tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22271256.post2664855206605163745..comments2023-09-29T11:23:39.566-04:00Comments on The Words of Tall Pants: LingonberriesAndrew Gateshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12840695908367592652noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22271256.post-43240950625606686472010-01-06T20:00:20.645-05:002010-01-06T20:00:20.645-05:00the reason you wrote this post is because you poss...the reason you wrote this post is because you possess the other defining Swedish characteristic... an overzealous sense of guilt!matt enquistnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22271256.post-69396041193177173512009-11-30T14:10:51.032-05:002009-11-30T14:10:51.032-05:00Andrew,
You're welcome. "Profundity and...Andrew,<br /><br />You're welcome. "Profundity and absurdity"--'nuff said. ; )<br /><br />IJIngridhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13685065584602938210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22271256.post-12004909676726929312009-11-30T09:57:51.776-05:002009-11-30T09:57:51.776-05:00Ingrid, I'm delighted to hear that you conside...Ingrid, I'm delighted to hear that you consider me "bright and articulate." Right back at ya :)<br /><br />And Anonymous, do I know you? Just curious. <br /><br />I didn't know this topic would create such a ruckus!Andrew Gateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12840695908367592652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22271256.post-80340847127555940262009-11-30T02:13:39.891-05:002009-11-30T02:13:39.891-05:00Dear Anonymous,
I'm not Swedish. I'm an ...Dear Anonymous,<br /><br />I'm not Swedish. I'm an American who is only half 4th-generation Swedish. I regularly make Swedish pancakes and, on special occasions, put lingonberries on them. I bake pepparkakor every Christmas. I have dressed up as Lucia several times. I enjoy and appreciate tradition, my own and other people's, and I respect it when I believe that respect is due. I find 21st century Swedish-American infatuation with a sentimentalized 19th century version of Swedishness very funny. <br /><br />Andrew is my friend. He shares my sarcastic sense of humor. He is quite bright and articulate and perfectly capable of standing up for himself should he need to defend himself against me.<br /><br />I was mocking ethnic pretension in general, not lack of Swedishness or any other arbitrary grounds for presuming someone else inferior. I find that people are uniformly silly regardless of race or nationality. <br /><br />The comments above are a caricature of reactions by real Swedes to me and my fellow 19-year-old travelers, some of whom took their Swedish-Americanness a little too seriously and were perhaps even astonished or disappointed to find that Sweden is a modern country with real people and real problems as opposed to the coloring-book fairy tale they had in their imaginations. I suspect that some of us had a hard time accepting that neither Swedishness nor Americanness was as good a reason for feeling special as we had assumed.<br /><br />I apologize for inadvertently ruining your day. Peace.Ingridhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13685065584602938210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22271256.post-55232550901902563802009-11-26T19:25:13.446-05:002009-11-26T19:25:13.446-05:00Ingrid, you're not only NOT funny, you are rud...Ingrid, you're not only NOT funny, you are rude. <br /><br />The blog author is indeed Swedish. He is Swedish-American. It's its own thing. Trust me. He knows it. <br /><br />I am lucky enough to be married to my own Swede. A real one. From Sweden. He doesn't play the "Swede" police--if people feel like being Swedish, he let's them. His own parents were born in, gasp...Finland. You know those people you kicked around for hundreds of years? Yes, them. <br /><br />I too have Swedish roots. Great-great grandfather was a Swedish....Sami. Yeah, those. More of the people you Swedes were bad too. <br /><br />Ingrid, it's Swedes like you who annoy me and make me wake up every day and guess what? Be glad I am so not Swedish. You all are the most pompous, smug, sanctimonious people in the whole Fenno/Scandinavian region. In fact, is there no secret you are the butt of all Norwegian, Danish, & Finnish jokes? Even the Icelanders love to get a crack at you every now and again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22271256.post-71014339886776929102009-11-14T08:24:37.465-05:002009-11-14T08:24:37.465-05:00Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium? ...Who knows where to download XRumer 5.0 Palladium? <br />Help, please. All recommend this program to effectively advertise on the Internet, this is the best program!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22271256.post-41406341457023769052009-09-29T09:39:14.802-04:002009-09-29T09:39:14.802-04:00Breakfast = DagwoodBreakfast = Dagwoodbradhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15001707101777765553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22271256.post-33650301048448372652009-09-27T15:35:31.988-04:002009-09-27T15:35:31.988-04:00Ingrid, brilliant as usual.
Also, hilarious!Ingrid, brilliant as usual.<br /><br />Also, hilarious!Andrew Gateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12840695908367592652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22271256.post-2242560537214877872009-09-26T21:10:30.808-04:002009-09-26T21:10:30.808-04:00A) Your culinary sensitivity is truly impressive.
...A) Your culinary sensitivity is truly impressive.<br /><br />B) Real Swedes put lingonberries on meatballs (or sausage) and boiled potatoes, not pancakes. And pancakes are not breakfast. They're dessert. To be eaten with jam and/or sugar.<br /><br />C) Thoughts on Swedish-American-ism from a native Swede's perspective:<br /><br />1) You're not Swedish.<br />2) This is 2009, not 1850.<br />3) Putting potatoes in one's sausage was not exactly a sign of desirable social status. There's a reason you can't find 'potatiskorv' in a Swedish deli in Sweden. See #2.<br />4) Wooden shoes? Are you serious? See #'s 2 and 3, substituting 'wooden shoes' and 'shoestore' in the logical places for #3.Ingridhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13685065584602938210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22271256.post-76588225062896395022009-08-27T14:06:44.164-04:002009-08-27T14:06:44.164-04:00What about powdered sugar? You've got to swee...What about powdered sugar? You've got to sweeten them a little, otherwise, they're just crepes!Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06560507418553842814noreply@blogger.com