Swedish News

Swedes, relaxed about work titles, not interested in promotion. Prince Daniel Bernadotte. Eva Dahlgren: “God is as worthless as a Lamborghini”. Give me 4, Theresa Andersson of Gotland... New Orleans... Demands an investigation re: Swine flu vaccine 

  • Swedes not interested in promotion
    Indians, Slovakians, and Mexicans all have their eyes on the prize – that is, they are eager to get promoted. Swedes not so much. A new study from Randstad shows that seven out of ten Swedes aren’t focused in stepping up their game when it comes to their careers. Does that mean they are lazy? According to Lars Johan Clemedson, CEO at the Institutet för Personalutveckling (the Staff Development Institute), it’s more about a more relaxed view of work titles. “We’re less inclined to value people according to their position. In Sweden we can call the boss ‘Lennart’, while all you have to do is look at Germany where it is still ‘Herr Direktor’.” Clemedson doesn’t think Swedes are less ambitious than others, but that their focus is on different things. “We’re raised to dare to take decisions and we’re known to be effective project leaders. I have worked with American directors who are too scared to make a decision without first asking their boss. I hope the Scandinavian model will prove superior.”

  • Prince Daniel Bernadotte
    Crown princess Victoria’s husband, Prince Daniel Westling is now officially a Bernadotte. He got the royal family’s surname listed with the tax office this weekend. His full name is now Olof Daniel Westling Bernadotte.

  • Eva Dahlgren: “God is as worthless as a Lamborghini”
    It took famous Swedish poet/singer/songwriter Eva Dahlgren three weeks to come to the decision of her life: That God is as worthless as a Lamborghini. In the popular radio program “Sommar”, Dahlgren talks about “one of the most important decisions” of her life. She was asked to write a new requiem for the church, but before she could do that, she had to answer the question: Do you believe in God. She then began to question herself regarding her faith. “And this God investigation led to thoughts and feelings that I couldn’t stop. I thought of the young boys who were hung because of love, I thought of the young girl who was raped and pregnant and disowned by the church because of it. And I thought about all these fuzzy rules about sex. Who is allowed to sleep with whom and how.” Three weeks later she called the “man of the church” and told him she couldn’t write the requiem since she felt she “doesn’t want to believe in God.” “Saying no to God and all other religions was a political action,” Dahlgren says. “A conscious action since I didn’t want to be part of a system that I feel isn’t human. I based my decision on views and a gut feeling. Today I cannot believe in God.”

  • Give me 4, Theresa Andersson
    We have written about her before: Theresa Andersson, the talented country star from Gotland who now lives in New Orleans. So we were happy to find her in Swedish newspapers, too. Though she lives in the Big Easy, Andersson also has her Stockholm favorites. And here they are. Favorite café: “Vete-Katten. I like it because it’s cozy,” she says, “and because they serve great coffee and ‘fikabröd’. I can especially recommend their cinnamon buns. The people who work there are also very nice.” www.vetekatten.se Favorite place to play: “Mosebacke is my favorite so far. The music is ‘in the walls’ there, and as an artist you get an intimate contact with the audience.” www.mosebacke.se Favorite restaurant: “Mosebacke. I am a vegetarian and they have great vegetarian dishes on their menu. They also have the best view in Stockholm.” Favorite shop: “Hellstone. I find whatever I need here: guitar picks, microphone stands, drums, T-shirts, and old records. You also get to meet a lot of fun people there. I’ve even run into musicians from New Orleans there!” www.hellstone.se For more on Andersson, check out: www.theresaandersson.com

  • Demands an investigation re: Swine flu vaccine
    The Swine flu was a costly thing - setting Swedish health care back some 1.4 billion SEK ($1,812,474,183.02). The most expensive part was the buying of the vaccines, that bill came to 870 million SEK ($112,639,551.49). Göran Stiernstedt at Sveriges Kommuner och landsting (Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions) is now demanding an independent investigation of the swine flu venture. “The main issue that we have to try to find an answer for, is if it was really worth it to use so much of our tax money on the flu vaccine. It is money we could have used for a lot of other things in our health care,” Stiernstedt said.