Question 5: Where have you travelled?

Colombia. Vietnam. South Africa. Greece. Denmark.

The countries above are only a few examples of where the 30 people I stayed with had travelled. Based on the talks with my study subjects I've learnt that people in England and people in Sweden are equally well travelled. Everyone had travelled to at least another country in Europe. About half of the Swedish people and half of the English people had been outside Europe. Most of the participants were open to living abroad for shorter or longer periods of time, but not many would like to live abroad permanently.

It's not very interesting to make a list of all the countries you've visited. The interesting thing is what you've learnt from other cultures. A weekend break at a hotel doesn't give as much as staying with or spending time with local people.

Thanks to my Swenglish project I gained new insights even when staying with people in my hometown. I thought I knew everything about Swedish food culture, but I learnt that you can have bananas in your mince sauce and cheese on your pancakes. You can't read about that in the tourist catalogues. Maybe because it's not typical for Sweden. But I'm after what's not typical! Going to London and have tea is boring. But to get invited to a Londoner's home and have Turkisk coffee is exciting.

When I went to Barcelona for my 29th I felt stressed out running around photographing the sights I'd read about in my guidebook. Never again! The best about the Barcelona trip was talking to a couple of Spanish guys at my hostel. They lived just outside town but had chosen to stay at the hostel so they could have a night out in the city. After five minutes chatting I learnt more about Barcelona than I did from two days of sightseeing. 

There's a difference between holidaying and travelling. If you just want a holiday and relax it doesn't matter if you just see a hotel, a pool and some old church. But to really travel you have to spend time with the local people. Pretty obvious. Not always easy though ... 

PÅ SVENSKA

This study is by no means scientific, the answers are based on interviewing 15 people in England and 15 people in Sweden, aged 22-59. Look out for the next question: What does language mean to you?

Week22: Up North

If someone had told me a year ago, when I had not yet come up with the Swenglish idea, that in a years time I would be in Umeå following an archaeologist for a week, I would have laughed.

I was stupid enough to go to the City of Birches without a winter coat and with boots that leek, so the first thing I did was to go shopping for welly boots with fleece soles. The seasons are more distinct in Sweden compared to England, maybe because there are more trees. I've never been so fascinated by autumn before; I can’t stop looking at the leaves that shimmer in yellow, orange and red. The seasons is something many of the people I have stayed with would miss if they lived abroad, but last week’s host said it would be enough to have winter every other year ...

 

If it wasn't for this project I would probably never have ended up so far North. Already when I changed trains in Sundsvall the air on the platform was like a curtain of ice. A bit like travelling from the South of England to Scotland. And it feels like I’m as far from my hometown as when I’m in England. In fact it takes the same amount of time to travel from Nässjö to Umeå as it takes travelling from Nässjö to Brighton.

The pace is more peaceful here. People speak more slowly and says ”fara” (”journey”) instead of ”åka” (go). Every time they’re going to visit a friend it sounds as if they were going travelling. Probably because of the distances up here. I've also learnt a new word: ”he” that does’t mean ”he” as in English: it’s a word for ”put” – a word that doesn't exist in the South.

What is it like following an archaeologist then? Well, a bit like hanging out with a living history book. I've followed my host to places where she’s been digging and they've found cooking spots from the iron age. But next week, when the frost comes it will be hard to dig. Now we’re going to journey out in the swamplands to pick cranberries!

PS. I'm up North for a bit longer, next week I'll be staying in a community a bit outside Umeå.

PÅ SVENSKA