nordstjernan The Swedish Newspaper of America
Published by Swedish News. Volume 144 No. 01, January 15, 2016. Price per copy $2.50
Another Swedish crime drama where Alexandra Rapaport, above, stars in a Swedish Sopranos meets Breaking Bad drama series.
Photo: Frankie Fouganthin/Wikimedia
This Week, Page 9
Sweden, Page 2, 3
Photography: Henrik Olund
Spectacular aurora borealis skies over Sweden / Bishop proposes removal of Christian symbols / Wolf hunt in Sweden / KTH may have solved problems with traffic congestions / Beavers decide Stockholm is the place to be.
In Brief, Page 3
No more free travel between Danmark and Sweden after January 4.
The sisters of Vikingsborg convent of the Birgittines in Darien, Conn., photographed by Henrik Olund in 2006. The sisters have changed since, Feature, Page 10 although Mother Eunice, third from left, is still mother superior. The order’s modern day revivor is now up for canonization / Page 4 A new Viking expedition comes to the U.S.
Living Swedish Traditions Have you already tossed out your Christmas tree? By the time this article reaches you, I assume that you have. So, perhaps the real question is when did you throw it out? And did you throw out anything else? I was reminded of the transitoriness of the holidays when I visited a store the day after Christmas and saw it already decorated for Valentines Day. Of course, my questions are really about the holiday spirit, whether you’re Christian or not, since this period from Thanksgiving through the New Years has become an even more significant commercial period. Sometimes the emphasis on gifts can even overwhelm the good tidings of “Peace on earth. Good will toward men.” Historically in Sweden and the Nordic countries the winter solstice was celebrated.
Continued on page 11
Page 8 It turns out the proprietors at Ängavallen are not the only ones in Sweden that love pigs ... (Above, ecologic farmer Mathias Nordström)
Dashboard, Page 8-9
Facebook saves the bacon / The world’s oldest tree—in Sweden / No more Swedish electronic dance music for Marco Rubio.
Karin Gaensler and Ninna. Photo by Erik Gaensler
Open borders no more ...
In an effort to reduce the flow of refugees into Sweden, border control tightened at the turn of the year. Many say it is too little too late, that the record-breaking flow of refugees into Sweden’s economy and culture has wreaked havoc there, in the EU and around the globe. While housing, educating and employing the thousands of asylum seekers already in Sweden, can imposing stricter border control work? Is it enough? Is it too much? These people fleeing atrocities and madness, most of them refugee families seeking peace, freedom and honorable lives, want and deserve that which we all do. The problems of the few have become the problems of many – problems the global community may have to solve together. / Pages 2, 3, 8, 12
Page 3
Solving today’s inner city traffic congestions.
Photo: Bo Zaunders
Ted Olsson, San Francisco ted@nordstjernan.com
news in brief. page 2
Swedish News
En svart dag. Inte minst för Öresundsregionen. Gästledare
Sydsvenska Dagbladet 3 January, 2016
Aurora Borealis. Source: Madeleine Forsgren/Instagram
Spectacular skies all over Sweden
An unusual amount of auroras have been treating stargazers all over Sweden lately. During this intense auroral period, areas even as far south as central Sweden have seen incredible displays of pulsating color across the night skies as the sun changes its magnetic north and south pole. This phase, when the sun is at its most active, can continue for a few years, according to Maria Sundin, astrophysicist and associate professor at the University of Gothenburg. Swedes and stargazers from all over have been out snapping photos of the aurora borealis, usually a famous feature of Scandinavian autumn and winter nights, though often difficult to spot anywhere other than in the far north. It’s very special for the sky to be lit up as far down as Stockholm and Gothenburg.
The Bishop of Stockholm proposes removal of Christian symbols
Bishop Eva Brunne suggested people of other faiths may feel more welcome if the Seamen’s Mission Church in Stockholm’s eastern harbor removes its crosses and shows Bishop Eva Brunne support for worshippers of other faiths. This is a church that attracts a lot of ships’ crews, many of whom are Muslim, Hindu and Jewish. In her blog, which has stirred a bit of controversy, the bishop explains that removing Christian symbols from the church and preparing the building for inclusive prayer isn’t unlike what many airports and hospitals have with their multi-faith prayer rooms; converting the dockyard church would bring it up to speed. As an independent mission, the church operates outside the rules of the diocese, so this is merely a recommendation. It’s not clear when or whether it will happen, but as in other national churches across Europe, the church leadership in Sweden is interested in a mission of diversity. A parish in Malmö announced a year ago that it would support the diverse religious cultures growing within it, Sweden’s gateway to Europe.
Limited wolf hunt in Sweden
Wolf hunting began with the new year, following a decision in the Supreme Administrative Court temporarily settling an issue that allows for the killing of just 14 wolves in 2016. After a back-andforth battle with the European Commission that allowed Sweden to resume wolf hunting, Sweden’s Environmental Protection Agency estimates the wolf population is just over 400. Complaints of wolves preying on other game and hunting dogs in rural parts of the country have increased, and records show that many wolves are in good health, indicating the species has made a good recovery in Sweden since the 1970s when it was considered extinct. While the Environmental Protection Agency recommends the population be kept at 400, wolf hunting season is allowed in just two regions from January 2 to February 15.
Nordstjernan, January 15, 2016
Den svarta måndagen är här. Från midnatt krävs id-handlingar av alla som reser från Danmark med färja, tåg eller buss mot Sverige. In i det sista rådde stor osäkerhet om hur kontrollerna ska fungera och vad som gäller. Det är typiskt för hur hafsigt hela frågan hanterats. I somras firade Öresundsbron 15-årsjubileum. Ett halvår senare stryps denna pulsåder mellan Malmö och Köpenhamn, mellan Öresundsregionens svenska och danska sida. Visst, det går fortfarande att ta sig över Sundet. Med bil. Med färja. Med tåg. Med buss. Men det blir besvärligare. Hur besvärligt visar sig kanske först om en vecka, när storhelgerna definitivt är över och vardagen återvänt fullt ut. Istället för ökad integration hotar desintegration. Men detta är ett misslyckande på så många plan. Det är ett misslyckande för den europeiska unionen, som inte förmått hantera flyktingkrisen. I somras bröt den yttre gränskontrollen, en förutsättning för Schengensamarbetet och den fria rörligheten inom EU, samman. Sedan bröt solidariteten samman. Vissa länder svarade med att bygga taggtrådsstängsel. Tyskland, Sverige och Österrike tog ett orimligt och – som det visat sig – i
längden ohållbart stort ansvar. Drygt en själva när de nu bedrivit en så orealistisk miljon människor sökte asyl inom EU flyktingpolitik. under 2015. Det motsvarar ungefär Det är ett misslyckande för det nor2 promille, två tusendelar, av EU:s diska samarbetet. Nordiska rådet och totala befolkning på en halv miljard. ministerrådet har fram till nu varit i Om de asylsökande fördelats mellan princip frånvarande i debatten om de nya medlemsländerna hade det inte behövt byråkratiska hinder som slår mot den fria bli någon kris, då hade den dominoeffekt rörligheten. Sedan 1950-talet har det gått vars praktiska konsekvenser nu drabbar att resa mellan Sverige och Danmark Öresundsregionen aldrig behövt uppstå. utan pass. Det är med andra ord ett av det Det är ett misslyckande för den sven- nordiska samarbetets viktigaste framsteg ska, rödgröna regeringen, vars pani- – inte minst symboliskt – som nu hotas. kartade agerande visar en påtaglig brist Men framför allt är det ett allvarligt på förståelse för den lokala och region- bakslag för Öresundsintegrationen och ala verkligheten runt Öresund. För att det mödosamma arbete som bedrivits för hantera en pressad situation – med fler att knyta samman denna region. Istället flyktingar än mottagningssystemet just för att återstående gränshinder skulle tas nu tycks mäkta med – vidtas åtgärder bort, införs nya. med svåröverskådliga negativa effekter En arbetsmarknadsregion med nära för Skåne.Så bekräftas misstankarna fyra miljoner människor riskerar att dras om att det mentala avståndet mellan isär. Samarbeten inom näringsliv och maktens korridorer i Stockholm och akademi drabbas.Turism och handel Skåne nog är längre än det geografiska. berörs. På sikt hotas tillväxten i regionen. Det som nu sker är ett misslyckande för Øresundsinstituttet bedömer att de negaden danska och den svenska regeringen. tiva effekterna för Sverige och Danmark Istället för samarbete i avsikt att hitta kan röra sig om miljardbelopp. gemensamma lösningar som bygger på Åtgärderna slår mot jobben i en del av solidaritet två grannländer emellan, har landet som redan är hårt drabbad av arSverige och Danmark dragits in i ett betslöshet. Jobb som inte minst är viktiga ovärdigt Svarte Petterspel om de asyl- för att integrationen av alla de människor sökande. Istället för att ta sitt ansvar har som flytt hit ska fungera. danskarna obekymrat slussat strömmen Nu reses stängsel. Mentala murar av asylsökande vidare mot Sverige. När förstärks. Så här kan det inte få fortsätta. svenska politiker påpekat det orimliga Det måste också beslutsfattarna i Stocki detta har kritiken på flera håll på den holm fatta. danska sidan mötts av skadeglada kommentarer om att svenskarna får skylla sig
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Founded in New York City in September 1872 Editor In Chief & Publisher: Ulf Barslund Mårtensson – www.nordstjernan.com Editor: Amanda Olson Robison (editor@nordstjernan.com) Managing Editor & Production: Everett Martin Sports Editor: Chipp Reid Art Direction: Petter Ringbom / Daniel Berubé-Arbello Contributors: Valorie Arrowsmith - Terry Lee Blunk - Claes Magnusson - Lisa Mikulski - Ulf Nilson Kristina Hall - Leif Rosqvist - Ulf Kirchdorfer - Ted Olsson - Jeanne Eriksson Widman - Olle Wijkström - Bo Zaunders Publications Director: Mette Barslund Mårtensson (mette@nordstjernan.com; 800.827.9333 x12) Nordstjernan (ISSN 1059-7670) is published by Swedish News, Inc., 570 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10022 • Connecticut - P.O. Box 1710, New Canaan, CT 06840 Periodicals Postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Nordstjernan is published semi-monthly, except for the month of January. Post Master: Please send address changes to Nordstjernan, P.O. Box 1710, New Canaan, CT 06840 Subscription rates: 1 yr. - $55, - Two yr. - $99 - Outside US 1 yr. $167.
