Expat Jon takes on the world (well... Sweden)

You ever have something weird happen to you?  Of course you have.  We all do.  Don't feel weird about it.  But most of the time there is some explanation.  Something that makes you understand that maybe it wasn't that weird.  Then the world is back to normal and everything is okay.  However, sometimes something weird happens and it doesn't get explained.  That's the worst!  Me with my obsessive personality, I can't handle things like that.  I just pore and pore over it looking for some sort of answer that never comes. Take my hangy-ball thingy for instance.  In case you're not familiar with my use of the proper medical term (hang-ball thingy), I'm talking about that little organ in the back of my throat between my tonsils. I added a picture of a "uvula" below so you have an idea of what I'm talking about. My hang-ball thingy is a normal one.  It functions however they are supposed to function.  I've never had a p...

There may be some American-English phrases that foreigners find weird.  I can admit that.  But here, I'm the foreigner.  And Swedes have some strange and sometimes confusing phrases that they use.  Just when I think I have the hang of this language something new is thrown at me.  I'll break down a few of my favorites: Helt Okay This phrase is a perfect description of Swedish people.  Helt Okay.  It means "completely okay".  How is that possible?  Can something be completely (a superlative) okay?  I don't think so.  It's strange every time I hear it.  A friend of mine went to see a movie.  I asked how the movie was and he said it was "helt okay".  So it was an absolutely average movie?  Does a helt okay movie get relegated to "wait for the DVD" or "catch it on cable"?  I need more details.  To me, helt okay matches the Swedish attitude.  This isn't a culture where excitement is expressed often. ...

I have a love/hate relationship with the Swedish language.  I love some of the words for their practicality and some for their poetic nature.  The language is significantly "smaller" than English in terms of the amount of words.  Add that to the fact that all of my life I've heard how English is the most difficult language to learn and learning Swedish should be a breeze, right?  WRONG!!!  This language is a pain in the rumpa! First off, I'm very proud of where I am with my Swedish.  I have worked hard to get to where I am.  I also like to think that I'm pretty sharp, so that's why I caught on so well.  In truth, I was lucky enough to have an awesome grandmother-in-law (Hi Birgitta!) that was willing to spend time teaching me proper (and sometimes outdated) Swedish.  She refused to speak English with me from the day we met.  Thankfully  I had completed Rosetta Stone Level 1 Swedish so I kind of understood her when she told me that...