aaal

I learn something every day here in England. A tradition they have here in England that an english friend of mine told me about today is May Day. On this day, the 1st of May, the britans celebrate that the long winter is over and the flowers start to blossom. This day inclued morris-dancing, growing a May queen and dress out in customs. The britans say that this is the time of love and romance. You can compare this day with what we call “Valborg” in
Sweden. It’s pretty much the same but in Sweden we celebrate it on the 30^th of April. That’s also a celebration for getting closer to summertimes, but insted of a May queen we have a huge fire. But if you just think about the activities, it reminded me a lot of midsummer in Sweden. We also dress out in national costumes, at least some of us, and we dance around a rod that we have raised and we sing songs. Pretty much, it’s just a few details and the use (because midsummer in Sweden is celebrated of religious reasons) that divides them.

Another big tradition here is The Notting Hill carnival, I don’t know if you have heard of it but I had not before I went to England. It’s acutally the biggest carnival in the whole Europe. The carnival took place the 29^th-31th august and it was amazing! The streets of west London was nothing like I’ve seen before. Wherever your look you see all sorts of colors, feathers, sparkle, dances and smiles. The carnival is set up by the West Indian Community and started 1964. Since then the carnival has grown over the years. I wish we could have a carnival like this in Sweden, I know we have but no carnival that is this much of a tradition. It’s very nice, like a different culture walking cross the streets. I definitly believe we could have this sort of traditions in Sweden since we swedes are very open with people from different cultures. However, we do have the Pride festival in Sweden every year, and I really like how it grows as a tradition! I acutally thought about that when I watched the Notting Hill carnival, it’s totally different people who’s walking the parade but the joy is the same.

/Linn

Another day in England has passed...

After the time I have spent here I can definitly say that the food here is different from Sweden. I miss a normal swedish beakfast, like a glass of oboy and sandwiches with cheese or ham. Here in England, that’s not what you eat for breakfast. Usually you initiate the breakfast with cereals with milk or yogurt. After that you eat the traditional breakfast, which consist of toast, eggs, bacon, fried or barbequed tomatoes, fried sausage, white beans in tomato sauce and black pudding. That’s what you usually get, but fried kidney and white pudding aren’t unusual a part of the breakfast. I tasted it once, but I didn’t like it. After you have ate all that, the breakfast finish with a cop of tea or coffee, and a small toast with jam as an implement. All this is a lot to eat just for breakfast, that’s the biggest difference apart from Sweden. In Sweden, the breakfast is just something small to start your day with, it can be a chilled smoothie or yogurt, or just a cop of coffee or tea. In England, the breakfast is a bigger part of your day. It’s all warm and most often fried food, which is something you have to get used to, in the beginning i almost felt sick after the breakfast, because my stomach wasn’t ready for all this food so early in the morning.

We often eat desserts after the lunch or dinner here. It’s very frequent here in England, apart from Sweden were you can take a coffee whenever, often at a coffeebar or diner. For dessert the English people like something that’s called trifle, it’s a sponge cake covered in sherry of juice. They like confectionary as you might have figured out!

A very popular dish here is (my favorite), Fish and Chips, which you probalby heard of since England is famous for it.

/ Linn

Hi everyone! This weekend has been great, today I’ve just taking it easy to get a little strength for the coming week. I’ve taking a walk in the park with some friends in the sun. Almost everyday Sunday when i walk outside I walk by a cricket game. Unlike in England, Sweden doesn’t have a special national sport. But England does, which is cricket.

The people can play cricket everywhere, they just need a spot with space and grass. The cricket games are held on Sundays, from april to august. I think this is a nice sport, it’s something you can do without competing when you just want to have a good time, you can do it with your friends or family and anyone can join. It’s like a tradition. We don’t have that in Sweden, we have all kinds of sports but all our sport is so serious and there is no sport that we all play, adults as children, no sport that brings us together. I really like that about cricket.

Even though cricket is the national sport, soccer is the most popular, like in Sweden. But you can still not say it’s the same thing. England has many excellent soccer-teams such as Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. You have most certain heard about them, they are famous over the whole world and many people are engaged in the leagues and cheer on them. Talking of cheer, during the soccer games there are cheerleaders that cheer on their team. It makes the games more fun to watch so I wish Sweden would have that sport too. We have cheerleading in Sweden and there are competitions for it, but apart from England the cheerleaders don’t cheer on soccer teams.

