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Flat Stanley project for Matty.
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FLAT STANLEY
SWEDEN FEB – MAR 2011
I had a wonderful time visiting Uncle John and Auntie Becky in Stockholm, Sweden. There were lots of fun things to see and do, and I learned a lot about Swedish culture and about the people who live there, too. I arrived in the middle of February, where it was still snowy and dark. At this time of the year, there is only 8 hours of sunlight on a sunny day, and while I was here, it was always below freezing outdoors. Nonetheless, I learned that the Swedish people (Swedes) are not held back by the darkness and cold and will still go out and do fun things, anyway! The Swedes are known for loving nature and being outdoors. Even in a big city like Stockholm, there are lots of green-‐spaces, like parks, planned into the city. This allows school kids, like you and I to be able to play outdoors all year round!
Dear Matty,
Flat Stanley’s adventure in Stockholm, Sweden
FEB – MAR 2011
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This is a picture of Vasaparken, a big park near Auntie Becky and Uncle John’s home. The soccer field at this park is flooded during the winter and turned into an ice-‐skating and hockey rink. Here’s a picture of school kids during their P.E. class practicing skating techniques and getting some fun exercise. I was kind of cold, so I stayed in my protective plastic “bubble”. Auntie Becky’s dogs were having a lot of fun in the snow, too! Auntie Becky, like the Swedes, enjoys being outdoors. She took me running with her one day and here I am in my plastic “bubble”. I’m overlooking Lake Mälaren. This is the body of water that is under the snow in this picture. If you look really carefully, you can see footprints on the snow! People have been walking on top of the frozen lake!
VASAPARKEN
The Swedes love outdoor life!
Etiam et urna
.Etiam
Actually, in some areas, the water is frozen solid so that a path can be made for people to walk, cross-‐country ski and long-‐skate on top of the water! Auntie Becky went cross-‐country skiing on top of a different frozen lake with some friends. Here I am hanging out with some skiers and here are some people getting ready to go long-‐skating. Long-‐skating is not popular in the United States. The skates look like regular ice-‐skates, except the blade is longer. This is so skaters can skate long-‐distance. These people are ready to take a skating tour around the lake. How fun!
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In addition to outdoor activities, Swedes like going to museums, too. There are lots of museums to see in Stockholm.
THE VASA MUSEUM Uncle John took me to the Vasa Museum (Vasa means “Ship”) one evening. This is a historical museum about a big wooden boat that was built by King Gustav II Adolf in the early 1600’s. It’s sad to hear, but I learned that it took over two years to build the Vasa and on it’s maiden voyage (the very first voyage), it sank! It wasn’t until the 1960’s that Sweden was able to pull the ship up from under water and restore it. I got to see the Vasa at this museum! If you have time, you can watch the video about the historic ship!
Swedish Culture
THE MODERN MUSEUM One night, Auntie Becky took me to the Modern Museum. It is a museum that has lots of unique modern artwork from Swedish artists as well as famous artists around the world. We saw an art exhibition of a French photographer (Jeanloup Sieff) who has taken pictures for many magazines. He specializes in black and white pictures. We also saw an exhibit by Eva Löfdahl. She is a Swedish modern artist and has lots of very interesting paintings and sculptures. Hey! This looks familiar! I think I’ve studies this artist before….it’s Henri Matisse! And look! It’s my favorite condiment….ketchup. But what is it doing spilled over a block and on the floor? Huh? I don’t know. What do you think?
FEB – MAR 2011
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THE CULTURE HOUSE (KULTUR HUSET) One of my favorite places that I visited was the Culture House (Kultur Huset) of Stockholm. The Culture House is a very big building with many floors. Wait, there’s a lady hanging from the building…oh, she’s not real. How funny!
I got to ride on the subway, called the Tunnelbana (pronounced: “Toonel bana” ) to T-‐Centralen (the Central Station). The T-‐bana looks a lot like BART. The closest station to Uncle John and Auntie Becky’s house is S:t Eriksplan (Sankt Eriksplan). It is about 5 stops
Ut Sed Est
Located on the bottom floor of the Culture House is a brand new library! I can read some English books there as well as Swedish books. They also have newspapers of all different languages, from lots of different countries. My favorite floor, however, is the 4th floor. This floor houses the music and film library. Look! I can practice playing my favorite pieces on the piano here and listen to myself play with earphones on. I can also sit and listen to some of my favorite music that I don’t have at home.
The 4th floor also features the brand new Tiotreton (pronounced: “Teeyew-‐treatton”) library. This library is a one that’s specifically designed for kids aged 10 (tio) through 13 (treton). It’s really cool. I can learn to cook—there’s a full kitchen there, I can learn to make music or a movie on a computer, I can make crafts, learn to sew or I can just relax in the cool bunk-‐style chairs! I can also read my favorite books, too.…only, I have to learn Swedish, first. By the way, do you know who Pipi Longstocking is? She is a character from a book written by a Swedish author, Astrid Lindegren. In Swedish, her name is Pipi Longstrump! Auntie Becky included an English translation of this book to introduce her to you!
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I think being able to talk to Swedish kids in their native language and read interesting Swedish books is a good reason to learn the language! So, Auntie Becky took me to one of her daily Swedish language classes. I got to meet her teacher, Gull-‐Britt Andersson, and some of her classmates who are from around the world. Here’s me with Anna from Poland, Kristan from Germany, and Manisha from India! We’re learning Swedish so we can all speak the same language together!
SWEDISH CUISINE & TRADITIONS Sometimes after class, Auntie Becky “fikar” (fee-‐kar) with her new friends. Fika is a Swedish tradition meaning, “to go for a coffee break”. Swedes typically fika everyday drinking very strong coffee and have something sweet, like a kanelbulle (“kaneel-‐booly”), or a cinnamon roll. These cinnamon rolls don’t quite taste like the ones you and I eat in the United States, but they are still yummy.
Besides the cinnamon rolls, traditional
Swedish food is also different from American food. The southern tip Sweden is surrounded by water, therefore, Swedes enjoy eating lots of fish like salmon and herring, and seafood like shrimp and crayfish. Swedes from the northern part of the country eat more meat such as beef, reindeer and elk because there are more pastures and forests. Since there are lots of cows in northern Sweden, milk and dairy products like butter, yogurt and ice cream are also popular and very tasty here. Sweden only gets a few hours of sunlight during some parts of the year, therefore the growing season for vegetables is very short. As a result, popular Swedish vegetables actually grow underground, like carrots, potatoes, beets and parsnips! They have to import lots of other vegetables from warmer countries. Berries are a popular fruit in Sweden, especially in the summer. They like to eat lingonberries and cloudberries. These are kind of sour and taste much like cranberries! Uncle John and Auntie Becky took me to a traditional Swedish restaurant called Fem Små Hus (Five Small Houses) to try Swedish cuisine.
LEARNING THE SWEDISH LANGUAGE
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