{"id":4011,"date":"2011-08-18T12:08:07","date_gmt":"2011-08-18T12:08:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=4011"},"modified":"2011-08-18T12:08:07","modified_gmt":"2011-08-18T12:08:07","slug":"childcare-and-kulturkrock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/childcare-and-kulturkrock\/","title":{"rendered":"Childcare and Kulturkrock"},"content":{"rendered":"

By now, most Swedeophiles now that the Crown Princess of Sweden is pregnant<\/a>. Yay. Her marriage was one of the biggest news stories of the year last year. I can only imagine what the birth of an heir to the throne will be like. Interesting to say the least.<\/p>\n

But with the birth of a Swedish child comes some interesting issues. Like child care. We all know of course about the parental leave and the child allowance and day care and all the benefits afforded to Swedish parents in exchange for their tax money. What sometimes is missed are the little things. Unfortunately for one Swedish mother, those little things led to some big misunderstandings.<\/p>\n

In Sweden, it is quite common to leave small children in strollers outside. Some restaurants and other establishments in Stockholm actually have signs posted explicitly prohibiting strollers from being inside the building.<\/p>\n

You can find yourself in the dead of winter in Stockholm and a stroller with a small child bundled up and sleeping away while the mother is inside the caf\u00e9 having a coffee. It\u2019s something that I don\u2019t really find all that strange. There\u2019s no need to wake the child if it\u2019s sleeping. There\u2019s no need to drag an oversized stroller into a small establishment and encroach on everyone else\u2019s space.<\/p>\n

Of course, leaving a child outside is akin to neglect in some countries. Especially the US. In fact, a Swedish mother in Massachusetts<\/a> recently ran into a bit of trouble with this. Apparently she headed inside at a taco restaurant and left her child in the stroller outside. She claims to have been inside for about ten minutes. By the time she was back outside she had been reported for child abuse.<\/p>\n

This is what Swedes call kulturkrock. Literally culture crash, it is the kind of culture shock or culture clash that can sometimes lead to funny situations. You know, when you shake your head yes and it actually means no and all of a sudden you find yourself with a plate full of\u2026 something. Of course, it can also lead to the kinds of situations where police are involved and you don\u2019t really know why. As I said before, I really see no problem with leaving a sleeping child in a stroller outside of a caf\u00e9 or restaurant. That being said, I do see a problem with not understanding the customs and mores of different cultures. So I find myself disappointed in what I deem to be an overreaction by the American authorities in this case, but also disappointed in this woman\u2019s lack of awareness for her surroundings.<\/p>\n

While there is plenty to discuss when it comes to a news story like this, what I am most interested in is the kulturkrock. Have you ever found yourself in a situation in which your culture clash led to serious problems? Or funny ones? Let\u2019s hear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By now, most Swedeophiles now that the Crown Princess of Sweden is pregnant. Yay. Her marriage was one of the biggest news stories of the year last year. I can only imagine what the birth of an heir to the throne will be like. Interesting to say the least. But with the birth of a…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[34606,34605,3424,3442,3446],"class_list":["post-4011","post","type-post","status-publish","hentry","category-culture","tag-culture-clash","tag-princess","tag-stockholm","tag-sweden","tag-swedish"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t