A Change in Perspective
Living in another country with a different culture to your own changes your perspective of the world and in turn the way you treat other people. Over my travels I have begun to realise that it is this change in perspective that becomes the most important takeaway moving forward. Today I'd like to share with you my thoughts and the differences I have noticed from living in Sweden and the aspects of my life that have been affected by this experience. So bear with me, this is a little different to my usual travel posts and I hope that it gives you a little insight into the culture and to why Sweden is considered one of the leading social nations!
It wasn't very long that I spent in Sweden, about 6 months in total however I learnt very quickly that spending time in a different culture and living on the other side of the world gives you the ability to see a different take on the social and political dynamics.
In Sweden I was taught a few important social dynamics one of which involves smiling in the street. In Australia we can walk past any stranger, smile at them, say good morning, hi or g'day mate and be on our way. However in Sweden if a Swede sees you walking down the street with a smile on your face they think:
a. You are drunk
b. You are a Crazy person
c. You are American
d. All of the above
It was only after I noticed a few strange looks in the street that I asked a friend about it and they informed me that I should keep to myself in the streets.
I love Sweden for its little idiosyncrasies that appear throughout the social and community environment. One of the greatest is found when you are first introduced to a Swede, you always introduce yourself with a handshake, no matter if it is a guy or girl and then once they know you from that first introduction any subsequent meeting is always a hug again no matter if it is a guy or girl. If you are introduced to any Swede once they consider you a friend and a hug buddy for life!
I very quickly learnt that the best meal in Sweden is Lunch and they make a big deal about it, it is the equivalent to dinner in Australia where you can get a reasonably cheap meal at a restaurant and they have a fresh bread and salad buffet that goes along with it as well as tea coffee and sweets for after! All for the price of a normal meal.
Social and Political Dynamics
Recently the dynamic of the political side of Sweden has changed a little, the sudden influx of many immigrants from Eastern Europe in 2015 onwards lead to the rising of a party that has a more capitalist approach to the country. However in the past Sweden has been very Socialist with their views. The Swedes pay some of the highest taxes in the world however most of them are happy to because of the dynamic of their government, they believe in their governing bodies and can see the benefit they have on society. There is a general consensus that the government is for the people. As a result everyone benefits from paying taxes. This is reinforced by the strong policies and dynamic companies owned by the municipalities that most residents work for either directly or indirectly.
Swedens history is scattered with interesting choices that have defined their people, particularly the decision to stay neutral in war and a relatively open door policy when it comes to taking onboard new residents. At one point Sweden implemented a policy to build 1,000,000 new places to live for people in the 60's this was one of the worlds most ambitious building policies at the time; the 'Miljonprogrammet'. The Swedish Social Democratic Party proposed the policy as a solution to the ongoing housing shortage caused by the urbanisation of Sweden after the 2nd World War. Since Sweden was neutral and they had relaxed policies with taking on new residents there was an increase in the population of Sweden over the following few decades.
It is interesting to see the impact this has had on the Architectural vernacular of the buildings especially in the outskirts of the cities, there is a very distinct style of this era and I was lucky enough to have lived in one of them for a period of time whilst I was there. I stayed in an apartment just to the south of Gothenburg in a place called Vastra Frolunda, I loved it and there was a tram line to the city and shopping centre right by my doorstep.
I enjoyed being able to walk anywhere I needed to go and to see the changes in seasons so well out of my windows on the 9th floor. The seasons are very different to Australia and the change between the seasons makes the human condition fluctuate, there are a series of highs and lows every year and it allows the body and mind to change and adapt to the environment. I loved that there are different mentalities of the Swedes throughout the year, in the depths of winter everyone lights candles and stays cosy, whereas the depths of summer everyone makes the most of being out and about all the time. Everyone lives by the words lagom - vaguely translated from Swedish as a balance of life and hygge vaguely translated from Danish as cosy.
Many of the buildings from the program have been reinvigorated and brought up to date, leasing new life to these areas. All in all I think it was a positive policy for Sweden to adopt, they ended up building 1,006,000 new abodes for people to live in for the lowest income demographic group over the period of the policy, you can read more about it in the wikipedia article.
Swedes always dress immaculately, and if you spend any time around the cities this style of dressing and the fact everyone follows it makes you more inclined to keep up your own appearance. This is for the benefit of the community as a whole and all in all makes you feel better about yourself. It would be very rare to see someone ducking to the shops in their tracksuits!
The more travel we can achieve in this world the more we are able to understand it, I believe that there is so much positivity in this world and I am very grateful for the friends that I have made on this wonderful experience and I strive for many more adventures in the future.
Conclusion
I absolutely adore Sweden and it's world view. I think many other countries could take more than just the Scandinavian style from their country and implement some of their policies aswell. We could start by following their lead on gender equality and the governments regaining some of our trust so we all want to pay tax. Thanks for reading everyone - let me know if you have any questions about the experience, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
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Thanks for reading!
If you'd like to read more about my Swedish adventure have a look at the following posts:
Sled in the right direction - Djurgården Ranch, Sweden - Dog Sledding in Abisko
Water you think about this? - Gothenburg Archipelago - Walking around the islands off the coast of Gothenburg
Icey what you did there - ICE Hotel in Jukkasjärvi - Hotel Made of Ice
Snow laughing matter - Abisko and Lapland - The Northern Lights!