To those of you in America, Canada and some parts of Britain, today you are celebrating Halloween.

Coming from Australia, I find the whole Halloween thing a bit bemusing. We never celebrated it at all, though there were a couple of half hearted commercial attempts to foist it upon us in the 1980's. But mostly we ignored it and concentrated instead on important things like thrashing the West Indies in the upcoming summer cricket series, getting out the barbies after the winter lay-off and gearing up for the holiday season. Somehow, it's hard to get enthusiastic about candles, witches, darkness and pumpkins when it's 32C outside and the beach beckons. I think that's largely why it failed to take off in Australia. It's just the wrong season and the attempts to introduce it had very cynical, fiscal overtones to it that rubbed people the wrong way. And then there was also a general resentment to what was viewed as the growing Americanisation of our culture.

It's rather ironic that we viewed Halloween as an American thing, when in fact the whole concept is based on an old Celtic tradition and imported to the States by the Irish immigrants. Funny that the Irish didn't bring it to Oz with them.

Now I'm in Sweden, I find the Swedes are in somewhat of a confused dilemma about the whole Halloween thing. There are shades of the negative feelings you encounter in Australia about commercial interests and the heavy hand of Americanisation of the culture, but there is also a total dog's breakfast about exactly when Halloween falls. While it has been popular in the past, recent news reports suggest that the popularity bubble has burst and it's on the way out, as yet another passing fad.

The confusion about dates arises because of the Swedes obsession for order, and that holidays ought to fall on weekends (being less disruptive to the workforce). Every other country in the world that recognises All Saint's Day, celebrates it on a fixed day every year - November 1st, making the eve before (All Hallow's Eve, now Halloween) always on October 31st. But in Sweden in the 1950's this was changed to be the nearest weekend, making the celebration of it on a varying date between November 1st and 7th. They do the same to Midsummer as well. I'm waiting for them to try it out on Christmas, but maybe that would be going too far, even for the Swedes.

This year, Alla helgons dag is next weekend, and many Swedes also believe that Halloween is next weekend as well. The guy in the apartment across the hall from us dropped over earlier in the week let us know he was having a party last night and to apologise in advance for any noise etc. I asked if it was a Halloween party and he looked at me quite confused and said "No. Halloween is on the 6th, isn't it?" And yesterday I noticed that one of the local pubs is having it's Halloween costume party next Saturday as well. When I point out that Halloween is actually a fixed date, they shrug their shoulders.

There is a significant number of Swedes who are very anti-Halloween. Some of this is because All Saint's Day is observed as a day of remembrance of the dead, where people bring flowers and candles to the graves of loved ones. It is a beautiful, moving sight to visit a cemetary in Sweden on Alla helgons dag and see this beautiful sea of lights interspersed between the trees. It is even more lovely on Christmas Eve, where the snow covered ground reflects these thousands of pools of lights.

Those Swedes who hate Halloween point to this "old tradition" and resentment at the whole Trick or Treat, costumes etc as a travesty. But they must have short memories, because in fact this tradition only began in the 1950's when significant numbers of Swedes began to travel to the southern Mediterranean this time of year to escape the autumn gloom and were able to observe the Spanish and Italian customs of candlelight for the dead. This was brought back to Sweden and has quickly taken off. Most Swedes who I've said this to simply don't believe me, but it's true. While the idea of All Saint's Day does date back centuries to a time when Sweden was a Catholic country, the bringing wreaths and candles to the graves is only 50 years old.

You might say that this new tradition is quite new and widely accepted and as culture is never a stagnant, rigid thing, why not incorporate the Halloween tradition? After all, despite its huge popularity in the US, it's not that old of a tradition there either. The first instance of a Halloween celebration was recorded in Anoka, Minnesota in 1921. New York began celebrating the holiday in 1923 and Los Angeles caught on in 1925. And the rest as they say, is history.

So what is wrong with incorporating this in Sweden? Well, apart from the date confusion, another strike against Halloween here is that it wasn't like the graveside candles, which were seen by people and then gradually became accepted. The impetus came from lolly makers and party suppliers looking to cash in on what they saw as a lucrative and as yet untapped market. And as in Australia, this irritated the Swedes quite a bit, who saw it as a simple cynical money grabbing exercise.

