Swedification

It happens to most americans and expats who come to Sweden for an extended period of time. I used to think that it was self inflicted, but apparently you can be swedified without your consent. This mild slip-up is quite funny, I think, so hopefully you will be equally amused :)

As you may recall, I recently lectured at Örebro University. I had to apply for remuneration to get my travel expenses reimbursed and all that. They included the expenses with my total lecturing fee. I have to admit, it paid quite nicely for the time I spent, not to mention the great experience I received. In any case, I looked over my pay check and they've made a 'slight' typographical error. For privacy reasons I will be using a slight variation in my name: Kisham (taken separately as Kis'Ham). Kiss in swedish is slang for to piss or waz (depending on where you are from). So there is already some humor in the name. However, they printed my name Kisshammar on my pay stub! I guess the admin could not understand the nonswedish name, and decided to swedify me to the best of his/her ability. Hammar means hammer in swedish, so my name ultimately comes out to Piss Hammer. S-W-E-D-I-F-I-C-A-T-I-O-N.

The troubling part is that now I have to go to the bank and explain the discrepancy. I am unsure if they will still cash the check since the name is not really even close to my name. It DOES have my address and my first name correct though, so hopefully that will be enough. Otherwise I have to send it BACK to the University and get it redone. I wonder what they will come up with next ...

~B