Time Usage

TIme: Swedish people usually make plans by using the weeks. On the calendars they list the number of weeks. This makes it complicated for me when I try to make plans with someone over here because I don’t keep track of this bit of information at all. My friends find this amusing when I explain that I have no idea what week it is and what week they are referring to. An example of what the may say would be, ‘Vecka 32 can jag’, this means, “Week 32 I can”. Once they have agreed upon a week then they will narrow it down to a day and time. 

Military time: Swedish people also use military time to distinguish the time of day. Instead of saying that the time is ‘one o’clock pm’ they would say that it is 13:00 (Thirteen).

Order of weekdays: The calendar here also lists the week from Monday to Sunday rather than Sunday through Saturday like in most calendars in the US. THe first day of the week in Sweden is Monday and simply ends on Sunday.

Name Days: On the calendar you can also find a name on each day. This is an opportunity to celebrate the person you know with that name. On July 22, my brother Anders called me to wish me a happy name day...the two names that day to be celebrated were, “Magdalena, Madeleine’. Everyday of the calendar has a name or two that can be celebrated. Some people do this more than others. I remember my grandmother Elsa being quite the follower of this tradition. Interesting enough the names change over time. My name did not exist on the calendar when I grew up, but got added to the calendar at a later time...my guess is that it got added after the youngest princess was named Madeleine with my exact spelling. 


http://www.scandinavius.com/sweden/seconnections/namesday/senamesday.html