The Old New Thing

It's embarrassing how little Swedish you need to know

March 29, 2004 Mar 29, 2004 03/29/04

Raymond Chen

Because everybody here speaks English. Perfectly. Sometimes they'll speak English to me even before I say anything. (My comparative silence probably gives me away as a non-native.) Other times they'll notice that I'm speaking with a bad accent and switch to English. Some humor me by speaking Swedish until I finally break down and ask (in ...

The army is cool, except for the part where you have to fight

March 29, 2004 Mar 29, 2004 03/29/04

Raymond Chen

There's some to-do over a soldier who volunteered to serve in the army who has since changed his mind and is applying for conscientous objector status. I noticed this trend over two years ago, when people who had enlisted in the armed forces underwent a change of heart after the World Trade Center attacks: Many of the enlisted ...