Photo courtesy Cinematograph AB/Sandrew Film & Teater (1982)
The Swedish North Star, continuously published since 1872. Volume 146 No. 18, January 01, 2018. Price per copy $3.50.
Carl Ekdahl (Börje Ahlstedt) speaking at the Christmas table of the Ekdahl family in a scene from Fanny & Alexander (1982), by Ingmar Bergman.
Photo: Bengt Wanselius
The Bergman Year
Time magazine’s March 14, 1960 cover featured Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman; an illustration with him in the forefront of a scene from his movie The Magician, released in the U.S. at the peak of his career in August 1959. He was 41 years old and well known around the world for his dark but powerfully creative portrayals of death and mortality, faith, betrayal and insanity. He went on to write and produce film, television, theater and radio until he retired in 2003. He died four years later at the age of 89; and 2018 is dedicated to him: The Year of Bergman 2018 celebrates the rich legacy of the great Ingmar Bergman who would have been 100 years old on July 14, 2018. / P9-13
Sweden cracks down on stealth advertising by influencers in social media / p4 Finland and Sweden pave the road for McDonald’s to go vegan / p4 Reminiscing on “discovering” Bergman /p10 How many other julbocks have met a similar gruesome fate? / p14
A ‘Swedish’ oasis
Malta is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea between Italy and northern Africa. Just four hours away by plane, its historic sites and Mediterranean beaches are a haven for Swedish vacationers seeking warmth during the winter. But it’s not just vacationing Swedes who love Malta; many have made Malta their permanent residence. / P16
Eat for life in the new year
It’s that time of year again—for resolutions. Whether or not we keep our resolutions – whatever they may be – most of us can always improve in keeping a healthier lifestyle. According to a new book out of Sweden, the ability to do what that requires depends on a person’s biology. Whether you’re trying to lose weight or find a routine that keeps you healthy and fit, dietary advice is often similar and includes a variety of things from the food pyramid – with a dose of some of Nordic cuisine’s favorite spices – which, it turns out (no surprise there!), are also among the healthiest. / P20
dashboard | january 01, 2018 SCANDINAVIAN QUIZ
Swedish countryside B)his family C) still life D)starry nights
2 Which immigrant group was the third largest on the Titanic? A)Swedes B) Norwegians C) Americans D) Vikings
3 In 1933, which country defined the infamous “Law of Carl Larsson (May 1853–January 1919) was a Swedish painter of the Arts and Crafts movement whose popularity increased considerably through his book, A Home, which, after color reproduction became possible in the 1890s, contained full-color reproductions of his watercolors. His home in Sundborn, Sweden has become a museum and is one of the world’s most famous artist’s homes, transmitting the artistic taste of its creators and making it a major line in Swedish interior design. Above is a winter scene, a watercolor titled The Yard And Wash House from “A Home” c.1895.
Name’s Days of the Swedish Calendar Namnsdagar i januari
January 1 January 2 January 3 January 4 January 5 January 6 January 7 January 8 January 9 January 10 January 11 January 12 January 13 January 14 January 15 January 16 January 17 January 18 January 19 January 20 January 21 January 22 January 23 January 24 January 25 January 26 January 27 January 28 January 29 January 30 January 31
Nyårsdagen Svea Alfred/Alfrida Rut Hanna/Hannele Kasper/Melker/Baltsar August/Augusta Erland Gunnar/Gunder Sigurd/Sigbritt Jan/Jannike Frideborg/Fridolf Knut Felix/Felicia Laura/Lorentz Hjalmar/Helmer Anton/Tony Hilda/Hildur Henrik Fabian/Sebastian Agnes/Agneta Vincent/Viktor Frej/Freja Erika Paul/Pål Bodil/Boel Göte/Göta Karl/Karla Diana Gunilla/Gunhild Ivar/Joar
January 1
|
New York Chicago Stockholm Kiruna Lund Los Angeles 2 NORDSTJERNAN
Sunrise & Sunset
7.20 am 4.39 pm 7.18 am 4.30 pm 8.43 am 2.58 pm below horizon 8.36 am 3.45 pm 6.58 am 4.54 pm
Jante,” which downplays individual expression and achievement? A) Norway B) Sweden C) Denmark
4 In which of their four countries is the Sami popula-
tion most represented with nearly 65,000 people? A) Sweden B)Norway C) Finland D) Russia
5 If the land of the midnight sun experiences 56 days of round-the-clock daylight in the summer, how many days of pure darkness does it have in the winter? A)32 B) 55 C) 67 D) 11
CULTURE
Namnsdagar
6 How many countries have outlawed spanking since Sweden first did so in 1979? A) 1 B) 22 C)48 D)113
7 What country does today’s Swedish royal lineage
come from? A) Denmark B) Italy C)France D) Sweden, of course
8 Once the seat of Viking raiders, what is the oldest kingdom in the world still in existence? A)Denmark B)Norway C)Scotland D) The Faroe Islands
9 Why did King Carl Gustaf XVI take the throne
after his grandfather died rather than his father? A) His father didn’t want to be king B) His father was too old C)His father died in an aircraft accident
10 Who are Sven & Ole? A) It depends whether you
are Swedish or Norwegian B) immigrant famers who settled in the midwest C) Lena’s husband and brother-in-law Answers: 1:B, 2:A, 3:A, 4:B, 5:A, 6:C, 7:C, 8:A, 9:C, 10:all of the above
was beloved artist Carl Lars1 What son’s favorite subject to paint? A) the
Januari
Knut - January 13 Knut is a man’s name with Nordic origins. Some sources say it means just that, knut - a knot. According to other sources it means “the plucky one” or “the brave,” after a German word. Knut has been a royal name in Sweden as well as in Denmark; the name was hugely popular around the turn of the last century, but was used less and less during the 1900s. It is now again gaining popularity. Frej - January 23 Frej is a man’s name with Nordic origins. It means “lord” or “ruler.” Frej was one of the most important gods of Norse paganism, highly associated with agriculture, weather and as a fertility god. The name has never been frequent in use but rose slighly in popularity during the 1990s, after having been added to the almanac in 1986. In 2016 there were 921 men in Sweden with the name plus 370 who carry it as a last name.
founded in new york city in september 1872 Nordstjernan (ISSN 1059-7670), founded in New York City in September 1872, is published by Swedish News, Inc., 570 Lexington Ave, New York, NY 10022 • Readers services and editorial submissions: P.O. Box 1710, New Canaan, CT 06840 Periodicals Postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. www.nordstjernan.com, Nordstjernan is published semimonthly, except for the months of January, February, July when it is monthly and Augustwith no issue. 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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this week…
Looking for value, look for Swedish Value is an extremely personal matter. When we made the switch to a smaller saddle-stitched format in 4-color in 2017 we set out to create an even better publication, a publication that would make us all even prouder—native Scandinavians, Americans with a strong connection to Sweden and every single organization connecting the two. We’re proud to say that so far our changes have been greatly appreciated. It was the second time the newspaper has gone through such a drastic change, and according to you loyal readers and many new, just like in 1971 it seems it was the right move. (Albeit also a bit confusing; this issue, dated January 2018, is the 18th issue of 2017.) One of our key ambitions is delivering the information and inside info to help you make sense of traditions, keep up with more recent trends in Sweden or making educated choices—be they around creating an unforgettable vacation, a new item for Friday’s dinner, or selecting a special gift for a wedding, a new baby, graduation or anniversary. Remember, when you consider most Swedish and Scandinavian options, whether they are designed, produced, marketed or retailed by Scandinavians, you can be certain you will always receive value—in terms of affordable prices or in quality that will survive for generations to come. Or both. The year 2018, our 146th, marks the 100th anniversary of Ingmar Bergman’s birth and we’ve devoted a lot of pages to him in this issue. Bergman, who died peacefully in his sleep aged 89 at his home on Fårö Island in 2007, directed more than 60 films and over 170 plays. The acclaimed director was maybe first and foremost an observer. Nowhere could he have
more to observe than in his native Sweden, in his beloved Stockholm, at the Royal Dramatic Theatre “Dramaten,” or on the barren island Fårö in the Baltic. We’ll have reason to return to some of the director’s Swedish destinations throughout the year. His not-so-publicized debut at Norra Latin High School in Stockholm in 1940 is chronicled (page 8) as recalled in 1995 by one of the actors at the event—the late editor and columnist of Nordstjernan, Mr. Lars H. Ottoson. It is difficult to describe in a few words the magic of having finalized another edition of a newspaper not to mention another full year. Suffice it to say, we’re happy. Through a combination of efforts from a variety of hard-working staffers and contributors, a good dose of care and creativity, the end result is a balance of old and new, substance and presentation, copy and photos. A newspaper such as Nordstjernan should always be a journey, an experience in its own right. If you’re new to us, welcome aboard; everyone else, thank you for your continued support and trust. Thank you all—readers, writers, designers, photographers, sponsors, advertisers, colleagues, FRIENDS—for an exciting and successful year. Nordstjernan and staff look forward to our 146th year of continuous publishing, and wish everyone good health, happiness and success for 2018! Ulf Barslund Mårtensson Editor & Publisher
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Time magazine’s March 14, 1960 cover featured Ingmar Bergman, an illustration with him in the forefront of a scene from his movie The Magician, released in the U.S. at the peak of his career in August 1959.
Dashboard, p4-5
Stockholm growing in popularity / Swedish blogger in court / Midwinter Sacrifice / Trettondedag Jul, Tjugondedag Knut / Uniti One unveiled / Housing prices on the decrease/ The annual royal holiday greeting
Events calendar, p6-7
What’s going on in Swedish America.
w/ord encounters, p8
My wonderful flugsmällande mormor.
Inbox, p14
Lingon contest winners, wishes for a julbock warranty and a note from the honorary consul in New Orleans Our Swedish Honorary Consuls, who are they really? We decided to find out. /p19
Swedish News, p27
Bracing for Brexit / Facebook sales stay in Sweden / Faster, specific diagnoses / Banning beggars / Baltic fish in Swedish waters / Malmö designer wins award Your next issu e / Spotify’s will be dated new offices / February 1, 2 018 Food in your fridge The Exchange Rate:
Signature______________________________________________
Sec code: _______
$1.00 = SEK 8.43 (12.18.2017)
JANUARY 01, 2018 3
dashboard | january 01, 2018 McDonald’s goes Vegan
The McVegan. Just in case this is your thing and before you get too excited, there’s a catch—you have to fly overseas to give it a taste.
Following successful trials in Finland, McDonald’s first-ever vegan burger became a permanent menu item in Finland and Sweden on December 28. During development, tasting panels tried out and reviewed over 100 different recipes – with the sole objective of perfecting the first vegan burger for the American fast food giant, which struggles to attract millenials with its standard range of burgers. It’s too early to say whether the McVegan, developed by a Swedish food producer, will be launched in other countries. McDonald’s seeks to attract new tasters with comparatively low prices, and if the initial response is anything to go by, maybe we’ll be seeing the McVegan in the U.S. as well.
