Adventures in Sweden

When my freshman year college roommate, Kat, invited me to visit her in her (relatively) new hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden, I immediately jumped at the chance.  Honestly there's nothing better than getting to catch up with an old friend AND visiting a new country at the same time (especially when the RyanAir flight was only 50 bucks round trip!!!)!  

Kat and I Enjoying Fall Colors in Sweden

It's funny, although Kat and I were great roommates and certainly got along well freshman year (I wish I had access to my photo album so I could post the iconic picture of us "surfing" in our dorm room chairs during finals week), we didn't spend much time together outside of our room, and went separate ways after the year was through.  However, we always kept in touch, and actually became much better friends after our St. Olaf days were over. For several years we were great email pen-pals, and visited each other a couple of times in Minneapolis and San Francisco. However, in 2010, Kat moved to Sweden to be with her "swede-heart," Fredrik, who she met on a bus tour of New Zealand, and it became quite a bit harder for us to be in close touch.  So, I was really excited to have a chance to see her again.

Meeting a Real Swedish Dala Horse

However, I had another reason excited about my visit, which is that my mom's side of the family is primarily of Swedish heritage.  My grandma  is 100% Swedish (her father, my great-grandfather immigrated from Sweden as a young man, and although my grandmother's mother was born in America, her parents immigrated from Sweden).  We know a bit less about my grandfather´s heritage, but there is Swedish blood on that side as well.  So, we have always thought of ourselves as a Swedish family.

Growing up, we celebrated this heritage in a number of ways, although it was always most pronounced at Christmas time.  For our Christmas meal, we´d eat Swedish meatballs (the one meat I can actually say I miss as a vegetarian), potatoes, and rice pudding, and my Grandma would sometimes play traditional Swedish Christmas music on the record player or on her accordion.  As a teenager, my mom was even a runner-up in her church's Santa Lucia pageant.

Gothenburg City

Even in other times of the year, though, we celebrated our heritage with dala horse decorations, singing "vi gratulerar" in addition to the happy birthday song, and, as a kid, I remember getting excited any time I saw something colored blue and yellow (the colors of the Swedish flag).  So, when I finally stepped off the plane in Gothenburg (after practically missing my flight because Italian cabbies tend to not show up for scheduled appointments!  Ugh!), I couldn't help getting a goofy grin on my face and feeling a bit like I was coming "home." (I feel less embarrassed saying that after watching episodes of "who am I," where every celebrity seems to cry after learning more about their heritage.)  Of course, as far as I know, most of my relatives actually came from areas closer to Stockholm,  but this- at least for now- as close as I've ever been to exploring my roots.

Kat in Her New Hometown

Although less well-known than Stockholm, Gothenburg (which is on Sweden's West Coast) is a pretty cool city in its own right. It started out as a shipping community, and is actually still considered a major world port today.  In addition to being on/near the coast, there's a river that runs through the city, so it has a very aquatic feel.  Gothenburg is also the city from which many Swedish emigrants left the country, so several of my relatives likely passed through during their journeys to America.

Nowadays, there's still a bit of an "industrial" feel to parts of town, but there is also really beautiful architecture, amazing shopping and restaurants, and a lot of natural beauty (preserved in many parks and other green spaces).  Before my visit, I read an article that compared Gothenburg to Pittsburgh, but since I have never visited that city, I liken it more to a cross between Minneapolis and Seattle.  In either case, though, it certainly felt a lot more"American" than Rome does (both visually and culturally), and it was quite easy at times to feel like I was back in the States.   

 Gardens

Unfortunately, the weather did not cooperate as much as I had hoped (basically it was chilly, cloudy, foggy and/or rainy for all but my last evening there), but there were gorgeous fall colors, and we still got out and explored the city quite a bit.

One day, Kat took me downtown to the city museum, which had extremely well-done exhibits about Gothenburg's history- from the times of the Vikings all the way up until modern times.  Not only was it a visually stunning and interesting experience, but knowing a bit more about the city's history and culture helped me better understand and appreciate other things I saw around town. 

