Blog Assignment #6: Good Bye Sweden

I want to use my blog today to summarize shortly my experiences I made during the last eight month here as an exchange-student because I am leaving Sweden next week back to Germany and thus back to my normal life. The last month provided me with so many experiences that it is hard to remember them all but some of them have formed my character more than others. I never thought that cultures, especially those that are so close together like the German, Swedish, French or Austrian cultures can be so different and that the stereotypes that we all have in our minds can sometimes cause little problems. I don’t want to talk about cultural clashes here but at the beginning I had to realize that we all differ in so many ways from each other and now in the end I also see that we all are sometimes so similar.

When I came to Sweden I never expected that I would make so many new friends all over the world. I never thought that it would be so much fun to live together with so many people from so many different countries. One of the most amazing things was to see how easy we can overcome cultural borders by leaving traditional habits behind us. I could see that everyone improved his English drastically and that this language can serve as bridge between us. And even if we did not always know the right words, in the end we always came together.

As organizer of two Helsinki trips it was a pleasure to meet so many exchange students. To organize these trips was a lot of fun and I had to learn that time is not always time. The most interesting thing was to recognize that time is relative and differs from culture to culture. If you ask a German or a Swede what time is the person mostly will answer that time has to do with punctuality. But if you ask the same question a French, Italian or Spanish person the answer will be completely different. We all have a different understanding of time and other values as well. And that is something we all have to be aware of.

I also had the chance to make friendships with Swedish students and that is what I wanted from the beginning. Even if it is so much easier for us to make friends and contacts among the exchange-students it is even more interesting to make contacts with the people living in the country that hosted me for eight month. These people thought me a lot of lessons. The most important lesson was that I now know that Swedish people do not drink more that other people from Europe and that the Swedish girls are not that easy as everyone always thinks they are. But I also got an introduction into their culture by learning their language and becoming invited to traditional festivities especially before Christmas. In the end I can say that I found a lot of answers to my questions I had when coming to Sweden and that all my expectations were positively fulfilled. When I go back to Germany in a few days I will bring back a huge store of stories and memories that will accompany me my whole life. I really hope that many more people from all over the world will come to Sweden and especially to Karlstad in the next years to experience an exceptional life as an exchange-student there. And in the end one theory proves as true: most of us experienced the so called “Erasmus-Syndrome” during their stay. Periods of parties, fun and leisure time are followed by periods that are characterized by the practical, ordinary and mundane way of life. Thank you Sweden for eight wonderful months!

Blog Assignment #5: Video Game Addiction

I was confronted with the problem of “Video Game Addiction” five years ago, at 26. April 2002, when German schoolboy Robert Steinhäuser killed thirteen teachers, one police officer, two schoolboys and in the end himself. This amok run led to a fierce discussion about youth and violence, in particular regarding to the addiction to so called ego-shooter games like Counter Strike, Castle Wolfenstein, Hitman and other games. Several subsequent surveys attested these games a direct effect on behavioral characteristics of teenagers and adolescence. Today we also can see that other games like World of Warcraft and other strategy games also attract an enormous following with more than millions of users online every hour. I never thought about that problem because I am not interested in playing computer games. I think, agreeing with Andreas, that these games are a waste of time and that it is pitiable and pathetic that young people spend more than five, sometimes even ten hours a day in an virtual not real world.

This could happen, because computer hardware as well as software capacity increased to an enormous extend. Today’s games are more realistic than a few years ago. The graphic of some of these games are supported and generated by 3D-accelerator graphical cards. The graphic is almost identical to the real world and than it is so easy to kill someone without hurting someone.

I think computer games should not be forbidden. Moreover advanced regulations and obligations have to be enacted to protect young people from their baneful influence!

Assignment #4: Systembolaget - Predition or Blessing?

First of all I want to make something very clear: While reading through the second assignments I also got the impression that many people think of Sweden as an alcoholic country and all inhabitants seem to be always deadly drunk. Looking to the empirical side of life we have to accept the fact that Sweden is one of the countries with the lowest rate of alcohol consumption in Europe. The highest level of alcohol consumption takes place in Germany, England, Scotland, France, Italy and Austria. This only as a remark!

But what is it with the drinking habits of the Swedes so many people are irritated about? I think they drink less alcohol than other people from Europe over the year but when it comes to a party Swedes, men and women, tend to consume more alcohol then and consequently seem to be deadly drunk. This can be an explanation why Swedes change their behaviour at the weekend. I think everyone of us has experienced the effect of being drunk! You feel invincible and great.

