Jantelagom

Getting a Swedish bank account has been more trouble than I thought, though by the end of it I'm pretty sure I can navigate all the procedures concerning my account entirely in Swedish, so at least some good has come out of the web of bureaucracy.

In more interesting news, I came across a book called "The Swedish Code" in the local library. It's written in English and is designed as a kind of field manual for immigrants or businesspeople who spend a lot of time in Sweden. The core of the book is a discussion on the practical outward effects of the Swedish Jante Law. The virtues of modesty and inconspicuousness can sometimes conflict with other cultures in unexpected ways. One consequence of Swedish modesty is how easy it can be to come off as a braggart. Any kind of impressive statement can be misconstrued as boastfulness, even if it's an honest answer to a question (therefore, when someone asked how many countries I've been to, I probably should not have said 22). One story concerned a Somalian immigrant with a degree in chemistry from Russia and proficiency in six languages. He does not list the languages on his job resume because while he did he was never able to get a job because to the Swedes it sounds like boasting. Now here's something I'd like to look at a bit more: suppose this individual hadn't learned this lesson on Swedish modesty? Might one then only see a qualified, motivated and intelligent black man being turned down for a job in favor of a white, seemingly average quality employee instead? Might they then misinterpret a cultural misunderstanding as racist hiring practices?

They also mention that the Swedes (to some degree at least) trust their government. They believe that it acts in their best interests and while it might not always be totally competent, it is generally a benevolent organization. That stands in contrast to, well, pretty much everywhere else. American checks and balances are built into the system because of an inherent fear of government, France distrusted their government so much they executed the royalty, Germany's misplaced trust in their government resulted in one of the most infamous events in history, in the home countries of the hundreds of thousands of political refugees living in Sweden something went horribly wrong in the government to make them flee for their lives. But because Swedish history is so different, they're much more inclined to believe the government is working for them, not against them. That might be why only half of Swedes seem to be opposed to the FRA Law whereas it scares the hell out of everyone else.

The book is largely apocryphal and as a result some of their views of Swedish society contradict my own observations. Even if it isn't quite an academically rigorous text, it's nice to have an independent source come to many of the same conclusions I have concerning Sweden.

The writers don't really assume the reader's country of origin, as a result you don't get just a comparison between Swedish and American, or German or Dutch cultures but more of a multifaceted approach. It's rather interesting because pretty much everything they phrase to the effect of, "Now this might seem really strange, but in Sweden it's customary to tell the truth." This is for people from non-Western countries where misrepresenting the truth is considered an everyday occurrence and not "lying", per se. Some of the things they say are genuinely different from American culture and some of them are only different to some Americans. Personally, the rules about not striking up conversations with strangers on the subway, not being too outwardly emotional, or respecting and appreciating nature make perfect sense to me, but I know many Americans that would have a real hard time with them.

1st Week

So it's been just over a week since I arrived in Skärholmen, a borough of Stockholm (it's pronounced something like "wharholmen", but really enunciating the "wh" and aspirating it to the point of blowing out a candle) and have been doing my best to get settled in as quickly as possible. I picked this apartment because they were the only people to respond to my email to their apartment listing in time and really knew nothing of it before I arrived. Nevertheless, the location seems to be a good spot for me to begin my fieldwork. According to statistics it's 70% immigrant, though I would have guessed 50 or 60% based on my initial observations. The borough is part of what was known as the "Million Program" to build 1 million new homes so that everyone in Sweden could afford decent housing. Not surprisingly, those neighborhoods filled up with immigrants pretty quickly. Skärholmen also has the world's biggest IKEA and a mall called "SKHLM: The Capital of Shopping." I'll have to hang out around there and get the lay of the land.
My roommate at the apartment was born and raised in Sweden, but of Spanish descent. At first, I thought that my plan to exclude Swedish citizens that aren't 3rd generation might be too limiting, but after meeting this fellow I'm quite vindicated. He's been very helpful, outgoing and amenable to conversation, entertaining my many questions and eagerly asking about the US in return. In other words, nothing like a typical Swede, whose reticence is the stuff of legends. I'm going to stick to my original plan of focusing primarily on ethnic Swedes, or as they are sometimes known, "Svenssons". That said, while getting the opinions of ethnic Swedes will be important, I won't discount anybody who might have some good quotable information, if the situation comes up.
I've also found that getting Swedes to speak Swedish to you once they even get a hint that you're an English speaker is an uphill battle. Sometimes this is understandable; some Swedes I personally know rarely speak Swedish to me explicitly because they want to practice their English, especially since it is somewhat rare to find native English speakers here. But the same thing will happen at stores or banks, if you slip up a single word they'll be tempted to go to English. I know that they mean well—they have almost the opposite view of the "This is America! Speak English!" mentality—and English is admittedly the international trade language, but it can sometimes come off as incredibly patronizing. Immigrants, on the other hand tend, to be more willing to go along with my ventures into Swedish and I can sometimes understand them better than Swedes. Maybe it's because it's a little easier for us to understand one another because we speak slower and enunciate more carefully than Swedes. Maybe it's because they understand how difficult it is to learn a language if people constantly switch to another language when speaking to you and they're trying to help me out (that's my personal reason for why I almost never speak Spanish to Mexicans when I'm in Tucson). Maybe they're just more sure of their Swedish than their English. Who knows?

Pre-Flight

In less than 10 hours I will be on my way to Sweden yet again. I probably should be trying to sleep, and I am a little tired, but I promised myself I'd write a blog entry before I left. There's a lot of stuff I should have done before now as far as contacting people, but obviously none of it is of extreme urgency. In fact, once I got my passport back from Migrationsverket, booked a flight to Sweden and made living arrangements in Stockholm, everything just became so unstressful. I did everything I *needed* to do and now the only things left are little things I ought to have done sooner. Oh well.
I'm surprised by how not nervous I am. I suppose it might have to do with the fact that I travel so frequently that the process of packing my bags becomes routine enough that I don't worry about it now. Of course, it might also be the fact that I rarely stress out until incredibly late in the game, at which point I'm too busy to be stressed. I'm not even all that hyped up about it. I mean, I am very happy and very proud of myself for all that I've done to get myself this far and I'm eagerly anticipating getting some answers to my important questions once I'm there. But when one thinks about how one should feel when the dream they've been working toward for a year is about to come true, my own internal state of mind is very calm. Is that being in "the zone"? Even the thought that given the relative scarcity of information on my topic I may very well be one of the names people cite on Swedish immigration doesn't give me quite the giddy thrill I feel it ought to. I will say though I am very much looking forward to saying for the first time in my life "Business" when asked if my reason for entering Sweden is business or pleasure (though I will definitely be aiming for both as long as I'm there).
I'll do my best to keep you folks up to date on the goings-on in Stockholm, but the real juicy ethnographic findings will be posted on a secret online journal that only my EFS class can see. It would be a breach of professional ethics to let anyone else in on the particulars, I'm afraid, so you'll have to make due with the tourist/student's account of things.

God natt, and see you on the other side!