Birka Viking Settlement

Glancing at the schedule for this week, I knew that our visit to the Birka Viking site would be one of my highlights. The two hour boat ride across Lake Mälaren, charging across the water like Norse raiders of old, landed us on the small island that was home to the first city in Sweden.

When I hit the shore I knew I had one main goal: find the dragons. I recognized that Cressida Crowell’s seemingly fictional How to Train Your Dragon book series must certainly be based on this site. Her island of Berk, populated by Vikings and their pet dragons, was clearly using this historical locale as source material.

My excitement was soon tempered by the icy reality that there were, in fact, no dragons at Birka. There were several Vikings on the island--making bread, spinning wool, chopping wood, roasting boar, selling prepacked ice cream--but none training the flying beasts that I expected to see. The degree of my disappointment was only dwarfed by the amount of sheep caca that littered the path leading through the archaeological site.

Representation of the Naglfar

My visit was not without discovery, however. I was able to find evidence of giants. I have a passing knowledge of Norse mythology--Odin, Freyja, Valhalla. Thanks to the movies, I know all about Thor and his mighty hammer. And by the movies, I am of course referring to the 1987 classic, Adventures in Babysitting. But I had never known that Norse mythology included both gods and giants. Just like with the clash between the Greek gods and the titans, the Norse gods and giants will battle in the future conflict of Ragnarok. According to one of the Viking sagas, the shapeshifting god Loki will lead a boatload of giants into battle against the other gods. A display at Birka represented this ship, the Naglfar, and it also described each of the giants that should be onboard.

Here’s a couple of the stories about the giants that I found particularly interesting:

• Thrym was a clever thief who succeeded in stealing Thor’s hammer. He demanded to marry the goddess Freyja in exchange for the hammer. Instead, Thor disguised himself in a bridal dress and tricked Thrym into marrying him. Thor then succeeded in getting his hammer back.
• Gjalp attempted to drown Thor by urinating over him. She failed and is later killed when Thor breaks her back with a chair.

I also read about the Norse creation story, which centered around the figure of Ymir. He was created at the beginning of the world by the clash between frost and sparks. Ymir’s toes gave birth to new giants and his underarm sweat gave birth to man and woman. After my very recent experience smelling distilled scents associated with horses at the Fotografika museum, I am all too aware of the putrid nature of human sweat. I can only imagine how this connects to the everyday smells that Vikings of that time associated with each other.

On my way back to our boat, at the end of our visit, I was able to spot one familiar beast that made me think that perhaps this search for dragons wasn’t pure silliness.

Arrival

It's July 9th, and I'm here in Stockholm! I took an extra leg to get here, making today's journey not so bad. Because I flew on Icelandair, I took advantage of their stopover deal. They allow you to stay up to 7 nights in Iceland, and they treat it like a layover. In other words, there was no extra charge to my plane ticket. How could I pass up that opportunity? And since I had to pay for my flight anyway, why not bring my wife and kids along for our first international family vacation?

I'll include more on Iceland and its clearly different climate and geography in another post. The biggest benefit of the stopover is that I had a much shorter flight today. After seeing my family off this morning, I was able to get some much, much needed rest--Iceland is more of an adventure than a vacation--before my three hour flight into Stockholm.

I arrived with two of my fellow travelers--always a relief to have someone with you when you arrive in new country. We grabbed a bus into town, dragged our luggage over a few blocks and down a long flight of stairs, and checked into our hotel. It's pretty late now, and I'm excited to see real nighttime for the first time in 6 days, so I'm off to bed.

We've got big plans for tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to including as many updates as I can.

Religion Survey

During my time in Sweden, I’ll be researching the topic of religion. The Scandinavian nations are noteworthy for their secularism. While approximately 40% of Americans attend religious services on a regular basis, only 5% of Swedes do so.

I tasked my sociology students with creating a survey to study these divergent behaviors, and in the end we decided to recreate a Gallop poll on religion in America from 2007. The main goal of this study is to explore what motivates individuals to either participate or not participate in religious services, and then to compare those results across social categories.

Please consider participating in our research by completing the survey. You likely will be asked to enter a Google account, but that is only to prevent multiple responses. I can assure you that all responses will be kept anonymous and the data collected will be used for classroom academic purposes only.

I’m also working on a way to effectively deploy this survey while I’m in Sweden. I appreciate any suggestions or advice that anyone can provide. Please feel free to share this link--I welcome as many responses as I can get.

