Education

Hello, I am going to tell you about the Swedish school system. 

The Swedish school system starts at the preschool where the children start attending at the age of one or two (sometimes later). Here in Sweden it is normal that you leave your children at daycares and preschool compared to other countries where it may not be that normal. Preschools in Sweden is very educational and children learns alot through playing with each other and other activiteis. For example children plays both outside and inside that improves their physics or they play games that improves their thinking. Preschool is also there so the children can start to know how to interact with other people. The children attends preschool until they are six years old. 

After preschool the children can attend one year of nursery class. Nursery class is not mandatory but it acts as a bridge between preschool and the first three years of elementary school. During nursery class starts to have "real" classes but there is still alot of time where the children can play. After the year in nursery class children starts their first year of elementary school. 

Swedens elementary school is divided into three different parts, lower (year 1-3), middle (year4-6)  and higher elementary school (year 7-9).

 Year one to three is focused alot on learning the children to read, write and basic math. There is also alot of practical lessons. And in year three the children starts to have english classes. 

In the middle elementary school the chidren starts to attend more theoretical lessons and more subject. For example they start reading biology and geografy. And in year six the gets their first grades. 

After sixth grade the children moves on to the higher elementary school. During those three years the students keep reading the same subject but alot more "deeper" into them. And during the last year all students get to chose a program for the gymnasium. Gymnasium is Swedens kind of High School. There is alot of program to chose from and you can almost become anything. There is two kind of program to chose from, theoretical programs and practical program. If you chose a practical program you will automaticly be educated for some kind of job and you can start to work directly after the last year of your program if you wish to do so. But if you chose a theoretical program you will have to keep studying and that can you do at "Högskolan". 

Högskolan or universty is a free school where anyone can study, the only thing you have to pay for is your books. The time you attend universety depends from what you decide to study but it is usually three to five years study at the universety. Here in Borås we have a universety called Borås Högskola. 

I Hope you have enjoyed to read about our school system.

__________

Erik 

Swedish Feasts

We are going to tell you a little bit about our Traditions and feast that we celebrate here in Sweden. To make it easy for you, we start with the first one of the year. And we’re pretty sure that you celebrate it too. 

New Years Eve

Like most of the world, Sweden celebrates the beginning of a new year. And how do we welcome it? With a party of course! You make sure you look pretty, often with a sparkly dress or a nice shirt if you’re a boy. You gather your closest friends or family for a nice dinner. A starter, a main course and a dessert. You often decorate and set the table very nice, with sparkling stars and a nice napkin. How you spend the rest of the evening depends on your age. If you’re a child, you mostly struggle with staying awake. If you’re our age, you might not want to stay at home with your parents anymore. So after the dinner, most of us go out to party with some friends. But no matter how you choose to spend your night, the most important thing is that you celebrate it with people you like. And let’s not forget the New years kiss under the fireworks at midnight. 

Valentines Day

This is a tradition that we were influenced by America. It’s not as big as it is in America, but we buy some roses or some heart-shaped candy. In the last couple of years, it has become more common to buy something for a special someone. This is the holiday of love for sure! 

Easter

Easter is a Christian holiday, and since Sweden is a multicultural country, not everybody celebrates it. To be honest, the christians in Sweden don’t really celebrate it too much either. We eat a lot of eggs, herring, potatoes and drink our famous ”snaps”. Snaps is only for the adults, the rest of us drinks easter soda. For the kids, we, or should we say the easter bunny, hide these easter eggs full with candy for them to look after. (You like that stuff even if you’re not a kid). And oh, I almost forgot. The kids dress up as a ”påskkärring”, a easter witch that is. It’s almost like halloween, minus the scary part. They go out and knock doors during the day, and give something cute, like a card that says ”happy easter!”. In return, they often get candy.

http://cdn1.cdnme.se/cdn/5-2/278459/images/2010/paskkarring_81496914.jpg

 

http://static2.weatherpal.se/files/images/news/2013-03/12359511153772474_7881_custom_item.jpg

National Day

Sweden’s National Day is the 6th of June. But since Sweden never really fought for our independence, the celebration of the day is not really that big. It was actually not until 2005 that our national day became a red day. But we do celebrate it in our own way. We flag, and might post something on facebook like: congrats Sweden! 