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News in brief. page 3
2016 - Our 144th year of publishing God Fortsättning!
Swedish News
Rewarding loyalty I’m writing this on Trettondagsafton, the Twelfth Night, the evening leading up to Epiphany, still a national holiday in Sweden, which prolongs the festive Christmas season for many in the old country. Regardless of how and if you observe this as a holiday, the beginning of a new year is a time for reflection, for looking back and looking ahead, to make plans and set goals. Remember Janus, the Roman god for which January was named? As the god of doorways, beginnings and transitions, he is usually depicted as a two-faced god who looks both to the future and the past. As such he presided over journeys, traveling, trading and exchanging, and also the beginning and end of conflict, war and peace. Let us all hope Janus looks favorably at the transition to peace this January. Did you make any New Year’s resolutions this year? Many Swedes look in the mirror when they make their resolutions. Our bodies (and to a degree also our health) are what we put in focus during the last minutes before the clock strikes midnight on December 31. According to an earlier Sifo survey, the two most popular resolutions in Sweden are: eating better or healthier (48 percent) and working out (42 percent). Unfortunately the same survey showed that 80 percent fail to keep these resolutions going. Be that as it may. Do remember the quote by Søren Kierkegard, suitable for every year. The Danish philoso-
pher wrote, “Life must be understood backward. But then one forgets the other principle, that it must be lived forward.”
A.I. and the first ‘country store 2.0’
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s New Year’s resolution made the headlines this year: Inspired by Jarvis, the computer system in the Iron Man movies, the CEO has said he intends to build an artificial intelligence system that will help him run his life. Why not, the technology is almost there, he has the resources and is partly motivated by practical family issues; by a need to know what’s going on in his newborn daughter’s room while he’s not there. Swedish entrepreneur Robert Ilijason was similarly motivated by a child’s needs when, in 2015, he decided to open Sweden’s first completely unmanned store after dropping the last can of baby food at the only store in a slightly remote part of Skåne. The first unmanned store is now set to open in Viken in January. The front door is opened with bank ID, customers scan their goods themselves with a mobile phone and get billed automatically. You need to be a member but membership after pulling an online credit report is a one-minute process. The inventive Ilijason sees his project as a savior for sparsely populated areas that lack a country store.
Looking forward for Nordstjernan, we’ll continue to show our appreciation to loyal readers by offering the usual 25% discount off the regular, first-time annual rate (so far $55). We’re developing ways to bring you more color, more valid content and to allow new, interested readers a way to look into the benefits of subscribing by offering new subscriptions online. Looking back, we’ve continued our increase in print circulation, which is a good thing, but our reach online through websites and social media has also grown exponentially. With some weeks reaching over 150,000 interested digital wanderers, it’s clear that the need—or use—for a vital, living legacy of Sweden in America is getting ever stronger. It is as it should be. To appreciate America, we need to also understand and appreciate where we came from and be equally respectful of both cultures. We need both roots and wings in today’s society. Thank you all for the signs of appreciation and trust—a true inspiration, an honor and an obligation we all take seriously. Expect even more from your Swedish newspaper in the future. Happy New Year and happy continuation of the New Year – God Fortsättning!
Ulf Barslund Mårtensson Editor & Publisher
To cope with a big migrant influx or the need to better handle possible terrorist threats the sharper border controls all over the EU may bring back European travel to post-WWII standards. prime minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, said the country was prepared to impose similar controls on its border with Germany, if the Swedish passport checks left large numbers of asylum seekers stranded in Denmark. The move marks a turning point for the Swedish ruling coalition of Social Democrats and Greens, which earlier presented itself as a beacon to people fleeing conflict and terror in Asia and the Middle East. Sweden was initially expecting about 100,000 newcomers in 2015, but by year’s end the figure was almost twice that, and the country is struggling to provide shelter, education and other services for would-be asylum seekers. After failing to convince other European nations to share some of Sweden’s migrant burden the government made a substantial U-turn
KTH suggests reverse congestion charges
Traffic congestion charges are nothing new, especially in Europe, but Sweden’s Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), wants to change things up a bit. Rather than socking away all the money collected from congestion charges, KTH wants to use that money to upgrade bicyclists’ rides. The more folks get involved with cycling, the fewer cars there are attempting to shoehorn into already congested urban areas; and incentivizing bike travel is one way to increase the number of riders even further. KTH suggests using congestion charges to offer a sort of credit, which could only be used for bike upgrades like studded tires, better suspension and the like. This is but one part of a larger strategy from the university, which also suggests allowing bikes on trains and creating two-lane “highways” for cyclists. Stockholm has plenty of riders already, but the trouble lies with suburbanites who may see cars as the wisest mode of transportation. Currently, most of Stockholm’s congestion charge is going toward construction of a new expressway that will bypass the city using mostly underground tunnels.
Beavers thrive in Stockholm
No more free travel between Denmark and Sweden
Beginning on January 4 and for the first time in over 50 years travelers going from Denmark to Sweden by train, bus or boat will need to present a valid photo ID, such as a passport, to enter Sweden from its southern neighbor. There are penalties for tour operators who fail to impose checks. Passengers who fail to present a satisfactory document will be turned back at the border. Sweden is set to drastically reduce the flow of refugees into the country by imposing strict identity checks on all travelers from Denmark. All the Nordic countries are now working to shed their reputations as havens for asylum seekers and the new rules for entering Sweden from Denmark will likely force similar controls at Denmark’s border to Germany. In his new year address, Denmark’s liberal
Image above from KTH’s Gothenburg counterpart: The “Quatrocyklotron,” Chalmers Technical University’s conveyance for four, used at ceremonious occasions, is being chased by a somewhat older bicycle.
in late November, declaring much less liberal asylum policies both in terms of residence permits, accompanying families and border controls. According to Sweden’s migration board, 80 percent of people seeking asylum in the country in 2015 did not have a passport and 60 percent have still not managed to show any official identification papers to the authorities. Sweden became part of the Schengen area, the 26 European countries that abolished passport and other types of control at their borders in 2001, but the borders to Denmark and other Nordic nations have been open since the Helsinki Treaty in 1962. At this point several of the Schengen participants have increased control at their borders. Sadly, passport free travel in Europe might become a thing of the past again.
The population of the once-endangered rodent has increased significantly in Stockholm to the point of causing concern and havoc. Beavers are even in the inner city, gnawing on trees, which is a security risk if the trees fall. Recently a badger was intimidating staff and guests outside the doors of a downtown Radisson hotel, keeping them inside out of fear of being attacked if they took their luggage to their cars. Why the beaver took to the inner city is not known for sure, but it is clear it has no natural enemies there. The city’s game warden is concerned for the risks to both beavers and humans, however, and talks are underway to alleviate the growing problem.
and Ericsson settle disputes
Swedish telecom giant Ericsson has reached a global licensing agreement with Apple that settles several earlier patent disputes between the two companies, Ericsson announced on Dec. 21. The terms of the agreement are confidential, according to the Ericsson statement, but it “includes a cross license covering the patents on essential standards of the two companies (including GSM, UMTS and LTE standards) and provides certain other patent rights. “In addition, the agreement ... solves all disputes related to violations of patents between the companies,” the statement added. Ericsson had filed lawsuits in Britain, Germany and the Netherlands over the unlicensed use of its technology in iPhones and other wireless devices. As part of the agreement, the companies are to collaborate in the development of the next generation 5G cellular standards, the optimization of existing wireless networks for operators and also in video traffic optimization.
The Exchange Rate: $1.00 = SEK 8.58 01.06.2016
January 15, 2016 Nordstjernan
feature. page 4
The Sisters of Vikingsborg she learns to play the piano. I learn that Sister Christina cheered on her Italian team during the latest World Cup in Soccer, and that Sister Agnes has a talent for imitating animals. I learn that all of them think of funny anecdotes to tell each other, and that there’s a lot of laughter in a convent.
A calling from God
Sister Christina, who said her long life in the convent had been “good fun, not so serious,” and added she was lucky she was only 15 when she joined. “It’s harder when you’re older.”
