騎士范特西 ( Chivalry Fantasy )

上回到瑞典朋友家，看到他2歲多的瑞俄混血姪女Alicia，這個小孩有雙很美的藍色大眼睛、金色的捲髮，該打扮成小公主的年紀，卻穿著鬆垮的灰白條紋上衣配牛仔褲。

我不敢說瑞典有多少小孩是在不強調性別意識的環境長大，但像Alicia這樣被帶大的，絕對不是少數，也不是異類。

瑞典是全球性別差異和性別歧視最小的國家之一，他們的性別教育，是在上灌輸，由下培養；PhD朋友說，在瑞典修博士，一般都要上性別教育的課程，導正錯誤的性別觀念，例如不應該因為認為男生應該吃得比女生多，而多給男生較多份量的食物，以後為人師表，才能做正確典範。

也因此，在今天的Yahoo首頁的"新奇"頭條讀到我那低調的母校的研究("鐵達尼婦孺優先逃生 槍口逼的")，我會心一笑。完整的全文 Every man for himself - Gender, Norms and Survival in Maritime Disasters 可在此下載。

這個研究分析跨越三個世紀的18起船難，發現在這些船難裡，除了鐵達尼號，男人並沒有展現傳說中的"騎士精神"、婦孺並無因禮讓而獲得生存優勢、船長與船員也沒有展現捨己為人的精神。死傷特別慘重的船難裡，甚至可以發現獲救男女的比例相當懸殊，1914年的RMS Empress of Ireland船難，獲救女性的比例是11.3%，男性是40%、1928年的SS Vestris船難，獲救女性的比例是24.4%，男性是64.8%。而1911年的RMS Titanic，獲救女性的比例是73.3%，孩童是51.1%，男性是20.7%。在眾多船難中，鐵達尼號的"存活模式" ("survival pattern") 之所以有別於它，研究認為很可能是因船長下令"婦孺優先"(‘women and children first’)，並射擊不遵守命令的人。

這篇研究論文的收尾相當平實，亦沒有加入"船長應該捨己為人"、"男性應該展現騎士精神"這類的價值判斷。它總結道，原來人類在面臨生死攸關的情境之下，大家都是"自求多福" - ‘Every man for himself’。2012年年初的歌詩達協和號(Costa Concordia)船難裡，船長棄船落跑的行為，並非海難裡的特例，而是相當普遍的行為。

我認為這個研究很有瑞典特色，從糾正一個充滿"性別意識"的論述而起，最終歸結到，人性就是人性，何有男女之分。

華沙的路

面對一些不太愉快的事情的時候，我常想，生命那麼美好，為什麼會有人想把它弄得那麼糟。有德者以直報怨，而非以怨報怨，這是因為修養。看不清這點，得了便宜還洋洋得意者，實屬可悲。

那天我同媽說，媽你含辛茹苦將我教養成人，希望我做個光明磊落的人，而我長大以後卻為了做個光明磊落的人而吃虧受辱；儘管如此，我還是堅持自己的原則，因為我以我的教養為傲，我會一直這樣下去。我並不傻，是因為我相信世界上有比佔人便宜、佔人上風還更有意義的事情，我要把生命花在追求美好的事物上面。我媽笑答，有這樣的思想準備就好，正如自己過了半百，還是繼續吃虧。

昨天從同學那看到一個消息，我們在瑞典碩士班的課程輔導，一個來自人類學系，年輕而充滿智慧的瑞典女性，在過去的周末因病逝世了。過了數個小時，我開始掉眼淚。我怎麼可能不想起3年多前，一個微冷的清晨，我們在通往華沙大學的路上，第一次開始交談，談的是夢是理想。在瑞典讀書的時光，一語蔽之，就是在天堂了解地獄；我們在幸福指數最高的國家，研究人類世界的各種衝突，從形而上的宗教思想，到寸草不生的飢荒，還有可怕的殺戮。不管你是像一些法國的樂觀和平主義者，或是像我這種不相信世界和平認為衝突不可避免的犬儒，我們都有一個共通點 - 有沒有終極的大同世界不要緊，至少我們走在那條路上。
(照片左2是波蘭傳奇政治人物Tadeusz Mazowiecki，在華沙大學開學第一天他來給我們做演講，過後全場肅立鼓掌。)

H&M is Landing Singapore - September 3, 2011. Be There.