I'm not sure if it's an urban legend or not, but many Swedish sources I looked at while researching for this cited 1997 as the year that Halloween first appeared in Sweden. And the reason they often give was that Buttericks, a shop in Stockholm was accidentally sent a large shipment of Halloween goods and rather than lose money on it, they tried to generate some enthusiasm for it as a party time. They have had some success with the young, club going set. They see Halloween as a time to have a party, dress up in a scary costume etc. The younger kids are not really into it at all. Some tried the trick or treating, but it's never taken off as a family holiday in the same way as in the States. Sweden also has a version of trick or treat at Easter (the Easter witches that come around on the Thursday before Easter) so people are happy to confine it to Easter and not have another one now. In general, the Swedes are also fairly protective of their privacy and the idea of sending your kids around the neighbourhood to collect lollies from others is just not the done thing. Remember this is the country where you can live for years in an apartment building without ever knowing who your neighbours are.

This makes it hard for the American and Canadian expats here who miss the whole Halloween spirit. I've learned a great deal about Halloween by just observing the thrill and excitement of these guys as they make their preparations. There was so much more to the holiday than I ever thought possible. One of my American friends here summed it by saying:

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, actually. Partly, it's the season, as autumn has always been my favorite time of year. Partly it's the thrill of being up late, out in the darkness and the swirling leaves, running through the neighborhood, scaring and being scared. Partly it's the candy, a huge bag to hoard and pick over and trade with siblings. Partly, it's the dressing up, thinking of creative and fun costumes (can't settle for the traditional scary Halloween staples). Partly it's the trappings: the glowing jack-o-lanterns, the scarecrows, the black cats with arched backs, the full moon. :)

It sounds like so much fun, I can understand why they miss it so much. So to all my many friends here and all over the world, I wish you a Happy Halloween!

Today we had the following conversation :

L-G: Do you have lions in Australia?
Marie: Well.. yes, but only in zoos.
L-G: Ha Ha. Very funny. Lions are quite big in Sweden.
Marie: I know. I've seen lions. But they are native to Africa, not Australia.
L-G: *long silence and looking at me like I'm mad*

Then it dawns on me that he doesn't mean lions, he means Lions. Oops! Well, it was an honest mistake. I had to explain to him what a platypus was yesterday and we had just been discussing flying pigs, so it was a natural conclusion to draw.

The reason he even thought of the non-animal lions was that today was the annual Lion's Club Market day here in Nynäshamn and we spent a fun morning mooching around the stalls and buying a few things as well as chatting to friends and soaking up the atmosphere.

The main street was blocked to traffic and filled with stalls. It was very busy when we arrived.



When you remember that 4 people in the street usually means that it's rush hour, we were quite taken aback at the numbers. The stalls were a mixture of the usual things that you seem to get everywhere these days (cheap jewellery places, t-shirts etc), some handcraft stalls (some of there were derivative, others were really lovely),food stalls selling breads, various smoked sausages, spices, jams, honey etc, CDs stalls, books, places selling wreaths for next week's Alla helgons dag and of course sweets and rides for the children. There was also a huge flea market set up with piles of goodies, books, bric-a-brac - in other words, something for everybody.



I bought some cute socks at one stall, having spotted a pair with flying pigs on it. For those of you in Sweden who know me through the expat sites where you can have a user picture atvar, you'll recognise that mine is usually this one, so of course I had to have those socks. And because they were 20kr each or 8 for 100kr and I'm such a bargain hunter, I simply had to pick out another 7 pairs



And yes, I'm aware there are only 7 socks in the picture, but Lars-Göran declared that my black socks with the flames on them were too tasteless to be in the photo. Meanie! Anyway, you can see I also chose cows, sheep, penguins, bears, cats and bees. So is it any wonder I mixed up the whole lion thing?

We then took a look at the book stall. There wasn't anything in Swedish there that we wanted, though I liked some Christmas cards that he had with Nynäshamn motifs on them - really lovely paintings of the town. Annoyingly, there were no prices on anything and while we were discussing them, the stall holder overhearing us talking English asked if I wanted to see his English books. I went around the back and looked through a box of what he had - mostly Mary Higgins Clark rubbish, so I only ended up with the Christmas cards.

After we went along to the flea market and of course began with the books.



As you can see, Lambi is enjoying herself with a great view of everything happening around her and being at an ideal patting height, she had her fair share of admiring fans chatting to her. As luck would have it, one of Lars-Göran's friends was serving on the flea market, so we managed a great bargain for a big bag full of books that we found - some in English (including a lovely curry cookbook) and the rest in Swedish. I also found a couple of smaller pyrex dishes that I wanted and L-G spotted yet more things to fill up the boat with. All in all a very productive and enjoyable few hours.

