Culture and nationalism! Long live internationalisation!

I have been watching two documentaries tonight. The first one was a short report about why Germans love Sweden and Swedish culture (or what they imagine Swedish culture to be) and the second one was about the racist party Sverige Demokraterna who are striving for a monocultural society built on Swedish values and Swedish traditions. Both these films made me think about what’s Swedish and what makes a culture unique or special. We in Europe often talk in negative terms about the American melting pot. But what is it that we have that they don’t have, and does culture and history have a timeline? When does a building get a historical value – after one year, after ten or after a hundred? Obviously you cannot answer the question in this way. When the Opera house in Sidney was build it was far more expensive then anyone could dream of and many people criticised the politicians for spending so much money on a building. I don’t know if the number of admirers for the art of opera has increased in Sidney but the building is a landmark for Australia. It is probably one of the most well known images of Australia. The building has become a part of Australian culture and history. The architect was Danish and the building has no connection to any previous Australian architecture. Still it an Australian piece of art, isn’t it?

We celebrate Lucia in Sweden the 13th of December and it is a very popular tradition. The party Sverige Demokraterna are worried that typical Swedish traditions such as Lucia will die out if immigration into Sweden continues. What they seem to have forgotten is that Lucia is a fairly new tradition introduced in Stockholm in 1923 by a group of shop owners who wanted a “miss” contest in order to increase sales. The Lucia tradition comes from Italy but we interpreted it into becoming something very Swedish. There is nothing wrong in being proud over our traditions or enjoying taking part in them but it becomes a bit strange when we start marking them as national traditions aimed for a specific group of people. We talk about culture as if it is static phenomena but it is obviously something that is constantly evolving. It never stops and it never ends.

Look at music for example. Sweden is the 3rd largest music exporter in the world with over 800 million dollars in revenue last year –superceded only by the US and the UK. Per capita we are the most profitable music country in the world. When you turn on the radio in Sweden or anywhere else in the world you are probably listening to some Swedish music without even knowing it as we especially good at writing and producing music for many big American artists such as Justin Timberlake or Britney Spears. Does the music sound typically Swedish? Is it even possible to put nationalistic labels on music? I think we can talk about trends or influences in music but it is very difficult to say that this is typically Swedish music while that is typically German music. With internationalisation going on as I sit here writing we will see even more blending and mixing of different music traditions and the same goes for fashion, interior design, film and all kinds of artistic and cultural expressions. Does this not sound exciting?

When people talk about culture and especially used in connection to nations we forget that the experience of culture is personal and unique. When I talk about Swedish values I might think about emancipation while this is not even on the agenda of Sverige Demokraterna.

With this I remark I go to bed. The kids are at my parents for a oneweek holiday and I will work tomorrow (on a Sunday again – bad habit!) and take Thursday and Friday off as Jochem is heading home. It has been a long month as a single mum!

Fighting racism and ignorance in a small town!

Ulricehamn is a great place but even here racist parties are gaining ground and last week they had a really stupid article in the local paper. I had to write a response (you know me - being quiet is not my style!) Today it was published and I have received several positive phone calls. Obviously I am awaiting a written response in the paper but for now I have posted the article here. It is in Swedish but when I get some more time I will make a short translation of it! For the Swedish readers:

Sverigedemokraterna vill fira Italiensk lucia och bojkotta Falaffeln!

Invandringen är för dyr, Ulricehamn bör säga upp avtalet med migrationsverket och den svenska (oj, det var visst den italienska) lucian måste vi värna om. Det är svårt att veta om man bör skratta eller gråta när Sverige Demokraterna tar till orda om det monokulturella samhället.

I insändaren i UT den 18 oktober talar SD om de enorma kostnaderna invandringen för med sig men glömmer nämna att i Spanien, Australien och Kanada utgör invandringen en betydande del för respektive lands ekonomiska utveckling. När vi talar om kostnader för invandringen bör dessa ställas till relation till ingen invandring alls vilket SD förespråkar. Vad för samhälle och utvecklingsmöjligheter får vi då?

