Photo: Evka Benkova

 UPF’s 75th anniversary this year brought about some discussions within the web magazine’s editorial staff on Sweden’s foreign policy during the past 75 years, but also about the world’s actual views on Sweden. It is difficult to find representative impartial information about how Sweden is perceived in different countries, but in writing this article, we have taken advantage of living in a University town with people from all over the world. Every year, more than 2000 international students come to Lund to study here. There are many reasons why they come and they have many different ideas about life in Sweden. Being foreign students ourselves, we were wondering how students from different parts of the world perceive this part of Northern Europe. Therefore, we have asked some of them how they have viewed Sweden before and after they came here. We know that the opinions we collected reflect subjective experiences. Still, they provide an interesting view on Sweden through a ‘human’ kaleidoscope.

Although it is constantly becoming easier to travel, work and study abroad within the European Union, when you experience it yourself, you will still become aware of all the differences in culture, mentality and lifestyle that exist between the countries and regions of Europe. For me as a German, Sweden doesn’t seem to be very different when it comes to mentality, landscape or climate, but that doesn’t prevent Germans from having a particular opinion about Sweden. I would go so far as saying that Germans often idealize Sweden as a country with an exemplary social welfare system, successful ecological and gender equality policies, a country that is progressive and much more democratic, transparent and open-minded than Germany. For Germans, Sweden often stands for good music, be it ABBA or Mando Diao, for amazing children’s literature like Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking or detective novels like Mankell’s Wallander and for a popular holiday destination with the clichéd red wooden cottages. Either way, Sweden is perceived positively in many respects. I, myself, belong to those people who can hardly find something to criticize about this country. I would also agree with a Swedish friend of mine who once described Sweden as the world’s gay friend. After having lived here for some time now, I am experiencing this place as one full of people who are polite, friendly and willing to help. However, I sometimes miss spontaneity and I am still rather belonging to the international than the Swedish student community. Anyway, I discovered Sweden as being much more than the stereotypes Germans have about it.

Inês, from sunny Portugal, was placed in Sweden within her Erasmus exchange program and didn’t have expectations, except from having a great time here, to meet new people and to live in a new system. Inês told us, that for Portuguese people, Sweden is far away, and “another reality”. Things that are associated with Sweden in Portugal are: “1) blonde people; 2) cold country; 3) a different mentality”, she said. When we asked her what she thinks about Sweden after having lived here for ten months, she told us that she formed a positive opinion about Sweden and she said: “I think Sweden is a model country in several aspects, such as the school system - from pre-school to university - and it is amazing to live in a country where space and natural resources are not a problem. However, it feels like we are not in Europe, because Sweden is still a bit isolated from the European spirit and kind of life, which I can’t figure whether it’s a good or bad aspect. I suppose it has good and bad points.” Besides, she liked “the cleanliness, organization and that each person knows what one has to do and everything works almost perfectly”. What the Portuguese student didn’t like about the country was the weather, the high prices and that it is difficult to develop close friendships with Swedes.

These are views from rather old EU member states, but how is Sweden perceived by a person from a new EU member state? According to a Slovak student, whom we asked, she did not have expectations about Sweden before coming here, because countries from her region have vibrant economic and cultural connections with Germany and other countries in western rather than northern direction and Southern Europe is a holiday destination for them. Most of the people in Central Europe have, in her opinion, just a hazy image about the Nordic region, including Sweden; that it “belongs to the richer and more developed Western Europe and that it is well known for its social welfare state, high level of environment protection and blond people with blue eyes.” There are many things, which this Slovak student likes about Sweden, such as the high level of environment protection, in which common people are also engaged - for example by recycling or as a part of Lund’s deliberate focus on cycling and public transport as a transport strategy for the town. Another positive side, which she appreciates about Sweden, is the social model of society, where people do not show off their wealth and which is at the same time very democratic with an active public society and a special care for transparency. These views may be influenced by life not only in Slovakia. She says: “I would recommend all people from post-communist regions to come here and see the functioning of society here. Society and political life are in our countries strongly influenced by the negative heritage of communism, such as corruption and politicians sometimes behaving in a way which would not be possible in Western democracies, and politics is often perceived by the public as a dirty business or a way to get rich.” On the other hand, this Slovak student thinks that “people here in Sweden are less spontaneous and they sometimes stick too much to rules. Rules have to be flexible enough to serve people. As we say in Slovakia, it is the exception that confirms the rule.”

