Tag: differences

5 things that are wrong with Sweden

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

When you’ve lived in a foreign country as long as I have, you become blind to the differences that were so obvious when you first moved here. That’s a natural development I guess. Call it emersion, or integration, or adaptation, or assimilation. Or in my case, Swedification.

However, there are still some differences in Sweden that I notice on a regular basis. Things so deeply ingrained in me from my cultural background that they still feel wrong in Sweden. Here are my top 5:

1) Front doors open the wrong way. Doors open outwards, instead of inwards. That means if you are visiting someone, ring their doorbell and stand on the landing, there is a big risk that you get smacked in the face as they open the door outwards, towards you. It’s just wrong!

2) Plumbing is often on the outside of the walls. Especially in bathrooms, and around radiators, ugly pipes are not hidden behind the plaster in the wall. They run up and down and side to side along the outside of the wall, visible to everybody. So ugly, and just wrong!

3) Driving. Swedes drive on the right side of the road. It’s just wrong.

4) The ‘tunnelbana’. On the underground (tunnelbana) in Stockholm, most people don’t wait for passengers to get off the train before trying to get on. As soon as the doors open, people pile in. At the same time people are trying to get out. The resulting caffuffle in the door opening is so unnecessary and just wrong!

5) Celebrating the Eves, instead of the Days. I’ll never get used to it. Especially at Christmas. Santa coming in the afternoon on Christmas Eve instead of the night between the Eve and the Day, is just wrong!

I know what you’re thinking. How unimportant all of this is.

And you’re not wrong.

I’m happy to live in a place where the only things that seem off to me are so minor. When it comes to values, structures, systems, behaviours, lifestyle and attitudes so much about Sweden is, for me, just right.

Come dine with me, my place 7.30

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

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As a Brit, I sometimes experience differences between myselves and Swedes. But this has never been more apparent than in the two TV cooking shows ‘Come Dine with Me’ in English and its equivalent Swedish program *Halv åtta hos mig’ (My place, 7.30).

Watching these two shows, many differences are obvious. The shows shine a very clear light on the differences between the UK and Sweden. The shows have the same format and are part of the same franchised concept, but cultural differences make them into two totally different programs.

The educationally entertaining Swedish program has the following:

  1. A focus on the food and the interesting recipes
  2. Polite, if somewhat stilted conversation, mostly about the food
  3. A female narrator that is slighty, but not too, sarcastic
  4. Participants who are friendly and polite and seem to have things in common with each other
  5. Participants ‘dressed up’ very nicely for the occasion
  6. Homes that are Nordically cool, clean and well-organized
  7. Carefully selected wine for the dinner, and not too much alcohol so that participants can focus on the food

The hysterical British version has the following:

  1. A focus on getting drunk and arguing with each other, the food is secondary
  2. Confrontational, loud conversation (as people are drunk) about all subjects under the sun, often toilets and sex and very little about the food
  3. A male narrator that is a complete bitch about the contestants and personally attacks the participants’ appearance
  4. Participants who have been cast for the show as they are complete opposites, very opinionated and at each others’ throats from the very first evening
  5. Participants often wearing themed fancy dress, such as prostitutes, Alice in Wonderland, disco, bling, pirates, gangsters. Often lots of short skirts and cleavage.
  6. Homes that are quirky at best, and unhygenic at worst
  7. Wine, wine, wine, vodka, gin, wine, wine, wine

Now what cultural conclusions can we draw about the Swedes and the Brits from these differences?

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