But is the “alcohol system” working out in Sweden? I think no! First of all I had to discover that Swedes are allowed to buy alcohol when they are 21. Before that age-limit they are not allowed to get into contact with alcohol. In Germany we are allowed to buy beer at the age of 16 and hard booze when we turn 18. That means that Swedes have no chance to make their first experiences with alcohol when they are younger. They also have no chance “to get used to alcohol”. When getting 21 many people freak out because they experience the drug alcohol in an almost unknown way.

Furthermore I want to state that alcohol is seen as an almost “dangerous and forbidden drug” that has to be locked up to the commonality in a special building/ institution called SYSTEMBOLAGET. But I know from my own experience that something that is forbidden is even more attractive to experience when you have to get the chance to try it. In my home country alcohol is seen as a staple food and not as a luxury good. I will not say that teenagers and young adults have no alcohol problem in Germany. That is not the point. But I can argue from my own experience that it is easier for us to deal with alcohol and to experience its natural limits than it is for Swedish people.

I think parents should play a more active role in familiarizing their children with alcohol earlier when they turn 16 or 18. I really like to consume alcohol but I do not change my character only because I am drunk. I know my natural limits and don’t have to be completely wasted only to have fun.

Assignment #3: To Live Is to Write?

The ability to express oneself, one’s feelings, emotions, thoughts and needs, is one of the biggest gifts we have and we, living in free societies where people can express plenary, always wanted to do that direct through talking to each other or indirect in written form. I would say that communication is one of the groundbreaking needs of every human being. But writing in this view is and can do more. Thinking about the phenomenon “writing” I got the impression that writing has different dimensions today. Going back in history and time I think the basic functions of writing were and still are communication, spreading knowledge, retaining knowledge and information for posterity or preserving thoughts for oneself, while the basic function of writing still is communication. We link writing with the possibility of spreading information to a large group of people without adulterating them. Think about newspapers or the bible that send information and messages to millions of people everyday.

I really like to write. I have my own website where I host my own diary and all people that have access to that page can read my thoughts. I asked myself why I am doing this. And while thinking about that question I recognized that sometimes it is much easier to express one’s feeling, thoughts, emotions or needs by writing them down instead of voicing them. And if you haven’t understood the message you can read it over and over again.

When people started to write things down (in hieroglyphs, characters or symbols), they first wanted to communicate easy messages. But soon man realized that writing can do more. Writing can change the world, can evoke conflicts and wars, can entertain, can influence the life and people dramatically and can broaden ones horizon drastically when one has access to further literature. Along with the ability to write it must be said that we also need the ability to read and understand what is written. So writing also means to express (sometimes) complex information in a systematized way people can decode.

I think the ability to write is the cornerstone of every society within the world and a cornerstone of the human being. We can write down laws and regulations, can spread and conserve knowledge over generations and compare information from different parts of the world. To summarize the phenomenon “writing” I would like to present keywords I link with the verb to write: communication, entertainment, knowledge, information, culture, history, literature, art, music, language, personal development.

Assignment #2: Swedishness

Sometimes I wonder why things in Sweden seem to be so much easier and better planned than in Germany. Sometimes, when I am standing in a long queue with a ticket in my hand, I had to pull, because otherwise I would not get served at the service encounter, I wonder why people are so quiet and disciplined. Sometimes, when I have to go to an office, because I have to apply for a new student’s identity card, I am on the road again five minutes later. I never wait for a train, bus or plane. I always get help when I need it. But sometimes when I go through the university and I meet Swedish people I know, I wonder why they are so quiet and don’t talk with me like I do it to them, but then if it comes to say goodbye the start to hug me. I say “du” to the teacher and call him by his first name. That is unknown for me.

The first weeks in Sweden were quite new for me and I did not expect that I will be confronted with a culture that differs in so many ways from our German culture, although we live only a few kilometers away from each other. I had to learn how the Swedes react, talk and how the think in special situations. Why to keep an arm length distance when it comes to talk to an unknown person and why are you not “allowed” to spend a nice girl a drink at a club? Questions I had to answer within the first weeks here in Sweden.

In my eyes, Sweden has one of the highest qualities of life worldwide. Education, health services, life expectancy and income distribution belong to the highest levels worldwide. Swedish people love their nature and after work many Swedes do sports or other activities in the countryside. They want to keep fit. I experienced Swedes in different ways. Some were shy and quiet others however were louder and talkative. Referring to Bengt Anderson’s book Swedishness it can be said that “Swedes do not always have the same urge to communicate” (30). I made a lot of more experiences that I summarized in some “general rules” that can help one to survive in Sweden:

(1) Keep an arm length distance: Although Sweden has one of the lowest power distances in the world (e.g. hierarchies are normally flat and you’re always on first-name terms with people – except the king) Swedes don’t like it if you come too close if they don’t know you more in detail.

