Lina Sandström Holst

Eftersom jag anda inte har nat annat for mig snor jag den har fran Maja.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE A SWEDE LIVING IN AMERICA WHEN...

 

You just love to "fika", and know that it is an activity that is meant to last for hours and it is not the equivalent of going for a coffee.

You brag about the free healthcare and the free school system to every non-Swede that you have a political conversation with.

 

You feel bad if you’re not outside on a sunny day.

 

You go seriously sentimental when entering an IKEA store, outside the borders of Sweden.

 

Making fun of Norway is a national institution. And vice versa.

 

You feel bad for throwing things in the garbage can that could have been recycled.

 

You constantly have to point out that not EVERYONE in Sweden is blonde, in fact you add that most people are not.

 

You know almost every other country in the world as well as most capital cities, or have at least studied this for a Geography test.

 

You actually miss “Knäckebröd” when you are abroad but never eat it in Sweden since it's too dry. (Jag alskar knackebrod och ater det hemma ocksa! Men good point).

 

Every time you see a Swedish brand/actor/company/phone/car/furniture store you feel compelled to point that out to your friends (with bottomless pride in your voice).

 

People say your name in fifty different ways, but no one can get it right. (they actually usually do get it right, in english though, eftersom jag sager mitt namn pa engelska. Men att hora vad jag sager ar en annan femma. Antagligen for att dom inte ar sa vana att hora det. Sa jag far oftast repeat myself once or twice).

 

You seriously want to hurt non-Swedes who ask "how's life in SWITZERLAND?" (nej det hande mig bara en gang da en kille fragade om vi gjorde halen i vara ostar sjalva eller om dom kom sanna ..och i borjan da min host mom rakade mix them up).

 

People ask you if you have polar bears on the streets and you try to spread the myth further by saying it is true.

 

You take your shoes off when entering a house, and don't get why non-Swedes find that funny.

 

It annoys the hell out of you that there is no good translation for the word "lagom" in any language.

 

Whenever discussing international problems you always, without exception state that "why don't you do it like we do it in Sweden?" (more or less brutally.. more sugestive skulle jag vilja saga. haha).

 

You insist that Swedish chocolate is the best in the world, despite what the Belgians and the Swiss (and the Germans!) might say.

 

You make new friends by talking about the weather.