So it's really here, H&M on September 3rd, 2011.

Orchard Building.

I was present when H&M opened its very first store in East Asia, in Central, Hong Kong, in 2007.

As one of the first 500 visitors I got a pair of Madonna sunglasses and some candies :)

On 27th Feb 2010, the day H&M opened its first store in Seoul, Korea, I was there too. 

As usual, I was among the first 500 and I got a limited edition t-shirt (sorry, no image for that day as it was freezing cold waiting outside and inside it was battlefield - people were mad for Sonia Rykiel for H&M collection). 

It is always an enjoyable trip visiting H&M's several "first stores"; lots of discoveries and thoughts, seeing people's true faces as they pushed and grabbed each other in order to get their target items.

I'll definitely be there, H&M at Orchard on 3rd September 2011.

See You There!!!

(Xu Xiao Lian, 같이가요! ♥)

Fika at IKEA

Left: Early morning in Sweden, puffy face. Just to arrive before
the 10 buck breakfast finishes. Right: I love the 1 dollar set :)

Back in 2007-2008 I was living in Taiwai (大圍), Hong Kong. An ideally frugal afternoon for me was to take train to Shatin (沙田), which is only 1 stop from Taiwai (train fare was about 12 NTD), and spend few hours reading in IKEA cafe, with a refillable coffee and some Swede desserts.

In 2008 to 2009 I was living in Uppsala, Sweden, of course we got an IKEA but simply taking a bus there was luxury to me (about 75NTD) so it wasn't really an option, only when I got some special reason, like a breakfast set of 10 bucks (45 NTD). The 10 buck set includes 2 buns with butter and jam, small salad, bacon, ham and cheese, and refillable coffee with milk. The picture was taken after the Uppsala IKEA was renovated in 2009; the new restaurant has a panoramic view.

2009-2010. There's no IKEA in Korea, so I got no story about their restaurant (however, IKEA products can be purchased via local resellers, like this).

2010 Onwards, Singapore - the IKEA @ Queenstown is the same as I last visited years ago when I was an exchange at NUS. Some updates from the restaurant:

1 dollar cinnamon bun + refillable black coffee

New coffee machine ($0.5). Latte & Cappuccino available ($1.5).

New prices

Auto Ice Cream Machine

Fun place. I had a nice afternoon teatime with my Korean colleague Jessica, chatting about our early 20s :) 

The Way to Gender Equality

The Grand Narrative, one of my fav blogs on Korea, recently has a post discussing Korean woman's role of childcare. He mentioned that only woman appears in the signs that involve child caring, such as this:

The Grand Narrative最近有篇文章討論韓國女性的社會形象，他說，在他所能見到的每個和照顧小孩有關的標示裡，都僅有女人出現，暗指這個社會尚認為照顧孩童是女人的責任，同時，他也點出，在其他西方國家也會看到類似標示，顯然韓國不是孤例。以下是他在韓國拍攝的一個標示:

(source)

Which reminds me of a picture I took in Sweden several years ago:

讓我想到2007年在瑞典拍的一個路標(拍到的不太好，因為是在大馬路中間，腳被磨掉了XD):

(Ooops, this is not a very good one as both adult images are missing one leg. Can't blame, it's in the middle of the road!)

A better awareness of gender equality is one of the top reasons I admire Sweden.

男女平等是我最仰慕瑞典的原因之一(事實上，待了瑞典就難免覺得很多歐美國家相較之下在思想上仍舊相當落後，特別是美國 =.=)。

Lördag - My Home in Sweden

Early Autumn in 2008, my second time to Sweden; this time, for my Master degree.

This house is where I lived. It's owned by a Swedish couple, who were retired professors from Uppsala University. They have lived in this house for more than 4 decades, from a newlywed couple to grandparents of a bunch of cute kids.

My room is called Lördag (click to enlarge), "Saturday" in English. Just a year before I moved in, it was a tiny boutique owned by the landlord granny, and because it opened basically only on Saturdays, hence the name. It's a semi-basement, somehow a bit damp, protecting me from the dryness of Sweden.

This is what you see when you enter the room.

Other scenes of the room. You can see me studying hard in the top 2 pictures, haha. Sometimes at my desk, sometimes at dinner table. Maybe you can guess where the kitchen is. I did not have picture for the washroom, but it was the best in the world. I used to make calls to KC in the washroom, and I also love to read in there too. It's just adorable.

