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Video Making Tool

Ever used the search story video making tool by Youtube/Google? Check it out if you ever want to quickly make a promo video to throw up on Youtube. Here's an example of what you can make in literally just a couple minutes.... Coke vs Pepsi.
Just thought you'd want to know.

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New Location

Hey. We haven't posted for a while, sorry. But we're back now and will be better than ever at our new site location, howtobeswedish.com.
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Paradise Hotel

Seriously, who are the brainiacs that keep coming up with these awesome new television shows time and time again? Just when you think that they can’t come up with any more great ideas, they go and raise the bar even higher. My new favourite show is an edge-of-your seater called Paradise Hotel. If you haven’t seen it you’re really missing out. I’m not sure but I think it’s on every single night of the week, or maybe it just seems like that. Anyways, it’s nothing short of genius in its originality. Let me paint the picture for you. What you basically have is a group of 10-12 twenty-something year old boys and girls that all live in a luxurious hotel, or house or something, in some tropical part of the world. They hang out and play games and waste time and we get to watch it all because there are TV cameras in the house and following them around while they act like idiots. You can only imagine the relationship drama that takes place, the emotional highs and lows of the contestants, and the hilarious antics of these complex personalities! And then, as if it wasn’t dramatic enough, every week one person will get kicked off the show until I presume there is only one person left who is then the winner. I’m not sure if they have to win some competition to stay on or if people are voted off, but either way it’s very tense. Just imagine, people are living their ”real” lives in this fake setting and we are lucky enough to get to watch it all (after editing of course). I mean, outside of Big Brother, Real World, Survivor, and about 100 other shows like that, have you ever heard of such cutting edge television?
Another classic in the making is called Bonde Söker Fru. (Farmer searching for a wife). What you have here is one single guy and a group of single women who are competing for the chance to marry him. Now, I know this may remind you of The Bachelor, Average Joe, Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire or one of the hundreds of others, but this one is different. It’s not like any of those other shows because this guy is a farmer! That makes it unique.
These are just two of the many quality TV shows here in Sweden that you can waste your evenings on. And when these gems finally run their course don’t worry, I’m certain there will be more garbage to take their place.

12 Days of Swedish Christmas

On the twelfth day of Jul my Swedish love gave to me: (feel free to sing along)

Twelve jars of sill (pickled herring)

Eleven Lussekatter (saffron bread)

Ten Triss lottos

Nine cups of glögg (Christmas wine)

Eight boxes of Marabou Paradis (chocolates)

Seven Saint Lucias

Six Julbords (Christmas meals)

Five golden shots of schnapps

Four Advent candles

Three Årets Julklapp (Years Christmas gift which this year is some mattress with plastic spike kind of things on it.)

Two Amaryllis flowers

And Donald Duck on TV

Sweden Is Nicer In The Summer

For some reason people here seem to be obliged to tell you that Sweden is nicer in the summer. It’s rare that a day will go by when somebody won’t make this revelation to me. Like they are opening my eyes to some profound truth. We’re walking along in the drizzly rain, it’s 3 degrees celsius, haven’t seen the sun in 3 weeks and they say ”Yeah, Sweden is much nicer in the summer”. Thank you Captain Obvious! I never would have imagined that a country that lies north of the 56th parallel, and partially within the Arctic Circle, would experience a more favourable climate in the summer. Isn’t the majority of the world nicer in the summertime? They tell me this knowing that I come from Canada. In the area I come from at the time of print it is -40 degrees celsius, so I am somewhat familiar with the whole deal of having not quite as beautiful weather during the winter months. This isn’t a phenomenon strictly related to Sweden. The Swedes are almost apologetic about the weather. ”You really should come here in the summer, it’s a lot nicer then. This is a summer town”. Every town here is a ”summer town”. I have also been made aware the fact that here in Sweden, in the winter, the length of time during the day in which the sun shines is shorter than in the summer. In fact, in the northern part of Sweden, there can be hardly any daylight in the winter, whereas in the height of summer it doesn’t get dark. This helpful information for those of us that missed that day of 5th grade science. We all get it. It’s nicer in the summer. This is normal.