The stories, the traditions, the people behind the news. founded in new york city in september 1872 executive editor & publisher:
Ulf Barslund Mårtensson (editor@nordstjernan.com) editor:
Amanda Olson Robison (editor@nordstjernan.com) managing editor & production: Everett Martin graphic design: Nadia Wojcik (design@nordstjernan.com) contributors:
Chipp Reid - Lisa Mikulski - Ted Olsson - Leif Rosqvist Ulf Kirchdorfer - Valorie Arrowsmith - Olle Wijkström Bo Zaunders - Göran Rygert - James Kaplan - Gunilla Blixt publications director:
Mette Barslund Mårtensson (mette@nordstjernan.com; 800.827.9333, ext 12)
nordstjernan p.o. box 1710 new canaan ct 06840 contact us at 1.800.827.9333 ext 10 for reader services, email: subs@nordstjernan.com; ext 12 for advertising, email: ads@nordstjernan.com www.nordstjernan.com Covering three worlds: Sweden, America and Swedish America. Order your own copy, $55.00 for a year (18 issues) Choose ‘subscribe’ at www.nordstjernan.com or call 1.800.827.9333, ext 10 4 NORDSTJERNAN
Christmas market on Stortorget square in The Old Town of Stockholm, a tradition since the early 1900s, held every weekend in December leading up to Christmas. In the market stalls you find locally produced crafts, food, candy and of course glögg. Ola Ericson/imagebank.sweden.se
Stockholm growing in popularity Stockholm is expected to have had five percent more visitors in 2017 than in the previous year, according to the MasterCard annual survey Global Destination Cities Index. Of the world’s 10 most popular destinations, only New York is back in 2017, and according to all forecasts it’s had fewer visitors in 2017 than 2016. Stockholm has an attractive mix of innovation, fashion, popular culture and history, and a close proximity to beautiful scenery. By 2016, Stockholm had a total of 2.2 million visitors — who together spent almost 13 billion kronor. Everything points to an increase of approximately 110,000 visitors for the current year, which corresponds to five percent. It is a remarkable influx. On the world ranking of the most visited city, Stockholm comes in 57th place; that’s still nine places before the next biggest Scandinavian competitor, Copenhagen — which, by the way, is
Swedish blogger in court The debate in Sweden on stealth advertising by influencers in social media has grown in recent years and the Advertising Ombudsman has convicted bloggers, Instagram celebrities and Youtube stars for not identifying what is and isn’t advertising on their channels. The initial negotiations in the case of blogger Kissie is about a company that deals with used electronics. The company allegedly started an advertising collaboration with the blogger, and she told her friends and followers about the service through her blog and Instagram account. According to the Swedish Marketing Act §9 (Marknadsföringslagen), all marketing must be designed and presented in such a way that it is clearly stated what it is and who is responsible for it. The Swedish Consumer Agency (Konsumentverket) did not consider the ads for mobile phone recycling clearly marked, and is disputing the case with Alexandra Nilsson and Tourn Media in the Stockholm District Court.
one of Europe’s fastest growing cities for tourism. Asia is hot, the three cities that will have most increased the number of visitors in 2017 are Tokyo, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur. According to the survey, most trips are for pleasure. For example, in Kuala Lumpur, 92.2 percent of the voyages are entertainment trips. In Shanghai, on the other hand, 48.4 percent of travel trips are for business. The top city for shopping is London, where 46.7 percent of the consumption was in shopping, followed by Osaka (43.4 percent) and Tokyo (43.1 percent). In Paris, overnight stays are the most expensive; 44.8 percent of the consumption in Paris went for hotel rooms. Mastercards Global Destination Cities Index ranks cities based on the number of international visitors (staying at least one night in the city) and their spending in the city they visit.
dashboard | january 01, 2018
Swedish show wants Americans
Photo: Peter Segemark/Nordiska museet
Meter Television is searching for Americans with Swedish ancestry for season 8 of the hit reality TV-show, Allt för Sverige (The Great Swedish Adventure). The show is shot on location in Sweden with Americans who want to find out more about their Swedish heritage. Apply by Feb. 7 at www.greatswedishadventure.com or contact 310.500.8350 / sofia.eng@meter.tv
Midwinter Sacrifice
Dancing around the Christmas tree during the Julgransplundring party at Nordiska Museet, Stockholm.
TRADITION
SSwedes take Christmas seriously and stretch it to its fullest by having several holidays and getting off ork during so-called klämdagar, the “in-between days” during official holidays. But, with Trettondagen on January 6 and Tjugondedag Knut on January 13, Christmas is over even in Sweden. Costumes, ghosts and wild parties ... no, it’s not a description of Halloween but rather Epiphany celebrations in the old days. Today, Trettondagen (Epiphany), is a fairly tame holiday, but it wasn’t always like that – January 6 used to be celebrated with great hullabaloo. It’s still a holiday in Sweden and most people also take the previous day, Trettondagsafton (Twelfth Night) off from work. In many countries, Twelfth Night and Epiphany mark the absolute end of Christmas celebrations. But the Swedes and Finns, and some Norwegians feel it’s a pity to finish that early, and stretch Christmas yet another week. That gives the final date of January 13, which in Sweden is the name day of Knut, hence the expression Tjugondedag Knut (“20th day Knut”). Tjugondag Knut is traditionally the day when Christmas is “thrown out” ... since people usually want to throw out a Christmas tree that at this point is shedding needles badly. CAPITAL CITY
Housing prices on the decrease In a long-awaited trend, the too-hot like Stockholm. A downturn but far from Swedish housing market is finally show- inexpensive - the average price per square ing signs of cooling down. Buyers are meter paid in Stockholm City in October taking longer to purchase apartments and was well above $10,000 (approximately homes, and the boom in new construc- $1000 per square foot. Compare with tion which had seen record-level prices is Manhattan, NY, which has an average now showing a downturn in major cities price per square foot of $1,658).
Uniti One unveiled
Uniti has unveiled its first product, the Uniti One electric car during an event at the company’s production facility in Landskrona, Sweden. The car is said to have a battery pack of 22 kWh and can go 185 miles on a charge. Charging the carbon fiber car for a 125-mile drive takes a half hour, according to the developers. The top speed is 80 mph. The steering, gas and brakes can be operated with a steering wheel or with a touchscreen and joystick. The car will cost from SEK 145,000 ($17,200) to a fully equipped version at SEK 199,000 ($23,600). Prior to the launch event in Landskrona, about 1,000 non-binding pre-orders had been made. The delivery start is estimated for 2019. Based in Landskrona, the startup company’s mission statement is “to design, produce and bring to the mass market, ultra-modern, high-performance, premium electric cars.” For more info see www.uniti.earth
Trettondedag Jul, Tjugondedag Knut
ROYAL FAMILY
Annual holiday greetings
Every year since Princess Estelle was born, Crown Princess Victoria and Princess Estelle, the future queens of Sweden, have offered their country a special holiday greeting with their family. Through photos and a video message the royal family wishes “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year” in Swedish. The 2017 greeting shows Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel and their children Princess Estelle and Prince Oscar at their home, Haga Castle. The video can be seen at http:// bit.ly/2AYoEbH
Photo: Raphael Stecksén / The Royal Court /kungahuset.se
It’s not clear why Swedes stretch the Christmas celebration so far into January. However, there’s a lot to suggest that the notorious Midwinter Sacrifice (Midvinterblot) of the Viking era, with its human sacrifices and great feastings, took place on January 13. It is believed that the early Christian Church in the Nordic countries sought to exterminate the abomination by bringing the Midwinter celebration into the fold of Christmas. It is on Tjugondedag Knut that Swedish families have a “Julgransplundring” (plunder the Christmas tree) gathering to strip the tree of decorations, play games, eat cake, then – often literally – throw out the Christmas tree. Today’s midwinter sacrifice may be limited to us developing a conscience about all the goodies we consumed over the holidays. For a look at what modern writers say about possible remedies, turn to p20.
JANUARY 01, 2018 5
local events
Local Events California
Mill Valley Through Jan 28 Nature Whispers “meet me here” is an exhibit, an invitation to connect with nature. Paintings by Swedish artist Charlotte Bernström at the Robert Green Fine Arts Gallery, 415.381.8776 / www. rgfinearts.com Los Altos 1.05, 5-8 PM Opening reception: Dancing Clouds solo art exhibit at Gallery 9, 650.941.7969 / www.gallery9losaltos.com Florida Tampa Bay 1.05, 12-3 PM Suncoast Scandinavian Club: Our November to April meetings are perfect for snowbirds. The January entertainment is: Tampa Bay Sax. RSVP to 732.546.7756. $17 at Banquet Masters. blekinge93usa@ gmail.com Tampa 1.13, 10 AM- 5 PM Viking Festival The Suncoast Scandinavian Club of Clearwater will have a booth at the annual Viking Festival at Tampa Bay Brewing Company’s (restaurant) Event Field. Stop by, and enjoy the Viking festivities, reenactments, delicious food and so much more. Tampa Bay Brewing Company’s Event Field, 732.546.7756 / blekinge93usa@gmail.com
Illinois
Chicago Through Jan 14 “Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul” (Donal Duck and his friends wish you Merry Christmas) is a unique holiday tradition that for 60 years has been beloved by Swedes. This exhibit features
quotes from Swedish TV1 employees, cultural heritage historians and Swedish viewers … a fun examination into the surprising ways American and Swedish cultures intersect and influence each other. Swedish American Museum, www. swedishamericanmuseum.org
Massachusetts
West Newton 1.13, 1-2:30 PM Opera is Cool: Enjoy a discussion of Ingmar Bergman’s 1975 film “The Magic Flute” (Swedish: Trollflöjten) with opera expert Erika Reitshamer who gives an in-depth explanation of the opera, as well as a peek into the lives of Bergman and Mozart. Scandinavian Cultural Center, 617.795.1914 / kerry@scandicenter.org / www.scandicenter.org
Michigan
Canton 1.11, 7-8:30 PM Knitters meet-up: Everyone is welcome to meet with SVEA knitters at IKEA’s restaurant. www.sweamichigan.org
Minnesota
Minneapolis Through Jan 7 Skål! Scandinavian Spirits: The traveling exhibition shares the history and traditions of drinking culture in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and how these customs were carried by immigrants to the U.S. It also focuses on traditions related to beer and aquavit – the historic “spirit” of Scandinavia which translates as “the water of life.” American Swedish Institute, 612.871.4907 / www.asimn.org 1.07, 12:45-2:45 PM Winter book discussion of Marianne Fredriksson’s Simon and the Oaks: It’s the 1940s and Simon is growing up in Sweden with a seemingly ordinary life. His relationships are not always what they seem, however, and he has to come to terms with who he really is and wants to be. American Swedish Institute, 612.871.4907 / www.asimn.org
Julgransplundring
Say farewell to Christmas as they do in Sweden with a special “going away” party, at Emanuel Lutheran Church, 197 Manville Rd., Pleasantville, NY on Sunday, Jan. 7 at 1 p.m. The Julgransplundring party (Plundering the Christmas Tree) brings Christmas to a close with song, dance, Swedish food and merriment. Enjoy a wonderful 3-course smörgåsbord and then say good-bye to Christmas for another year. Music and merriment led by Jeanne Eriksson Andersen & Smörgåsbandet. Get more information and RSVP no later than January 4 to 914.391.8863 / karen@nelsonresearch.com. Sponsored by Lodge Freja No. 100 of the VASA Order of America 1.24, 6:30-8:30 PM Nordic Table Workshop: Learn about Sweden’s traditional Thursday night meal of ärtsoppa (yellow pea soup) and pancakes. The ärtsoppa tradition dates to when Catholic rule came to Sweden and meat was forbidden on Fridays; there is even an intriguing link with King Erik XIV’s assassination. Use diverse flavors to bring new life to old dishes. American Swedish Institute, 612.871.4907 / www.asimn.org
New York
New York 1.06, 11 AM-Noon Saturday Art Workshop: Arts and storytelling with Nordic themes in the Halldór Laxness Library, include exhibitionrelated workshops for ages 5+. January’ theme: Edvard Munch’s Photography. Scandinavia House, 212.779.3587 / www. scandinaviahouse.org
Dancing Clouds A new member at Gallery 9, Cecilia Mases makes her debut as the gallery’s first solo exhibit, opening Jan. 2, 2018. The exhibit, Dancing Clouds, features dramatic skies, stormy waters and lots of clouds. No sky, ocean or sunset looks the same, and they are an unending source of inspiration for this Swedish born artist who gets much of her inspiration from memories of Sweden where she was born. Working with oil and acrylic paint on canvas, Mases brings out the light and color of the heavens in her work. Mases studied at the Graphical Institute at the University of Stockholm, Sweden and has lived in the U.S since 2007. She was the editor of SWEA Magazine 2008 – 2015, and in 2015 6 NORDSTJERNAN
1.18, 6-9 PM Nordic Oscar Contender: See the film “The Square.” In this gripping sociological suspense story about a respected museum curator whose phone is stolen, and his foolish response drags him into a shameful situation. Scandinavia House, 212.779.3587 / www.scandinaviahouse.org 1.25, 5:30-7 PM Edvard Munch vs August Strindberg: As programming for the current exhibition The Experimental Self: Edvard Munch’s Photography continues, professor Linda Rugg of UC Berkeley presents a lecture on the relationship between Munch and Strindberg, and the relationship of both artists to photographic self-portraiture. Scandinavia House, 212.779.3587 / www. scandinaviahouse.org 1.30, 6-7 PM Nordic Book Club: Swedish pop star Jenny Rogneby was a criminal investigator for the Stockholm City Police Department and used her real-life experience to craft the best-selling Scandinavian, Leona: The Die is Cast, a gripping novel about a woman’s choice to eschew her dark past through any means possible. Scandinavia House, 212.779.3587 / jennifer@amscan.org / www.scandinaviahouse.org
The 24x24 painting “Cumulonimbus.” Inset, a portrait of the exhibiting artist, Cecilia Mases
she founded SWEA Art South Bay, a local group of Swedish artists that meet once a month for inspiring workshops in San Francisco. Dancing Clouds runs
1.17, 6-9 PM Nordic Oscar Contender: See the film “Thelma.” This fluid, observant, and surprising film begins in horror and ends somewhere completely different as a sheltered country girl moves to the city to begin her university studies and develops an attraction to a new friend. Scandinavia House, 212.779.3587 / www. scandinaviahouse.org
January 2-29 at Gallery 9, 143 Main St., Los Altos. 650.941.7969 / www. gallery9losaltos.com
Do you know about an upcoming event in Swedish America? Submit it any time to our online calendar at www.nordstjernan.com/ calendar
local events Oregon
Portland 1.09 Opening of Raoul Wallenberg: To Me, There’s No Other Choice. Learn the story behind the Swedish diplomat who singlehandedly saved thousands of Jews in Nazioccupied Hungary during World War II. This new exhibit comes from the Swedish Institute in Stockholm. Through April 6 at Nordic Northwest, 503.977.0275 / www. scanheritage.org
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia 1.16, 10:30-11:30 AM Toddler Time Winter Wonderland: The weather outside is frightful but the museum is so delightful! Join us as we read The Mitten retold by Jim Aylesworth and experience indoor wintertime fun with “inside snow” and craft activities. $5/ child or free/Museum Household Members and accompanying caregivers. American Swedish Historical Museum, 215.389.1776 / info@americanswedish.org / www. americanswedish.org
1.27, 6-8 PM Pea Soup & Punsch Supper: Warm up on a chilly winter night with a bowl of Swedish yellow pea soup and a cup of punsch. Dinner is served with sharp cheese, bread, and dessert. $25/members, $30/nonmembers. RSVP to American Swedish Historical Museum, 215.389.1776 / www. americanswedish.org
1.11-3.08, 7:30-9:30 PM Ingmar Bergman retrospective: Celebrating the centennial of master Swedish writerdirector Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) with his great films (in Swedish with English subtitles) every Thursday. Nordic Heritage Museum, 206.654.3210 / www. nordicmuseum.org
Washington
Milwaukee 1.13, 1:30-4 PM What’s in your America trunk? Bring something from your family’s immigrant past that may have been brought to the U.S. by your ancestors. ContactTodd 414.762.6876 for more info. Redemption Lutheran Church, 4057 N. Mayfair Rd. www.sahswi.org
Seattle 1.11-14, 6-10 PM Nordic Lights Film Festival: In its 9th year, NLFF celebrates Nordic film from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Sápmi. We bring people together to discover original stories through the lens of Nordic filmmakers. Nordic Heritage Museum and SIFF, 206.789.5707 / www. nordicmuseum.org/nlff
Wisconsin
For more local events in Swedish America see our online calendar at www. nordstjernan.com/calendar or download the free app Nordic in America-Events from App Store or Google Play www.nordicinamerica.com
SAN FRANCISCO Fredagar kl 10:30-12: (med start 12 januari)
SVENSKA KYRKANS BARNGRUPP Varje fredag med start den 12 januari kl.10.30. Lek, sång och gemenskap. Kaffe, saft, smörgås och frukt serveras.