Because this place is so cozy, sometimes I could even stayed indoors 2 to 3 days without walking out in the freezing open. In Winter, counting how deep the snow has become used to be my daily practice. It really made me think.

H&M - their new Android App and New Venture in SE Asia

I am checking the nearest H&M stores to me from their newly launched Android app (it's fab, download it now!). Right, 2578 km, in Central, HK. But haha, they are going to open in Singapore this Autumn, their first store in SE Asia!

• News from the Local (Sweden's News in English)
• News from H&M

"Haven't I Told You, Norway is Definitely NOT a Fashion Icon"

A Swedish hottie once told me how she thought about Oslo, Norway, after coming back from her business trip, "Pizza's damn expensive. Also, I can't believe they are still wearing crochet!!!"

曾有位瑞典正妹跟我說她出差到挪威奧斯陸的心得 : "Pizza真貴。還有，他們不知道是怎麼穿衣服的，竟然會土到穿針織衫!"

So when I came across this on a Taiwanese fashion magazine (introducing a collection by a Japanese girl brand iimk), a corner of my mouth curved up.

然後我在雜誌上看到這個，左邊的嘴角不禁上揚。

(source)

I know the Scandinavian countries are famous for their design. However, when it comes to fashion, Sweden is the only Nordic country famous for being fashionable nation-wide. Not Norway. And not even anywhere close to the Arctic Circle. Please, sister.

我知道北歐設計很有名，但北歐唯一和時尚扯得上邊的是瑞典，不是挪威，更不是北極圈一帶啊，お願いします!

The Tipping Snus

Whereas smoking is nearly a national collective behavior in Korea, it's not attached with any negative lable like in Taiwan. Hence, though KC's school is considered a prestigious university, one shall not be surprised to see smokers around the campus, with some demonstrating horrifying vulgarism by littering butts or even spitting while smoking.

抽菸在台灣大概是件非常負面之事，但在韓國可說是國民運動，此舉和社會地位、教育程度也沒什麼關係。儘管許小臉來自所謂名校，校園繞一圈，處處可見哈菸男女，而且不少人菸品極差，邊走邊抽亂丟菸蒂之類的不算什麼，邊抽邊吐痰的才是極品。

KC enjoying smoking on Viking Line

When KC visited Sweden last year, he enjoyed his full liberty trying all kinds of tobaccos with my guy classmates. However, just before he went back to Korea, I invited my Swedish friends to a dinner at home, they were the first Swedish guys that he'd even met; they were humorous, charming, and... using snus. That's how KC acquired the consumption of snus. And then he quited smoking, totally.

我對許小臉抽菸一事一向不多置喙，去年他在瑞典還跟我幾個抽菸的同學抽得很開心。然而，就在他回韓國前，我邀了幾位不抽菸的瑞典朋友來家裡吃飯，他們風度翩翩、談吐幽默，席間不時使用snus，就在那樣的場景下，許小臉被snus所迷惑，進而把菸給戒掉了。

It was long before I read The Tipping Point, so I had little knowledge of smoking back then. But now I know, the experiential context matters the most, for a habit like smoking, to persist. And the best way to quit smoking, for a non born smoker like KC, is to provide him with something capable of offering better emotional experience, something that he considers cooler.
snus可讓一天抽10多根菸的許小臉快速戒菸，這件事讓我明白，對他這種非天生的smoker，抽菸並非思而後動之舉，一開始只是耍帥，後來就是習慣成自然，而要把這個習慣戒掉，就是給他另一個習慣，一個他認為不但比抽菸健康、而且還更酷的習慣。

Snus is a moist powder tobacco product originated from Sweden. The consumption of snus does not include inhalation so it does not affect the lungs as cigarettes do.
snus是潮濕的粉狀菸草製品，起緣於19世紀的瑞典，一個偉大的發明(因為它幫助許小臉戒菸XD)。它是用來放在嘴巴裡的，一般卡在牙齦跟嘴巴之間，它可提拱人體尼古丁，但因非吸入性質，不會造成一般香菸對肺部的不良影響

Our friend sent this new product from LUCKY STRIKE from Sweden last month. The bottom has a small separated space for putting used ones.
Rachel幫許小臉從瑞典寄來新產品， LUCKY STRIKE 的snus；盒底設計了一個空間，可放置使用過的snus

