Culture and Colors

This is why we're gone to Stockholm, or at least why I tagged along. Anthony had a meeting and we wanted a weekend away, but overall, I was in desperate need of some...




This is why you fly from Stavanger to Stockholm.



And yep, it's ultra sunny there, too.




This is our view from the hotel room. No, it's not fabulous, but look closely and see what I've noticed...



Ocassionally with the winter darkness and the rain and the cold, Scandinavia can seem a bit dreary.

But if you pay attention you'll see shots of color, almost as if there are so many subtle reminders that all is not bleak. Just because we have weather and a sharp angle of the Earth, that is not us...

Buildings are colorful, even if they are sometimes a bit faded. Trains are blue and red. In the crowds of people you'll see the requisite black and grey city fashion, but often with a shot of bright, a red scarf, an orange bag or sunny yellow raincoat.

And in traffic, idling with the neutral sedans and hatchbacks are sprinklings of shiny red cars.

Once a Year

I don't believe in knick-knacks.

And by "believe in," I do not mean to suggest that I question that knick-knacks exist. I do not even mean to suggest that I do not support other people's right to buy them and enjoy them as they choose.

I only mean to say I just don't believe in their place in our house. I am certain that does not exist.

So when we travel, we do not buy engraved shot glasses or postcards we will not mail. Or even things that we will look at more than a few weeks every year.

We buy ornaments.

From every trip Husband and I have every been on, well before we planned to get hitched, we've gotten an ornament from every place we've visited.

Packed away in a box, in our storage room, are all of them. There is a lobster from Boston, a lovely metallic fish from the North Georgia mountains and a Celtic cross from Scotland. I'd bring out every one to show, but the placement is precarious, so you'll just have to trust me on this one.

I love that once a year, we will bring them all out. There will always be one we've forgotten and best of all, most, along with the actual story of the place, has a story from the actual purchase.

This is our ornament from Stockholm.

How to Dress in Scandinavia

In Stavanger, the average temperature is about 40 degrees the entire year. Of course it fluctuates depending on the season, but it's pretty mild and, of course, rainy.

So how does one seasonably dress and still be fashionable? The answer to that is "You don't, really."

But most of us, well at least in the cities and the people we know, try.

The key components to any woman's wardrobe are:

1) striped socks and skinny jeans (natch)



2) rain boots



3) tights, footless and footed



4) long sleeved tee shirts



Most women have these components in a variety of colors. Then, depending on the occasion, you add a jumper or a dress or a sweater in the appropriate layers. The leg attire is always tucked into the boots and there you have it.

And while Scandinavia tends to be casual on most occasions, on special days, you get fancy.

May 17 is a big deal in Norway. In some ways, it's the equivalent of the United States' 4th of July. It's called Constitution Day because on that day in 1814, Norway adopted its own.

The children have parades and many people, especially the children, wear the bunad, which is the Norwegian national dress.



Even if you don't wear a bunad, it is absolutely verboten that you dress up in fancy clothes. The men wear suits and the women wear dresses.

The Norwegian flag



which is flown all over the place, becomes even more prevalent around this time as well.

A few of our friends in Stavanger were somewhat horrified that we would be out of the country on May 17th because it's such a big deal.

And one couple was having a party because one of the parades was marching past their house.

We were disappointed to miss it, but Husband had a meeting in Stockholm on Friday, so we decided that it was a great opportunity for me to come along for a long weekend.

Even in Stockholm many of the government building were flying the Norwegian flag alongside their own.



There was a giant celebration in one of the parks and afterward we saw several people wearing the bunad as well.

Look closely at the woman whose back is to me in the photo.

She had on the full dress and her husband had on a sharp dark suit with a Norwegian flag pin.


(Yes, I was sneaky taking the photo, but we were having an post-shopping beer in a somewhat swanky place. I just couldn't ask permission. Nice lady, if you are reading this. Thanks, you looked super in your bunad.)

But on this day, because we are not Norwegian and we were in Stockholm, we did not dress up.

I wore a blue spring dress with the requisite tights and boots.



Husband: I like it. You look like a naughty candy striper. The kind who leans over the patient and hangs their boobs in the face.

Me: Thank you

Then, because it was a slightly dreary day, I added a red scarf. It was cold and this was the only one I had with me.



So unwittingly, I did, in fact, dress with Norway in mind. Perhaps it was merely unconscious. Perhaps it was just that I liked that dress. But in any case, I had on the red and blue and it just made sense to me. And, for just a second, I felt slightly assimilated.

So I wondered it it would make sense to Husband.

Me: What do you think now? What do I look like?

Husband: Ummmmm, an elf?

Måned-dag

I'm not a huge fan of holidays. As a general rule, I think that any government, religious or Hallmark mandated holiday is packed with unreasonable expectations and fraught with danger. Of course, those expectations are usually mine and the danger comes when my mind is not read.

So, I try my best take them off the table. But I do love made up holidays.

And, Husband, as with most of my ideas that are not illegal, immoral or hideously expensive, indulges me.

So a few months ago, in the early days of March, the weather here was a little dreary and I decided we needed a holiday. So, we agreed on month-aversaries---Every month on the 16th, we would have a little celebration.

When he told another recently married colleague at his work why he was leaving a bit early for the March month-aversary, that colleague said "Watch out man, you're traveling on a slippery slope..."

I think that comment frightened Husband a bit, so he announced he has only bought into this holiday schedule for a year. After that, it will be on a case-by-case basis. So, we'll see how it goes, but it's all okay with me....

For the etymologists out there, yes, quite possibly the correct term would be mensis-aversary or some such, but I just can't do it. (I have a general aversion to the fact that using the word mensis in conjunction with our -versary would only conjure up thoughts of feminine products. I just can't do it...)

And in Norwegian, I think the construction would be something like måned-dag, but I can't pronounce that yet, so monthaversary it will be for the foreseeable future...

So thus far

February 16th
We ate cake




March 16th
We went skiing



April 16th
We ate Italian food and Husband got me a flower that I have been able to keep alive thus far.




May 16th
We're traveling again, but this time, it's in search of a traditional smorgasbord or perhaps some oddly shaped glasses.