I can't make this post too long since I'm heading to Kiruna soon but I wanted to report on Lund and Malmö before I forget. Lund is Uppsala's main university rival, how this is possible is beyond me because Lund sucks big time. Could be because I was there when everything was closed and in the middle of a blizzard which cut down on my sight-seeing fun, but the town was just dull. I stayed one night then went to Malmö, which despite the blizzard was much more fun than Lund. People had told me that Malmö and Copenhagen are much colder than Uppsala, I figured they were just being babies since it shouldn't be colder in southern Sweden. But hoo boy it was, that coastal air made the cold wet and the wind cuts through you like a knife. I caught a cold from that damn place. Grr.
I was sadly unable to find Gunther's nightclub, so my tra-la-la remained untouched. The real nightclubs won't let you in unless you're 24 so I doubt I would've gotten in anyway.
I did learn something interesting in my travels though: I can safely say I'm from Arizona and people are intrigued and will have a nice chat with me but as soon as the words "The States" "America" or "The US" exit my mouth it triggers an attack mechanism in Europeans. They become haughty little bitches and make snide remarks like "American huh? So you like hamburgers then?" WTF mate? Everyone loves hamburgers. The Swedes, and other Europeans as well, eat their hamburgers with a knife and fork though. Losers.
In other news I failed the listening and writing Swedish tests which sucks immensely. It's a pass/fail system so I don't know how I did, just that it wasn't good enough. I get a massive sense of inferiority from this cuz all the Swedes speak perfect English (except in Göteborg where their English is merely really good) and the Germans pick up Swedish easily. My only solace is that I can still speak reasonably good Spanish even after years without practice. Which gives me a realization that that damn Swedish final wants me to be nearly fluent in Swedish after 4 months, I don't think it can be done.
Anyway I'll be back in a week, cross your fingers and hope there are some huge solar flares to make the Northern Lights spectacular.
11 comments:
did you seriously just use the slang 'mate'?
that struck me as weird for some reason...
Seriously, anyone who eats a hamburger with a knife and fork has ::issues::. Why don't they let you in until you're 24? Randomly, I remember it being commented upon in linguistics that there've been studies on why it's easier for Swedish or Danish people to learn English or have accentless English than the reverse, so you're not alone in that reaction.
see, I think part of it is that they aren't upset at us for thinking that we rule the world but that they're upset that to an extent, we *do*. i.e. Americanization and McDonaldsization.
The thing with the nightclubs here is that they want to make the clubs come across as mature and sophisticated so they don't let younger people in. Of course, the rule is waived for girls and as long as they're hot and legal they're welcomed inside.
And as for the Swedes' mastery over the English language I attribute that to the fact that most of the movies and TV shows and a sizable chunk of their music comes from the US. They're saturated with English from a young age, so that even if they aren't trying to pay attention to what's being said in English it's always there in the background.
Well, can you really blame them? "Hey, I'm from that country that thinks it owns the world."
A bit of the old ressentiment, then?
Heh. I like your brother's attitude. And seriously, why _wouldn't_ you eat hamburgers with a knife and fork? Prevents your fingers from getting messy.
Not wanting to get your fingers messy when you're eating a hamburger is like going to the pool and not wanting to get wet.
but getting wet is the entire point of going to the pool. I thought the point of eating hamburgers was, well, eating? Getting your fingers messy is just unfortunate, and if you can avoid that, all the better.
I'll buy that argument if you can tell me with a straight face that you eat your french fries/chips with a fork. :)
knife and fork, actually. at least sometimes. =P
Okay, you win the weirdness contest.
Do you eat regular sandwiches that way, too?
some, when they're called toast skagen and served as appetizers.. but they're not really traditional sandwiches.
I stand chastened.
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