It's all happening next week...

National day of Sweden – 6th June 2012

First we celebrate Sweden’s National Day on Wednesday next week.
We will meet AVIDA Bar & Restaurant from 6pm onwards.
Keep a look out for the Swedish Flag! If you have a small Swedish table flag, bring it along to help decorate the table.
Please note, this get-together is not sponsored by the association (ie drinks etc at your own cost)
Where: AVIDA Bar & Restaurant,132 Featherston Street
When: 6 June
Time: 6pm onwards

Lucia, Saturday 9th June 2012

Then we celebrate Lucia on Saturday next week. This is by far our most popular event. Glögg, Saffron buns, ginger snaps,biscuits, hotdogs and much more - And yes the magician will be back - same procedure as last year.
When: Saturday 9th June 2012 – Please note change of day, it’s on a Saturday this year.
Where: Johnsonville Community Hall, 3 Frankmoore Avenue, Johnssonville
Time: 5 pm (Please don't be fashionably late for this event - you will miss out!)
Cost: $5 for children
$10 for members
$15 for non members

Your payment must reach us no later than Thursday the 7th of June to be regarded as pre-paid. Please use the form in our newsletter (http://www.sweden.org.nz/SweNZ/Welcome_files/newsletter.pdf). Alternatively you can pay and register online at: http://www.swenztaste.co.nz/Sweden-New-Zealand-Association-online-payments.html
Tickets can also be purchased at the door on the day (however, not guaranteed, as seats are limited) at the cost of:
$15 per adult and $5 per child. (Please note that door sale $15 will apply to members as well).

And the winner is...

SWEDEN WINS 2012 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST !!
Loreen from Sweden stormed to victory with 372 points.
Followed by the Russian Buranovskiye Babushki a group of "grannies" from Udmurtia who got 259 points after a hard fought battle on the scoreboard.

For more info see:

http://www.eurovision.tv/page/news?id=sweden_wins_2012_eurovision_song_contest

Mother's day in Sweden - 27 May 2012

Sweden celebrates Mothers Day today - Sunday the 27 May!
While we here in NZ celebrated Mother's day earlier this month Sweden always celebrates Mother's day on the last Sunday in May - which makes it today! For those you you who have mothers or grandmothers in Sweden - don't forget to call!

2.7 million Swedish mothers will have their day this Sunday. In Sweden we have observed Mother’s Day since 1919. At that time the day had already been celebrated for some years in the US, but celebrations honouring mothers can actually be traced back to ancient Greece.  (http://www.scb.se/Pages/PressRelease____334013.aspx)         

In Sweden, Mother's Day was first celebrated in 1919, by initiative of the author Cecilia Bååth-Holmberg. It took several decades for the day to be widely recognized though. Those born in the early nineteen hundreds typically did not celebrate the day, as the common opinion was that it had been invented strictly for commercial purposes. Same thing was said about Father's day, and only since the late 1970s has the practice found common acceptance. Mother´s Day in Sweden is celebrated the last Sunday in May, this year 2012 its the 27th of May. The reason for the late date is said to be because then everybody could go outside and pick flowers. (Source: Wikipedia)

Sweden’s best male stand-up comedian is a Kiwi

Sweden’s best male stand-up comedian is a Kiwi.
Al Pitcher is the 2011 recipient of the Male Comedian of the Year award in Sweden and he has just released his new book “Begravda Elefanter” ('Buried Elephants').


Pitcher says that his view of Sweden from an outsider’s perspective is like being “a kid in a toy shop”.
Swedes and foreigners are flocking to his shows and keeping a close eye on his online activity.

One of his stand-up YouTube clips has even attracted over 100,000 views.

The book was inspired by Pitcher’s award-winning Picture Show.
The book's title, which translates to “Buried Elephants”, comes from a particularly well-received picture of the Swedish ventilation shafts which bear an eerie resemblance to elephant trunks


For more info about Al Pitcher and his book see the following links:
http://www.thelocal.se/40880/20120516/
http://www.thelocal.se/38744/20120126/
http://www.alpitcher.com/

Swedish film "Last Will" showing at penthouse cinema.

As of next Thursday the 31 May, Penthouse Cinema in Wellington will show the Swedish movie Last Will based on Lisa Marklunds book "Last Will" - "Nobels testamente".

From the producers of The Millennium Trilogy comes a series of new Scandinavina crime films based of Lisa Marklunds worldwide best sellers. While covering the annual Nobel Banquet for tabloid Kvallspressen, crime reporter Annika Bengtzon witnesses a spectacular murder right in front of her. Two people are shot, one of them the controversial Laureate in Medicine, Aaron Wiesel.

For more information see:
http://www.penthousecinema.co.nz/movies/6588.php

Lucia Celebration 2012 – Maids, Staffan’s & little Santa’s wanted!

Our annual midwinter celebration, Lucia, is around the corner and it’s time for the boy and girls wanting to join the procession to start practising the songs.


First practise will be this Sunday the 20 May at 4pm at the Consulate General of Sweden, Level 7 Molesworth House 101 Molesworth Street.

Please contact Joanna on joanna@sweden.org.nz , 04-905 7440 if you and/or your child want to join in this year's Lucia.

No need for the under 5’s to come to our first practises, but we do require you to register with Joanna if you have young children wanting to join, as we need them to come along for the dress rehearsals. We also need to know size if you need to borrow outfit from the association.