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studyabroadconsultantsuae · 8 months ago

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Study in Sweden with the Guidance of Abroad Study Consultants

Do you have aspirations of studying abroad? Sweden is enticed by its vibrant culture and top-notch education. Everything you need to know about studying in Sweden is covered in this guide, from picking the best university to navigating cultural quirks. Studying in Sweden, a hidden treasure in the Nordic region is growing in popularity as a choice for foreign learners who are looking for a top-notch education. Studying abroad in Sweden has many benefits beyond academics; it's a complete experience that will impact your career and personal development.

International students now prefer to study in Sweden because of its openness to the global community. The student body holds the nation in high regard due to its distinguished educational system and values. In Sweden, where more than 1,000 degree programs are offered exclusively in English, international students from all over the world attend classes. In contrast to many other nations, Sweden permits its overseas students to work there while they are enrolled in classes.

With ten million people, most of whom speak fluent English, settling in is simple in Sweden. You'll soon become used to the relaxed lifestyle of the nation. Everything in moderation: you'll be challenged academically and routinely partake in fika, a Swedish tradition that involves getting together over coffee and cake with co-workers or friends.

Why Study in Sweden?

Sweden is beautiful

Be unique!

Study Swedish

Accept the Culture

A Top-Notch Educational System

Reasonably priced tuition fees

Jobs Available to Students

Experience the most talked about

Find a job after you graduate

Sweden is Beautiful:

Sweden is well-known for its enormous woods and breath-taking scenery in general. The natural surroundings of the nation provide an unmatched atmosphere wherever you go. Despite coming from a place where nature is abundant, completely wonder as strolled through the forests of Sweden. Its beauty is unlike anything you have ever seen.

Be Unique!:

Don't fear if you are a newcomer to the nation. Continue to learn and maintain your composure. Being confident is essential for success. Sweden is a nation rich in cultural diversity. Furthermore, one in five children in Sweden is the offspring of an immigrant, and nearly 15% of the country's population is first-generation. That does imply that this is a nation that values diversity and accepts students from throughout the world.

Study Swedish:

Even if it's not necessary to speak Swedish well to live or study in Sweden, you might still wish to seize the chance to learn a new language to improve your employability. Studying in Sweden could help. International students can take part-time Swedish language classes at many Swedish universities while they are enrolled in other programs.

Accept the Culture:

Sweden is a young, multicultural country. Their innovative and green technology makes them proud. There is a lot your university can provide to learn about their culture and history. The welfare, well-being, and peace of the nation and the world are central to Swedish society and culture. Sweden has a wonderful tradition of fika. To "fika" is to "have coffee." Fika is a casual coffee break used for social gatherings. Social welfare and the well-being of people, both inside and outside of Sweden, are important aspects of Swedish culture and society.

A Top-Notch Educational System:

Sweden boasts one of the strongest education systems in the world, and as a result, an increasing number of students choose the country as their study-abroad destination each year. As of 2022, Sweden remained one of the most popular travel destinations, with the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Australia following closely behind. A few Swedish universities are ranked in the top 100 in the world.

Reasonably Priced Tuition Fees:

For students from abroad, Sweden does provide several funding options. International students are given large scholarships by some universities, which are mostly given based on academic merit. While full rides are available at some universities, scholarships that deduct a certain amount from tuition are more prevalent.

Jobs Available to Students:

International students can get career guidance from the majority of Swedish universities. Whether you're looking for a student job or full-time work once you graduate, they can help you with your job hunt. It's normal to work a part-time job in addition to your studies in Sweden. In Sweden, working was most frequently associated with students seeking undergraduate and graduate degrees. However, the jobs that students do while they study differ depending on the topic of study.

Experience the most talked about:

The welfare state in Sweden is amazing. Benefits of working in Sweden include 18 months of paid parental leave per kid, free healthcare, sick leave, daycare, and education, as well as state subsidies in many areas to make life affordable and enjoyable. Additionally, you'll discover that the Swedish Work Environment Authority and robust union support provide workers in Sweden with exceptional protection and representation.

Find a job after you graduate:

Sweden is home to many international corporations, and there are many options for aspirational graduates, particularly if they want to work as engineers, software developers, architects, or in any of the other in-demand professions that the Swedish Migration Agency has highlighted. Rankings like the Global Innovation Index show that innovation is still a specialty in Sweden. Government spending on biotechnology, medicine, and climate change research has boosted employment prospects, growth, and research output.

Some of the Top ranked universities in Sweden:

Lund University

The Chalmers University of Technology

Uppsala University

Karolinska Institute

KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Umea University

University of Gothenburg

Stockholm University

Well-liked Programs:

Now that we have read about the well-known Swedish cities and universities, let's take a look at the well-liked Master's and Bachelor's degree programs in Sweden.

Masters:

Engineering Management

Industrial Management

International Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Solar Energy Engineering

Renewable Energy Production

Sustainable Management

International Financial Analysis

Mechanical Engineering

Medical Sciences

Business and Management

Bachelors:

Business and Management

Game Design and Graphics

Energy Transition - Sustainability and Leadership

Network Design and Computer Management

Prosthetics and Orthotics

Computer Science

Conclusion:

Abroad study consultants are essential to realizing your academic goals since they can help you select the best course of study and university, help with the application process, and provide you with information about Swedish culture. Their expertise guarantees a seamless transition and improves the learning process overall, freeing you up to concentrate on your academic goals and personal growth.

Studying in Sweden is a transformative experience that goes beyond academic pursuits. You may make your academic journey into an amazing adventure by embracing the distinctive culture, making wise decisions, and seizing the chances. Get free study abroad consulting from abroad study consultants, and they will support you every step of the way as you pursue your study abroad goals.

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abroad-education-consultants-uae · 8 months ago

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Study in Sweden with the Guidance of Abroad Study Consultants

Why Study in Sweden?

Sweden is beautiful

Be unique!

Study Swedish

Accept the Culture

A Top-Notch Educational System

Reasonably priced tuition fees

Jobs Available to Students

Experience the most talked about

Find a job after you graduate

Sweden is Beautiful:

Be Unique!:

Study Swedish:

Accept the Culture:

A Top-Notch Educational System:

Reasonably Priced Tuition Fees:

Jobs Available to Students:

Experience the most talked about:

Find a job after you graduate:

Some of the Top ranked universities in Sweden:

Lund University

The Chalmers University of Technology

Uppsala University

Karolinska Institute

KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Umea University

University of Gothenburg

Stockholm University

Well-liked Programs:

Now that we have read about the well-known Swedish cities and universities, let's take a look at the well-liked Master's and Bachelor's degree programs in Sweden.

Masters:

Engineering Management

Industrial Management

International Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Solar Energy Engineering

Renewable Energy Production

Sustainable Management

International Financial Analysis

Mechanical Engineering

Medical Sciences

Business and Management

Bachelors:

Business and Management

Game Design and Graphics

Energy Transition - Sustainability and Leadership

Network Design and Computer Management

Prosthetics and Orthotics

Computer Science

Conclusion:

#Abroad study consultancy #Abroad study consultants #abroad study consultants in UAE #abroad study consultants in dubai

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yanxidarlings · 3 years ago

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wait can i request platonic yandere nordics headcanons? not separated. uh if this is weird feel free to ignore it.

𝒴𝒜𝒩𝒟𝐸𝑅𝐸 𝒫𝐿𝒜𝒯𝒪𝒩𝐼𝒞 𝒩𝒪𝑅𝒟𝐼𝒞𝒮 𝒳 𝑅𝐸𝒜𝒟𝐸𝑅

• there is a multitude of ways this could go, perhaps you're a member of the nordics yourself, or maybe you're a country that's helped them out in the past, or just a friend of one of them that the rest have gotten attached to. one way or the other now you're stuck with five yandere's on your back, good luck.

• it's most likely finland or denmark met you first, both more outgoing then the rest of the nordics. it was probably tino that got attached first, he has a natural inclination to taking care of people, and when his darling, at least in his mind, looked to be in need of a loving family, how could tino deny them that?.

• he's clingy towards you, you'll start running into him more and more often, and since you're both there you two might as well hang out. a subtle yandere, tino really just seems like a mother hen, wanting to take care of you at all times, he pretty much just inserts himself into his darlings life. he tries to do things for them and his pretty affectionate, which comes off as overbearing to his darling, who's only known him for a month.

• sweden would take it upon himself to 'investigate' this new person his 'wife' has been suddenly doting over. you'd notice the shadow of a man wherever you went for a while, and eventually berwald would be introduced to you by tino.. and you aren't afraid of him. with even tino being slightly jumpy around him, his darling would be a breath of fresh air. it would be obsession at first sight, he and tino might just start planning to take you to stay with them from that point onward.

• similarly to sweden, denmark is one to attach hard and fast, matthias was probably just on his way to drag berwald out for a drink when he notices the swede 'observing' you from afar. how could berwald hide you from him this long! (it's only been like six weeks since you met tino), he's quick to glue himself to your side, without any intention to ever share you with someone else

• when denmark realises sweden and finland are also after his darling, he doesn't hesitate to take them away with him, without outside distractions. it'll be the perfect life, just his darling and their 'big brother denmark', except neither sweden or finland would ever back down.

• you might end up in a situation where you just keep getting kidnapped back and forth, tino is furious when he finds out and promptly moves you into his house, he hadn't planned on taking you so forcefully, he and berwald had agreed that they'd convince you to move in on your own, but then matthias just nad to go and escalate things.

• you know when you're at a friends house and they start arguing with their family?, it's like that but ten times worse.

• norway would be a different story entirely, thinking little of you when you first met him, actually, he probably doesn't even like you that much, he wouldn't become a yandere until you'd been kidnapped by the others. lukas will start getting sick of the madness and kidnap you himself until they calm down, he really had no intention of becoming so attached to you himself, but whether it was your passion for something, smile, laugh, heck maybe you can see his trolls, but his fellow nordics obsessions with you will gradually make more sense to him.

• you'd have much more freedom with norway, he can just use his magical friends to keep track of you, so at least you're not chained to a basement. once denmark, sweden and finland realise norway has you, they'll begrudingly come to the agreement to share you fairly.

• it was iceland that probably made the suggestion for them to just share you, he hadn't been really involved in the drama until you'd stay at their house as an 'official' member of the family. initially all he'd feel towards his darling was sympathy, having dealt with the other nordics overbearingness before, he'd be a breath of fresh air to his darling, the only 'normal' person, you're probably fonder of him then he is of you at first. emil becomes a yandere slowly, and quickly, one day he just attachs to them, especially if they treat him like an adult and not a child like the other nordics do.

• slowly but surely you'll end up with five clingy, obsessive, overprotective and possessive yandere's after you. after the madness of coming to the agreement of sharing you fairly, you'll be given more freedom, but rest assured that they'll never truely let you go.

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yandere-dark-cupid · 4 years ago

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Could I request the Hetalia nordics trying to woo a country reader or to at least try to get them to see them in a better light after they’ve already kidnapped them? Ty

Sure thing 😊! And thanks for replying to my ask T.Angel 💜❤💜. All though I have to say I made some slight changes. I just don't see any of the Countries kidnapping another Country with out it back firing majorly. I hope that okay with you. Sorry Angel 💜❤💜

Yandere Nordics: Trying to get their darling to see them in a different light.

Yandere Denmark:

First things first, I see Denmark as an Obsessive yandere ( and some other things, but I'll get to that in a later writing ). So with him being an Obsessive yandere, he'll try everything he can to get you to like him ( then love him but that step comes later on ).

So to say he's upset is an understatement, he is absolutely DEVASTATED that his darling of all people see him as a monster. So he'll try everything he can and use the knowledge he has stored that led up to this point to try and clear his name from being feared.

