Fish. The best word to describe the diet of the people in Gothenburg. Hundreds of fish are brought in everyday to the port city. The best are sold at the Feskekôrka, the Fish Church.

Herring is a favorite and eaten in every way possible. Pickled herring, or inlagd sill, is a traditional snack or appetizer. Even fermented herring is sold here but is not too popular anymore. It's understandable. A professor at the IHM school, who was teaching us about Swedish culture, brought some in and had to open the can outside. The stench, even in the open air, suffocated us. Only one brave classmate braved the smell to try it but promptly spit it out.

Lars opening the fermented herring

 Salmon

The alcoholic beverage of choice for many seems to be beer. Most grocery stores are stocked with enough ale to intoxicate an army of vikings. There are at least five pubs on the Avenyn, the main street, and many of them are British or Irish. Vodka (especially the famous Swedish brand Absolut) is popular as well, drunken extensively during the Mid Summer celebration, one of the most popular holidays in Sweden. These drinks fuel the traditional dances and belted songs during those festivities.

My favorite snack here was found by accident. I was browsing the yogurt section of the grocery store when the word 'hallon' (raspberries) and the picture of my favorite red fruit caught my eye. Since it was surrounded by rows of yogurt tins, I decided to buy it thinking it was some type of Greek yogurt. I've never been so wrong in all my life, to quote Thorin from the Hobbit. 

Nope. It was rice pudding. I realized this after a few confusing chunky spoonfuls. It was the best mistake I've made, because it's become one of my favorite foods here.

Another interesting food item they have in Sweden are fruit soups. The ICA Maxi, a sort of Walmart, sells a peach, blueberry and strawberry soup packaged in a cardboard container. It is cheap, and a great light dinner. When I bought it, I was ecstatic. Who doesn't love a tastier, sweeter version of the usual vegetable soup? I couldn't have been more disappointed. After a few hot sips, I found it to be too sweet. 

Blueberry soup

The Swedes love their sweets. I'm talking love like most stores have entire walls dedicated to 50+ selections of gummies, chocolates and more. It's like a buffet for kids, except it's not just the young who's eyes light up when they scoop blue raspberry gummy bottles and chocolate covered popcorn out of the bins. I went a little crazy myself the first time I saw the wall, I have to admit, and ate myself into a candy coma later that day. I've often wondered if the Swedes would rival the Americans in obesity if they didn't have such an active lifestyle, considering the sugar they consume.

One of many candy walls

And now we get to my favorite part: Pepparkakor!

Pepperkakor is a Swedish ginger snap type cookie that is extremely delicious. Coming from Swedish background, my mother would usually make a few dozen around Christmastime. I'd never really preferred them, opting to devour the much sweeter sugar cookies or holly clusters. But coming here has made me adore them. The kinds sold in stores here are quite thin and easily breakable. Having a few of them are a slightly healthier treat than the popular semla, a sort of cream puff that is displayed temptingly in every bakery window.


Semla (picture from sweden.se)

Though I haven't been so lucky as to try one of these, I understand that they are less sweet than they look. The pastry is sold during the time of Lent in Sweden, but after Easter they essentially disappear.

A pastry that you just can't escape is kanelbullar (though I haven't tried this one either). These spiraled delicacies have the appearance of a cinnamon roll, but what actually makes the flavor is cardamom. They range from the size of your fist to the size of your head and are sprinkled with pearl sugar.


(photo courtesy of ikea.com)

Observations of Sweden and It's People

Over the past week, with our class and among each other, we've talked about the Swedish people and how they are different or what their prominent qualities are. This is what I've observed so far. At the end of my studies here, I'm going to write another entry about what the Swedes are like and see what more I have to add.

1. Swedish people are very reserved

      Swedish people are rarely loud and obnoxious. According to one Swedish professor, Lars (all professors from elementary through college are called by their first name), they prefer to be calm and quiet and "blend in". There is a phrase he told us about called "jante law" which is used throughout Sweden.

     The "jante law" is an unofficial group of rules that describe the conduct of how a good Swede is supposed to act. Obviously not everyone follows it, but the majority follow the idea. The main idea of the law is that:

     "You are not to think you are anyone special or that you are better than anyone else."

      Add humble to the list of the descriptions of the Swedish people.

     We as a class of Americans were, of course, shocked. As a majority, I think we're taught to be individual and show off our talents. Modesty is a respected route but one that is not always taken. 

2. They are well put together

An example of Swedish fashion. Jeans, dark jackets and boots are common

Swedish people (especially Swedish men) dress very well compared to Americans. You wouldn't find a Swedish person going to class in sweatpants and a sweatshirt adorned with crumbs from that morning's breakfast on the front of it. People don't walk around in PJ pants. And most importantly, you will not find a teenage boy wearing basketball shorts and a t-shirt in the dead of winter. If you've ever visited an American college campus, you will understand the accuracy of the above.

    The Swedes rarely wear bright colors and most jackets are black or dark blue. Skinny jeans and boots are popular. Few wear anything that makes them stand out, though I have seen a few wearing Ugg boots.

   I might just add that everyone is beautiful here. It makes sense. This country produced Alexander Skarsgård.

3. Swedish Netflix is Awesome

Yes I'm serious. 

I was unaware that the Netflix selection differs from country to country. Until I logged on and was a greeted with an abundance of new movies and updated seasons of TV shows. American movies and TV shows. I'm not going to be spending my time inside everyday watching movies and TV shows, because when you have the option of doing that or exploring this lovely new city, I'd choose Gothenburg any day. It is nice though to snuggle up in your bed after a freezing school day and warm yourself up by waiting in suspense to see what happens next on the Vampire Diaries. 

