This is our heavily marked up calendar hanging in the kitchen, I am sure that you will see the same one in quite a few homes across Sweden since it came free from our electric company. At first glance it seems like any other calendar but Swedish calendars have a few good surprises that I thought I would share with you!
The most important thing is that the first day of the week is Monday, Måndag, which honestly makes so much sense since Saturday and Sunday are considered the weekend . It took me a few months however to get the hang of not just glancing at the calendar and assuming the day I saw in the middle was Wednesday! I now usually triple check when I make plans so I am putting the right number and day together especially after a few mishaps with laundry scheduling and needed to use the towels a few extra days after I would have liked!
The next main thing are the red days. As you can see the 17th is in red which indicates a holiday and the name of the holiday is also written in red. On the 9th was also a holiday but since it was not written in red this indicated the difference in if shops and offices will be closed. Anytime you see a red day coming up you will want to prepare as it sucks to be sitting at home needing toilet paper and all the shops being closed! Another benefit of red days is that in a health service industry like Mr. H is in it usually means extra pay on that day!
The last unique thing and probably the most different is that each day has a name associated with it. This is a shot of August which is not marked up yet so you can see better the names on the bottom left of each day. Some days like the 21st have corresponding male and female names, others like the 27th have two names of the same sex that are related or others like the 28th have just two random names.
These days however do not normally correspond to the name of the person born on that day, rather they are separate days to celebrate a person with that name. It does depend on your family like in Mr. H’s family they are not really recognized but in others you might get a card or flowers. It also is like a easy to access book of baby names as for the most part they are still very traditional Swedish names that are in use today.
One funny thing is that Mr. H’s name day is on my birthday!
Let me know if you want me to check if you have a name day or what name is on your birthday!
Love the name days- even if I don’t have one!
I do not have one either, well I suppose for my middle name but that is not really the same!
Your nameday would probably be Margareta since Meg or Megan was closely related to the english Margaret. Megan is the welsh form or counterpart to Margaret, i just learned and it was spelled with ae and h once upon a time. Based on all this you can claim Margareta as your nameday i think
Aha! I see- I was thinking about claiming that as well because I was named “after” my grandmother who is named Margaret, I knew they were related but wasn’t sure how – so that makes sense! (Also, my full name is Meghan- with the H you mentioned! everyone misses it lol) Tack sa mycket!
All of those differences are just really neat. Love it.
Sometimes it is seeing the small things that I love the most like the calendar!
What’s May 9th? x
Well it is Reidar and Reidun which I have never met anyone with those names but I am guessing they are boy names
ahhh soooo not Kate then…. ah well…. I like them!
Your nameday would be when Katarina has her nameday, Katie must be a form of that name. Or Catherine, there are several ways to spell it.
Those are ancient names from pagan nordic times. Reidar is male and Reidun is female, mostly when they end in -un they are female. Not many, if any, has names like those today but i think more people should.
Great calendar……I am on the road June 2nd headed for Yreka CA to move into my new appartment..looking forward to a fresh start big space this time a 2br yaaaaaaaaaaaah I guess everyone knows Searra is got a ring she is so funny ,lv her lots. I love the pic of u and Mr H very good what a great couple you bot make xooxxooxxo
O a 2 bedroom will be nice! I did see Searra got engaged very exciting!!
This is just fascinating. Also, it shows I am not smart enough to use the calendars in Sweden.
It has taken me quite a few months myself!
Very interesting! I saw my name spelled a bit differently in one of your pictures. Not sure which month it is associated with… Rebekah.
Thanks for the post!