So his first step to doing that is getting you your favorite things ( whether it'll be from his secret shrine of you or buying it ) and many more... If you just ask.

Yandere Sweden:

I see Sweden as a Well-aware yandere ( also with something else, but I'll get to that in the future ). So for you to get kidnapped by him, you'd have to do something extremely dangerous. So he knows what he did is wrong. And believe me he is feeling the guilt that came with his wrong doing. But Sweden won't turn back from it, there is no turning back.

Just to put this out there, even when the Darling isn't kidnapped they'll still be intimidated by him in some type of way ( whether his height or resting bitch face ). So with them being kidnapped it makes the whole experience even scarier, much to his dismay.

So to lighten things up and make things more easier for you, he'll give you everything you desire ( except your freedom. Sorry Angel you're not gettin that back ). Hell, He'll even let you go outside for some time ( but under his watch though ).

Yandere Norway:

I can definitely picture Norway as a Stalker yandere. And to me he's similar to Sweden in this case, you had to get a signature other with out him knowing in order for him to kidnap you ( other than that I don't really see any other reason he'd kidnap you ).

With his magical friends at his side and with their help, they've managed to get get him the proper information to help him Charm you ( you know your likes, dislikes,.....fears ). Fuck, he'll go as far to show you his magic ( and maybe use some charming romantic magic to help woo you too ) and put on cute little show to distract you from your fear and current situation.

In the end he already had everything figured out. Even if you fear him in the beginning it won't to much of a while to charm you and stop you from fearing him.

Yandere Finland:

Believe it or not, but Finland might be one of the most dangerous yanderes out there; but one things for sure,.. he is the most dangerous yandere in the Nordics. More specifically a deadly mix of a Delusional Yandere and possessive yandere all into one. So it's expected he'll kidnap you pretty early. Like you could simply be interacting with friends AND FAMILY, and right then and there he's he's made the decision to restrict your freedom. And that's because of how possessive he is.

Since he's a Delusional Yandere, he won't believe ( at all ) that you see as a monster. All Finland believes is that he saved you from all the harsh, nastiness in the world and that you're just playing hard to get; you just need is little more extra love and you'll be warming up to him in no time.

That being said, Unlike the others; Finland will try to charm you by showering you with extra affection and love, to win your heart.

Yandere Iceland:

Like Finland, he's a mixer yandere. A mix of both Possessive Yandere and Stalker yandere all into one. So his possessive thoughts must have finally got to him, which led him to kidnap you.

Now Iceland might not be a Well-aware yandere, but he's knows for a fact you won't fall into is arms just like that. It'll take time for you to get used to him, to LOVE him. So he comes up with a solution for that. That solution is putting all the knowledge he has about you from stalking you to good use. Like what you Like to eat, books, drinks, etc. But if you like technology, you're going to have to earn that privilege ( even if you do you do you're under heavy super vision, just to tell you )

All in all, he has everything planed for this. But falling for him will be difficult. I mean, yes he gives you everything you ever wanted. But he's just so.... Creepy with it. Which will prove to be a problem in you "relationship" with him.

Well here you go T.Angel. Once again thank you for answering my asks, and sorry not getting this writing to you sooner. It just that I was so stump on the Nordics that I didn't have any Ideas on what to write first. But in the end I hope you liked you answer. Well Until next time my Little Tainted Angels, see you soon~ 💜❤💜

#yandere Nordics #yandere Denmark #yandere sweden #yandere Norway #yandere Finland #yandere Iceland #yandere hetalia

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95jezzica · 4 years ago

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Some Nordic HCs 01

- Norway is actually the oldest of the Viking trio, but let's Denmark claim the title because he honestly couldn’t care less about being the oldest.

- Their parents were Scandia and North, but Norway is the only one old enough to really remember them, since they died not long after Denmark and Sweden had “popped into existence”. (I want to note that I hc the Sami people to have their own representations, but they’re not related to the Nordics, and are for another post. It wouldn’t feel right to make them related, considering our history.)

- Denmark and Sweden are twins. Sweden just had the unfortunate luck to be born after midnight, and thus has his birthday the day after Denmark. (A reference to how Den’s national day is on the 5th of June, while Sweden’s is on the 6th). Yes, Denmark holds it high above Sweden’s head that Sweden is the youngest of the Viking Trio. x)

- Denmark is 203cm (6′7) tall, Sweden 218cm (7′2) and Norway is the “short” one of the Viking Trio at 180cm (5′9).

- Because of this many nations who hadn’t seen Norway outside of paintings or photos were surprised by how tall Norway actually was the first time they met him, since he was only short compared to his giants of siblings.

- Iceland is the youngest of the Nordics and stands at 173cm / 5′6.

- Finland is the shortest at 170cm/ 5′5, but also the strongest of the group when it comes to physical strength. (Probably mental strength too, tbh).

- Both Denmark and Sweden are smart individuals, but would never pass the Wisdom check. Sweden is just better at hiding it since he's so naturally quiet, and since he's usually able to blame all his stupid shit on Denmark. x’D

- Denmark finds it hilarious that most of the non-Nordics still don’t know at least half of the stupid shit he gets into is actually Sweden’s fault. x)

- For many years Norway was the one who made sure Denmark and Sweden didn’t get themselves killed. Nowadays he still does, but at least he has help from Finland and Iceland now. x)

- Iceland loves his older siblings and Finland very much, but by god does he wish he wasn’t the only normal one. (Spoiler alert: He isn’t one either.) xD

- Norway and Finland are best friends. Fight me.

- Sweden’s eyesight is complete and utter shit, but he doesn’t realize he needs stronger glasses since they DO help a little compared to being without them. With that said, even with his current glasses his eyesight is absolutely terrible and in modern age Sweden would likely count as legally blind.

- Because of this Sweden can’t SEE magical creatures, but he can hear and feel them. Sweden also has magic, but prefers not to use it since he’s not as good at controlling it like Norway is.

- Long before the Viking era Sweden once found a bear cub, mistook it for a puppy, and then adopted it. Needlessly to say Mama Bear wasn’t too happy about it, and Sweden has since then been permanently banned from adopting any animal without the input from one of the other Nordics. (Not that it really stops him). x’)

- Norway loves his mountains and to this day still have a cabin hidden away amongst them. The other Nordics are the only ones to know where this cabin is hidden.

- Norway, Sweden and Finland also share a secret cabin around Finland’s side of the Thee-Country Cairn. (The name of the place/point where Norway’s, Sweden’s and Finland’s borders meet each other). This is the cabin usually used for the Nordic meetings and/or vacations together.

- One time Iceland accidentally said ‘Dadmark’ instead of ‘Denmark’. No, he still hasn’t been able to live it down, and Denmark cried tears of happiness when it happened. x)

- Both Norway and Sweden are autistic, while Denmark has ADHD.

- Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland are considered cousins to the main-Germanics. (Prussia, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein).

- Everyone except for Finland know about Sweden’s quite frankly obvious romantic feelings for Finland. The only reason why the rest of the Nordics haven’t intervened yet is because they’re unsure if Finland returns Sweden’s romantic feelings or not.

- (The part of me which ships SuFin wants to say Finland returns Sweden’s romantic feelings, but it took a longer time for Finland to realize his feelings were romantic or if he even wanted a romantic relationship to begin with. If you’re not a SuFin-shipper you can just ignore this part though).

- Iceland sometimes feels insecure about how different he is compared to the other Nordics, but he takes comfort in that his language is the one who today is the closest related to old (west) Norse.

- The Nordics know a lot of languages. Those include: . The main Nordic languages. (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic and Finnish). . Old Norse (West, East & old Gutnish). . Greenlandic (Kalaallisut, Tunumiit, Inuktum). . Faroese. . Meänkieli. . The Sami languages. (North, South, Lule, Ume, Pite, East - etc). . German. (The old trading language back in the days). . French. (Was the Royal/Court language). . Jiddish/Yiddish. . Hebrew. . Russian. (More so Finland than the rest). . English. . Spanish, Italian, Mandarin and Greek. (School-level).

Bonus: - Sealand is also fluent in Scottish Gaelic, Irish Gaelic, Irish and Welsh. - As an internet nation Ladonia pretty much knows all languages which exists written on the internet or within an audio file- but he counts Swedish, Ladonska and Latin (yes, this is true) as his native languages.

- Sweden is Ladonia’s and Sealand’s Pappa (Swedish for papa/dad), while Finland goes by Isä (Finnish for dad).

- Sealand originally had a hard time learning Swedish and Finnish, since they’re so different to English, but with time and hard work eventually managed to master them both before tackling the rest of the Nordic languages.

- Sealand rotates between staying with England and Sweden, and they were once forced to use “Divorced Parents” as a cover when some nosy humans got a little too close with their investigations. Denmark thought it was hilarious. x’D

- Iceland pretends to be a bit grumpy/annoyed about it, but secretly loves it when he is sometimes asked if he can baby-sit Sealand and Ladonia. (Partly because he’s finally not the youngest and gets to be in charge). x)

[ The End ].

(For now?)

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zahut · 4 years ago

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I can’t ignore the fact that there’s a strong presence of antisemitism in the Scandinavian countries today but before continuing I also need to familiarize you with the fact, all too often overlooked, that there are not only different degrees of antisemitism in different countries and historical epochs, but also that we can and ought to speak of and analyse different kinds of antisemitism. Antisemitism is always a matter of prejudices about and animosity towards Jews, however, antisemitism is still not a coherent and stable body of attitudes. Reviewing the history of antisemitism in Europe we find that antisemitism in some epochs was mainly based on religious ideas, with Jews being seen as traitors who did not believe in Jesus as the Messiah and who should be blamed for having killed him; in other epochs antisemitism was instead fed by political ideas, with Jews being seen as strangers who did not belong to the people with a birthright in their nation state; we also have epochs when the idea of Jews as controllers, abusers, and exploiters of the economy surfaced as the predominant form of antisemitism; the Shoah that destroyed European Jewry in the first part of the twentieth century was, however, mainly based on racist biological ideas of Jews as a degenerate people whose very existence constituted a disease within the human body. Accordingly, this racist idea commanded the Jew be extinguished—both individually and as a people.

Behind these diverse aspects of antisemitism there usually lies a mental construction of a Jewish conspiracy of some kind. Even if it may not be quite obvious to the antisemite what Jews are really up to, how we actually killed the xian Messiah, infiltrated the nations of the world, run the world economy, or are in fact a racially degenerate people, etc.—just this, the very fact that this is obscure, makes the antisemite even more convinced that somehow there must be some kind of a secret (world) conspiracy behind it all. Here are two background examples of what is the predominant image of a secret Jewish world conspiracy in the Scandinavian countries today:

Late at night on February 15, 2015, a Bat Mitzvah party took place in the Jewish cultural centre where the main synagogue is also located in Copenhagen. About eighty people, most of them teenage girls, were celebrating that one of their friends had passed the symbolic threshold to become a fully independent and responsible member of the Jewish community. As part of what are now considered necessary regular security measures whenever a Jewish event takes place, thirty-seven-year Dan Uzan was acting as a volunteer guard outside the buildings where the festivities took place. Omar Abdel Hamid El-Hussein, a twenty-two-year Danish citizen with Palestinian parents, suddenly appeared and tried to get into the Jewish cultural centre behind the synagogue. Dan Uzan, unarmed but responsible for security at the entrance, blocked his path. The attacker, armed with loaded guns, shot him in the head at close range. Dan Uzan died. A few hours later El-Hussein was shot dead by a Danish police tactical unit.