(2) Be honest: Swedes are always honest and allegiant. Relationships are built on trust and to build up relationships (in business and private life) it is much easier if you are faithfully and open minded. When you talk you should be direct - but not too direct; see point (4) – and not beating around the bush!

(3) Be punctual: Germany’s virtue no. 1 is also in Sweden very important. People do not like to wait. Especially if you have business meetings or a date with a girl it is important that you are always on time. Even five minutes can lead to discord.

(4) Avoid conflicts: Be direct when you speak but be careful when you have to tell someone bad news. Swedes tend to avoid conflict by communicating conflicts and bad news indirect in a way we (Germans) would hardly understand them. If your teacher lauds you having done a good job, but asks you if you could maybe overwork a paragraph means that the job isn’t done too well at all!

(5) Show team spirit: Swedes love it to work in teams and most of the organizations are organized in independent teams and groups. But one should also try to be independent in one’s personal life. Swedish parents educate their children independence.

(6) Don’t spend a girl a drink in a club: This may sound funny but it was really a problem at the beginning for me. Girls are equal to boys in everything the do! They have the same rights and sometimes they behave like boys. So they can pay for their drinks themselves. Once a girl told me, that if I would spend a drink it would mean that she has to spend the whole evening with me! Crazy, isn’t it?

After all this rules it must be said that cultures can not finally be described by some rules. Experiences are based on individual perceptions, observations and interpretations. Stereotypes are created easily and remain steady for a long time. We have pictures about the Swedes and other cultures in our heads. It is important that we break through those patterns of thinking by being neutral every time we meet people from other countries. This is called Cultural Relativism and means “suspending judgment when dealing with groups or societies different from one’s own” (Hofstede, 6).

Works cited

Hofstede, Geert. Cultures and Organizations – Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2005.

Anderson, Bendt. Swedishness. Göteborg: Sanderberg Trygg, 2000.

Assigment #1: University studies

The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) reports in their 2007 EFA (Education for All) Global Monitoring Report that the numbers of students worldwide increased from 1999 to 2004 by 43% up to 131 million students worldwide. To 75%, this increase is based on developing countries, headed by China. Confronted with increasing school enrolments all over the world, we have to face the fact that there must exist universal valid but in some way furtive reasons for young adolescents to start a life at universities. Allison Stein Wellner, a former editor at American Demographics, hits the mark when stating that “children across the country are sharpening their pencils, loading up their backpacks, and sliding their legs under their pint-sized desks”. Why? Is it just a trend? Why am I studying at a university instead of entering directly into working life after school?

The online version of the German newspaper “Die Zeit” asks at present German students on its website to post their reasons to the topic “Why are You Studying?” (translated from German) to fathom 100 reasons why to study. The answers are manifold and sometimes curious, but the majority of the answers quoted are facing three topic-groups: ‘Success, Status & Money’, ‘Life Quality’ and ‘Self-Actualization & Personal Growth’. The most quoted reasons to become a student were (1) the chance of a more successful and faster occupational career, (2) the hopes of a higher income and consequently a higher living standard, (3) the access and opportunities to wider and more eclectic fields of occupations and last but not least (4) the possibility of opening one’s mind (professional and personal).

The results of this poll (held in Germany) are – needless to say – not automatically transferable to other countries and culture groups. In almost all countries, success is built on hard work (in nowadays mainly mental work), a good and profound education and the individual will for a lifelong learning. The disused myth of the rags-to-riches story, originated from the US, serves in these days only as motivator for less educated people or as a symbol. But hard work without education is no guaranteeing for personal success, due to the fact that there are worldwide only a few so called “self-made man/ millionaires”.

Most of my personal reasons to become a student can be found in the listing above. But over and above I choose the student status to get the opportunity to mature individually on a way only the few years as student can give me. We will never have the time in our live to go for six month or longer to foreign countries and experience the feeling and the sensation of being independent and free in all things we do. It is this freedom to live with only a limited amount of obligations and the possibility to go new and unfamiliar ways. In the end it is all about gaining wide experience or as one of my friends once said: “I’m a student, simply because I want to know MORE”.

Works cited:

Wellner, Allison S. Generation - School enrollment statistics - Statistical Data Included.
http://www.findarticles.com. (14 February 2007).

UNESCO. The 2007 EFA Global Monitoring Report: Strong Foundations – Early childhood, care and education. Paris: UNESO, 2006.

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