events (33)

Blog posts on yearly events and special occasions, including days where particular food are celebrated.

Sorted chronologically, newest first. 33 posts.

Let the reminiscing begin!
10/6/17
One wishing to see these planes can just go to the Air Force Museum, but an even better alternative is to catch an airshow and see these planes in action – in their element. And where's a better place to see this than in the home of Carl Cederström's old flight school, and the home of SAAB? Read more>>>

Trees in bloom
10/5/1
Yesterday was rainy and gray, so we watched the Valborg (Walpurgis Night, witches' sabbath) festivities from our balcony, where these fireworks pictures were taken. The trees looked like they were in bloom – and in fact, they're really starting to bloom too, with leaf buds. Go to post>>>

Greetings
10/4/4
... And my first cupcakes, without frosting (didn't have cream cheese at hand and was too lazy to go to the store). Glad Påsk and advanced happy birthday, mom! Go to post>>>


What I think about after Waffle Day
10/3/28
You bet I've been thinking about eating waffles all week long. I was thinking about it when I read ads for cheap waffle irons; I was thinking about it when I passed the local café specializing in waffles; I was thinking about it when we gave a waffle iron to a colleague as a bridal gift this week. Waffles were on my mind on Waffle Day, and even after Waffle Day passed three days ago, when I was contemplating on my waffle-lessness. I thought: I must eat waffles! I want a waffle maker! Read more>>>

Seasons change with the scenery
09/11/6
There are some things that never ceases to amaze / surprise / baffle despite all the years here, and one of them is the first snow of the season. Every year, even though we're already freezing in our clothes for weeks and complaining about how the radiators don't seem to compensate for the cold, there it comes, a messenger of colder days to come. "What? Snow! Already?"... Read more>>>

18 hours 22 minutes of sun, to be exact
09/6/21
Featureless was not a word to describe our midsummer, however, which we spent right there on our balcony. Midsummer – which is celebrating season here in Sweden at par with Christmas – is usually a time to go out with family and friends to the countryside... Read more>>>

post-Easter post
09/4/20
Aside from last week's bike tour, we other things during the Easter weekend. We were invited to our friend Björn's parents' summer house where we made ribs "our way", and I also read my first påskekrim in the Norwegian (but not particularly Swedish) tradition of reading crime novels on Easter week...Read more>>>

Vårtecken = signs of spring
09/4/7
Spring officially starts when it has been plus-degrees for more than 7 consecutive days (even if it means 1 degree). This happened a few weeks back. The rising temperatures and more sun hours trigger signs of spring... Read more>>>


Small informal housewarming thing!
09/2/1
Since we moved to the new apartment, the question of whether we should hold an "official" housewarming party came up in my mind. Who should be invited, keeping in mind that I had English-only speaking friends, Swedish-only speaking friends, and friends who are bilingual? What should we eat? Should it be lunch, dinner or fika? Potluck or all-home cooked?... Read more>>>

Fall is here
08/9/15
I guess it's time to bring down the winter clothes from the attic again. Skirt season is ending, thin jackets are becoming useless. Soon we'll even have to jog with thermals on. It's time to fill up with vitamin-rich food to prevent having colds and it's time to wake up to rapidly darkening mornings. But autumn is a beautiful season... Read more>>>

I survived the Tjejmilen!
08/8/30
A 10-kilometer track. 25,000 participants. In the biggest women's running event in Sweden for both elite and amateur runners, I came up as number 3,794 in the timed race and fulfilled my personal goal of running under an hour... Read more>>>

Midsummer at Löfstad castle
08/6/20
Some say that midsummer is more important than Christmas up here. There's a lot of anticipation about what the whether is going to be like, panic-buying at the groceries, and a compulsion to do something on midsummer eve to keep the Swedish tradition alive and going. This year, instead of going out to the archipelago, we spent midsummer on land at Löfstad castle, 15 minutes away from the center of Norrköping... Read more>>>

M.A. graduation
08/6/5
On the one hand, I feel very proud finishing this M.A. -- even prouder than when I finished the Applied Ethics M.A.. I'm also looking forward to the summer ahead, so it's relieving to have all my studies over with (in the meantime! Haha!). On the other hand, graduations are always also a sad moment because my classmates for are leaving soon for their home countries... Read more>>>


Not your regular day in the mall
08/3/29
Army trucks came roaring down the street. And guys in camo riding motorcycles. Then an emcee, a marching band, and people handing out brochures. It's the hemvärnet (Swedish Home Guard) recruitment day, they said. The soldiers are advancing towards Vasaparken, where they have display booths and exhibitions... Read more>>>

