This week I got the opportunity to interview a great guy called Olle Dernevik, Olle is a 36 year old Jazz drummer living in Malmö Sweden.  I met this young man down our local pub (yes the pubs are still open in Sweden:-) )were he plays jazz every Monday evening. I’m not 100% sure how our paths crossed but I do recall  him telling me he spend a chunk of his childhood in the North-east of England just outside Durham, another piece of the jigsaw regarding our first conversation was when I totally confessed the fact that Jazz is the music genre I dislike most of all… Lets be honest, for the first encounter I must admit it was a tad insulting to this Swedish Geordie lad, but it didn't seem to deter him agreeing to be interviewed and have an attempt to convert me to like this confusing sometimes chaotic music. I believe Olle has a great way of explaining his art and passion, so please kickback, relax and enjoy the next 50+ minutes of my next episode of Fluently Swenglish with Olle Dernevik

COVID-19…

Martin and Iain offer their opinion on the Corona Virus in Sweden. Many people from the international press corps, plus some different political groups in Sweden feel that the Swedish authorities are dragging their red tape heels and not inline with the rest of Europe. The boys look into want is actually happen here in Sweden and bring a little light on to the subject… Martin as usual is looking for the positivity and hope in it all, while Iain says it as it is. The youth will rebel against the pensioners if the pubs are closed too long. Watch out Nan and grandad the millennium so coming after you… ‘’

This week Martin and Iain are back in the studio for an episode called Sweden - The land of Laws. The team is back together to chat about some of the rather bizarre laws in Sweden. Everything from not being able to name children a usual name without permission to the new smoking restrictions. The couple is back in form, it’s time to protect Sweden from foreign press and a crazy twittering president called Donald Trump who believes American citizens are above the Swedish court systems. If that isn’t enough to fuel your appetite, the boy’s will try and get their heads around weird drinking laws and understand the dancing regulations of the land. Please tune in to this fun episode of Fluently Swenglish….

Following the theme of the series ‘Expat stories’ Martin this week meets up with an old lost friend! Travelling to the small village of Klippan in the Northern part of Skåne, Martin chats with Roslyn Bennett a true UK expat in every way. Roslyn has lived in Sweden for over 32 years truly making Sweden her home but still holding on the some old home memories and traditions. Telling of a Scottish dish her mother lovingly made called Dumpling then to explaining the transition of living in a foreign land. Martin and Roslyn chat about the problems back in the 80’s to build a career and how more difficult it was if you didn’t speak Swedish. They both moved to Kalmar with-in a few years of each other, so listen in to the stories of a couple of friends meeting up again…

On this episode of Fluently Swenglish, Martin is chatting to someone with an amazing story. Ali Jehad as a toddler fled his village in Southern Iraq with his mother to start his life in a refugee camp in Northern Saudi Arabia. Some of Ali’s first memories are of playing in burnt out tanks and jeeps, cans of ginger ale and Kit Kats on Friday afternoon. Remembering the horrors of his father going missing for months on end, to the joys of flying to Sweden with all his family to start a new life. It wasn’t until Ali was 7 years old he experienced living somewhere with running water and electricity.  Tune in to Fluently Swenglish to hear Ali’s story and how now over 30 years on Ali is working as a freelance photographer inspired be his grandfather…

On this episode of Fluently Swenglish, Martin is chatting to a couple of Welsh dragons. Tom and Nathan, two lads from Swansea moved to Malmö two years ago, one a teacher and the other a food writer… Find out why they decided to move from Wales and settle into a new town and country. Was Brexit anything to do with it or was it for a better quality of life? Click the link above and hear Martin chatting with the New Swelsh Kids on the Block!

Episode 5 on Fluently Swenglish is following the trend of storytelling with Martin telling about his adventures as a tour guide back in the late 80’s early 90’s… Bus trips from Sweden to London taking over 24 hours through Germany, Holland, Belgium and France was a popular pastime back then. Martin shares  stories about his trips and the passenger’s he looked after, he explains that he wasn’t just a tour guide but also ended up be a mother, agony aunt, kindergarten teacher and most often a shoulder to cry on. So tune into the Fluently Swenglish podcast using the link above and follow Martin to London…

Episode 4 on Fluently Swenglish Martin is chatting with his friend Firas Murarker, who is originally from Palestine, but now lives with his wife and black Labrador in Malmö Sweden.… Firas being an experienced photographer and filmmaker usually is the one interviewing people, but on this occasion Firas is sitting on the live side of the microphone telling Martin want it was like to grow up in Palestine in the late 80’s, 90’s and early 2000s. From studying law, running a bar in Bethlehem to becoming a busy photographer in a country were a passport was classed as a low status travel document to meeting the love of his life and travelling to a country where it’s passport is highly desirable…

This week is episode 3 in the “Meet the Expats” series, tune in and listen to the incredible story of Diana Achata… Diana is from Peru and moved to Sweden in 2015 with her Danish husband. The incredible part of the story is why they moved to Sweden and not Denmark. Being under 24 years old, Danish law basically said they were not allowed to live in Denmark. Martin and Diana touch on many different subjects a few being the unusual delicacies of Peru, the number of different potatoes there is in Diana’s homeland, the horrors of wedding photography and the different art forms of storytelling…

This week in the Fluently Swenglish studio Martin is with Rami Iskif, Rami has an amazing story to tell about his journey to Sweden back in 2015. Bringing his family from a war torn Syria, he tells of the up’s and down’s of passing through Europe to get to Sweden. Over crowded rubber boats, sunny Greek beaches, smugglers on speed dial and German boarder guards at the airports, at has all the drama of a Tom Clancy novel…