Söndag 14 januari kl 11.00:
SVENSK GUDSTJÄNST med julgransplundring. Ragnar Bohlin organist och Louise Linder präst.
Torsdag 18 januari kl 18.30:
NY SAMTALSSERIE:
”Meningen med livet - Faith and Reason.” Välkommen till soppa och samtal. Gäster: Marcus Kowal, MMA Fighter från Los Angeles som förlorade sin baby i en olycka med en rattonykter kvinna. Om vägen vidare i sorgen. Maria Isaacs, sångerska och ”Alla kan sjunga körledare,” som nyligen lanserat en ny barnskiva. Maria får oss att känna musikens kraft.
Lördag 20 januari kl 15.00 (barnsamling kl 14):
GUDSTJÄNST I LOS ALTOS
för små och stora i Los Altos Lutheran Church. Barnen träffas kl.14 till sångstund och pyssel. Kyrkkaffe, ta gärna med något till kaffet. Louise Linder präst. Se Facebook för mer info!
SVENSKA KYRKAN SAN FRANCISCO Norska Sjömanskyrkan, 2454 Hyde Street, San Francisco Tel: 415-632-8504 Epost: sanfrancisco@svenskakyrkan.se Hemsida: www.svenskakyrkan.se/sanfrancisco JANUARY 01, 2018 7
language
w/ord encounters
Flugsmälla(re): floog-sméll-uh / floog-sméll-are-eh The word that I retrieved for this column is connected irrevocably to childhood: flugsmällare. No, my father did not have short arms and use the flugsmällare to reach out to my brother and me across the kitchen table where we were eating knäckebröd with butter and cheese (sliced by an osthyvel, of course) to remind us we must keep our left hand on the table like good little Swedish boys while we crunched away at our food. If he had done so, what I am about to write about flugsmällare would have taken on a different tone, some dark music playing and splashing across the page for you, with Bergmanesque intensity and pain. I associate flugsmällare with — are you ready — my mormor (grandmother on my mother’s side). I can see the kind old lady now, her prominent dimples, inviting my brother and me, chaperoned by my mother, for coffee and vetebröd and homemade vinbärsaft (sweet currant concentrate mixed with water). It is a lovely Swedish afternoon, the kind of lovely only a Swedish afternoon can be. We are sitting outside on a swinging bench with a sunshield, an umbrella shades the round table on the terrace, where my mother sits while she sips coffee and watches her boys interact with her mother. The terrace is right outside the house and is elevated, overlooking a huge lawn and trees surrounding the garden. The garden is located on a large farm. While my brother and I sit and stuff ourselves, our stay is punctuated frequently and quickly, as if executed by an executive assistant typist, by loud whacks ... and extreme delight shows on the kind old lady’s face as she kills another fly with her flugsmällare. The flugsmällare is baby blue and made of relatively thin plastic with a white handle. On other occasions the killing mesh is orange and red. But the flugsmällare, connected to and with my mormor, is so powerful that by the end of our family fika we have as many dead flies as the cigarette
Life made Sweder:
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butts you would find in an ashtray of more than one chain smoker’s home. So where does the term flugsmällare come from? As a child I did not give it any thought, just as I did not question the existence of a flugsmällare. I thought it was simply something of the world. I can hear my mormor still, though, sometimes asking out loud where she put her flugsmällare, and the voice is kind, maybe slightly annoyed that she is momentarily without her instrument to accompany fika on the farm.
More information than you expect
To get down to dictionary business, the word flugsmällare is a compound consisting of fluga + smäll. So we have fly + a word that means some kind of loud sound, not quite translatable into the English “whack” or “swat,” all of which adds up to an instrument or tool that kills flies with a forceful sound. The Swedish Academy publishes the Svenska Akademiens Ordbook, which makes for fascinating reading and in part offers the following information: “Fluga—1640-1652.” That takes care of “fly.” Now to the “swatter” part of the word. The SAOB lists “smälla,” which makes for the modern word “flugsmälla,” which frequently is used instead of “flugsmällare.” It turns out flugsmällare is a regional variation. I know from personal childhood experience in the south of Sweden that we used flugsmällare. No local would have been caught dead using the word flugsmälla. No matter which variant you prefer, the SAOB features an early description of the term: “Till dödande av flugor avsett redskap, i sin äldsta form bestående av en mer l. mindre rund läderlapp l. dyl., fäst vid ändan av en ss. handtag använd käpp. Helsingius I 4 b (1587).” For readers of this column who do not speak Swedish, the description of our beloved flugsmälla(re) is a tool for the killing of flies which in its earliest form consisted of a leather patch attached to one end of a cane. Our ancestors certainly knew how to kill flies in style. Speaking of style, flugsmällare are still very much in vogue in Sweden. Read the following advertising copy, mischievous tongue-in-check, by the company Alltryck which offers flyswatters as gifts for the office, complete with your own logo: ”Surrar det riktigt irriterande av alla flugor under sommaren på kontoret? Ta fram din flugsmällare med eget tryck och slå två flugor i en smäll på arbetsplatsen. Du får bukt med ditt insektsproblem samtidigt som du sprider ett svischande reklambudskap under problemlösningen. Levereras omonterade och passar då i ett A4-kuvert.” While the above ad for flyswatters at the office encourages the killing of two birds with one stone (excuse the mixed metaphor due to translation into
Born in Sweden and raised in Europe and the U.S., Ulf Kirchdorfer is as Swedish American as we come. As a contributing writer for Nordstjernan he has shared eloquent and witty essays on how his Swedishness has influenced his life, reflecting on his childhood with his Swedish grandmother and experiences as an adult in America. You might just see a little of yourself in what he writes, in a collection of essays Kirchdorfer calls Swede Among the Rednecks: The Language That Just Won’t Stay Buried, available from Nordstjernan and through amazon.com. English) by getting word out about your business with the logo on the killing surface of the flyswatter and handily informs that the flyswatter is mailed in an A4 envelope and fits conveniently (saving also money) because it is shipped unassembled, modern day Sweden appears to take a grim view of flyswatting when not done the same way as all other Swedes practice it. An article in September 2017 in Expressen tells of a middle-aged Swedish man who modified a flugsmällare shaped like a tennis racket to be electric so it would more efficiently kill wasps. His home was raided by Swedish police in search of his dangerous flugsmällare and Håkan had to go to court, where he was sentenced for the possession of a firearm and fined SEK 12,400 (about $1,470). (https://www.expressen.se/nyheter/byggde-flugsmalla-nu-ar-hakan-domd-for-vapenbrott/). I am glad my lovely and kind mormor is no longer alive to read about what happened to Håkan and his flugsmällare. For one, she would be jealous that she did not possess his invention. Second, I prefer to remember her killing flies with the speed and talent of a lizard casting its tongue, while my brother and I feasted on vetebröd (cardamom coffee cake) and homemade vinbärsaft. To me, that is what the word and experience of flugsmällare will always be about. Speaking of making vinbärsaft, my mormor, a very communicative person, would have added her two cents worth about the arrest of the ingenious flugsmällare maker Håkan over real criminals and not seeing the forest for the trees, as it were, in a Sweden with increasing crime: “Att sila mygg men svälja kameler”—to strain (filter) mosquitos, yet swallow camels. Gott nytt år!
The Year of
Bergman 2018 The Year of Bergman 2018 celebrates the rich legacy of Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, who would have celebrated his 100th birthday on July 14, 2018. The Year of Bergman 2018 is already underway, with more than 100 events, exhibits, performances and special screenings scheduled around the world. In time for this centennial celebration, the Swedish Film Institute digitized each and every one of Ingmar
Bergman’s cinematic films, so his life works are now available for screening. The exhibition “Bergman à la mode” opened in November at the Hallwyl Museum in Stockholm, kicking off The Year of Bergman 2018. The exhibition displays women’s
Of the 100+ events around the world, 13 are here in North America. These are organized in partnership with the Ingmar Bergman Foundations; there are likely many others put on by other groups. Two U.S. events took place in December, but here’s the rundown from the IBF for 2018— for more information on them and everything about this special year, see www.ingmarbergman.se/en/calendar Jan 11 - Mar 8: Bergman retrospective. Film retrospective at the Seattle Art Museum. Seattle, WA Feb 1 - Dec 31: Bergman retrospective. Film retrospective at Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive. Berkeley, CA Feb 1 - Apr 30: Bergman back in the
cinema! Janus/Criterion distributes newly digitized copies of Bergman films to cinemas across the United States, beginning with the Film Form in New York City. Feb 1 - Dec 31: Bergman retrospective in Canada. Film retrospective at the Cinémathèque Québécoise. Montreal, Canada
Ingmar Bergman instructing his actors for a scene in the Ekdahl family home (Fanny & Alexander, 1982)
costumes from the Bergman films set during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the period during which the Hallwyl family lived and worked in their palace. Women play central roles throughout Bergman’s vast film production; they are sometimes referred to as the “Bergman female.” See the exhibit through March 18, 2018. The Ingmar Bergman Foundation, in collaboration with Norstedts publishing house, released Ingmar Bergman A—Ö, a pocket guide to
the world of Ingmar Bergman. A collection of 146 anecdotal trivia and unknown facts, Ingmar Bergman A-Ö shows the many faces and facets of an artist who transformed the medium of film. There’s also a collection of interviews, titled Bergman Anecdotes, from numerous people who worked with Bergman and can recount stories that have never before been told. The clips will be uploaded throughout the year at www.ingmarbergman.se
Mar 1 - 31: Bergman retrospective. A retrospective at the California Film Institute. San Rafael, CA
1957 at the National Gallery of Art. Washington, DC
Mar 15 - 31: The process of Fanny and Alexander. An exhibition at the House of Sweden. Washington, DC April 19 - 22: After the Rehearsal/ Persona. Bergman interpreter Ivo Van Hove’s acclaimed diptych makes a guest appearance at The Kennedy Center. Washington, DC Jul 1 - 31: The Early Years. A Bergman film retrospective of works up to
Jun 1 - Sep 30: Ingmar Bergman Retrospective. The Toronto International Film Festival Cinematheque screens a retrospective. Toronto, Canada Jul 1 - 31: The Later Years. The American Film Institute screens a Bergman retrospective. Silver Spring, MD Sep 1 - 30: Screening of Bergman films: The Brooklyn Academy of Music screens select films. New York, NY JANUARY 01, 2018 9
Photo courtesy Cinematograph AB/Sandrew Film & Teater (1982)
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Discovering Bergman Through
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Augusta’s Daughter Ever wonder what made so many emigrate from Sweden in the nineteenth century? Judit Martin’s novel, “Augusta’s Daughter,” about 19th century Swedish peasant life made such an impression on us, we decided to offer it to the Nordstjernan readership. call 1.800.827.9333 for your own copy ($24.90 incl. S&H to continental U.S.).
