10 Weird Things Swedish People Do!
Hej,
Now after almost 5 months in Sweden, I'm more than pleased to tell you and my Swedish friends what is weird about what they sometimes do! That they can read it as well, I will take this post in English or at least I try :).
ALWAYS
LEAVING A PIECE OVER
This was something I was confused by in the beginning and honestly still are. Wherever you are invited to eat at home when the meal is served in bowls on the table, you have to look for that you always have a rest left in the bowls. I guess it has something to do with the fact that Swedes are very polite people. In order not to appear impolite, often nobody wants to take the last portion or the last piece of cake and cuts off half of it again. If you really want to take it, you have to ask everyone if truly no one else wants it, before you can take it.
NO-ONE IS EVER BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE (JANTELAGEN)
Jantelagen is a huge thing here in Sweden and it consists of a lot of different aspects. Genuinely you can say it's about to not brag about yourself, what you own, what you have achieved or in what you are good in. People will just look weird at you if you do it, so it's always better to keep to yourself. And if you get a compliment from someone, you kind of have to say something back or at least say something like: "no, I'm not or I'm just okay in this".
JUST
SALTED POPCORN
For me as a sweet popcorn lover, it was pretty weird when I found out that Swedish people don't even know that you can eat popcorn sweet. The only thing I got when I asked for sweet popcorn was weird views.
NO ONE EATS ON THE WAY
Wherever you go, you will never see someone eating when standing or sitting in public transportation. Probably it's connected to the big Fika tradition here. People like to sit down and take a break; nothing should be in a hurry.
ALMOST NO SELF CLOSING DOORS
As far as I can remember we in Germany have doors, which are closed when you just pull them. Not here, you always have to lock them. On the other side, there is sometimes not really a need for closing the door at all, especially when you live in a really small-town people are used to let their doors open. I actually heard a theory about it, it's a gesture of courtesy for example when it's a storm outside and there is no place to go, your door has to be open for travelers, who are looking for a place to suspend the storm.
IT'S RUDE TO BLOW YOUR NOSE IN FRONT OF PEOPLE
A small story to this point, on the first day of school I was a bit sick and without really thinking about it, I blow my nose in the class and EVERYONE looked at me, actually, I can't remember it, but my friends still tell me how not Swedish this was. I think Swedes make such a big thing out of it, rather they sniffle like 100 times than blowing their nose and if they have to, they leave the room or go to the toilet, because I guess you are so embarrassed by it, or?
PUT KETCHUP ON EVERYTHING
Okay, I know that you can be in Love with Ketchup, but how most of the Swedish people are in love with it, it's crazy. They put it literally on everything, starting with pasta, over köttbullar (meatballs) to soup (yes, soup, just saw it yesterday in the cafeteria).
CUT PIZZA WITH A NORMAL SCISSOR
The first time I saw someone cutting their pizza with a normal scissor I thought it's weird, but maybe it's just this person, who does it like this. BUT NO, even though I know that some families have actually pizzas cutters, most of the families cut Pizza with a scissor. Honestly no explanation for it. If any Swedish person has one, write to me!
NO CANDY OR ALCOHOL COMMERCIALS
It took actually a time for me to notice, but now I can’t stop wondering about it when I see commercials. I asked my host family about it and the only conclusion we could come up with it’s that alcohol is very strictly regulated by the government and there are certain unwritten rules about the consumption of alcohol and candy.
LOVE
TO COMPLAIN!
There is actually not much to say about it, Swedish people just love to complain about everything, the weather, the school/work, the food even a super small thing can ruin someone’s day. I know that I shouldn’t generalize that but I noticed it a lot here.
After writing down all these points, I maybe put my Swedish friends and family in not such a good light so I just want to say that Swedish people are the most polite, nice and friendly people I know and even tho they do sometimes things a bit different there are amazing people. Actually I got used to a lot of those things and started loving some of them (not the ketchup one) and I can truly say that the people I met here already have a big place in my heart. I love you guys <3
Ha en trevlig helg, ses snart
Anni
Now after almost 5 months in Sweden, I'm more than pleased to tell you and my Swedish friends what is weird about what they sometimes do! That they can read it as well, I will take this post in English or at least I try :).
