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I have accumulated about a month's worth of blogs every day that I have been here. If I don't dispense some of this gold, I am just going to burst! First, some observations about Sweden:
The Swedes are not an unfriendly people by any means, but they are very ... unengaging, shall we say? If you pass by somebody on the street, they will avert their eyes to avoid eye contact. We view that as somewhat rude, and therein lies the cultural difference. The way we pass by a complete stranger and say, "How ya durrin?" would be viewed by a Swede as insulting because it was completely insincere. You don't really care how that person is doing, nor do you even pause to listen for an answer. So it makes sense, but it sure is hard to get used to.
Everyone here is bilingual at least. Everyone speaks English, perfectly ... and Americanly. They all speak Swedish to me initially, which I take as a compliment because it means I have long, beautiful blonde hair, but as soon as I reply in English, they don't even blink, they just switch over. Last night a bum rambled something incoherent to me in Swedish and I said, "Sorry, I don't speak Swedish," and chuckled to myself for being clever. He immediately replied, "Do you have any crowns?" I was impressed. Today a drunk-ass gypsy Arab with a tallboy on the bus was rambling something and then started yelling, "My g*d is my g*d," to which somebody from the back of the bus replied, "There is no g*d." Fuckin A.
Today I noted to Joakim, who was showing us around (incidentally, Joakim is a common name) that there were no Swedish flags flying. In the US we have one American flag for every city block. He told me that flying the Swedish flag is interpreted as you being a racist. Everyone is supposed to be equal in Sweden to the point that you're not allowed to be proud of anything, in his words. I guess it would be akin to flying the Confederate flag in the US, except that actually literally 100% means you are a racist. But still, same reaction.
So Sweden is a socialist country, which is where the attitude that everyone should be completely equal comes from. They have a tax rate of something like 50%, which is unfathomable to us. But, healthcare is all free, higher education is all free, everything like that is free. If you want to go to college, you just sign up. The other thing that high tax rate does is even out everyone's income. The more you make, the more you get taxed, so everyone is pretty much on par. Unless you're extremely wealthy, then you probably net the same income as the waiters (who btw, make real wages, so tipping is extremely rare -- also hard habit to break).
Everyone looks and dresses like a rockstar. If any one of these guys would come to America, they could get laid on demand for the rest of their lives. I wonder if they know that. They probably have grown up thinking they were rather average. The styles over here are incredible. If I could dress like a Swede I would be oh so popular. First things first, I gotta get some brightly colored shoes. They also have cool jackets, although, if I wore mine more than 3 weeks out of the year, I might get a cool one too.
I haven't slept since I got here. For whatever reason, I go to bed around 10 and wake up at 1am every night and then stare at the ceiling until morning. It's starting to take it's toll. I've tried drinking myself to sleep; I might try sobering myself to sleep tonight. One way or another I have got to get some rest or I'm going to die.
I have about 8 million more stories to tell you, but these were the first that came to mind. Just one more thing to share, though, as the cardinals in the vatican meet to elect a new pope. I really feel like the office of the pope is such a huge responsibility spanning so many countries, cultures, and people. How can one man hold such a title? Maybe they should consider having a group act as pope this time. They could pull one person from each walk of life, a whole mixture of beliefs and backgrounds. And they could call it pope-pourri.
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