Warning! The following post will contain some major generalizations:<\/p>\n
As much as I love Sweden and going back home to see friends and family, there’s one big thing that bugs me more than the darkness and the expensive price for a pint. The Swedes. Us.<\/p>\n
There are many good things about Swedes. Swedes are kind, modest, tall and blond. So far so good. Swedes are great at making music, cars, furniture and clothes. Good stuff. And Swedes are also very open-minded and accepting.\u00a0We have no censorship, we wed gay couples in church, we share saunas and we talk about sex from early age in school. But this is as far as our open-mindedness goes. Because when it comes to talking and socializing with strangers, Swedes are extremely poor. We can\u2019t handle when someone we don’t know talks to us on the bus – unless we are drunk on the night bus, that is. If someone chats to you in a bar, they are either on the pull or a bit weird. When you accidentally bump in to someone on\u00a0a crowded\u00a0street or in a club, we don’t say “Sorry!”, not because we are rude, just because we don’t really talk to strangers.<\/p>\n
Today, I live in the complete opposite, England. Here, I can get a man’s life story included in my\u00a0bus ticket price. Here, I can make friends at the pub. Here, I\u00a0can say hello to\u00a0a stranger in the streets without getting a strange look back. Here, people socialize with other people in the bar, not just with the four they entered the doors together with. I have only been to\u00a0USA a couple of times, but I had exactly the same experience there. People talk, chat, meet and greet all the time, everywhere.<\/p>\n
This is where we Swedes – in my opinion and most of the times –\u00a0fail.<\/p>\n
Now on to my question. What’s it like to come to visit Sweden as a tourist? What’s it like to move there from another country?\u00a0How are the\u00a0Swedes really\u00a0– in your opinion? Are we friendly yet reserved? Outgoing and welcoming? Sceptical? Please share your “When I met a Swede…”-stories with us! Am I out bicycling (as we say in Sweden when someone doesn’t make sense at all. Hon \u00e4r ute och cyklar = She is out bicycling) or do you recognize this as well? And what’s it like where you live?
\nI’m more than happy to be proven wrong!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Warning! The following post will contain some major generalizations: As much as I love Sweden and going back home to see friends and family, there’s one big thing that bugs me more than the darkness and the expensive price for a pint. The Swedes. Us. There are many good things about Swedes. Swedes are kind…<\/p>\n