An answer to Elamb's question, and scroll down, I've done some backposting on Oslo

Elamb asked me: Sweden is on of the few places I've considered moving to. How is the racial climate? How do they feel about black people? I heard that there is actual FREEDOM there... is that true?

Now, keep in mind that this is only a semester's worth of impressions, and I'm generalizing, which automatically means that for someone I am wrong, but I'll go out on a limb and write some of my impressions up here.

The Racial Climate is interesting, from what I've heard and read about. Remember, this is only one person's observations though.

Sweden is of two minds. You have the political mind, which embraces multiculturalism and works hard toward helping immigrants get used to Sweden. The majority of people are a different matter. Until recently, (within the last 60 years) Sweden has been racially and ethnically homogeneous. Oh, you have some immigration and people adopting, but for the most part, Sweden has been blonde people. However, that has been changing, and it creates tension in the cities between "Racial Swedes," "Ethnic Swedes" and "Immigrants." Often in schools, children who are Swedish Citizens, but don't have Swedish names or look Swedish, will be asked where they come from. There is a political party that has been gaining headway in Sweden that calls for a stop or severe restrictions to Immigration. Swedes for the first time are having to deal with the fact that their country is becoming Multicultural, and they are struggling. Not so much as places like, France for instance, but still.

As for Freedom, Sweden has a very different view of it than America, which was quite a surprise to me. While in America Freedom is thought of as the ability to do what you want as long as you don't break laws, in Sweden Freedom is more thought of as the Government enabling you to not have the disadvantages that would prevent you from having your freedom. Two very different views.

I've heard Swedes complain that Sweden isn't very free- the prices are really high for everything, housing in cities is a nightmare, and taxes are high. But, that's because wages are generally high in Sweden, housing is kept down and affordable by the government, and the government provides a host of benefits that Americans can't even conceptualize (free meals in schools? Monthly pensions for children? Free medical care for all children until their 18? Paid sick leave after the first day? The list goes on...)

Keep in mind also that Sweden's government also takes a very active role in the family... insuring that parents aren't messing up their children too much. Sex ed is mandatory and really explicit from a very early age- so if you believe that third graders shouldn't know the ins and outs of sex, sorry. Children are encouraged by schools to think independently from their parents. This upsets some very religious people who feel these things should be left up to the family.

From an American point of view it sometimes unnerves me how involved the government is in people's lives. So, I didn't really answer your question Elamb, but I hope I provided some insight. If you would like to know more, I just took a public policy course on Sweden,a dn I know where you can get some really interesting, informative information.


Now that you've read all this serious stuff, scroll down and read about my adventures in Oslo!

Ok, so I know I haven't been around much, but that's mostly because I forgot what my password was, and then I got sick and a whole bunch of things happened.

But I'm going to be doing some serious backpostage.

Soon.

Old Man Encounter, #4

There's more I need to blog about, but for now, I'll share this brief story.

For those of you who aren't aware, I have this sign that only old men can see, that tells them that I'm a good person to approach and compliment and generally talk to. And because I'm a smuck, I generally let them talk to me (some strange thing about respecting your elders and all that, even if they are are crazy).

Since coming to Sweden I've had three old men encounters.

Now, I would like to add a fourth, that happened while I was in Oslo.

So on Friday I'm walking down Main Street in Oslo (a wonderfully touristy place that is a pedestrian street) and I stop at a light and suddenly I feel a hand on my arm. I jump, turn and some older man is speaking to me in Norwegian (which is close enough to Swedish that it sounds familiar, but not close enough that I can understand anything he is saying.) Throughly startled, I respond, "Lo siento, Ya talar bara lite Swedish," managing in one sentence to mangle three languages.

The man gave a long slow blink (I'm fairly certain he thought I was a native- at least, I didn't have a map out), and asked, in English, "Where are you from?" I have to say, I think I throughly disarmed him. "The States" I reply, as I realize what I had just done. (again, showing how mixed up I've become, Americans don't call the States the States, only English speakers not from American do that)

Well, he recovers. "I want to give you a compliment."

Me: "Ok."

Him: "I'm not trying to be a... scary man, but you have a... nice... a good way of walking. I noticed as you were walking."

Me: *wonders* Does that mean he was looking at my butt? "Uhhh, thank you."

And then the light changed, and I hurried off.