On the way home, we noticed that the police had set up a big breathalyser sting at the exit to the car park. There were at least 10 police there testing people. I pointed out to Lars-Göran that it was only 3pm and that people were unlikely to be drunk just yet. However, he told me that Friday is a big binge drinking and party night and people wake up on Saturday with a hangover and take the old hair of the dog cure (ie a couple of drinks to steady the nerves) and head out for the day. So he expected them to nab a few over the limit.

This reminds me to tell you about the police hats over here. I laugh every time I see them. I'm used to the SA police uniforms, based I'd guess on their British counterparts, with trousers, blue shirt with collar, tie, jacket and cap that looks like this. Sorry, couldn't find a better picture. However, over here, they have these real tough guy uniforms with big mean looking boots but hilarious hats that look like they belong on an episode of the old puppet show Thunderbirds. Don't believe me? Then compare: Thunderbirds and Swedish police. Am I right or am I right?

Once home, I made a batch of scones and we had our own little Devonshire tea and tried to decide where to fit in these new books. Our shelves are overflowing.

I thought up this terrible pun as a blog title when I viewed the steps of the local church earlier this week.



It could have been worse - because it was the church steps, I was considering the title Stairway To Heaven, but even I groaned internally at how bad that was. However, there is no doubt that autumn here contains a lot of leaves. Today they were ankle deep and it was all I could do to resist the overwhelming urge to shuffle through them just to listen to the rustling noise. Oh to be 10 years old again!

One reason we go to the church often is that it has a great view over the harbour area. Looking down from there, you can see the deserted guest harbour, the startling green of the grass (nope - no photoshopping used - it really is that colour) and the lovely red and golden autumn leaves.



The lake you can see is called Svandammen (the swan pond) and if you peer very carefully on the far shore, I think you can see a white spot - the lone swan left here after last week's mass migration to warmer climates. I think some swans migrate, as there are hardly any around in winter. Come summer and we are practically tripping over them everywhere.

When I'm home, I try and go out for a walk each day, no matter what the weather. It's been rather cold and windy the last few days, so it's hard to motivate yourself to leave the comfort of a heated apartment. Looking at the thermometer, I see that the outside temperature is -0.0C. Do you suppose that's the same as 0.0C or fractionally colder? Why the minus sign? Just to rub it in?

Despite the cold, we set off to check out the boat and take a walk aound the little island of Trehörningen, which is connected to the mainland by a small bridge. At the boat club, all the boats are up on land now.



This amuses my yachtie friends back home. They cannot imagine that Swedes take up their boats for 6 months of the year. As the water freezes over for part of that time, I think they feel more secure with them safely covered on land. And it gives them a chance to clean and polish them ready for next season. Lars-Göran thinks it looks very sad to see them like this and he's none too pleased that our boat is among them.

Our goal for today is to reach that white topped red tower you can see in the distance of the above photo. So we backtrack to Oskarsbron and wander around the lovely homes here. This is where that house is for sale I spoke about last time. And we also found another one that we really liked.



This is the neighbour to Villa Sjövik and really very elegant. I love the atmosphere on the island. It is very special - a peaceful, old world feel and quite charming. The place was full of birds feasting on the abundant berries and apples and I saw dear little squirrels busily stocking up for winter and playfully scampering from tree to tree. It's a world away from the main town just across the bay. One garden has the most beautiful, rosy red apples in it.



They just don't look real - too perfect and waxy, as though they were ready made toffee apples in an enchanted garden. I saw another tree in a garden last week that had lost all of its leaves, but the bright red apples were still hanging there, as though waiting to tempt Snow White, should she come past.

We couldn't find a path to the tower, so we climbed up through the rocks and forest and found an enormous patch of blueberries.



Of course we had an impromptu feast. They were really big, full, ripe and juicy and reminded me that I ought to make a luscious blueberry pie or cake. Another day.

We were tired after treking up to the top, but it was worth it just to see the views from the tower. It is an old water tower, built in the early 1900's and then closed down and partly demolished in the 1930's. Then in the mid 1990's, they decided to renovate it and open it to the public. And you can see for miles and miles. My favourite views were the following two. First looking east, over to the island of Bedarön and the bays beyond.



We spent quite a few enjoyable evenings over in that area. The other view was that looking northwards towards the main town of Nynäshamn.



Even on a cloudy day like today, it has a lot of charm. But now I think it's time to head home, put on a cup of Lemon Myrtle tea and catch up on some work. The days are getting steadily shorter and shorter, and come Sunday, when we move our clocks back to winter time, it will mean coming home from work in the dark. Not nice!

Hey, I worked out what those birds were doing on the trees the other day. They were waiting for the pub to open. Don't believe me? Well take a look at this story that a friend in Karlstad sent me this morning. I'm sure those birds were lining up to feast on the rönnbär (rowan berries) that are everywhere at the moment.

