ERASMUS travel
A Froggy in Sweden: a Frenchie lost in the Vikings’ country
A French girl’s humorous anecdotes of her stay in Sweden
Sweden, Ikea. That is the first word I am thinking about when I say Sweden. Do you know why? Have you been to a Swedish house once? No? How dare you? Well, you have been, I can tell you, all of you. You all have been to Ikea once in your life. Because yes, every single house in Sweden is the same. One Orchid next to the window (or more as lucky as you can be), a warm and cozy living room, all the same kitchen, one garage for the cars, big and smooth bedrooms, soft plaid, mix all of that and you have Ikea’s clone everywhere in Sweden. No, seriously, I want to share with you some adventures that I had there. I chose Sweden for my ERASMUS year when I was 20. I have to say, it was one of the best years of my life, but not thanks to the Swedish people.
Have you seen the title of this article? A Froggy? Yeah. A Froggy. That is how the Swedish people called us Frenchie’s during parties. And as if it was not ridiculous enough, they asked us to do the show every time we were talking to them. Well, fair enough. It is well-known that French people have a very good sense of humor, right?
You don’t have a proper beach, well bring it to you!
In Halmstad, the little city in the South of Sweden where I stayed for a year, I was living next to the beach (useful, I promise you … for barbecues during the night, not to swim during the day, what were you thinking about, damn!). Ok, we couldn’t have the beach and the sun at the same time. No problem, one day we brought the sand from the beach and put it inside a 4 people small house. We hooked on the wall pictures of the beach, drew some coconut trees, had some pairs of sunglasses, made some cocktails in a watermelon (homemade thanks to the vodka dealer, but this is another story I can tell you later on), and we could at least imagine that we were in Miami Beach bitch!
A dealer for alcohol, sorry, what?
Yes, that was the weekly meeting we were all waiting for. A dealer was coming inside of the international camping we were all living in. And then, he was waiting for his first customer. Inside the boot, we could find some beers every time (but we had to order them in advance) and one sort of Vodka. The brand of the vodkas changed each week. We never asked any question about their origins; we didn’t really care, actually, as ERASMUS students used to party at least three times a week. Well, also, because instead of paying €40 for a bottle, we could have it at €20, pretty amazing, right?
You have to know before going to Sweden that they had (teenagers) a lot of problems with alcohol. The government one day has decided to sell alcohol only in some special shops with stupid schedules. These “Systembolaget” were only open a few hours a day and cost an arm and a leg! You could still choose to go to the supermarket and buy a beer of 3, 5% alcohol (yeah, that is the maximum amount you can find there) and drink them all night long …
Social landscape in Sweden: what is happening there?
When I decided first to go to Sweden, it was for women’s rights and the image of perfection I had of the country: peaceful, well-organized, and efficient. Well, I was right, totally. I have seen a very interesting social landscape. Women driving the family car. A majority of men cashier. Men are pushing the baby trolley everywhere in the streets. Even in a club, the habits were different. It was women who came on to men. And men were waiting. Yeah, men, don’t try to come on women, or you can be sure that you will go back home without a nose or a tooth. Joke. Anyway, you will see, when you observe the social landscape, body language, and habits, this country is the opposite of mine (France).
Actually, my thesis was about this subject: “A comparison of women’s rights between France and Sweden in the social, economic and historical way.” The results were epic. I can tell you that I am really not proud of my country for that. We are late, too late for many and many years. Congratulation Sweden.
When new technologies go with stupidity.
