To our North American readers

Most sincere and heartfelt congratulations to you Emelie, on this your second (or third, depending on how you count them) birthday. I suppose you don´t remember me anymore, but take my word for it: that´s most likely a turn for the better, since you never really liked me when you knew me.

Anyway, this is greetings from the old country, a place where “great weather today” equals “not raining for the moment”, king and queens are not just from the fairytales and the combination of raw fish and vodka are considered to be a high point in life. Believe it or not, this is where you were born.

So that you should not lose all ties with us over here I´ve sent you a gift (yeah, I know, you are supposed to have it on your birthday, not a week later, but I suck at planning ahead) that is a true cultural icon in Sweden. That means little or nothing to you, of course, but it should at least bring a smile on your dads (and every other swede that might pass by) face, when he sees it in the heartland of America. Or maybe he isn´t one for nostalgia?

They´ve sold more than a million of these in the last 30 years, so, considering we´re a population of 9 million, it aint to far from the truth to say that most kids in Sweden got one. I still have the one my mom bought me when I was 7 (haven’t used it in while, though). And even if they did peak popularity-wise in the late 1970´s they seem to coming back again, so, if you should feel like using it, you would not only be showing off your Scandinavian background, you would also look pretty cool.

And no, it´s not a bloody dalahäst.

Love

Stefan