Guest Speaker

 

 

Today's guest speaker was our exchange student Kat Janzon. She was introduced by Darren Wallace.

 

Kat has been a somewhat reluctant speaker but today she was excellent. Kat is from Sweden and she speaks English exceptionally well. This language skill is shared by nine out of ten of her fellow countrymen and women. Surprisingly Swedish was only declared the national language in 2009. She is also an exceptional gymnast.

 

Sweden, Kat told us, is the fourth largest country in Europe but is one seventeenth the size of Australia. It has a population of 9.5 million, 2.5 million of whom live in the Capital, Stockholm. The currency of Sweden is the Kronor, not the Euro, although Sweden is a member of the EU.

 

Sweden enjoys a parliamentary democracy with a Ruling Monarch Karl Gustav as Head of State.

 

Some familiar companies from Sweden include Volvo, Scania, Tetra Pak and Skype.

 

The temperature can fall as low as - 40c in winter and reach + 32 c in Summer. The sun is absent for 32 days in Winter and there is twenty four hour daylight for 56 days in Summer.

 

Sweden is famous for Smorgas Boards, Ice Hotel, Northern Lights and has a spot where you can stand in three countries at the same time.

 

The Nobel Prize was a Swedish initiative and is presented each year in Stockholm.

 

Kat's community is a city called Taby (is she therefore a Taby Kat?)

 

Taby has a population of 67,000 and has the biggest shopping mall in Sweden. It is on the outskirts of Stockholm. Kat described her Dad as normal "although he runs marathons". Her mum Christina and siblings are very special. Kat has travelled widely with her family as demonstrated by the photos she showed us.

 

Kat answered a number of questions and President Geoff thanked her for a marvelous speech and reminded members that they should invite Kat to family dinners and outings whenever possible.

Taby in winter