See you soon!

/Linn

The traditions in India aren’t like we have in Sweden. The biggest religion in India is Hinduism which is far from what we have in Sweden. The most people are atheists in Sweden which mean that they don’t have a religion. We have many traditions like Christmas, Easter, New Year and so on. Many of our traditions are Christian but in the last couple of years it is something we do just to get together with our friends and family. Not many of us know why we celebrate Shrove Tuesday and don’t think about the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas day.

The biggest tradition in India is Diwali which is the Hindu New Year. They doesn’t celebrate Diwali on the last day of the year, they celebrate it in the end of October or the beginning of November. Why they celebrate Diwali depends on where you live. But everybody light up their oil lamps in and outside their house. They give each other gifts and they set of fireworks. So New Year and Diwali have one thing in common, the fireworks.

The Swedish and Indian traditions aren’t similar at all and this is because we don’t have the same religion. The most people in India believe in hundreds of Gods while most of us in Sweden believe in none.

The answer to the question:
True: They visit a temple, eat special food and give each other gifts.

// agnes

The food in India is very spicy, I don’t think I need to add more than that. The food isn’t like the Swedish food at all and I’m not sure yet if it is for the better. The pain food in India is placed on a plate of steal which has different parts that are divided on the plate. You fill these different parts with food; like in one part you can have rice, the second turmeric, the third chili etc. But the Swedish plain food in the other hand could be potatoes with meatballs and brown sauce.

Something that is very common in India are the dishes chapatti and parathas which both are bread. Chapati is made of wheat and looks like a pancake. Parathas is like chapatti, they just add butter and oil to the course. I think the food in India is pretty amazing, you can see their culture through their dishes. But in Sweden there are so many influences of other countries that you can’t understand its culture, maybe on midsummer, but how many times to we celebrate that. On the same time I’m happy we have been influenced by different countries, I would have died if I was forced to eat potatoes every day.

How they eat food is different from Sweden as well. They eat with their hands, or one hand to be correct. And to be precisely, they eat with their right hand, because with the other hand they do something else…

To sum up everything I think that India has a beautiful food culture. But it isn’t something for me. I like that Sweden has been influenced by many other countries, we have a rich food selection. But with that said, we don’t have the amazing food culture that India has. My prejudice for the food of India was pretty much correct. Their food was spicy and gave me stomach disease sometimes. I think I’ve loosen 20 pounds so far.

The answer to the question:
False: We have been influenced by India, like the spice curry. But the curry that exists in our kitchen doesn’t exist in India. Curry is a mix of many different spices, but the Indian spice masala which means mixture is pretty close to our spice.

// agnes

I have recognized that sport isn’t that popular and usual in India. But the most common and the sport with the biggest interest is cricket. Many Indian cricket players are playing in Leagues of the UK. Before I went to India I didn’t even know what cricket was, they truly don’t have the same sport culture as we have in Sweden.

They have a sport game I’ve never seen or heard about and it is Kabaddi, which is an Indian game. It is like dodge ball but instead of using a ball, you wrestling down your adversary. I didn’t like this kind of game; our dodge ball is so much safer and better.

So my conclusions of the sport in India are that it isn’t as common as in Sweden. They don’t have the same interests and they are like amateurs in an international perspective. I’ve never thought that India was the country of sport nerds. It is a poor country and far from what we have seen in all Bollywood movies. The kids play soccer on a dirty ground with no shoes and they have a football that should have been exchange. But even if they don’t have shiny shoes or shiny footballs they still have a smile on their face when they are playing. They are just so cute with their Indian accent.

Answer to the question:
True: Last year did India send away their national team in hockey for a hockey tournament.

I have been in India for a month right now and I am going to tell you about the traditions, food and the sport in India. This is from what I have experienced but of course I did some research as well. Before I went to India I thought it would be like the Bollywood movies. I had actually watched several Indian movies, just so I was prepared for my trip. I danced Bollywood and I sang a lot, hehe. When I had arrived to India and saw how it really is there, I understood I was wrong. I also thought that every course was made of curry, but whose doesn’t think that.

To sum up everything:
I had the typical prejudice for India and now I know the truth. Hope you learn something good, cause this was a big wake up call for me.

