Yesterday evening, I caught myself committing a crime against my Brazilian roots! Do you believe I sent a message to a close friend to set a time to call her? That is so weird, my dear friends!
Just a couple of minutes later, I started thinking about what I had done and how living in another country constantly shapes ones’ attitudes and the way we relate to people. Over time, we get new habits. It is only then something that before could be unthinkable becomes part of our daily routine without we even have realized.
The shock with my own behavior was such that I wrote down this list to measure your level of “Swedification“. Then, I decided to publish it because that could be useful for you. Who knows? 😊
How do you know if you are becoming a Swede?
- You went to raid the fridge and came back with a piece of cucumber or any other vegetable. In case you don’t know, Swedes use to eat vegetable for breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, dinner, in parties haha);
- You are lazy to plan a party or dinner at home because you think about the mess you will have to take care of after that;
- You plan to have coffee {fika} with your neighbor a month in advance. You meet in the lift, talk briefly and take a look at the agenda to set a date for this big “event “.
- You find weird when someone is talking on the phone on the public transport, speaking loudly or even speaking at all…{haha}Read also: How to get from the airport to Stockholm city center
- You get mad if someone stands on the left side of the escalator. If you want to stand still, go to the right. Tack!
- Your parties have different sorts of vegetables instead of coxinha; Coxinha is a canapé traditionally shaped to resemble its main ingredient: chicken. It is a very tasty snack that is both soft and crispy.
- You cannot go to someone’s house without bringing a gift or something for dinner. It could be the wine, the desert, flowers, etc.
- All your conversations start with the same topic: the weather. In Sweden, there is no chat that won’t start with this subject. “Today it is cold!“, “It is so good the sun is back again, isn’t it? “, “Wow, how windy it is outside!“.
- You are the birthday girl-boy and have to decide everything, including the gift you want to get. How spoiled you were when you had friends and family planning your b-day.
I am going to stop right here because I have just realized this is a no turn back point! I think I am totally “swedenised “.
What about you, have you also gotten any Swedish habits? Feel free to leave comments about other countries’ habits that you have gotten.
Originally posted on: Como saber se você está virando sueco?