On the evening of December 9, 2017, in Gothenburg, a Jewish youth organization held a Chanukah party. About forty persons were in a building adjacent to the synagogue when twelve masked men threw Molotov cocktails into the synagogue courtyard and ran away. By chance, the fire was noticed and put out before anyone was injured. Some time later the police succeeded in arresting three men: a twenty-two-year Palestinian from Gaza; a twenty-four-year Palestinian, and a nineteen-year Syrian. They were asylum seekers in Sweden: the latter two had been granted permanent residency status as refugees, while the man from Gaza had had his application for asylum rejected. In court they were all subsequently convicted of comitting a hate crime.

Before continuing I need to clarify some demographic factors. One relevant figure in this context is the absolute and relative number of Jews in the populations in question: The number of Jews living in Finland, with a population of 5.5 million, and in Norway, with a population of 5.3 million, is today considerably lower than in Denmark and Sweden. There are slightly more than a thousand people in each of these countries who could be regarded as belonging to a core Jewish population. The proportion of Jews as part of the population of the Nordic countries is very small. In Denmark and Sweden it is about the same as in today’s Germany, lower than in France, Hungary, the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands, but higher than in Poland, Spain, Italy, and Austria. The Scandinavian countries, although similar in some significant respects, nonetheless followed very different trajectories through the Shoah. In Norway close to 40 per cent of the two thousand one hundred Jews living in the country at the time perished under the rule of the Nazi-collaborator Vidkun Quisling. At the end of September 1943, the Danish Jews learned that they too would be persecuted. In an unprecedented and unique rescue operation, almost all of them, slightly more than seven thousand, managed to escape to Sweden where they were then well received. In the 1930s until the outbreak of the Second World War, Sweden’s immigration policy was very restrictive—just under three thousand Jews out of the many hundreds of thousands trying to escape Nazi persecution in Europe were permitted entry, most of them as “political refugees.” After the war, about thirteen thousand Jews were brought to Sweden from concentration camps and other places in Europe. This lay the ground for the fact that Sweden is the only country in Europe that today harbours a considerably larger Jewish population than before the Shoah. At the beginning of the 1930s there were slightly more than six thousand Jews in Sweden—today there are more than three times as many Jews in Sweden compared to when the Nazis took power in Germany.

In a previous study, based on data collected in 2012 in several European countries, among them Sweden, scholars were able to distinguish between three different kinds of antisemitism: classic antisemitism, Aufklärungsantisemitismus, and Israel-derived antisemitism.

Classic antisemitism is based on classic antisemitic stereotypes such as “Jews have too much control over global affairs” and “Jews are responsible for most of the world’s wars.” The proportion of persons within the national populations who hold such attitudes to an extent that warrants labelling them “antisemites” is continually being measured in many countries around the world by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). We refer to this as Classic antisemitism. In Denmark since around the turn of the millennium there has been an active neo-Nazi group that runs a local radio station (Radio Oasen) and at times organizes public demonstrations flying the swastika. It has also formed a political party, Danmarks Nationalsocialistiske Bevægelse (DNSB, National Socialist Movement of Denmark), and has participated in local elections in Greve, a municipality south of Copenhagen. In the 2005 municipal elections it received 73 votes, corresponding to 0.3 per cent of votes cast, and in the elections to the regional council they received 611 votes, corresponding to 0.1 per cent of votes cast. It has been estimated that in the whole country there might be around 1,000 passive and 150 active members of the DNSB. The largest and most active neo-Nazi organization in Scandinavia at present is the so-called Nordiska Motståndsrörelsen (NMR, Nordic Resistance Movement). It attempts to be a pan-Nordic neo-Nazi movement and in Sweden is also a political party. It was established in Sweden and claims to be active in Norway, Finland, and Denmark, and also to have members in Iceland. The NMR has been described as a terrorist organization due to their aim of abolishing democracy along with their paramilitary activities and stockpiling of weapons. One of the NMR’s favourite activities is to organize public marches and other kinds of collective demonstrations wearing uniform-style outfits, flying Nazi-inspired flags, and so on in connection with various large public cultural and political events. These have included the annual bookfair in Gothenburg and the all-inclusive political summer-rally in Almedalen on Gotland, where members of the group assaulted two pro-Israel activists on 6 July 2018. On special occasions they manage to bring out a few hundred sympathizers, but generally they seem unable to muster more than a few dozen. At times they appear threatening and resort to violent forms of action. Some of them have participated in general and local elections, but normally without gaining enough support to be represented in any government body.

In the 2018 general elections in Sweden, NMR received a total of 20,106 votes, which corresponds to 0.03 per cent of the votes cast in the country. Even if the NMR and other similar groups are very small in terms of numbers, they are still quite visible in the public sphere. This fact in itself causes definite alarm.

Add to this the fact that since the 2018 general elections the third largest party in the Swedish parliament (based on slightly less than 18 per cent of the vote in the national elections) is the Sverigedemokraterna (Sweden Democrats). This party has actually grown from the same ideological roots that nourish the aforementioned Nazi-affiliated groups. However, since its creation in 1988, in parallel with its rapidly growing popular support—mainly due to its strong anti-immigration and by implication also anti-Muslim positions—it has moderated these positions and now prefers to present itself as a socially conservative and nationalist party. With its 2010 entry into the Swedish parliament, it has tried to distance itself from its white supremacist and Nazi-influenced background. As part of its attempt to pursue this transformation, several party officials have been excluded because of their either bluntly racist or antisemitic statements. Nonetheless, this did not stop one of their representatives and former second deputy speaker of the Swedish parliament, Björn Söder, from suggesting in a 2014 interview with the leading Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, that since Sámi and Jews (for example) have dual identities, they would have to adapt and be assimilated in order to be considered Swedish in the cultural sense. This was interpreted to mean that Jews cannot be Swedish—unless we abandon our Jewish identity.

In 2016, another leading representative of Sverigedemokraterna, its then parliamentary group leader and now economic-political spokesman, Oscar Sjöstedt, jokingly recounted how he and some colleagues, German slaughterhouse workers in Iceland, would kick sheep, pretending they were Jews, while shouting “die Juden!” The fact that the leadership of Sverigedemokraterna did not find this reason enough to sanction their representative might be an indication of the party’s tacit acceptance of antisemitism.

To sum up on this point: There appears today to be a smaller proportion of the population in the Scandinavian countries who have classic stereotypes and negative attitudes about Jews than among the general population in other comparable countries in the world. In Sweden the proportion of classic antisemites in the general population is lower than anywhere in the Western world. Still, there are neo-Nazi groups in the Scandinavian countries. This is particularly so in Sweden where, although small in terms of membership and very weak in attracting popular support, they have succeeded in attracting attention through their public demonstrations and actions.

Another kind of what actually might be perceived as antisemitism are attempts at prohibiting core Jewish practices such as Brit Milah (the circumcision of newborn male babies) and Shechitah (the slaughter of animals according to ritual prescriptions). The 2018 FRA survey asked respondents about the extent to which they had heard it suggested that circumcision and/or slaughter according to traditional religious rules should be banned in their country. Almost all respondents in Denmark (98 per cent) said they had heard non-Jewish persons suggesting that circumcision or slaughter according to Jewish tradition, or both, should be prohibited. In Sweden, 77 per cent of respondents were also aware of non Jewish people suggesting this for their country. Since slaughter according to Jewish tradition is already forbidden in Sweden since 1937 and Denmark since 2014—the suggestions heard in both of these secular-Lutheran countries primarily concern circumcision. In none of the other ten participating EU countries are Jews confronted by such suggestions to the same extent. Suggestions of this kind were more rarely heard in Catholic countries like Hungary, Spain, and Italy.

In 2012, no EU member state other than Sweden had a law in effect prohibiting Shechitah. Since 2012, however, legal prohibition of Shechitah has also been introduced in the Netherlands, in the province of Wallonia in Belgium, and in Denmark. At the time that Denmark ratified the law in February 2014, the minister of agriculture, Social Democrat Dan Jørgensen, proclaimed that “animal rights weigh heavier than respect for religious considerations.” In this context it should be mentioned that in recent years there has raged an intense and widespread public debate in Denmark on the circumcision of infant boys. A Danish medical doctor, Morten Frisch, launched a branch of the Intact America organization, called it Intact Denmark, and succeeded in making it into a popular movement. A journalistic internet survey indicated that slightly more than 80 per cent of the Danish population would like circumcision of infant boys to be prohibited in Denmark. A petition to the same end collected the fifty thousand signatures required to have the issue raised in the Danish Parliament. However, the government-appointed Ethics Council (Det Etiske Råd) had already been asked by parliament to examine the issue. On June 28, 2018, they recommended that religiously motivated ritual circumcision of boys in Denmark not be prohibited. On the seventy-fifth anniversary of the rescue of the Danish Jews from Nazi-occupied Denmark to Sweden, October 11, 2018, in the fully packed Copenhagen synagogue, Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen stood in front of the Torah ark and faced the assembled dignitaries and members of the Jewish community, promising not to allow any religious rights or traditions to be taken away from the Danish Jews. In spite of the strong popular movement to legally prohibit Brit Milah, this practice has not been banned in Denmark, nor has it been in Iceland, where a similarly popular initiative to do so had been raised at the same time. In Sweden, too, calls have recently been made to prohibit Brit Milah. For example, in 2011 the former chairman of the Liberal Party and minister of social affairs, Bengt Westerberg, headed a motion to legally prohibit the circumcision of infant boys. Still, in spite of strong popular opposition to the practice, neither in Denmark nor in Sweden is Brit Milah legally prohibited—yet. The reason for this is probably that a majority of parliamentary politicians in these countries recognize how, all things considered, it would tarnish their country’s image and risk having them labelled “anti-Jewish” for being the first country in the world today to prohibit this core Jewish practice.

It should be understood that behind the strong efforts in the Scandinavian countries today to ban Brit Milah and Shechitah are mainly humanitarian, liberal ideas about individual free choice, and ideas about what constitute “humane” animal rights. This corresponds to the priority given to rationalist reasoning and the parallel secularist disrespect for religiously-based convictions that characterize much of modern Scandinavia. In relation to what we are discussing here we use the term Aufklärungsantisemitismus—a notion coined by the French-Italian historian Diana Pinto—to refer to this.

However, the remarkable support for the Intact Denmark movement and many of the other rather aggressive efforts to stop the practices discussed here, cannot be attributed solely to a preference for rationalist attitudes and humanitarian concerns. Rather, much of the support for these attempts also—and this is particularly so in Denmark—stems from mainly blatant anti-Muslim but also (albeit not so outspokenly) anti-Jewish sentiments. Even if it is true that the campaigns against Brit Milah in Denmark and Sweden build upon strong Enlightenment-based convictions (however often mixed up with misunderstood and wildly exaggerated notions about how circumcision actually affects the baby boy), and even if it is also true that this form of antisemitism—to the extent that it should even be labelled antisemitism—is not life-threatening to individual Jews, several Jewish community leaders and members do regard it as threatening the future of Jewish life in the country.

A third form antisemitism consists in accusing and attacking Jews and Jewish institutions in the country, referring in one’s actions to what one thinks the State of Israel has or is supposed to have done. We label this kind of antisemitism Israel-derived antisemitism.

A measure of Israel-derived antisemitism might be the degree to which Jews in Europe feel safe or unsafe because they are Jewish, due to the impact of the Arab–Israeli conflict. To the question “To what extent does the Israeli-Arab conflict impact on how safe you feel as a Jewish person in your country?” the poll received the following answers: in Sweden: a great deal (40 per cent); a fair amount (27 per cent); a little (28 per cent); not at all (5 per cent), in Denmark: a great deal (35 per cent); a fair amount (35 per cent); a little (26 per cent); not at all (4 per cent).