Did the new century produce an increase in religious fervor? Or was it the new millennium that prompted the avalanche of theological frenzy in the form of books like The Da Vinci Code and an abundance of New Age gurus, red Kabbalah strings and spiritual self-help books? Maybe our hunt for the grail simply is a wild goose chase, while a deeper spirituality — our inner grail perhaps — is eluding us? Could it be that a small group of Catholic sisters hold the key? Welcome to the sometimes eerie, often beautiful but always fascinating world of cloistered life in the 21st century. Stunning and elegant, Vikingsborg spreads out on the Long Island Sound like the Connecticut mansion it is. With an enormous, sloping garden attached, it’s nothing short of breathtaking. But a closer look shows Vikingsborg to be not just another mansion, but a Catholic convent, home to the sisters of Saint Birgitta. Birgitta is, as any Swedish school child will tell you, Sweden’s only saint. Squeezed in time between the Vikings and the Reformation, Birgitta stands as a most impressive remnant of Sweden’s days as a Catholic country. Visiting the Birgittines will remind anyone
Nordstjernan, January 15, 2016
just what a great imprint she left. Since Catholicism even today is seen as a bit exotic in the Scandinavian countries, the very notion of young women locked up behind the high walls of a convent seems spooky if not downright wrong. It’s a thought that takes some getting used to. A long time ago, it might have been a way to escape an unwanted marriage, or the only route for a woman with intellectual aspirations. But why become a nun today? The 10 women living at Vikingsborg at the time of our visit are Indian, Mexican and Italian, and range in age from 28 to 87. They all look the same as they quickly brush by: a gray habit, a long black veil topped by a white crown with five red dots signifying the five wounds of Christ. It’s an outfit which commands respect; you don’t easily joke around with a group of nuns in flowing veils. Nevertheless, the absence of the hints by which we normally read each other — clothes, profession, marital status — makes understanding a person difficult. A few visits later, faces gradually appear under the veils as their different personalities emerge. I learn about Sister Gina’s struggles as
A bed, a shelf for books and clothes, a small table, chair and a wash basin — these are the things each sister has in her room. The day begins when the bell tolls at 5:45 a.m. Matin in the chapel is at 6:10, mass at 7:30, Midday Prayer at 11:45, Adoration, Rosary and Vespers at 4 p.m., Night Prayer at 9:00 and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament at 9:30. In between, there’s the Guest House to keep up, food to cook, plants to tend and floors to scrub. Mother Eunice, Vikingsborg’s mother superior and the Darien convent’s sister in charge, has beautiful, soft eyes and lively features. Swift in mind and body, she gracefully pours my tea into a delicate cup as she explains the charisma of the Birgittine Order. Each religious order has its own charisma, and that of the Birgittines is: Prayer, Adoration, Reparation, and Ecumenical activities. The charisma is what makes an order stand out and helps attract prospective sisters to it. “When I was younger I didn’t know what I wanted. I thought I’d have a great career and travel the world,” Mother Eunice says. “But when God calls, you get this inner feeling. I prayed, ‘Lord show me my vocation.’ And then I saw this habit in a dream. When a Birgittine sister visited my parish in India, I recognized it immediately.” The Birgittine Order is semi-cloistered, meaning it is contemplative and active, with emphasis on prayer life. And it’s this aspect of the order that interests most of the sisters. Sister Agnes from Mexico was 14 when she became an aspirant. Her mother had died and her older sisters were married. “My father never thought I’d persevere!” she says with a big smile. “But I was attracted to this life of prayer since I was very young.” Sister Sarah studied political science for three years while trying to suppress a desire for monastic life. “There was a burning in my heart, a great desire to be the spouse of Christ. My parents asked me to first finish my studies. But I didn’t even wait for my diploma to arrive! My aunt was a Birgittine sister and I was just waiting for someone to ask me to join. When I entered the convent, my family was weeping.” She says she feels God’s unique love for her, and calls life with her new family enriching. “All of us have the same aim here. And you know Christ said: ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.’” Sister Gina, the youngest in an Indian family with seven children, explains that it was her widowed father who suggested she’d become a nun. “First I stayed with the Carmelites at a boarding school. Then the Birgittines came to
our parish, and the priest told them about me. I was 18 when I felt I wanted to become a nun. My father and my brother brought me to the convent after my summer vacation. I thought ‘Let me just try it.’ My father kept saying ‘If you’re not happy, you don’t have to stay,’ but I was happy, I am happy, this is such a close-knit family. I get peace and tranquility.”
Sweden awaits another saint
Mother Elisabeth gave Jews a hiding place during WWII, was good friends with Ingrid Bergman and plays a crucial role in the Birgittine’s storyline. Yet few people have heard of Mother Elisabeth, whose life had all the makings of a Hollywood epic with poverty, struggles and glory. Mother Eunice points out a rather severelooking portrait, but a photo from Mother Elisabeth’s youth reveals a lovely girl with pretty eyes, round cheeks and an air of heartbreaking innocence. To understand her, it’s necessary to take a closer look at St. Birgitta. One of the most powerful females of her time, Birgitta was a visionary who also had a finger in many political affairs in Sweden as well as in Rome. She was a pious child, married at an early age and gave birth to eight children. It wasn’t until Birgitta was widowed that the full force of her vocation became clear. She believed Christ himself appeared to her, she wrote about her visions and journeyed to Rome where she struggled to get the Papacy to return to from Avignon (which Pope Gregorius XI finally did in 1377). Birgitta founded a new religious congregation, the Birgittines, with a monastery in Vadstena, Sweden. Through her good works she made herself loved in Rome, where she died in 1373. In 1391 she was canonized. It could’ve ended there — and almost did for the Reformation dealt a serious blow to the Birgittines. The Vadstena convent was dissolved and its nuns fled to Poland. The Birgittine Order was in hibernation when along came Mother Elisabeth. Born Maria Elisabeth Hesselblad in 1870 into a Lutheran household in a village in Västergötland, Sweden, she immigrated to the U.S. alone at age 16 hoping to economically aid her family. In New York, she became a nurse and worked at Roosevelt Hospital. Maria Hesselblad surely felt lonely and scared in her new country; always something of a seeker, she converted to Catholicism in 1902. Two years later she moved to Rome, severely sick and prepared to die. Instead she managed to fulfill her dream of breathing life into Birgitta’s order. Despite poor health, extreme adversities and setbacks, Hasselblad continued with exceptional will power, completely absorbed with her goal to re-establish the Birgittines, which finally was carried out in 1911. The Holy See gave her permission to use Casa di Brigida on Piazza Farnese (the house in which St. Birgitta lived and died), and Hesselblad made it a center of activity for her newfound order. During WWII, Hasselblad performed char-
feature. page 5
ity work on behalf of the poor and those who suffered because of racial laws; she was proclaimed Righteous Among the Nations, an award granted by Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’ Remembrance Authority, to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews from the Holocaust. A friend of Hesselblad, Marguerite Tjäder Harris, donated her childhood home, Vikingsborg, in Darien, Connecticut to Hasselblad’s work ... and thus the first Birgittine sisters moved to Mother Elisabeth’s adopted country in 1957. In April that same year, Mother Elisabeth died. Mother Elisabeth is now on her way to becoming a saint — Sweden’s second saint in more than 600 years. Pope John Paul II beatified her in 2000; her canonization is pending with Pope Francis. Her branch of Birgittines exists today in Sweden, England, Switzerland, Mexico, the Philippines, India and the U.S.
A prayer for the world
On this visit, the skies over Vikingsborg are suddenly overcast in spite of what started as a sunny day. Sure enough, rain starts to patter against the huge windows, accompanied by thunder and lightning. Sister Gina runs to close the open glass doors, as the sisters begin to prepare for Vespers. Sister Fabiola and I have been talking. When I comment that most sisters come from poor countries, she nods. “God manifests himself in simple hearts. People with money think they have power. But what can they bring with them when they die? We who are poor know the One who will help us. Look, what do you really need in life? You need food, clothes, shelter and medicine should you get sick. What else do you need?” She draws a circle with her finger on the table. “You come to realize that you are all alone in this world, and that we are all the
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Photography: Henrik Olund
It’s been nearly 625 years since Sweden canonized its well-known saint, Saint Bridget (Birgitta), in whose name an order of nuns lives a life a prayer and service. And one member of the Birgittine Order stands to become Sweden’s second saint.
They are serenely beautiful, but being a sister also involves physical labor. The Birgittine Sisters do most of the work at the Tokeneke, Darien Sanctuary Vikingsborg themselves. Visitors comment on the excellent food they cook, their tasty pastries, the immaculate guest rooms they keep up, and the tender care they take of the blooming garden. Springtime, the sisters can be seen - their gray habits swirling in the breeze - with their fishing rods by the Long Island Sound, hoping to bring home snapper for dinner.
explains, they are praying for the world, and they are keenly aware of what’s going on. “We watch the news,” she says. Sister Fabiola was 30 years old when she became a sister. I ask if she never wanted to get married and have a family. “Maybe. I grew up on a farm in Guadalajara, Mexico. I taught catechism nearby. I had a few boyfriends, but little by little I felt the desire to give myself to God. That’s my way of helping the world — by constant prayer.” We sit in silence for a while, until the muffled crackling of the sisters’ habits can be heard as they walk toward the chapel for Vespers. I sit in the back and watch them move their bodies
Mother Elisabeth; Maria Elisabeth Hesselblad
same, in the same boat, whichever religion we belong to … God is the same, and we have the same problems. We fall and we get up. We have to always try to get up. We must persevere.” And if you thought life surrounded by likeminded believers guarantees a solid faith, think again. “You suppose just because I put my foot in here I change? Oh no! Every day is a struggle and one must ask the Lord for help. Help to love, help to be patient, help to strive a bit more. Help to see the presence of God in the small things. You breathe — that’s because of God! There’s a story about a man who can’t leave his house because he has no shoes. At last he steps out anyway and sees that there are people who have no feet. We must be grateful for what we have.” By living their lives as sisters, Mother Eunice
as they recite Holy Mary. Maybe it’s impossible for most of us to get off the treadmill of our urban existence, but we can get a good dose of spirituality, pure and soaring, just by visiting Vikingsborg. With its soothing surroundings and intangible peacefulness, Vikingsborg will do wonders for your spirits, no matter your religious beliefs. And the wisdom, beauty and grace of the sisters won’t leave anyone untouched. Eva Stenskär, Amanda Robison and Henrik Olund contributed to this story For more info, see www.birgittines-us.com
Steps to sisterhood
A young woman who feels the desire to become a nun goes through several steps. First she lives with the sisters for a while to get to know them and the kind of life they lead. After a short period she is asked to join as a postulant (Latin for “seeker” or “asker”). She is received into the family of sisters at a ceremony where only the nuns are present, and remains a postulant for eight months during which she wears her own clothes (no jeans please). At the end of this period, she can become a novice. If the community feels she is suitable for the vocation, she is given the habit, but with a white rather than black veil (symbolizing she is not yet bound by any vows). She also receives a new name. The novitiate is for two years, and if all goes well the novice herself asks to make temporary vows. The community again makes the final decision and the novice makes a three-year vow in the church with her family, friends and nuns present. It is then that the novice gets an extra name that means something special to her, like Sister Mary Angelica of the Most Holy Trinity, for example. The extra name is indicative of something she has discovered as her unique vocation. As she makes these vows, she also changes her white veil for a black one. Again, if all goes well and the sisters feel she is well suited, she can renew her temporary vows. Finally, after eight years, the sister asks for her life-long vows, the Solemn Vows. If the community is positive, the Bishop is called to come and receive these vows during a beautiful High Mass with the sister’s entire family, friends and relatives present. The sister is given a gold ring with an engraving of Christ on it. The characteristic Birgittine crown, which symbolizes Christ’s crown of thorns with his five wounds, finally completes her outfit. January 15, 2016 Nordstjernan
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box accordion, keyboard, clarinet, fiddle and nyckelharpa. When the tomtar returned to the room, they acted out the story and chopped the wood, curried the horses, fed the chickens, picked the eggs, and shoveled snow. They didn’t mind the work because they knew they were
Tomte Kajsa led the song games around the Christmas tree at the Julglädje celebration. Musicians were: Ross Sutter on accordion, guitar and dulcimer; Cheryl Paschke on fiddle and nyckelharpa; Marya Hart at the keyboard; and Carol Westberg playing clarinet.