One of KC's fav snus brands, the Göteborgs Rapé. The one on the left is loose snus, the other 2 are portion snus.
Göteborgs Rapé是許小臉愛牌之一，盒身設計很經典

The lid on the top is designed for putting used ones.
盒蓋上另設的小空間，用來放置使用過的snus

What's Inside a Gender-Neutral Toilet ( 無性別廁所哪裡找? )

Gender-neutral toilets at
Göteborgs Universitet, Sweden

First of all, I've never seen a gender-neutral toilet in Korea. And in Taiwan, only in a few smaller Starbucks cafes that such toilet can be found. However, there have been some controversies over Starbucks' gender-neutral toilets, in which some argue men are usually less hygienic or it's benefiting camera perverts. Here, I feel sorry for such pathetically sexist comments from some Taiwanese people.

Gender-neutral toilets at
Rudbeck Lab, Uppsala Universitet

我還沒在韓國看過無性別廁所，在台灣，最常見的就是在一些比較小的星巴克，例如我家附近的北新門市。台灣星巴克的無性別廁所不時引起爭議，有些人認為跟衛生習慣較差的男性共用廁所很不舒服，或此舉使針孔偷窺狂更有機可乘。看到這些評論，我真為台灣的性別教育感到抱歉。

Back to the gender-neutral toilet. They are more common in Euro American countries. For example Sweden, I must say the toilets in my school is one of my fav places on campus. I can enjoy total free time doing whatever I want just like in my own room. There're amenities like toilet(of course), mirror, basin, soap, tissues and cups(for drinking tap water). Like this : 

無性別在廁所歐美比較常見，我在瑞典念書時，學校的廁所是我最喜歡的地方之一，乾淨明亮、無色無味、我可以享受完整的私人空間。一間間獨立式的廁所裡，除了洗手台、肥皂、衛生紙等必備之物外，還有大面的鏡子(方便化妝XD)和免洗杯(喝水用)。廁所裡面長這樣 :

A Toilet in Engelska Parken, Uppsala Universitet

In addition to personal convenience, there are more implications to gender-neutral toilets; parents with children of the opposite sex face no more dilemma in choosing which toilet to go to, and transgender or androgynous people are also free from embarrassment. However, gender-neutral toilet is not the once-and-for-all answer to gender politics in toilets, and the situation varies with culture and economic capacity. Obviously, it requires more space and budget to make such toilets than sex-separated ones.

除了維個人隱私提供方便外，無性別廁所另有寓意；家長帶小孩上廁所時，不用因為孩子性別跟自己不同而面臨兩難(當然啦，在亞洲大家都很習慣把小男生帶到女廁，這點比較不成問題)，也免除了變性或雙性者選擇廁所時的不便與尷尬。然而，無性別廁所還是會受到文化或經濟條件的限制，而設置無性別廁所將需要更多的空間與預算。

Transsexual Toilet at a Thai school
(source : BBC news)

There shouldn't be more disputes over gender-neutral toilet as the comments about toilets in Taiwan's Starbucks, and you have probably already experienced its convenience in an aircraft lavatory. However, some, choose other ways to address more sensitive concerns, such as the transsexual toilets in a Thai school.

除在歐美國家，搭乘飛機時亦可體會無性別廁所的便利，我想它大概沒什麼缺點。此外，也有些人選擇其他方式處理敏感的廁所性別問題，例如在泰國，便有學校為雙性或變性學生設置專用廁所。

  

Mapping Starbucks

 (Nowy Świat Street)

In early autumn 2008 I took my first NOHA course in Warsaw University, and I could hardly survive without coffee given the long class hours each day. However, even though Warsaw University was located adjacent to the Ulica Nowy Świat,where cafés could be found in every corner, there's no Starbucks. I am no fan of Starbucks but this green logo does always make me rest assured that in there I can have my drinks customized, with reasonable prices similar to all other Starbucks in the world, and there'd be English speaking baristas at the counter. Anyway, after several unsuccessful experiences with local café brands I found w biegu café (right), who has similar quality to Starbucks and take away coffee in grande size costs only 5 złoty (about $2.5 at that time)! It soon became my fav store and I also recommended it to my friends.