We were even more certain when Lars-Göran snapped a photo of a flock of these waxwings (or sidensvans) happily gorging themselves on a bush near the boat club.



You have to peer carefully at the picture to see them blended in among the foilage. And those blurry shapes are even more of them cashing in on the free feed. Lars-Göran thinks that they are stocking up on energy for their long flights south, but I'm not so sure. I think I see these little birds around during winter, feeding on the talgbollar that people leave out for them. I'm thinking of putting some on my balcony this winter and see if we can get some visitors to photograph. I know when Lars-Göran reads this I'll be getting the hairy eyeball and a lecture about bird droppings.

Nåväl...

There is an amazing house for sale over by the boat club. So what do you think?



It's called Villa Sjövik and is available for only 15,000,000kr (about $AU3,000,000). Isn't it a great looking property? And the view from there across Fagerviken is also beautiful. You can see interior pictures of the house if you look at this link on Hemnet, then click on the property at Oskarsgatan 16, then press the button saying Visa fler bilder. We were looking at the house ad in the local real estate office window when some friends stopped and we all joked together about how we'd buy the house. Though we worried that with nine bedrooms we'd have a problem with constant guests.

Lars-Göran said that it wouldn't cramp his lifestyle living there, so if anyone would like to send donations to fund this lifestyle, it would be greatly appreciated.
I wouldn't mind waking up to this backyard view.



I know. Dream on!

I have to tell you about an encounter I had with a Swedish woman this week. She was delighted to find out that I came from Australia. Generally, we have a reputation in Sweden as fun, easy going people from a lovely country. She was excited because her very favourite tv program came from Australia. She wanted to know if I'd ever watched it - Kvinnofangelset. Hmm... I thought - "The Women's Prison". It didn't ring any bells and I was explaining to her that I'd left Australia a while ago now, so I wasn't up to date with tv there, when she mentioned a few names - Bea, Lizzie, Frankie. On my God! She meant that awful 1970's Reg Grundy soapie Prisoner! Apparently it's something of a cult series here, can you believe?

And now I want to kill her because I've got that awful, saccharine theme song stuck in my head. Do you remember it? It goes a little something like this:

He used to give me roses

Ha! Ha! You can suffer with me!

This picture was taken at about 6pm outside the back of our apartments. It is certainly getting dark early these days.



Soon it will look like that at 3.30pm! Not a pleasant thought. Better add candles to my shopping list. :)

Yes, that's where you'll find me on this dark, rainy and miserable Sunday afternoon. On days like today, I'm grateful for the wonders of central heating as I can recline here warm and toasty wearing only a short-sleeved shirt, long pants and of course fluffy socks, while gazing out at the clouds rolling by and listening to the steady pitter-patter of raindrops against my window. Today's weather is like a mid-winter July day in Adelaide, though at 9.7C it's a little colder than we'd get over there. However, it has the same wintery feel and would be the sort of lazy Sunday afternoon weather that required me to lie on the couch in front of the open fire with a good book and sipping a glass of the incomparable d'Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz (available here, but at a price that would make your eyes water). It's nice to dream.

It has been a sad day, too as I learned of yet another expat friend here who is about to go through a painful divorce. This is the fifth friend this year and it is heartbreaking to watch a long term relationship founder and be helpless to prevent it happening. It's all I can do to stop myself going over there and shaking some sense into her Swedish husband. She is a lovely, warm, vibrant and intelligent woman and those of us who know her well are rallying around to offer practical help as well as shoulders to cry on. It is also a very sobering thought for us all - it could happen to any of us as well and we'd find ourselves without family support in a foreign country trying to make it on our own.

To clear my mind, I went for a walk earlier past Göstas Trädgård, a lovely garden down towards the harbour.



This garden was the work of Gösta Zetterqvist, who lived at Lisö. The garden was in fact at Lisö until his death in 1993. Then there were discussions about what to do with this collection of plants he had tended for so many years. By this time, his garden had become very well known and attracted a lot of visitors, which neither the new owners of the property nor the community on Lisö were happy about. So they decided to move the entire garden to this site at Nynäshamn. And it is a wonderful place to wander through, no matter what the season.

Behind the vibrant japanese maple, I saw a little waterfall and stayed a while being soothed by the sound of running water.



There is always something calming about listening to cascading water and the gentle sound of leaves falling in the gentle breeze. The birch trees literally shudder as they shed their hundreds of golden coin shaped leaves with each gust. You can believe that you are all alone and at peace in the world. Except the dog is pulling on the leash.