Midsummer

Sweden’s beloved Midsummer. As you might already figured out, it is celebrated in the middle of the summer. The friday between the 19th and the 25th of june to be more specific. This year, midsummer will be on the 21st of june. If you wonder why we celebrate midsummer, it is because the summer solstice. But we mostly celebrate it because it’s a tradition, and it’s fun! 

So, how do we celebrate it? Since it is in the middle of the summer, the flowers are everywhere. So most of us make a pole out of flowers. We call it a midsummer pole. In the middle of the day, we gather and dance funny dances around it. The song that’s our number one song is called ”little frogs”. If you don’t understand the lyrics, the dance look very ridiculous! 

Back in the days, swedes used to put on their folk-costume, but we don’t really do that anymore. In fact, it’s not many swedes that have their own folk-costume. But, a midsummer crown is something that almost everyone does. A self made crown out of flowers that you have on your head during the day. 

If you dance around a big flowerpole all day, you got to have something to eat! The food is almost the same as it is on easter. We have herring, potatoes, sour cream with chives. If you don’t like fish, meatballs will most definitely be on the menu too. It’s like a smorgasbord. And to drink? Snaps and beer. We actually drink a lot alcohol on this day. Soda for the kids of course. Strawberries or a strawberry cake for dessert is most common. 

http://www.vf.se/sites/vf.se/files/imagecache/ns-article-image/newspilot/midsommar_20.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/Svensk_midsommarkrans.JPG/250px-Svensk_midsommarkrans.JPG

Crayfish party

In the first week of august, a lot of swedes have a crayfish party. And what’s that?, you might ask. Well, in Sweden we have crayfish in our rivers. So if you have the opportunity, you can fish them yourself. 

Once you have your crayfish, it’s time for the party. We cook them ourself, which basically means that we boil them in water, salt and dil. But the party is very special. We have small party hats. We also put up lamps just for this occasion. The evening goes on, and we sing some songs, drink and have a great time. 

http://naturalfake.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/crawfish.jpg

http://huset-shop.com/designblog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Bild-17.png

Halloween/ All saint’s day

Another holiday from America. But Sweden has almost always celebrated All saint’s day, or all hallows day as some people says. This is the day where we light candles at our graveyards. We do that to send a thought to our loved one’s who has passed away. 

But in later years,  we too dress up in a scary costume, and go out and ask for trick or treat. 

Lucia

Lucia celebration in sweden is a custom that has its origins in folklore, legends and historical facts. It is celebrated on the 13th of december, because legend has it that, that’s when the night is the longest. Lucia wears lights in her crown, and she brings the light when it’s the darkest. In kindergarden and in school, they usually dress up and have a ”lucia-train”. So some are lucia, with her crown. And then we have ”tärnor” which is like a bridesmaid to Lucia. The boys can be lucia too, but most of them choose to be a ”stjärngosse”, a starboy that is. Or you can have a gingerbread costume, or be an elf. When you’ve decided what to be, you go out as a train and sing songs about lucia. 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtfsveS2kkSmUbI88iFrw8rc41DR9_Gv3YkHMHrHK6ObMBBHzsuTnhCaAhweFKC7DnpDiEvy1VR9_cIHqhJSBLyIlL2O6IANyhEeMxl-Q1-nnUFVxIlHqwvuiSYgi1neBvweqqvOw3hp4/s1600/ultraljud+Tilde+039.jpg

Christmas

The majority of swedes celebrate christmas, and we do it on the 24th of december. Christmas Eve that is. Even though the holiday is to celebrate the birth of jesus christ, we don’t really think of jesus that much. Some people do go to the church, but not the majority. But I can almost promise you that everybody eats a lot. We eat porridge with cinnamon and sugar. Christmas ham. Meatballs, small sausages, herring, eggs, a special potato gratin with anchovy and a lot more. It’s almost the same as on Easter. Another smorgasbord to be honest. 

At three o’clock, most swedes put on the tv to watch Donald Duck and his friends. It might seem strange to you, but it’s been a tradition for a very long time. It’s a special show that only airs on Christmas Eve. It’s the same every year, but everyone still loves it. After Donald duck, it’s time for the christmas presents. It’s Santa that brings the presents, and put it under the christmas tree. Sometimes, Santa is there to give it directly to you. And the kids is always afraid of Santa. 

