Let's get something straight: Santa Clause lives with his wife at the north pole. He goes around on christmas eve and knocks on doors to deliver presents. He doesn't come falling down chimneys, he doesn't put presents in stockings, and he most certainly does not go prancing around with his granddaugter!

If you've ever spent more than a handful of days in Sweden and listened to some Swedish spoken around you, it's doubtful that you can have missed the Swedish phrase "ja, precis" (literally translated "yes, precisely"), which seem to enter any Swedish conversation with an average rate of once per minute.

Some days ago I got the notice from the almighty gods and godesses at the National Agency for Services to Universities and University Colleges that I've been accepted to the course The Viking Society - General Course, 15 credits. The course is divided into two modules, with the first module giving an overview of the subject with a discussion about the term "Viking", as well as a study of the artifacts from that age. The second module focuses on discussions around Viking society in Scandinavia.

These days, it seems impossible to not spot IKEA ads around the city, calling on you to buy all your christmas presents from them, in only one day. Tempted? We were! As many Swedish families, we spent the weekend with a traditional IKEA shopping tour. No, we didn't stay for the entire day. No, we didn't deposit any kids in the day care center at IKEA. No, we didn't have meatballs at the restaurant half-way point through the store.

Have you ever considered peeling a cucumber before eating it? Or even putting salt on the cucumber because it doesn't taste otherwise? Is your biggest fear in life to catch a cold? Do you swear by fermented wheat as a very refreshing and nice drink? Are you consistently amazed when waiters and public officials are actually nice and willing to help? Would you prefer to avoid Bulgarians?

I've just uploaded some pictures from the 2008 season premiere of the Kolmården Zoo outside of Norrköping, Sweden, where I went about a week ago. My spontaneous opinion is that the zoo is going slightly too far in their attempts to be more attractive, with last years new Tiger World and this years new Marine World. According to the zoo, Marine World should make you feel as if you've been transported to Key West. And it certainly does that: it's somewhat annoying, since we're not in Key West at all, but in a forest in Sweden!