Learning Swedish, Learning Sweden
Last night THS and I went out. It was our mutual friend M's birthday. Although we both really should have studied, it is hard to evade going to meet someone when it's their birthday. Add to that the fact that THS and I met each other through M, and we are really obligated to display our eternal thanks.
Since I recently found out more nerve-racking information about my hard test that I have next week, I was feeling nervous. So right at the beginning of the night I announced it was going to be All Swedish, All The Time.
Oh, it was hellish. Very, very hellish. Because if you just let things take their natural course, next thing you know you're talking about magical realist elements in the novels of the Ashkenazi diaspora, or theories of nurture vs. nature, and woe to her who thinks she can talk about all that in Swedish. I just don't have the vocabulary. But I ended up there, and at other weird places as well, and I guess I just sounded like some sort of idiot savant. It worked best with people who already knew me. Those who I met for the first time just gave me weird looks. The impressive thing was that for the most part they didn't switch into English, respecting my "all Swedish all the time" rule.
After having been here for two months, I'm willing to tentatively begin my comparative study of German values vs. Swedish. This is, of course, highly controversial and polemical, but as I've said before in these pages -- I just calls 'em like I sees 'em.
German values vs. Swedish values
Germans have insitutionalized order, Swedes have institutionalized niceness.
Gernans have social beer all afternoon, Swedes have social coffee all afternoon.
Germany is heterogeneous, Sweden is homogeneous
Germans are concerned with their history, Swedes are concerned with their traditions.
Germans value intellectual rigour, Swedes value humanism.
Germans are pessimistic (even when they are trying to be optimistic), Swedes are self-assured and mildly optimistic (even when they put on an air of cynicism.)
Germans value telling the truth at all costs, Swedes avoid conflict.
At some point it would be interesting to insert Americans into this, but I've got to run and meet THS for dinner!
Since I recently found out more nerve-racking information about my hard test that I have next week, I was feeling nervous. So right at the beginning of the night I announced it was going to be All Swedish, All The Time.
Oh, it was hellish. Very, very hellish. Because if you just let things take their natural course, next thing you know you're talking about magical realist elements in the novels of the Ashkenazi diaspora, or theories of nurture vs. nature, and woe to her who thinks she can talk about all that in Swedish. I just don't have the vocabulary. But I ended up there, and at other weird places as well, and I guess I just sounded like some sort of idiot savant. It worked best with people who already knew me. Those who I met for the first time just gave me weird looks. The impressive thing was that for the most part they didn't switch into English, respecting my "all Swedish all the time" rule.
After having been here for two months, I'm willing to tentatively begin my comparative study of German values vs. Swedish. This is, of course, highly controversial and polemical, but as I've said before in these pages -- I just calls 'em like I sees 'em.
German values vs. Swedish values
Germans have insitutionalized order, Swedes have institutionalized niceness.
Gernans have social beer all afternoon, Swedes have social coffee all afternoon.
Germany is heterogeneous, Sweden is homogeneous
Germans are concerned with their history, Swedes are concerned with their traditions.
Germans value intellectual rigour, Swedes value humanism.
Germans are pessimistic (even when they are trying to be optimistic), Swedes are self-assured and mildly optimistic (even when they put on an air of cynicism.)
Germans value telling the truth at all costs, Swedes avoid conflict.
At some point it would be interesting to insert Americans into this, but I've got to run and meet THS for dinner!
posted by Ida at 3:06 PM
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