I don't know if it's just a cultural thing, and an older generation of European Males have it hard wired into their systems to give women compliments, because I haven't noticed younger men doing this. I can't just write them off as creepy old men, because this one, similar to the others except for Crochet man, seemed sane and, well, rather charming in the way that only old men can be. But it does provide a sense of amusement, and I have to say, the rest of the day I was more aware of how I walked.

I suppose, when it all comes down to it, the whole thing makes me smile.

In Oslo, Norway, Day 2.5 (AKA: OMG BACKPOSTAGE BECAUSE I WAS LAZY)

So I went to a museum in the fort that was on Norway's resistance when they were taken over by Germany. The most striking thing about it? A wall of guns. I don't know why it was there (the explanation was in Norwegian) but when I saw it I thought of a certain someone who would appreciate it.
*coughMichaelcough*
It was kinda scary to behold.

After the Museum, I went across the street to the City hall. I really liked the statue out front... The Swans are so pretty, and in a strange way, romantic.
At least I think so. I think I'm going to play with this picture ot see if I can get rid of the buildings, so you just see the swans against the blue sky.
The inside of city hall. It was actually kinda funky decor, but I liked it. Very impressive in the way that you could kinda tell they wanted to intimidate you. I think I accidentally snuck in, there wasn't a person at the desk so I just walked in and followed behind a tour. I think I went to some places I wasn't supposed to go, but if you walk like you know like you're going somewhere, and you hung your coat up before you got in so it isn't obvious you're a tourist, and your camera bag kinda looks like a purse, well, nobody stopped me. A lot of my pictures didn't turn out so well though.
But this was my favorite room. It was a beach scene, with NAKED PEOPLE. YEY! I love Scandinavian sensibilities about Saunas, nudity and HEY HERE I AM NAKED.
Ok, next to the Tiger's Balls, I loved this. See what the little boy is doing? *giggles*

On a much more serious note... notice all the people in the painting are Blonde. Norway is so ethnically homogeneous.
More imposingness- but look at the medallion above the door with the horsie!
Swans! They were all over the place, and they never told us in English WHY. I wanted to ask, but I wasn't REALLY part of the tour.
Seen through a window while wandering around an open air market.

The great thing about Oslo, is if you have a map it's really hard to get lost. The Main street runs the length of the main part of the city, and almost impossible to get lost. This is good for me, because I decided to be adventurous and go to an outdoor market in a part of the city that wasn't as touristy. It was a lot of fun, but I wasn't quite comfortable taking a lot of pictures, because there were a lot of ethnic people there and I didn't want to seem rude.
Duckies!
And this guy was just hanging out on the street made up of... I think computer parts. Or odds and ends. It doesn't really matter other then he was REALLY COOL. And he has a tail. And a staff. And ARMOUR. Coolness.

And that was my second day in Oslo

In Oslo, Norway, Day 2 (AKA: OMG BACKPOSTAGE BECAUSE I WAS LAZY)

So on my second day in Oslo it was beautiful out, if cold. I decided to go walking to my destination (Main Street) a slightly different way, and I happened to come across this guy.

"Tyger Tyger burning bright, in the forests of the night...." except, not.
GRRRR! Oh look, you can kinda see it here, but his tail is all shiny while the rest of him is rather dark in color. That's because (as I discovered) his tail is really comfy to sit on. And attempting to climb on him is A LOT OF FUN.
His nose is also just a little shiny, from having people rub it. Now, you might ask why I'm calling this Tiger a guy. HE COULD BE A GIRL! (In fact, I thought of him as a girl until I sat on his tail and noticed this:
*Insert profuse snickering and me nearly falling off of the tail in surprise* AHHH! GINORMOUS BALLS. He's going to make his girlfriend happy.
I couldn't reisist a picture of him, even if my arm wasn't long enough to get us both fully in the picture. THIS GUY was HUGE!!!


I then proceeded to go visit Oslo's REALLY COOL FORT. Now it serves as a University for Norway's military type people, but it was sooo cool to wander around in. I took lots of pictures. (Hey, at least I'm consistent!)

But before I got there I had to stop and take a look at some stuff.Like this guy dressed up to be Mozart playing the... I actually have no clue what it is, but it was really cool. The next day there was a big game in the city, and he dressed up half and half- one half for each team. The street bussers in Oslo are so much more entertaining!
Tehehehehehe. There are lions all over the city, but this was one of my most favorite statues.

