Sundsvall, Sweden- At this writing, I had been in America for a little more than a week, and gained some prospective . This will hopefully give you a different point of view on your country.
Let’s starts from the beginning. The first thing that struck me was even before the aircraft touched the ground at Newark. The first thing I saw when we approached the runway was Ikea, a Swedish business selling Swedish culture. It will be very fun for me to tell my Swedish friends that the first thing I saw in America was ‘Little Sweden’.
My host family, who patiently had been waiting for me for two hours, took me to their house. During the ride, I couldn’t stop being impressed by the roads! The street that my family lives on is as broad as a Swedish highway.
The houses on Staten Island are another thing I have to mention. I had an idea that I would stay in shape by jogging around the neighborhood, but I have given up that idea since all the houses look the same.
One thing I already knew about America was that you wear shoes in your house. When I came into the McLean’s, my host mom, Ryan’s mother, said it was okay to wear shoes. Even though she said that, it is still impossible for me to wear shoes inside. Wearing shoes inside someone’s or even your own home would be to deeply offend the home owners in Sweden.
I went to downtown Manhattan during my first days in America. The houses became bigger and bigger as we went closer to the ferry terminal. When I stood in between the first skyscrapers, I was struck about how small I felt. I am a guy who is taller than average, so I have never felt ‘small’.
Sweden doesn’t have many high buildings, so I was of course extremely impressed. I think it is good to see how small you are as a human being on the earth, but I will probably feel even bigger when I return to Sweden.
The first days in school were really interesting. You must first of all be very proud of your beautiful school. Entirely new, it creates the perfect school environment.
I at once noticed a big difference between Swedish and American people, which I already knew about but hadn’t experienced. The American people are so nice and so curious compared to the Swedish. Swedes, in general, are shy and don’t talk to people they don’t know.
It is totally opposite here. People came up to me, asking me questions all the time, no matter what age and gender. That is one of the things I like the most about the American society, here it is okay to talk to strangers.
At the bus, at the hockey game, or in school, talking to people is of course, the best way of getting to know one another. I will absolutely miss your customs when I get back to the “Swedish shyness”.
Some rules in your school are very hard for me to learn and use. You are not allowed to have anything on your head while you are in the school building. In Sweden, we are allowed to have hats and caps on our head at all times; the same thing with cell phones and MP3-players.
Lastly, the thing that is hardest to adapt to is that we in Sweden call our teachers by first name. Therefore, there is no mister, miss, or misses in the classroom.
