sweden.

this week has been pretty nuts getting back into the swing of things and trying to balance my rising amount of papers and group projects with time in the awesome spring sunshine. the good news is that DIS has insurance that will cover my computer. the bad news is that i have to buy a new one once i get back to the states and they will pay me back. thus, i will be spending quite a lot of time in the school computer lab for the next month! today i finally had time to sit down and blog. i will be posting about my travels in chunks as i have time to write them. so, here is what i have to say about sweden:


to be swedish is to be beautiful. that much is clear. after a week in sweden’s two biggest cities— stockholm and gőteborg (the third biggest city is malmő, which i visited in february)— i am still completely boggled as to how it was scientifically possible for so many beautiful people to be concentrated in one country. this country has many other virtues— home of H&M, ikea, clogs, swedish fish (the candy) and swedish pancakes— and i was enamored with their fantastic architecture and design as well as their much-cheaper-than-denmark prices. it is a retail heaven. before i left i had learned that although sweden and denmark share similar cultures, languages, and history, their respective approaches to immigration and integration have taken divergent paths, especially in recent years. in particular, i was intrigued by the 2007 MIPEX report that ranked sweden as the EU country with the best practices towards integration while denmark tied for 21st place (out of 28)…denmark clearly has some work to do on that front.



gőteborg, or gothenburg as it is known to us, was a lovely place to begin my journey. the city is located about half way up sweden’s west coast and it was a very nice five-hour bus ride from Copenhagen through mostly agricultural countryside. gőteborg has a reputation for being a gritty industrial city; although volvo certainly has a large presence in town, in general i found it to be very charming and sophisticated. their tram system (made famous by singer jens lekman’s song “tram #7 to heaven”) was enormously confusing and on multiple occasions resulted in me riding the entire length of the route, until it turned around and went the direction i intended to go in the first place. my hostel was in a cute section of town called olivegatan, located about two minutes away from a giant park. i spent quite a few hours wandering around the winding paths in that park!

an international flavor spicing the streets of gothenburg was immediately apparent as i walked around the downtown shopping district as well as the more residential areas of the city, through the faces of the people, the types of shops, the food being sold, and the languages i heard spoken. at the city museum i learned that gothenburg has been home to migrants from around europe for hundreds of years and thus, the coexistence of people from many different backgrounds is not a new concept for the city. this ethnic mix was refreshing coming from copenhagen, where the heterogeneity of the population is essentially limited to ethnic danes and those with middle eastern roots. one memorable sight was a somali woman wearing a niqab— exposing only her eyes— waiting for a tram alongside a bunch of teenage punks sporting lots of mohawks, chains, piercings and tattoos. no one, including the woman or the teens, seemed to notice this unusual combination but i found it to be an odd yet interesting contrast. while sitting in the main square called brunnsparken, the concept of tolerance kept coming to mind. i saw all types of people: punks, skaters, hipsters...openly gay couples, mixed-race couples...people with special needs and of all ages. in that sense it reminded me of say, san francisco. it brought to mind richard florida's theory that an economically successful city is one that is creative; creativity, he believes, hinges upon tolerance, talent and technology. there was certainly an air of tolerance as all these people shared the same public space and went about their business peacefully. according to florida, this accepting attitude could contribute to the city’s active creative sector and recent economic regeneration.



stockholm seemed a lot like copenhagen in terms of its neoclassical architecture, viking past, difficult language, blonde population, reputation for high-end design, wealthy economy and welfare state. the city is much bigger, however, and even more beautiful because of all the water surrounding it. stockholm felt to me like sweden's new york city: the cultural (and in this case, political) capital of the country, certainly the largest and most cosmopolitan city, and a magnet for all types of people. i spent nearly a whole day at the vast moderna museet (modern art museum) and another long day at an odd open-air museum called skansen. i usually love those historical reenactment-type museums, but this one was strange because it featured buildings from all over sweden and from many different time periods as well as random animals (lemurs, monkeys, and reindeer in close proximity). nonetheless, i thoroughly enjoyed stockholm’s museums, shopping opportunities, and sunny weather!

stockholm is the hipster capital of the world. while sitting in a square trying to soak up as much sun as possible one afternoon, i entertained myself by creating a set of criteria for becoming a stockholm hipster: 1. skinny jeans and/or black tights. 2. oversized black coat or fitted leather jacket. 3. must be able to ride a bike while smoking a cigarette and/or using a cell phone. 4. must not have any body fat nor own a hairbrush. 5. footwear limited to ked, oxfords and leather boots. 6. special preference given to those with adorable children. the truth of the matter is, i am not cool enough for stockholm. it is a really appealing city but after traveling by myself for a number of days and being constantly surrounded by gorgeous people speaking a foreign language, it began to wear on me…