IN WHICH A SWEDISH EXCHANGE STUDENT (me) COMMENTS ON AMERICAN CULTURE, SWEDISH CULTURE, COMING TO LIVE IN COLTON, AND WHY YOU AMERICANS DRINK SO MANY BOTTLES OF WATER

PART FIVE: HIGHER EDUCATION, SWEDEN vs THE USA   (April 10, 2015)

During the second week of spring break I got the chance to go on the AVID road trip and look at a few of the best colleges in California. It was beautiful campuses and I liked that it was a big variation on each campus. You could get all different kinds of atmospheres and nature everything from the city, to the beach, or in the middle of the forest. I do so wish that I could go to those colleges but when I saw the price to attend I was kind of shocked; it is so expensive. I asked myself if colleges here in the US really are meant for everyone? not just for me as a foreign person but for people that lives here in America.

Having to pay for college puts really big limits for people who can go. For students that have parents with money and who can afford sending their kids to college, there is no problem; but for parents who are having a harder economical situation it is harder. The result is that students who already are in a hard economical situation will have a harder time getting out of it and getting a good education to get a good job and have a good career so that they can move up to another social class. The students who have to rely on a stipend or other economical help need to work harder to get that support then the students who can just pay their way into college.

In Sweden we have fully state-supported colleges, which means that you don’t have to take money from your own pocket to attend to college; instead, we have a little bit higher taxes that go into the schools so that everyone has a chance to go to college. So you can say that the whole population is paying for my education, good or bad. According to me, that is good, because everyone gets the same opportunity to go and get a good education and later a good job. We believe that education creates wealth. So why shouldn’t everyone at least have the chance to get a good education?

Just to make it clear, even though college is for “free” you still have to pay for living, like an apartment and food. But you get a lot of support from the government: for example, you usually don’t live on a campus so they have student apartments that are a little bit cheaper. You also get student support in the form of money.

It is hard to say what is wrong and what is right. I guess it depends on what the country’s values are like– is it okay to pay a little bit higher tax to get a education for everyone? The US has a few of the world’s best colleges–it is just too bad that everyone can’t go to them.   

Part Four: School Spirit (March 20, 2015)

Something that has been a new experience for me since I came to America is the concept of “school spirit.”  All the sports and clubs you can join, the school’s teams, the drama club that has a performance once in a while or the music class, homecoming and prom–all those activities that are going on at school are what I really wish we had in Sweden.

It is cool that you can get so involved in school. There is something for everyone to do. If you’re not interested in sports you can join a club and let you be you. Here in America, students have so many different personalities and dare to stand out and be themselves.  It has to have something to do with school spirit. Students can find friends with the same interests by joining a club, or find friends on a team, winning and losing together.

Classes like yearbook, Link Crew and ASB/Ren are really great, and get students involved and running their own events with not too much help from adults. I think you learn a lot from it and it is a good experience you will be able to use when you grow up. I am also impressed by all the volunteer work Americans are doing it really makes it possible to run easy events that don’t cost too much.

The other thing I like is that you Americans are always competing with other schools which makes you even more competitive. I really don’t know how common bullying is here, I mean I know it exists but I think that the whole school spirit thing makes school life better over all. Plus, you all have fun on the bus to and from events, and get to know each other. Kind of like “Let’s go Fika!” but in English.

School spirit  is something I really would like to bring back home to Sweden. Thanks for showing me how a community can have so much pride.

Part Three: Big Things from a small little country (Feb. 9, 2015)

Americans think big about their country and they are right. This country is big–literally everything is big: the food, the distances from point A to B, the cars, the vegetables, everything. America has come up with a lot of good things.  For example, you put the first man on the moon, gave us Beyoncé, are role models in technology and entertainment and lots more. And, you drink a lot of bottled water.

America is not the only county that has come up with good stuff, however.  I would in this column like to tell you about what Sweden has done that affects you Americans.

Companies:

1. Sweden has some big companies you  might have heard about– like IKEA, the place where they sell furniture (and no, not everything in Sweden is from IKEA, but a lot of our stuff is),  and Swedish food.
2. We have two big car companies: Volvo and SAAB. Haven’t seen that many of them here, though.
3. Something I learned recently is that a clothes company that is from Sweden is H&M.
4. Now it’s all about Apple and iPhones, but earlier we had the Swedish phone company Ericsson.
5. The music service Spotify and a social service I am happy that exists called Skype are examples of when two young Swedish men came up with a great product and they both earned a lot of money.

Music:

Sweden is big when it comes to music. I think we are the world’s third biggest music producers. We don’t only have our own artists, we have Swedish people behind the scenes to a lot of famous American artists like Nicki Minaj, Lady Gaga, One Direction,  and Taylor Swift, just to name a few. Swedish artists that we are proud of that you might not recognize the name of but you have heard the music of is the two DJs Avicii, Swedish House Mafia, and Icona pop. We also have an old music group ABBA which the movie Mamma Mia is based on. They were HUGE music sellers some years ago.  A young new talent that is starting to get famous over here is Zara Larsson, so keep your eyes open.

4 Swedish things we would not be able to live without are:

1. The zipper; I mean, come on– how are we supposed to wear clothes without a zipper?
2. Adjustable wrench; we would not be able to build anything without that tool.
3. HIV-tracker: we are saving lives.
4. Three point seatbelt; Sweden is all about safety, so of course we came up with that.

Scientists:

I would like to end this column by telling you about two old men that made a big difference in the world, Alfred Nobel and Carl von Linne. Alfred Nobel was the guy who came up with the dynamite. Every year they give out the Nobel prize in his honor to scientists and authors who have made a big difference in the world. One guy that would have got the prize if he still was alive is Carl von Linne. He was the person who named all the flowers and put them and animals in different families so that we could see differences and have something more to learn in school.