Later, while crossing Svandammen park, I found a magical fairy village of mushrooms in the grass.



I wish I knew more about mushroom varieties in Sweden. I see so many around at this warm, damp time of the year but I'm never sure which ones are safe to eat. I really want to know as I love the flavour and texture of fresh mushrooms and I'm sure I could make great use of them. If only I could be sure. I intend to enlist the help of my friend Lennart to unlock the secrets of Swedish mushrooms.

Yesterday I was in Stockholm to meet up with another Aussie who sold me her 12 volume collection of Australian Women's Weekly Golden Cooking Library. Karen had decided that she didn't do enough cooking to warrant keeping them and wanted them to go to a good home. As I adore cooking and really like the recipes from AWW, I snapped them up for the bargain price of 250kr.

Stockholm was dark and dreary and I hate going there when it's so grey.



Don't get me wrong - I love Stockholm and it is a stunning city to visit, but it has to be on the right day. When the sun shines and the skies are blue, it literally glitters and reflects off the water that is so much a feature of the place. Even in winter, on a dark, snowy day, with the waters frozen solid, the city glows and twinkles with light and wonder. But on a grey day, it is as though the colour is bleached out of the city and the people. Around the central railway station, I looked up and spotted this building:



While not as impressive as the one that graced the New York skyline, nevertheless I always get chills when I read the name of the place as I pass centralen. After finishing with Karen, I took the train home and drooled over the books, already mentally writing out a shopping list of ingredients for some new meals. I can't tell you how joyful it was to leave the greyness of Stockholm behind me and when I stepped off the train at Nynäshamn, I was greeted by this:



And people wonder why I live here "out in the sticks". Karen also asked how I could bear the Nynäs-Stockholm commute, but really it never bothers me. The joys of living in a quiet, pretty seaside town far outweigh the travel I have to do. I guess it depends on what you like, but I believe that we have made the right choice for our lifestyle.

Later on, we had another Alfred Hitchcock/Daphne Du Maurier moment when I looked out of my kitchen window to see the birds watching me again.:



This is getting a little creepy. I'd go outside, but then I'm feeling rather nervous as I'm not quite sure exactly how that movie ends.

Now I want to study my cookbooks and see if I can find something sensational to make for a Thanksgiving party I've been invited to down south next month. I'd like to bring something special, but can't decide what. All suggestions welcome!

Last night I had a fabulous time in Stockholm. A few weeks ago, I received an invitation from the Australian ambassador to be his guest at the opening of the exhibition Kiripuranji, which is of contemporary art from the Tiwi Islands. This exhibition is on in Stockholm until November 8th. I love indigenous art and so I readily agreed to attend. At the time the Nynäshamn to Stockholm night train service was a bit flaky (as I mentioned a couple of blogs ago), but I thought I'd chance it.

My first question was of course, "Where are these Tiwi Islands?". Hands up you Aussies who wondered the same thing. Yes, I thought so - and the rest of you stop cheating by googling. Aunty Marie is here to show you where they are:



As you can see, just north of Darwin. Crocodile territory.

Actually, Richard Rowe was kind enough to include an information sheet with the invitation so that I didn't look like a complete idiot. I learned that Tiwi means We people and that the culture and language of these islands is unique - unlike anything in the Torres Straits or on the mainland. See, you can learn new things things about Australia even here in Sweden.

The party (and indeed the actual exhibition) was held at the Etnografiska Museet on Djurgårdsbrunnsvägen. It's across the road from Kaknästornet (The Cookie Peninsular Tower). As the darkness falls rather quickly at this time of the year, it was eerie to look across the waters to Djurgården in the early evening gloom.



That amazing, renaissance looking castle you can see is Nordiska Museet, a wonderful, extravagant museum portraying everyday life in Sweden from the 1520's to the present day. A veritable feast for the eyes. But I'm beginning to sound like a tour guide and I'm digressing.

I fought my way through the sea of cars bearing diplomatic numberplates and came into the museum, to be greeted by the ambassador himself. I was floored that he remembered my name. Without any prompting, or me having to slip him a 100kr note. Sure, I've met him a few times but he must meet hundreds of Australians here. I was very impressed, anyway. I've got a lot of time for him as he really does seem to take an interest in the expat community here and also likes to raise the profile of Australia in Sweden.

The place was jam packed with both the usual diplomats, some people from the arts and media, some Swedes and quite a healthy number of Australians. They were easy to spot as they stayed close to the buffet tables. The wine and food flowed and we looked at the beautiful art work. The word Kiripuranji is a Tiwi word meaning clever with our hands and that is no exaggeration. If you look at the website here, you can download the catalogue and have a peep at the stunning art (especially the silk screens). There is also a touring calendar, so you can see when it will be on at a gallery near you.

