Dalahäst.
I started learning Swedish when I was in third grade in school, I believe. I already knew a little because my mother was a native Swedish speaker. What I remember clearest from one of those early classes is the dalahäst, a Dalecarlian or Dala horse. It’s a traditional wooden souvenir originating from the Dalarna (or Dalecarlia) providence in Sweden. I was really into horses when I was a kid, so it immediately caught my eye in the schoolbook.
It took me more than a quarter of a century to get my own Dala horse, and I feel like a bit of a fraud because I actually bought mine from Copenhagen airport and it sports the Danish colours. I don’t know why it took me so long to get one, particularly as I travel through Swedish airports all the time!