Cultural Bumps

When you visit another country, you're bound to have some cultural bumps. It will happen. Those things you might not understand or might contrast with your own culture somehow. They may annoy you or make you laugh. They may even teach you a little something. I've had my share in Sweden and have heard from others about their cultural bumps too. I'll share a few with you from this trip.

My personal cultural bump on this trip has to be clapping at concerts. That may sound odd, but I've pretty much worked through all the big cultural bumps and have now moved onto more silly ones. Like the way an audience doesn't clap at the beginning of a concert unless someone else starts clapping first.

I'll take you back to Lindome. We were listening to Jenny sing and, as an American, I fully expect the room to clap immediately after the last note, or even a few seconds into the last note. But this isn't usually the case in Sweden. No one moves until that one brave soul begins to clap.

Everyone else joins in only after the first person breaks the silence. If no one starts the clap, it won't happen. Complete silence. Complete awkward silence.

I almost think Bach could walk into a room in Sweden, play an entire cantata, and no one would clap if that first person didn't start it off for the rest of them.

Now, this clap thing didn't happen in Kungälv where the audience age was younger. The audience in Lindome had a higher median age, so this might be both a cultural thing and an age thing. I kept thinking to myself, "If you like it, just clap! Why sit there and wait to see if others do it too?" Then I remembered I was in Sweden - where it's common to watch others to see what is "normal".

There were a few times where I started the clap first. I would be holding the camera with one hand while clapping with the other hand on the back of the church bench. Once it got started, things were good to go and the rest of the audience would join in. But if I, or someone else, never started it, I sometimes wondered if the entire audience would have sat there in silence. This "heistant-clap" phenomenon happened at other concerts too, like the concert with Maria Gustin Bergström at Smyrna.

There's also the "sitting still" thing at concerts. I want to be a little more, ah, shall I say, American about the whole affair. I want to clap, sing, and dance along with the music. I want a little more flair. Instead, I'm surrounded by people who won't clap without the approval of another, even if the music is the best they've ever heard, which brings me to another bump.

Emotions. What a contrast between Americans and Swedes. I once heard that if you told a Swede the world was about to end, they might respond by saying, "Oh. That's a shame.", while an American would be yelling loudly, "ABOUT TO END?!!!? NO WAY!!!" Both are exaggerations, of course. Let's just say this bump goes both ways. We annoy each other. Many Americans think Swedes are not emotional enough, while many Swedes think Americans are too emotional. I can see both sides of this one.

I do enjoy some cultural differences, such as not having to smile at every person on the street. It's expected you do so in the US, at least in the Southern States. If you do it in Sweden, people think you're a bit crazy. It's nice to have a little break from it. It's also nice to be able to sit in a bus and enjoy the silence. No need to feel forced to carry on a lengthy conversation with your seatmate. And if you do try, it usually works about as well as smiling at a stranger on the street.

Then, there's the personal space thing when you're walking down a crowded street. Your shoulder might miss the other person's shoulder by just a hair's breadth and no one blinks. Your shoulder might even hit the shoulder of the person beside you. And no one reacts with surprise. If that happened in the US and you didn't excuse yourself immediately, you might get reprimanded by the other person. Funny thing is, if it happens in Sweden and no one says anything, I don't react. If it happens in the US, and no one says anything, it bothers me.

The cost of food is also one of those cultural surprises. "How much for a salad?? Excuse me while I take out a loan."

Food prices in Sweden are typically twice that of the US (candy not included). Then again, food prices in the US are quite low when compared to other places. I do wonder how difficult it is to make a budget with the average salary. Food must be a very large part of that monthly budget.

Also, I picked up two cultural bumps from a few of the other hostel guests.

I spoke with a guy from London named John during one of the first evenings. He was looking for a few live band venues in the city and we spent a little time chatting about his thoughts on Sweden. He had rented a car during his stay and regretted it. I asked him why, and he said he had been there only a few days and had already gotten two parking ticket fines. This surprised him because he expected Sweden to be "open-minded and easy-going". If only he had known about the concept of "ordning och reda", he would have been prepared for this. If you break the rules in Sweden, legally or culturally, you're going to hear about it. Swedes like order and tidiness. You don't stand on the wrong side of the escalator. You stay on the proper side of the walkway. And whatever you do, you must take a queue ticket. My British friend found out the hard way that Swedes may be open-minded, but a rule is a rule, and rules are made to be followed.


Sure signs of ordning och reda. Parking sign indicating when, where, and how long you can park. A walkway in Gothenburg. Walk on the left, bike on the right. And a queue machine. You'll find them in many buildings such as banks, information centers, train depots, and supermarkets. Take one and wait for your number to be called.

A second bump comes courtesy of a lively group of young students who were planning a late night in town. I fixed myself some dinner and got into a conversation with the group. They had just arrived and found out the only beer sold in stores had very little alcohol. They were looking to find some stronger stuff and I clued them into the way it works in Sweden regarding alcohol. It's controlled by a national monopoly and prohibitively expensive. And the only store that sells it, Systembolaget, was already closed. They were also surprised to find out many other places were closed down for the night too. I suppose they expected to find a city open all hours of the evening, when in reality, you'll only find a handful of shops open after nightfall.

If you go to Sweden, you'll surely find a few of your own bumps. And they will be based on your original culture. No matter what bump you find, each bump gives us the chance to think about the way our culture works in relation to another culture. You always end up learning a little bit about both countries in the process. And maybe a tiny bit about yourself too.