What's the dark side of Sweden?
If
you’re a non-Swedish person living in Sweden, at some point, Sweden
will start feeling like a dystopia. And the feeling never quite leaves.
I
might need to specify that I’m from Paris in France and I used to live
in Umeå. The more Southern you are and the more Northern you go, the
more intense the feeling will be.
See how Ikea works? There’s one way to go, there’s one way to behave, everything is proper. It makes shopping so much easier. Well, sometimes, the whole of Sweden reminds me of Ikea. Everything just works so well. But everything is also based on contracts, on rules that you must follow at all times. Everything from getting the precious personnummer to making a Swedish friend.
Crossing an empty avenue when the light is red for pedestrians might be frowned upon. Queuing everywhere you go is of great importance. You can go through your day only dealing with machines. I’ve never had a bus or a train or a plane be late. I’ve never seen anyone sing to themselves in the street. I’ve never had random but sweet encounters in a public place. Consensus is very important here, standing out or expressing a different opinion is something that I would strongly advise against doing. Especially if you’re not Swedish – it could be considered highly offensive. I also remember one time mentioning that I was having a pancake night with my Erasmus friends and my Swedish friend opened her eyes in shock and said “But… it’s Friday”. Friday is taco kväll. Pancakes are to be eaten on Thursday.
Those are small things, obviously, they are funny at worst. But the fact that there are so many small, untold rules is precisely what makes Sweden uneasy at times. If you can understand Swedish, you could maybe read Gunnar Ekelöf’s poem Till de folkhemske.
(However, I love Swedes and Sweden. Having flaws doesn’t make you unlovable! And there would be a lot to say about the French people’s rudeness and damages to the world.)
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