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All the tomtar get ready to help at the farm. They are looking forward to their risgrynsgröt after a good year of work for the Johansson family.
Children and their significant adults joined in the annual Julglädje celebration at the end of December. Ross Sutter and Friends lead the show every year at the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, including music from the season, an interactive story about the tomtar with Tomte Kajsa, and song games around the Christmas tree. After some gathering music, Tomte Kajsa, acted by Rose Arrowsmith De Coux, invited all the children to join her. They put on their red tomte hats and learned what their jobs would be on the Johansson farm. While they were preparing and learning their lines, the older members of the audience listened to the music of button
FYI: I am Swedish!
going to get some “mums ... rice pudding!” But the people inside the house seemed to have forgotten their responsibility to the tomtar, and so the tomtar turned their hats inside out to become invisible and started throwing snowballs at the family. One old granny came out and said, :Who IS it?!” The tomtar shouted, “We want rice pudding!” They got their risgrynsgröt, gobbled it up and then danced and sang a song about it: “Rice Pudding is the best by far, tra la la la.” After this they climbed into their tomte nest and fell asleep dreaming about risgrynsgröt until it was time to get up and dance around the Christmas tree with all the adults in the room. For more information about this holiday show and other programs, search online and via Facebook. The musicians are frequently found at Nordic festivals and events in the midwest and beyond.
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Swedish Crime Novels Today Maj Sjöwall and Pär Wahlöö presented a true picture of their country and its people in their stories that critiqued the Swedish welfare state, highlighted the struggles of life and offered a vivid sense of place. Many Swedish Americans find ways to live their heritage in America. They take Swedish language classes, study genealogy, do folk dancing, make and wear folk costumes, sing traditional songs, cook and serve authentic Swedish food, collect Swedish china, crystal or handicrafts, do embroidery, etc. All these practices are fun and enriching, but they actually harken back to the Sweden of 150 years ago when their ancestors came to America. The emigrants were mostly rural folks from a homogeneous country. Modern Sweden is a diverse, urbanized place. It is a challenge for Swedish Americans to learn about modern, urban, diverse Sweden as it really is today. Crime novels have come to meet this need. Fifty years ago Maj Sjöwall and Pär Wahlöö presented a truer picture of their country and its people through crime novels. The young couple created Martin Beck, a melancholy police detective whose priority was not family or personal happiness but doggedly solving crimes. Sjöwall and Wahlöö presented a critique of the Swedish welfare state and highlighted the struggles of the poor and neglected. They also offered a vivid sense of place — the beautiful countryside, the Göta Canal, the picturesque buildings and lanes of Stockholm. These novels have enjoyed a huge public success. They were followed by authors like Henning Mankell, Åke Edwardson, Camilla Läckberg, Liza Marklund and Håkan Nesser. This model of the psychologically wounded
detective, the social critique of the welfare state and the vivid sense of place has been an example for other Scandinavian authors was well, like the Danish Jussi Adler- Olsen, the Norwegian Jo Nesbø and the Icelandic Arnaldur Indridason. Towering over them all, however, was the Swedish Stieg Larsson, a little-known writer who submitted three large volumes about Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist and their struggles with evil criminals of all sorts. Larsson died tragically in 2004, before Norstedts published his colossally successful books. Several years ago, Norstedts, sensing an opportunity to make a lot more money out of the franchise, hired David Lagercrantz, a respected Swedish author, to write a sequel to the “Dragon Tattoo” novels. This sort of thing is not unheard of, and in 2015, with a huge campaign of hype and advertizing the book came out simultaneously in many languages. “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” was generally reviewed rather positively. The greatest pleasure of it was to again be in the presence of the beguiling characters Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist and to live again in their world. Many readers will feel this book is a mere reaction to daily news stories whereas Stieg Larsson’s drama of revenge arose in the deepest archetypes of human civilization. His stories would have been at home in ancient Greece as well as among the Viking adventurers. That resonant depth is missing from the new book. While Larsson’s books didn’t spare the violence it was so over the top that the reader didn’t take it seriously;
Dr. Jim Kaplan with crime writer Johan Theorin in Stockholm, summer 2015.
it often ended up being funny or satisfying, like when little Salander nails her giant half brother’s feet to the floor. The ghastly cruelty against much-loved characters in “Spider’s Web” is hard to take. The modern Swedish American need not be sidetracked by this rip-off. Amazon offers dozens of Swedish crime novels and DVDs. Start with Henning Mankell or Camilla Läckberg, continue on to Johan Theorin, Alexander Söderberg or Roslund and Hellström and pretty soon you’ll feel
that you’re in Sweden today seeing how it really is now. James M. Kaplan Kaplan, professor emeritus at Minnesota State University Moorhead, will present three programs on Scandinavian crime novels in the San Francisco Bay Area in early 2016. For more info, contact Brenda Buckley-Chavez, 650-5587448, Chavez@plsinfo.org; Ram Kajah, 650 697-7607 ext 236, ram@smcl.org; Geraldine Dorman, 415-355-5770, gdorman@sfpl.org or, check Nordstjernan events online or in print.
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Öresund, Denmark and Sweden
As dark fell over the Öresund bridge on the evening of January 4, up to 8,000 commuters in Denmark were stuck in 45-minute delays on their route back to Sweden. Getting home, they feared, would take them twice as long as usual. This was no ordinary traffic jam on the crossing made famous by the TV crime drama The Bridge. It was the result of new identity checks brought in by Sweden at midnight on Sunday in a crackdown to stem the influx of refugees to the country. But for the thousands of people who commute between the two countries for work, it was an annoyance – and a depressing one at that.
Fulufjället, Sweden
Old Tjikko is a 9,500-year-old tree in Dalarna, Sweden. It took root at the end of the last Ice Age and is the oldest known living plant on the globe. Image from Wikipedia.
Sweden home to world’s oldest tree A 9,500-year-old Norwegian Spruce was discovered in Sweden by Leif Kullman, professor of Physical Geography at Umeå University. Carbon-14 dating determined the conifer, named “Old Tjikko” after Kullman’s Siberian husky in 2004, took root at the end of the last Ice Age. It is located at an altitude of 2,985 feet on Fulufjället Mountain in Dalarna, in central Sweden. “During the ice age, sea level was 120 meters lower than today and much of what is now the North Sea was at that time forest,” Professor Kullman said. Winds and low temperatures made Old Tjikko more like “a bonsai tree … big trees cannot get as old as this.” The trunk of the tree, which is only 13 feet tall, is estimated to be a few hundred years old, but its root system has been growing for more than 9,550 years. The lone spruce is the planet’s longest living identified plant, its incredible longevity due largely to its ability to clone itself, a process called vegetative cloning. “As soon as a stem dies, a new one emerges from the same root stock,” Kullman explained. Park rangers do not want to encourage large groups of tourists to surround the tree, but a free guided tour can be arranged for tourists to see it.
Facebook saves the bacon [of this pig] lage in the province of Blekinge in Sweden’s south. A few days later the farmer caught up with the fugitive, who was in fine fettle after her romp through the countryside. “She’s in great form, she must have stuffed herself with rotten fruit and other good things,” the farmer, whose name was withheld, told the SVT public broadcaster. Although just as happy, the pig in Having been raised on an organic this image by Bo Zaunders, is not the farm the sow is used to roaming at pig of our story below. her leisure, he said. Moved by the A pig that escaped a Swedish hog’s flight, animal rights groups slaughterhouse to avoid ending up launched a Facebook campaign on a Christmas dinner plate won a calling on the farmer to spare her stay on execution from its owner from the slaughterhouse. After after an outpouring of solidarity on 2,500 people signed the petition social media. the farmer relented to let her live. Determined to save its skin, the “Such a commotion! I’ve decided 250 pound sow took to its trotters to let her live until further notice,” on December 14 in Mjällby, a vil- he said.
Nordstjernan, January 15, 2016
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Something new
Photo: Kerstin Alm
“Something New” Axwell/Ingrosso
Los Angeles, CA
Entertainment magazine Variety reports that Steve Angello, one third of what was once Swedish House Mafia, has signed on as executive music producer for a scripted television series themed around electronic dance music, EDM. The series, still in early development, will chronicle “DJ culture” and the world of clubbing, and will be soundtracked by Angello’s music. Angello was awarded the 2013 Eliason Merit Award presented by SACC in LA for his contributions to strengthening relations between the U.S. and Sweden. Above Steve Angello with wife Isabel Adrian, Swedish Hollywood wife and participant in Bravo’s Euros of Hollywood, at the 2013 Eliason Award
No more EDM for Rubio?
