Growing up in Sweden

Some of you keep asking me to write more about Sweden and what it was like, so here goes...

I was never sick when I was a kid. However, I often convinced my grandmother that I didn’t feel well so I could stay home from school and sit in her kitchen with my old typewriter and work on my short stories.

I “published” two books before I turned 15. Of course, they were both photocopied at my friend’s father’s office and distributed in person or by mail to friends and relatives. I also made a collection of my best poems and novels, distributed the booklet to my five best friends in school, and more or less forced them to read it.

I grew up with my grandparents in a small village in Sweden, population 6,000. We watched government-owned Channel 1 and Channel 2 on TV, with our favorite "Cosby Show" shown Sunday nights at 8 o'clock. Since I am an only child, I loved watching and laughing at the Huxtable mad house and I often dreamt about what it would be like to have brothers and sisters filling up the house.

When I was 11, we got a new TV that could also receive Channel 4. It didn't come in very clearly, and occasionally it was only available in black and white. It was clear enough, however, that I could watch "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Dr. Quinn – Medical Woman."

Channel 4 also had commercials, something very exciting for an 11-year-old. Every week I was glued to the TV to see whether Dylan would end up with Kelly or Brenda, and to see if David was ever going to get a record deal.

With a limited selection of television shows, I was often went to the movies at our local community hall. It wasn’t very expensive, but they only showed movies twice a week (and it was the same movie both Wednesday and Sunday).

My friends and I went every Sunday evening, to keep up with the latest discussion in school. We spent many Sunday nights outside the theater arguing about whether "Swing Kids" or "A Perfect World" was the best movie. My friends were always waiting for their parents to pick them up, and I wouldn't walk home until they were all gone.

My family did not have a VCR until I turned 14, so I remember going to my best friend’s house to watch movies. It started out with "Scooby-doo" and "Ducktales," which her aunt had recorded from cable TV, and it evolved to "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." There was something comforting about watching the same movie over and over again, and even today when I watch "Indiana Jones" I picture us fighting over the good seat on the sofa.

Occasionally, I visited my aunt who lived in the city and had cable TV. While my grandmother and aunt were busy in the kitchen, I sat in front of the TV for hours just watching music videos on MTV. The first video I ever saw was Michael Jackson’s "Black or White." The faces were flashing by, changing from black to white, and then back again. Then I saw Madonna, Roxette and Aerosmith. Alicia Silverstone was jumping off a bridge, saved by a thin wire attached to her belly button piercing.

I got my first stereo for my 13th birthday. I also got my first CD - Bryan Adams’ "Waking Up the Neighbors." I listened to it day in and day out until Christmas finally came two weeks later and I got two more CDs. By then, I knew every word of every song. I didn't know what it all meant, but I knew the sound, the beat and everything printed in the booklet about the man behind the hoarse and sexy voice.

I never really got over the fact that I totally missed out on New Kids On The Block, so my friend gave me her old tapes, which I listened to long after everyone else had given up on them.

My family was not into books. The only thing my grandmother read was a glossy tabloid magazine with crossword puzzles and health-related articles. My grandmother got the magazines monthly from a friend who subscribed, and I got them when my grandmother was done with them. I didn’t care that they were several months old, since I was mostly just looking at the celebrity pictures.

I was 11 when I got my first book. It was a Nancy Drew book, and within a year I was reading book No. 52 in the series. I followed Nancy through all her mysteries, trying my best to figure them out before she did. I went with her scuba diving, driving in her Mustang GT convertible, and swimming in an underground river, wishing that my life could be just as exciting.

Pretty soon, I also discovered the school library and the books by Enid Blyton and C.S. Lewis. These books got me through many cold and rainy summers. The idea that there was a land out there somewhere with talking animals and big giants intrigued me. I wanted to go to England so badly, to find the wardrobe that would take me to this magical place. I also wanted to take long vacations by the coast and find a mystery, after having a marvelous picknick by a bubbling brook.

Over the years, my life gradually changed, like most people’s lives normally do. I moved to the city. I expanded my CD-collection, and I got cable. I got hooked on "Friends" and "Seinfeld," and every day I tried to catch the 5 p.m. reruns of "McGyver." I related to Monica and Rachel, I felt sorry for George and Elaine, and I was amazed by McGyver, who wasn’t only cute, but had a solution to every problem (usually this involved salt or duct tape).

Then I started studying and working with media. I read tons of books. I moved to the United States. I discovered channels that I had never heard of, and spent more time in front of the TV than I had done in my entire life.