This was something I was confused by in the beginning and honestly still are. Wherever you are invited to eat at home when the meal is served in bowls on the table, you have to look for that you always have a rest left in the bowls. I guess it has something to do with the fact that Swedes are very polite people. In order not to appear impolite, often nobody wants to take the last portion or the last piece of cake and cuts off half of it again. If you really want to take it, you have to ask everyone if truly no one else wants it, before you can take it.
Jantelagen is a huge thing here in Sweden and it consists of a lot of different aspects. Genuinely you can say it's about to not brag about yourself, what you own, what you have achieved or in what you are good in. People will just look weird at you if you do it, so it's always better to keep to yourself. And if you get a compliment from someone, you kind of have to say something back or at least say something like: "no, I'm not or I'm just okay in this".
For me as a sweet popcorn lover, it was pretty weird when I found out that Swedish people don't even know that you can eat popcorn sweet. The only thing I got when I asked for sweet popcorn was weird views.
NO ONE EATS ON THE WAY
Wherever you go, you will never see someone eating when standing or sitting in public transportation. Probably it's connected to the big Fika tradition here. People like to sit down and take a break; nothing should be in a hurry.
ALMOST NO SELF CLOSING DOORS
As far as I can remember we in Germany have doors, which are closed when you just pull them. Not here, you always have to lock them. On the other side, there is sometimes not really a need for closing the door at all, especially when you live in a really small-town people are used to let their doors open. I actually heard a theory about it, it's a gesture of courtesy for example when it's a storm outside and there is no place to go, your door has to be open for travelers, who are looking for a place to suspend the storm.
IT'S RUDE TO BLOW YOUR NOSE IN FRONT OF PEOPLE
A small story to this point, on the first day of school I was a bit sick and without really thinking about it, I blow my nose in the class and EVERYONE looked at me, actually, I can't remember it, but my friends still tell me how not Swedish this was. I think Swedes make such a big thing out of it, rather they sniffle like 100 times than blowing their nose and if they have to, they leave the room or go to the toilet, because I guess you are so embarrassed by it, or?
PUT KETCHUP ON EVERYTHING
Okay, I know that you can be in Love with Ketchup, but how most of the Swedish people are in love with it, it's crazy. They put it literally on everything, starting with pasta, over köttbullar (meatballs) to soup (yes, soup, just saw it yesterday in the cafeteria).
CUT PIZZA WITH A NORMAL SCISSOR
The first time I saw someone cutting their pizza with a normal scissor I thought it's weird, but maybe it's just this person, who does it like this. BUT NO, even though I know that some families have actually pizzas cutters, most of the families cut Pizza with a scissor. Honestly no explanation for it. If any Swedish person has one, write to me!
NO CANDY OR ALCOHOL COMMERCIALS
It took actually a time for me to notice, but now I can’t stop wondering about it when I see commercials. I asked my host family about it and the only conclusion we could come up with it’s that alcohol is very strictly regulated by the government and there are certain unwritten rules about the consumption of alcohol and candy.
There is actually not much to say about it, Swedish people just love to complain about everything, the weather, the school/work, the food even a super small thing can ruin someone’s day. I know that I shouldn’t generalize that but I noticed it a lot here.
After writing down all these points, I maybe put my Swedish friends and family in not such a good light so I just want to say that Swedish people are the most polite, nice and friendly people I know and even tho they do sometimes things a bit different there are amazing people. Actually I got used to a lot of those things and started loving some of them (not the ketchup one) and I can truly say that the people I met here already have a big place in my heart. I love you guys <3
I hope you liked this post and my
English wasn't too bad :). Next time I can maybe try to write it in Swedish
haha.
Ha en trevlig helg, ses snart
Anni