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkw6MuIvJGyFA0LzsCKZeqA1wO8c9g7JrP5HoqXTBFdZtgTYVdY-O9_dlTDQBNW620OTJyVKqngFIfaAja_k1kn2TLri5R4RG-CU-ajB350wqqaAbjYuNYOScjGnph3TH8467_vpv9b3Q-/s1600/DSC_1944.JPG

http://gfx.svd-cdn.se/multimedia/dynamic/00660/julmat-619_660693c.jpg

________________

Hanna

Elfsborg

Borås most famous football team are named Elfsborg and they won the league year 2012. This was the year that they became Swedish masters. In Borås, we do have one of the most awesome football stadium called Borås Arena. It is artificial and that is a very good ground to play football at. They do win the home games a lot and I think it’s because of the good grass. So far, yet, I would don’t say that it goes very well for them in the league, but I hope that they are starting to win away games to. They have played seven games so far. They have won two of these matches and five of them have become equal. The coach in Elfsborg is names Jörgen Lennartsson and he have been coach for a pretty long time. He was the one who was coach when they became masters in year 2012. The captain of the team is named Anders Svensson and he is 37 years old. He is still a very good player. He’s done a lot of goals and he still does that. Then we have Stefan Ishizaki who’s 28 years old and also are a really good player. He’s the “keyplayer” of Elfsborg, which means that it is Stefan who are passing the balls and who keeps the matches in a good movement. Johan Larsson is 22 years old and plays in the backline, to the right. He is really quick and he wins a lot of duels. He is a really important player to Elfsborg. 

That was a little text and information about Elfsborg and we really hope that they are the winner of the league this year.

Johan Larsson 

http://www.matchdax.se/allsvenskan/johan-larsson-om-malmöknocken-boost-och-prestige

Anders Svensson

http://www.blienidol.se/fotbollsspelaren-anders-svensson/

  Stefan Ishizaki 

http://freddiehigh.blogg.se/category/elfsborg-3.html   

_____________________

Millan

Values

One common thing to wonder when speaking about a new country would be their culture and their values. And I am going to try to explain our values, in other words, what we believe would be right and wrong. Now this is actually one of the hardest things to pinpoint in Sweden. Ask a politician and even there you will have a hard time trying to understand his/her point. Research it how much you want, you probably won’t find one truth.

The reason is actually pretty simple. The ‘‘Swedish’’ people or society you could say, is mostly based of our own individuality. We are allowed to be free so to speak. Everyone goes by their own thoughts. No one that I personally have asked the question: What would you considered to be Swedish values. Has ever answered me straight up and said anything that could be considered equal to the rest. 

Except some few things. Democracy, laws and freedom. Out of the people I have asked it has always been the same. I have wondered about peoples views on death sentence and abortion. However there haven’t been a true unity of minds. Which would explain why we value the word freedom to such an extent. What we hold dear are out own thoughts and freedom to express them. I haven’t met anyone saying restrictions is allowed or needed. 

Values of a country or society is created by it’s population.

Sweden can without a doubt be counted as a multicultural society. Everyone is being a part of it, shaping it, and helping it grow. It would be easy to say that our population are all based upon equality and we strive for it, since we are all shaping it. However that would be a big mistake. Not everyone in this world can be counted as generous, some are greedy by nature.

We may be a very socialistic country, but we live an individual life. Logic is important. We are seen as cowards of confrontation. We stick to ourselves a lot. But as I said, Logic is important. The proof lies in our laws as pointed earlier.

What we believe to be right, or rather what we are raised to believe is none other than the law. Democracy puts the laws under pressure. Controls it so to speak. It is also our tool to express our emotions to our society. Most questions are answered through the use of the law. It is our backbone. Divorce for example is counted as immoral in various countries. However it is accepted as normal here. There aren’t any laws that disapprove after all. 

We change based on how the law changes. Laws concerning children is one great example of this. The child convention, one thing we are raised into following. However before the convention, there were quite a big difference.

This might be a little bit hard to follow, so I’m going to do a summarize. Our values, are based on the possibilities we are allowed from the law. Law equals logic, logic equals safety. We are raised to think for ourselves and put our individuality as our first priority.

These are my findings on the Swedish values, I have been unable to find out the ‘‘truth’’ of it all. Never have I seen a text or spoken with someone that can give a clear picture of our beliefs. Everything I have found though has been how we need to work to achieve an identity. Identities are the keyword of our souls. 

I hope you were able to grasp my message and enjoyed the text.

_________________

Simon

Swedish traditions

In sweden we have traditions in wedding, confirmations, funeral and Baptismal. Enjoy and hope you got more facts about it.