// agnes

I think every Swedish person thinks about the same thing when you mention the American food to them. We consider ourselves pretty healthy, and we think about Americans as the direct opposite of healthy. When I thought about the food in the United States, I thought about fried food, hamburgers and pizza. I actually believed that they ate junk food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. When I first came to the United States I was expecting to get fat, because I thought that was a part of being an American. Americans are the fattest people in the world, that must mean something, right? But that wasn’t actually the case. The people in the United States have a very different food culture than we have, but that doesn’t mean they are all fat. Things as fast food exists in Sweden too and most people eat it at least once a week, but it’s not as common as in the United States. The people who live in the bigger cities in the United States eat fast food every day. There is no time to cook and that’s why the fast food is so popular. You don’t want to waste your time on cooking when you can buy a meal you can eat on the go. Still, the Americans are not as fat as I thought they would be. There are also a lot of persons who really cares about what they eat. There are options for those who don’t like junk food. And if you are worried about gaining weight, you can always visit a gym. The United States might be the world’s fattest nation, but that doesn’t mean that everyone is fat.

/Amanda T

What is a typical American sport? Baseball? American football? That’s at least what I think. That is actually true. The four most popular sports in the United States are baseball, basketball, ice hockey and, of course, American football. These are the sports that are played in high schools all over North America. Everyone who has ever seen an American high school movie knows that when there is a big game coming up, it’s either baseball, basketball or football. What we don’t think about, is that there are as many sports played in the United States as there is in Sweden. The most popular sport here in Sweden is definitely soccer. It has over a hundred thousand players in Sweden. In the United States, soccer is not as popular as in Sweden. I’m not really coordinated enough to play any ball sports, but at least I tried some basketball and some baseball during my trip. It was a new experience, I had never played baseball before. The rules were similar with the Swedish game called “brännboll”, but it was still a big difference. In the American high schools, they join the school teams. It’s not like in Sweden, where we play sports on our spare time.

/Amanda T

Country is one of the things I used to associate with the United States. I seriously thought that every American listened to country music. When I got a little older, I realised that almost all the music we listen to here in Sweden is coming from the United States. But what is true? What kind of music do they really listen to? Actually, both of my theories were true. The Americans listen to all kinds of music. They listen to everything from country and blues, to heavy metal and indie rock. Every American has an own taste in music, just like anywhere else in the world. But there are some kinds of music that are more popular than others in some specific areas. In the area around Nashville, the country music dominates. In other areas, rap or hardcore is more popular. My other theory, that the music we listen to in Sweden comes from the United States, is also true. Many artists have their break through in the Unites States. Their music is then spread to the rest of the world. Our taste in music is influenced by the American music and that’s why we often listen to the same music as they do. We hear American artists on the Swedish radio every day, and the American pop music is almost the same kind of music we like in Sweden.

/Amanda T

Hi u guys back home!

Here is it hot weather and I carry my bottle of water with me all the time. I miss u guys back home but up to now I’ve just enjoyed my time being here. I’ve learned so much and I’ve growed as person. But still I’ve got more to go.

Today I went on a footballgame with my host-family. George (the dad in the family) told me that football is the ordinary sport by the black Africans in South Africa. Rugby and crickets are very usual sports by the minority of whites. So when I’ve guessed that football would be an ordinary sport I’ve right. J I’ve also tried some new sports because here the school offers various activities. The Swedish school would also do that, therefore it brings healthy, solidarity and happiness to all the kids. I’ve got a lot of new friends thanks to these activities. Some new sports that I’ve tried are field hockey. It’s near like ice hockey but on field. Instead of a puck there is a ball. But u does have a hockey stick. Netball is near like basketball but a little bit easier. Both sides have 7 players and the positions are goal shooter, goal attacker, wing attacker, centre, wing defender, goal defender and goal keeper. Both games were fun and it was funny to try some sports that we don’t have in Sweden. I mostly enjoyed the field hockey because the netball was so like basketball. I’ve googled the both sports and fined that there is one club in Sweden that plays netball and it has about 30members. But I didn’t find anything about the field hockey. So that was boring…

More about my African life 2morrow

XOX

//Amanda G

This day I’ve discovered the South African music. U guys know that I mentioned that I thought that the African music would be rhythmics to drums and some music actually is that. But as same as in Sweden they listen to a mix of music. But they do actually have some typical music styles. For example like the Swedish schlager. Kwaito is one African music style that they play today. It reminds me on the house beats, but it’s slower. It has the African drum rhythmic and a deep screaming/singing voice. It’s also music that is connected with the freedom from Apartheid. I think that is powerful when music actually means something and tells u something. Then they have the classic drums that I had expected. I actually enjoy the South African music. It’s deep, has a mystic message and tells something. My host family have told me that South African music preformed live always bring happiness and show coherence.