April 8th 2009, Poland's first Starbucks opened in Warsaw at Nowy Świat 62. According to news report, the customer lines "twisted around inside the shop and out the door" and people carried the cups with pride, "the famous green label facing outward." This year, in February, Starbucks opened its first store in Sweden, at Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, inside the customs. Similarly, its first store in all Northern Europe was opened in Copenhagen, in the Kastrup Airport (one inside and one outside the customs), instead of downtown. I sensed something interesting here. First of all, Starbucks would definitely run a good business in downtown Copenhagen and Stockholm, but over the years they are still performing such conservative development strategy. Secondly, people seem to discuss more about Starbucks opening stores in Warsaw than in Stockholm. Why? In comparison to opening another chain coffee house in Scandinavia, where people are already able to afford coffee of any brands, I guess people naturally feel more intrigued by the advent of Capitalism in the former communist Eastern European countries. So do I. (Warsaw Starbucks picture from MinnPost)

2008年秋在華沙大學修了門課，全日課時長，我不得不靠咖啡提神。華沙大學位於主要街道Ulica Nowy Świat 旁，遊人如織，咖啡店林立卻獨無星巴克；本地咖啡店價格不斐卻品質不一，店員也不諳英文，讓我很是困擾，直到找到一家咖啡店，品質和星巴克差不多，外帶大杯咖啡卻只要5波蘭幣(當時匯率1波蘭幣約17台幣，現約10台幣)，想當然耳我就變成死忠顧客，還介紹同學去。我不偏愛星巴克，但它能給我一種安心的感覺，我知道怎麼點才合自己口味、店員一定會說英文、價格一定不會太貴。

2009年4月8日，波蘭第一家星巴克在Ulica Nowy Świat 開張，根據報導，顧客一路排到店外，整條路上處處能見到行人拿著印有巴星克綠色女神logo的咖啡。今年2月瑞典也開了星巴克，不過地點不在旅遊區，而是Arlanda機場管制區內，同樣的，星巴克在北歐的第一個據點哥本哈根，分店也並非開在市區，而是Kastrup機場(一在海關外，一在管制區內)。這中間有些微妙差異。首先，不論瑞典還丹麥的連鎖咖啡店我都覺得不太好喝，而且也沒有系統性的客製化規範，但那些咖啡店的概念、顧客與功能，皆和星巴克所差無幾，如果星巴克也在一般市區開張，生意想必不會差，但發展策略卻是如此保守；其次，比起星巴克開在北歐，人們對於星巴克開在華沙顯然有更多想法，google關鍵字可以發現，關於星巴克2009年開在華沙的討論絕對的多於2010年開在瑞典的討論。為什麼? 我想，比起星巴克到北歐錦上添花，人們大概不自覺的對資本主義進軍前共產東歐國家這件事更感吸引(是吧?)。

(Starbucks at Stockholm-Arlanda Airport)

Koreans Lost in Swedish Elevator ( 韓國人: 靠杯的瑞典電梯 )

(source : 새댁 요코짱의 한국살이(두 번째 이야기) pp. 14~15 ; 

English captions by me )

In her "Yoko's Life in Korea (Part 2)", Yoko mentions her few habit changes after 6 years of living in Korea, which include always eating really fast, Kimchi as a daily must, dare to ask directions of passers-by, crossing streets when the traffic light's still red, and talking to her husband with a loud voice. Also, as the drawing above shows, just like the Korean people, she would unconsciously press "CLOSE" button many time, non-stop, upon entering an elevator. Haha, that's indeed very Korean. Well, I wonder how Koreans feel once they are in a Swedish elevator, mind that, many Swedish elevators have no "CLOSE" button :p

Yoko在 "新娘子Yoko的韓國生活(二輯)" (새댁 요코짱의 한국살이- 두 번째 이야기)講到自己在韓國居住6年後的習慣改變，包括跟韓國人一樣飯吃得又快又多、不吃泡菜就不對勁、沒車時看到紅燈也照走(這個我也會，我是絕對堅持行車要無條件禮讓行人的，大馬路例外)、敢跟老公大小聲等。此外，還有一進電梯就不自覺猛按關門鈕。不耐煩的按關門鈕這點真的超韓國的，所以他們到了瑞典大概會很靠杯，因為瑞典電梯可沒有關門鈕給他們按 XD

( source: a Swedish elevator in Rachel's apartment)