Baptismal- We are going to a church. The child's godparents give the baby to the priest. The priest have a candle and a Bible in his hand. The priest holds the child in her arms and talking god while he pours holy water on her head. And we are going home and celebrate the child's baptism and giving gifts to the child.

Confirmation- You is in the eighth grade and go to church in a few months. You go to church, reading about God and so on. You have to go to camp and meet other young people. In early summer, so it has a kind of closure which will be completed and then keeps it a kind of play in church for the family and close friends. Then celebrate it with his family and get presents. 

http://gamla.skillingaryd.nu/Foreningar/Religion/svenskakyrkan/konfirmationer/konfirmationer.html 

Funeral- There are two different kinds of funerals here in Sweden, the first on is when go are going to the church, where there is a memorial moment, one or two priests talking about life, and about the person who died. They sing hymns and one can even get to listen to the songs, if you want, you get to have a show about the people who have died to remember her. When the priests has talked  you have to go to the coffin and lay a rose at it. And then, say good bye to the person and say thank you for all, and after that the body can burn.
The second is the same as the first, however, so you have to go out to the cemetery and see when the people put down the coffin in a grave and the priest / priests talk while they put earth on the coffin. Then you put flowers and candles at the coffin.

Wedding- It's a church wedding, you have bridesmaids, bridesmaids. A Swedish marriage include wedding and celebration. The man who is getting married at the front of the church by the priest, with her bridesmaids. The bride enter the church with bridesmaids who goes first and throwing rose petals before the bride and bridesmaids walk behind the bride. Or else goes the bride with her father up so he leaves her to the man.
There is music playing when the bride woman comes in and when the couple goes out. Then begins the priest talk about marriage, and such. Then he says, "takes you ...." Then  all the guests move from the church, and after a few minutes the couple comes out and they throw rice at them, just for them to live happily there. And then the party starts. 

http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/default.aspx?id=645434

_________________________
Donja, Johanna and Marigona    

What Sweden is famous for

Hello, we are 3 girls who's gonna tell you about Sweden's most famous people. We have written about them and maybe you know who they are. Hope you got learn more about them.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic- He is known to be the worlds best fotballplayer. Zlatan playes currently in PSG. He became famous to play for Malmö FF and he was bought by Ajax as a 19 year old. He is one of the world's most expensive football players. 

http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jag_är_Zlatan_Ibrahimović    

Astrid Lindgren- She was one of Sweden's famous writer, she was also known abroad for
her books. All of her books have been translated into many different languages.

http://www.dn.se/dnbok/dnbok-hem/brev-fran-astrid-lindgren-visar-hennes-stod-for-s   

Henrik Lundqvist- He is one of the world's best hockey goalies in the top flight NHL. He plays in the New York Rangers as he has done for some years now. He played before in
Frölunda, where he was found. He has played in the Swedish national team ”Three Crowns” and won three gold medals with them.

http://hlundqvist.blogspot.se/2010/05/some-random-henrik-lundqvist-pictures.html 

Abba- Abba is known for a group made of 4 people. They won the Eurovision song contest, and quickly became known throughout the world.

http://robpetkau.wordpress.com/2012/03/07/abba/ 

Björn Borg- Björn Borg is known for his tennis career and even his clothing brand, perfumes and his shoes brands, available worldwide for purchase.

http://www.webbsporten.se/tennis/wimbledon/mesta-wimbledonvinnarna-genom- tiderna.html

Loreen- She is known for Swedish song contest and even the Eurovision Song Contest she won in 2012. 

http://www.posh24.se/loreen/2   

Royal Family -They are known to represent Sweden over the world. They consist of the king and the queen and their three children, Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Carl Philip and Princess Madeleine. Crown Princess child Estelle and her husband Prince Daniel and Princess Madeleine's fiancee Chris and Prince Carl Philip's girlfriend Sophia.

http://barkeus.wordpress.com/category/kungafamiljen/ 

Here are we gonna tell you about what Sweden is known for, what we eat, and what we doing and stuffs we have here that is famous. 

Free country- we have no weapons in Sweden that could harm the public, we are not in any war, we get about do what we want, we have obviously laws and borders.

Pasta and meatballs- is the most common dish here in Sweden, it is quick to make and it's cheap and everyone in Sweden like meatballs. 

http://coquina.blogg.se/2010/october

Herring and potato- is a typical midsummer dish, all Swedes have it on their dining table that day and you eat it very often in the summer and even on Christmas Eve. Potato eat often in ordinary cases.

