Swedish advertising in English Fail - Pussi edition

I've blogged before about how more and more Swedish companies are using English in their slogans (Hemmakwell I am talking to you) but this is one of the old classic Swenglish mistake companies back for more punishment.

How is this for cat food?

Pussi - As good as it looks!

Ah yes, because this bag full of meat and gravy really looks appetizing. But then there is the fact that Pussi's old slogan used to be:

Pussi - Whisker lickin good

So they seem to be pretty aware of the double entendre. I mean, who markets cat food based on appearance. And their whisker lickin good products made quite a run on Swedish/English blogs.

Until then, if your cat is looking for some good looking food, try Pussi!

You better be subscribed to @sweden by now

Ok, I know I have blogged about @sweden way too much, but I love the idea. And, this week's Swedish ambassador has really got amazing things to say about Swedish culture.

If you haven't signed up to follow them, you should do it! (Unless of course you don't have twitter, which I totally support. I still can never get up the motivation to tweet)

Here are a few of my favorites from this week

@sweden / Sonja ?@sweden

If someone likes Justin Bieber in Sweden, we dont care. We let them. We dont call him "gay" if we mean "he sucks". We say "he sucks".

@sweden / Sonja ?@sweden

The dinner was horrible. It felt like eating your way through a shaved vikings chest, while he's trying to kill you.

12 juni

?I

@sweden / Sonja ?@sweden

I think Im talking on the behalf of all the Swedish citizen when I say that Happy Feet is probably the worst movie ever.

@sweden / Sonja ?@sweden

I know a stupid saying you got in America: "Blame it on the boogie". In Sweden we blame things on sunshine and moonlight.

@sweden / Sonja ?@sweden

In english you say "balls" about someone who is brave. In sweden we say "labia". Example: "You surely showed some real heroic labia there"

@sweden gives insight into Swedes views on Jews

So @sweden - the official Swedish twitter that switches 'Swedes' on a weekly basis and gives them free rein over the twitter channel made international news again today for comments @sweden made about Jews.

Apparently the current Sweden - Sonja, a twenty something mother of two - wondered about what a Jew actually is, how you tell someone is Jewish and what it really means in an exceedingly naive discussion that quickly blew up in her face.

What I like about it? I think Sonja's comments are not so off base for a lot of Swedes when it comes to Judaism. Here are some things I have heard Swedes say about Jews over the years:

My SFI teacher, to a Jewish student while we were having drinks at a bar "Oh, you are Jewish? I hate arabs too"

A lawyer I know "You cannot ignore the fact that when a Jew walks into a room, they carry a certain 'pondus' (a natural authority).

"Never trust a Dane or a Jew with your money," a former colleague.

"Don't be such a Jew" Some idiot trying to 'buy' a cigarette from me. They weren't my cigarettes, a friend left them on the table. I gave a randomly high price.

I have a lot of examples like this from people that I wouldn't consider 'anti-Semitic' or racist, but who really have maybe met one Jewish person in their lives. Combine this with a general dislike of the state of Israel, and you have a bit of insight into how, I think any way, many Swedes view Jews.

I am very happy @sweden made her bit of a public blunder. It is about time someone other than Ilmar Reepalu, the annoying Malm� mayor who walks a thin line of flirting with Muslim voters he for some reason seems to believe are highly anti-Semitic, and trying to insist that he never said anything like anything he is ever quoted as saying about the Jews.

I had actually planned to post a bit more about Reepalu in the future, but since @sweden piped up, had to start tackling the issue now.

Happy Swedish National Day - How to become Swedish

It is time for Swedish National Day, a day off in which Swedes celebrate their country by doing nothing in particular. And a day that most Swedes will not be able to tell you why it specifically is Sweden's national day.

Don't be fooled. Swedes are proud of their country. But they are proud in a Swedish way and not a 'USA,USA,USA' sort of way.

Swedes are pretty sure their country is the best in the world and wouldn't trade it for much (except for maybe if they could move the whole thing to a warmer location, but not too warm because heat is uncomfortable, too). They just show it by complaining about the idiocy of other countries instead of waving flags.

In honor of Sweden and all of the wonderful things that are Swedish I present this video, for all of you wannabe Swedes out there, all of you new Swedes out there -

Have a great National Day!

Sweden wins Eurovision! Eastern European Conspiracy Defeated!

OK, so the one year I slack off and decided to skip Eurovision, Sweden manages to win the thing. YAY Sweden! I was a little afraid the Babushkas might sweep it, and while they were cute and all, I really didn't want to have to listen to that song.

But no Sweden did it!

Eurovision is one of those contests you get super excited about the possibility of winning and then realize the prize is pretty crappy. You have to host the damn thing next year. That's a lot of money to spend on an international festival. But I guess people have fun with it and might enjoy going to the concert? What do I know. I always get annoyed when I try to win the prize at a party and the prize turns out to be some big responsibility to do something in the future like throw another party or take the host and hostess out to dinner.