Greenville, SC
Marco Rubio prefers EDM but he can’t turn it up for his college-aged supporters, he told a crowd at Furman University recently, because he received a cease-and-desist letter from some Swedish DJs. “Electronic dance music — I’m a fan of. We just can’t play it cause none of the DJ guys — they all send us letters, ‘Don’t play my music. I’m Swedish. I don’t care about American politics,’” Rubio joked, causing the crowd to erupt in laughter. His spokesman clarified on Twitter that the story was indeed true, and the Swedish producer Axwell asked the campaign to stop playing the song, “Something New” by Axwell/Ingrosso at events. Above, Sebastian Ingrosso, Axwell and Steve Agnello, formerly Swedish House Mafia.
New Swedish Crime Saga
THE ALL NEW S90 The all-new Volvo S90 luxury sedan arrives on the heels of the award-winning XC90. Built on the same in-house developed scalable platform as the SUV, the S90 combines Scandinavian design with cuttingedge safety and cloud-based applications and services. The Volvo S90 luxury sedan makes its global debut at the Detroit Auto Show, January 2016. Our ongoing $11 billion transformation plan is a journey where we give full attention to your driving experience, comfort and safety. Our legacy commands respect for the traditions of Swedish craftmanship while embracing the latest technology. Everything begins with you. Begin your own journey with us at volvocars.com/us
A new Swedish crime saga, dubbed a Scandinavian version of the U.S. drama series “Breaking Bad,” hopes to emulate the success of other Nordic television exports such as “The Bridge,” with a dark tale of marijuana, mafias and motherhood in suburban Stockholm. “Gåsmamman” (Mother Goose) stars Alexandra Rapaport as a mother of three and accountant at a boat marina who takes over the family’s illegal marijuana business after her husband is shot in a drug deal gone wrong. The producers of Gåsmamman hope the series will receive the kind of recep-
tion won by “The Bridge” and “The Killing,” which led to millions of people around the world becoming fans of what is known as Nordic Noir detective and crime stories. Rapaport, who starred in the Oscarnominated Danish film “The Hunt” and appeared in other crime series such as “The Sandman Murders,” is also co-producer. Like many Scandinavian series, it has a strong female lead reflecting a Nordic emphasis on gender equality. If in Sweden, you can watch the first episodes on www.cmore.se
‘Name’s days’ of the Swedish Calendar: January 16 Hjalmar/Helmer January 17 Anton/Tony /Kommande två veckors namnsdagar January 18 Hilda/Hildur January 19 Henrik January 20 Fabian/Sebastian January 21 Agnes/Agneta January 22 Vincent/Viktor January 23 Frej/Freja January 24 Erika January 15: January 25 Paul/Pål Sunrise Sunset In New York 7.18 a.m. 4.52 p.m. January 26 Bodil/Boel In Stockholm 8.31 a.m. 3.23 p.m. January 27 Göte/Göta January 28 Karl/Karla In Kiruna 10.10 a.m. 1.26 p.m. January 29 Diana Lund 8.27 a.m. 4.05 p.m. January 30 Gunilla/Gunhild In Los Angeles 6.59 a.m. 5.07 p.m. January 31 Ivar/Joar January 15, 2016 Nordstjernan
feature. page 10 perspectives.
Olle Wijkström olle.wijkstrom@nordstjernan.com
Vi tvingas ofta att ta nya tag. Framför allt händer det, när det blir ett nytt år. Då kallar vi det för nyårslöften, när vi bestämmer oss för att ta nya tag. Ofta i positiv riktning. Den som råkat bli aningen för rund om magen bestämmer sig för att banta istället för att köpa nya kläder och vidare byxor. Den som druckit för mycket bestämmer sig för att gå över från gin och tonic till Ramlösa. Den som sitter i kurran lovar kanske sig själv att bli en lagligare människa när han släpps fri. Nyårslöften används också av sådana personer som bestämt sig för att bli snällare, vänligare och mer överseende. Betraktar man det på detta sätt borde vi alla avge nyårslöften och bli bättre och hyggligare människor. Ändå finare vore det förstås om vi kunde leva upp till de löften vi avgivit inför ett nytt år. Många gånger tänker vi inte i första hand på oss själva. Vi anser ofta att andra människor borde bli bättre och bete sig vänligare och mer överseende. Inte minst våra folkvalda politiker. Många skulle säkert bli glada om Presidenten Bashar al-Assad i Syrien nu till årsskiftet insåg att det stod illa till i Syrien. Att folk svälte, hus bombades och nöd och elände rådde. Därför hade han bestämt sig för att flytta och överlämna ledningen av landet till en snällare person. Själv tänkte han slå sig ner vid någon solig badstrand och glömma allt elände han ställt till med. Så här har det varit i alla tider. Tyvärr fungerar inte tillvaron som den borde göra. Tänk bara om Adolf Hitler vid
Att ta nya tag årsskiftet 1939/1940 hade sagt sig själv att han hade kommit till insikt om att flertalet judar var underbara människor. Inga hemska avrättningsläger och gaskamrar skulle få byggas. Man behöver inte gå tillbaka i tiden för att finna exempel på hur illa ställt det är med folks vilja att avge och därefter leva efter avgivna löften för att ta nya tag. Även dagsaktuella tankar dyker upp. I Sverige vore det skönt om det under det nya året inte längre inträffade att hus som inrättats för svultna och frusna flyktingar blev nerbrända. Anläggningar har ödelagts av terrorister runt om i vårt land. Det allra bästa nyårslöftet vore givetvis om alla kunde enas om att fred skall råda. Hus som raserats i krigshärjade länder skall byggas upp. Människor skall inte behöva fly. Arbete skall finnas där de bor. Romer återvänder till ett Rumänien som blommar av välstånd Vår utrikesminister skall lära sig att - utan att reta upp araber och kristna – framföra sina åsikter. Donald Trump bestämmer sig för att han kommit till klarhet om att världen blir bara sämre om man bränner alla moskéer. Det finns oändligt många områden där det gäller att ta nya tag. Så har det varit i gångna tider. Och så är det givetvis också idag. Gott Nytt år kära läsare! Det finns många skäl att avge nyårsöften.
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Draken Harald Hårfagre, the worlds largest Viking ship built in modern times, will sail from her homeport in Haugesund, Norway in a challenging voyage that mimics that of Viking explorer Leif Erickson. Photo by Expedition America 2016
Expedition America 2016 will recreate the historical route the Vikings explored 1000 years ago. Recruiting is underway to staff a crew that will sail the Draken Harald Hårfagre, the worlds largest Viking longship built in modern times, from her homeport in Haugesund, Norway in a challenging twomonth voyage across the North Atlantic Ocean. Almost 4,000 people from around the world have applied for 32 crew positions on the 115-foot-long vessel, whose captain hails from Sweden. In May, the
Draken Expedition will explore and relive one of the most mythological sea voyages — the first transatlantic crossing, and the Viking discovery of the New World, more than a thousand years ago. Expedition America 2016 will head for Iceland and Greenland, and visit ports in the USA and Canada. Stay tuned for information about stops along the Saint Lawrence Seaway, throughout the Great Lakes and the New York canal system. www.drakenexpeditionamerica.com
How do you celebrate Lucia?
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be found at http://www. nordiskamuseet.se/en/ celebrating-lucia The materials will be an important foundation for future research and will be kept in the museum’s archive. It will also serve as a basis for a forthcoming book (also available in English) about Lucia celebrations in Sweden. Everything can be sent via the museum’s website: There are questions A group of children celebrating Lucia, some time between 1955-1965. Photo: Nordiska Museet/Karl Heinz Hernried. to answer, and you can upload films and digital Your stories, photos and films about the images. You can also mail Lucia celebrations you have experienced in high quality copies or original photos. are wanted! Pictures, objects and narratives illustrating Lucia celebrations in the Nordic Museum (Nordiska museet) is 19th and early 20th centuries are part of Sweden’s largest museum of cultural histhe Stockholm Nordic Museum’s collec- tory, collecting and documenting life, work, tion. But materials dating from after that traditions and trends. Since the 1920s the are sparse, and they are asking the general museum has approached the general public public for help. Please answer questions with questionnaires or appeals for informaand share your pictures, stories and view- tion in preparation for a special exhibition, points from the last 100 years that show publication or research purposes. The aim how people today have been celebrating is to give people a deeper understanding of the beloved Sankta Lucia tradition in Swe- their own place in history. den and America. All the information can
The Pacific states. page 11
Continued from page one
When Christianity swept northern Europe, Christmas was layered upon those local festivities. In Sweden and among SwedishAmericans in the U.S., the holiday season starts with the beginning of Advent (the four weeks preceding Christmas), or secularly even before then with Thanksgiving, then highlighting Sankta Lucia’s Day, climaxing with Christmas and New Year’s Day, and concluding on Epiphany (January 6), celebrating the arrival of the Wise Men to honor “the newborn king.” The final day of the season is the 20th day after Christmas, Saint Knut’s Day (“Tjugondag Jul” or “Tjugondag Knut”). Now this celebration for peace and joy is more typically remembered as “julgransplundring” (Christmas tree plundering), the day to strip the home of all Christmas decorations and to burn the tree. We conclude our old year and start afresh in the new year. All our cartoons show Old Father Time passing on his burdens to the New Year’s Babe.