I came across this store while walking down to the fort, which specialized in really beautiful, handmade traditional Nordic clothing. SEE? (Look down)
The view from the fort walls of Oslo's harbor... or part of it. Oslo has lots of harbors.
View of City Hall (to be talked about later.)
A building in the fort. REALLY COOL!
LOOK AT THE WALLS! THEY'RE MASSIVE!
Another view of the harbor. It was beautiful.


A view of the cool house, the big walls, and a strange statue.

Cannons! Who doesn't like cannons? And it's so pretty!
This Church is the oldest building in Oslo, and was what the fort was built around. Because churches are just that cool. And pretty.
Me with a Cannon! *Grins*
Cool doorway that drops down 30 feet.
See? I was looking off rom the top of that tower on the other side!

So now, because this post is really long and we've only just gotten through the first half of the day, I shall post this and work on the second half of the day.

I'm gloating just a little...

Some stats about my blog, from Google Analytics:

I've had visitors from 26 states.
I've had visitors from 35 countries.
I've had 496 visits, 860 pageviews, and 200 individual visitors (the stat that prompted this).

And how have people found my blog? 24.6% is Direct Traffic, 63.71% is referring sites, 11.69% is search engines.

I love looking at the different search combinations that pop up. Some of my favorites:

fika swedish
what to do when an old man in sweden approaches you on the subway
how to speak swedish "får får får"
http://anamericaninsweden.blogspot.com/ (someone searched for my blog directly)
pancakes and where they first came from
swedish male mannerisms
things i miss from america
you make me happy in swedish?
worm coming out fingernail (what would make you search for this?!?)

And I can't seem to figure out how to get rid of the links, so you're just going to have to deal.

In Oslo, Norway, Day 1 (AKA: The post that takes forever to load)

So I decided I was going to head over to the palace, and see what it was like, and then from there perhaps check out a museum or something. I have to say, for so little planning, things went really well!

The first thing I did was look at the view from our hotel, the Radison, which is the highest building in Oslo.

I headed out of our Hotel in the direction of Main Street. I was told if you got to the church, you would find Main street. It was, actually, quite easy. And while Main street is rather touristy, it is also really pretty, with street musicians and nice buildings... and really great sculptures! I went a little trigger happy with my camera (but then, when do I not?)

I took several pictures of this lady at different times of the day, because the shadows around her kept changing.
The church was quite beautiful, or at least, what I could see of it, because it looks like it's under restoration.

Pretty buildings!The quite talented street musician. There was a really neat couple that was watching him that I wanted to photo, but they kept looking at me strangely and I didn't want to seem too weird.


Oh god, the amazingness! *drools*
Oh, come on. You know your inner child wants them so badly!Ok, so the first picture you see here is the view of the Palace, and I'm still not so good with my camera so it's blurry.

To the left are gardens... and the National theater. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

To my intimidate left (you can't see it in the photo, is the Parliament Building, which is GEORGEOUS!

I'm SO planning to go there.


Here you have one of the lions out in front of the parliament building, which I'm going to go take a tour of on Saturday... since that's the only day they let you in. Isn't he cute? I always like the daydream I have where the statues come to life in a city, and it tickles me pink to think of this guy roaming around Mainstreet.













You guessed it, the Parliment Building.
























When I first saw these deer, I thought they were real. Surprised the heck out of me.



So I was just starting to get hungry (it was just after noon, when I came by this place. They were doing some type of promotional gig, and they were giving out free soup. God, It was AMAZING soup. The Beef was nice and soft, the vegetables well flavored... if you're ever in Oslo, and want someplace that has good food, this place is what it says, fast good wholesome food. YUM.

NOW I can talk about the National Theatre!

This place was surrounded by statues, the most prominent being three of Norway's biggest playwrights, one of which is Ibsen (*loves on Ibsen*)








I took a picture of my favorite statue.













I then proceeded to make my way up the hill that leads to the Palace. This is a picture of the view.












And this is my attempt to photograph the roses that are still in bloom. (Are they aware that it's cold out? )


















And finally, I made it to the Palace!














MORE PALACE!













So after looking at the palace, I was just about to leave when something started happening! I really don't know what it was, but it was cool:



After the palace I went to the Ibsen Museum, which is the apartment where he lived out his last years. It was a really cool place that I could write a whole post about just in and of itself. It was really sweet because when I got a tour of the apartment, I was the only English speaker, so they gave me my own tourguide, who not only was really nice, but tolerated me peppering her with questions.