Monthly Archives: June 2012

6 Things I Won’t Miss About Missing Almedalen

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Tomorrow, I will be heading off to the US for summer vacation, which means I will be missing Almedalen this year. If you are remotely connected to the PR and politics world of Sweden, you understand what a BIG DEAL it is to miss this event and that my career in strategic communications may never recover. So I take comfort in the following six things I won’t miss about Almedalsveckan:

  1. Greedy Gutes.  Gotlänningar are supposedly known for their friendliness and for serving up mighty fine saffranspannkakor. But in the last few years, they have really figured out how to milk all they can out of week 27. Rental prices have exploded. In 2008, I paid 4000 SEK/week for a whole house. In 2011, I paid the same price for just a bunk bed. Organizing events and renting meeting facilities hasn’t gotten any cheaper either.
  2.  Death by Panel. Same people, same faces, same opinions— year after year. You know there’s trouble when all my Facebook friends who style themselves as “samhällsdebattör” have status updates like: “Har precis tackat ja till att medverka i 191 seminarier under #Almedalen!”
  3. The two-tiered party system. Everyone says Almedalen is the perfect place to mingle, but in reality there are two separate tiers: the public events listed in the official program, and an underground network of invitation-only seminars and parties, where the real elite mingle. So if you are a young student of media/politics at Öst Högönös Högskolan hoping to meet your favorite chefredaktör or riksdagsledamot —-lycka till. You might see them on stage at a seminar, not next to you at a party. (See Death by Panel, above.)
  4. Jimmie Åkesson Day. Every political party has its own day at Almedalen.  Last year SD had their day at the end of the week, this year it’s right at the beginning.  There is no way I want to be there then, watching Åkesson give his speech and looking like I’m a supporter. Although I doubt he was expecting much support anyway from an immigrant PR consultant.
  5. Veckans snackis. Whether it’s Gudrun Schyman’s kronor burning or Sven Otto Littorin’s resignation, there is always some story-of-the-week that seems like big news to the rosévin crowd. Whatever it is this year won’t actually have as much impact on humankind as we all think at the time.
  6. 5 AM ferry rides. Seriously. Just checked on Destinations Gotlands website and 4:50AM is the only time not sold out if I wanted to change my plans and go to Visby on Monday morning.  Nej tack, I’d rather have my vacation instead!

Kära Folkpartiet…

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Hej Folkpartiet!

It’s me, Stockholm Yankee. I’m your favorite kind of immigrant. The kind who came here speaking svenska from the get-go (thanks to a full year of Swedish classes pre-arrival in the US, plus various Folkuniversitet courses once I got here. None of which you had to pay for, by the way.) The kind who put the “hög” in “högutbildad” with 7 years of university studies, capped off with a master’s degree from Harvard.  The kind who took your “integrationspolitik” to heart, and eagerly started looking for a job–and ways to contribute to society– from day one.

So, Folkpartiet, you’d think we’d have a lot in common. For a moment many years ago, I even briefly considered making you my party. What’s not to love about being “liberal”?

Then I saw your infamous vote-pandering campaign in 2006. Språkkrav för medborgarskap. At a time when me and my ambitious ex-pat friends were running into hurdles on the job market–that hurt. The last thing I wanted to hear was that everything was my fault and that another “krav” would be standing in my way.

And now you are at it again with a new campaign that looks remarkably similar to your 2006 proposal. And since the devil is in the details, I still don’t understand any of the nitty-gritty beyond the headlines:

  1. Will you have a national reading/writing/oral language test? At what level? How will it be administered? What will it cost?
  2. Will you require people to attend or graduate from SFI to fulfill the språkkrav? What about immigrants who don’t qualify for SFI (as I initially didn’t on a student visa) or opt for other programs elsewhere?
  3. If speaking “felfri svenska” (as many job ads put it) is so important, why all the outdated language textbooks on the market? Why the substandard, outsourced SFI programs? If you truly care about Swedish fluency, it will require a much stronger societal investment.

So, Folkpartiet, if you ever want Stockholm Yankee’s vote—see if you can clarify these points. Then again, based on your new campaign, it doesn’t seem like you want my vote at all—even if I am your favorite kind of immigrant.

Hälsningar från Stockholm Yankee

Clintons Sverigebesök—diamanter eller pärlor redux

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Hillary Clinton är på statsbesök i Stockholm! Och förutom att skriva om det dåliga vädret hon har hamnat i, har vissa svenska journalister kommenterat hennes val av kläder och smycken.  Vilket väcker frågan om svenska medier skulle notera såna detaljer på en manlig utrikesminister.

Faktum är att det är svårt för alla kvinnliga politiker, inklusive Clinton, att komma undan uppmärksamhet för hur de ser ut. Minns ni lågvattenmärket under primärvalet 2007, när en debatt avslutades med en fråga endast för Hillary om hon föredrog diamanter eller pärlor? Här ser ni klippet igen som får mig att känna att det kommer ta hundra år till innan USA är redo för en kvinnlig president.

Och om inte det var tillräckligt obehagligt, visade det sig att den unga kvinna som ställde frågan helst ville fråga någonting annat, men blev tvingad av TV-debattens producenter. Låt oss hoppas att Clintons kläd- och smyckesval i Stockholm inte leder till lika stor uppmärksamhet.

Tillbaka från Frankrike

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Stockholm Yankee är tillbaka från en välförkänt semester i södra Frankrike.  Jag åt massor av goda ostar, oliver, och glass, men när det gällde blogg- och twittertillvaro var det en riktig bantningskur för mig. Lite som budskapet i boken The Digital Diet.

När jag var off-line på Rivieran var det kul att kolla på lite lokal kampanjreklam. Här är ett exempel från Nice.  Jag gillar färgval och kursivstil i Front de gauches affisch.