernan, December 15, 2015
17 wins and three losses to start the year, Frölunda is quietly going about its business in the hunt for not only the regular season title, but for the Le Mat Trophy as well. Skellefteå and Frölunda have each won 17 games this season but SAIK tops the table with 55 points, thanks to two more overtime wins than the Indians, who have 53 points. Surprise Le Mat Trophy winners Växjö Lakers are currently third while the Brynäs Tigers are fourth. The battle for the next four spots looks to be a season-long affair as every team except bottom-dwellers Modo and Karlskrona have a shot at making the playoffs. Örebro, with 35 points, currently holds the eighth and final spot but HV 71, 33 points, and Luleå, 31 points, are hard on their heels. The Malmö Redhawks and Rögle, 23 and 22 points respectively, have outside chances as well. If second-to-last Modo is going to make any move to get out of the cellar, then former Pittsburgh Penguin defenseman Noah Welch will be the one who leads the Örnsköldsvik club to safety. Welch, who captained the Växjö Lakers to the SHL crown last year and was the playoff MVP, signed with Modo in the offseason but only recently returned to action after recovering from a shoulder injury. Appointed team captain upon his arrival at his new club, Welch has taken the role with both hands and has led by example. The American has averaged more time on the ice in his first six games of the year than any other player in the league. Welch’s 25:11 TOI/GP is 49 seconds per match more than Färjestad defenseman Jonas Holös who
is second in average ice-time. Welch is not only putting in the long minutes, he is also producing points. The 33-year-old has scored 6 points (2G+4A) in 6 games since he joined the club.
Zlatan wins again
Ho, hum. Zlatan Ibrahimovic won yet another Golden Ball. It may seem like a broken record, but the 34-year-old Swedish international continues to defy age as he just keeps scoring goals and racking up trophies. Ibrahimovic won his record tenth Golden Ball as Sweden’s top male soccer player November 10 at the annual Football Gala, which honors Sweden’s top soccer players. Hedvig Lindahl, Chelsea (England) and Swedish international goalkeeper, won the Diamond Ball as the county’s top female player. Zlatan also became an all-time leading scorer as he surpassed Sven Rydell for the men’s scoring lead and topped the list of scorers for his club team, Paris Saint-Germain. The 2015 Golden Ball was the tenth for Ibrahimovic, who won his first top prize in 2005. He received his award from legendary Portuguese footballer Luis Figo, who is married to a Swede. The striker, whose career began with Malmo FF, was gracious as always in accepting his award. “Last year, I promised to come here to collect my tenth Golden Ball,” he told the crowd. “I don’t know if I can promise the same thing for next year.” He said the latest Golden Ball was proof of something he learned long ago.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic takes a hard look at his 10th Golden Ball award during the annual Football Gala at the Globe Arena in Stockholm. Andreas Eriksson/Bildbyran Top: Hedvig Lindahl appears via satellite from England at the 2015 Football Gala. Andreas Eriksson/Bildbyran
“This makes me think of my time as a junior football player in Malmö. I used to sit in the locker room, looking around, and thinking: ‘To succeed, I have to be 10 times better than everyone else, but it feels like I have already managed that,” he said. “There is no more to say. I have made history again and again. I hope someone else gets to experience what I have experienced. The joy can’t be described. Many thanks to all who have been following me from day one.” Diamond Ball winner Lindahl enjoyed her best season in goal for club and country in 2015 as she led Chelsea to the England Football Association Women’s Soccer League double, taking both the League Cup and the league title. She did not allow a goal in Sweden’s World Cup qualifying campaign and prior to her move to England led Kristianstad to its best-ever finish in the Damallsvenskan.
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