View at the Ferry Stop

On another occasion, we took a commuter ferry down the river, got off at a random stop, and took a walk (in light rain with our umbrellas) around the area.  Even with the gray skies, the fall colors were stunning (I was incredibly excited to see the red and yellow trees since neither San Francisco or Rome has "real fall"), and it was fun just to get a sense of the architecture and landscape in the area.  On my last full day, we took a trip out to a "castle" (more like a mansion), took a walk around the stunning grounds, and enjoyed a nice Swedish buffet lunch there. I'm not sure how "traditional" the food was, but it certainly did fit the stereotype of involving quite a bit of butter/cream, and actually tasted far better than it looked!      

Swedish Buffet (I initially mistook that butter for cheese...)

We also did some browsing in local stores (Swedes are very into skinny jeans/pants, boots, and long stylish sweaters and coats in subdued hues such as gray and black), and saw a lot of the city from the amazing tram (like a street car) that runs all over town.  (Seriously, the public transportation there is amazing- it puts the Bay Area to shame (and don´t even get me started about Minneapolis/St. Paul in comparison....)

Of course, it was also a lot of fun to just hang out in Kat's new condo (she has an IKEA kitchen!), chat about European life, and get to know Fredrik a bit.  There was also oatmeal in Sweden, so- needless to say- I enjoyed my breakfasts quite a bit!

I do realize that it's impossible to get a sense of a whole culture after only visiting one city for five days, but I did make some interesting observations a during my short time there.  Here are my top three (which you should take with a grain of salt):    

Out and About

1.  Sweden is much more culturally diverse than I had imagined.  I expected to see a lot of tall, skinny, blond hair/blue eyed people, and although Gothenburg did have its fair share of these folks, they were actually in the minority.  Really, there were far more brunettes, and actually so many more non-Caucasian people than I would have imagined.  Swedes also have a taste for ethnic food, and I had some really good Indian and Korean food (as well as some Tapas that were to die for) during my trip.  

2.  Swedes are less friendly than I expected.  I always thought that "Minnesota nice" had Scandanavian roots, but I no longer think this is the case.  Don't get me wrong, Swedes aren't mean or bad-natured in any way, and I do think they take pride in being good hosts and loyal friends.  However, as a group, I wouldn't exactly describe them as overly friendly.  Strangers don't greet or smile at each other on the street they way they often do in Minnesota, and even servers or cashiers  don't offer many smiles or warm greetings.  They are much more stoic.  I do get the sense that other stereotypically Minnesotan personality traits (such as being humble and non-confrontational) are Scandinavian based, but I guess we Minnesotans need to credit another ethnic group for making us want to waive to every neighbor, baby, and stray dog we see on our afternoon walks.

Quaint Gothenburg Church

3.  Everything in Sweden is "cozy." Granted, fall is a good season for curling up with a good book and a cup of tea in most places, but Swedes take this concept to a whole new level.  Twice a day most Swedes have "fika," which is basically a mid-morning and mid-afternoon coffee break/snack. Given this, it's not uncommon to see, for example, two men drinking tea and eating scones together in a cute little coffee house covered with pink wallpaper and chandeliers.  In Sweden, this isn't girly, it's just cozy!  Really, though, even though it was cold outside, everywhere we went just felt very warm and homey (a feeling often lacking in Rome), and you get the sense that the home and family are very important parts of life.    

Nature Preserve (just like Minnesota!)

In any case, whether it's because of its similarities to Minnesota, Kat's hostess abilities, or my Swedish heritage, I really did feel right at home during my entire visit.  If I ever have the chance to return to Sweden, I'd love to see Stockholm, but I'd also be hard pressed to turn down another chance to visit Gothenburg.

Of course, while gallivanting around Sweden, I did miss Tom, our new Academy friends, and even Rome at times (I suppose it is starting to feel a bit like home here). So, as wonderful as my trip was, I'm looking forward to getting back to Academy and Italian life!

Alla Prossima,
Erin

PS:  If you're left with a burning desire to hear more about life in Sweden, you should check out Kat's super interesting blog:  http://katsinger.com/travel/

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Oct. 23:  It was cold in Sweden (light winter jacket and hat weather), but still summer-like in Rome!  We keep hearing stories of "freezing cold fall nights" (since there are rules about when residents can start using the heat), but we haven't experienced any yet!