Polonia /
Let's talk about Sweden and other Scandinavian countries [236]
My lasting impressions of Sweden, having last been there only in the late 80's, were of a singularly homogeneous nation, jealously guarding both their beautiful language and their culture from the majority of outsiders! No, many whom I met did NOT speak decent English, at least up to my standards, and so we ended up speaking Swedish:-)
The image propagated through the films of Ingmar Bergman is about as representative of the entire country as Frank Capra and John Ford are of the US as a whole. The Swedes I met, and on their own terms, were jarringly down to earth, highly educated, upwardly mobile and as removed from the stereotype "My name is Jan Jansson, I come from Visconin."- stumbling, slow, clodhopper as one could imagine.
I guess opinionated would be the best way to describe the Swedes I met, across the board. Unlike the Poles however, the Swedish tend almost never to descend into heated emotional rhetoric when certain cherished notions of theirs are attacked; they'll gladly (and rather skillfully too, I might add) play the Devil's advocate...and they'll usually win.
On the less positive side, I found many, even in the bigger cities such as Goteborg, to be somewhat provincial, smug and almost incredulous of the fact that not everyone else thinks or is brought up in lock step, i.e. gets married young and automatically has children, cradle-to-grave security etc..
Generally though, I was impressed by the breathtaking landscapes, the gorgeous language, the long summer nights and the ever spirited company of my many friends.
Sweden. All may be summed up perhaps by the motto of Lund University: ATT TANKA FRITT, AR STORT. ATT TANKA RATT, AR STORRE" (To think freely is a great thing, to think correctly, even greater)