Here's the survey link: Religious Participation

Swede Facts

In preparation for my trip, I've spent a lot of time researching Sweden. My students (and my wife) were the main recipients of all this newfound knowledge, whether they wanted to hear it or not. Whenever we study other countries and cultures in my classes, I encourage my students to focus on the similarities as much as the differences. So, here's a brief look at Sweden and North Carolina, incorporating both aspects:

• Sweden and North Carolina both have a population of approximately 10 million, with North Carolina being slightly larger. In terms of physical size, however, Sweden is substantially larger than the state of North Carolina--almost nine times larger in fact.

• The Swedes have one of the oldest monarchies in the world. It includes 11 dynasties that date back a thousand years. Sweden's current monarch, King Carl XVI Gustaf, is the seventh king of the House of Bernadotte. North Carolina's current dynasty comes in the form of the University of North Carolina men's basketball team, who just won its seventh national championship this past April.

• Both Sweden and North Carolina have a small but significant indigenous population. The Sami are historically a semi-nomadic people living in the far northern stretches of Sweden who made a living breeding reindeer, though they are now spread throughout the nation. North Carolina has the largest Native American population east of the Mississippi River, with eight officially recognized tribes. 

• Sweden has not engaged in a major military campaign since the Napoleonic Wars two centuries ago. North Carolina's citizens have played a major role in several global conflicts in that time, and the state is home to the most populous military base in the world (Fort Bragg).

• Some popular Swedish phrases:
• Lagom, meaning just enough or just the right amount
• Fika, a coffee break 
• Kanelbulle, a cinnamon roll
• Skal, cheers
• Some popular North Carolina phrases:
• Hey yall, a proper greeting
• Pig Pickin, a social gathering around chopped or pulled pork
• Tobacco Road, a reference to the major basketball schools
• Cajun Filet Biscuit, just yes

• Despite being in the European Union, Sweden uses it own currency, the krona. One U.S. dollar is currently equal to 8.7 Swedish krona. 

• The Swedish have arguably the most generous, progressive, and extensive welfare state in the world. North Carolina, um, no comment.

• Stockholm is Sweden's capital and largest city. North Carolina's capital is Raleigh, and Charlotte is its largest city.

• Both Sweden and North Carolina have a strong tradition of popular music. The Swedish band ABBA is the fourth-best selling music act in history, after only Elvis, the Beatles, and Michael Jackson. The Scandinavian nation has also been home to popular acts such as Roxette, Europe, Ace of Base, The Cardigans, Eagle Eye Cherry, The Hives, and Robyn, as well as a number of producers who are behind many chart-topping global hits. North Carolina has a proud tradition of music as well, crossing genres from older styles like bluegrass, country, and jazz to newer styles like rock, punk, and rap. Famous musical acts from North Carolina include Earl Scruggs, Doc Watson, Nina Simone, John Coltrane, James Taylor, Ben Folds, Tift Merritt, Eric Church, Petey Pablo, and the Avett Brothers.

International Festival

This spring one of my Sociology classes participated in the annual Millbrook International Festival. The festival is organized by a group of teachers and focuses on a different theme each year. Classes and clubs can sign up to participate by running booths. The festival ran during two periods on April 7th.

This year's theme was Sustainability. We could take that in many directions--economics, politics, environment, culture. The class settled on this focus question: "How will Sweden sustain its traditional culture in the face of globalization and immigration?"

We started our study of Sweden by watching a few videos about Swedish culture and reading a few chapters out of Michael Booth's The Almost Nearly Perfect People. The students split up the chapters and shared out what they learned. We were able to use these resources to build our understanding of the forces currently influencing Swedish culture. Students worked in groups to brainstorm ideas on how to represent traditional Sweden and how to address challenges. I worked with each group to develop a plan of action, and finally the students created their respective parts of the booth.

One of the 4 Squares created during our book study

What students shared out about the chapters they read

I was really impressed by the students' ideas and the products that they created. Here are the examples of culture that they used to represent the traditions of Sweden:

• Fika -- We learned that having coffee is a popular and easy social occasion in Sweden. So, we invited students to "fika" with us. The students brewed coffee, offered cinnamon bread (as a replacement for kanelbullar, or cinnamon buns), and created a menu of discussion topics.

• Pippi Langstrump (Longstocking) -- Students shared this popular Swedish children's character by displaying one of the chapter books, creating an absolutely amazing drawing of Pippi, and showing videos of the old television series.

