Latin vs European Children's Parties

Our daughter had her 4 year's birthday party saturday, with about 15 kids and a double that number of parents lurching around for a free meal! Kids were running and playing like crazed squirrels when time came for the traditional candy hand-out.

We try to maintain our daughters bi-national background and so decided to have the traditional Latinamerican "pinata". A pinata is a papier-mache doll filled with sweets that hangs on a rope while kids try to smash it to pieces with a stick while dancing to music while blindfolded.

So, we had ordered a "my little pony" pinata from Amazon and had a great time watching the 4 year olds hit their way like crazies, letting their rage show on the poor little pink pony! Each kid took turns trying to get the stubborn pony to break to their parents apparent dismay. Finally, with a great hit from a 5-year old, the pony broke and all the sweets came showering down! Then, kids in a frenzy, pushing and shoving themselves to get the most of the free-to-grab candies!

Later, the swedish traditional fish-pond version: all kiddies nicely lined up in front of the blue sheet symbolizing the sea. With a fake fishing rod, the parent behind the "sea" attaches the bag of goodies and pull the string. Yeah! I got a fish! And the kid gets his/hers bag with candy. No fighting. No pushing or shoving. No music. No hitting. In the line, waiting and the reward.

Different attitudes to upbringing, definately...

Upside down winter

Finally SNOW came to Sweden!
Woke up this morning and everything was as when I was a kid - completely white, everywhere! I love it. Winter is the most boring time of year without snow, but the best when snow is deep and new. Color, light, feel, smell...everything changes from one day to another. Peoples state of mind also changes. Happy faces, playing children.

So, everything is normal, right? Not really - this bloggpost should have been written in early November 2006, not in late January 2007... Today is actually the FIRST DAY we have with real, swedish, winter climate during this season. It is up the walls, as we would say in Swedish. Wierd.

It has also fuelled the political debate on climate change in Sweden. Papers are full of articles. TV as well.

They call it "upside down winter"...

Blogging in the 2007

(a borrowed pic from my brother's blogg showing our new years night at the Swedish coast - no snow, nice sunsets)

2006 is over and done with. Politically, I will remember 2006 as a year of war and George W Bush. Two interconnected things in our modern world it seems. I will also remember 2006 as a year of the fuming return of leftist governments in Latin America - probably also connected to the former mentioned president. In Sweden though, last year symbolized the rupture of social-democratic dominance. The new government got a rough start mainly because of two factors: ill chosen ministers who gave the media wolves enough blood to go hunting for scandals, and a strategic choice to take the bull by the horns and realy do all those things they said they would do in the campaign. For some reason, this turned out to be an eye opener for a lot of swedes who changed their loyalties for these elections. "Hey, now they realy ARE reducing taxes not only for the poorest! And they ARE medling with the oh-so-holy unemployment grant! Just like they said they'll do! Why?"

Personally, it has been a year of struggle. It has taken us more time than we planned to get settled in Sweden and feel comfortable, and we are still not there. But the trend is positive. Slow, but positive. Work was also hell. After ten years in the same field of work I found myself in a position where I was a hairs width from becoming unemployed - and I had not counted on it! They whole summer, autumn and winter was caracterized by a couple of lengthy recruitment processes that did not go my way. But at the very end, and unexpected opening resolved the "purgatorio". So at the beginning of december, I could actually feel a good feeling again about going to work.

The trip to Nicaragua, both for the elections and for vacation, was also emotionally important. To me it was nice to be back and to meet some old friends and family, but also distress of the political develoments in Nicaragua with Ortega back in power. I try to tell myself that also there the long term trends are positive. Familywise I believe it was good for all the family to go back and reconnect after too long a separation. Not easy... nono, not easy. But necessary, and good. Especially for our 4 year old daughter who now will have her own memories of uncles, grand parents and cousins until we meet again.

2007 is the great unknown. My personal belief is that to high expectations lead by necessity to disapointments, and planning more than a year ahead is a lie. But of course, I expect 2007 to be positive for us and all the world. I think both work and family have started out nicely, and I hope this positive energy will also spill over a bit on our social life and our aim for physical excercise!

We will see, I suppose, we will see...