Scottish Pub

Once upon a time, Sister Swede studied with a Dane at Watertown High School. The Dane loved Watertown so much, he returned for many summers to visit with his fellow Goslings. One summer the Dane stopped coming to Watertown... The people of Watertown were sad, and so Sister Swede met up with the Dane in Copehnagen.

(left to right: Dane, Awesome Pub Performer, Sister Swede)

Kobenhavn, Wonderful, Wonderful... Kobenhavn For Me!

Guest Writer: Sister Swede Reports...

I've had a great time in Denmark so far! Ben met me at the airport (he was early, I was late) and we headed out for our European adventure. After spending three days in Copenhagen, we made the trip to Sonderborg this afternoon. It is a beautiful city!

It's getting late (and Ben has an exam early tomorrow morning), so I'm going to keep this short. Here are the highlights from our first three days.

Day 1:

Tivoli, the main city square, the walking street, dinner in Nyhavn and back to Tivoli.

Day 2:

Lots of sightseeing! Highlights include royal gardens, the Little Mermaid, Nyhavn (again) and eating a Fransk hot dog!

Day 3:

The Carlsberg Brewery, getting a birds eye view of the city, Christiana and more Nyhavn!

Enjoy! More tomorrow...

I'd Like, I'd Like to be Like Mike...

Apparently people still look up to the US as being a good model. Despite all the negative stuff going on in the last two terms few years, countries still want to be more like the US. The Danish prime minister's son has just wrote a book in favor of the US:

Henrik Fogh Rasmussen writes in his new book, 'American Conditions', that the Danish media paints an exaggerated picture of poverty, racism and uninsured patients in the US, and argues European leaders should instead use the US model to address this continent's own social problems.

Rasmussen has lived in the US for several years and has an American wife. In his 57-page book he challenges the many negative images of the US promoted by the media and says the Danish health care system is more apt to fail patients than the American.

'Seen in light of the huge demographic changes Europe is experiencing, European decision makers should take more inspiration from the market-based health care system in the US, instead of warning us about the "American conditions" in health care,' Rasmussen writes.

'The national health care systems in Europe are characterised by rigorous cost controls, where hospital administrators and doctors jealously guard their annual budgets. This means there is little place for experiments such as a wider use of preventive medicines, and it is the patients that this lack of creativity and resistance to new thinking ultimately affects.'

'The picture of the US as a society with widespread poverty and homelessness is wrong. The numbers clearly show that living standards for the poorest Americans are at the same level as the poorest people in Denmark and the rest of Europe.

This never would have happened to Miss Sweden...

Is the US Buying Sweden?

In a very economical sense, yes... Nasdaq has made a bid to buy OMX, the Swedish company that owns the Denmark, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia exchange markets. This purchase gives the US a stronghold in the technology sector in the Scandinavian states, which have produced such companies as Nokia, Ericsson, Volvo, AstraZeneca (those cheesy drug commercials), and others.

Be prepared for a more Scandinavian looking Times Square!

International Food, (drink) Day

Have you ever had an Afghani nut? How about a Romanian dessert? Either had I, until Friday's "Intercultural Snack-evening."

Now, you have all been here in Sønderborg for 6 months or longer, but have you had a taste of Denmark, yet?

And what is the taste of your country???

Make a traditional snack and drink from your place of the world, and bring it to our Intercultural Snack -evening for your fellow exchange students to taste -and have a taste of their country, too.

The first thing I thought of was to make Swedish Pancakes with Lingon, but upon authorization from the international director she asked that I bring something "American," since I am the only American representative. First of all... it is nearly impossible to find corn and turkey, the only two real "American" foods I could think of. So what did I end up making? Hot Dogs, Peanuts, COOOOLD BEER! The traditional pastime of a day at the ballpark, nothing is more American than that.