National archives and library for Swedish-American historical research Publishers of Swedish American Genealogist 639 38th Street Rock Island, IL | 61201-2296 309-794-7204
www.augustana.edu/ swenson 10 NORDSTJERNAN
At 22, in the fall of 1940, it seemed Bergman could already have stated what he proclaimed 23 years later, when he became head of Dramaten, the Royal Dramatic Theater in 1963: “I have no long history, but I can become a piece of history myself.” Our new director came through the heavy, iron-hinged double doors. Above the doors in golden lettering was written “Högra Allmänna Läroverket för gossar å Norrmalm” (Norrmalm Public Highschool for boys). He was a figure with a likeness to Nils Ferlin’s lines: “Han var ganska mager om bena, tillika om armar och hals.” (He was rather thin around the legs and also around his arms and his neck). “Where is the assembly hall?” He asked Olle, the porter. “And who is the gentleman asking?” Retorted Olle, who wasn’t accustomed to young men who wore berets and smoked cigars. “Ingmar Bergman,” he replied, and added with emphasis, “DIRECTOR Ingmar Bergman.” Waiting for him in the assembly hall was a group of venerable seniors: Gösta Prüzelius, a pillar at the Royal Dramatic Theater for 30 years; Erland Josephson, one of Bergman’s future “stars” and his successor as head of Dramaten; Jan Erik Lindquist, another outstanding Dramaten actor; Ingemar Pallin, who would play Hamlet at Elsinore; the newspaper Dagens Nyheter’s signature Jolo, Jan Olof Olsson, one of Sweden’s most reverred journalists and columnists; and the unforgettable cartoonist “Gurr” Gustafsson. We had engaged in lively discussions about whom we could obtain to direct the play that year. The fact that we chose such an ambitious project as “The Merchant of Venice” was only because the driving force in our theater club, Gösta Prüzelius, absolutely wanted to play Shylock. I remember Gösta saying: “There’s a sort of crazy but talented bloke, Ingmar Bergman, running an amateur’s circle in the Old Town. They say he’s bloody good.” “Isn’t that the one whose old man is a priest?” asked Pallin. “Can’t we get someone more professional than some church amateur?” complained Josephson. “See if you can find someone better for two hundred kronor!” answered Prüzelius, and that essentially decided the issue. So, for a remuneration of two hundred kronor, Ingmar Bergman tackled what at that point was his biggest assignment as a director in the bare hall of “Norra Latin” on Drottninggatan, Stockholm. There, for the first time, he met a couple actors who were to follow him throughout his career: Erland Josephson and the one he would always call “dependable Prysse.” I don’t really know today if it was the beret or the cigar that impressed us more. He looked the way we had
imagined a true director ought to appear. Without uttering a word he eyed us for minutes. Then he said: “We don’t seem to need any wigs.” We were all so-called “swingpjattar” with long hair, the trademark of high school boys. We also wore wide pants and wide brimmed hats. Those who did not attend high school had cropped hair, narrow pants and hats with 1/2-inch brims. They were called “Nalensnajdare” after a working class dance hall called “Nalen.” Ingmar was more familiar with “snajdare” than “pjattar.” Pre-war Stockholm was a large intellectual and cultural duck pond, and it displayed a true class society. The cultural center of Europe was a two or three days’ journey south. Ingmar had been down there, they said. And we saw his beret as a verification of that. When he crossed over from the Old Town and his amateur circle, to us, the sons of the bourgeoisie, he must have felt like a social bridge builder. We borrowed a couple girls for the female parts from the Girls High School at Sveaplan, and Bergman got to work. He worked, insofar as we perceived, like a veteran director with a hopeless ensemble. Never before had this hall, in which daily morning prayer was held, heard profanity like his, and it was probably justified. After a couple teachers slipped in one day, I was called to the headmaster who asked me to relay his demand to Mr. Bergman that he either wash his mouth or return to the Old Town. A couple of the girls had already left in tears and did not return. However, we were by that time so impressed with Bergman’s handling of Shakespeare that we locked the doors instead of saying anything to him that could interfere with his creative spirit. He cursed and gesticulated, criticized and encouraged, moved the performance out into the aisles and up in the balcony. And occasionally he rewrote Shakespeare. He drove us hard. As the weeks passed, late evenings became late nights. We all felt we were going to deliver a performance that would be far above any done previously at the school. I told my father, who was also an actor and director, about the genius of Bergman. “Sure he is, sure he is,” he muttered and patted me on the back. After he saw the performance, he was amazed. As was Dagens Nyheter’s critic. He wrote two columns about it … two columns about a school play! This was half a column more than the paper gave to an opening night at the Stockholm Opera in the same issue! That’s the way things were when Ingmar Bergman first landed in the headlines of cultural pages. A couple of those school boys would thereafter appear in his films and plays for over 50 years: Prysse and Joseph. And they all started there, in an “aula” (auditorium), in a high school in Stockholm. Lars H Ottoson (1922-2010), 1995
art and culture
Actors on Bergman While reminiscing on his first encounter with Bergman in 1995 we asked Lars Ottoson (Discovering Bergman, p. 10) to reach out to another actor at the memorable per-
formance: Gösta Prüzelius, a pillar at the Royal Dramatic Theater for over 30 years. The actor, who worked with Bergman for more than 50 years, gave his view on the director:
“The world knows enough about Ingmar Bergman’s artistic genius, something that is displayed for them in every play and every film. But only those who work for him get to expe-
rience the foundation of that genius: meticulous preparation, hard work, promptness and discipline. When Ingmar says that rehearsals start at 9:30, it is 9:30 not 9:31. He comes to work prepared like a professor for an important lecture, and he expects his actors to be equally prepared. With Bergman there is no procrastinating. You get your script, you study it, get to know your part and rehearsals start on day one. Once many years ago, I hesitated, didn’t have my glasses and couldn’t read my notes, so I asked if I was supposed to make a left or a right exit. Ingmar just looked at me and said: “Prysse, go home right away, read your notes and come back when you know them.” If he feels that an actor is not comfortable with the scenery, he will take the time to explain and sometimes even change the scenery to get the performance he expects. But then you’d better give him that performance. Ingmar also wants you to know “why.” He wants his actors to not only feel their characters, but also all that surrounds them: the “whys” of their lives and surroundings and why he may add other elements to a play. An example of this was in his recent direction of The Winter’s Tale, where he used the music of Jonas Love Almquist. He fascinated the whole ensemble for an hour and a half with the story of Almquist. The moment should have been taped. Over 30 years ago he had already achieved an impact on the theater world all across Europe. In 1963, I think, I was in Athens, and out of curiosity I went backstage at their National Theater. The director asked if I knew Bergman. I said, “Yes, I work for him.” He gathered all the actors in a half circle and pointed at me and proclaimed: “This man works for Ingmar Bergman!” It was incredible.” Gösta Prüzelius (1922-2000)
It was opening night, November 30, 1940, at the “Norra Latin” school in Stockholm. The curtain was to rise for “The Merchant of Venice,” Ingmar Bergman’s first production to catch the critics’ attention. For months he had coaxed, cursed and encouraged his amateur high schoolers and brought a seemingly impossible task to a surprisingly successful conclusion. Here preparing to perform are the three classmates: Gösta Prüzelius (top left) as Shylock, Erland Josephson (top right) as Antonio, and Lars Henrik Ottoson as Don Bassanio, between the girls, the names of whom Ottoson had unfortunately forgotten. JANUARY 01, 2018 11
art and culture
A later generation of Bergman actors in Miss Julie (“Fröken Julie”) at Dramaten 1985; Peter Stormare (Fargo, Armageddon, Get Shorty, The Blacklist, Prison Break) and Lena Olin (Chocolat, Romeo is Bleeding, Alias, Riviera)—both of whom went on to have considerable success in Hollywood.
“Arguing against Bergman is a foolhardy thing. But there is actually not much reason to do so, for he is an exceptionally good and persuasive director.” Erland Josephson (1923-2012), actor, Svenska Journalen, 1994
“His way of concentrating is a marvelous thing to experience—his concentration more than anything else. That there is nothing in life more important than precisely what you are doing at the moment. That is also his relationship with the actor: listening, observing, a presence which I am convinced few directors possess.” Pernilla August (b. 1958), actress
Erland Josephson, “Antonio” in the 1940s version at a Stockholm school would go on to be one of Ingmar Bergman’s favorites on screen and stage. Here with Liv Ullman in a scene from Scenes from a Marriage (“Scener ur ett äktenskap” 1973).
“Ingmar Bergman is a master of human relations. That makes him magnificent at telling a story to people about people.” Max von Sydow (b. 1929), actor, in Dramat 1995
Pernilla August and Börje Ahlstedt in The Winter’s Tale by Shakespeare, directed by Bergman and presented in Swedish by Dramaten at BAM, Brooklyn Academy of Music, NY in 1995.
“To us actors, Ingmar Bergman’s ability to create settings, actors’ movements, is absolutely wonderful. His scenes are so organic, so concrete, that you can almost touch them. He works so rhythmically and in such a musical way that all that my body, the body of an actor, has to do is to follow his lead.” Börje Ahlstedt (b. 1939), actor
The final image of “The Seventh Seal,” 1957. A pastiche from the “Dance of Death” by the medieval church painter Albertus Pictor. 12 NORDSTJERNAN
art and culture
‘The agonized Swede’ Ingmar Bergman was the son of a Lutheran pastor and grew up in the university city of Uppsala. He was obsessed with film from an early age, acquiring his first projector at the age of 10. He is said to have worn out the short strip of film which showed a girl waking in a field. His films, several of which had an autobiographical edge to them, attracted adjectives like “ponderous,” “immaculate” and “heartless.” After his death, Time magazine – which put him on its cover in 1960 – described him as an “agonized Swede” who was “a surgeon who operated on himself. He cut into his own fears, analyzed his failings, [and] perhaps sought forgiveness through art.” The works were so personal, according to Time, that “they seemed like primal screams, picking at the scabs of his psyche.” Bergman did have something of a chaotic personal life. A ladies’ man, he was married five times and had a number of other long-running affairs. In 1976 he was arrested and charged with income tax evasion. The charges were later dropped, but Bergman went into self-imposed exile in Germany and vowed never to work in Sweden again, although he did indeed later return and work again, both to direct the movie Fanny & Alexander and as director at the Royal Dramatic Theatre. Regardless of the ups and downs of his private life, Bergman’s genius as a director was never in doubt. He won a long list of awards for his work, including three Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film, the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award plus a number of prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, including a special Prize of the Ecumenical Jury for his works as a whole and the Palme des Palmes award. Asked if Bergman’s work had any relevance to today’s younger generation of moviegoers, Woody Allen has said: “I think his films have eternal relevance, because they deal with the difficulty of personal relationships and lack of communication between people and religious aspirations and mortality, existential themes that will be relevant a thousand years from now. When many of the things that are successful and trendy today will have been long relegated to musty-looking antiques, his stuff will still be great.”
Ingmar Bergman, the “undisputed colossus of world art cinema” according to the Guardian, above with long-time cinematographer and friend Sven Nykvist.
Ingmar Bergman in quotes: Jia Zhangke, director: “Bergman’s influence on Chinese literature is even greater than on Chinese cinema.” Jonathan Rosenbaum, film critic: “If you Google ‘Ingmar Bergman’ and ‘great,’ you get almost six million hits.” Thomas Vinterberg, director: “I watched Fanny and Alexander three hours ago. I think it’s the best film ever made.” Michael Apted, head of the Directors Guild of America: “Bergman was the epitome of a director’s director.” Gilles Jacob, head of Cannes Film Festival: “He was a director of the human condition, of the misery of man, of feminine mystery... the last of the greats because he proved that cinema can be as profound as literature.”
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InBox
A Swede holiday contest A lot of our readers raced to be among the five winners of Cloetta's limited edition holiday candy, the lingonberry flavored skumstomtar (marshmallow santa).