Ok, the Northern countries are very modern and better than us on a lot of different things, but anyway, technology cannot replace human rights. One day, a stupid story happened that I will never forget. I was at the supermarket standing in line to buy some stamps for my postcards. There, you have the tobacco shop and the post office at the same time. You just have to take a ticket for the one you are waiting for, and then the machine will automatically figure out your position on the queue, thanks to an algorithm and your time to go, depending on how many people are waiting before you. So, I was waiting for 15 minutes (yeah lot of time I know, there were many people waiting there). So, I kept my eyes on the screen to wait for my chance to buy my stamps. Well, it was all right. I didn’t have that much to do. Then, I realized that my number never came. The system added a bug, and my tour literally was skipped. I decided to go to the desk and ask for what I needed. The lady was TOTALLY lost. She said, “Hum, I am sorry, but you have to take another ticket and wait for 20 minutes more”. I tell you, I was so angry, and I couldn’t believe how people were stupid with technology and lost touch with spontaneity. I strongly feel that Sweden lacks spontaneity in their culture’s DNA. Life is about living in the present moment, isn’t it? In my opinion, being spontaneous can solve many problems, and it makes life more … spicy and tasty. Sweden, where is your spontaneity?
I discovered a new job: hairdresser.
In Sweden, everything is costly. Even if I know that it is worse in Norway (the people close to the border go to Sweden for their purchases). A haircut for men costs €40. I tell you, I didn’t even bother to ask for the price of cutting women’s hair. I just don’t want to know. Well, it was so expensive, so I had an idea one day. I asked for an Austrian friend’s clippers and cut my hair at home. Soon, some of my male friends started coming to ask me to cut their hair since I was doing a pretty good job. They paid with some euros, chocolate, and drinks. It was a good deal. The only requirement was that they had to clean the floor before their leave.
My little hair-cutting service was doing great. I had even thought about studying the market opportunities, building a business model, and opening hairdressing salons in Sweden. Sadly, I knew that I would not be happy in this country, so I abandoned the idea as quickly as it came into my mind. Anyway, my friends were all happy when they left with a new hairstyle (at least I was doing what they wanted, unlike some hairdressers who don’t respect what you ask for). But I have to say that I did fail one time. In my defense, it was because the clippers didn’t have enough battery. I cut the hair as usual, but I created patches everywhere on the head when I was cutting. That was a mess. LOL. The boy was not happy at all (German guy, imagine the voice and the eyes ouuuuuuh). This was the last time I cut hair in Sweden.
The country of bike dealers.
In Sweden, as in Copenhagen (but not that much), everybody uses a bike as their main means of transportation. Of course, all of us had a bike to go shopping, partying, and studying. We even went biking in the snow, which was so funny, especially when your basket was full of stuff you had bought some minutes ago at the supermarket. There are so many bikes that you can observe bike traffic. Every week, people got their bikes stolen, and some weeks later, we could find the same back at a shop in another color and with different equipment. This has been a game for a long time. We played with putting some distinctive elements on the bike to recognize it later on inside the shops. Well, some people spend a lot of money on their bikes. But for some, it was because when they were drunk. Yes, they threw away their bikes in the river we had in Halmstad. I don’t want to say who exactly, but well … Spanish people became “loco” when they were drunk, true story.
Follow the rules, or you go to jail!
A funny story happened to a Belgian friend. He was at a club, totally drunk, when he stole a bottle of Vodka behind the bar. The staff saw him and called the police. My friend spent two days under lock and key because of this insignificant Erasmus student idiocy. Then, for the seven months he stayed in Sweden, we could sometimes have the police visit him to ask some questions. They were making a kind of inquiry about him—we could not believe it!
Also, don’t ever dare to cross the road when the sign is red; you could trigger an avalanche of insults. On the same note, don’t try to sit next to somebody on a bus or do not be close to an ATM when somebody is withdrawing money; you could be a victim of a glacial glance. This is about culture; people don’t like proximity and are colder than the rest of Europe. Please have a look at the famous theory of Geert Hofstede.
In Sweden, rules are rules that are here to be respected. But please, Sweden, one more time, where is your spontaneity? Life does not exist to be perfect and stored in boxes.
Conclusion
Does my experience in Sweden seem like I did not really enjoy it? This is not true. The ERASMUS year I spent in Sweden with my ERASMUS friends, traveling through Russia, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Denmark, was wonderful and brought back many sweet memories. Everything was possible thanks to Sweden's welcome. Thank you, then.
Life is about #ERASMUS
Edited by Chingmay JO