It was interesting that this particular exhibition should be on in Stockholm at the moment, as the museum had only recently been in the news for returning to the Gunditjmara tribe some skeletons that had been smuggled out of Australia earlier this century.

There were speeches and a great interactive performance by the irrepressible Gavin (always a hit). I circulated, chatted to people and had a lovely social evening.

Today has been cool and slightly wet, though the colours still continue to shine through.



One disadvantage to taking a long autumn walks with Lambi, though, is that she's scared of leaves. Can you believe it? I do have some sympathy for her - it must be hard to be so small and have those evil looking leaves attack you in the street, as though they were out to make a hit. She acts like the leaves are armed with leaf bullets and that each bullet has her name written on it.

What a scaredy cat.

I get some great email feedback from people through this blog. Many people stumble upon it while doing a search for some topic to do with Sweden. For example, you have no idea how many recipes I've had to send to people who ask about Swedish dishes that I mention. Someone else (an American guy living in Germany with his Swedish wife) was searching for things about her home town (Nynäshamn) and found this. He wrote a lovely long letter about the blog, his views of Nynäshamn and the fact that he was glad I thought a few Swedish things were a bit quirky - it made him feel less alone.

Another letter came from a Swedish guy who lives in Melbourne. His first question was to ask if I was mad as I had left the paradise of Australia for Sweden (I get told this a lot!) He found my page You know you've been in Sweden too long when... from this article in the National Review. Isn't it a small world? I'm always amazed by the way people get to a page just by stumbling around the net.

But the question I am asked the most is how I came up with the name for my blog. I'd like to say that I was clever and original enough to come up with it myself, however that isn't true. It's actually based on the title of this article by Douglas Adams (yes, the Douglas Adams of the Hitchiker Guide to the Galaxy fame). I came across the article a few years ago and really liked it and it's memorable title.

To give it a more Swedish flavour, I substituted the ubiquitous Swedish herring for the word internet. I discarded several other "things" before deciding on herring. These included aquavit (this is a family site after all and I didn't want to look like an alcoholic), moose (I already liked them and they are not unique to Sweden), swedish meatballs (I hate them!), gravadlax (which I love, but would anyone outside of Sweden understand). Nope - only herring would do! So now you know.

It's been a cold, autumn day and we've been out walking. Well, some of us were carried:



She's so cute, that I can't resist. And anyway, it's her birthday tomorrow so I'm getting her ready for her birthday parade. She'll be 11 years old and we are lucky that she is still full of life and energy. People are often really surprised that she is so old. Small dogs live until at least 15-17 years, so she will be with us a while yet.

I hope.

Not that I like dogs, or anything.

*quickly changes subject*

The autumn colours are really vibrant at the moment. And the leaves are madly falling to the ground, making a soft mat underfoot. Luckily it's not raining or that mat would be a slushy mess.



I think the seasons are more exotic for Australians, Kiwis and South Africans than for a lot of other native English speakers who emigrate here. Several of my American, Canadian and British friends are non-plussed by it all. There are the same trees and weather in many parts of their countries and they can't understand my wonder at the colours of autumn or the deep snows of winter. In fact a couple of my Canadian friends scoff at what the Swedes call "cold". I shudder at the temperatures they talk about as normal in winter. How can people live in those climates?

But I do love the strong seasonal changes.

On Tuesday evening, I'm off to see the opening of a new exhibition from the Tiwi Islands in Stockholm. I'm looking forward to both seeing the artwork and catching up with some friends.

A Swedish friend in Stockholm, sent me this fun Hoax Photo Test. She wondered how gullible I was. I got 5 wrong. Guess I'm terrible at this... lol! I wanted to share it as it's a fun time waster and there are some interesting links. The answers are at the bottom of each page. And I thought that this picture was particularly cool:



Till next time!

This headline greeted us in our local paper today. Yes, it's a nice picture, but I was referring to the lead story about Nya pendelsabotage (or New train sabotage). The quiet, sleepy town of Nynäshamn has been hit by a concerted campaign of annoyances revolving around the train for the past two years and while the politicians, police, social welfare and the train company chose either the ostrich method (hoping it would go away by itself) or the angry finger pointing, pass the buck method there seemed no solution in sight.

Initially it began as a few teens spraying graffiti around the place. It was quite noticeable here because this is a small place and this sort of behaviour is often more a city-based activity. The kids painted their tags at the railway stations and once one started, more followed until a couple of the stations looked really bad. They also upturned rubbish bins and spread the litter.

