Lund is employing multiple strategies to stop large gatherings in local parks tonight. Saint Walpurgis night, originally a pagan, equinox (Beltane) festival turned folk fest, with singing and bonfires has in recent decades become a huge party for students who have just completed their Spring exams. Lund has possibly the largest (unsanctioned) party in the country. Authorities have been preparing for weeks. This letter from ISLK seemed unnecessary for an elementary/ middle school, but the kids say staff has been posted on the grounds in shifts all day to prevent gatherings. Maybe they learned the hard way.When I walked through town this morning, there were already big parties starting on the balconies. There are lots of bike cops out and bars close at 8pm so I imagine they will keep students from leaving private housing. Last year’s chicken poop on the grass didn’t seem to be enough, and this year they’ve added more barricades.

The grown ups are certainly hoping for rain!

Imagine 25,000 visitors in Lund (population 91,000) on the same night. The line for alcohol purchases has been around the block all day for the last 3 days. Maybe that means people plan to stay home. If not, I think the local gardens would be at risk!

The May Day parades and big events for organized labor are cancelled, obviously. Glad I made it to the farmers market today just in case!.

International Citizen’s Hub (just a French lady named Carole) has been hosting a weekly walk around Stadsparken, a little over half a mile from our house. This is where I take most of my pond pictures. I like the view from the top of the rampart walking path.

We’ve had fairly low turn out for the Citizens Hub walks, maybe due to winter-like temps, at least from the point of view of many recent arrivals, who tend to come from warmer places! It’s probably better in small groups anyway, since we can get to know one another and talk more easily.

Our meeting point is the Greenhouse at city park. A couple of times only 2 or 3 people turned up. And it occurred to me that we may have been missing a few potential attendees due to a language issue, since the “greenhouse” is not green or a house. One day I told a friend from Cameroon that I would meet her at the greenhouse and she called me to say she was there, but she wasn’t. Turns out she was here…

Hard to see in the photo but the band shell is green 😁

I wonder if we lost a few walkers for whom English is not a first language!? Or anyone who was looking for a green house, rather than a greenhouse.

Parks are amazing in Sweden. I read somewhere that it is considered a basic human right that everyone have green space and outdoor activities within easy access. Playgrounds are everywhere and most of them have at least one wooded area for nature play. We live within three blocks of several lovely parks. The newest is an “Out-gym” a quarter mile from us, behind the CherryBerry (körsbär) preschool. I try to stop by for a few exercises every day.The out-gym is on the back side of the trees. Preschoolers spend much of the day out here. They even have a vegetable garden that they “tend” They often call out and wave to me and other neighbors who pass by. The area is usually quite busy but these photos were taken early on a Sunday morning.

There is one issue in Sweden that has annoyed me from day 1. Sverige seems like a country that would put the public good ahead of individual freedoms. The leaders claimed they were following the science on all issues related to covid 19 so why are they ignoring the data on mask effectiveness?

We’ve been wearing masks in public indoor spaces and outdoors if there are space issues. There are lots of internationals here in Lund so it’s not uncommon, but the vast majority of people do not wear masks. It seems to me that people are choosing to misinterpret the lack of mask recommendation by the Swedish Health authority to mean that the “risks” outweigh the benefits. It’s not really clear what they think the risks are!

The story below cites a hindrance to communication as a reason for not allowing the student to wear one in school. I’m occasionally asked to remove my mask for identification purposes in situations where it seems completely unnecessary, but most of the time no one says anything. Once a person seemed to cough deliberately in my direction. Some kids at the mall made rude comments in English, and once a man in the grocery store talked to me animatedly in Swedish while gesturing to the distance markers on the floor. I assume he was trying to tell me that keeping distance is enough and that I shouldn’t be wearing a mask, but I don’t really know.

Our kids were questioned repeatedly by classmates and teachers about mask wearing at school, in a manner that made them feel they needed to defend the science and our choice, but no one asked them to remove the masks. A few teachers and kids now wear them regularly. And although Sweden denied any strategy of herd immunity, we do believe that a large number of teachers and staff at ISLK have already had Coronavirus, so the atmosphere is now more relaxed.

It does seem like they meant to “allow” healthy young people to get sick, making personal responsibility the main strategy for protecting the vulnerable. I think that message runs counter to Sweden’s stated prioritization of responsibility to society and raising good citizens.

This story got me “hotted up” to borrow a local expression (I think it’s British)

https://feeds.thelocal.com/app/ios/article.php?id=stockholm-school-sends-pupil-home-for-wearing-face-mask

And below is an update to that story…

No, Swedish schools can’t send students home just for wearing face masks

Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT has spoken with Sweden’s Education Agency (Skolverket) after The Local last week interviewed a motherwhose 13-year-old son was sent home from school after he refused to remove his face mask. The school said it was following Stockholm’s coronavirus recommendations on face masks, but the infectious disease unit in Stockholm said it had issued no recommendations on masks in schools.

Skolverket told SVT that Sweden’s Education Act does not give schools the power to send students home for wearing or not wearing a face mask. “The only situation really where you can send a student home is if the principal decides on suspension, if that option is needed to secure other students’ safety and studies,” said a spokesperson.

Swedish vocabulary: suspension – 
avstängning

I’m pretty sure the Health Authority determined that the potential divisions that would arise from any kind of mask mandate would outweigh the benefits. Instead, it seems like we have the divisions without the benefits. I also wonder if they decided to avoid any decision about face coverings in order to steer clear of the controversies surrounding religious face and head coverings. I guess I can understand that goal, but it’s so frustrating that a simple, common sense strategy to help people stay healthy is in any way controversial. People are stupid.