10182003

My long planned trip to the one Scandinavian Festival did happen. Unfortunately, between traffic and the festival proper I was most disappointed. Ignoring the traffic problems on the way there, I can not say much positive about the festival other than someone tried to keep the general Scandinavian spirit alive and well in my greater local area. Part can be traced to my expectations that Norsk and Svenske would be there in

good numbers. I was wrong. It was almost entirely Finnish or perhaps Finsk with some general Scandinavia or Skandia plus a tiny little bit of Svenske. The three good ( tre god ) things I have about the attendees proper are as follows...

01)    The one merchant I see frequently enough as in she is there every Scandinavian Festival I have attended in my home state so far was there as expected. The one Svenska lady hjelp did wave to me when I walked by at one point looking around. She, Svenska hjelp, is fairly friendly all the time. I bought two books from her boss Kirsten of "Kirsten of Denmark". Both are things I will enjoy. The first book is one on general Skandia humor or the myth it exists. The other book I purchased that day was a illustrated book on Vikings. Truth be told, if I had another $15 American I would have purchased a book on Skandia history for $50 USA plus taxes. I think I did well with the two books ( Jeg hva skal to god bokken ) I bought.

02)    I found VASA of North America net site some 3 or 4 hours prior during a lookup for Swedish Embassy. I was looking for Swedish Embassy as I wondered if it did like its Norwegian counterpart or not. The Royal Norwegian Embassy in Washington D.C. had a dedicated net site for many things Norsk here in USA. I was hoping that I could find the equivalent for Swedes. I was disappointed in the local Swede Embassy as too many links did not work. VASA site was a tad scare compared to Sonnen av Norge's site. One lady did inform me what the differences are between Sverige, Svenska, and Svenske.

Sverige = Swedish Nation; Fotboller Svenskas had "Sverige" on their jerseys and uniform along with the        appropriate patches.

Svenska = Swedish language or a female Swede.

Svensk(Svenske) = Swedish People

       VASA looks like a darn good society for Svensk and Svensk-Americansk. It will enable them to celebrate, honor, remember, and retain their Svensk roots here in America. Since I am not Swede or Swede-American nor am I a spouse or child to one, I can not join their organization even if I wanted too. It said that in blank and white on a niffy looking brochere.

03)    On my way back to my car, I found a car with two interesting decals. Sonnen av Norge and one promoting Lutefisk were on this vehicle. And it was not a Volvo either. My attempt at getting a good photo of both did fail. I have a good pix of Sonnen av Norge. I misshot taking the Lutefisk decal.

"Lutefisk The only fish worth mentioning" may be close what the decal said. The Sonnen av Norge decal has been cropped for privacy reasons.(*1)

10192003

I really need to ask what that lady's name is. I need to ask her "Hvar jeg heter de?" or What is your name?

I must make a solid effort the next time we meet. It is getting impolite from my view to not know it or have asked for it and been turned down.