How to greet royalty. Preparing for Crown Princess Victoria. Swedes devour junk. Most well read school in Sweden.
How to greet a royalty
Is “How are ya?” gonna cut the mustard if you happen to run into a princess in the elevator? Or what does one say? Magdalena Ribbing at Dagens Nyheter, is an expert in manners and she tells it like it is. “If you meet a public person who is a member of the royal family, or a politician or actor or someone else you recognize, you can either choose to not let on that you know who he or she is, or just say a simple “Hello?” Most people will say “Hello” right back to you. You don’t have to step forward and shake their hand. There’s no need to say “God dag, Ers Kungliga Höghet” in a situation like this."
Preparing for Crown Princess Victoria
The Karolinska Institute is getting ready for Victoria and her baby. A large number of their parking lots have been closed off. “We can only assume that the birth will pique people’s interest,” says the hospital’s director of press, Klas Östman, to Svenska Dagbladet. Only days remain to the royal birth, and Karolinska reckons the birth will take place there, so personnel is getting ready. “The royal court has still not confirmed that the birth will take place here for sure,” Östman continues. “But if there’s a large media crowd, they need to park here and be able to broadcast straight from the hospital. They can do that.”
Swedes devour junk
In spite of a growing health trend, Swedes eat junk food like never before. Hamburger giants rake in record money, where healthy versions are offered as a lure, but where one still chooses the traditional menus. Max, a hamburger chain, increased their sales by 17 percent to over 1.4 billion SEK ($208 million) during last year as compared to 2010. Swedish McDonald’s has not yet released their accounts, but during 2010 they increased their sales for the fourth year in a row. “Even 2011 was a record year,” says Frida Berg, director of press at McDonald’s Sverige. Though the healthy alternatives help increase sales, it is the old stand-bys that sell best. “(The healthy alternatives) help the profile. The nutritious additions make the whole concept feel more healthy, whether you choose them or not,” says Richard Tellström, who does research in what we eat at Örebro University. Both Max and McDonald’s increased sales during 2011. Burger King has no statistics for the Swedish market yet, but sales have increased in the rest of Europe by 3 percent, and nothing says the trend should be any different in Sweden. These chains are good at recruiting new customers from an early age, and the older ones, who are now in their 50s, grew up with them.
Most well-read schools in Sweden
Students in Stockholm took out more than 50 percent as many books from the library last year compared to other years, and topping the list is a school in Rinkeby, where students speak more than 100 different languages. 41 books per student and year. That’s how many books were taken out at the school library of Askebyskolan in Rinkeby, a school that proudly shows the results. “The last books I read were ‘Alva kommer till skolan’ and ‘Kallt blod.’ I have many favorite books,” says Wissam Ragheb, in third grade. It’s thanks to school director Börje Ehrstrand that the children at the school are such good readers. According to him, language is the key to success and the key to language is reading books. “That good message you can only get through a rich language and these children have a right to a richer life,” he says. But the increase in school library loans also has to do with a concentration of reading and a change in the Swedish school law that demands all schools to have their own school libraries. The concentration on reading has been focused on where language skills are most needed: in areas with a lot of immigrants. “These are extremely conscientious teachers who work very hard, with reading especially. And it is of course more important in schools with students who have a mother tongue other than Swedish,” says Liberal Party politician Lotta Edholm.
The top ten schools for library book borrowing are: 1. Askebyskolan, Rinkeby (41 books per student and year) 2. Snösätraskolan, Bandhagen (40 books) 3. Kvarnbyskolan, Rinkeby (38) 4. Hyllingeskolan, Tensta (36) 5. Elinsborgsskolan, Tensta (30) 6. Knutbyskolan, Rinkeby (25) 7. Vinstaskolan, Vällingby (24) 8. Rinkebyskolan, Rinkeby (24) 9. Ålstensskolan, Bromma (24) 10. Norra Ängbyskolan, Bromma (23)