Our candy contest proved to be a lot of fun—for our readers as well as our staff. The word lingon or lingonberry appears 17 times in issue 1716. No one found all 17, but four people win for getting as close as possible with guesses of 16 and being among the first. In case you wondered, the words appear in the photo on page 2 (we think this may have been the elusive one for most), three times in the contest text (page 2), five time in other texts (pages 2,3,10,15,27), three times in recipes (pages 19,24) and in five ads (pages 11,14,15,23,26). There were four readers who were early and came close to the correct answer, and one more awardee—the very first entry submitted is awarded for being quick and also for getting her son hooked on Nordstjernan at an early age! Congratulations to the winners and thank you to everyone who participated! (We’re definitely doing something similar again.)
Corrections Christmas trends in food (p.16, Issue 17, 2017) We made a couple boo-boos in the conversion of recipes we’re very sorry about. With the new format, conversion of all advertisements to four color and other material going into the issue, we overlooked two mistakes with measurements of ingredients: The first for the Kale Gratin: Where it says 6 tablespoons cream (3dl) it should be 1-1/4 cup, not just the tablespoons (quite a difference!). The second, more obvious but serious nonetheless, under Mamma’s macaroni casserole, it says 1 cup (!) ground white pepper. It should be “a pinch” of ground white pepper (1 ml or, in Swedish, 1 kryddmått) Sorry about this serious and somewhat unbeleivable mistake—we’re all hoping no one has had leftover ham to cook already! Thanks for looking out, Alfhild, Marianne, Steve, Vivianne and others! Ed.
What a great note, and thank you. Gunnar is really going to be thrilled to learn that his diligence and prompt reply worked in his favor! We had fun looking for all the “lingonberries,” and appreciate you all doing the contest. We eagerly await the next issue of Nordstjernan and those to follow. God jul och gott nytt år också. MVH Maria Bowie WOW! Tack! Thank you so much. It was fun & frustrating. I look forward to receiving my prize. Linda Rompala Thank you, Actually I missed the one on page 3, it wasn’t an easy one for me to find. Verlyn
Dear Editors, Thanks for the funny reply. This is perhaps more than you want to know but I started reading your magazine after my mother passed away in September. She was a member of the local Vasa Lodge here in Marquette, Michigan on the south shore of Lake Superior. Her grandfather, my great grandfather, was a charter member of that lodge when it was started nearly 100 years ago. In my mother’s stuff I found the original booklet for the local lodge that describes why it existed and its rules. It was basically an aid society. Members paid in a small amount each month and if a member got sick or died the lodge paid a stipend to the member or the family. My great grandfather was from Wasa, Finland, a Swedish part of Finland (ignoring the fact all of Finland was once part of Sweden). He spoke and wrote Swedish. He came to the U.S. in 1907. In the 1920s he built a cottage on Lake Superior that he named “Camp Wasa.” It is still in the family. Log books from those early days show he had a lot of gatherings of the Vasa Lodge at the camp (we call them camps here, not cottages). A lot of Finns settled in this area. And since all of Finland was part of Sweden you can say a lot of Swedish people live around here. Since my great grandfather started the local Vasa Lodge and since his daughter (my grandmother) and my mother were members, I guess I better keep the family tradition going and join myself. Steve White, MI Not at all more than we wanted to know Steve. With our paper it’s all about the contact with the readership and many are 2nd, 3rd and 4th generation just like you. Thanks for sharing your family’s story. Ed. Hej redaktörn, So in Gävle ... they burn the goat. Here is what happened this afternoon to one of the two straw goats we bought recently at our mega Lucia party in Cleveland! The dog ate it … Makes a person almost come to tears. Do they have a 30-day warranty I wonder … Ingemar Svala, OH Sad news Ingemar. If you hear anything about the 30-day warranty, please let us know. Ed.
14 NORDSTJERNAN
WINNERS: Verily Haahr of Asbury, IA Beth Lindquist of Colorado Springs, CO Lesley Swanson of Coopersburg, PA Linda Bombala of Elgin, IL Maria Bowie and Gunnar Bowie (age 6) of Arlington, VA
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Dear Editors, Thank you very much, I enjoy the paper and recently became a subscriber. I have been the designated honorary consul for almost a year now and I am awaiting approval from the U.S. office, which should come any day now. New Orleans will celebrate 300 years this year, and I would encourage you to write about that and some very significant accomplishments by Swedes that came here. The very first Swede who landed in New Orleans met with the founding French father Jean-Baptiste, Sieur de Bienville, in 1721. Frederick Darensbourg was a Swedish officer who became the commandant of the Germans for 40 years in Des Allemande, Louisiana. He also fought with the French militia trying to scare off the Spanish, but they spared his life due to his old age - he was 84 at the time. His great grandson Jacques Phillippe Villeré (1761-1830) was the second governor of Louisiana after it became a state. He was the first Creole and the first native of Louisiana to hold that office. Jacques' mother was Louise Marguerite de la Chaise, daughter of Jacques de la Chaise and granddaughter, on her mother's sidae, of the Chevalier Charles Frederick Darensbourg. During the Battle of New Orleans, another Swede, Peder Hammond sailed across the ocean and arrived in New Orleans. For his efforts we named a city north of here after him, Hammond. We also thank the Swedes for our lavish and beautiful Mardi Gras decorations. For over 40 years, we had two prominent artists from Sweden in charge of creating and decorating the floats during the Golden Age of Mardi Gras. It is noteworthy that the Swedish opera star Jenny Lind came to New Orleans in 1851, where she was a huge success. Jenny Lind, often known as the Swedish Nightingale was one of the most highly regarded singers of the 19th century. At the height of her fame she was persuaded by the showman P. T. Barnum to undertake a long tour of the United States. They had sailed from Cuba to New Orleans, where Lind was greeted with rapturous enthusiasm. For the 1884 world’s fair in New Orleans, Swedish born architect Gustav M. Torgerson designed the Cotton Centennial Exposition’s main building. It was the largest of its kind and the exterior was to echo the towers, arches, and turrets of the Louvre Museum in Paris. The interior exhibit halls had few obstructions, and the huge Music Hall at the building's center could seat 11,000 people in the audience and 600 on the stage. For the first time at a world's fair, elevators took visitors to upper floors, and electric lights illuminated the structures and grounds allowing the exposition to remain open until 9 p.m.
Photo: Alex Demyan and NewOrleansOnline.com
As New Orleans prepares to celebrate its tricentennial in 2018, Honorary ConsulElect Cecilia Kjellgren recognizes and celebrates the significant accomplishments by Swedes who settled there as early as 1721. Her note:
Balcony in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Gustavus Schmidt was born in 1795 in Sweden. He joined the navy and in 1815 left for the United States where he established himself as a lawyer in Richmond, Virginia. In 1830 he left for New Orleans and by 1841 Schmidt had established the first law journal in the state of Louisiana and in the deep south, the Louisiana Law Journal. His journal, unlike any other law journal published in the United States but very similar to that of his brother Carl, had an international focus. The Journal was published for two years. In 1844, Schmidt established the Louisiana Law School, the first law school in Louisiana; and in 1851 he published The Civil Law of Spain and Mexico, one of the first works on comparative law. In 1902, Swedish artist Thure de Thulstrup was commissioned to paint a large image for the St.
View of the Central Business District and Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Photo: NewOrleansOnline.com
Louis World's Fair, commemorating the transfer of the Louisiana Territory from France to the United States. The painting, Hoisting American Colors, Louisiana Cession, 1803, was well received and has been on continuous display in the Cabildo Museum since the founding of the Louisiana State Museum. Honorary Consul-Elect Cecilia Kjellgren, New Orleans neworleans@consulateofsweden.org Dear Cecilia, Stort tack! What a wonderful introduction to New Orleans and its Swedish past—we look forward to folloing up on many of the aspects new to us. /Ed.
LOS ANGELES Söndag 7 januari kl 11.00
GUDSTJÄNST
Välkommen till årets första svenska gudstjänst. Kyrkoherde Hans Bratt Hernberg predikar, kören medverkar och vi dukar upp till kyrklunch.
Tisdagar kl 18.30 (med start 9 januari)
SVENSKAFTON
På tisdagarna ses vi i kyrkan för kaffe, gemenskap och en enkel kvällsmässa. 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) 292-7080 • Epost: losangeles@svenskakyrkan.se Hemsida: www.svenskakyrkan.se/losangeles JANUARY 01, 2018 15
feature
malta a swedish oasis in the mediterranean
Malta is Europe’s southernmost independent state. It’s actually not the most southern point of Europe - that label goes to the Greek island of Crete – but it is among the smallest countries in Europe at only 122 square miles. Only Liechtenstein, San Marino, Monaco and Vatican State are smaller. Malta consists of three populated islands - Malta, Gozo and Comino - about 350 miles east of Tunisia and only 50 miles south of Sicily. It is less than a fourth of the size of Öland but has a population of about 440,000 inhabitants (one fourth of Öland’s population would be 6,000 inhabitants); its population density is the 5th largest in the world with 3606 people per square mile. The Netherlands, for instance, has 1070 people per square miles and the whole of Sweden just 58.
Swedes form Malta’s largest minority group
No one really knows how many Swedes live in Malta – there are no statistics, but a rough estimate is 5,0006,000, maybe more. The number increases every year as Swedes come to Malta to work for a certain period of time. Reasons Swedes move to Malta hinge on its generous tax laws, a relaxed lifestyle and reasonable living costs. No working permits are required within the EU (Malta became a member of the EU in 2004). There are 250 registered foreign gaming companies on Malta. In Sweden, only the state is allowed to run such businesses, so many Swedes find work in the online gaming industry or in IT companies. Anyone can start gaming companies in Malta, now Europe’s biggest gambling den. Many Swedes enjoy retirement in Malta, too. Svenskklubben Malta chairman Anders Färnqvist says about 500 retired Swedes live here, very often because of the low taxes and the warm climate.
Swedish tourism to the islands
Based on the fact that five full RyanAir and SAS flights and others arrive to Malta from Sweden ev16 NORDSTJERNAN
ery week, Färnqvist estimates about 1,000 Swedish tourists come to Malta every week during the six “summer” months. That’s about 25,000 Swedish tourists a year – plus a smaller number for the other six months. Swedish tourists don’t usually spend their vacation in the capital city Valletta – Malta’s old city with a vibrant history and special atmosphere all within walking distance - they prefer the sandy beach, modern hotels with pools and lots of bars and restaurants nearby, such as in St. Julians, Paceville or Sliema. Golden Bay is also popular, with its “Swedish” Radison Hotel (which was owned and made famous by Swedish-American Curt Carlson), providing a gorgeous view over the Mediterranean. It doesn’t take long before you hear Swedish spoken in Malta – in the streets, in a restaurant, in a museum, by an employee of a store or even more likely, at the beach. Swedish flags fly outside hotels and in museums. There is even a store named “Little Sweden.” According to some, not all Swedes are appreciated by the Maltese. The great number of bars, restaurants and strip clubs can sometimes be too
much of a temptation. However Sweden’s Honorary Consul in Malta, Karl Gollcher, does not think people from Sweden are less appreciated than people from other countries.
A deep history
The Maltese islands were settled during the Neolithic Period (3,600-2,500 BC), mainly by Stone Age hunters and farmers from Sicily. From this period are the Ggantija Temples on Gozo. They are on the UNESCO World Heritage list, among the oldest megalithic monuments in the world, predating even the Giza pyramids in Egypt and Stonehenge in England. Later Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans and Byzantines left their marks. In 60 AD, the apostle Paul was shipwrecked at Malta, at what is now called St. Paul’s Bay, introducing Christianity to the island. The Muslims conquered Malta in 870 and left a permanent impression on the Maltese language. In 1565 the sultan of the Ottoman Empire mounted a great siege on Malta with a fleet of 180 ships and 30,000 men. In response, the Malta Knights of the Order of St. John, with only 8,000 defenders, drove off the Ottoman Turks after a hard siege of several months. The French conquered the islands in 1798 and Great Britain took possession of Malta in 1814 at the end of the war between France and the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. During the World War II Malta played an important role for the Allies. It was heavily bombarded by the Italian and German forces. Malta became independent in 1964 and a republic in 1974. It got membership in the European Union in 2004 and entered the Eurozone in 2008. Malta is also known for the Malta Summit, between presidents George H.W. Bush and Mikhail
Gorbachev, on December 2-3, 1989. This summit is viewed as the official end of the Cold War. The meeting at Malta was planned to be on board the Russian cruise ship “Maksim Gorkiy,” but the weather happened to be very bad. The choppy seas made the two presidents seasick and the meetings were rescheduled to a place on shore – which gave the rise to the moniker “The Seasick Summit.” Malta has for a long time been the destination of Swedish seafarers. One of them was Olof Fredrik Göllcher, born in 1829. He was the grandson of Johan Gottfried Göllcher, who was born in Poland but moved to Göteborg and became a Swedish citizen in 1763. Johan’s son Johan Gustav became a seafarer and so did his son Olof Fredrik, who arrived in Malta in 1849 with his schooner “Svalan.” Olof was sick at the time and welcomed the friendly atmosphere in Malta. Three years later he settled down there and married the daughter of a prominent judge. He got established as a ship chandler and agent for many vessels coming into Valletta Grand Harbor. Later he founded the O. F. Gollcher & Sons Ltd. Olof was also appointed Honorary Consul for Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands. The Consulate, now with Denmark (not Norway), is still housed in the Gollcher offices. The present consul is Karl Gollcher, who is the fifth generation Gollcher in Malta. Palazzo Falson, in Mdina, is a building and museum owned by Olof Fredrik’s great grandson, Swedish sea captain and philanthropist Olof Frederick Gollcher (Olof the younger). Palazzo
JANUARY 01, 2018 17
feature Falson was not only Olof Frederick’s home, but also a setting for his works of art and antiques. He died in 1962 and the building was turned into a museum by the Gollcher Foundation.
