"One of the great hatchet jobs of modern American letters, Sontag’s 16-page Letter from Sweden, published in the July 1969 issue of Ramparts magazine, spared few sections of Swedish society. Swedes were obsessively obedient of petty rules: “Old ladies glare at you when you cross an empty street against the light”. But when things go wrong “hardly anyone gets fired”: Sontag saw Swedes as so pathologically frightened of conflict that they turn a blind eye to incompetence and failure. Southern European immigrants told Sontag they found Swedes “unbearably cold, stiff and priggish”, and Sontag agreed.
Superficially, Sontag considered Sweden to be much like the US or West Germany – “six-lane highways, suburban shopping centres… refined and partly detoxified by the condition of advanced ‘welfare state enlightenment’”. But on closer examination she found Sweden full of meanness and pedantry. Swedes split restaurant and taxi bills to the last cent, were notoriously shifty about planning social engagements, and – worst of all – continually smoked Sontag’s cigarettes without returning the favour."
If anything, these habitws seem to have gotten worse, not better, since this country's open embrace of high-level low-skill immigration, feminism and "socialism". It's been 55 years, but I still see those pathologies every day, here, lol...
It's painfully accurate. No wonder people here get so prickly about that letter she wrote, lol.
I’m here right now. I’ve been here for almost exactly six months.
It’s… Ok. That is the best I can say about it.
The national bird (possible even animal) is a blackbird. The weather is, for six months of the year, solidly beige, if not outright grey. I would describe their “national character” as also beige.
It’s just… Meh. Like a giant suburb.
Yes, the average woman here is more attractive than in Anglo countries. And yes, it’s fairly safe (depending where you are), and pay is fairly good. But it’s expensive, accommodation is shit, and culturally it’s just… A bit off.
As I have discussed extensively with other foreigners here (mostly English-speakers, but also French et al), it’s just… Very “cold” culturally, and very… Reserved. Exactly as Sontag described it. And they judge you fairly openly. And they fucking love staring…
You know what I would say to really piss Swedes off..? I preferred Denmark. And it’s true. I did. I also preferred Finland, for that matter…
But I’m glad your friends had a great time. I don’t… Hate it here, but if, for some reason, I decided to come back again, long-term, I don’t think I would live in Stockholm.
Quite literally everywhere else I have been in Sweden, with the exception of the village I lived in for three months, has been better than the capital…
Stockholm just… Doesn’t work, for me. I’m not sure why, but it doesn’t.
Yeah, it's fine. But that's all it is. Fine. Dull. Beige. "Adequate". Perfect if you don't care about never fitting in (I tried. Really damn hard), or having decent bars, or good (beyond average) cuisine...
But I can honestly say that it's no mystery to me why most expats (from other Western countries) hate it here...
Did your friends go up North? Because I believe that's where most of the more exciting, "authentic" experiences are to be found.
Stockholm is just meh. Overpriced, over-competitive meh.
My favourite bit, I think:
"One of the great hatchet jobs of modern American letters, Sontag’s 16-page Letter from Sweden, published in the July 1969 issue of Ramparts magazine, spared few sections of Swedish society. Swedes were obsessively obedient of petty rules: “Old ladies glare at you when you cross an empty street against the light”. But when things go wrong “hardly anyone gets fired”: Sontag saw Swedes as so pathologically frightened of conflict that they turn a blind eye to incompetence and failure. Southern European immigrants told Sontag they found Swedes “unbearably cold, stiff and priggish”, and Sontag agreed.
Superficially, Sontag considered Sweden to be much like the US or West Germany – “six-lane highways, suburban shopping centres… refined and partly detoxified by the condition of advanced ‘welfare state enlightenment’”. But on closer examination she found Sweden full of meanness and pedantry. Swedes split restaurant and taxi bills to the last cent, were notoriously shifty about planning social engagements, and – worst of all – continually smoked Sontag’s cigarettes without returning the favour."
If anything, these habitws seem to have gotten worse, not better, since this country's open embrace of high-level low-skill immigration, feminism and "socialism". It's been 55 years, but I still see those pathologies every day, here, lol...
It's painfully accurate. No wonder people here get so prickly about that letter she wrote, lol.
I've had some friends visit, they've had a great time. Have you been?
I’m here right now. I’ve been here for almost exactly six months.
It’s… Ok. That is the best I can say about it.
The national bird (possible even animal) is a blackbird. The weather is, for six months of the year, solidly beige, if not outright grey. I would describe their “national character” as also beige.
It’s just… Meh. Like a giant suburb.
Yes, the average woman here is more attractive than in Anglo countries. And yes, it’s fairly safe (depending where you are), and pay is fairly good. But it’s expensive, accommodation is shit, and culturally it’s just… A bit off.
As I have discussed extensively with other foreigners here (mostly English-speakers, but also French et al), it’s just… Very “cold” culturally, and very… Reserved. Exactly as Sontag described it. And they judge you fairly openly. And they fucking love staring…
You know what I would say to really piss Swedes off..? I preferred Denmark. And it’s true. I did. I also preferred Finland, for that matter…
But I’m glad your friends had a great time. I don’t… Hate it here, but if, for some reason, I decided to come back again, long-term, I don’t think I would live in Stockholm.
Quite literally everywhere else I have been in Sweden, with the exception of the village I lived in for three months, has been better than the capital…
Stockholm just… Doesn’t work, for me. I’m not sure why, but it doesn’t.
Unlike Gothenburg or Malmö, that is.
I mean it sounds perfectly fine
Yeah, it's fine. But that's all it is. Fine. Dull. Beige. "Adequate". Perfect if you don't care about never fitting in (I tried. Really damn hard), or having decent bars, or good (beyond average) cuisine...
But I can honestly say that it's no mystery to me why most expats (from other Western countries) hate it here...
Did your friends go up North? Because I believe that's where most of the more exciting, "authentic" experiences are to be found.
Stockholm is just meh. Overpriced, over-competitive meh.