Culture shock, sure, but the whole “Nordic model” is just a bit… Shit, honestly.
The whole country (that I have seen so far) feels like “Pleasantville”, but woke, and uber-modern, rather than 1950s Americana…
And the Turks. The fucking Turks here. Eugh…
Their rudeness seems more intentional than I would say it seems to be with more… “Native” Swedes.
Gonna be interesting learning to survive here. As a very “social” person, I… Certainly have some adjusting to do.
The strange mix of ultra-conformity and extreme cultural introvertedness is… A vibe. I’ll say that much.
Customer service? Ha…
How difficult is the language barrier?
I think they're all fluent in English
Most Swedes who aren't retarded have speaking proficiency in English
Nonexistent, for like, 95% of the people you meet (immigrants excepted).
They just hate talking. And helping. And customer service.
So they can speak English. They just choose not to talk to you.
So kind of like France, except that Swedes hate talking in any language, including their own…
Tis a strange vibe, to say the least.
Be careful thinking people know English well. Most swedes speak it to some degree, and because of Germanic roots they speak English with very little accent. That being said, in my experience living there and dating a swede, the good pronunciation often makes you think they know English to a higher level than what they really do.
Keep that in mind next time you speak to a swede. Really dig into their words and determine how much they really know vs how well they pronounce words.