Europas födelsetal blir allt lägre. Befolkningen i EU minskar. Vi har redan nu stora problem i vissa sektorer (tex. vården och äldreomsorgen) för att hitta kvalificerad personal och många företag är ute och rekryterar arbetskraft långt utanför Sveriges gränser. Vad vi behöver är högutbildad arbetskraft och en bättre integrationspolitik som ser till att vi tar tillvara på den kompetens invandrarna för med sig. Jag sticker inte under stol med att det finns betydande integrations problem som vi måste ta tag i men dessa problem har med vårt system att göra. Nima Sanandaji, Vd för tankesmedjan Captus, visade under Irakkonferensen i Stockholm tidigare i år att invandrarna från Mellanöstern till USA, klarar sig bra på den amerikanska arbetsmarknaden medan det råder en motsatt situation i Sverige. Kombinationen av en trög arbetsmarknad, höga skatter och generösa bidragssystem leder till att samma grupp av människor som blir framgångsrika på andra sidan Atlanten hamnar i social fattigdom och beroende i Sverige.

Jag har spenderat de senaste 11 åren utomlands och vet hur det känns att stå med en svensk universitets examen och få höra;
- Lunds universitet i Sverige? Det universitetet känner vi inte till. Nej, den examen kan vi inte räkna med här.
Jag vet hur det känns när man inte är helt säker på de sociala reglerna. Två kindpussar i Frankrike, tre i Nederländerna och fyra i Belgien – eller hur var det nu? Det är inte lätt att vara nykomling men om man får en chans att visa vad man gå för så tar man den! Sverige Demokraterna ger inga chanser och ser inte möjligheterna!

För mig är svensk kultur och svensk historia det samma som solidaritet, demokrati och lika värde för alla individer. Jag är stolt över att vara svensk och stolt över de svenska värden vi spritt världen över såsom jämställdhet och öppenhet för andra kulturer. Jag äter kanske hellre falafel än rotmos men glädjes åt mångfalden på bordet. Den från Italien hitplockade moderna lucia traditionen (uppstod på Skansen 1927) har mina barn ännu aldrig upplevt då vi är nyinflyttade i Sverige men vi ser fram emot firandet av denna mångkulturella tradition i december!

En röst åt Sverige Demokraterna i nästa val är en röst för ett segregerat, trångsynt och stillastående samhälle!
Ulrika Geeraedts - tämligen nyinvandrad Ulricehamnsbo

A fake role model?

My parents spent the weekend in Ulricehamn helping me out with a mountain of washes and took care of the kids so that I could join my colleagues for a night out and so that I could do some work today (on a Sunday - L). I am going to be part of a Dutch documentary about emancipation in Sweden but currently I wonder what kind of role model I am? I think women in Sweden have come a long way but still our society is not equal and it is not because men are not doing the right thing. We all want to do so much and achieve so much in life that it becomes difficult to priorities and I am still not sure what I should priorities.

It is too easy to say that we should choose to take care of our children when they are young and have a carrier when they get older. I am not working to make a carrier but because it is fun, challenging and because I think I have something to offer. I am good at it! I don’t think I would be a good fulltime mother. I like to work and I want to work. And at the same time I want to be the mother the kids can count on and the one they can come to when they need to. Jochem is away this month and I am trying to give 100% at work (40 hours a week) and 100% to the kids but the pile of washes keep on growing, the house is getting seriously untidy and the garden needs a facelift. Thank god for parents who are willing to spend 6 hour in a car and a weekend cleaning at their daughters’ house (and they also work during the week!) They even brought a stew with them and filled up my empty fridge!

The puzzle of life is not easy and everyone seems to be struggling to find the right path. I don’t think it’s a simple solution to this but a number of possibilities. The question is which solution fits us the best? We work, have kids, try to keep the passion up in a relationship suffering from too little quality time, see friends and keep a little bit of social life and time is going so fast. Well, I guess this is true universal challenge. Are we fooling ourselves in trying to be the best in whatever field it might be – the best employee, the best parent, the best lover, the best cook, the best friend etc. In an individual society we need to be stronger and better. When is it OK to say that this is what I do and what I stand for and for the rest it – I need some help?