Early tourism
In the 17th and 18th centuries quite a few sailors, pilgrims, diplomats and scientists traveled to Malta, but it was just a place to stop on their way to other destinations. The interest in Malta increased later in the 18th century, first because of scientific travel and eventually because of grand tours – for tourists. Some of the early Scandinavian travelers were: Peter Forsskål, Swedish explorer and Orientalist, who visited Malta in about 1760; Danish sculptor Bertel Thorvaldsen together with the ship’s pastor Peder Pavel, in 1796; H.C. Andersen, possibly in the 1830s; Fredrika Bremer, who came to Malta on her five year travel to the Orient between December 1858 and January 1859. She was in Sicily, but the weather was bad and she wanted to warm up in the sun of Malta. She planned to stay only a few days, but the island was too interesting and the people so hospitable, so she stayed for a month; Carl and Ebba Snoilsky, who stopped at Malta on their honeymoon trip in 1880; Prince Oscar, second son of King Oscar II, younger brother of Gustaf V, who visited Malta in 1881.
Today’s Swedes
Svenskklubben Malta was founded in 2010. The club currently has 200 members and it provides a great variety of activities such as golf (the club owns its own golf course), bowling, swimming, hiking, book clubs, celebration of Swedish traditions, etc. There is also a Swedish school on the island for ages 5 to 17. What do you eat and drink on Malta? Mostly seafood, especially the local fish soup, “aljotta” which is excellent! Otherwise the local specialty is “fenek,” rabbit. The English humorist Alan Coren once said, “Malta is the only country in the world where the local delicacy is bread” (yes, it is good). The local wine was excellent and the beer, Cink, was great and thirst quenching on hot days. I did not see “Ris a la Malta” on any menu. This popular Swedish dessert may have gotten its name from Malta, although another theory is that the name came from the Danish word “risalamande” – from the French word for almond, l’amande. However, the Malta theory seems to me more intriguing. The dessert originally contained orange. In gastronomy circles “a la Malte” or “maltaise” means something that has been made with orange or orange peel, because “Les maltaises” is a sort of orange from Malta. The words “a la Malte” came from when the knights of Malta used to send small, sweet oranges from Malta to their European royal houses; they eventually ended up in French kitchens. And we know that Olof Fredrik’s dad Johan Gustav Göllcher shipped oranges and lemons from Malta to Stockholm every year. One day, sitting at a sidewalk café having a Cink beer, 18 NORDSTJERNAN
my wife Jan and I suddenly noticed people coming out of a small bus, one of the guys carrying a television camera. I thought another looked familiar -- it was Rick Steves from the TV program Rick Steves’ Europe. He was visiting Malta for the first time and entered the café to get an interview with the owner. Coming back out he willingly posed with Jan for my camera. His Malta episode will be aired in 2018. (No, Jan and I will not show up in the program!) Text & photos: Göran Rygert A big thank-you to the following people who provided me with valuable information on Malta: Cecilia Lindhé, University of Gothenburg, Karl Gollcher, Honorary Consul General for Sweden, Anders Färnqvist, Chairman of Svenskklubben Malta, Berndt Stenlund, former chairman of Svenskklubben Malta.
Sweden’s Honorary Consuls in the U.S. Who are they? In an effort to find out more about the Swedish consuls in America, the work they do and the people they represent, contributor Helen Teike interviewed each of them, published here throughout the year.
MISSOURI
Honorary Consul: Liselotte Fox, St Louis How long have you been the Swedish consul? I have served as the honorary consul in St. Louis for about 10 years. How much time do you spend on consular matters? Do you have help? I spend about 15 hours/ week on consular matters. I do not have help.
and promote Sweden. If there were more funds available to promote Sweden, I could work 24/7. What is your personal connection with Sweden? I am a Swedish citizen, born and raised in Sweden. I lived there until I was about 23 years old. I spent 4 years at Washington University in
Swedish Honorary Consulate General in St. Louis 7701 Forsyth Blvd., Suite 600 Clayton, MO 63105 314.889.0899 stlouis@consulateofsweden.org
How many Swedish citizens are in your area? I estimate there are about 2,000 Swedish citizens in the area I serve, which includes Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Nebraska and Iowa. Each week we get about 4-5 Swedes who pick up passports (regular and emergency), driver’s licenses or name registrations. I also have visits from non-Swedes who need help, mostly with visa questions. And I spend several hours every week answering phone and email questions.
do enjoy herring but I’m not a big fan of nubbe, but if I must drink it, I might have one. Most admired Swede: Crown Princess Victoria. She is involved in many things and is doing a great job promoting Sweden along with her Mother Queen Silvia.
Does your district differ in any way from the other Swedish honorary consulates? Our office is probably similar to most others. We regularly stay in touch with Swedish companies in the area (IKEA, ABB, SAAB) trying to help promote Swedish industry. I occasionally have requests for reading material on Sweden for educational purposes.
The Swedish company everyone has heard of: IKEA. The company just opened a store in St. Louis; they are establishing themselves in the USA very well, there’s at least one new store every year. It’s good starter furniture, it’s fun, hip and easy to get to.
What made you accept the position as honorary consul? I accepted the position after being active in the Swedish community for a long time. I served as president of the Board of the Swedish Council of St. Louis for several years, and I am still very involved in many Swedish cultural events, like Lucia. What is the Swedish Consulate’s most important job for the Swedish American community in your area? I think it is important to serve your country and your community by providing assistance in consular matters and to reach out
St. Louis and earned a BSBA degree. Ever since my three daughters were born, we have visited Sweden every Christmas and spend about 5 weeks there in the summer. My children are pretty fluent in Swedish. I still love everything about Sweden, my family and friends, the food, the beautiful archipelago and the Swedish mentality.
Biggest misconception about Sweden: It has a high suicide rate, and we can’t stand living in the dark 6 months of the year.
About Swedish food: I do not start holiday mornings with a cup of glögg, but I have smaller events with Swedish and American friends and probably serve glögg 3 or 4 times in December. I had lutfisk once as a child and never again! I
Explaining Sweden to others: I tell them all the positive things - like summer when the sun never goes down, easy living, socialized health care, free school, safety. The standard of living is high and there is a satisfaction of life for people in Sweden, they enjoy living there. Of course I talk about the beauty of Sweden, Stockholm, and the traditions, food, Lucia and Christmas. JANUARY 01, 2018 19
feature
eat for life It’s that time of year when many of us start thinking about a healthier lifestyle. Maybe you even made a New Year’s resolution. Whether it’s about getting fit or eating better, what’s important for your success is motivation, and as the author of a new book in Sweden points out, understanding who you are and what’s best for you is key. Charlotte Erlanson-Albertsson, professor of medical and physiological chemistry at Lund University, is searching for an understanding of what diets are best for whom. In her book Eat for Life (Äta för livet, not available in English), Erlanson-Albertsson explains the pros and cons of the most popular diets and how they affect the environment, how they aid weight loss, and how they promote overall health. A variety of diets are discussed that give readers a chance to make sense of the often conflicting reports of how to maintain optimal health as an individual. Which diet is right for you depends on what’s relevant for you and your lifestyle, while at the same time, there is a common ground for all of us. We are complex organisms and should eat a varied diet and the basis for good health is daily exercise.
Defining pros and cons
VEGETARIAN AND VEGAN foods have many positive effects on health, including reducing the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and obesity. The diet is rich in fiber and antioxidants. Disadvantages? Risk of vitamin B12 deficiency, and you risk a lack of iron, vitamin D and protein if you don’t vary your food. Erlanson-Albertsson is also skeptical about soy products and mushrooms. Soy is usually not fermented, which can cause inflammation and potentially Alzheimer’s 20 NORDSTJERNAN
A traditional Nordic diet is just as healthy as a Mediterranean diet, concludes Nordic nutritional experts.
disease. Mushrooms often contain impurities, such as heavy metals. PALEO diet foods, which consist of unprocessed raw materials, no sugar, milk or gluten and only a little salt. have major health benefits and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes. The author favors that the foods are rich in minerals, fibers, antioxidants and omega-3 fats but she is critical of the high intake of protein and red meat. Meat is inflammatory and difficult to break down, which can cause cancer. A GI DIET is about foods that manage blood sugar. The diet contains a lot of fibers and antioxidants, good fats and no sugar or white flour, which reduce blood lipids and thus reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. On the minus side, according to Erlanson-Albertsson, the allowed meat and fruit and sweeteners are often consumed in such a way that doesn’t give the intestines time to rest. In addition, there is no danger of boiling root vegetables as advocates of the diet claim. Boiled root vegetables have low GI values and are also healthy. LCHF is a low carbohydrate diet focusing on fat and protein. On the plus side there is rapid weight loss, which in turn produces lower blood sugar and blood fats. But the author also sees several disadvan-
tages: The low fiber content can cause constipation, and the high proportion of fat and protein can cause colon inflammation. She also warns that studies show a link between LCHF and higher incidence of cardiovascular disease and higher LDL cholesterol levels. 5:2 DIET: Eat for five days a week then fast for two. On the fast days, a quarter of the normal calories can be consumed. The purpose of the diet is to lose weight, which involves several health benefits but the method is still under scientific review. Erlanson-Albertsson lists benefits like freedom in a versatile diet that’s easy to follow, but disadvantages include calorie counting, sometimes uncontrollable hunger and difficulties concentrating during the fasting periods. The MEDITERRANEAN diet gets high grades for primarily plant-based foods, replacing butter with healthy fats such as olive oil, using herbs and spices instead of salt and picking fish and poultry instead of red meat. A number of studies have shown it protects against type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, aging and atherosclerosis. It’s also rich in fibers and antioxidants and uses meat, saturated fat and sugar sparingly. The only downside is too much pasta, bread and processed meat comes with a high carbohydrate count.
And last but not least, a traditional NORDIC DIET is just as healthy as a Mediterranean diet, concludes Nordic nutritional experts, according to a study that the Nordiska ministerrådet (the Nordic Council of Ministers) conducted in 2013. The study, in which 200 people participated, shows that the diet as a whole is important, just like the well-known Mediterranean diet, rather than individual foods. The Nordic diet is about locally produced food and a higher intake of plant foods, fish, eggs and vegetable fats, and a lower intake of meat products, dairy products, sweets, desserts and alcoholic beverages.
Dietary advice
Depending on a person’s biology, Charlotte Erlanson-Albertsson suggests each person “Begin by charting eating behavior. Is it unchecked, so that, for example, you can not stop eating when you start? Or do you on the contrary have total control and count calories to keep weight?”