I won't write much about Loreen's performance because I haven't seen it. But what I really hope is that this keeps the Swedish sore loser syndrome away for a few years. I really hope the media doesn't start complaining about Sweden not winning next year.

Seriously, can we please now remember that western European countries win Eurovision, too? And just because a song is 'slated to win' by the Swedish press before the contest, doesn't mean it will stand a chance (cough cough The Ark cough).

Let's not get all pissy just because the Eastern European countries vote for each other, when they bring out well-known regional artists, and then bring out Carola because everyone knows she has widespread regional appeal.

I'm not going to talk about 'the best song' winning, because while perhaps Loreen had the best song of the night (I didn't watch remember?) I have seen many older competitions where what I thought was the best song did not win.

But then again, this contest is so very much not about MY taste. I'm not even European. And I tend to feel that most on Eurovision night.

But hey, I am happy for Loreen and Sweden!

My get rich quick idea for Sweden - California Closets

So you want to move to Sweden but don't have a job, or you are an immigrant who has been searching for work for ages, but to no avail. Here is my big tip to you. Start a California Closet type organization building and designing interiors of closets.

Why?

Swedes don't know anything about built-in closets. Oh sure, they may know IKEA. But every single apartment I have ever lived in, in Sweden, has had terrible closets.

1) The hanging baskets - I cannot explain how much I hate the stupid useless hanging baskets that seem to be a must in every Swedish apartment. Even my large walk in closet had a special closet full of hanging baskets. These baskets are pointless because they can never bear as much weight as they look like - ie. big drawers can maybe hold 5 sweaters before they start to sag. They also fall off their runners every time you try to open them. Seriously, for ages, The Swede and I spent mornings going 'Oh shit' every time we tried to get dressed. The hanging baskets are awful.

2) The deep and wide shelves - in many closets, above the hanging baskets are these exceedingly deep shelves that are practically too deep to use. You put your clothes in them and never see them again. I need to totally revolve my wardrobe every month or so, otherwise it would be gone.

3) The tiny, light weight hanging pole - There is usually a tiny area where you can hang your clothes. Usually I am more of a folder, but due to lack of smart folding storage, I have become more of a hanger. The problem? There is never enough room. The pole is too short, the hanging drawer space is too big.

But I don't want a bureau, I have a closet that takes up the entire side of my room. There is enough space there, but it is totally worthlessly designed.

We have solved the problem by taking the hanging baskets and placing them in the deep shelves. That way you can pull out the drawer and see what is in the back. We bought a small chest of drawers, that can actually bear weight and doesn't fall apart every time you open it, and put it where the hanging drawers were.

It isn't pretty but it is functional. So seriously, there has to be a huge market for functional and pretty.

I know you are probably wondering why, if this is such a brilliant idea, I haven't taken it on myself.

That is because you don't want me anywhere near your closets. Trust me. I am a terrible designer and organizer. Closet organizer as a career is an absolute worst fit for me. But when I am no longer renting, I might be happy to hire one (if we have any budget left over).

Buying a house in Sweden - the bidding process

So we decided we both loved the house and it was within our price range, so we decided to venture out into the land of the bidding war.

How do you bid on a house in Sweden?

via text message. Yes, you send amounts like '3,000,000' via SMS and then the others interested in bidding see your message and decide if they want to place a bid.

You are not legally bound to actually fulfilling your bid. The agent does not need to check to see if you have any capacity to pay the sum you have bid. You can just bid. We were actually really close to purchasing a place a few years ago when the top/most aggressive bidder decided at the last minute they didn't want it and they offered it to us. At our highest bid. Based on the aggressive bidders tactics. The Swede says I am nuts, but I am convinced the top bidder was a close friend of the sellers. Because seriously what is stopping anyone from doing that? Absolutely nothing.

Someone mentioned in a previous post about the US system in which the buyer has a broker and how that can be a pain. Maybe. But sometimes I just wish there was someone looking out for MY best interest in the largest purchase I will probably make in my lifetime. The Swedish real estate agent is supposed to represent both buyer and seller, but since their salary is based on commission and paid by the seller, I cannot see how this can conceivably work. Especially when they are too busy to answer questions or take a personal interest.

Let's take our dream house as an example. Even when we said we wanted to place a bid, the agent never responded to me personally. Never answered any questions via email. Only sent out mass mailings.

OK, so there were that many people interested in the house. In 8 hours, the price went up 500,000 SEK or just under 100,000. For a house that needed some serious renovation that we had a hard time estimating the cost of, things went over our limit pretty quickly.

I'm sad to walk away, but you can only do so much.