This shows that approximately two thirds of the Jewish respondents in both Sweden and Denmark appear to perceive their security in their respective countries as being strongly affected by the ongoing Arab–Israeli conflict. Among the twelve EU states investigated, the Jews in Belgium, France, Spain, and Germany—those countries hit most severely by terrorism—perceived the impact of the Arab–Israeli conflict on their sense of security as Jews even more strongly, whereas Jews in the former communist and currently immigrant-rejecting countries Poland and Hungary did so to a considerably lesser extent. Another indication of Israel-derived antisemitism might be found in the answers to the question “How often do you feel that people in your country accuse or blame you for anything done by the Israeli government because you are Jewish?” To this question the poll received the following answers: in Sweden: all the time (14 per cent); frequently (20 per cent); occasionally (42 per cent); never (26 per cent), in Denmark: all the time (9 per cent); frequently (28 per cent); occasionally (44 per cent); never (19 per cent).

Here too, Jews living in Poland and Hungary, where according to the ADL index there is a considerably higher proportion of antisemites in the population than in the other twelve countries included in the FRA survey, experience being blamed for what the Israeli government is doing to a considerably lesser extent than do Jews in Sweden, with its remarkably smaller number of classic antisemites in the general population.

Meanwhile, in 2018, Jews in all other participating countries except for the UK felt blamed as Jews for what the Israeli government was doing to a larger extent than Jews in the Scandinavian countries. To explore the animosity against Israel further and, if possible, also to get an idea of the extent to which such attitudes spill over onto Jews living in each of these countries, they also asked to what extent the Jewish respondents had heard non-Jewish persons in the country state, “The world would be a better place without Israel.” This is reported to have been heard within the last twelve months by about one third of the respondents in all countries involved; in Denmark, 34 per cent report having heard it, in Sweden the number is 26 per cent.

A comparison between the proportion of respondents who say they have experienced antisemitic harassment in 2012 and 2018 conveys that this has on the whole remained the same over the years. However, with respect to having experienced offensive or threatening comments in person, this is reported to have increased in two of the countries, Germany and Sweden.

Even if it is true that only a small proportion of the persons who participated in the survey report having been the victim of a violent physical attack because they are Jewish, and even if such attacks and threats do not occur frequently, the fact that they occur at all may cause a higher and more longlasting level of fear among Jews, for instance of being identified as such because of carrying or wearing something that might help people recognize us as being a Jew. This sense of fear may reach even beyond the localities where the violent antisemitic attacks have occurred, and then have a greater impact than even frequent occurrences of antisemitic comments and widespread antisemitic attitudes about Jews living in the country do. The fact that this kind of attack is today mostly attributed to Muslim extremists and the fact that the reasons the perpetrators give for carrying out these actions are related somehow to Israel, makes Israel-derived antisemitism a major factor in contemporary antisemitism—and this is especially so in Scandinavia.

Both the 2012 and the 2018 survey asked the respondents, “Do you ever avoid wearing, carrying or displaying things that might help people recognize you as a Jew in public, for example wearing a kippah/yarmulke, magen David/Star of David or specific clothing or displaying a mezuzah?” In 2012 they found the level of avoidance of carrying anything that might identify one as a Jew to be higher in Sweden than in the other participating EU counties. In the 2018 survey this question was put only to those respondents who in their answer to a preceding question had indicated that they at least sometimes wear, carry, or display such items. The result with that screening still shows avoidance in the Scandinavian countries to be higher than in most of the twelve participating EU countries. The country with the highest percentage to report avoiding displaying Jewish symbols “all the time” and “frequently,” among those who describe themselves as sometimes carrying such symbols, is Denmark (41 per cent). The corresponding figure in Sweden is 35 per cent. In France and Germany it is almost the same, 36 per cent, whereas the feeling of needing to hide one’s Jewish symbols is lower in all other countries.

Noteworthy in this context are the figures for Hungary. Hungary is the country with the highest proportion of antisemites in the general population, and yet it is the country where the fewest respondents who sometimes carry Jewish symbols feel the need to avoid doing so always or frequently (16 per cent). Is there a paradox in this? Sweden and Denmark are the countries with the lowest, and Hungary is the country with highest proportion of classic antisemites in the general population. Hungary is also the country with the lowest proportion of Jews who feel they always or frequently for security reasons need to avoid carrying anything that might make them recognizable as Jews, whereas Denmark and Sweden have the highest proportion of Jews who avoid carrying symbols that might make them recognizable as Jews.

The analysis concludes that this is not a paradox. The popular idea that it is always “the same old antisemitism” that again and again pops up and “shows its ugly face” does not find support in the study. Of course, there are persons who at the same time, for example, hold classic antisemitic stereotypes, are very hostile towards Israel, and favour prohibiting core Jewish customs such as the circumcision of baby boys and the manufacture of kosher meat products. The data, however, does not suggest that there should be a significant correlation between these—rather, it points to each form of antisemitism being inspired by different underlying “philosophies,” being carried by different social groups, and being manifested in different ways.

Above I have presented to what extent these distinct antisemitisms are manifested today in the Scandinavian welfare states, i.e. Denmark and Sweden. Let me summarize some main features of contemporary antisemitism in Scandinavia:

By European and international standards there are today outstandingly low levels of classic antisemitism in the population. Propositions like ��Jews have too much power in the country,” “the interests of Jews in the country differ from the rest of the population,” “Jews are not capable of integrating into society,” and the like are less often heard in either Denmark or Sweden than in any of the other EU states.

By European and international standards there is an outstandingly high level of Aufklärungsantisemitismus, i.e. attacks on and attempts at prohibiting the practice of core Jewish customs. Virtually all Jews in Denmark and more than three quarters in Sweden have recently been confronted with such proposals, in particular about ritual circumcision (Brit Milah). In other EU member states such propositions are heard to a considerably lesser extent. Religious slaughter (shechitah) has already been prohibited in these two countries, unlike most of the other participating EU member states.

Israel-derived antisemitism, i.e. attacks on Jews and Jewish institutions in the country which refer to what the State of Israel is doing, appears to be a major source of unease among Jews in Denmark and Sweden. Two thirds of respondents in these countries report that the Arab–Israeli conflict impacts “a great deal” or “a fair amount” on their feeling of safety in the country. This is the case even though the extent to which they are blamed for what Israel is doing, or confronted with statements such as “the world would be a better place without Israel,” is not any greater than in the other EU member states—rather the opposite in fact. Is there another paradox in this? No, an explanation is to be found in the clear discrepancy that exists in Denmark and Sweden between the general population on the one hand and pockets of individuals on the other. The population on the whole is “politically correct” and quite capable of distinguishing their occasionally very harsh criticism of Israel from their behaviour towards Jews in general and from rejecting Israel’s right to exist, but in the same two countries there are individuals and small groups who share an impression of Jews in general being accomplices to whatever the State of Israel does. Moreover, they are also not adverse to viewing Jews as party to an imagined evil Israel/US plot to exploit, oppress, and destroy the world.

About twice as large a proportion of respondents in Sweden than in Denmark perceive antisemitism to be “a very big problem.” Historical national self-images probably play a role here. In Denmark one proudly recalls the rescue of the country’s Jews in October 1943. Denmark in the eyes of the Danes, and also in the eyes of the Jews living in Denmark, was never an antisemitic country—quite the opposite! In Sweden, on the contrary, there is a certain self-blame for having endorsed a “J” being stamped in the passports of Jews trying to escape Nazi Germany, whereby they could more easily be refused entry into Sweden. This self-blame also results from the fact that Sweden, although neutral during the Second World War, allowed the German Wehrmacht to use its territory for troop transports.

Besides historical facts, more contemporary factors also distinguish the countries. In Sweden, clearly neo-Nazi movements have in recent years been very active and visible on the public scene. This is not the case in Denmark. In Sweden a populist political party with obvious neo-Nazi roots, Sverigedemokraterna, is strongly represented in the Parliament. Members of this party have repeatedly been caught making antisemitic remarks and gestures. In Denmark, a xenophobic populist party, Dansk Folkeparti (Danish People’s Party), has a similarly very strong standing in the parliament, however it is not stained by similar Nazi tendencies. Add to this huge differences between the countries with respect to immigration and immigration policies. Whereas in recent years Denmark, largely under the influence of Dansk Folkeparti, has pursued a very restrictive line regarding immigrants and refugees from the Middle East being able to settle in the country, Sweden has been much more open and generous in this respect. The number of immigrants and refugees from the Arab and the Muslim world in general received in Sweden is much higher than in Denmark. Even if this in itself is not related to acts of antisemitism, the presence in the country of members of these groups may, rightly or wrongly, be perceived as a latent threat to Jews in the country. The magnitude of such a perception may very well be related to the relative size of the groups in question, in particular of young marginalized Arabs and Muslims, living in one’s neighbourhood or the country in general. The infamous events that have taken place in the city of Malmö in recent decades may serve as a case in point illustrating this.

#antisemitism #sweden #jumblr #jewish tag

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lietpolski · 2 years ago

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0 for Iceland if you're still doing these?

im SADLY still doing uni work so yes i'm still doing these asks to make it more bearable :,) oh oh but i'm excited to talk about iceland thanks for asking about him!! :DD

1) what would their social media page/activity be like: almost none! it just doesn't seem like his kinda thing u know it goes against his old man energy... but he does use social media to talk to people and keep up with what the others r up to, he just doesn't post much! except for nature pics on instagram <- i think that's canon but don't quote me on it

2) what animal they remind me of: puffin is a boring answer so i'll say he gives off cat energy!! not in a catboy way, in the clingy-but-pretending-not-to-be way

3) my thoughts on their design/aesthetic alone: LOVE his design!! i think his outfit is unique and looks so nice (if u forget the shoes). i did kinda prefer him with the blue eyes he had innnn the movie was it?? but purple looks cool! ALSO ashy-haired iceland is the only iceland to me ok!! he and finland look too much alike in the newer seasons >:(

4) physical headcanons: i think he has a rlly good sleep schedule! like we're talking,, 10pm to 6am he's insane like that. i like to think of him as just slightly shorter than nor, and taller than finland! umm this isn't a headcanon it's canon but i feel like it's an unpopular opinion on tumblr :,) but he's 17 to me! he's also on the slender side. he never had to fight the way the other nordics did, so he's a bit twiggy

5) social headcanons: yes ok!! i covered his relationship w/ denmark in that ask so i won't talk about it again. i think it's so sweet how he looks up to sweden in canon, and while i don't think he grew up close enough to him to view him as a father figure, he's kind of a dad friend to him! ice definitely values social connections a lot, but he still struggles with making them, so he pretends not to. it's been better since the internet became a thing! but u have to think about what being a preteen growing up with ur only friends being your brothers does to someone :,) he's still not the best at socializing and making friends. ALSO NOT A HC BUT I LOVE THAT HE HATES ENGLAND ITS VERY FUNNY TO ME i hc he gets all >:/ when norway talks about hanging out with england like eugh. that guy?

6) psychological headcanons: like i said i think loneliness and self-isolation are def things he's struggled with. the other nordics help a lot but ! i think especially when he was growing up he felt insecure about physically growing so much slower than everyone around him, too. he & norway are also super interesting to me! i think his whole not wanting to call him big brother thing would be more than just him wanting to look grown up (but that too!), he feels awkward being emotionally vulnerable with norway, after growing up extremely close to him but then not hearing from him at all during his formative years (when denmark had to step in). they love each other all the same, but the awkwardness in their relationship is more than just him being immature! don't get me wrong they get along though and tease each other and talk on the phone about silly things and i adore them

7) ship(s) with them that I like or at least consider: aah i like hongice a lot !! i've literally only ever found one good fic of them BUT IT WAS SO GOOD that i fell in love with them as a couple!! i also think him and luxembourg or hongice + lux would be fun!

