Broke ass ovens and Nazis
Trip Start
Jul 28, 2008
1
8
Trip End
Ongoing
Lund,
Skåne,
Sweden
Sunday, November 30, 2008
But first, I will tell you about yesterday. Yesterday me and the other American on my floor made Thanksgiving dinner and had some people over for it. For most of them it was their first Thanksgiving dinner ever, so it was pretty cool. Our dinner came out really well - and despite the fact that C. claims she can't cook for shit, her first ever turkey cooking experience was super sucessful. I made buscuits and sweet potatoe souffle/casserole (choose your preferred discription and be proud of your classiness or lack thereof!) - and the only semi disaster that happened all day was the fact that C. and P. somehow managed to break off two oven doors. (we have four ovens) We blame this on the rustiness of the hinges of course.
So today I had already planned to get down to business with the school work that had piled up while I was busy doing some professional level procrastinating. It was around three o'clock and I decided that I needed a cup of coffee first in order to really get serious about things - so I stepped into the kitchen, making sure to avoid kicking over the useless oven doors as I went, when I looked out our kitchen window and saw a pretty huge crowd of people and several police. "Hmmm....I wonder what that's about" I thought. A moment later, I heard a massive roar of voices begining to chant something in Swedish, but it wasn't from the crowd in front of me - the sound was way more loud than the crowd outside my window, and besides, it was coming from the other side of the building, the side that I couldn't see. So of course I rush outside to our rooftop terrace for a better view. And what did my wondering eyes come to see? Well - apparently a large group of people were having a pretty serious looking disagreement of somesort - and were in the process of aggravating the situation right outside my building. In fact not just right outside, but from all sides. There was a rather large amount of police surrounding a smaller sized group of about 40-50 people from the rest of the people. Shortly after I went out onto the terrace, they began shouting chants back and forth at each other once again, but I had no idea what they were saying to each other because it was all in Swedish. Damnit! What to do? What to make of the situtation? Were the two groups friends? Had the small bunch just gotten caught by the cops? Who were the good guys and bad guys? No clue!
Just then two things happened. First, someone else came up onto the terrace w/ me, and I was in the midst of asking him what the hell was going on, when the people I had originally seen from my kitchen window (on the other side of the building) did a sneak attack on the people who were surrounded by police. Well, I say sneak attack, but it was more like just turning round a corner and coming from an unexpected place - there was no tip-toeing or sneaking involved. As soon as the people next to the police saw them, crazy sticks and stones starting being thrown, along w/ punches and firecrackers. Cops on horses came in and the the cops on foot had to form a chain around the group to stop the fighting. Then the guy who had come out onto the terrace w/ me explained that the group the cops were trying to "protect" were actually Nazis who were here to do some sort of demonstration/rally. (Around here they call them manifestations/demonstrations), and everbody else gathered round were pissed off left-ists who wanted the Nazis to go home.
Whoa! Nazis and Left-ists fighting eachother like 50 feet away from me (and 7 floors down), in the year 2008, in Sweden! Who knew!
Apparently, November 30th is significant in Swedish history b/c it's the day that Sweden won some major battle against the Russian army under Peter the Great, and also on the same day a few years later, the King of Sweden who won that battle died. According to this one kid out on the terrace w/ us - the Nazis like that King and that's why they always choose this day to do some crazy demoonstrations.
So, forget about school work...for the next few hours I watched hundreds of people surround this small group of Nazis (and the international student housing building where I live) and chant really aggressive sounding Swedish words at them. The only thing I could make out was the phrase "Nazi Pigs". It was a really intense scene. People kept throwing things like rocks and those little roadside hazard firesticks at each other. (no guns though - afterall this is Sweden)
I am proud to say that the nation I joined - the vegetarian socialist Smalands Nation - provided the weapon of a a portable sound system from which the sounds of socially enlightened Swedish hip-hop assaulted the ears of the Nazis (and everyone else w/in a two block radius at least) instead of rocks or things on fire (well-realistically speaking, some of the member probably helped out with those too). At least I think it was Smalands anyway - I saw their little black star logo on the speakers that were jauntily following the mass wave of demonstrators as they made their way past our building following the Nazis to their destination - after about 2 or 3 hours of slinging insults, things on fire, and occasionally fists at one another right in front of my building.
Ok, so that's all the excitment for now - look out for more sometime relatively soon though - next week I'm headed to Brussels to visit w/ my friend from Portland before she heads home.
Comments
And I thought you were busy studying
This story comes as a shock to me as well. Do you know why they picked your dorm to surround? I always have believed that some of the best educational opportunities come from outside the classroom ! I wonder why the Nazis won't just fade away into History? I guess its like the people still waving the confedrate flag. They are caught in a time warp and can't get out...... its scary though...this thinking you are better than others because of your race...... I wonder if they are evolving backwards? Or perhaps ( referring to the Urantia Book) they did not receive any Adamic stock that allows a higher level of consciousness to develop. Where is your book? I didn't find it in the boxes? Love Mom