It’s feeling rather hot.
Though, truth be told, it’s not.
It’s a lovely breezy day.
Not at all like in LA.
Where the desert heat distresses,
And the summer months oppress us.
From the summertime we hide,
‘Cause it’s too hot to go outside.
To say it’s hot feels somehow wrong,
I’ve been in Sweden far too long.
It may look vaguely Christian.
It may seem quite devout.
But the meaning of the Maypole,
Is not that hard to figure out.
Every year around Midsummer,
We stick it in the ground.
We erect it and insert it,
And then we dance around.
Then we eat and drink too much,
And into the woods we run,
To do our own impression,
Of the Maypole just for fun.
All this Maypole imitation,
Is the reason, no doubts or maybes,
Why every year in Sweden,
There are so many April babies.
A Traditional Swedish Midsommarstång or Maypole
Today’s word is inspired by the fabulous lunch I had this afternoon with colleagues at one of the finest restaurants in Sweden. Sjömagasinet (The Lake Warehouse) is a Michelin starred restaurant that was until recently owned by Chef Leif Mannerström, a world-class chef who is one of the celebrity chef host/judges of Master Chef Sweden. In 2010 he sold the restaurant to Chef Ulf Wagner, another world-class chef who won the Chef of the Year award in 2010. The restaurant just happens to be located a short walk away from where I work, although today was the first time I’d eaten there.
I love food, you see. Everything about it. I love cooking it, reading about it, watching TV shows about it, and especially eating it. The word given to the art and science of good eating is our word of the day: gastronomy. It can also be defined as the study and appreciation of food and culture. A person who is well-versed in gastronomy is called a gastronome. I’m not sure if I’m one yet, but maybe one day…
Today’s lunch was a piece of halibut that was good enough for Jehova. It was perfectly cooked, sitting in a pool of the most beautifully complex lemon butter sauce, and topped with chopped fresh parsley, sun-dried tomatoes, and roasted pine nuts. Oh god…it was so good I had to hold myself back from gobbling it up in two mouthfuls. Instead I took small bites so I could savor every single well-developed flavor in every bite. It was easily the best food I’ve ever eaten in this country, and one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten in my life. Possibly the best.
Now I know where to take my family for lunch or dinner when they arrive in a few weeks. If you’re ever in Gothenburg you simply must try this restaurant. I was blown away by how good the food was.
The English language may have many more words than the Swedish language, but there are some words and phrases in Swedish which don’t really have an equivalent in the English language, and which I particularly love. One of those phrases is “skitbra,” which translates to “shit good.” It’s common in Swedish slang to place the word “skit/shit” in front of the adjective of one’s choice. The word “skit” functions as an auxiliary sentence modifier that emphasizes the meaning of the adjective. Therefore the word “skitbra” means not just good but rather good, thank you very much.
Other uses of the “skit/shit” modifier can be found in the following examples:
1. skitdåligt = shit bad
Den här filmen är skitdåligt! (This film is not very good.)
2. skitkallt = shit cold (referring to the weather/climate)
Fy fan, det är skitkallt idag. (My goodness, it’s cold today.)
3. skitvarmt = shit hot (ditto the above)
Fan också! Det är skitvarmt! (Dear me! It’s rather warm!)
More on Swedish slang and profanities later…
Today is the National Day of Sweden. It’s also International Kiss a Swede Day. In the interests of common decency, I won’t tell those of you who don’t already know what “kiss” means in Swedish. Look it up.
Here is the most random photo I could find.
It’s a fairly low-key day. In fact it didn’t even become a “red day” (that is, a national holiday) until 2005. Swedes, it would seem, are a little uncomfortable with celebrating their Swedishness and tread carefully on their national day.
After all, that could lead to patriotism, which could lead to nationalism, which would naturally lead to National Socialism (Nazis).
Random Misanthrope 