8) made-up connections with other characters that weren't in the canon (friends, enemies, whatever): aah i don't actually think i have any :,) it's not canon anymore because of him making friends with the aseans, but prior to those strips i would've called him the nordic with the least relationships outside of the group. i think he's friendly with the others around his age though! taiwan, seychelles, liechtenstein, lux, latvia! and he likes america, although he overwhelms him

9) Headcanons about their past: hrmrm in the hongice fic i mentioned he stayed in london during ww2 and i think that idea makes a lot of sense & i really like it!! the rest i've pretty much covered. i'll add that in my head he lived with norway growing up (canon is kind of contradictory, but one strip implies he lived in iceland even after he met norway). i just think it makes more sense that they wouldn't leave this kid all alone?? but it does also mean he witnessed a lot of difficult things (sweden & denmark's fights especially) so it wasn't always a happy time

10) content about them I'd like to see more of: him & denmark like i said !! also more nationverse hongice i feel like it's so rare!! and i loooove things going into the complexities of him & norway as siblings. plus anything about his young teens because we only ever see a frame of that in canon i'm p sure!!

#hetalia iceland you are so dear to me!! such a good character #maia talks #ask

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sapphirelass · 4 years ago

Text

What family is all about - Weasley FamilyxWeasley!Sister

Hiiiiiii!!! It’s... been a while. Again. Let’s face it, I’ll never be able to post as often as I’d like. I just don’t like rushing stuff, or posting anything I’m not happy with, so...

Anyhow, I LOVED writing for the Weasley family, and I’ll most likely do it again soon. Bill and Charlie are both underrated characters in my opinion and I had a ton of fun letting them ‘shine’ (despite this being a sort of sad story, but that always seems to be where I end up... XD)

Also, I might have to edit this once more, but it’s late, I have not posted in about two weeks and I just want to go to sleep XD That being said, take it for what it is, and I’ll try to correct any grammatical errors later. Good night! <3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please note:

1: I don’t own any of the gifs used, nor any already established characters, so credit to the authors and original creators - You have done a phenomenal job :)

2: English is not my native language, as I was born and raised in Sweden. I have, however, studied English for almost a decade, so I don’t think it’ll be a problem, I just thought I’d let you know ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Word count: ≈ 2800 (they just keep getting longer, don’t they? XD)

Warnings: Light swearing, blood, angst

Enjoy! :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That’s what family is all about

“How big did his tongue get?”

“It was four feet long before his parents would let me shrink it!”

The sound of laughter was heard from the kitchen as Elwira Weasley entered her childhood home. She worked as an arithmancer, and had been stationed at a research-facility in the northern parts of Sweden for the past few years. Her work took up most of her time, but she had just travelled home to go see the quidditch final with her dad, older brother Bill, twin brother Charlie and all their younger siblings.

“It isn’t funny”, her dad shouted. “That sort of behaviour seriously undermines wizard-muggle relations! I spend half my life campaigning against the mistreatment of muggles, and my own sons-”

“Are just a wee bit too daft to understand that!”

She walked through the door and found her entire family, plus two other people she didn’t know, all sitting or standing around the kitchen table.

“Ellie?!”

Her older brother and twin, with whom she had always been extremely close, both made their way across the room and pulled her into a hug so tight she could barely breathe.

“Blimey! ‘ello Bill, hey Charlie! Long time no see, huh?”

“Certainly!”, their mother exclaimed while pushing the two oldest sons to the side as she tried to get a good look at her grown-up daughter. “Not a single visit since Christmas, Elwira Weasley, we’ve had to do with owls for six months?!”

“Sorry, mum, there’s been a lot of work to do… I thought I’d stay for the rest of the summer though, if that’s okay with you?”

“Of course, dear! Have you eaten yet?”

“No, I’m famished!”

Mrs Weasley went off to get another plate, and Ellie, after greeting everyone and being introduced to Harry and Hermione, took a seat between her dad and youngest brother.

“So Ronald? Had a good term?”

“Err.. Sure? Nothing interesting except for the stuff I wrote to you about, though.”

“Well you’re going into your fourth year now - almost halfway through!” She paused for a moment and turned to her father. “You good dad? You seem a bit… tense?”

Arthur looked up from his plate and sent his daughter a kind smile.

“Don’t worry about it, darling. Hosting the world cup comes with a great deal of problems all with the need to be solved. Admittedly, it’s not really part of my job, but the entire ministry becomes quite chaotic when something like that is days away. I’m a bit stressed, that’s all. How are things up in Scandinavia?”

“They’re… somewhat slow to be honest. There’s so much work to do between like October and February, but in the summer it’s mostly filing and other boring bits of paperwork.”

“Elwira?”, Hermione asked. “Sorry, I’m just curious, what is it that you do? Ron’s never told us…”

“That’s probably cause Ron doesn’t understand what I’m doing”, she smirked, “but of course, I work with, and study, arithmancy which, as you might know, is part of what’s called ‘natural magic’.”

“Great!”, mumbled Ron quietly, making sure only his friends and older sister heard. “Hermione, there are four rules in this house, okay? One: Don’t ask Charlie about dragons, Two: Don’t ask Percy about anything, Three: Don’t ask dad about muggles, and Four: Don’t ask Ellie about her job. Break either and you’ll be stuck listening to a five hour lecture.”

Hermione didn’t seem to be bored though, so Ellie ignored her brother’s comment and continued.

“It’s the type of magic that has been studied and worshiped since ancient times and has a very strong connection with nature. The natural phenomena with the strongest affiliation with magic is, while they in themselves have what the muggles would call a ‘scientific explanation’, the northern lights. Meaning it’s only when they’re visible that we can make any significant progress.”

Ellie paused and glanced at the younger girl, trying to see whether she had caught on or not, and was happy when realizing that she had.

“And... “, questioned Hermione, “the northern lights are only visible north of the polar circle and b-”

“Between September and March, exactly… Meaning there’s sadly not that much advanced research that can be done during the rest of the year…”

“It’s still a fascinating subject though. I only started last year, but I love it.”

“I’m glad! At least some people appreciate the wonderful art that is arithmancy, Ronald!”

Ron looked up at the mention of his name and met his sister’s gaze.

“I just don’t find it interesting”, he said.

“Right, because you ha-”

Ellie didn’t get to finish her sentence before being interrupted by her twin brother.

“Hey, Ellie? Must have been fun watching the Nordic versus Germany, huh?”

“Oh shut up, Charlie!”, she groaned while putting her head in her hands. “Holy Merlin…” The Nordic National Quidditch team, of which she had become a huge supporter in the last few years, had suffered a HORRENDOUS loss against Germany, and it had certainly not been a fun night.

Her brother, however, did not shut up, but instead burst out laughing.

“Charlie, it’s not funny!! You should have been there though… You’d have done a much better job than the stand-in seeker we had.”

“What were the results again? 700-20?”

“... 520 actually”

“520 to??”, Bill said mockingly

“You’re idiots both of you… 520-0, happy now?”

Ellie hadn’t realized that everyone else around the table had been listening in on their conversation, but was made aware when Fred, George, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Arthur began laughing loudly.

“Why is this so funny to everyone? England lost badly too, and neither Romania nor Egypt even qualified to compete?!”

“Yeah...”, began Fred.

“But none of them lost with 520 points.”, finished George, earning himself a furious look from his older sister who stood up and shook her head.

“I’ll go see if mum needs any help…”

~~~~~~

Ellie loved her family, and therefore all her slightly annoying brothers, beyond everything, but being away from them for months and then meeting them all at the same time was TIRING! Having no desire to sleep through the world cup, she decided to go to bed early the night before, and she had barely closed her eyes before she fell asleep...

~~~~~~

“3, 2 ‘shhhh, quiet!”

Ellie took notice of the obnoxiously loud whispers, but it wasn’t enough to fully wake her up.

“We’ve got one more chance, 3, 2, 1, ELLIE!!!!”

She woke up instantly and sent a blast of blue sparks towards her older brother, barely missing him by an inch.

“What ‘ru doing, El? You can’t just go attacking people?!”

He tried to sound angry, but failed miserably, a heartwarming laugh escaping his mouth.

“You bloody idiots?! Why’d you scare me like that? You’re 21 and 23, not five?”

“Brings back memories, doesn’t it? Do you remember-”

“Yes, I do!”. She rubbed her eyes slowly, “‘85, look can you two please let me sleep?”

“Sorry, sis”, said Bill. “We’re leaving in half an hour. The kids and dad left ages ago.”

“Yeah, you don’t want to be late do you? Not when you can cheer for a team that might not loo-”

“Charlie, I swear!”

~~~~~~

The match was fantastic! Ellie would never admit it to her brothers, but it was nice to watch an even one for once. Watching and cheering with her family brought back fond memories of childhood games at the Burrow or Hogwarts, and she realized just how much she had missed actually playing. They stayed up late discussing players and tactics, but eventually their father ushered them all off to bed.

~~~~~~

“Ellie?”

“Ellie??”

She stirred slightly and pulled the sleeping bag tighter around her.

“Ellie! Damn it, wake up!”

She opened her eyes slowly and saw her twin brother bent above her. The sight made her sigh.

“Charlie”, she mumbled. “We see each other once- or twice a year nowadays, do you really feel obligated to wake me up every time you get the chance?”

“Elwira, I’m serious! Get up!”

This caught her attention. Sure, the twins often used their full names when messing with each other, but it didn’t sound like Charlie was joking at all. She sat up, rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned loudly.

“What’s going on? Wha- Charlie? It’s still dark out? Why’d yo-”

“Ellie, c’mon. We have to help dad. Someone’s attacking the muggles.”

He threw his sister a jacket and pulled her out of the tent. Arthur, Bill and Percy were all waiting outside.

“Dad?”, she asked. “What’s happening? Charlie sai-”

“We’ve got to help the ministry!”, he said while frantically trying to count everyone and make sure they were there. “Fred, George, you make sure the others are safe. Go wait in the woods and I’ll come for you when the situation’s under control. Bill, Charlie, Percy, Ellie, let’s see if there’s something we can do.”

Nobody questioned Mr Weasley’s instructions, and immediately left in different directions. There were people everywhere though, and the two directions quickly became three, four, six. Spells and curses were fired left, right and centre and Ellie found herself disarming and stunning at least a few death eaters. There weren’t that many of them, roughly thirty or so, but the insane amount of witches and wizards fleeing the campsite made it difficult to fight back. She couldn’t risk hitting any random bloke.

While duelling a tall man in a black mask, Ellie suddenly stumbled forward, a particularly nasty curse having hit her straight in the back. Falling to the ground felt way more painful than it should have, and her wand landed well beyond her reach. She groaned as a burning pain spread through her lower back, but made an effort to get back up anyways. She did, however, not make it very far before the sharp end of a wand dug into her throat.

The death eater behind her sniggered and pulled her up by the collar of her shirt.

“Well, well, well… Why’re you trying to ruin our fun?”

He stood way too close for comfort and Ellie felt his breath on her neck. She tried to answer, but the curse that was shot at her must have hit its intended target, as all that came out when she opened her mouth was a strained cough and warm blood.

The bloke holding her let out a dark chuckle and threw her to the ground. She could barely keep her eyes open, and a thick, red liquid oozed from the wound in her back.

“Not so high-and-mighty now, are we?”

Ellie lacked the strength to fight back, and to the death eaters that seemed to take all the fun out of the situation. They set off back towards the campsite, leaving Ellie on the ground next to a few pines. She tried her very best to sit up, but ended up passing out…

~~~~~~

“Charlie?!”

Bill ran up to his younger brother and pulled him in for a quick, one-armed hug.

“Charlie, you okay? We’ve got to get back to the tent. Where’s El?”

“Wha-, I-I thought she was with you?!?”

“What? Last I saw her you were together?”

The brothers shared a lock of utter terror.

“Bill, we have to find her!”

“I know… Dad went to get the kids and Percy’s back in the tent waiting.”

“There’s no time to waste then. Let’s go”

~~~~~~

They had been running around the camping grounds for half an hour, and there was still not a trace of a living soul - let alone the special one they were searching for. At first, they had been shouting her name at the top of their lungs, but were now walking silently. That was, at least, until a shout made both of them turn around.