These are just some big things from small Sweden.

Part Two: Schools in Sweden vs. The United States school system (January 26, 2014)

Hi Yellowjackets, it’s me, Ella! I have been in America for five months now, and have seen how America’s school system works. What I have noticed is that America’s school system is way different from Sweden’s.

The main difference is that you in America can choose all your classes. It is really nice because then you can skip classes you are not interested in or do not like. I do so wish I could have done that in Sweden. But missing some areas in education comes with consequences. One consequence is that a lot of American students are missing the general education, to know stuff they should know. For example, if you never have taken a class in religion, how are you supposed to know about other religions and cultures? How can you solve problems with other people if you do not know anything about them, like their values? Another subject Americans seem to lack knowledge in is geography. When I came here I was kind of shocked that people did not know where Sweden was on the map. Okay, I agree Sweden is not the biggest country or most important country but, people should know that it is in Europe.

The way education  works in Sweden is that up to high school everyone takes the same subjects and it is about all different subjects. Even though I will never work with physics in my future, I still have read it so I know a little bit about it, like the basic knowledge. For example: gravity– why everything stays on the earth and is not flying around.

When we start high school we can choose a program that interests us– for example, science or social studies. In that way you can study more about what you are interested in and might want to work with in the future but you are still getting basic knowledge.

Another thing I have noticed is that most subjects here are about America, the USA. Yes, it is good to know stuff about your own country. However, you can not be too isolated. Americans should read and compare their country with other countries. Learn the history and see why countries are the way they are–how the culture is in Europe; for example, that Europe has come as far as America (yes, we have the internet). I am really impressed that all students know all the presidents and famous people fromUS history. But what about scientists outside of the US? Have you ever thought about who named all the flowers and put them in families?

If you want to know you will have to read my next column!

 PART ONE: Let’s Go Fika!  (January 23, 2014)

Hi, my name is Ella Amandusson and I am from the country of Lagom (you may know it as Sweden, but I’ll explain that later.)  I am here in America as an exchange student. I chose to come here and spend a year in high school– weird, you might think. I will this semester write some articles about the differences between Sweden and America, what we think about Americans and maybe teach you some things about Sweden.

Sweden and America are so different, but still not that different.Some aspects of American culture are strange to me, and you may think that Swedes are strange, but there is still something here that makes me feel at home.

So here, in my first article, I would like to describe nine cultural differences between Sweden and the United States.

1. In America, I am told you all like to “hang out.” In Sweden, we “go fika.” Fika does not have a translation in English, so don’t go and google it because the translation won’t be right. To understand the importance and the beauty of fika, it has to be experienced. If I would try to define fika it would sound something like this: “An experience of drinking coffee (or something else) usually with something to eat. A time to enjoy a cup of coffee with a friend, family or colleagues. An important social time in the Swedish culture”. You can go and do it in the morning, noon, afternoon, evening. You sit down and catch up with someone and enjoy the moment with no hurry to be somewhere else. (You Americans always seem to be in such a rush! Why? Will you miss something? Maybe you should go fika sometimes.)
2. Something we do in Sweden and you don’t do here (except in some Asian households) is to take of your shoes when you walk in to someone’s home. I am so not used to that– I always want to be polite and take off my shoes so I don’t bring in dirt or mud into the house, but in many American homes, there seems to be a missing room–the entry area where you hang your jacket and put your shoes.
3. Get in line. Here in America you stand in line but not like us Swedes. We stand in line everywhere, a straight and proper line in the stores, a line to go on the bus, like I said, everywhere. We even have a system where you grab a slip with a number on it, then you wait until someone calls the number and then you know it is your turn.
4. Speaking Swedish helps (no, really?). If you go to Sweden you can survive without knowing a word of Swedish because everyone knows English. We have to take English as our second language in school. You can not graduate from school if you don’t know English. We watch TV and movies in English and listen to English music; we have English all around us.
5. In Sweden we have special days in which we celebrate different kinds of food. For example,  cinnamon bun day, waffle day or lenten buns day. It is just a normal day but we enjoy it with something special.
6. Sweden is the country of Lagom. Lagom has no translation but it can described as ‘just enough’, ‘in moderation’, ‘appropriate’. You have to blend in appropriately without extreme displays of emotions. It is kind of boring to live in Sweden because of this, because nothing is extreme and big like here in America. You people are so full of drama! Swedes are generally reserved people.
7. Many businesses close during July; In Sweden you get 4-6 weeks of vacation. So during holidays and in the middle of the summer a lot of people take vacation. The stores are usually open as often as here, but they close earlier at night especially at weekends.
8. In Sweden there is a big difference between summer and winter. In the summer the days are long and warm. The sun barely goes down; it can be light until 10 o’clock in the evening and the sunrise is around four in the morning. It is lovely–you can be out late and you only need to put on a sweater in the evening. But, then we have the winter. In the winter the sun can come up around nine and it will be dark again at three. This time is very depressing according to a lot of people, especially me. It is dark when you go to school and it is dark when you get out of school.
9. Most people love to be outside. We have what we call allemansrätt,  The Right of Public Access. You use it whenever you go out in the Swedish countryside – whether if it is to take a walk, go kayaking, climb a mountain or just sit down on a rock to think. So it is the right for everybody to enjoy Sweden’s natural beauty. We have an expression that we use when someone complains of the weather:  kläder efter väder (literally, “clothes after weather,” meaning, instead of complaining about cold, or rain, or snow, just dress according to how it is outside and deal with it.

Now you know some things about Sweden that stands out compared to the rest of the world. Keep an eye out for my next article, in which I will compare schools in Sweden to the United States. Or, at least, Colton! 🙂