When you read it I will be in Stockholm. Many other people will be in Stockholm, too. In fact, Stockholm will be pretty crowded on December 10th. Why? It’s the Nobel Prize official Award ceremony. Sadly, I won’t be attending. Instead, I will be on my way to Skavsta Airport. Oh well, that two hour bus ride from Stockholm City is as much fun as attending a posh event, right?

All kidding aside, last weekend was a busy one in Stockholm. According to the Nobel Foundation statutes, the Nobel Laureates are required to “give a public lecture on a subject connected with the work for which the prize has been awarded”. And that’s exactly what they were doing on Sunday and Monday. Sadly, once again, I wasn’t attending.

But lectures are generally boring, even if given by Nobel Prize winners. The event that everyone is waiting for is the big bash on the 10th. First, there’s the official Nobel Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine and Literature as well as the Economics Prize award presenting ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall. The Peace Prize is done in Oslo, because we wouldn’t want them Norwegians to forget they used to be part of the Swedish Kingdom once upon a time, too.

After everyone gets their royal handshake and a golden statuette (oh, wait, that’s a whole different award ceremony! My bad!), ok, after they get whatever it is they are given out (apart from their checks for hefty sums of money), it’s major chow time. The banquet that follows the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony is held in the Blue Hall of Stockholm City Hall. Here, 1,300 guests in their formal best dine in a splendid setting. From the flower arrangements to the food, wine, dessert and divertissement – everything is meticulously planned to make the Nobel Banquet a memorable experience.

And guess what? One of the people involved in this major event is a northern girl from a town not very far from where I live. Her name is Kristina Stenbro and she will be one of the head waiters (hovmästare) at the banquet.

Kristina is a teacher at a restaurant school in a tiny town of Arvidsjaur (basically, a back-of-northern-beyond kind of town) and she will be joined by six of her students. There were supposed to be seven, but one freaked out due to the pressure.

Here’s the article about the lady that appeared in our local newspaper yesterday. It’s written in fairly easy and uncomplicated Swedish, which just proves that even with limited Swedish skills you can try reading regular newspapers.

And to Kristina – lycka till!

Here she is at work.

But what’s up with those ugly, ugly chairs? Huh?

PS. You can watch both the ceremony and the banquet on TV (if you’re in Sweden) or live on the internet at Nobelprize.org.

image: VK