It is impossible to be in Stockholm and not notice that Royal Wedding Frenzy has taken over our beautiful city. Be it the road-blocks, the abundance of floral decorations, the LOVE 2010 festival, the police escorts or the mention of our Crown Princess and her Prince-to-be in every form of media possible, both online and off.

Dearest members and guests,
I am making a desparate plea for people to volunteer to help run the club next year. At the moment we have volunteers for just two of seven board positions. The sad fact is that without more volunteers we will have to close the club. Please consider if you can step up and join the leadership team, please turn up at the AGM tomorrow.
Thanks
Julie

The positions that are open are:

Chairperson
Figure head of the club
Up holds the statutes of the club
Is a signatory member of the club
Presides at all executive committee meetings
Supervises all plans for promoting the welfare of the club
Works closely with volunteers of the activity committee to ensure the meetings and activities are with in the ideals of the club
Resolves problems and disputes, ensuring that the majority rule and the minority are heard
Prepares with the assistance of the treasurer the executive committees accounts for the AGM
Prepares with the assistance of the secretary the executive committees annual report for the AGM'

Activities Coordinator
Presides at all activity committee meetings
Plans the events for the year along with the activities committee
Responsible for following up on events with the activity organizers
Responsible for supporting activity committee members and their events

Membership Secretary
Is an enthusiastic face of the club, both at meetings and by email
Responsible for giving new members information, application forms and membership cards
Maintains membership records/database
Responsible for sign in sheets and nametags at each club meeting
On a monthly basis provide membership info for updating web pages

Public Relations Coordinator
Responsible for the creation, updating and distribution of the weekly events newsletter including info on planed and impromptu activities, plus interesting things happening in Göteborg
Responsible for updating the 'Calendar' page of the website
Designs and prints items needed for meetings and activities, such as members directory, membership forms, leaflets, posters, voting ballots, name tags, membership cards, etc.

Webmaster
Responsible for the creation, updating and evolution of the web pages
Responsible for moderating talk and email forums
Updates membership lists on the web

Visit International Friends of Gothenburg

Will another international club come to the end of the line because people don't have the time, interest or energy to help run it?

I was amazed the first time I experienced "Tax Day" in Sweden, the long lines of people handing in their tax declarations at the last moment - the streets would thick with traffic, people driving by the mighty taxation building Skatteskrapan, the only skyskraper on Söder, handing their declaration to staff standing on the street.
There would be music, stands selling hotdogs and who knows what else - you could almost be mistaken for thinking it was a festival. Are the Swedes so happy to pay tax?

Nowdays the Swedish National Tax Board is located in newer, more modern offices a block or so away from the skyskraper. Nowdays this highrise is the home of 600 or so students with the best view of Stockholm, shops, bars and restaurants.

The Tax Board have not only more modern offices but their ways of working have modernised over the years too.  There was a time when tax day was February 15th, when the streets were covered in snow and the queues miles long as the majority of Stockholmers not only left it to the last day by hundreds handed it in at the last minute. With the deadline being midnight there were people on Götgatan all night long. The orchestras were playing, the magicians doing their tricks, and the hotdog carts and glögg (warm, spiced, alcohol free wine) stands making the most of late night customers. 

Since the good ol' days we first saw the introduction of pre-printed declarations that require little more than a signature, and then the introduction of the telephone, the internet and the sms declarations!! Each year it gets easier. I can't help but wonder if there is anywhere else in the world where you can do your tax declaration with an SMS? Is there anywhere else in the world where the government knows your every move to the extent that no other information is needed? Just your consent. Big brother is indeed watching....

Gone are the days of filling in paper forms, especially for those with few changes to make. Anyone is able to submit their declaration online - all you need is your national identity number and the code printed on your tax declaration, enabling you to make a couple of basic changes to the form.

E-legitimation (or e-ID) on the other hand opens up a whole range of opportunities. E-ID is a certificate downloaded off the net onto your computer and in conjunciton with your internet banking password it enables you to identify yourself when dealing with many of the government institutions. I'm sure it sends shivers down the spines of all the internet-security-skeptics but it requires the user to have both the downloaded certificate and the password.

So with my e-ID I am not only able to go in and fill out all the forms electronically but I could save them and go back and make changes. What's more I can still go back and make changes up until June something - but then there is no guarantee of getting your return back before Midsummer. But it takes away the panic - as long as you submitted it by May 3rd you can procrastinate a little longer.....

I find it fairly easy to navigate my way through the pages and appendixes and fill in all the required information, including all those required for someone running a small business - not bad for someone who used to have a phobia about tax declarations!!

It was estimated that as many as 500,000 would submit their declarations electronically on Sunday, putting a lot of stress on a system with limited capacity. According to last years figures there was a record number of internet users but only some 857 000 had actually used e-ID by Sunday night, so the overall figures were under the anticipated 60% and much lower that the long term goal of 80% of tax declarations to be submitted electronically. I can't help but wonder how long it will be before they stop sending out the paper declarations?

