Question 4b: What do Swedish People think about England?

Photo: Adriana Pusha

Poor housing, bad food, but the humour is good and you are well looked after …

Thirteen of the fifteen people I stayed  with in Sweden had been to England at least once. But the question is whether a weekend in London gives a true picture of England or just contributes to preserve stereotypes? Although five of my study subjects had lived in England for longer periods.

"They’re polite and say " love "and stuff like that to strangers. They drink a lot of tea. They eat bad food. Disastrous school dinners and not so good schools either. "

"I have met many English people who have lived cool lives and had cool thoughts. But I have a bit of a problem with Englishness, there’s too much talk. Everything is "lovely" and "darling" and "nice to meet you." You’re always well looked after, but I have not met anyone, have never had a true meeting. "

"It's a cool language, I like English ladies, they call you " love "and" darling ", you feel looked after in some way."

"Bad food, anyway. They drink tea a lot. I don’t know much about the culture, it’s similar to Sweden.”

"Courtesy."

"There’s nothing weird about saying hello to people in the street. They’re very nice and polite, you get a cup of tea, you’re always invited. Very homelike. "

"There’s not much of a food culture. But there’s history, many events, festivals and things like that. I also think they’re very nice. Some people just start chatting to you, like the lady on the bus. "

"Not good food in general, but super good breakfasts in particular. Full English breakfast is a treat, that you can have breakfast in the middle of the day is a special thing. "

"Not very high standard, cold flats."

"All the houses are cold. But I like the houses and the villages, the old stone houses. "

"The fucking fitted carpets, the draught, the mould, the damp and on top of that the unreasonable rents, damn it!”

"Usually they’re quite nice but sound pretty posh because they speak English. I’m more used to American English, Americans are more relaxed. Great beer, ginger-haired people, rowdy football fans."

"It feels more open. People talk to you just like that, it doesn't happen very often in Sweden. For example I have done coach surfing there and it’s so natural. Here, people find it a bit weird."

"They're very polite, respectful. They’re respectful towards each other, but don’t have respect for authorities. "

"I like British humour, Monty Python."

"Fish 'n' chips. The Royal Family. Humour, comedy, they have the best TV series. "

"They’re not that complicated. They are light-hearted, have a certain kind of humour.”

"The rain. I have watched the Time Team, a series of archaeologists in Britain. It always rain, they’re always soaked. "

"The class system, social division. People voted for Margaret Thatcher. And they voted a second time! A lot of neo-liberal crap. Poor housing. But a lot of culture, music and stuff. "

"A colonial empire. The standard of living and the living conditions are poor. Low wages, crappy jobs. There’s no paternity leave. They still have gender-segregated schools, which is so incredibly conservative and affects people a lot. Their view of women.”

"I'm not particularly drug liberal. The country is a bit passive and it doesn't feel like an exaggeration to link it to the drugs."

"I keep returning to England to get cultural kicks. I watched the Olympic opening ceremony and realised how much I love English culture, it’s the country that has influenced me the most culturally. I almost forget about it because there’s so much that is destructive and sad."

"Brighton is the most vital, vibrating, inspiring city I've ever visited."

"Very old houses. Architecture. A lot of countryside, pub culture, and a lot of football. Rain."

"People are more extreme and stick out more than in Sweden. They say what they mean, but I don’t not know if that’s true. "

"I think a lot about London, it's like other European cities: shopping and musicals, but that’s such a small part of England. There are many people who have been to Stockholm and think that’s Sweden. London is not the whole of England. "

"More familiarity, I picture a pub in front of me, the whole family goes to the pub. A football mad country. The Queen, conservative and royalist. "

"More crowded, more packed, more density in cities."

"Very conservative, but I don’t know if it’s like that, I don’t have in-depth knowledge. I was in London many years ago. It was stern and strict. At Harrods we were not allowed to stand still, a little stiffer than Sweden."

"Divided, more conservative, hierarchies. More rebellious, artistic."

"Spontaneous, simple, easy to understand. Easy to find your way, easy to go on the tube, easy to live there."

This study is by no means scientific, the answers to this particular question are based on interviews with fifteen people in Sweden, aged 22-52. Next question: Where have you travelled?

PÅ SVENSKA

Question 1a: What would you miss about England/Sweden if you lived abroad?

Most English and Swedish people naturally mentioned family and friends, but apart from people and pets this is what they came up with:

What people living in England would miss about England

The English humour, the British character, the banter, having a laugh, taking the piss, talking bollocks

Cups of tea, proper tea, tea and biscuits

Pints, real ale, the pub culture

Baked potato, Marmite

Some beautiful places, the nature, the landscapes, the greenness of English countryside, the four distinct seasons

The cultural diversity

Great things happening in summer, festivals, camps and events

Going to London to see shows and art exhibitions, free galleries and museums

English bookshops, Waterstones, Newspapers, the Guardian, Music, club nights

Supermarkets, Sainsbury's

The familiarity, knowing the ropes, associations, the history of growing up here

The convenience and ease of public transport, free health care

What people living in Sweden would miss about Sweden

Understanding the system, going to the bank and understand how it works, not having to compromise and getting used to the ways of another culture, knowing how to handle situations without having to think

How society is structured, that everybody has an okay standard of living, pretty well organised, not so much corruption, the security, the safety net, the stability, the reliability

Feminism, questions about gender identity, freedom, freedom of speech

Some comforts, the Swedish standard, that things are fresh and clean, our washing powder

Nature, the lakes, swimming outside, the freedom to roam, the forest, space

Snow in winter, the seasons, the Swedish summers

The Swedish traditions, Lucia, Christmas, crayfish-parties, midsummer

Salty liquorice, mayonaise, pizza salad, pizza, kebab, Christmas smörgåsbord, meatballs, Marabou chocolate, bread, crisp bread

The coffee

Hearing your own language, different dialects, to be able to read really fast

Friskis & Svettis (an amateur gym)

Similarities and differences: Humour and Pizza

Both people in England and Sweden would miss the nature and the landscape they are used to which wasn’t very surprising, but it seemed more important to Swedish people probably because there’s more forest in Sweden.

What surprised me most was that a majority of Swedish people are very attached to security and are obsessed about knowing how the system works, only one person living in England mentioned “knowing the ropes” and feeling familiar with how society is structured. Perhaps English people feel more alienated from the so-called system and don’t value it as highly as Swedish people do. And I must admit that I really missed the Swedish standard with warm houses when I lived in England…

About half of the English people I stayed with would miss the pubs, not a single Swedish person mentioned anything about drinking culture. And not a single Swedish person mentioned anything about a sense of humour. I don’t want to conclude that there is no drinking culture and no such thing as humour in Sweden, but the English are definitely better at pubs and cracking jokes.

Quite a few English people would miss “proper tea”, no one in Sweden  would miss tea, but one person would miss coffee. On the other hand Swedish people seem more keen on their food, and even though pizza isn’t originally a Swedish dish that’s what most people would miss.

People in Sweden wouldn’t miss any cultural things like museums and art galleries, but on the other hand they would miss traditions that are typically Swedish, like Lucia.

I found it very funny that one English person would miss Sainsbury's, but the other week I found myself missing Tescos’, not the supermarket itself, but just certain products and knowing where things are on the shelves. That good old familiarity …

What I personally miss most about England is the English language and the politeness, and when I’m away from Sweden I miss the Swedish language and above all the nature.

This study is by no means scientific, the answers are based on interviewing fifteen people in England and fifteen people in Sweden, aged 22-59. Look out for the next question: What would you NOT miss about England/Sweden if you lived abroad?

PÅ SVENSKA