European countries can obviously be different enough, but a non-European view on Sweden discloses even more. A student from Pakistan expected a calm and peaceful lifestyle, because she was told about the natural environment and safety by some people who had studied here. Pakistani would associate Tetra Pack, IKEA and its progress in industry with this country. She says that “Sweden seems remote from the rest of Europe but I guess that is because most people don’t know about the Oresund Bridge.” Besides appreciating the ability to communicate here in English, she thinks that Sweden could be “a role model for the rest of the world” in initiatives like recycling, cycling and public transport which are part of the lifestyle. Furthermore, she appreciated safety and gender equality in all spheres of life, because for example in Pakistan “you would never see a girl riding a bike!” Besides that, she appreciated long, 16 month, maternity or paternity leave which is “unthinkable in countries like the USA or in Pakistan where I am from.” When she was asked about some negative sides of life in Sweden, this student touched upon an interesting topic, besides frequently mentioning “queues everywhere”: “I feel that at times individuals misuse the freedom of speech and equality; for instance, Lars Vilks drew highly controversial pictures of the Prophet Mohammad, who is a highly respected figure for 1.5 billion people in the world, and I don’t see the point of ‘freedom of speech’ when you forget to respect others and humiliate their beliefs’.”

International students on a trip to Sweden's countryside

Let’s switch continents again and see how views will change while speaking to someone from Latin America. A student from Colombia expected “a very organized and egalitarian country with a solid economy, stable political system and lower levels of discriminative practices in comparison to other European countries” beside a high level of education and research. He said, everybody in Colombia thinks that Sweden is like the “North Pole”, which isn’t surprising, as the average temperature in his hometown is 30°C. What Colombians also associate with Sweden are blonde-blue-eyed girls who are exotic for them and pop-culture like ABBA or Roxette, as well as football players like Thomas Brolin and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. After two terms of studying here, this Latin American student appreciates that Sweden has a long-term perspective on many issues, for example: learning English and an environmental friendly approach, where people are encouraged to recycle. From a normative point of view he appraises respect for laws and legal order. He says, “if we wanted to design a really viable socialist country, we would have to take Sweden as a model - with free education, free health-care, solid political structure, but a capitalist economy.” Another thing he likes about Sweden is that showing-off is an “anti-value” and that politicians are not seen as “Messiahs”. In the end he says, he would “recommend living or studying in Sweden because it is a safe, organized and fair country, but I would warn immigrants, who are interested in a long stay here that building social and emotional links will be their biggest challenge”, especially if you are used to a culture of small talk and outgoing people, he added.

People’s views on a specific country depend a lot on where they come from, as we could already see. Having a different cultural background and growing up in a country with a completely different political system influences someone’s perceptions. This became obvious when we talked to Boyang Li from China who emphasized “peace” and a “peaceful life” as something he expected to find in Sweden first and foremost. And he said, he did find it here and appreciated it. Beside peace, the Chinese would associate sport stars like Jan Ove Waldner and corporations like Volvo with Sweden, he said - while adding in the same sentence that the latter is a Chinese company now. With a Chinese working culture background, Boyang Li said, he didn’t like the “low efficiency” here and missed the metropolitan lifestyle of Shanghai.

In this article, we have portrayed the international community’s perception of Sweden by speaking to international students from many different places in the world. Despite their very different backgrounds, we could still find some common views: Sweden and its people are aware and care about their natural environment, they are well organized and their modesty is appreciated by the foreigners we questioned for this piece of writing. Of course, there will always be things to improve in a country, yes, even in Sweden, but as we have shown, Sweden can be quite proud of its achievements and its worldwide reputation.

But then again, pride wouldn’t suit the Swedish, right. ;-)

EVKA BENKOVA & JESSICA MARKUS

The authors would appreciate it if the comments to this article were made in English.