Lessons for the new year
This year I am grateful to be reminded of the significance of the true meaning of the holiday spirit by two young women, whose memories of the past and of passing on important cultural traditions and personal values is something I hope to retain throughout the year. Both women come from families who are pillars of the San Francisco Bay Area’s local SwedishAmerican communities. Marta Weissenborn’s memory came as she was kneading dough to make her Christmas cookies. While thinking of the pain of preparing the dough, she was reminded of her arthritic mom making cookies and of her mom’s grandmother’s gift of cookies to her family. She learned to value the kindness of giving and the giver, rather than the appearance of the gift.
“The Value of a Swedish Spritz Cookie”
by Marta Weissenborn My hands are killing me! I just finished making Swedish Spritz cookies and these cookies can be hard on your hands. My mom, who had arthritis in her hands, would make these every year and I can only imagine how badly her hands hurt. Tonight, as my hands throb, I’m reminded of a favorite Christmas story she would share with her students every year before the holiday break. When my mom was young, her grandma would give her a tin of ginger snap cookies. Every year [Mom] would turn to her cousin Ricky and say “More dog biscuits!” Some of the cookies were burned. Some were in odd shapes. They weren’t perfect. They would laugh and thank grandma for the gift even though they didn’t think it was much of a gift. When my mom was at college many years later, she came home one Christmas and visited her grandma who happened to be making ginger snap cookies that day. My mom sat and watched her. She rolled the dough. Rolled it again. And again. And again. Until she got it as thin as possible. It was a tedious process.
It was at that moment my mom realized how very special those cookies were. You see, her grandma was blind. This meant she had to feel the dough to make sure it was just right. She had to trust that she made the recipe just right. That day, my mom drove home to her parents’ house and cried. She was ashamed of all the years she called the cookies dog biscuits. This would be the last year my mom received the cookies from her grandma. The moral of the story is to be thankful for whatever gift you receive. You never know what went into making or getting said gift. I’m thankful for that last Christmas I had with my mom. She showed me how to make Swedish spritz cookies and directed me from a chair in the kitchen. They weren’t perfect, and they still aren’t, but they are made with love, and to me these cookies are what make Christmas!
Legacy lessons
The other story was from Ninna Gaensler Debs. She works at our school district’s public radio station. Her memento is of the sounds of Swedish Christmas season and the critical work that women have played in passing on this tradition not only to their own children but for posterity in our community. Ninna’s mother, Karin Gaensler, has for years directed the team of supportive parents and their children in the Swedish Jul Choir in Lucia performances throughout the Bay Area. Preparations and rehearsals begin more than a month in advance; each year new kids join in this choral rite of passage as older ones graduate. The occasion is particularly memorable to the young woman chosen to be Lucia, after typically having spent the better part of a decade participating in the choir. But for other girls and boys in the choir, memorizing and singing the traditional Christmas songs is as much a highlight of the season as it is for the groups of people who are serenaded, such as at our annual SWEA Christmas Bazaar (reported on in Nordstjernan’s last issue by SWEASF President Camilla Podowski) and at the Young Scandinavian Club’s Sankta Lucia program. Ninna’s tale, like the Bazaar and pageant itself, remind us of the debt we owe for such maternal nurturing of these children and of the significant role they all play in passing on to younger generations our beloved traditions. But no one can tell this tale better than Ninna Gaensler Debs. I particularly appreciated how skillfully she crafted this audio broadcast, both narrating the story and illustrating each part with snippets of the occasion. I guarantee you’ll relive the whole season when you listen to this loving story from her December 3rd radio broadcast on KALW at http://kalw. org/post/audiographs-sound-week-swedishchristmas#stream/0 May you have a healthy and happy new year. Ted Olsson
Marta and Charlotte Weissenborn. Photo by Ken Weissenborn
What does Knut have to do with the holidays? In Christian traditions, Epiphany marks the date the wise men meet Jesus. Epiphany is a Greek word meaning “to show,” referring to Jesus being revealed to the world. Epiphany, which is 12 days after Christmas on January 6, marks the end of Christmas. But in Scandinavia it is met with more celebrating. Swedes in particular stretch out the festivities for another week until January 13, which is the Swedish name day of Knut. The day, known for julgransplundring (literally “plunder of the Christmas tree” when the Christmas tree and decorations are thrown out), is also called “tjugondedag Knut” (twentieth day Knut). Derived from Old Norse knútr meaning “knot,” the male name Knut is used most in Scandinavian languages and German. It was notable for being the name of several medieval kings of Denmark, including Canute the Great (995-1035) who ruled over England, Denmark and Norway. According to the latest Statistiska Centralbyrån data on the name, there were 15,750 males named Knut in Sweden in 2011. The old name peaked in frequency
Twentieth day Knut; time to lose the tree!
during the 1910s. In Norway, it peaked in the 1940s, and as of 2011, there were 26,771 males named Knut living in Norway. It isn’t used much by Americans. The most notable, living Knut in the U.S. is the son of pop star Jessica Simpson, Ace Knute Johnson (b. 2013), who has his grandfather’s name as a middle name. Other well-known Americans named Knut are no longer living: Norwegian-American football player and coach Knute Rockne (188-1931); Knute Nelson, U.S. Congressman, senator and governor (1843- 1923); and Knute Hill (1876 -1963) U.S. Congressman from Washington. Amanda Olson Robison January 15, 2016 Nordstjernan
The Pacific states. page 12
Living Christmas lessons Like many of you, I sat down with my family to a bountiful julbord on Christmas. The family continues to grow as the middleaged kids have their own kids. The younger couples continue many of the traditions — the culinary ones and the musical ones with songs and dancing through the house. The older members and visitors alike enjoy watching this passage of the julbord legacy with its many rituals. But what I most enjoy is how this large family has welcomed new members into the fold and how they in turn have adopted our traditions, mingled in their own and passed on the enhanced family memories to a new generation. Tradition! It is both yeast and glue, that leavens and binds all. How grateful I am for these gifts, the givers and the giving.
Living Christmas lessons
How will these traditional lessons fare under today’s conditions in this new year? The dramatic irony of the situation, heightened by this election year, is surely not lost on any of us. The escalation of the situation between Saudi Arabia and its Sunni allies against Persian Iran’s Shi’ites creates an even more volatile situation in the Middle East. This is the very place where the original event that Christmas celebrates occurred. During these holy days we have heard strident Republican candidates escalate each other’s dangerous rhetoric. Appealing to their evangelical flocks, they ignore the message and implications of Christmas, substituting for the angelic choruses’ good tidings their own fearful cries, fomenting their partisans to forbid any refugees from the Holy Lands, lest their numbers be infiltrated by terrorists. Perhaps like France (with the largest number of Muslim immigrants of any European nation), and distinguishing between their neighbors and the terrorists, we should not be cowed but instead live our American values as before and welcome the strangers to our shores, even as we remain vigilant for terrorists, both domestic and foreign. Alternatively we can turn Lady Liberty’s back to the immigrants, douse her lamp in the ocean and remove that ridiculous sign about welcoming the poor yearning to be free; or perhaps we can revise the welcome, only to be applicable in odd numbered decades. Indeed we do live in perilous times, testing our faith and fortitude. History kibitzes our contemporary affairs citing alternative examples. If I recall the story correctly, long ago in this same region another pair of refugees was escaping from a murderous edict and its effects that threatened not only their imminently newborn child but also all other newborn males in the community. Herod’s fearsome savagery was exacted upon all the native religious community as communal guilt in response to rumors throughout the land, which might threaten his own primacy. Today once again we hear cries to persecute the victims. Yet even in that day there
Nordstjernan, January 15, 2016
stranger. No one is dramatic numbers of refu“Most more aware of the gees, it is understandable of these refudifficulty of per- gees only desire peace that both Germany and manently housSweden had to stop and religious liberty, ing and inteno more than we ask for further flight and engrating these ourselves, or than we would force border control new populawhen other European wish for ourselves were tions than both countries refused to we in their situation, countries. There share the burden. fleeing the wrath of will be many difmadmen.” ficulties in the days Future refugees ahead. Finally, this instance is but a preMost of these refugees only view of the future. Most of the world’s medesire peace and religious tropolises and their populations lie within liberty, no more than we ask 100 miles of an ocean, sea or bay. For the for ourselves, or than we San Francisco Bay Area — indeed for much would wish for ourselves of the USA’s three coasts — the impact of were we in their situation, climate change is not some idle threat. If it fleeing the wrath of madmen. continues, not merely to overwhelm oceanic Many of these refugees are islands but to drown continental coastlines, smart, industrious middle- today’s refugee crisis will be dwarfed. And class families and business- thanks to the population explosion — as men (though that should not we approach a world census of nine billion be a determining factor in people — humans can generate many other their acceptance), whose en- causes of intolerance that will exacerbate ergy and success can contrib- conditions and cause millions of refugees ute to our country’s strength to knock on all our doors. Of course, as and rekindle our beacon of immigrants ourselves, or descendants of hope for the hopeless. And immigrants (most of whom left for ecoin any case, the United States nomic advancement and not fleeing for their of America, in contrast to the families’ lives), we can appreciate how life disunited European coun- in a new land can enhance one’s prospects tries, has the most stringent as well as contribute to the success of one’s conditions for accepting new nation. refugees, were we ever to do So, with a renewed heart and in cherishing so. It is shameful that every the traditions of the holidays, this year let single day Germany and us act on these lessons of Yuletide and find Sweden each accepted more ways to implement them during the new refugees than we have taken year. One by one, united, people of good in since the crisis began. will can change the world. It will be interesting to were well-meaning innkeepers, who could watch the crisis around the EU’s Schengen Ted Olsson make a bit of room for a desperate family. Agreement for the free flow of EU people Our national strength has always rested within their common boundary. Given the upon our diversity and tolerance, goodwill and common purpose. The Muslim community of Americans is our best resource to discover threats and to appreciate the goodwill of neighbors, their traditions and beliefs. It is in this case that Germany (welcoming the largest wave of immigrants) and even more so Sweden (welcoming the greatest number of refugees, per capita) are demonstrating in our new year the true spirit of refuge and sanctuary — whether the fleeing of a family or the succor of a Samaritan
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Church Chat with Pastor Staffan Eklund Months before members of the House of Sweden in San Diego planned cultural activities for the 2015 Midsummer celebration, Pastor Staffan Eklund offered to help in some way. Based at Svenska Kyrkan (Church of Sweden) in San Pedro, California, he would also participate in the Los Angeles Midsummer event, and visit the faithful in “the valley” just north of LA during Midsummer week. In publicizing the House of Sweden’s Midsummer week of educational outreach in San Diego, Viking Vista indicated Pastor Eklund would talk about matters material as well as spiritual. The history of Christianity in Scandinavia and the development of the Lutheran Church in the United States were possible topics of conversation. Rather than give a lecture, sermon or formal presentation, he wanted to interact with anyone who showed up and respond to their questions. His appearance was dubbed “Church Chat.” As people dropped by — with or without specific questions — Pastor Eklund and his wife Maj-Lena Eklund (also known as “Maja”) were perfect ambassadors, greeting everyone and engaging them in conversation. While Maja tackled questions about Sweden from some college students, Pastor Eklund described the programs of Svenska Kyrka in San Pedro to a Swede who now belongs to another Protestant denomination. The hands-on, be-in-the moment style of the preacher and his wife livened up the
Pastor Staffan Eklund and his wife MajLena Eklund (also known as “Maja”).
