It would be really funny to discuss with you yanks your thoughts of Sweden, and only to clarify what Mariette said; no one is named Inga anymore and most girls don’t have giant boobs (only the really, really fat ones) and besides that, blonde hair color is so 2001. Nowadays everyone is mixing their colors into a tint you couldn’t even imagine. Its one part pink, two parts purple and the rest is just a mystery, and the result, well, I don’t think that specific color even got a name.
So please, write me back and criticize, ask and talk about the Swedish society. I’ve got lots of opinions about America too, so don’t hold back your mind. For example why you’ve got a soda called root beer, when there is no trace of beer what so ever?
Peace// Kristian
Hahaha. Jag tror att ingen av oss ska säga något dåligt om svensk samhälle. Vi går till ett liberalt universitet och Sverige är jätte liberal, tror jag. Egna saken att vi ska kanske ha är de höga skatter!
ReplyDeleteAbout root beer: I have no effing clue why it's called root beer. I just know that it's nasty. Like seriously nasty. Du kan fråga oss (eller minst mig) någonting om Amerika. Till exempel, vad andra åsikter har du om Amerika? Berätta om dem! Vi skulle höra om dem mycket =]]
(Or at least, I would :P)
Collin: I Wonder, and this is a view i have gotten from American movies: Are you Americans really really proud of being an American? I most movies i get the idea that it´s mightily important fore all Americans to called them self Americans and to proudly show it? / Mariette
ReplyDeleteCollin: Is it true that Americans has a so bad knowledge about the world as you can see on internet and TV? I mean, look at this videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnzEdSV8rqQ
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AbEq_5GYLo
Is this true or just set up?
What have you heard about the swedish people?
Sarah: Those videos are pretty hilarious (and a little scary!). I assure you, however, that those people aren't what I'd call representative of America as a whole. Unfortunately, America is so large and populous that so many different people/ideologies will co-exist simultaneously. And that naturally follows that many people in America are exceedingly stupid! It's still pretty polarized in terms of political ideologies, so there are lots of rednecks (think the Sweden Democrats-but a shit load of them, for example).
ReplyDeleteIt's unfortunate, but that's how it is in America!
There are plenty of rational, non-ignorant people, it just seems like most of the world focuses on the crazies, which makes sense.
There are plenty of stereotypes floating around about Swedish people, I'm sure you guys are aware of them (you all seem to recognize the blonde/big boobs/beer commercial twins stereotype), but I would expect most intelligent people to disregard them.
Också, root beer är inte dåligt alls! Det är jätteläckra!
Also, Mariette, can you refer to any movies specifically?
ReplyDeleteJag hoppas att du inte har varit att titta på Rambo!
This is great guys just what I was looking for, I also agree with Mariette, you really seem to be very proud of being Americans, and also I wonder: have u seen the daily show where they were mocking Sweden for being far to socialistic of a country. There were videos of politicians saying “do we really want to become Sweden?”
ReplyDeleteT: Hm, let me think. The movie that´s pops up in my head is: American Soldier fore an example. (Hehe, I have seen all Rambo movies)
ReplyDeleteGreat questions, guys! I'm going to have to answer in English (sorry Johanna!) because I don't think I quite have the nuance to get what I'd like to say across in Swedish :P.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tyler...those videos aren't entirely representative. However, you have to remember that the US has a much larger population than Sweden. So we might not have MORE ignorant people than Sweden necessarily (as far as proportion goes), but it would still be more people. Does that make sense? Also remember that our education system is much less uniform than yours. All of our states have different requirements. All of our school districts are "independent." The quality of education really depends on where you live. There are some areas (and states in general) with a much better education system.
Now to answer the question about American pride: yes, I personally think that we do have a bit more of a nationalistic populace than many other countries. Though I admit that it's a little hard to tell, only having had an American perspective (which is why I want to get out of here for a while!) I think it just has to do with the fact that we're still such a young country, and our recent emergence as a dominant cultural force has made many Americans slightly arrogant.
Kristian: asking about socialism is to me rather funny, simply because Americans lovvveeee to misuse the term and mock it all the time. There's a huge stigma against socialism here. Again, I think it has to do with historical misconceptions. If you remember the health care bill that we just had passed, it was met with GREAT resistance. Yet comparatively speaking, it was a very "tame" bill. That is, it still keeps a large amount of privatization.
Overall though, I don't think you need to worry about Americans "disliking" Sweden. If anything, there might be people who don't want a more socialized government system, but we are usually able to respect others' beliefs. You won't get made fun of for coming from Sweden :P.
Tyler and Collin thanks for good answers. It make sense and I assum that the videos was made to make Americans look stupid. Although the thing about the school system doesn't sounds good to me. It must be hard for poor families living in a bad area to give their children a good education, in Sweden is the education free. So for us (or me) sound the American education system kind of weird. Whats's your point of view? Is it just me being socialistic (swedish) or what? xD I guess that we swedish people are kind of spoiled when it comes to education.. :)
ReplyDelete