Ljusrum (Light room)
Last year I made the terrible mistake of not taking advantage of the light room we have in the health promotion center here at the Karolinska.  I heard about it one year ago, thought that it was a fantastic idea, and then just sat on my sad, sorry little vitamin-D deprived, sunshine craving behind.The light therapy room is pretty great.  I couldn't go last week because deadlines loomed over me and essentially trapped me in my seat.  But, with a three hour lecture that I had to give this morning behind me, it was time to visit the light room and see what this therapy was all about. The basic idea with light therapy is

Kevin Spacey on the brain...apparently
Am I seeing things, or does this graffiti remind you of Kevin Spacey?This first one might be a stretch, but for some reason it makes me think of Mr. Spacey.  Readers of Stockholmies know that Swedes like to vandalize their crosswalk pedestrian signs in all sorts of creative ways. And, even more so, that I *love* it.   Then there's this other stencil graffiti I came across on

Hold your thumbs!
What is this crazy lady talking about?  Hold my thumbs?  Why?  To make the dogs jealous of our thumbs' opposableness?  Well, that was precisely my reaction when a Swedish coworker suggested that. Turns out that "holding thumbs" is like "crossing fingers"- a small, superstitious gesture in the hopes of making something come true.  As it turns out, it's not just a Swedish thing.

TV License
Sometime in early 2009 I received a phone call at work, on my mobile.  I remember it quite clearly because few people called me and no one had yet called my phone to reach Dave.  And in my terrible Swenglish I deduced (it turns out incorrectly) that I was part of a telephone survey.  I don't recall exactly how the conversation went, but I confirmed to the man on the phone that there was a television in our apartment. Then he said something that I translated as " you have to pay for your television" and I said that we already had a TV.  I was so surprised, this guy called, asked for my husband, asked me if I had a TV, and then told me that I needed to pay f

Label-lations (like sign-lations, but with labels)
Perhaps not the best name for a product, or at least not for hand disinfectant.  I have been seeing this all over the hospital because we are on orange alert regarding swine flu.  OK, I made up the orange alert part.