Her best dietary advice is to consider the food pyramid when choosing what to eat: At the base of the food pyramid there are vegetables of all kinds, followed by fiber-rich cereals and oatmeal. The next level up contains moderate amounts of fish and seafood, potatoes and whole grains, coffee, nuts and olive oil. Then comes cheese and yogurt, and on top dessert. Äta för livet By Charlotte Erlanson-Albertsson 208 pages ISBN: 9789187905711 Available at www.adlibris.com
Another good reason to drink glögg Not only do they make our food taste better, but spices, which are full of antioxidants, are also good for our health. (As if the Swedes needed another good reason to drink glögg and enjoy cinnamon buns or cheeses.…) Antioxidants are measured in ORAC per 100 grams of food and the recommended daily dose is 2500 ORAC. According to Svenska Kryddföreningen and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, here are the top five spices for good health: Cumin (76,800 ORAC) Cumin is commonly found in cheese and spiced wine. It’s one of the spices with the longest history in Europe but has been hidden in a corner of the spice shelf. Dried cumin seeds have a sharp scent, and tea made with cumin is good for colic and stomach aches. Turmeric (159,000 ORAC) Turmeric is good for your skin. It is a strong antioxidant that also soothes inflammations, arthritis, joint problems, stomach problems and gallstones. It has a strong yellow color, a pigment called Curcumin which has anti-inflammatory properties that are similar to cortisone. Turmeric works against fungus and bacteria and is used when
healing wounds; some bandages in India have turmeric in them. Cinnamon (267,000 ORAC) A super spice full of antioxidants, two grams alone is said to equal over 2.2 pounds of fresh tomatoes, so you do the math. It kills both bacteria and fungus, improves digestion and is Beautiful, vibrant and exotic: a spice bazaar in Turkey. Did you know that spices, great when you’re feel- apart from giving our food a better taste, are actually good for you? And you don’t need to go to Turkey to get them. The five best spices for your health are readily ing nauseous or have available in your local grocery store: cumin, turmeric, cinnamon, cloves and oregano. diarrhea. A teaspoon of cinnamon a day keeps the blood sugar on an even and a poor appetite. If you chew on a clove slowly, keel. And if your stomach bothers you, then sprinkle it is also said to soothe a toothache. some cinnamon and cardamom on your breakfast yogurt to prevent gas. Oregano (200,000 ORAC) Cloves Oregano is good against cough, whooping cough (314,000 ORAC) and infections in your mouth and throat. It also Cloves are a great expectorant and in the fight aids against indigestion and is an effective spice in against bronchitis. They also help minimize hay fighting bacteria and fungus. Oil made of oregano fever. Cloves are also good against nervousness is often called Mother Nature’s antibiotics, as it is and are soothing for the stomach, colic, gas, nausea said to strengthen the immune system. JANUARY 01, 2018 21
viewpoints
Värdet av att stryka över, gå vidare Familjeporträtt och bortmålning av bekymmersamma släktingar: Råd till den som vill stryka över och gå vidare. Min vän, Frank Forsberg, var en utomordentligt trevlig och angenäm person. Han var omtyckt av alla han mötte. Han hade både humor och en snärtig replik. Därför fick han många vänner. Som svar på den vanliga , artiga frågan: ”Hur mår du idag? Svarade Frank även sedan han passerat 90 år: ”Never better! Dessutom omgavs Frank av en kär familj. Ena dottern gifte sig och fick två barn. Vännerna visste att Frank älskade sin familj. När han fyllde 75 år ville de hylla honom. De kom överens om att bästa presenten torde vara att anlita en erkänd och kvalificerad porträttmålare. Frank skulle presenteras en väl utförd porträttmålning. I målningen skulle Frank sitta omgiven av sin kära familj. En erkänd porträttmålare anskaffades. Hela familjen Forsberg samlades för avmålning. Efter färdigställandet överlämnades tavlan med värme och hyllningstal på högtidsdagen. Frank blev lycklig över gåvan. Han hängde upp tavlan på förnämlig plats i sitt sällskapsrum. Från sin bekväma länstol kunde Frank därefter stundligen njuta av konstverket och sin älskade familj. Stilig maka, fyra välartade barn, inklusive dottern med svärson. Lyckan med porträttet varade i två år. Se-
dan hände det tragiska. Dotterns äktenskap krasade. Skilsmässa blev följden. Svärsonen fanns givetvis också med på det kära familjeporträttet. Tyvärr hade svärsonen senare hittat en annan kvinna. Franks dotter övergavs. Hon blev förtvivlad när hon lämnades ensam med de två barn de hunnit få. Frank blev också förtvivlad över att svärsonen hade svekfullt övergett dottern. Samtidigt blev han tvärarg . Tyvärr tvingades Frank från sin länstol i sällskapsrummet fortsättningsvis betrakta sin på målningen leende svärson. Den ständiga åsynen av honom blev för mycket för Frank. Han blev förtvivlad. Franks första tanke var att ta ner tavlan från väggen och göra sig av med den. Frank stod helt enkelt inte ut med att se eländet längre Samtidigt tyckte Frank dock om familjeporträttet. Bortsett från bilden av den numera föraktade svärsonen hade konstnären lyckats fånga upp familjelyckan på ett kärleksfullt sätt. Dessutom hade ju porträttet målats av en erkänd konstnär och högtidligen skänkts honom av hans goda vänner på 75 årsdagen. Frank funderade fram en lösning på problemet. Han tog resolut kontakt med den erkände konstnären och delgav honom sitt problem. Frank frågade konstnären om denne vänligen och mot ett acceptabelt pris kunde tänka sig att artistiskt måla över den forna svärsonen på porträttet. Eftersom konstnären var en
vänlig och klok person med förståelse för Franks känslor åtog han sig uppdraget. Lyckan är återställd. Efter att porträttmålaren korrigerat målningen kunde Frank lugnt sitta kvar i sin länstol och njuta av konstverket. Han behövde inte längre mötas av åsynen av sin svärson. Ibland kan man frigöra sig från att möta ansiktsdragen av individer man kommit att ogilla och icke vill möta igen. Det är tyvärr inte alltid möjligt eller ens tillrådligt att bli kvitt störande minnen. Dock kan det ske när det gäller porträttmålning. Måla över!
Olle Wijkströms nyutkomna och rikt illustrerade bok Min Historia - handlar om hans minnen och möten med alla slags folk från tre kontinenter. Boken innehåller stämningar och möten. Stamhövdingar, presidenter och vanligt folk. Boken kan beställas och betalas via Nordstjernan”
not my time to die Titanic and the Swedes on Board by Lilly Setterdahl The 123 Swedes on board made up the third largest ethnic group on the Titanic after the American and the British. The book profiles each of the Swedish passengers; including the 34 survivors... Perfect bound, large size paperback, 296 pages. Richly illustrated.
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Swedish women in leadership This Women in Leadership program presented the stories of several female entrepreneurs in today's Silicon Valley, stories similar to those of Swedish immigrants for generations. The Swedish-American Chambers of Commerce in San Francisco-Silicon Valley hosted a program as part of their Sofa Talks series, a Women in Leadership program moderated by Swedish journalist in Silicon Valley, Miriam Olsson Jeffrey. The panel consisted of Elin Elkehag, Karin Rosén and Maya Strelar-Migotti. The youngest and newest leader on the panel, Elin Elkehag, introduced herself with a little background. After living in Stockholm, she wanted to restart her life, and rather than asking “what do I want to be?” she asked “where do I want to be?” She decided on San Francisco, sold her apartment in Sweden and invested in her new life in the U.S. Elkehag tried to think of ideas and products by which she might create meaningful work for herself and others. As an idea took hold for an alarm that would alert her when a personal belonging was moved from the place she had put it, she drew up plans and scenarios in which this might be useful. With cardboard prototypes she imagined the size, shape and use. She rehearsed what people would do when they were alerted that their item had been moved; depending on the object, this could be inconsequential or significant. What would the owner need to know? Elkehag was not a designer, a manufacturer, an attorney or a marketing professional. She had no experience as a founder or as an executive, let alone running a business, so she asked friends for advice to locate the people who might help her in the Bay Area and in Sweden. Without any assurance that she could create this object nor a company to produce it, she persisted. It required networking to meet and learn from others. She made the right choice coming here, if only for the multiple sources of expertise and entrepreneurs to show her the way. Her friends believed in her ideas, and in working together she formed a new company, Stilla (mystilla.com). Her invention, a mobile security monitor and alarm called Stilla Motion, is a small circular object, no bigger than a large coat button but stuffed with electronics both to sense movement as well as create an audible warning on a cell phone. Elkehag herself had a need for such a device, but she didn’t know how to produce it. Her secret? Don’t be afraid to not know everything. It is much simpler to find someone who has solved something similar and ask them for help. This is the trail of one kind of entrepreneur.
SACC-SF/SV’s Swedish women in leadership (l-r): Karin Rosén, Maya Stelar-Miglotti, Elin Elkehag, Helena Kristersson, Miriam Olsson Jeffrey—all led an inspiring program on what it takes to be a successful woman in various fields.
Giving others a hand up
When Maya Strelar-Migotti was asked about her beginnings as an entrepreneur, she told a similar story about independence and initiative, but she knew her gender would require her to work at least twice as hard as any male counterpart. Strelar-Migotti became disabused of the notion that working hard and superior work would make the difference to be noticed by her boss for promotion. The revelation came to her in striking fashion. She told a male colleague, who continually complained that he was not being noticed and advanced by his boss, that perhaps he needed to inform his boss that he was interested in higher positions. The irony was startling, if not dramatic: The man told his boss; the boss appointed him his substitute during an absence; then the boss had an accident and her colleague became her new boss for the next six months. The valuable lesson: Notify your bosses that you are interested in continually advancing in any career with the company. And if you do not move up within a reasonable time, seek another job. Strelar-Migotti went on to advance within Ericsson in highly technical areas. As a result of her success, she came to be a founding member of Ericsson’s Global Women Entrepreneurs Council. Ultimately she was sent to Silicon Valley among some of the earliest women and highest female executives, when Ericsson first moved their offices here in what became their second headquarters. She has stayed here, even after her work with Ericsson, because she and her husband found Silicon Valley and the Bay Area to be a stimulating, dynamic and entrepreneurial environment. She also realized many students used to apply only for jobs on the East
Coast (closer to Sweden) but are increasingly seeking jobs on the West Coast, so Strelar-Migotti now focuses on helping young female entrepreneurs as the managing director of Golden Seeds (goldenseeds. com), an early-stage investment firm with a focus on female leaders, creating vibrant opportunities and lasting impact for women-led businesses.
She left it all for peanuts
The third version of a successful Swedish female entrepreneur was Dr. Karin Rosén. Like her twin sister, Kerstin, Karin dashed through Lund University and medical school. She remained at medical school in research to earn a PhD while Kerstin moved to California to became a physician and marry an American. Dr. Rosén eventually joined her sister in the Bay Area and found a job with one of the most innovative biotech companies; she joined Genentech a decade ago, near the start of the biotech revolution, and rose up the executive ranks to lead the company’s research and products for respiratory and inflammatory ailments. Several months ago Dr. Rosén left that job to help people whose affliction was not being adequately diagnosed or relieved. It was a daring step to take, to leave to help others while at the top of your game. That daring as well as the longing to make a more significant difference for others with innovative solutions is another mark of entrepreneurs. In her new role Dr. Karin Rosén is now vice president of Medical Affairs at Aimmune Therapeutics (aimmune.com) in Brisbane, CA, helping to discover therapies or cures for peanut allergies. She is leveraging her wealth of experience gained at the huge corporation to help smaller companies get their JANUARY 01, 2018 23
local events products to market faster. She is particularly experienced in optimizing the chances for getting medical products approved by the federal government.
The secret sauce: Swedish heritage
The panelists were asked how their Swedish culture helped their success in the U.S. As a Swede, Dr. Rosén quite naturally became a collaborative leader rather than a hierarchical one. By choosing the best people to be on her team, she has only to lead and support them in their creativity; you need not know everything if you’ve assembled the right teammates and you can move forward fast, she said. In Strelar-Migotti’s case the lesson was almost contrary, though that might be because of the difference between academia and a highly competitive technology company. Ericsson was so well established as a paragon of Swedish business and took very good care of its employees. She found it to be somewhat different from startups in the Valley, but she recognized the established companies of Silicon Valley created a distinctly different culture than companies headquartered on the East Coast. So, Ericsson with its Swedish values seemed a most comfortable fit with Silicon Valley’s culture. She feels Sweden values its individuals more than its many identical commercial products, and Ericsson moved its second headquarters to Silicon Valley because it valued an ethic here: Don’t fear to make mistakes, but learn from each one and incorporate that as part of the company’s corporate wisdom. Elkehag felt right at home by networking and bootstrapping her team together. Upon reflection it seemed the team found her, as have many others who have furthered her company and concept. She works with a lot of other Swedes here, all sharing the same cultural values. Many of them are students working or studying in the Bay Area. Currently Elkehag has about 10 interns working for her. Of course the benefit is it’s easy to communicate, not only verbally but also culturally—they are comfortable in the very nonhierarchical environment of her company because it fosters trust and teamwork.
Rising above it all
When the moderator asked what it takes for women to gain leadership, the answer was unanimous: Women must work harder and smarter than their male peers. They opined that one would never even ask that question of a man. The question was restated as “what does it mean to be a woman in these organizations in Silicon Valley?” Elkehag said she does not see herself as a female leader. Simply, she is a leader. Thought of in that way, it is never an issue. She is a business person, and gender does not enter into the discussion. However, she does believe that for women to gain leadership, grit and perseverance are required; and she believes many women possess those qualities, having earned them from a lifetime of competing. Strelar-Migotti believes that while some women can trail-blaze in smaller companies, it is much more challenging for a woman to crack into the leadership ranks at a huge company. One needs thick skin to endure that environment and must always be demonstrably better than her peers and keenly attuned to the team, the company, and the needs of each. Dr. Rosén mentioned that when she was attending medical school it was the first time the incoming class consisted of an equal number of men and women; in contrast the pharmacy school was male-dominated. She was grateful to work in biotech, because in general women are well represented in those companies … except at the highest executive levels.
