Knytkalas

I came this >< close to starting an international incident. Granted, a minor incident, but still an incident.

Yesteday was the last Tango Cafe event for the season. They won't have it over summer (in Swedish, "under summer"). I'll go salsa dancing as Hendriksberg instead. The tango event was a knytkalas meaning a potluck. Not "knytkallas" as I originally wrote. "Knyt" means "tie" (as in "to tie") and "kalas" means "feast". It's from the days before Tupperware when people would tie up the food in a piece of cloth. I brought pita bread, tziki dip and feta cheese in olive oil. Yum.

I'm used to a potluck where if you see food you can take it. I reached for a shrimp. Johann made a comment to help myself, after I had one. It was strange the way he said it. Later I realized that people asked the bringer of a given dish for permission before taking something. Luckily, Johann was sitting next to me and we had talked some so I asked for clarification about the relevant proprieties. Because the dishes were not at a different table (the "bord" of a smörgåsbord), hence anonymous, it's polite in Sweden to ask first. All became clear and I apologized for my accidental slight. Rudeness averted.