Stories from and

Bahrain: Hair-raising conversation

  17 September 2008

Sous, a Swede living in Bahrain, repeats a conversation she had with an Indian woman, who after finding out that Sous was fasting told her she should cover her hair: “Swede: Well, I’m thinking to shave it all off and then that problem is solved! Indian:No!…Aren’t you married? Swede: No....

China: The Beijing Bay

  20 August 2008

Via TorrentFreak, on the IOC's takedown notice sent not to p2p network The Pirate Bay which was hosting torrents of Olympics footage, but Sweden's Minister of Justice: “We were going to ignore the Olympics, but now we’re loading our cannons. Our weapons of mass distribution are pointed towards China.”

Malawi: Going back to Malawi

  15 June 2008

Malawian blogger says “Goodbye Sweden”: “Time came when I came. Time has gone and I should be gone back to Malawi after two years of great stay in Örebro, Sweden. It has been a time well spent. Numerous experiences both good and bad.”

Bahrain: Kindest People Ever

Sous, a Swedish woman living in Bahrain, wonders about the impact of development on Bahrainis. “Bahrainis … are the most kind people I have ever met. They are polite, educated, funny and friendly. There is no pretend and they are really down to earth which I appreciate. I hope this...

Estonia: The Swedes

  16 November 2007

Itching for Eestimaa writes about Estonian Swedes: “…I came to the conclusion that Estonian Swedes do have a certain unspoken minority status in Estonia: they are marginal. No one writes about them. No one thinks about them. They exist, are deemed somewhat exotic, but then forgotten. They are simply unimportant....

Armenia: Scandinavian Invasion

  2 November 2007

Armenia and me posts an account and photographs of what is a rare sight indeed — 150 Scandinavian running through Yerevan's Victory Park as part of a World Wide Orienteering Promotion. Arriving in the country from Iran, the blog reports that local onlookers were at first shocked to see so...

Tunisia: A new Mohammed cartoon crisis ?

Tunisian blogger A.L.G.Y of Cos-maux-polis is wondering whether a new Mohammed cartoon crisis is brewing. She explains that drawings of a man with the body of a dog wearing a turban were published in a local Swedish newspaper on August, 18th. As protests are underway in Pakistan and Iran, she...

Scandinavia: “Rysk Mosaik” Russia Bloghub

  7 August 2007

Rysk Mosaik is a new Scandinavian bloghub for blogs in Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian, about Russian politics and society. It currently publishes posts from six Scandinavian blogs, but has the potential to become a regional Russia bloghub. The downside of it is that it is limited to blogs in Scandinavian...

Estonia: International Relations

“But why waste so much energy on that relationship with diminishing returns?” writes Itching for Eestimaa about Estonia's relations with Russia, and continues with an overview of Estonia's relations with other countries.

Slovenia: Mistaken for Sweden

  18 October 2006

NHL player Anze Kopitar is Slovenian, not Swedish, writes The Glory of Carniola, correcting the media's unfortunate mistake: “Another opportunity for Slovenia to get some press, down the drain.”