I did however do something that I am not proud of... I bought a case of... gulp... Budweiser. It was the only American import beer available in the distant land of Denmark. That isn't an acceptable excuse, and in retrospect I should have forgone the idea of having an American beer rather than serving that sad excuse for a beer. I hope I didn't anger the beer gods back home, and rest assured the first thing I will do upon my return home will be to crack open a Milwaukee brewed Miller product.

I will also take this moment to propose a new Man-Law:
"A man must always carry a six pack of Miller Lite when traveling overseas in the event that there are no Miller products available" - Man Law

Michael Moore on Sweden

Filmmaker Michael Moore has attacked the Swedish government for opening up the health service to more private sector involvement.

"I am very sorry to hear that they are selling out public healthcare. Everything that is good about public healthcare has its origins in Scandinavia," he said, adding that he thought the Swedish public would vote the centre -right Alliance government out as a result.

I accept your apology Mr. Moore...

Swedes (not) in America

From June 2 - 10, there will be one less Swede in America. None other than The Swede in America's Sister will be joining her Swedish brother for a week of Scandinavian adventure. The trip will inevitably include a second (first for some) pilgrimage to Sweden.

Ben's Swedes
(left to right: Sister Swede (Rachel), Swede in America (Ben), Mother Swede (Vicki), not picutured: O'Father (irish)

Byfesten

It's that time of year again... < fill in the blank >-fest. Every city has one. In Watertown: Riverfest. Sonderborg: Byfesten.
I'm pretty sure there is a worldwide formula that cities purchase which summons a convoy of carnies to roll into town from their carny villages. The carnies set up their carny tent village, and people flock to throw their money at them. The interesting population of the city finally shows its face and the question is answered, "so theres the other 10,000 people that live here." It's these 10,000 helpless folks that make the entire carny system work. Steps to make the system work:

1. Find people with children, preferably four or more children
   
2. Offer cheep Chinese crap for a seemingly simple task (often of physical merit)
   2a. display one huge stuffed animal for girlfriend to see
   
3. Deep fry every food item you offer
4. Never stay in the same town for more than three days
5. Stay away from cities with more than 25,000 people
   

Skinny Swedes

Once again, Swedes (and Danes) show us the way. I can attest firsthand that my fellow Swedes are every bit as curvaceousas I have made them up to be.

Genes, or lifestyle? Something to think about...

Introducing... Sweden's Modern Swedish Chef

Sweden's answer to Martha Stewart, Tina Nordström mixes pseudo-southern charm with a cheeky sense of humour.

Who is she and why is she famous?

Tina Nordström is Sweden's most famous celebrity chef. The likable southerner's untrammeled popularity make her something of a Swedish Delia Smith (without the major shareholding in a mid-sized football club), or Martha Stewart (without the spell in jail).



What's her secret?

Like mama's lasagna, it's all in the recipe. Take a spoonful of southern charm, mixed with a dash of barely decipherable dialect. Add a sprig of humour and bring the bubbly personality to the boil. Stick the whole lot in the mixer and you're left with a quite delectable dish.

Sounds tasty alright.



It's a quite exquisite concoction, which has ensured that the woman they call Food-Tina has topped the ratings any time she's been bothered to put her hand near a pot.

And what about family? Has she ever had a bun in the oven?

Hilarious gag. She's only heard it more times than she's had hot dinners. But yes, she and her boyfriend Martin have a little one-year-old called Albin.



That was a bit saucy. So is she still keeping the juices flowing on Swedish television?

No. Food-Tina has recently been treating American audiences to her culinary delights on a show called New Scandinavian Cooking. Not surprisingly, she has proved a BIG hit with US viewers despite being unable to use her trademark phrase: 'jättegott'.

What does that mean?

It means eminently palatable.

American?: Passport Discrimination

EU passports are maroon, US passports are blue. There are probably a million bureaucratic reasons why, but it is also an efficient way to instantly spot a US citizen. I have noticed throughout my travels that in airports, people wait around in queues with their passports in hand. As if there weren't 589 other ways to identify Americans, this makes us easy to spot (stay tuned for the other 588 ways!)