Happy Easter!
08/3/23
I figured that lentil soup (which was supposed to be up next in the backblog) wasn't exactly festive enough for an Easter day post, so instead I am posting a recipe of some goodies I made in time for Easter. Told you that cooking was one of the things I've been doing during my quarantine period! Find recipes for knackerli, pineapple cake, and deviled eggs here... Read more>>>

2008, here we come!
08/1/2
Gott nytt år! I uploaded pictures of our New Year's eve dinner at Göran's place in one of my Multiply albums. Having with us neither a tripod nor a place to put the camera on, my own fireworks photos all ended up crappy. So, instead, here's a picture I got from the city newspaper's website. Heh heh heh :-)... Read more>>>

Merry Christmas 2007!
07/12/25
Tack, alla, för ett härligt år! God Jul! ... Go to entry>>>

SAS, class of autumn 2007
07/12/17
No, it doesn't stand for Scandinavian Airlines, nor the British Special Air Service, but svenska som andraspråk (Swedish as a second language), the course which we finish this week. So together we all celebrated our avslutning today -- a word that, in the translation, means "breaking-up day"... Read more>>>

Food journal number 26: Princesstårta
07/11/9
I completed another year yesterday and I was sung the Swedish birthday song for the first time in 24 years. Hihihi :-) Thanks to family and friends and all the well-wishers! :-D Here's a virtual cake for those I can't share my real cake with. It's a princess cake (princesstårta), the most common type of cake you will ever find here in Sweden... Read more>>>

Sick or sweet?
07/10/29
I first read about Emma Megitt on the city's entertainment paper, there she was holding two stuffed toys that was the product of her masters degree in design. The characters -- a little yellow onion-shaped dude and his brown Bibendum-like friend -- seemed cute, until you realize that they're actually supposed to be pee and poo... Read more>>>

Up the brick tower we go
07/10/8
On the last Saturday of September, Norrköping celebrates the Culture Night (Kulturnatt) -- a misnomer actually, for the celebration doesn't actually take place at night but throughout the whole day. It is a day when the city showcases -- well, as the name suggests -- culture, but in all it's broad meanings and expressions... Read more>>>

Summer continues
07/8/8
...Augustifesten (the August fest) is according to the Norrköping's tourism website, the biggest yearly local event. I guess it's too late to escape the city noise now -- it has just started, and there are programs lined up well until Saturday, when we will probably hear the last of the howling teens well until Sunday morning... Read more>>>

Trevlig midsommar!
07/6/23
Below is the midsummer pole (midsommarstång) in our celebrations at Snedskär. The pole and rings actually symbolize the male genitals thrust into the earth (which represents the woman) -- a pagan fertility symbol... Read more>>>

Two countries, two national days
07/6/7
Yesterday (June 6) was Sweden's National Day, which is actually officially called the Day of the Swedish Flag (Flag Day). Though there were surely holiday celebrations, we had no impulse to check what they were. We thought the bad singing emanating from the school program up the street was bad enough... Read more>>>

We didn't start the fire!
07/4/30
April 30 is Valborgsmässoafton. The coming of spring -- which actually begins when day-long temperatures stay above 0 degrees, whenever that is -- is celebrated "officially" on the last of April... Read more>>>

Happy birthday mom! :-)
07/4/5
Pictures of yesterday's excursion to Norrköping's old green marble mine (which I told my folks already about this morning on Skype) uploaded here, with some details about the pictures... Read more>>>

Food journal number 17: Waffles
07/3/25
March 25 is Waffle Day. The International Waffle Day, according to this article, actually began in Sweden, apparently from something being lost in translation. Actually, there were two things lost in translation, both of which turned... Read more>>>

God Jul!
06/12/25
Merry Christmas family and friends :-) you're all very sweet!... Go to entry>>>

December 13 is Sta. Lucia Day
06/12/13
Sweden, though a protestant country, celebrates a feast day of St. Lucy (Sankta Lucia), a Catholic saint. Like most other fiestas I can imagine, this is day is highlighted, (among other things), by eating. In this... Read more>>>

Those sweet spaghetti days!
06/11/9
Hi ho friends! Thank you for those who greeted me for my birthday (both early and late and on the actual day :-) ). Yes Peachy, we don’t get proper birthday parties nowadays... No singing and candle-blowing, no... Read more>>>

Kanelbullar day
06/10/4
October 4 is Cinnamon bun (Kanelbullar) day. Just came back from a small party where we all just basically took turns making cinnamon buns. Then ate the whole lot afterwards. Many other students in the corridor were also baking the buns... Read more>>>

Joy's photo contest number 1
06/6/10
For today's million-kronor question... Q: What are these teenagers doing riding the back of a tractor? ... Read more>>>