“Bill! Charlie! What are you doing? I told you to stay in the tent?”

Arthur Weasley came running towards them, with Harry, Ron and Hermione following close behind.

“Dad!”, Charlie shouted. “Have you seen El? We can’t find her?”

“What?”, asked Arthur. “But she was with you, wasn’t she?”

“Yes, at first, but we must have gotten separated… Dad, is that? You know?”

He threw a dark glance at the skull and snake decorating the night sky and said, “Yes. Yes it is. Look, I’ll take Ron, Hermione and Harry back to the tent, and I’ll meet you back here in ten minutes, okay? Don’t go too far. Come on kids!”

~~~~~~

Just as the brothers were about to give up, go back to the clearing, wait for their dad and hopefully find both their sisters safe and sound, Bill noticed something. A glimpse of red in the moonlight…

“Charlie? Get over here fast!”

The younger brother followed Bill’s gaze and immediately set off through the forest when his eyes found a mess of ginger hair sticking out from behind a rather large pine. Bill followed closely behind.

“ELLIE!!!?!!”

Charlie stumbled to his knees and turned his sister around, trying to get a better look at her. He pressed his hand to her wrist and breathed a sigh of relief when he found a pulse.

“She’s alive”, he mumbled. “Bill, she’s alive!”

“Good. I- Good.” Bill was lost for words too and mumbled a quick “Let me see”.

He pushed some hair out of her eyes and searched for any clues to what had hit her. He was a curse-breaker after all, but that usually meant working with curses placed on things or places, not people.

“Charlie, I-I don’t know what that is… it’s not a curse I’m familiar with and I’m no healer… You want to carry her?”

“Of course”

Charlie brought his twin into his arms and picked her up, her bruised, limp body threatening to fall unless he held on tight enough. The brothers walked back to the clearing where they’d promised to meet their dad, but kept a close watch on their sister. They would apparate, though at the moment none of them felt like they had much time for ‘Deliberation’. It wasn’t very far anyways.

~~~~~~

“DAD!”, Bill shouted as soon as they noticed Arthur in the clearing where they were supposed to wait.

“Boys! Didn’t I tell you t-”

“We’ll take that later, Dad, you’ve got to help her!?”

Arthur Weasley was speechless, which had most likely never happened before, and Charlie felt so helpless. This was worse than his worst nightmares, and there was nothing he could do. Had it been a wounded dragon, sure, he knew loads about them, but this?

“Dad?”, asked Bill. “What can we do?”

“Right. Er… I suppose there’s no use trying to get you to wait here?”, he said while looking at Charlie who frantically shook his head. “Right, Bill could you go back to Percy and the kids? Fill them in on what happened? Then Charlie and I’ll take Ellie to St Mungos, okay?”

Bill didn’t look too happy with the idea, but nodded nonetheless.

---

“Charlie sit down!”

“Fred, he can’t”, said George. “Hey, I think you missed a spot over there, Charles”

“Shut it both of you! Honestly, why am I the only one that’s worried?”

Arthur stood up and put an arm around his son.

“Listen, we’re all worried, but walking back and forth isn’t helping anyone. Just sit for a moment, huh?”

“No, dad, you don’t understand! It’s my fault. We were supposed to stick together! I let her out of my sight...I-”

“Charlie, we all-”

“No, Bill, you don’t get it either, I should-”

“-let your sister sleep for once? That’d be greatly appreciated, thank you.”

The entire family turned at once, and found the oldest daughter struggling to sit up.

“EL!!”

Charlie stumbled over and put a hand on his sister’s back, trying to help her up, but unfortunately placing it right where the curse had hit her.

“Auch!”

She moved away from his touch and he pulled his hand back immediately.

“Blimey, Ellie I’m so s-”

“Charlie, it’s good. Don’t worry about it.”

Ellie pulled her brother into a hug, though he was now extremely careful, and she looked over his shoulder at the rest of her family. Her eyes met Bill’s and he sent her a kind smile. She gestured for him to come join them, and eventually the whole family found themselves in a loving group hug. Molly did her very best to wrap her arms around all her children, desperately trying to convince herself that they were all there - safe and sound and loved.

Because if there was one thing the Weasleys had a lot of, it was love and that is, after all, precisely what family is all about.

~ L

Masterlist

#weasley family imagine #bill weasley x sister #charlie weasley x sister #harry potter imagine #weasleys x sister #HP #hp one shot #Goblet of Fire #quidditch #arthur weasley x daughter #creative writing #writing #hp fan fic #harry potter fan fiction #weasley siblings #weasleys x daughter

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withabackpackandcamera · 3 years ago

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July 5th, 2021

Day 10: Meeting Up With A Friend Before A Sprint To The Finish Line

This morning, because my parents had an earlier flight home than we did, we woke up to drop them off at the airport before coming back home to finish some last minute laundry, packing, and cleaning up. The only real thing on our last day’s schedule was a meet-up with Kristin Julia Erlingsdottir (pronounced “Christine” in Iceland), a pediatric resident in Iceland who I met 4.5 years ago when we were both medical students doing rotations at Landspitali. Even though we didn’t rotate together at Landspitali, we met each other in the cafeteria through other students who went to school in Slovakia with Kristin and since then, we have kept in touch via Instagram. So the plan this morning was to grab a quick breakfast with Kristin before flying home.

Because Minh didn’t want to join for breakfast, he ended up doing his own thing for an hour or two while Cynthia and I went out to meet with Kristin at a cafe nearby. Along the way to the cafe, because we wanted to load up on yummy pastries to take home from Sandholt, I dropped Cynthia off to buy them while I went on ahead to Grai Kotturinn, a cafe down the street, to meet with Kristin first. But before I left, we learned that Sandholt wasn’t selling any almond croissants today. So sad. But I did get a chance to take a look at and pick out the pastries I was interested in trying, with Cynthia eventually settling for a cranberry scone, two cinnamon rolls, a brown sugar roll with cream cheese, and a pain au raisin. That’ll probably do the trick.

So after I left Cynthia, I walked over to Grai Kotturinn, a cafe that Kristin had suggested nearby, to meet up with her after her night shift at the hospital. I was very grateful to Kristin for making time to meet up with us despite her busy residency schedule, and I was glad that I could actually fit her into my tight schedule as well. Anyhow, once I approached the cafe, I recognized her standing outside in her stylish all-black outfit and greeted her. It was so nice to see her again after all these years, even though we weren’t best buds but just quick friends from a brief time together.

Because there was a line at Grai Kotturinn, we stood outside for a bit and started catching up about our individual lives in medicine in our respective countries while waiting for Cynthia to join up. Before long, Cynthia had arrived but the line hadn’t really budged. Because of how tight we were on time and how I didn’t want to make Kristin take too much time out of her morning waiting in line for food, we pivoted and changed course with regards to where to eat. Because both Grai Kotturinn and Sandholt had waits due to the recent influx of tourists, Kristin suggested that we drive over to a spot further from downtown called Kaffihús Vesturbæjar to skip the lines. We agreed, and she drove us over to Kaffihús Vesturbæjar for breakfast.

We arrived at Kaffihús Vesturbæjar pretty early so their lunch menu wasn’t yet available. So, despite all the great suggestions that Kristin had on food options, we ended up having to choose some breakfast items from their simple breakfast menu, with me and Cynthia ordering a ham and cheese croissant to go with our pain au raisin we bought from Sandholt earlier. The cafe meet-up wasn’t really about eating so much as it was about finding a comfy place to catch up and share stories. And even though the food at Kaffihús Vesturbæjar was OK, the cafe was the perfect place to sit and chat for a little less than two hours. And Cynthia and I had a terrific time chatting with Kristin and learning more about her life before and during residency (like how she grew up briefly in Oklahoma, how she was sort of out of place as a returning Icelander once she was back in Reykjavik, about her doctor boo, how her pediatric residency has been, and about traveling, education, Icelanders, real estate, tourism). We also enjoyed sharing our stories with her too and I could tell that she really enjoyed the company. It was really great to find yet another opportunity to catch up with a local friend. Trips are always so much better when you can do something like that. Thank you again Kristin for making time after a busy night shift to meet up with us!

Before we knew it, we were running tight on time because of how much fun we were having with Kristin at Kaffihús Vesturbæjar . Luckily, we saved some time when Kristin offered to drop us off at home. Once we were home, we thanked her and said our goodbyes. With Minh already home and relatively ready to go, Cynthia and I quickly finished packing our stuff before loading all of it into the car. After one last sweep of the flat, we left for one more quick visit to downtown for last minute souvenirs. Cynthia and I ran through downtown looking for things we thought we might want to buy but eventually decided not to buy anything at all. So we hurried back to the car where Minh was waiting and headed for the airport. It was nice to get a last jog in through Reykjavik before flying out!

Once we were close to the airport, we made a pit stop at the grocery store where we had previously stopped on the first day to buy some chocolates for friends. Then we stopped by Subway to buy some subs for the long trip home before driving to Blue Car Rental to drop off our rental. Funny enough, we ran into Will and Mary again at Blue Car Rental and shared stories about our respective trips while walking over together to the departures terminal. Once we were in line (it was a very long check-in line at Icelandair because of all the Americans heading home after the long weekend), we had this awkward “see-you-every-few-minutes” situation with Will and Mary because of where we were positioned relative to them in line. So we didn’t get to catch up much after that. After chowing down on our food and getting through the line, security, and passport control, we finally made it to our gate, where we waited longer than expected to finally board our long flight home.

Iceland, it was great seeing you again. And it was great finally introducing you to my parents and Cynthia. I’m not sure when I’ll get to see you, your beautiful landscapes, and your nice people again but when the time comes, I’ll be excited to come back for my fourth visit. Till then! Takk takk!

5 Things I Learned/Observed Today:

1. It takes a lot of years to finish a pediatric residency in Iceland. Per Kristin, you can only do two years of training in Iceland (after one required internship year) before having to apply to pediatric programs outside of the country to complete your five years of pediatrics training (six years including the one internship year). The reason why pediatrics residents have to leave Iceland for their last three years is because the program is small and because the hospitals in Iceland see such small volumes of kids that residents don’t get enough exposure to be properly trained. Therefore, they have to get more exposure in other countries in other programs. For example, most people, if good enough, will go to Sweden to continue their training or they can go to a different Nordic country. Surprisingly, the Iceland peds program has a partnership with a Connecticut pediatrics program and they send one or two students a year there.

2. In the Icelandic pediatric program, when you’re working nights, as Kristin was doing, you work the pediatric wards as well as the NICU (there is no PICU at Landspitali). Luckily, the ED has their own resident so they don’t have to cover that at the same time. Very fortunate.

3. Interestingly enough, pediatric illness in Iceland came about very late this year as a result of the COVID pandemic and restrictions that came with it. For example, from what Kristin saw, RSV cases peaked in June instead of way earlier in the year in winter. And they had zero cases of the flu (though I’m not sure if that was just among kids or among both kids and adults). And pediatric gastroenteritis was only starting to appear in early July, which is a bit delayed as well. I’m sure public health and epidemiology data from this COVID period will be fascinating to look back at and study in every country.

4. Here in Iceland, people are primarily vaccinated with AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and Janssen vaccines. And unlike the case in America, most people in Iceland are itching to get their vaccinations and are ready to run up when their name is randomly drawn. Additionally, it sounds like Icelanders have vaccine envy of others. That’s crazy and so good! And the great thing about all of this is that around 80% of the country is at least partially vaccinated against COVID, which is the best percentage among all EU related countries. Good for you, Iceland! Keep up the great work!

