Questions 11-15 as asked by verdande_mi, xspike4evax, florianschild, motordraconis, feliciacraft,
debris4spike and dariaw

11. Favourite native writer/poet?
Favourite authors are Inger Edelfeldt and Anna-Karin Palm. Both are great, but sadly not translated to English. As for favourite poets, Karin Boye. I’ve written about here at some length here.

12. What do you think about English translations of your favourite native prose/poem?
We go back to Karin Boye here, and I think the translations is very good.

Spellbound

When you are away, my soul hungers wildly.
When you are close, I long for you just as much -
in despair I see,
numb, secluded,
how empty and futile
is the minute which goes by.

Your essence of proud and regal perfumes fine
I secretly wanted to drink, a sacred wine -
but I stand heavy as death
as in dreams,
with a thirst like Tantalos
in clear streams.

In times of solitude my tongue has burned
to tell you of the beautiful thing I have dreamt and felt
but when I am near you
my thoughts slumber,
my door is closed,
and my heart is numb.

13. Does your country (or family) have any specific superstitions or traditions that might seem strange to outsiders?
I think all families have their own traditions, but I don’t know if they are particularly strange. I mean, for me they are perfectly normal. Our family always have Easter dinner at our summer house, which marks the beginning of time spent there, more or less. We don’t always spend Christmas, or other holidays, together, so Easter is the true family holiday for us. Which means that apart from my parents, sister, our spouses and children, it also includes Mims, My Ex and his wife, and as long as he was alive, my Ex’s father.

As a country I suppose Lucia is a bit strange. On the morning of December 13 Lucia arrives with her entourage. There are always her maids, but there can also be star singers, and, if it’s a children’s Lucia celebration, also “tomtenissar” and gingerbread men. Lucia is dressed in a long white smock with a red sash and a crown with candles. Her maids have the same smock, but sash and headband of evergreens or tinsel, and carrying candlers, and the star singers the smock and a paper cone hat decorated with golden stars. They sing Christmas songs, but also songs which only refers to Lucia, and how her arrival is a harbinger of the return of light, and that Christmas is almost here. Today’s peaceful Lucia is a rather new tradition, with a bunch of older stuff mixed in. The modern Lucia formed during the 19th century, taking bits from various parts of Sweden and making it into one.

Up until the early 18th century, Mid-winter in Sweden was just on December 13, and though the calendar was adjusted, it was still believed to be the darkest, and most dangerous, night of the year. It was a night to stay awake, but also to keep indoors, because on this night Lusse, or Lussi was around. Probably a remnant of a pagan entity symbolising the day, Lusse could be either male or female, but alway up to no good.

14. Do you enjoy your country’s cinema and/or TV?
Not really. Nothing wrong with the scripts and the photograph, but for some reason Swedish actors are taught to speak in a very deliberate and unnatural way, which grates on my nerves. It became glaringly obvious in an episode of American Horror Story where two Swedish actresses had dialogue both in English and Swedish, and they changed the way they spoke when they switched languages. The only movies I really enjoy are directed by Suzanne Osten and Colin Nutley (an he isn’t Swedish).

15. A saying, joke, or hermetic meme that only people from your country will get?
Hmm, how can I know what other people will be able to get? But I always liked this sentence consisting of only vocals; “I åa e ö”. It means “In the river there is an island.”

Gakked from verdande_mi

I live in Sweden, so if there any of these question you would like an answer to, please tell me. And if there are any other Swedish related question you would like an answer to, ask away!

1. Favourite place in your country?
2. Do you prefer spending your holidays in your country or travel abroad?
3. Does your country have access to sea?
4. Favourite dish specific for your country?
5. Favourite song in your native language?
6. Most hated song in your native language?
7. Three words from your native language that you like the most?
8. Do you get confused with other nationalities? if so, which ones and by whom?
9. Which of your neighbouring countries would you like to visit most/know best?
10. Most enjoyable swear word in your native language?
11. Favourite native writer/poet?
12. What do you think about English translations of your favourite native prose/poem?
13. Does your country (or family) have any specific superstitions or traditions that might seem strange to outsiders?
14. Do you enjoy your country’s cinema and/or TV?
15. A saying, joke, or hermetic meme that only people from your country will get?
16. Which stereotype about your country you hate the most and which one you somewhat agree with?
17. Are you interested in your country’s history?
18. Do you speak with a dialect of your native language?
19. Do you like your country’s flag and/or emblem? what about the national anthem?
20. Which sport is The Sport in your country?
21. If you could send two things from your country into space, what would they be?
22. What makes you proud about your country? what makes you ashamed?
23. Which alcoholic beverage is the favoured one in your country?
24. What other nation is joked about most often in your country?
25. Would you like to come from another place, be born in another country?
26. Does your nationality get portrayed in Hollywood/American media? what do you think about the portrayal?
27. Favourite national celebrity?
28. Does your country have a lot of lakes, mountains, rivers? do you have favourites?
29. Does your region/city have a beef with another place in your country?
30. Do you have people of different nationalities in your family?