I also hit a Swedish stereotype that my host family had about us Swedes. They said that “U Swedes only listen to Swedish fairytale music”. But when I showed them the music on my mobile they actually changed their minds. They realized that we listen to different kind of music from USA and the big part of Europe

From your local African reporter

// Amanda G

Hello ;).

Before I went u all know that I’ve wrote that I didn’t know if my stomach could handle the different food, but it still going strong and that’s a miracle. So far I’ve been eating a lot of strange food that I’m not used to. U wouldn´t believe me if I said what I ate today, I’ve tried crocodile meat! Here in South Africa they eat something that calls biltong. It’s strips of dried meat, it can for example be ostrich or crocodile, and I tried crocodile. They really love meat here and they love their barbeques. But the most famous is the biltong, it’s common like our hot dogs. It also looks a little bit like them. Of course they also eat a lot of fish here on the coast. And they like to mix sweet fruits with meat or fish in cauldrons. That is something that I think Swedes should learn more about because it brings a lot of different tastes. And I also think that we Swedes are more afraid to mix fruit and meat, here they mix all the time. Some other dishes that I’ve tried are Bobotie with okrarelish it’s minced meat with curry and mango chutney. A kind of snack that I’ve tried is something that my host family made by themselves, it’s called Kapama snacks and it’s not at all as our snacks at home. It’s not like crisps but I can compare it with homemade cookies for example. But in the Kapama snacks it’s ingredients that I never would have in cookies or in snacks. With dried fruits, salted nuts and a bit of the Biltong (dried meat), u creates snacks! It’s sounds creepy to me and u but actually it’s good, but with strange taste. It’s not something  u put in the oven, u just mix it and then eat it. The positives with this snack is that it isn´t so unhealthy compared to the cookies we eat at home and it’s not even close to the taste. Overall the food is a total mix from all over the world just like the Swedish food. But the Malaysian food has characterized the Cape Town. The South African way of the Malaysian food is called “Cape Malay”.  I will put a recipe 4 u on a typical dish that I’ve eaten so u can see what I mean with mix (I didn’t wrote it by myself  I copy it from http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/513649 but I’ve eaten it. On this site u can also find more recipes on South African food)

Impala fillet cooked in banana leaf

·     50 g butter

·     2 fillets of impala (or substitute venison)

·     2 shallots, finely chopped

·     3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

·     6 whole peppercorns, crushed

·     6 cherry tomatoes, halved

·     1 red chilli, finely chopped

·     2 cm ginger, finely chopped

·     6 button mushrooms, finely chopped

·     2 tbsp olive oil

Good Luck! J

Luv

// Amanda G

This is just gonna be a short message because I’m on my way but now I’m in South Africa, Cape Town after a real long time. The fly took about 12h so guess if my legs are happy to stretch out. But the first that I notice is that it isn’t even close to what I had expected. I thought that it would be more like the bush, but this is a really big city and a lot of houses look really expensive. They even have McDonald’s, Pizza hut and Burger King. But that is actually boring. I hope that I only will try African food and not the usual Donk. But it seems like they have food from the whole world. Cape Town is by the coast and my host-family’s house is in normal size. I will really enjoy my time being here.

See ya later alligator
// Amanda G

Hi guys! J

Tomorrow I’m going to South Africa! How cool isn’t that!

I’m really nervous but it gonna be really fun. It would have been fun to go their when it was world cup in football. I’m not such a fan of football but I think the atmosphere their would be totally awesome. I think football is quite normal there, why would they have the world cup if it wasn’t an ordinary sport? Maybe it’s quite as normal to play football in South Africa as it’s in Sweden.

Maybe I will meet a lion or perhaps a giraffe and dance afro dance to djembe drums. I mean, I don’t think they play the same music as we do in Sweden. Here we listen to almost everything but I think that they don’t have the same range of music there.

Btw I’ve just packed and something I really doesn’t get to forget is to buy something for the stomach if I may eat something strange, like snails and I suppose I will eat a lot of bananas.  I mean don’t they grow bananas in Africa? Then I think that we Swedes eat very mild food unlike the Africans. So let’s see if my stomach can handle all the spicy food.

See u

Xox
// Amanda G