Well, I have no answer and it will probably take me some time to figure it all out. The only thing I know is that the older I get the more I realize how little I actually know but hopefully it makes me more flexible, more open to new solutions and more humble to other peoples choices!!

Time to tuck the kids in!!

The (rabbit) brothel at Wallenqvistgatan!

Jochem has left for the US and will be back in the end of October. I am desperately seeking some help for the days when I need to work a bit late or want to do some social activities. I want to find someone via my network and not put an ad in the local supermarket but what do you do? This Saturday Jochem and I went out alone for the first time in 6 months. Some friends, who actually already had guests this weekend themselves, took care of our kids for the night. Really, really nice of you Marlene and Peter! I guess the problem of finding someone to look after your children now and then is the biggest disadvantage of moving to a place where you have no family or friends from the beginning.

Talking about moving brings me to tomorrows task. I am hosting a meeting regarding increasing the inhabitants in the Sjuhärad region. Sjuhärad is a cooperation of seven cities in the west of Sweden and we are all looking into attracting more people and businesses from abroad – mainly the Netherlands and Germany. As a frequent mover (nine countries by now) I think I have quite a good picture of what one needs to get settled somewhere and what needs to be arranged before the move. I want the region to create a strategy and a clear plan of how to work with immigration with a well-defined aim of what we want to achieve. I have seen many Swedish municipalities who just go abroad trying to sell their place to unprepared dreamers and I want to avoid this situation. Naturally, all you guys reading this blog are more than welcome :)!

Today I was invited to join the emancipation conference I initiated at the embassy last year. My colleagues at the embassy have worked really hard (especially you Anette!) to make an informative and challenging conference for politicians in the Dutch and Swedish parliament and I am sure it will be a great conference. There is also a documentary film being made and the Dutch filmmaker has a website that I want you Dutch readers to have a look at! Check out www.lofonline.nl

We have bought a huge rabbit cage (or a rabbit brothel as Kristian called it) and this Thursday Jochem painted with the help of five kids. Elsa (8) asked what a brothel is and with four quiet adults around my dad took the word. It is a house he explained! Well, I guess I will hear Elsa say at school that she lives in a brothel!! Now I will do some smaller repairs on the cage and then it is time for the rabbit. My colleague Mikael has already promised us his kid’s rabbit. Lets hear what his kids say about that?

It is time to tuck the kids in!

A fat but cozy mother

The moose hunting season in Sweden has started and I just got an e-mail informing me that a suggested meeting date was absolutely impossible as everyone will be off in two weeks time (I guess the season in Ulricehamn starts in two weeks).

With the continues rain outside I have no wish to be outside and my colleagues told me that I just have to get used to this weather from now on. Autumn is rain and winter should be snow but if we are unfortunate it will be rain this winter as well. Last winter was much too warm and with the current climate developments it does not look as if we are in for a cold winter. Nils asks me every day when the winter will start as he is dreaming about his birthday in December.

I had my family visiting this weekend which was really nice. It is clear that little Ellen (8 months) has our family genes. No one can survive in my family if they don’t talk a lot and Ellen, who does not talk much yet, already knows how to sing and make all kind of sounds. Especially in the early morning hours :)! She is absolutely adorable and the only problem we had was the timesharing of holding her.

Tomorrow I am off to Stockholm for a two day Interreg conference (an EU fond for cooperation between the Nordic countries) and the coming month I am working on a number of applications for different EU related projects. Jochem will be off to the US for two weeks followed by a week in Australia so I will not travel anywhere for some time. I am helping the girls and their friends making pillows and dresses with the new sewing machine and spending the evenings reading for Nils. Yesterday while reading, he said with a sweet voice:
- You are fat and cozy!
When he gets older I´ll tell him to avoid these kind of statements around women but for a mum I guess it is okey!