As Lars Epstein says: The party on Söder on tax day is over. Click on this photo to see his photos of the deserted streets. The party it well and truly over!

Every time I look out a window and see the white flakey stuff coming from the heavens above, making its way to the ground beneath us I hear at least one person sigh, groan or curse. Most people had had enough of the snow long ago, snow that first fell sometime at the end of November and which remained until a week ago. Snow like never before.

Stockholm in the winter is not usually white. At least not from the beginning to the end. But this year has been the exception, the coldest, whitest winter in, what, 50 years? And every time I'm out in it I'm fascinated by it. Fascinated by the snow that lies in piles, that reaches the tops of fence posts, that lies in the fields so pure and white. So unadulterated. Icicles that hang from rooves, signs that warn us of possible snow falling, and paths that are turned into slipery slopes as the snow melts and freezes again.

I love the forms that the ice and the snow create, whether it be a naturally occuring icicle-sculpture on a friend's patio, the frosted trees or the different forms of snow. For most Aussies, snow is snow, but it doesn't take long here in the north before you soon learn that there is a whole lot more to ice and snow. And after a winter like this one knowledge that the Sami language contains some 300 words for snow and ice no longer seems so absurd.

Before I moved to Sweden I knew but one word for these little white flakes - snow. This year however, has been an exception and I have seen with my own eyes snow that looks like glittering shavings of coconut (at about -20 C), very dry snow, (wet) packing snow - also known as huggable snow, and snow that looks like little polystyrene balls (very cute). I've noticed immediately when the temperature has risen and the snow on the roads has changed colour, lost its purity as it absorbed the dirt and oil, or when it has fallen en-mass and left me wondering if I am driving on a road or a sandy beach.

In the book titled Snow Yngve Ryd outlines the importance of snow for the reindeer herders in the north of Sweden. He provides rare insight into the Sami knowledge of snow and the fack that there are words to describe snow when it is so deep it reachers the reindeers' stomach, when single snowflakes fall, when there are patches of snow in the autumn and so on, and so on. Some 300 hundred words to describe what most Stockholmers have well and truly had enough of and what the northerners endure for a good 5 months of the year. Might be time to get a copy of this one and see what more I can learn, if not about snow then about its impact on the life and work of the reindeer hearders, and the Sami culture.

I've heard many around me say that this winter in Stockholm has reminded them of winters in the north and snow in March is much preferred to the usual slush, puddles and 5 C. With the cooler, crisper temperatures we have had the most glorious sunny days - a real treat to have snow and sun combined.

After a week of milder temperatures, melting snow mounds and growing puddles, most of us thought that spring had finally sprung. But as I look outside the window I see some 10cm that has fallen again today and I wonder if it will ever arrive. At least the kids will be happy to have more snow to play in. Or will they?

One day I'm going to do it, Vikingarännet. There is nothing I love more than cross-country or Nordic skating, there is nothing more Swedish, there is no better way to enjoy the winter than to get out on the lakes and skate.

Nordic skating in kind of like normal skating and kind of not. It is easier, and more enjoyable, more exiliarating. You can go long distances, see beautiful places, be out getting fresh air and lots of of exercise too. You need a good pair of boots, the type with the square toe that can also be used for cross-country skis, and a pair of blades.

You also need ice picks to hang around your neck, they are handy to have in the event that you do get out on thin ice and need to pull yourself out of the water!

Vikingarännet

Is an 80km or 49 mile marathon from Uppsala to Stockholm, along the old Viking route. It is a legendary event with entrants coming from all around the world, despite the fact that it only dates back to 1999. Vikingarännet is organised by Friluftsfrämjandet (the outdoor association) to promote long-distance skating in safe conditions and encourage membership of the organisation.

In the mere 12 years it has been runnng warm winters and unsafe conditions have forced organisers to cancel the race at least a couple of times. 2010 will probably go down in history as one of the best winters with 80km of solid track, and at least 10cm thick ice.

It was really cool today watching them wizz by. The kids and I stood on one of Stockholm's greyer days, amazed by how many people were out skating, vowing that one day we too would join the thousands of entrants.

If you too want to skate on a lake then this is the winter to do it and there are plenty of opportunities around Stockholm, in fact in many places around the country.

Alliansen is a local organisation, part of Friluftsfrämjande, for the hard-core skaters. They offer courses for beginners to tour leaders as well as guided or leader-led tours for members. Their site is a wealth of skating resources such as where there are ploughed tracks (a nice smooth track on the open ice), an equipment guide, as well as general ice information. Unfortunately it is all only available in Swedish so you might need some help with this one.

For more information on Nordic or cross-country skating in English click on the above photo - or if you need to be convinced the link will show you enough photos to have you heading to your local sports store to see if they stock all the necessary equipment.

I know the kids and I will be back out again next weekend practising, if not sooner!