Local Flavor in a Foreign Land - What Do They Really Think About Us?

Just this week I returned from a family vacation in Sweden. My husband Patrik, our two children and I were visiting my husband’s family. Still a Swedish citizen, my husband does not get to his relatives very often, so it was a great time to catch up and for my kids to get to know their grandparents, uncle and cousins better.

We happened to be in Sweden during Swedish National Day on June 6. It is their equivalent to our upcoming Independence Day on July 4. While we see countless parades and flag-wavings on the fourth, I hardly noticed any displays of patriotism in the small Swedish town on June 6. There were a few more Swedish flags flying than usual. But even on a normal day a Swedish flag is very hard to find anywhere, unlike a normal day in the U.S.

I also had the opportunity to discuss how Sweden views the United States and American culture. I was curious to see if America had a better reputation in this small corner of the world, now that a new president is at the helm. What I learned had more to do with America in general. Sure, there is more Swedish and international respect for Barack Obama than there was for George W. Bush, however, it was our “American Dream” concept that was the true topic of conversation.

We talked about American optimism and our tireless work ethic: that if you worked hard enough, you could make a good living for yourself and your family in the United States. I compared it to the “glass is half full” idea. In the United States, as my Swedish friends agreed, we are an optimistic people.

I pressed on to see if Sweden was the same way or instead approached a “glass is half empty” position. I was told that a more proper Swedish response would be, “sure, that glass has some water in it.” It was more of a passive, realistic viewpoint, without an optimist or pessimistic outlook. The Swedish culture takes life as it is. And that is that.

While it is tough to generalize about an entire country, this realist assessment, I was assured, would not be offensive to Swedish people. Their culture just does not have the drive to succeed ingrained in it to the same degree as in the United States.

It seemed to me that my Swedish friends understood the differences between the American drive to succeed and the Swedish realism-driven culture. I don’t think they wanted to trade places, (partly because most Swedes get at least five weeks of paid vacation in the summer and paid maternity and paternity leave). They would be happy to just visit. I on the other hand, can’t imagine living anywhere else but home. Despite our current world financial woes, I believe the American Dream still lives on.

So right now maybe the glass is only one-third full, but we can still hold it high for a toast and say  “skål!”