There were the letters to the editor, some stuff was cleaned up, they removed the litter bins (wtf?) but nothing else was done and certainly no-one bothered to ask "Why?" Then a group of teenagers began to trash the stations. Again it was confined to two stations, Nynäsgård and Ösmo, but the destruction was total. Benches ripped out of the ground, weather-proof shelters had the glass smashed, then the frame bent out of shape, station clocks, public address systems and tv screens with times were also destroyed. As fast as things were repaired, they were attacked again. Response from the authorities? Nil.

Later the kids became braver and began to trash train carriages - covering them inside and out with graffiti, ripping seats, harrassing passengers and train staff, refusing to pay their fare and some even brought big, vicious dogs on the train to help with the threats. Things were getting out of control.

So the train company employed security guards at night (the peak time for these attacks) and they patrolled the trains and watched the stations. In an effort to gain more control they also reduced the number of carriages that continued on to Nynäshamn. While 8 carriages left Stockholm, at Västerhaninge they removed 4 carriages and then closed a further two, allowing only the front two to be used. It was tight and crowded. The eight stations after that point are small and unmanned and it was these stations that the kids used for their train hopping exploits.

In response, the kids upped the ante and started leaving things on the tracks! There have been bicycles laid on the track, also manhole covers dropped from overpasses, rocks thrown through the windows and last week a concrete block was placed on the track between Tungelsta and Hemfosa. The train was unable to stop in time and while luckily there was not the intended derailment, its undercarriage was badly damaged.

The police claimed they knew who the kids were, but could do nothing unless they were "caught in the act". The train company responded by stopping trains to Nynäshamn. We had to take a special bus to Västerhaninge, then swap to the train there. While the kids were jubilant with this new found power (Man, I stopped the Nynäshamn trains!), for those of us who rely on the train to commute to work each day, this was awful. It added an additional half an hour to the journey. It is also a nuisance to those who want to take the ferry from here. Many passengers come by train to take the ferry to Gdansk, Ventspils, Riga or Visby and they had to struggle off the train with their heavy luggage and cross the station to the bus, then find a place for themselves and their bags. The citizens' grumbles increased, then business weighed in. Hey, we even made the national papers and tv news. Tourism was being threatened and once the hip pocket was hit, the pollies sprang into action (some things just never change).

Finally, all parties got together and pooled knowledge and resources. Amazing! One wonders why they couldn't have done that 2 years ago. They sent 85 police here. We were shocked. We saw police actually in our streets. I thought they were tourists or lost, it was such a rare sight. And after two days, they rounded up the gang of little darlings and charged them.

These kids were only 13 years old.

How sad that a group of kids were able to cripple a whole town.

But the good news is that the trains are running again! Still the two carriage restriction in the evenings, but at least we have trains.

And Nynäshamn returns to its sleepy, calm, country self.



And thats just how we like it.

Yesterday, it was autumn clean-up day or höststadning. For those of you not living in Sweden, this is when residents come out once a year to help prune trees and tidy up the back garden of the apartment complex. As you would expect, hardly anybody turns up. This time, out of 35 flats in this complex, only people from 5 flats came to help. Pathetic!

Lars-Göran cut back a lot of tangled ivy and I swept it up and collected it together in a bag - all carefully watched by Lambi's friend, the little cat Snusan.



It seems rather early to rake up leaves as most of them are still firmly attached to the trees. People would argue that there is no point cleaning it all up only to have a brisk wind next week blow the leaves off. Maybe it's all a bit pointless if you look at it from that angle. However, I see the benefit in attending as being social. It gives us a chance to do something constructive for the garden as well as renewing ties with neighbours and meeting new people. The atmosphere is friendly and relaxed and the lovely sunny weather also helped to lift our spirits.

We had a nice time - a couple of hours raking, weeding, sweeping, pruning and taking stuff to the dump followed by a bbq and chat.

This is all of us relaxing at the bbq:



Lambi had a wonderful time befriending anyone who had food in their hands. She has an uncanny food-seeking-radar and the smell of grilling sausages was sending her into a frenzy of joy. She begged unashamedly and most people just couldn't resist (what a con artist!) A friend of mine who also has a dog said that she recognised that look of Lambi's all too well. She called it the "I just happened to be strolling past and noticed you have food in your hand" look:



I expected her to be ill last night with the combination of excitement and too much to eat. It sounds like a little kid at a birthday party. But she was fine.