Promoting change
After jump-starting her colleague’s career, StrelarMigotti followed her own advice, and become a manager under other circumstances in a challenging assignment in Spain. The lesson is apparent: Men are very clear about what they want, when they want it, and who needs to know it. And even though a woman’s successes might be recorded in a personnel profile, these are not automatically totaled up and considered for a new job. Women must explicitly inform their bosses that they want training for higher positions. And if this is not provided within a reasonable time, they should seek other opportunities.
Augusta’s Daughter Ever wonder what made so many emigrate from Sweden in the nineteenth century? Judit Martin’s novel, “Augusta’s Daughter,” about 19th century Swedish peasant life made such an impression on us, we decided to offer it to the Nordstjernan readership. call 1.800.827.9333 for your own copy ($24.90 incl. S&H to cont. U.S.). The sequel,
Kajsa
was just released. The story of 15-year-old Elsa-Carolina’s illegitimate daughter Kajsa,who was cast out into the world from a foster home at the age of 8. 24 NORDSTJERNAN
“If you are going to risk or lose any money, do it for something you believe in with all your heart.”
The most important thing is to have a vision and persevere. It’s much easier not to be successful. But always know why you want to do something different. Her advice was: “If you are going to risk or lose any money, do it for something you believe in with all your heart.” Dr. Rosén’s advice for moving up in an organization was that all women should get a coach (inside or outside your organization) who can offer professional advice, and establish a group of peers who meet regularly to strategize and support each other. Elkehag recommended investing in female entrepreneurs—deliberately making and monitoring a policy within a company to appoint a percentage of the best women in the company to higher positions and encourage or seek out more female investors. She shares her newly-gained experience of how to start and run a company and tries to support Swedes both here and there. An adherent of the Valley’s motto, “pay it forward,” she mentors young women, recognizing they are typically more risk-averse than men; she reinforces that they do not need to know all the answers. They need to learn how to ask questions. Above all, networking is important. At this time in American history when we are learning how often women are harassed, abused and assaulted, it was thoroughly refreshing to hear from these women of how they personally achieved success. They said it takes daring and courage to pursue this path, but if you are driven by your dream to make something, you can succeed. However, you must be passionate; do not do it for the money you imagine you will accumulate. The best route is to solve a real problem for real people. Or as Henry J. Kaiser, the local entrepreneur of almost a century ago, said: “Find a need. And fill it!” Ted Olsson
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Lucia galore Emanuel Lutheran Church in Hartford is always first with its lovely celebration, this year for the 104th consecutive time!
Lucia Procession with Michaela von Koch as Lucia at SACC New York. Right: Michael M. Roberts, Global Head of Corporate Banking and Lending at Citigroup receives the SACCNY Member of the Year Award from Karl Wellner, Chairman of SACC NY and Anna Throne Holst, president SACC NY.
A well attended VOA/SCA joint celebration in Cleveland. SWEA New York glögg reception (best glögg!) and Lucia.
Above: Not every helper needs a costume; William Sivertsson and Rebecca Claffey helped out at the SWEA NJ Christmas Market and Lucia. Left: Boston Lucia at the SWEA Boston Yuletide, Boston Center for the Arts. JANUARY 01, 2018 25
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news in brief
Swedish News Bracing for Brexit
Nothing certain has been said by the UK companies that have locations in western Sweden, but the area has already been hit hard by a 15 percent decrease in exports. With Brexit looming, the Swedish fishing industry is especially worried about the effect the rights to fish in UK/EU waters will have on them. As much as 20 percent of current fishing takes place in British waters, which is worth SEK 150-200 million (up to USD 23.7 million) per year. If the rights to fish in British waters aren’t extended, it could be a catastrophe for the Swedish fishing industry.
Faster, specific diagnoses
New technology out of Sahlgrenska University in Göteborg traces genetic sequences of common diseases, and wait times for diagnoses have dropped dramatically. Through Next Generation Sequencing, patients are now able to have their conditions treated on a genetically specific basis, rather than a one-size-fits-all treatment plan. This means patients with diseases like cancer can avoid long wait times and often bypass the traditional rounds of chemotherapy that aren’t always necessary.
Banning beggars
Most of the beggars gathered at popular transit stations and malls in Sweden come from Romania and Bulgaria, migrants who hope to find a way to make enough money to support themselves and their families back home. While the normally generous and open-hearted Swedes are the first to help those in need, the number of beggars has increased so much that people don’t feel safe and businesses cannot operate as they usually do. A petition to ban beggars in cities like Gothenburg is gaining support.
Baltic fish in Swedish waters
It’s only been a few years since the blackfish was first seen in Swedish waters but in that time it’s taken over residence in Sweden. Wildlife researchers say they have no idea how or why the fish, natives of the Baltic Sea, came to Sweden and populated
Facebook sales stay in Sweden
so quickly. The fish, which eat primarily mussels, seem to be thriving but it will take time and study to see what, if any, their effect will be on the surrounding fish and wildlife.
Malmö designer wins award
Lisa Hilland, who’s had a furniture design business in Sweden since 2005, has won a major furniture award for her bent wood furniture. Her Bow line of furniture is anything but a trend; top design judges awarded her the Icon Award and say she’s created a new classic in Scandinavian furniture design.
Regeringsgatan, close to Stockholm’s main shopping street and NK department store. Urban Escape uses five buildings built along four streets with two public squares and a unique rooftop garden of public space connecting three buildings. The complex houses retail and offices along with hotels, a conference facility and epicenter — positioned to become the innovation hub for Stockholm’s booming tech community. Looking for a similar address in Stockholm? See www.urbanescape.se for more info.
Spotify’s new offices
Spotify, the Swedish streaming music platform, signed a 17-year lease for an office of 380,000 square feet at 4 World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York, at a cost of SEK 275 million a year (about $32.5 million). The streaming music service has reportedly also moved into a new 215,000-squarefoot office space at Urban Escape Stockholm on
Facebook is switching to a local sales structure in countries where the company has an office. More specifically, this means that the American social media giant will report advertising revenues in the country they arise rather than at the International Headquarters in Ireland. Sweden is among the countries with its own Facebook sales office. “We believe that the switch to a local sales structure will increase transparency for governments and decision makers around the world who have demanded better visibility for revenue related to local sales in their countries,” said Dave Wehner, CFO of Facebook, in a press release. According to Facebook, the new structure will be rolled out in 2018 to be in place in all countries where the company has a local office in the first half of 2019. Facebook’s message comes in the wake of a growing international upset about the tax structure of international tech corporations. In 2016 for instance, the EU Commission ordered Ireland to request Apple pay over $15 billion in unpaid taxes, which according to the commission were illegal government subsidies.
These days, customers in central Stockholm can order the entire Christmas table from the store and into the fridge. (Screen grab from www.mathem.se)
Food in your fridge
The smart lock company Glue and Mathem food delivery company in Stockholm have initiated a collaboration that allows their app users to get food delivered right to the fridge — even when they aren’t at home. The new cooperation allows deliveries to be made from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., rather than having to wait for customers to be home. Mathem’s customers on Södermalm are first to receive the service offer. Then, if appreciated, it will be rolled out further. www.gluehome.com
JANUARY 01, 2018 27
sports
Östersunds’ manager Graham Potter. Photo: Niclas Larsson/Bildbyrån
Christmas came early for Östersund FK It is somehow fitting that the team that plays closest to Santa’s workshop would give the Swedish sport an early Christmas present. Soccer team Östersunds FK became the first Swedish side since IFK Göteborg in the late 1980s to advance to the knock-out stage of a major European tournament when it reached the Round of 32 in the UEFA Europa League. The gift? Östersund faces English giants Arsenal in a home-and-home series, with the opener on February 15 at the tiny Jämtkraft Arena in Östersund while the return leg is February 22 at the Emirates in London. Not since 1999 when AIK electrified Swedish football with its run through the UEFA Champions League has a Swedish team advanced out of the group stage. AIK, however, did not accomplish what Östersund has done, which is to reach the next phase. Just like AIK, which had Stuart Baxter as manager, Östersund also has an Englishman at the helm, Graham Potter. A journeyman player who spent most of his career in England’s lower leagues, Potter came to Östersund in December 2010 and successfully steered the club from fourth tier to top flight, its crowds rising from a few hundred to several thousand at the 8,500-capacity Jämtkraft Arena. Despite the success, Potter said the club’s own hometown didn’t have much respect for the team. He told a story about his early days in Östersund when it seemed no one really knew the team was doing well. “My wife went to the local nursery and was asked: ‘What are you doing here?’ She replied, ‘My husband got a job.’ The worker replied, ‘Great, what is it?’ She said, ‘Football coach for Östersund,’ and the worker said, ‘I’d go home if I were you.’” Potter said it was easy to forgive the nursery worker for the skepticism. Östersund is the newest 28 NORDSTJERNAN
team in the Allsvenskan, coming into being in the 1990s as an amalgamation of several local sides – Ope, IFK Östersund, Östersund/Torvalla and Frösö. But Potter took over the club seven years ago and has been an unrivaled success, reaching the Allsvenskan in 2015. ÖSK finished sixth in 2016 and fifth this past season. It qualified for the Europa League by topping 2015 champions IFK Norrkoping in the final of the Swedish Cup. Potter said all that success has helped the club turn the “Vinterstaden” (winter city) into a football town. “Now young boys and girls are joining soccer schools and you see kids running around in our shirts.”
A winning attitude
The Englishman and club director Daniel Kindberg have made numerous headlines with their unique approach to team building. While others use overseas tournaments as a way of keeping their players sharp and together, Potter and Kindberg have immersed their players in the Östersund cultural scene, broadening players’ minds by having them work together on cultural projects such as writing books, staging an art exhibition, acting and even putting on a production of Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake. “We’ve done a theatre play, we’ve done painting, we’ve done dancing, we’ve done singing – I’ve been part of every one and it doesn’t get any easier!” said English midfielder Jamie Hopcutt, who joined the club in 2012. “It definitely takes you out of your comfort zone but it has helped us come together as a team.” Potter and Kindberg seem to have also borrowed a page out of Baxter’s 1999 AIK playbook in terms of club attitude. Building a winning mentality is just as important to the team’s culture as the players overcoming stage fright.
“Our method is to win every game, and the consequences of that should be that you are top of the table,” Kindberg said. “I will not be satisfied until we are champions. All results before that are rubbish. If you aim for midtable, that means you’ve admitted to yourselves that it’s OK to lose a football game. It’s not.” When OSK takes on Arsenal, it will be a clash of two clubs on wildly different financial levels. Arsenal spends more on one player (Alexis Sanchez) than Östersund spends on its entire team. Kindberg said the money disparity is irrelevant. “We now have a turnover of £5.5 million ($7.4 million) per year,” he said. “We will be Swedish champions when we have a turnover of £6.5 million ($8.7 million). I’ve also said if we have a turnover of £50 million ($67 million) per year, we will win the Champions League. No doubt about it. Nobody else has ever done that, but we will do it, that’s for sure. If we maintain that turnover for a period of three years, then we will make it happen: 100 percent. “It will come through a combination of being extremely successful, being champions, getting through to the Champions League group stage once or twice and getting some investment into the experiment. We have the model, the thinking and the understanding. That’s how small ones can beat the big ones: by being very different and odd.” Kindberg’s words sound like fantasy, yet Kindberg, who vowed to bring European football to Östersund after he became chairman, has seen everything he predicted come true. The Swedes have created ripples since the beginning of the 17-18 season and making it through the UEFA Europa League group stage, ending up level with Athletic Bilbao on 11 points in Group J. Östersund has also benefited from diversity. The squad includes internationals from Iraq, Syria and the Comoros Islands. “I think the culture here makes us even stronger as a family,” said Nigerian forward Salisu Abdullhi Gero. “We have some absolutely great guys on the team, and we are just one family because we always share jokes and do everything together, on and off the pitch.” As for facing Arsenal, defender Ronald Mukiibi says he can’t wait. A Swedish citizen of Ugandan descent, Mukilibi is an unabashed Gunners fan, saying the club “has been my team since I was little.” The defender says he wants to meet Arsenal manager Wenger to “ask him about his starting XIs”. The 26-year-old was overwhelmed after the draw: “To face the team I’ve supported all my life. Who would have thought? I hoped to play for Arsenal at Emirates, but now I get to play against Arsenal at the same ground. Life takes mysterious turns.” Life for OSK might also contain a little bit of Santa’s magic. The footballing world will find out February 15. Chipp Reid Editor’s note: ESPN and Fox Sports plan to broadcast all the matches from the UEFA Europa League Round of 32. Check local listings for details.