educational theme of theology planned for that day. The editor of Viking Vista was eager to know why it took the Vikings so long to convert to Christianity. This question was never asked, however, because it became apparent that the spiritual calling of Pastor and Mrs. Eklund was more interesting than Swedish religious history.
Answering the call
During the late 1970s and early 1980s while Pastor Eklund worked in a hospital in Stockholm, he went to church regularly and sang in the youth choir. Friends encouraged him to attend Bible school and seminary. “I didn’t want to be a pastor. I tried to escape,” Pastor Eklund said, noting that he was seriously considering becoming a doctor or possibly a surgeon. A life of service in medicine gradually shifted to the background as the call Svenska Kyrkan (Church of Sweden) in California.. to serve God gained volume. Svenska Kyrkan in Los Angeles has operated in the Norwegian Seaman’s Church in San Pedro, California, “Inside it grew,” he said. “It since 1952. Svenska Kyrkan provides a service in Swedish was a call from the Lord and at least once a month, usually the first Sunday of the through people, of course.” month. Pastor Eklund is also the pastor of Svenska Kyrkan One of those people was the in San Francisco, which he visits monthly. Svenska Kyrkan future Mrs. Eklund, whom in San Francisco has had a congregation since 1952; it has Pastor Eklund met at the had its own building since 1989. youth choir while he was
studying in Uppsala. At the time Maja’s father was serving as pastor of Gamla Uppsala’s historic church. “When you’re part of a minister’s family, so many people have ideas about who you are and what you should do,” she recalled. “As the daughter of a pastor, I didn’t want to marry a pastor.” But as the young couple’s mutual attraction grew, what they each hoped to avoid they came to accept. Staffan Eklund became a pastor, and MajLena married him. She likes to joke that he is married to the church; and consequently, so is she. In Sweden, he has worked as a youth minister in Norrköping and Umeå, as an associate pastor at Härnösand’s cathedral parish and as chaplain of the Strängnäs diocese. Before his assignment to Svenska Kyrka (Church of Sweden) in Los Angeles in 2013, Staffan served as the senior pastor of Stockholm’s Ekerö parish, which includes Adelsö-Munsö and Lovö. While serving in Ekerö in 2005, Eklund was asked to become a royal court pastor. He attributes this assignment to the proximity of Ekerö parish to Drottningholm Castle, where King Carl XII Gustaf lives with his family. “You don’t say ‘no’ to the King. It’s an honor to be appointed royal court pastor.” Although the Church of Sweden has 25 royal court pastors, Eklund has conducted the Christmas Day service six times. As a result, the Eklunds have eaten Christmas lunch with Sweden’s royal family five times. “I think our king prefers continuity.” A variety of reasons prompted Pastor Eklund to apply to work outside Sweden. For one, he wanted to continue working as a pastor with parishioners rather than administrative work, a typical career step for experienced pastors of his generation. Eklund also wanted the experience of working in a different country with a different culture, and in his particular case, to get to know the American west coast. “I like the United States. I think it’s nice that people say hello to you here. In Sweden people don’t say hello to one another.” He also welcomed the opportunity to work with Maja. “In Sweden, it’s not common to work as a couple,” he noted. Carl Englund, a former president of the House of Sweden in San Diego, said he was impressed by the teamwork of Staffan and Maja when he first met them in 2014. At the time the Eklunds conducted a
“celebration of life” service at the House of Sweden for members who had died. Staffan led the prayers, and Maja played the piano. “Those who attended were pleased by the simple but elegant beauty of the ceremony,” Englund said. Echoing other members of the House of Sweden in San Diego, Englund said he is most impressed by the Eklunds’ genuine desire to help and serve. “They minister to the needs of others while balancing challenging schedules and family life. They are a living example of what is good about people. Somehow they have managed to blend and present a wholesome, spiritual existence in a world divided and confused.” Suzan Hagstrom Suzan E. Hagstrom is the secretary and editor for the House of Sweden, a charitable, nonprofit organization that educates the public about Swedish culture, history, language and traditions. It is among several dozen similar organizations representing different countries that form a “mini-United Nations” within Balboa Park in San Diego, California. These international cottages were founded 80 years ago before the UN existed. The “houses” of Denmark, Finland and Norway are also part of this global village within Balboa Park, which is owned by the city of San Diego. Dependent on volunteers, the cottages are open Sundays from noon to 4 p.m., during which there is special entertainment and food concessions. The cottages also participate in Balboa Park’s special events, including Ethnic Food Fair and December Nights. Viking Vista is a quarterly newsletter published by the House of Sweden. House of Sweden, Balboa Park www.houseofsweden.us
LINGONBERRIES • Fresh Frozen • Dried • Preserves www.sturdiwheat.com January 15, 2016 Nordstjernan
local events. page 14
650-558-7448. kaplan@mnstate.edu.
l California
More events and list your own, at www.nordstjernan.com-EVENTS
01.25.2016 06:00 PM - 08:00 PM Scandinavian Crime Fiction Today Scandinavian crime novels have had successes as books, on TV and in films. Their main characters like Lisbeth Salander, Kurt Wallander and Harry Hole have gained international attention. Featured in this program will be “The Draining Lake” by Icelandic author Arnaldur Indridason, “Redbreast “ by Norwegian author Jo Nesbø and “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” by Swedish author Stieg Larsson. Detective novels are a fine opportunity to learn about the real lives of Scandinavian people today. They are fun and exciting and introduce the reader to literature and the humanities. The program is free and open to the public. Burlingame Public Library.
01.27.2016 07:00 PM - 01.27.2016 09:00 PM Scandinavian Crime Novels Today at Milbrae Public Library. 650-697-7607. 02.03.2016 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM Scandinavian Crime Novels Today at the Parkside Branch, San Francisco Public LIbrary. 415355-5770.
l Connecticut
02.07.2016 12:30 AM - 03:00 PM Valentine’s Brunch with Connecticut District #1, Vasa Order of America is hosting a Valentine Brunch at the Manor Inn to raise money for their District Scholarship Award. Brunch $30.00 per person. There will be a raffle. For more info on the Manor Inn, see www.manorinnrestaurant.com. CT District #1, Vasa Oder of America. 860.563.0040. steinmillerl@gmail.com. For more info, see www. manorinnrestaurant.com
l Florida
Continuously The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce of Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach promotes trade, commerce and investment opportunities between Sweden, Fort Lauderdale - Palm Beach and members. See www.sacc-sfl.org
l Illinois
01.15.2016 - 03.26.2016 MIgrating Visions: The Art of Indira and Karl Johnson. Living and creating together in India, Sweden and the United States for over 40 years has had a profound influence on the work of wife and husband artists Indira and Karl Johnson. They met at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in the late sixties and as their work evolved over the next four decades, their individual thoughts and ideas have migrated back and forth appearing in different forms in each other’s art. 773-728-8111 | www.swedishamericanmuseum.org
01.11.2016 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM Bullerbyn Swedish Language Playgroup Taking place roughly every other Sunday in tandem with Svenska Skolan, Bullerbyn is a time for singing cherished children’s songs, reading fun tales, and having lots of fun in Swedish. Children ages 6 months to 5 years are welcome to attend with a parent. This class will be conducted only in Swedish! All children participating should have Swedish spoken regularly at home in order to get the most out of Bullerbyn. We meet in the gallery space or the Children’s Museum. Kids are welcome to stay and play in the Brunk Children’s Museum after the program. The classes are free for members. Non-members pay $5 per child/class; payment can be made on-site at the Museum.. Swedish American Museum. 773-728-8111 | www.swedishamericanmuseum.org Continuously Step back in time in historic Bishop Hill. Utopia on the Prairie, then and now. For information call 309-927-3899 or email heritage@bishophill. com. Visit our Website at: www.bishophill.com
l Minnesota
11.14.2015 02:00 PM - 01.10.2016 04:30 PM A Nordic Christmas: Myths, legends and fairytales. American Swedish Institute 2600 Park Avenue Minneapolis MN 55407. 612-871-4907 | www.asimn.org 01.23.2016 PM - 05.22.2016 04:30 PM The Watercolor Worlds of Lars Lerin. Solo exhibition of contemporary Swedish watercolor master Lars Lerin (b. 1954). American Swedish Institute 2600 Park Avenue Minneapolis MN 55407. 612-871-4907 | www.asimn.org
l New York
09.17.2015 11:00 AM - 01.17.2016 05:00 PM Swedish Wooden Toys—an exhibition at Bard Graduate Center Gallery. 212-501-3074 | www. bgc.bard.edu/gallery
Välkommen till
Tisdag 2 februari - Filmkväll Söndag 7 februari kl. 11.00
Mässa
med kyrklunch och söndagsskola. Onssdag 10 februari Tisdag 16 februari kl. 18.30
Veckomässa i Taizéton med kyrkkaffe
Senaste nytt om alla våra aktiviteter hittar du på vår Facebook- och hemsida!
