Advent

This year on Sunday, November 30, just after Thanksgiving, the time had come to light the first candle of Advent. The four Sundays of Advent are just as important as Lucia in Sweden. Advent - the four weeks leading up to Christmas.
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Christmas in Scandinavia

There’s no better time than Christmas time to get your feet wet when it comes to trying out Scandinavian traditions. Just like in America, Scandinavian Christmas celebrations have become more secular events during recent decades, opening up this festive time of year for everyone to enjoy, regardless of faith, nationality, or background. Leave it to the Scandinavians to know best how to brighten the darkest time of the year – after all, they’re pros!
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Deep in the forest

The Holavedsleden trail between Tranås and Gränna runs in beautiful, hilly primeval forest. It’s the same idyllic landscape with bath-friendly lakes that inspired the great artist and illustrator John Bauer, the same forest in which thieves once lurked behind every other tree. Nordstjernan's Emil Sergel and Roger Borgelid instead encounter a magical tranquility in the deep forests of the Småland province.
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Allemansrätten - 'Everyman’s right'

There are certain things that are so Swedish, they could be symbols for the country. Not just traditional ornaments like a midsommarstång or a Lucia krona...
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When did Swedes go blond?

What do Emil in Lönneberga, Anders Zorn’s “dalkullor,” and Kalle on the tube of Kalles Kaviar have in common? They’re all Swedish, blond, and blue-eyed.
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Reed between the lines

When Swedish architect Gert Wingårdh set out to design a nature center with a difference, he didn't need to look much further than the shore of the lake it would stand on.
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Summer salad with salmon

Swedes love fish and what's not to love when it's combined with fresh, spicy ingredients?
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In search of new frontiers

"With the help of the James Webb telescope, we will be able to see parts of the universe and other things we have not been able to see before. And what we have already been able to see, we will be able to see better." - astronomer Jens Melinder at the Department of Astronomy at Stockholm University.
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Bountiful garden with a touch of the exotic

A lavish arboretum in the northern Stockholm archipelago — a fertile Eden where magnificent flowers and beautiful deciduous trees bend and bow wherever you turn your gaze.
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The lucky Swede.

One of the classic stories of rags to riches to rags is the career of the Swedish immigrant Erik Olof Lindblom.
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Swedes and citrus in the Sunshine State

They're a symbol of the Sunshine State. When you think oranges in the United States, you think Florida. You certainly don't think Sweden.
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Walkabout Tour of Stockholm I

.. walk in the city of my youth: Leif Rosqvist goes for a walk through his old neighborhoods in the heart of Stockholm.
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Building on tradition

From the Royal Family and their summer mansion on the island of Öland, to the apartment-dwelling Swede who spends summer evenings on the outskirts of town at a quaint little "shed" in his own miniature garden - the act of getting away from conventional residential surroundings is a passion built into the Swedish national mentality.
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Record number of people shop food online

Not surprisingly the online food trade has doubled in Sweden during the pandemic.
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Orienteering: It's all about finding your way

Orienteering is a sport that mirrors the Scandinavian spirit - a love of the outdoors, a rational approach to detail and a respect for healthy competition.
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Mountain Hiking in Sweden

- it’s for everybody not just for survivalists and hardcore connoisseurs.
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Food in the wintry north

Sami culinary traditions in Jokkmokk, kaffeost (coffee cheese) in Kangos and food served on ice in Jukkasjarvi.
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Learning (and teaching) Swedish

As we work on offering you more opportunities to practice your Swedish, we had the opportunity to hear from a teacher of Swedish in Sweden.
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Moving to Sweden

What is it like to actually move to Sweden? A recently relocated Californian about his first year in Stockholm.
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Wild skating through the archipelago

The Stockholm archipelago has the world's best conditions for Nordic tour skating. Local skating guide Joakim Malm does not hesitate for a second about this appraisal. The location and climate are factors that together produce ice that attracts visitors from all over the world.
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