• Swedish phrases -- One group selected a few Swedish words and asked students to match them to their English translations. They made bead bracelets with the Swedish words on then handed them out to visitors to our booth.

• Swedish meatballs -- Another group really wanted to serve Swedish meatballs. While I admittedly hated the idea of what an undertaking this would be, the students were adamant. And to their credit, they figured out all the details. All it took from me was a trip to BJ's for frozen meatballs and an order from Amazon to get the sauce and some lingonberry jam.

• Hela Havet Stormar -- To provide something more active, students also put together a game of musical chairs (or "the whole sea is storming" in Swedish). And, of course, the music was entirely ABBA songs.

To address the issue of cultural sustainability, we looked at the ways that the culture of Sweden is facing challenges. The students relied heavily on the lessons learned from Michael Booth's book for this part. With the increasing immigration and resulting multiculturalism, what it means to be Swedish is changing. Plus, global products and mass media are increasing international influence in the small Nordic nation.

Chart of immigration growth since 1950

Students selected quotes from Booth's book to represent reactions to immigration

Visitors to the booth were quizzed on who they think is Swedish. The catch? They're all Swedish. Another representation of Sweden's changing population.

My students enjoyed studying Sweden as a case study of culture, and I was appreciative of their enthusiasm and hard work. With hundreds of students interacting with our booth, I was really happy with the opportunity to represent culture and global issues to the Millbrook community.

Ten Weeks and Counting

The countdown has begun. In less than ten weeks, I'll be in Stockholm. And to channel my interior Chandler Bing, could I BE any more excited? I'm hoping to start up regular posts now and increase their frequency as the trip approaches. Tune in for much more from me. Yeah, I'm probably going to drown you in everything Sweden by the end of this summer, so get ready.

My main goal in today's post is just to outline a little bit about why I'm going to Sweden. When I applied for this project about a year and a half ago, the trip was originally designed for Helsinki, Finland. At the end of last summer, the organizers switched it to Stockholm. While I was a little disappointed in the change--and my need to purchase a second Lonely Planet travel guide--I have come to realize that Sweden offers a much greater depth of study for me. And that's the main goal of this experience: to broaden and deepen global understanding for both myself and my students. According to our program's web page, I'll be involved in an immersion experience "framed with technology projects that encourage connections with Swedish educators, collections of Swedish cultural artifacts, and reflections on Swedish culture." So, what does that really mean? You'll have to tune in to my blog to see it in action.

Stockholm Underground

If you know me, you know that I love all things cultural. I can even trace back and find those critical moments in my life that set me on this path. When I read Madeleine L'Engle's The Arm of the Starfish as a child, the setting of that story overwhelmed me, and I knew one day I would travel those same locales in Portugal. I'm still waiting on that day, by the way. Just after high school, when I had the incredible opportunity to visit Great Britain and Mexico back-to-back, I finally realized the thrill of travel and exploring new places. Then when I took my first sociology class as a sophomore at UNC-Chapel Hill, I knew that I had found the subject I wanted to spend the rest of my life studying. Now, as I'm closing out my 14th year of teaching Sociology at Millbrook High School, I feel like there's a whole world of knowledge still out there for me to learn--and I want nothing more than to bring it back to my students. Through all my travels, readings, and professional development, this program to Sweden is the best opportunity for me dig deep into a cultural study.

I'm already well under way with my preparations. We have met on two Saturdays so far at NC State to train and prepare. One of my Sociology classes created an exhibit at Millbrook's International Festival last month focused on cultural sustainability and Sweden. I'm working with a secondary teacher in Sweden to connect our students and study the topics of world religions and Islamophobia together. I promise more details on these efforts in later posts. I'm reading multiple books, listening to Swedish music (lots of ABBA, a little Eagle Eye Cherry), and following along on Instagram (all the pictures I posted today are from @stockholm_insta). I want to squeeze the most out of this opportunity as possible. My ultimate hope is that all of my friends and family find themselves saying to someone, "Oh, you're going to Sweden? I know this guy that you've got to talk to..."

I appreciate all the encouragement and support that I have received from my family, friends, colleagues, students, and parents. I have been raising support to offset some of my travel costs, and I am very thankful for those who have contributed. If you're still interested, here is the link to my GoFundMe campaign.

The Swede Life

I'm pleased to announce that my Nordic studies get to continue! I'll be traveling with 14 other teachers to Sweden in July 2017 to study the people and culture while integrating new technology strategies. Stay tuned for more updates.