4. Sweden is expensive

This I expected. All of us did. With a country that has a 50%-60% income tax rate, it only made sense. It still doesn't make paying $5 dollars for a small tub of yogurt any easier ( Instead, I stuck with oat cereal as my breakfast choice).

Oat Cereal: my breakfast of choice

5. The people are active

  There is always someone running past you or in the park. Gyms are almost as common as they are in America, but people prefer to run outside. Even on the frigid days when I'm bundled up in my coat, scarf and hard, there's always someone running on the street.

   Biking is very popular as well. The city even has designated biking paths next to the sidewalks.

Runner (apologies to the random guy I took a creeper photo of running)

6. The Swedes get 13 months maternity leave

That isn't a typo. 13 months with 80% of their salary. All of those taxes are paying off.

Our Swedish professors were explaining that nowadays, usually the couple will split the leave, where the wife takes off 6 or 7 months and the husband takes the rest. 

They also mentioned that many families will plan on having their children at specific times so they can stay home for as long as possible. That is why there are many children who are two years apart.

  

I am being honest when I say I've never seen city quite like Gothenburg. My professor told me it's a city much like Providence, RI, but I've found this to not be true (thank goodness). Gothenburg is much larger and , despite being a city, has a calmer atmosphere than Providence. It's a mix of the modern and the old, like many European cities. It's not a tourist city, like London or Paris or Stockholm. The main attraction of Gothenburg, after asking many locals what we MUST see while we're here, are the islands off of the coast. 

But I like that aspect of the city. Because there aren't all these attractions that loud tourists glued to their cameras flood to, the life in the city is very real and very Swedish. 

 The population is a little over 500,000 people and it is the second largest city in Sweden (after Stockholm of course). It was once a fortress city and was taken a few times by the Danish a long time ago. For the longest time, fishing was the biggest industry here. After all, this is the city where some have pickled herring or caviar from a tube on their crisp bread for breakfast. Seafood is adored here as much as Ikea and Astrid Lindgrens (author of Pippi Longstocking). According to a Swedish professor, if you insult Astrid Lindgrens to a Swede, it's like insulting their own mother.

Though I'll create another post completely devoted to the cuisine of Sweden, I want to include a place we visited that is very important to the Swedish. It is the Feskekôrka, or "Fish Church", where hordes of hundreds of varieties of the freshest seafood can be purchased.

The Feskekôrka

During the industrial revolution, the city became a place of factories and industries. Some of the businesses that came out of this is the famous Volvo company and SKF, a ball bearing factory.

The modern part of the city is where the IHM Business School and many businesses are located. The area includes soccer stadiums, movie theaters, exhibition centers and more. 

 The Haga district belongs to the old part of Gothenburg and the architecture is quintessentially 19th century European. The area is flooded with cafes. Cafes are adored in Gothenburg. Due to the high student population and "fika" (a Swedish term for a short coffee or smoking break taken twice a day, usually at mid morning and mid afternoon), cafes can be found everywhere and everyone has their own personal favorite. My roommate and I stumbled upon the Cafe Vasanova and because of our distaste for coffee, ordered some desserts.

 Gothenburg is a horrible city to be a coffee hater. With cafes and fikas and mornings spent dead to the world and complimentary coffee at many restaurants, I am missing out. My version of a digestible coffee couldn't really be classified as "coffee" but more like sugary milk with a coffee flavoring. Not worth it.

Having been here less than a week, I still have much of the city to explore, so expect to see a lot more of my findings!

Flying over Denmark

The hotel we're staying at is adorable and very much like an apartment. It's simple but perfect and has everything we need. It includes a small kitchen with a stove, sink, fridge, microwave and coffee maker (though I'm not a coffee fanatic) and now a tiny blender! We also have a little TV with six English channels. Most of them are British news stations and the rest show TV shows from the '80s. I'm not complaining though. I'm not going to be spending much time watching TV. 

Because my Swedish heritage, as soon as I arrived in Gothenburg, I felt like yelling "MY PEOPLE!" and running to hug them. But I resisted. I'm excited to actually talk to Swedish people. So far, I haven't spoken to many, having been here less than two days.

A gloomy morning arrival in Gothenburg

I'd been told before we left that the majority of the people speak English. I've found this to be true, but it's still awkward asking them things in English. I feel bad, almost guilty for not speaking Swedish. But I'd have to memorize a few more phrases to be able to ask them things. And I would have to improve on my pronunciations. Let's just say I sound like a dying goat when I try to pronounce Swedish. The ancestors would not be proud. 

Today, we had an orientation at the IHM business school. It's one of the two major universities in Gothenburg, along with the University of Gothenburg. The school is very modern, surpassing the tiny desks and broken AC systems at Johnson and Wales. 

Our group coming from Johnson and Wales is about 25 girls, and we all are taking the four classes for our ten weeks here, the same amount we would at JWU. They include Advanced Composition, Leadership, History of the European Union and Honors Economics. None of them have much to do with my Hospitality and Tourism major, but they count as Gen Ed credits I would need to take anyways. Classes start on Monday.

After our orientation, I stupidly took a 2 hour long nap, further delaying my time zone adjustment. My roommate Mikaela and I explored the nightlife a little, trying to find a good place to eat but ended up settling for a Swedish fast food place. Most restaurants had closed by that time and only kept their bars open, so we settled for hamburgers and kebabs. A great first meal in Sweden. I'll be more adventurous tomorrow, I promise.

Delicious, unhealthy kebab

Tomorrow our group is touring around Gothenburg more. I've yet to see the main part of the city in the daylight so more posts and pictures to come! :)

Jenny