5. At this time in Iceland, the government is pushing Icelanders to buy homes instead of renting. To incentivize people to buy, banks and other financial institutions are offering ridiculously low interest rates for home loans with rates at a historic low. And people have been able to borrow significant amounts of money for their home. For example, Kristin was able to get a loan with a really low interest rate that covers 95% of the cost of the home. Her flat is a 2-bedroom apartment located in downtown Reykjavik (close to where Sveinn lives). Cost: 53 million Icelandic krona (around $420k). That’s insane! Especially compared to the hellish housing market in Los Angeles. I wish it was that cheap in Los Angeles...

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abroad-education-consultants-uae · 8 months ago

Text

Study in Sweden with the Guidance of Abroad Study Consultants

Why Study in Sweden?

Sweden is beautiful

Be unique!

Study Swedish

Accept the Culture

A Top-Notch Educational System

Reasonably priced tuition fees

Jobs Available to Students

Experience the most talked about

Find a job after you graduate

Sweden is Beautiful:

Be Unique!:

Study Swedish:

Accept the Culture:

A Top-Notch Educational System:

Reasonably Priced Tuition Fees:

Jobs Available to Students:

Experience the most talked about:

Find a job after you graduate:

Some of the Top ranked universities in Sweden:

Lund University

The Chalmers University of Technology

Uppsala University

Karolinska Institute

KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Umea University

University of Gothenburg

Stockholm University

Well-liked Programs:

Now that we have read about the well-known Swedish cities and universities, let's take a look at the well-liked Master's and Bachelor's degree programs in Sweden.

Masters:

Engineering Management

Industrial Management

International Logistics and Supply Chain Management

Solar Energy Engineering

Renewable Energy Production

Sustainable Management

International Financial Analysis

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Medical Sciences

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Bachelors:

Business and Management

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Energy Transition - Sustainability and Leadership

Network Design and Computer Management

Prosthetics and Orthotics

Computer Science

Conclusion:

#Abroad study consultancy #Abroad study consultants #abroad study consultants in UAE #abroad study consultants in dubai

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erika---k · 4 years ago

Text

Translation of Pernille’s interview from Elfen Fußball-Magazin

Middle part translated by @nerdyduckprince, rest by me

Thanks to @fcb-sweden and her anon for providing the article.

In the article it sounds like they were not very publicly open about their relationship before the wc, which I am aware isn’t true! But that’s how the article goes...

Work hard, play harder

The best in the world?

Pernille Harder of Vfl Wolfsburg is the best player of the flyeralarm Women’s Bundesliga. Two years ago the British guardian even chose her as the top female footballer of the earth.

The Dane collects as many championships, cup wins and Torjägerkanonen (the Bundesliga’s award for the top scorer) as she wants and on the side she also became an ambassador for the LGBT-community. But all of that isn’t enough for her yet.

You have to see special athletes live to see the whole spectrum of their qualities. Usain Bolts incredible endspeed, LeBron James’ superhuman physique or Roger Federer’s unreached precision just unfold in front of an observer actually in attendance.

It’s similar with Pernille Harder. Sure, you know her name, her statistics, her career path paved with awards. For an impressive proof of her special class, though, you don’t need numbers nor trophies, but just fifteen minutes on a draughty february evening under the floodlights of Sinsheim. In this quarter of an hour the exceptional scorer from Denmark and her Wolfsburgers dismember the up to now second in the standings with every trick in the football book and showed her whole repertory.

Gala at the summit

After 30 seconds she takes the ball, lets the opponent get of and shoots with her left. Corner. Not a minute later she takes the ball and shoots with her right inside. Made from one piece, brilliant.

She prepares the 0:1 in minute with a well measured cross, just little later she fails scarcely with her heel. As the capstone of her gala performance a goal like a painting follows. She takes the ball with the outside of her boot, then she gets on the ball in the penalty box, Luana Bühler from Hoffenheim sails out of the picture and the blonde from the North casually plays the ball through the legs of TSV-goalkeeper Leitig. 0:2, the summit is decided, world class confirmed - all in the compact format for the Tagesschau (main evening news) and without a single misplaced pass.

Demonstrations like these aren’t a rarity for Pernille Harder. She works in the attack vertex of Wolfsburg as the “free radical”, as the one to show the room behind striker Ewa Pajor. Her equally excellent use of both feet, her excellent eye and her extraordinary technique allow her to make a difference almost everywhere on the pitch and to maraud between the opponents' defense lines.

“It’s very important to me that people can be true to whom they fall in love with.”

“I’m most comfortable in the creative role of the offensive midfield. Of course I want to score, but I also want to shape the game and put my teammates in the limelight”, Harder emphasizes, who downright studies other distinguished players, of both genders. “From Cristiano Ronaldo I mainly analyse his running in the box. But I also look at midfield strategists like Iniesta or Xavi, to learn more about game organisation.” If you need to find a comparison in the men’s football, you might think of Dennis Bergkamp. Harder shares more than the hair colour with the delicate Dutch, for example an enormous playing intelligence and a world class format with and without the ball.

Considering her more multifunctional position away from the classical front striker it’s all the more surprising, that Europe’s footballer of the year 2018 criticizes herself so often. In front of the opponents’ goal Harder stays nordic-cool and uses her chances. After she scored 92 times in 100 games

In 100 games for Wolfsburg she has scored 92 times, in an interview she says, I would rather have had 100 goals. A joke, of course, but with a bit of truth. “I am never satisfied, i am a perfectionist.” Already at 10 wrote the daughter of a soccer coach in an essay at school that she would want to become the best player in the world. From her point of view she has this goal is far from being achieved, even if the Guardian has named her as this in 2018. “more important than a one-time award is it, to hold this level over several years.”

For this Harder works very hard, since ten years with a mental coach. Even for her career she has a stringent plan, the plan fits for her preference for math and physics. In 2012 she went from her home country to Linköping in Sweden, four years later she goes to the top club VFL Wolfsburg. “After school I want to go to a Scandinavian country as an intermediate step. After that I was ready to go to a German top club, it was a dream of mine.”

In contrast, her private life did not develop according to plan. In Linköping she fell in love with her teammade Magdalena Eriksson. At the first time only family and friends knew about their relationship. Later with a picture of them kissing at the World Cup in 2019, where Magda represented Sweden and Harder was in the stands to support her, because Denmark did not qualify, the public coming out happend.

A kiss as coming-out

“The picture is from a spontaneous moment and we were surprised by the attention. The reaction was the mostly positive, many wrote to us that we give them hope to stand for what they are. And then we realized that we have a platform to speak.” Now we engage in Juan Mata's Common Goal, we give 1% of our salary. “For me it's important that all people can be open with their life and their love. I would love that this would be also by the men’s, that a active player would coming out, for sure it has gay players. The culture in men’s football is still outdated and the response would be different.”

Also in football Hader and Eriksson complete each other perfectly. “We both love to talk about Football. And it is perfect that I am a striker and she is a defender, she can tell me what is difficult for her about a striker and I can give her advice on what is suitable to keep attackers in check and annoy them.

To the question if she would like to play in the same club with her girlfriend again instead of discussing their achievements via Facetime Harder answers professionally evasively. “Sure it would be nice, but only if it makes sense for us football-wise. None of us wants to cut down or choose the second best situation just so we can be together.”

No million-dollar-baby for now

This diplomatic answer doesn’t surprise, since this wish might have come true sooner than Harder’s contract at Wolfsburg, that runs until summer 2021, provided for. Allegedly it contained a release clause that, that until the end of March would have made it possible for the FC Chelsae to lure Danmark’s record scorer to the Themse by paying a middle high six figure fee. And at the high end club from the west of London that regularly belongs to the candidates for the Champions League as well as the English league and with the signing of the Ex-Bayern captain Melanie Leupolz just poached in Germany again… Who is also employed there with a decent salary? Exactly, Magdalena Eriksson. Manchester United, that is said to also be interested and whose men’s team Harder admired already as a teenager, seems to just be an outsider in the fight for her services. It probably were the turmoils from the Corona virus that prevented one of the British big clubs from picking up the Dane now already and would have made her the most expensive female player of all times. The joined search of a new club by the power couple Harder/Eriksson is that way assumingly postponed to the summer 2021.

“I’m never content, a real perfectionist.”

So the fans of the Vfl Wolfsburg can probably look forward to a new season with their superstar. But also football enthusiasts, who don’t cheer for the Lower Saxons can just be advised to use the perhaps last chances to admire Pernille Harder at a German stadium. Because the best of the world have to be experienced live.

#pernille harder #vfl wolfsburg #magdalena eriksson

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desertislandcloud · 3 years ago

Audio

Ulrik Munther is the first to admit that self-doubt can get the better of him. But you might be daunted too if you were about to release the most honest and thought-provoking work of your career.

At just 27, Munther is already a seasoned artist with years of industry experience. Signed as a teenager to Universal Music in Sweden after winning the prestigious Melody Grand Prix Nordic competition with an original song, he also achieved viral fame with his endearing cover of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way”. Three albums followed, all charting in the top five in Munther’s home country. “I grew up in the public eye… I was sort of a teen idol,” he says, wincing a little at the term. “I've been seeking an audience that digs a bit deeper into lyrics and has more of the same shared world view.” He adds, laughing: “I want to make new friends!”

Fans of Munther’s old music would have trouble recognising him now. His new album, Put Your Self Out There, is an astounding work that shows a young man grown wise from experience, but one who is still deeply curious about the world. Munther has a philosophical mind. He thrives on ideas, and on a willingness to challenge and be challenged on important subjects. This music shows him standing on the edge, ready to set sail on a new adventure.

“What I want to say most with this music is probably, be yourself and be honest,” he says from his home in Gothenburg. “To think about things a little more.” While he always knew he wanted to create music, his introduction to the industry at such a young age meant that he was, perhaps, steered in a direction that didn’t quite fit. “At that age you’re very impressionable,” he says, nodding. “It’s easier to trust someone older than to trust yourself.” Feeling somewhat jaded, he took a break from his flourishing pop career and began writing with renowned Swedish author and comedian Jonas Gardell. This marked the first step towards the most personal project of his career to date. “I want this album to lay a foundation I can build on,” he says.

Listeners will recognise the clear influence of Bon Iver in the quirky opener, “Apartment Girl”, on which Munther’s voice appears distorted, both youthful and brittle with experience. Album single “C’est La Vie” is an uplifting track that has the narrator pushing aside his fear of the unknown and embracing a newfound optimism: “I’m cleaning out my closet/ Some I’ll keep but some I’ll toss and/ That’s alright you know, gonna have to let things go/ Say goodbye, say hello.” It’s a feeling that Munther knows all too well. “I’m quite introverted, and I have a tendency to get stuck in my own head,” he says. “But if you overthink things too much, you’ll never do anything with your life.”

Put Your Self Out There has, ironically, a distinctly insular feel, providing the sense that Munther has created his own world in which to express himself. Despite this, the music itself is expansive, bringing to mind a landscape painting where, the closer you look, the more detail you discover. This was achieved with the help of a tightknit team that includes producer Johan Eckeborn (known especially for his work on Swedish artist Jonathan Johansson’s critically acclaimed record, En Hand I Himlen). They found themselves discussing philosophy and religion alongside music, and Munther took on new ideas that were fed into these songs. “We’re in a strange climate right now, where we tend to want to find people with the exact same values as us,” he says. “But if you judge others, you judge yourself. That’s something that’s really sunk in, in the last couple of years. I'm trying to be a lot more open-minded, and I think that's what I'm trying to inspire people to be as well.”