Today, it was still a great day and autumn has really settled on the landscape. The sky is summer-blue, but you know it's not summer as there are splashes of red on the maple trees, some of the vines are brown as rust, others are yellow and there is a scent of burning from bonfires. Still it's like a picture post card.



The water is so clear, it's unbelievable. You can see down several metres as though you are looking through glass. I can't get over the number of small fish there are everywhere. However, it's freezing in the water and the air temperature is not far behind. Check out this family feeding the ducks in the local park. They are very well rugged up against the chill.



An interesting survey was conducted by the new English newspaper in Stockholm, The Local. They had spent August collecting data on people's views about learning Swedish and how fluent they were or how important they thought it was. Many people filled in the on-line survey and the results were quite interesting to read. You can judge for yourself by looking at the results here. The funniest quote was the crack about the first 40 years being the hardest!

One of the findings was quite disturbing - 13.7% of people who have lived in Sweden for over 5 years can't speak a word of Swedish! It makes you wonder how they can get on with absolutely no Swedish. They must find it very difficult to do daily chores like shopping, looking up things or even just asking someone a question. Sure, English is understood in a lot of places in Sweden, but it still must be very limiting. Maybe they are the type of person who huddles in their own little national group and will always be an outsider. How can you find balance and contentment in your new country if you can't speak the language.

Oh well, each to their own. I find that as my fluency increases, people here are happier to stop and chat. I can read the papers, understand conversations and am increasingly feeling that this is really home.

Well, here's a sight you don't see every day in your supermarket car park:



This photo was taken from across the road, (hiding behind a tree if you must know) because I just didn't want to look like a tourist. In case you are wondering what the hell this is, it was a police display featuring a small car with a full sized moose sticking out of it. Pretty gruesome sight first thing in the morning. I felt my breakfast move slightly upwards. Another reason to stay on this side of the road.

Accidents between moose and motorists are unfortunately all too common here in Sweden. And even more sobering is the fact that the collisions are most likely to be fatal - for both the moose and the human. Until you've seen a moose up close, it is hard to grasp just how big they are. They also have very long legs. Often, the legs of the moose catch the bumper and this knocks the heavy animal over the bonnet and into the windscreen. It's not a pretty sight. I've seen the aftermath of at least one moose accident on a highway near Jönköping. It was a bloodbath. About 80 people a year die in Sweden as a result of hitting a moose, generally at high speed.

I guess this was an awareness campaign as the official hunting season begins pretty soon and the moose are a little more jittery during this time. Poor things!

Today, the weather is looking rather threatening, but still spectacular. I just love the cloud displays you get here in Sweden. They sweep in suddenly and majestically with real presence. It still leaves me open mouthed with wonder.



We stayed at the boat club for a short time, not daring to tempt fate by walking home and getting drenched, but these clouds passed us by at fairly high speed and the skies turned blue again. We went around the long way home, via the guest harbour, where we spotted a sign, that we found interesting for different reasons. In my case, I was amused by the interesting way they spelled Recycling *grin* and Lars-Göran saw that they had used an old parking sign and painted the new sign over the top of it. Neither of us spotted the other's reason for looking twice at the sign.



The reason we went around that way was because earlier this week, we went to the picture archive at the local library. Last year, we had purchased a book about the history of Nynäshamn and we were curious to look at some old photographs, especially of the harbour area. There was an old man at the picture archive and he knew all about the area and boating in general. It was fascinating to listen to him talk about all the land reclaimation that went on to shape the harbour as it is today. We knew it was altered as we couldn't make sense of the old pictures in the book.

One place was the area we call Frejas holme. The word "holme" is Swedish for islet. However, this area looks more like a small headland or udde. Why call it an island, I asked. Well, it was an island - and used to be the main commercial wharf. Later, the council filled in the whole area between the mainland and this small islet to create a little peninsula. And what did they build on this piece of reclaimed land? Would you believe, a mini-golf course, kiosk and car park! Ah! the short sightedness of politicians is a universal phenomena. I guess I can be thankful it wasn't a caravan park!

Walking around Frejas holme, we saw where the area had been built up and the position of the retaining walls down to the water, suprised that we hadn't ever noticed it before.

The archivist asked where we lived and found another folder with photogtaphs of the two superb wooden villas that had been on this block before our apartment was built in 1951. It could make you cry to see it. We intend to go back and get copies of these photos and I'll post them here. Or maybe not, as it would be too depressing.

While we were dithering around the harbour, those storm clouds came back with a vengeance.



See what I mean about layers and layers of clouds? It makes the already deserted guest harbour look even more empty. It's how I imagined judgement day would commence.

Or maybe I've been listening to too much Nick Cave lately.