Svenska kyrkan, Los Angeles 1035 South Beacon Street, San Pedro, CA 90731 Tel. 310-832-6800 • Epost: losangeles@svenskakyrkan.se Hemsida: www.svenskakyrkan.se/losangeles På facebook heter vi “Svenska kyrkan i Los Angeles”
SÖNDAG
Caféet öppet 12-16
17/1 Högmässa 11.00 24/1 Högmässa 11.00 14-16 Ung Svensk i NY
MÅNDAG
Caféet öppet 12-18 25/1 Start för verksamheter 12.15 Middagsbön 18.00 Aftonbön
Nordstjernan, January 15, 2016
TISDAG
ONSDAG
01.23.2016 01:00 PM - 3:00 PM Fauna and Me. Fauna and Me Minna Krook Dans SAT—1-23—1 PM $10 ($7 ASF Members), Ages 4-10. 212.779.3587. www.scandinaviahouse.org 01.25.2016 07:00 PM - 01.25.2016 09:30 PM Scandinavian American Staged Reading Series. Scandinavian American Theater Company (SATC) introduces a new generation of Nordic playwrights. Admission: free “White Baby” on Jan. 25 by Sofia Fredén (Sweden 2005) and translated by Edward Buffalo Bromberg (USA 2007). Pre-reception at 7 pm. 212.779.3587. www.scandinaviahouse.org
01.30.2016 06:00 PM Pea Soup and Punch Supper: Ärtsoppa och Punsch at the museum. Warm up on a chilly winter’s night with a bowl of Swedish yellow pea soup and a cup of punsch. Dinner is served with sharp cheese, bread, and dessert. Tickets are $20 for members and $25 for non-members. Register by phone or online by January 25th. American Swedish Historical Museum. 215.389.1776. www.americanswedish.org
Askonsdagsmässa med Norska kyrkan
www.svenskakyrkan.se/newyork
01.20.2016 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM Will he bring a piano this time? Swedish Instrumentalist Humorist Magnus Martensson will not fail to amuse you with a combination of talk show and multi-instrument entertainment. For more info, see www.MAESTROMARTENSSON. COM. Don’t Tell Mama. 212.757.0788. info@donttellmamanyc.com.www.donttellmamanyc.com
09.12.2015 04:30 PM - 02.28.2016 04:00 PM United Stockholms of America See Stockholm like you’ve never seen the city before! ... a large-format photography exhibition by Swedish photographer, Charlie Bennet, who beautifully documented the wildly varying degrees of Swedishness of the different Stockholms. American Swedish Historical Museum. 215.389.1776. www.americanswedish.org
på California Lutheran Univesity Campus, Thousand Oaks. Kyrkoherde Staffan Eklund predikar, kören medverkar och kyrkkaffe serveras.
Öppettider 17 jan - 30 jan
01.18.2016 06:00 PM - 08:00 PM Jazz Collective with Elsa Nilsson at Rockwood Music Hall, 185 Orchard St. NYC. This collective features the music of Elsa Nilsson, Morten Haugshøj, Mareike Wiening and Tom DiCarlo. A smorgasbord of musical influences!
l Pennsylvania
Svensk Gudstjänst i Thousand Oaks
5 East 48th Street, New York, NY 10017 Tel: +1 (212) 832-8443
01.15.2016 09:00 PM - 10:00 PM Varela/Haugshøj/Nilsson/Rahn Collective at Nublu. This cross continental collective will be performing original jazz one night only on Friday, January 15th, 9 pm. Nublu, 62 Ave. C, NYC. www.nublu.net
01.28.2016 07:00 PM - 09:00 PM Excuse me, does my piano count as one carryon? It did, again. Musical comedian and musician Magnus Martensson brings his show to New York City a second time in January. 212.757.0788.www.donttellmamanyc.com
Sönag 24 januari kl. 11.00
mdv xnqj
01.13.2016 07:45 PM - 08:45 PM Swedish Jazz Musician Elsa Nilsson at Bowery Electric. Combining the rich heritage of her Swedish homeland with traditional jazz and varied musical influences from around the world, Nilsson and her quintet will showcase arrangements of Swedish Traditional music as well as original compositions. www.theboweryelectric.com, 327 Bowery, NYC. www.elsanilssonmusic.com
@sk.ny Svenska kyrkan i New York TORSDAG
FREDAG
Caféet öppet 12-18
Caféet öppet 12-18
Caféet öppet 12-18
Caféet öppet 12-18
12.15 Middagsbön 18.00 Aftonbön
12.15 Middagsbön 15.00 Träffpunkt 18.00 Mässa
12.15 Middagsbön 18.00 Aftonbön
12.15 Middagsbön 18.00 Aftonbön
LÖRDAG
Caféet öppet 12-16
local events. page 15
Swedish bandweaving class in Minnesota Valorie Arrowsmith, Minnesota valorie@nordstjernan.com
Students learned a new Swedish weaving skill over the holiday break as We R able, an organization in east-central Minnesota, offered band-weaving instruction and a couple open studio times so learners could complete a project. The week after Christmas was selected as a time when folks might have an open afternoon or evening to try some work with textiles. While most weavers had local addresses, one came from the state of Wyoming. Some were novices in the weaving domain, but by the end of the first lesson each participant had learned the process of creating a woven band suitable for use as a belt, trim, Scandinavian tray hanger, guitar strap or dog leash. Coincidentally, while learners were working on a Swedish-style of weaving, they began to talk about heritage. All the participants had Swedish roots, and two of them were related to one of the team members in Season One of “Allt för Sverige,” so the group found the program online, and listened to it while they wove. The next band-weaving session is scheduled for April 15-16. (Consider it a reward for getting your income taxes done on time.) Another Nordic event on the schedule is the celebration of St. Urho’s Day on March 17, with the Spirit River Scandiband. For more information about upcoming programs visit the We R Able Facebook page.
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January 15, 2016 Nordstjernan
sports. page 16
Yanks blast Baby Kronor for bronze
Ryan Donato beats Linus Söderström for his second goal of the game during Team USA’s 8-3 win over Sweden January 5 in the bronzemedal game of the 2016 World Junior Hockey Championships in Helsinki, Finland. Chipp Reid, Sports Editor chipp@nordstjernan.com
Forwards Anders Bjork, Ryan Donato and Matthew Tkachuk each scored two goals to help lead the United States to an 8-3 victory against Sweden January 5 in the bronze-medal game of the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship at Hartwall Arena in Helsinki, Finland. Bjork and Donato are selections of the Boston Bruins in the 2014 NHL Draft, and Tkachuk is an A-rated skater on NHL Central Scouting’s November players to watch list for the 2016 draft. Host Finland won gold by defeating Russia 4-3 in overtime. Russia defeated the United States and Finland defeated Sweden in the semifinals January 4, each by 2-1 scores. Finland went on to beat Russia in overtime to claim the gold. The United States won its ninth medal in the history of the tournament, and fifth bronze. The Americans also defeated Sweden 4-2 in 2011 and 2-1 in 2007 to win the bronze medal. Donato was a second-round selection (No. 56) by the Bruins, and Bjork a fifth-round choice (No. 146). Brock Boeser (Vancouver Canucks) and Brandon Carlo (Boston Bruins) also scored for the United States. Tkachuk finished tied for the team lead with 11 points (four goals, seven assists). United States goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic
Nordstjernan, January 15, 2016
(Carolina Hurricanes) made 35 saves and finished the tournament with a 1.66 goals-against average and .943 save percentage in six games. “This means a lot because this game was all about playing for pride and playing for yourself and your team and trying to come away with something,” Nedeljkovic said. “Obviously everybody wants the gold medal, but coming away with a bronze is better than going home with nothing.” Bjork scored at 11:59 and Tkachuk at 15:32 of the first period before Sweden pulled even on goals by William Lagesson (Edmonton Oilers) at 17:39 and Carl Grundstrom, an A-rated skater on Central Scouting’s November list, 55 seconds later. Boeser scored the first of four goals in the second period at 2:17 to give the United States a 3-2 lead. Sweden left wing Alexander Nylander, an A-rated skater on Central Scouting’s November players to watch list, had a goal disallowed at 6:28 because of a high stick with the United States holding a 4-2 lead. The United States avenged a 1-0 loss to Sweden in the preliminary round on Dec. 28. In that game, Sweden goaltender Linus Soderstrom (New York Islanders) made 46 saves. In a surprise move, Sweden coach Rikard Gronborg decided to start Felix Sandstrom (Philadelphia Flyers) in the bronze-medal game. Sandstrom made 21 saves on 29 shots. United States center Auston Matthews, the
projected No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, came one goal short of equaling Jeremy Roenick for most goals by a United States player in a WJC event. Roenick had eight goals at the 1989 WJC when the United States finished fifth. “I think the way we conducted ourselves after the loss (to Russia in the semifinal round) really shows the team we have,” Matthews said. “Putting that loss behind us and preparing for this
Team USA used a four-goal second period to knock off Sweden 8-3 in the bronze-medal game of the 2016 World Junior Hockey Championship game and the way we played it was nice to see.” The United States has 15 wins, including nine of the past 10 games, and 15 losses against Sweden at the WJC. The teams have tied twice.