The Locals

After nearly three weeks here, I feel like I have a pretty good idea of the people here.  Let's state the obvious- yes all the woman are blond but no they are not all tall! Do we stand out? Oh by a lot, lol. But that's ok.  No one here is overweight. I look out for it, just because it is so different and I can honestly say I've only seen ONE man that was mildly overweight.  Swedish people are very active everyday and eat a very healthy, fresh diet.

I've only met two locals that I had more than a two second conversation with so I will share my pleasant experiences with them- both male. 

 -The first was a young boy (late teens, early twenties) at a kabob restaurant.  He realized we were having a hard time ordering food and was more than willing to translate for us. He described the menu, ordered for us, then just sat down and talked. He was very sweet. He was with some friends who looked at him like he was crazy though. He was just as curious about us as we were of him. He offered us information of what to do in town for New Years Eve then went about on his way.  We've since seen him walking around town a few times and he always says hello.

-The second was the owner of the cafe that Phillip's team eats at every day for lunch.  I went in one day with Phillip.  When we asked if I could eat he stated that we can indeed eat there everyday with the team for FREE!  He pulled up a chair and talked to us while we ate. He was the nicest man I've met in a long time. I think of him as my Swedish father. You can tell he truly cares about you as a person. The next day (after observing that Jayden loved red peppers and cucumber and I was a vegetarian) there was a special salad sitting on the table for Jayden and a vegetarian patty and potatoes au gratin with no chicken for me!  Keep in mind, the team all eats the same entree, there is no menu of choices so the fact that we got something was awesome. Everyday we get dessert and no one else is even offered anything. So needless to say, I feel taken care of.

The cafe we eat lunch at every day

However, other than my experiences with these two gentlemen, my experience with the locals has been quite different. They seem to be rather cold. They don't offer assistance or even show that they are happy to help when you ask. A majority speak English but offer Swedish as the their first response to your questions. Once they realize you don't understand, its as though they are bugged. I understand I am in their country and should know their language, but I don't-sorry! Maybe it is just their culture.  Maybe they aren't cold at all, but they just aren't as open and warm as those back home. 

A huge pet peeve of mine is the lack of respect when within your personal space.  If you are at a grocery store looking at a product, they'll have no problem bumping you to grab an item right in front of you. They push through  you in crowds and have no idea of "excuse me". I understand it doesn't have to be the English version, but they say nothing in Swedish or anything else. Its as though they feel nothing wrong with pushing and shoving to get what they need whether you are in their way or not.  I have to learn that this is just part of their culture and they aren't being rude, cause it's experienced everywhere and by all age groups. 

The people here walk EVERYWHERE.  And it doesn't matter if you are 5 or 85, you are going to walk or ride your bike.  It amazes me to see these little old ladies out in the cold pushing their goceries down the street.  Back in America, you just wouldn't see this.  But once I get home, I vow to walk to more places. I feel amazing after walking a few miles a day just to go get the things I need to get done, done!  If the place you are going is too far, then you take the city bus. Here it is clean and used by all-families, teens, locals, tourists. I feel safe while riding it. No one is in the back drunk or homeless, like it is sadly back home. The routes may not be easy to follow, but we've managed quite well :)

Recycle drop off

Sweden is one of the greenest coutries in the world. They try to do everything in their power to help out the world. I will discuss a few examples- of course their means of transportation as stated above is a huge help. Then the cars that they do have here are most often Hybrid (and hatchback). You'll see a ton of charging stations in every parking lot. Recycling is very encouraged. You put your recycle items in a machine at the grocery store and it prints out a voucher that you put towards your purchase.
When it hits a certain temperature outside, the heating is turned off city wide. Yes, even in the homes!  And this happens at temperatures that are only slightly above 0! Food comes from local farms and this includes the meat (thank God). I am sure there are a lot more things, but these are what come to mind right now.

A parking lot with Hybrid charging stations. Check out how many hatchbacks there are!
 (Phil's gym is the dome in the back)

This is truly a learning experience, but I hope to take home some of the Swedish "norms" because I think we Americans can learn a lot from them!