Banning ‘Jante’ from Åsele Posted by Katja on Feb 19, 2010
Åsele is a little town in the north of Sweden and over a longer period of time Åsele has been getting smaller and smaller. The population (befolkning) has decreased by 11,4% and people between 20-64 have been moving away at an every growing rate. Between 2008 and 2018 the working force will have decreased by…
The Downfall of Jantelagen – Social Media Posted by Marcus Cederström on Feb 18, 2010
I managed to get myself a degree in Scandinavian Studies back in the US. When I explain to people here in Sweden what that entails I am always faced with questions. Why? Why would you study Swedish culture? We don’t have any culture. This comment always strikes me. On a personal level, it is a…
“Express yourself don’t repress yourself!” Posted by Tibor on Feb 17, 2010
No one really likes Jantelagen. People have really weird thoughts about this subject sometimes. You are not supposed to express strong opinions on anything unless it’s not about child abuse (barnaga/barnmisshandel) or something really horrible that people are naturally against. I remember one conversation where I really went against jantelagen and only one friend of mine backed me up. I should…
This is jantelagen Posted by Gabriel on Feb 16, 2010
Don’t think that you are special… Posted by jennie on Feb 15, 2010
…at least not if you are a Swede, that is. (Alright, we are generalizing again, but it is after all a Swedish blog…) With those words, I hereby declare the Swedish blog’s first theme week open. Every day and every word this week will be dedicated to an awful cloud that has been casting its…
Love/commercialism is in the air! Posted by jennie on Feb 14, 2010
It’s difficult to ignore the fact that mr Valentine is in the air today. Shops are swamped with cards, cuddly bears, stupidly expensive flower arrangements and dine-in deals and there are probably not a table for two available in a 100 mile radius. Valentine’s Day is – like Halloween – quite a recent thing in…
Do Swedes care less about their kids? Posted by Gabriel on Feb 12, 2010
I’ll borrow this from Jennie. Warning! The following post will contain some major generalizations: Where I come from, we celebrate children. We put them up in the air and smile at them. We buy too many things for them. We tell them they are the best (even if they’re not). We ask them questions at…