Munther’s ability to express himself transpires in his bruised but stoic music; the piercing, emotional tones of his voice are heightened by deftly constructed compositions. “Don’t Worry” opens on a soft flurry of piano notes falling like autumn leaves. You hear the sharp, steady clack of the percussion, a clock hand announcing the inevitable passing of time. An infinitesimal change in tempo marks a resolution to be swept up, as Munther delivers the title in a soaring falsetto then a comforting murmur until it becomes a mantra. “Gloom” is his letter to himself – a disarmingly candid one – in which he questions what’s left once the trappings of fame and fortune are removed. As the song reaches the close, his voice becomes muffled, yet the synths push through, like rays of sunlight breaking through the clouds. “I’ll meet you at the summit,” he promises. “When I’m out of this gloom.”

Throughout the album, Munther reminds us that we can be our own worst critics. Yet he takes his own advice and never obsesses over making this music “perfect” – as a consequence, he achieves something very close to it. The songs are beautiful precisely because of their flaws, recalling the experimental nature of Ben Howard’s most recent, and best, work. Sufjan Stevens fans will revel in the succinctness of Munther’s lyrics, the frankness of his declarations. “It’s not as complicated as I tend to make it,” he sings on the gospel-influenced “Man in Need”, “But I overthink everyf***ing thing.”

“I’m trying to be very honest,” he says. “Not in a dramatic way, but reflective. And I definitely didn’t want the music to sound too polished.” To avoid the risk of overwhelming his audience with such candour, Munther injects a wry tone into some of the songs, such as the self-aware closer, “Come Find Me”. Others are misnomers designed to surprise the listener, or even provoke them into a new way of thinking. The memorably titled “Big Dick” was the last song to be written during sessions at a studio based just outside of Stockholm. Munther found himself on a train observing a man and his girlfriend: “He was a really cocky guy, the crotch-first type, you know?” Rather than mock him, Munther chose instead to pen a tender acoustic number that seeks to understand what some might dismiss as toxic masculinity. “There are too many walls/ And I don’t have the tools or a number you can call,” he sings.

“This song came from the knowledge that there are so many people you can’t reach, you can’t get through to them,” Munther explains. “These people who feel they have to be smart, the ones who place value in material things. They’re often actually very insecure.” At the time, he recalled the saying, “Hurt people hurt people.” He still thinks about it. “People who need to show off, they must be so lonely,” he says. “Not able to be vulnerable, or be wrong.” Watching this man provoked feelings of frustration in Munther, not at the man himself, but at a society that, despite all its modern methods of communication, often fails to do precisely that. As a multilingual musician, Munther knows all too well the frustrations of feeling unable to translate his innermost feelings. Yet he refuses to preach: “I’m so aware that everything I know, I’ve learned from someone else.” The album title is a cliché for a reason, he says, smiling. “I just want to be courageous enough to have hope.” https://twitter.com/MuntherUIrik https://www.youtube.com/user/UlrikMuntherTV https://www.instagram.com/ulrikmunther

#SoundCloud #music #Ulrik Munther #Pop

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lumassen · 4 years ago

Text

Suomen Tasavalta

Unlike most other Nations, Finland chooses to live alone and limit his contact with humans and his people. Despite appearing cheerful and happy, Finn struggles with his immortality more than others might think.

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Cross posted from AO3. Includes lyrics from "Who wants to live forever" by Queen.

Words: 1,930

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There's no time for us,

There's no place for us,

It was too warm inside his cabin, and Finland felt a bead of sweat roll down the nape of his neck beneath his hair. He knew that he'd got carried away and put one too many logs on the fire that flickered away in the grate, but with no central heating in his house Finland always preferred it to be too warm than too cold. He couldn't help but smile a little though as his gaze fell upon Kukkamuna, his little fluffy companion, as she lay softly snoring out on the rug in front of the fireplace. He sat down on the couch to pull on his wellington boots and stuff his corduroy trousers into the tops. Beneath him, the red leather chesterfield was cracked and worn.

Like so many other things in his cabin, Finland hadn't changed, updated or replaced the couch since 1917 and instead just kept accumulating modernities as and when he needed them. His TV that he eventually treated himself to back in 2006 stood on an antique cabinet that he bought at a woodwork market when he first became independent and moved into this house, and the old refrigerator hummed loudly from the kitchen, the same one he’d always had. It would occasionally leak puddles of water all over the floor, but Finland made do, happy to mop up the water rather than replace the fridge. To him, not much time had passed at all, and the 1930's style fridge and all of his belongings were still relatively new in his eyes.

Tearing his gaze from the fire before he could get lost in thought, Finland stood up, turning his attention to the window to notice that the snow had stopped and the darkened sky was lifting as the clouds cleared.

It was mid December, and little over a week ago a new Prime Minister had been elected by the people of Finland. He eyed the letter on the side table that had arrived the day before last inviting him to meet with her, the edge of it torn accidentally from where he'd struggled to open the envelope with trembling hands.

What is this thing that builds our dreams,

Yet slips away from us?

Unlike the rest of the Nordics and majority of the other nations, Finland had lived in the same house all his independent life, far away from civilisation with no contact with humans apart from his government. He preferred it this way. Denmark teased, calling him a hermit, but he laughed it off, and Sweden always offered him a key to his house every time he moved into a new one, but Finland didn’t want it. He was happy enough by himself.

Happy, cheerful, Finland. That was him.

The cold air rushed in from outside, swirling around him in the entrance way like an old friend as he opened the door and looked out. A fresh layer of snow covered the ground beyond his porch, and had he not known that the lake was at the bottom of the hill it would be easy to overlook; now frozen over and covered in the same layer of snow. It would remain that way until the thaw. Taking in a deep breath through his nose, Finland found comfort in the way that the sharpness of the cold air stung his nostrils and filled his lungs.

After all he had seen and experienced, there wasn’t much in life that unnerved or scared him, yet when Finland had tried on his formal suit last night before he went to bed to make sure that it still fit and looked back at himself in the mirror he felt the dread building in the pit of his stomach. It hadn’t gone away, and instead had been building ever since, his insides churning to the point that he hadn’t been able to stomach breakfast this morning. Tomorrow he was to meet with the Prime Minister and stand before them as they shook his hand awkwardly, regarding him with either an expression of fear, apprehension or unease; sometimes even all three at once.

He didn’t blame them though, no matter how much it hurt him. He knew that it was strange for them to find out that the country that they had just become head of had a personification. Someone that wasn’t quite human, yet wasn't like anything else. Unexplainable, yet real. Living and breathing but unable to die, walking the earth for eternity.

Who wants to live forever?

Closing the door behind him, Finland stepped out onto the porch, the wind sending a chill up his spine as it found any hole or gap in his clothing to slip through as he made his way down the three steps at the front of his cabin and listened to the snow crunch beneath him as he sank his feet into it. Quiet. Tranquil. Only the sound of his own shuddered breathing that came out and danced in clouds around him, a visual reminder of the life within him.

Balling his fists, Finland took a step forward, then another, then another, until he broke into a run, his feet burying into the snow before he came to a halt, teetering at the very edge of the lake.

"Miksi!? Minä vitun tätä!!" (Why? I fucking hate this!)

Finland's voice echoed over the lake as he screwed his eyes shut and shouted from the top of his lungs, causing a flock of birds in a nearby birch tree to take to the wing, startled. He watched them through tear filled eyes as they flew to the other side of the lake before settling back down into the trees again.

"Miksi olen täällä? Mikä minun tarkoituseni on?" (Why am I here? What is my purpose?)

This time his voice was little more than a whisper as he swallowed the lump in his throat and looked down at the crescent shaped grooves that his fingernails had left in the skin on the palms of his hands from clenching his fists so tightly.

There's no chance for us.

It's all decided for us.

This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us.

He thought back to that moment in 1917 and could see himself as he looked out at the lake. His younger self was staring back at him as though he were a ghost, an apparition. He'd never felt as alive as he had then as he turned his back on Russia and finally led his people home to his land. To the Republic of Finland.

That had been the last time he'd interacted with them, choosing to live out his life as a free country with just the other nations for company. Sometimes he wondered if it were a mistake, but if the look on his previous Prime Ministers face when they had been introduced for the first time was anything to go by then he stood by his decision. He was a freak, born from the snow and evergreen, his first waking moments spent alone and cold with no idea why he existed or where he came from.

Who wants to live forever?

Who dares to love forever?

Oh, when love must die?

A branch snapped underfoot behind him, and Finland spun around on the spot, swinging his rifle around from where it was slung over his back to aim it in the direction of the disturbance and closed one eye to look down the barrel.

“I’ve already been shot by ya once before and don’t plan to be shot again, so put that thing down. It’s just me.”

Sweden was standing in the clearing just in front of where the trees stopped at the edge of the lake with his hands raised in surrender, yet there was a smirk on his face. Lowering the rifle, Finland flicked the safety on and slowly slipped it to rest across his back once more.

“Ruotsi?”

Taking a tiny step forward, Finland squinted as if it could be anyone but Sweden before him, the bottom of his unmistakable long navy coat dusted with a thin layer of powdered snow from where he’d walked through it.

“Suomi.” he said, stopping in front of him.

It had been a couple months since Finland had seen Sweden, let alone interacted with anyone but Kukkamuna for that matter. He noticed Sweden had cut his hair.

“What are you doing here?” Finland couldn’t help but narrow his eyes as he asked the question, wondering if they had plans that he’d forgotten about.

There was a small silence between them as Sweden reached out and hesitantly brought his hand to Finland’s face. At first he flinched at the touch, but Sweden’s hands were always warm, just as he remembered them as he ran his thumb over the stubble that had grown across his jaw.

“I know you gotta big day tomorrow, and that you don’t like humans.”

If it were anyone else, Finland would have felt the urge to defend himself and explain that he loved the humans and his people. Deep down he did, they were the reason that there was life in his veins, but they made him uneasy and Sweden knew this better than anyone.

“It’s not that I don’t like them, Roo,” he pressed as Sweden let his hand drop back down by his side, “because I do. I don’t mind being around them when they think I’m one of them, but tomorrow…”

Finland dropped his gaze to his hands as they fiddled with the small hole at the hem of his sweater from where he’d been meaning to mend it for the past 20 years.

“Wait, didja come all this way just for me? You’re not here on business?” he looked up again as the realisation hit him, and Sweden just nodded with a faint smile.

But touch my tears with your lips,

Touch my world with your fingertips,

“No, I just thought it had been a while since I saw a birch tree. I heard the best can be found here.” Sweden said as he knocked his knuckles against the trunk of the birch to his left and looked up into its branches wistfully before his eyes slid to look at Finland from behind his glasses, a playful expression on his face and Finland felt his jaw slacken.

“Course I came here for ya.”

Finland let out a laugh as his face crumpled and he wiped his nose that had started to run as a result of the cold on his sleeve, drying away the few tears that threatened to fall at the same time and hoped that Sweden hadn’t noticed them.

“You tried your suit on?” Sweden asked, his voice a little gentler now as he took a step closer to Finland. Finland nodded with a sniffle, feeling his stomach lurch as the thought of having to stand in a stuffy room tomorrow in a three piece suit, lily of the valley in his breast pocket, hair tamed and combed back just as his officials thought it should be.

“Then let's not think about it again until tomorrow mornin’.”

Draping an arm heavy around Finland’s shoulders, Sweden stooped and pressed the softest of kisses to the top of Finland’s head, clearly unfazed by the fact that he hadn’t washed his hair in three days.

“Kiitos, Ruotsi.” (Thank you, Sweden.)

“Ole hyvä, Suomi.” (You’re welcome, Finland.)

And we can have forever,

And we can love forever,

Forever is our today.

#aph finland #aph sweden #sufin #hetalia #aph fanfiction #hetalia fanfiction

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