Swedish Happenings

10 years ago by Hannah Patzer In High School - Sweden

Sweden is normally a very calm and mellow country. As I have stated many times before the nighty news if often quite the snooze fest; however, lately there has been some very interesting stories/headlines so I thought I might share with you guys some of the most recent happenings in Sweden.

1. Swedish fan killed in futbol game riot.

A football fan was tragically killed in a fight on the opening weekend of the football season in Sweden. The incident occurred at a match between Helsingborg and Djurgaarden. A Djurgarden supporter was assaulted before the game in a fight between ultras and died of his head injuries. And as news of his death spread, furious away fans invaded the pitch and started rioting. Because of the violence, the match between Helsingborg and Djurgaarden was abandoned.

2. Swedish test scores continue to drop and now are deemed to be one of the worst schooling systems in all of Europe.

Swedish students have underperformed – again. In a recent PISA report, they end up below average in problem solving.
– It is deeply worrying, says Helen Ängmo, the National Agency of direct.

FACTS
The result:
Sweden got 491 points, compared to the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ) average of 500 points in the element that tests students’ ability in problem solving. A total of 44 countries in the study. Sweden was the worst of the Nordic countries who participated. Singapore topped with 562 points ahead of South Korea (561) and Japan (552). Source: National Agency

In December released the first part of the PISA survey. It showed that the Swedish school system are in crisis as student knowledge continues to drop. Sweden also has the worst performance development of all OECD countries in math, science and reading comprehension.

To read more on Swedish Schools dropping in the ranks click here.

3. Swedes catch 40cm ‘rat from hell’ in their kitchen

A family in Solna, north of Stockholm, had no idea what was in store when their pet cat was too scared to go into the kitchen.

“We thought it could be a little mouse, but after a while we figured it couldn’t be because it was making too much noise,” Signe Bengtsson told The Local. Her worst fears were confirmed while emptying the trash a few days later when she saw a rat guzzling leftovers under the sink.”It was right there in our rubbish bin, a mighty monster. I was petrified. I couldn’t believe such a big rat could exist,” she said.”I couldn’t help but do the old classic and jump on the kitchen table and scream.”

It turned out that the rat had found its way into the apartment cellars by chewing through cement and wood, the pest controllers explained. ”It was quite a shocking experience,” Bengtsson said in summary. ”No one wanted to go into the kitchen after, and the cat was terrified for a week. The pest controllers said they’d never seen such a big rat before.” The rat measured to be 39.5 cm – not including the tail. As for the other family members, they’ve taken to joking about their ex-house guest.

4. Swedish lingonberry a weight-loss superfood.

Lingonberries almost completely prevented weight gain in mice fed a high-fat diet, a study at Lund University in Sweden has found – whereas the ‘super berry’ açai led to increased weight gain. The Scandinavian berries also produced lower blood sugar levels and cholesterol.

To read more about the possible health benefits of lingonberries click here.

I hope you all enjoy reading about some of the top stories in Sweden. Although, they still are not as exciting as America news – I found these stories to be very interesting. I think maybe once a month I will try and compile some of the top stories in Sweden to share with you guys.

In Hannah news, nothing too exciting this week. I had Swedish, Math, and Etik today. This afternoon Bea will be taking the first (of many) photoshoots of me for my Senior picture back in America! Bea is an AMAZING photographer. Seriously, the things she can do with photoshop and just the pure quality of her pictures is amazing – she could be a professional. So when I brought up the idea of her maybe snapping a few pictures of me so I could use one for my senior picture she immediately jumped on board. I love that about Bea, she puts her all into things when she does them. For example, she went online and researched senior pictures to get ideas on angles, where to shot, what to wear, poses, etc. She has been coming up with some great ideas and I cannot wait to see how they turn out!

Swedish Word of the Day: “Nyheter” – news. Every night at 19.30 we watch the “Rapport” which techincally means “report”, but also an be translated to mean news. When talking about actual news that has happened you use “nyheter” and when talking about watching the news on TV you would use “Rapport”.

Swedish Happenings

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