Sommartid! (aka Summer time!)

I just got the following email from somebody in the office and thought I'd attach it because:

a) it's awesome
b) it shows off some of the cultural differences between Sweden and America and
c) it's an easy lesson in Swedish.

A few things to note: Swedes number each week and refer to the week by number. So instead of saying "the first week in June" or "the week beginning June 2nd," the Swedes just say "week 23." Simple, but it takes some getting used to. My weekly planner from America actually has the weeks numbered and I'd guess most do, but I didn't know that until I got here and looked at mine. Anyway, here's the message with a quick translation to follow.

Hej,

Nästa vecka, vecka 23, börjar sommartiden. Full arbetstid = 32,5 timmar/vecka.
Vi är lediga den 6 juni (Nationaldagen) och den 20 juni (Midsommarafton).

Trevlig sommar!

Hi,

Next week, week 23, is the beginning of summertime. A full work week is 32.5 hours per week. We are off on June 6 for National Day and June 20 for Midsummer's Eve.

Have a nice summer!

Miranda had summer hours back home...meaning she had to work nine hour days M-Th so she could work a four hour day on Friday...but she still had a 40 hour work week. I just have to work six and a half hour days. Pretty rough, eh? There are certain things that I love about Sweden, and this is definitely one of those things.

On the flipside, my coworkers tell me that we will more than make up for the easy summers by working endless hours in the cold dark winters. For now I'm focusing on the positive. I'll complain about the bad winters later.