As it is in heaven

The kids have joined Jochem in the Netherlands and I am spending a week on my own in Ulricehamn. Yesterday I spent the afternoon at the golf course trying to improve my swing with the result of 3 blisters in my hand and after that I had an obsessive film evening. I watched “As it is in heaven” more or less three times going through some scenes several times. The last few years I have had very little time to watch films and it was really nice to get completely into the film. It is also one of the best Swedish films in the last ten years. When I worked at the Swedish embassy in the Hague I tried to get Kaj Pollak (the director) to the Netherlands but he was busy writing a new script and did not want to stop the writing process. If his next script is as good as “As it is in heaven” we will see a new Swedish top film shortly (as he has already proven his directing skills in several films).

The European union is trying to increase European film production in order to strengthen local production and cultural heritage. After my studies at the European Film College I did a short traineeship at Warner Brothers in Brussels and London. At this time (in 1995) the European distribution channels and marketing strategies were still far behind the Americans. WB used 10-15% of its film budget on marketing and the marketing process started before they even started shooting the film. For a long time European films were supposed to sell themselves but in today’s world it does not matter how good a film is if you don’t know that it is there and the competition is killing. So far the EU support to the European film industry has had a positive effect on the European film market and we have seen several good European films doing well. I also think it strengthens the connection between Europeans when we see more films from other neighbouring countries. I have decided that I will try and watch at least one non-American film a month from now on (from all over the world so please come with your suggestions!)
If you have not seen As it is in heaven I can surely recommend it.
Ulrika

Swedish midsummer or a South African chutney?

We celebrated midsummer in Nybrostrand (on the Swedish south coast)this weekend and it was the first midsummer celebrations for the kids. Despite the unusually nice and sunny weather (I heard it has been raining in Ulricehamn at midsummer 8 out of 10 times in the last 10 years!) it was difficult to get the kids dancing aroung the midsummer pole and it occured to me that one might have to be bred into midsummer celebrations from an early age to fully appriciate this Swedish festivity. They had a good time though but not due to the fact that it was midsummer. The company (my parents, my sister and her family and my cousin with her family) made it a fun filled day and Ingrids extreem luck in the lottery made it a day to remember forever. Ingrid won 4 prices in the lottery (a grill, two wallets and a family game - all thing we did not know we could not live without:)). But, the midsummer dancing part while singing old folksongs did not impress the kids and neither did the haring.

When I first met Jochem he often asked me why we sing the same songs around Christmas as at midsummer and why we eat haring everytime we have something to celebrate (haring for Christmas, haring for Easter and haring for Midsummer) but til this day I have no good answer for this. I guess we Swedish people like our traditions and when I lived abroad I often missed these traditions. It just does not feel the same eating imported haring while sitting in South Africa. Each place and each culture offers something different and nothing tastes better then Swedish haring on midsummer in Sweden.

Writing about South Africa brings me to a reconnection story. I lost touch with Emma and Rolf Cyrus last year (good friends from South Africa) as we all moved and changed e-mail addresses. Today I found them again and for anyone going on holidays to South Africa or who is intersted in really good food, check out www.wyckedd.co.za
Emma and Rolf are not only fantastic people but also great cooks!

Ulricehamn, Norway, the Netherlands and South Africa - all in one week

Last week I went on a two-day conference in Sandefjord, Norway. Ulricehamn is looking into developing the sport area Lassalyckan and to do so with other Scandinavian partners. I think it is a project with great potential and we have a lot to learn from other municipalities who are using sport in order to attract tourism and national or international attention. Next year we are arranging the Swedish championship in cross country skiing and the Scandinavian Cup but in order to guarantee snow we need new snow canons and they cost a bit. Lassalyckan is an area where you can ski, play golf, run or take long walks and next year the football fields will be moved to the area. It is also the location for ice hockey; the indoor football hall and close by you find the swimming pool and the tennis hall. In other words it is an area, which offers a lot to the people of Ulricehamn, but it certainly has the potential to offer more for people outside Ulricehamn. So far we still need to find suitable partners and naturally get full political backup for the plan.

I had never been to Sandefjord before and if you are planning to visit Sweden and Norway this summer I can inform you that a visit to the Swedish town Strömstad might be of interest (especially if you come with a caravan) and from there you take a 2 1/2 hour ferry to Sandefjord in Norway. We had fantastic weather on the boat and it is a beautiful coastline along Sweden and Norway.

The 6th of June we celebrated the Swedish national day by going to Stockholm. We had a family reunion in Stockholm and all met up for the first time in 12 years. Last time we all met we celebrated my grandmothers 90th birthday and even if we had not seen each other for a long time it felt as if we were right back at where we left off. The only big difference was the number of kids that had joined the group and that was a lot of fun (and maybe we looked slightly older :)). We went to the outdoor museum Skansen in Stockholm, had a picnic at Junibacken, enjoyed two great barbeques and got a chance to see how all my cousins now live. For our kids it was the first time in Stockholm but I think they enjoyed the company of their second cousins the most.

Take care, Ulrika