Ikea- Ikea is from Sweden and it has become very big overseas. Ikea was founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad. It is a furniture company.

http://batenanna.se/?p=1365   

Free medical care to a certain age- We have free health care, though we pay taxes. The border of the free health care is up to 25years. But it depends on the municipal services you live in.

http://sas.vgregion.se/en/Sodra-Alvsborgs-Sjukhus/SAS-/English/ 

Free education- We have free education. The school authorities have decided that it should be free because we pay high taxes so all schooling, food, educational materials are free until you start university. In university you have to pay for teaching materials and food.

 http://www.umu.se/forskning/utbildning-forskarniva/

 

Volvo- Volvo is the largest car dealer in Sweden. 

http://stelox.se/2013/03/07/volvos-uppdaterade-modeller/   

Moose- Some people are chasing mooses here. They cook the meat and eat it. The moose is called the king of the forest.


Cinnamon buns- It is very common here in Sweden, it is a kind of cake that you eat together with coffee or juice. Cinnamon Bun has its own day on October 4th. 

http://www.kokaihop.se/inspiration/baka/klassiska-kanelbullar

Thank you that you have read it. Hope you got a better picture and you have learn more about Sweden and what we are doing here. Hope you one day will visit Sweden.

Thanks for us

_________________________

Donja, Johanna and Marigona 

Our dreams about future

Hello everyone!

Young people in Sweden usually want good grades so they can realize their dreams and it can be very stressful for us to just focus on school, because as you know, you also want time to hang out with family and friends and time and space for yourself. Many want to start their own businesses, become famous or make a career before marrige. In Sweden, people get married later because they want to live their own life first. We think like this:  we want to have more experience of life so we can become a good parent later. We want to party, travel and studying before marrige. We want to live our lives and discover the world first. There are many young people who want to study abroad or even work abroad. Many in Sweden also want to succeed with what they do in their free time, like football.  There are many young people today who have started to invest heavily in their interests outside of school.

 Most of us want to live a real Svensson, Svensson life like we say in Sweden. It means: to have a good job, be married to a man who also has a good job there both work full time. Stay in a nice house that is nicely decorated with a garden that your children can be outside and playing on. Have a nice car and spend weekends and free time with their children or put them in different kinds of activities. Since you yourself keep running and working out, or maybe spending your free time with friends and family.  We want to find things on the weekends with the kids like going to the movies, to a playground where there are lot of children playing and lot of fun stuff for kids. 

We also love go on holidays in the summer and even winter. Like a hot country in summer and maybe go skiing in another country or in Sweden. We also tend to go to a hot country in winters, like Thailand. It's very common for children families go there in the winter. Such a life would most Swedish adolescents have. First, everyone should live thier own lives, traveling, partying and having fun. After the school, then of course. Then you start working and after a while, then you want to start a family. Most of the Swedish young people dream of this kind of life. And do not believe now that all young people dream about this in Sweden. Some maybe want to marry young or not even want to start a family. But generally speaking, this is how we Swedish adolescents think when we think about the future. I do not know if this sounds completely normal for you or if there are differences in the details. You might think differently about the future? But it is in any case how we Swedish youth is seeing the future. Sure, all want different things and as I said earlier, it is generally said. In some countries, people get married young and have children before get 25 years. What has become very rare now, because you rather wait to have children because to be mature first, and in order to be able to take care of a child. I’m not originally from Sweden. I was born here but my parents are from Montenegro. There you see the future in a different way, you should preferably marry quite young and have a family. There is the case that the girl should stay home and take care of the household and the family while the man is working. It's not really like this in Sweden. The husband and wife works. In Montenegro, it is usually so that you do not take the training so seriously like we do in Sweden. The most important is the family. 

We look forward to see how it is in your country and how you guys sees on the future. 

This playground is called ”Leos Lekland”. I was talkning about that in the text. Kids love to be here, cause they meet other kids to play with and ”Leo’s lekland” have so much things for the kids like big slides. 

http://visitvasteras.se/aktor/leos-lekland/ 

This is the typical ”Svensson, svensson” house. This is like we want to live in the future. A big house, with two or three children and a good handsome husband. 

http://irenev.blogg.se/2008/july/bra-hus.html

______________
Henisa