American girl and Swedish guy React to Swedish stereotypes!

Swedish language feels somewhat similar to English but has its attributes.
It makes us to wanna dig more !
What should we try next? and what combination is your fave?
Leave your thoughts in comment !
🇺🇸 Sky
/ sky_tyson
🇸🇪 Oskar
/ oskar.zillen

[@ilarimakiranta]

Swedes and people from Nordic countries GENERALLY don’t like small talk. It’s more of a thing for older people. Americans are by far more social and open. Greetings from a Finn who has been to Sweden countless of times! 🇫🇮🇸🇪

[@skumdum3764]

I like Finland, it's been a while since I was there, but I remember that you have Swedish signs :) do you learn Swedish at school?

[@ilarimakiranta]

@@skumdum3764 Finland is a bilingual country. There are cities where people speak more Swedish than Finnish. Kids have to learn Swedish in school. Så jag kan tala svenska!

[@skumdum3764]

@@ilarimakiranta Vad kul! Jag kan inte mycket finska... Moy moy!

[@ilarimakiranta]

@@skumdum3764 Moi, moi! 😂 Oroa dig inte

[@ivetterodriguez1994]

If you think Americans are bad you should visit Latin America.

[@thespankmyfrank]

I'm assuming Sky has met Swedes while travelling which would explain them being party animals and outgoing. Most people who travel want to meet people and are therefore more talkative. If you meet Swedes in Sweden, they do party and talk when in that mood, but you wouldn't befriend a stranger on the street, or even your neighbour tbh. I know many people who've lived in an apartment for years and have never met their neighbours lmao. I'm guessing that's not common in many other places but idk.

[@therealdeal1338]

As another swede I think we swedes are quite reserved in general life but when we party we party really hard, and often gets really drunk, maybe to balance up our otherwise boring life🤷

[@LadyAranel90]

I would agree. From my experience I barely know my neighbors. Occasionally there are moments we say hi or small talk a tiny bit. But yeah generally Swedes don't say hi to strangers on the street. We love our personal space, we never sit next to anyone on the bus unless there is no other seat. Swedes can seem very reserved, but once befriending a Swede you are good friends. This is also based on the conversations I've had with people I'm met who came from other countries when I studied at university. The general impression has been that Swedes are friendly but a tiny bit reserved. Although I think younger generations tend to be a lot more outgoing compared to the older ones :)

[@LJBSullivan]

It's common here in US too.

[@tobesfb]

@@therealdeal1338 Or then people get really drunk specifically because of social anxiety. In our culture it's expected that you should be happy and social at a party, and if you can't make that happen on your own, lots of alcohol usually does the trick. With that said, I'd say that Swedish people are generally a lot more outgoing than for instance Finns. So it really depends on what you are comparing.

[@Imevul]

That was my first thought as well. If she met Swedes outside of Sweden, then she met people who were more outgoing, adventurous, and talkative. I think the average Swede don't mind interacting with people in a limited capacity, but you need to really get to know them (or get some alcohol involved) for most to open up. As for the apartment thing. I've lived in my current apartment for close to 9 years, and just recently had a ~15 minute conversation with one of the neighbours. Still don't know their name. There's one older lady that I say hi to when I see her, but other than that I have no idea who my neighbours are, and I intend to keep it that way. Also, the proper procedure for communicating with your neighbours is through angry post-it notes. Why mess with something that works?

[@dickidsrip5262]

Swedes have some similarities to east asians. We rarely talk to strangers, we hate confrontation, we enjoy order and cleanliness and we take off our shoes as soon as we get inside the door. When it comes to fashion we generally dress in clothes that fit us well. The muted colors is true. Alot of people will be wearing all black in fall and winter. Most swedes shy away from colors except during summertime. I´d say that wearing monochrome is a very Swedish trait.

[@arvidjj8965]

Most of that isn't true more north of sweden. Atleast not where i live and have been.

[@arvidjj8965]

I think that's more true in south sweden

[@JohanHultin]

@@arvidjj8965 I agree 100%, while at the same time in the north people are friendlier and more open, I can see people who aren't swedish not seeing that, northerners tend to be more direct, use fewer words and not talk for talking sake, which would be true for more people in the south, maybe it's more about the larger cities mostly congrecating in southern Sweden? I recently moved to a small rural community between several medium/larger cities south of Gothenburg, and in this village it's like 1.5k people and it's alot more of a thing saying Hi, asking how people are etc. Which I struggled with at first but can't get enough of now, makes me feel so welcome and part of the community

[@theofficiallamaa]

@@arvidjj8965 Idk tho. Im from Stockholm and i see a lot of teenage girls dressing like that but its kinda it.

[@livedandletdie]

@@arvidjj8965 In the North of Sweden AKA Bothnia and Finnmark, people are generally more open, but they also have a different culture compared to the Swedes. And in the South, around Scania, people are also a lot more open, but there's more of a mix, after all, cultures mix, and while the South used to be really open, after all, in the south we view Generosity and Kindness to Strangers as virtues, due to a lot of Swedes moving down here, there has been a steady mixing of culture, and I remember when I was a kid, we had huge gatherings, inviting the neighbors in for BBQs, Crayfish Parties, and if there's alcohol involved, even more so. The best part in my opinion is that saying, Klart Grabben Skall Ha En Öl. Which for the non-Swedish speakers means, Sure thing the lad shall have a beer. And yes it's any age, underage drinking is common, especially in the South, we don't view alcohol the same way as the Swedes do, after all, my Grandpa distilled his own spirits and served at family gatherings, everyone drank, no matter the age.

[@Naxxiw]

To explain us Swedes with our personal space: When the "Keep 2 meter distance"-thing during covid was removed, we were like "Ah finally! Now we can go back to our regular 3 meter distance!".

[@joelnilsson7129]

Haha, I was kinda looking for something about the "don't sit next to strangers on the bus" but this was even better.

[@vixikie5228]

People from other countries think we are cold when we don't want to make small talk or when we keep distance but for us it is more our ways to show respect to others by leaving them alone and not be annoying. Yes, we are reserved and more introverted but most of us are kind and polite most of the time. Tho some people (like me) are very socially awkward and don't want to talk to people.

[@alexisfasth1553]

thats so true tho, like when i meet someone on a sidewalk i go to one side and the other goes to the other side to keep distance and thats to show respect. And thats why i hate ppl that dont hv respect for others. And in my experience its mostly teenagers

[@livedandletdie]

@@alexisfasth1553 Nah, it's mostly women in Sweden that doesn't have any respect for others.

[@leandrogabrielsalviagarram9224]

I believe intelligence often comes with being less sociable i've proven this in school with myself and other classmates who also had good grades, we were all much less socaible than the average, and i think it might also have something to do with scandividan countries' success and latin american failure🤔. Greetings from Argentina🇦🇷, we are known worldwide for our crazy habits and particular culture, i think it all comes at a price🤷‍♂️. Anyways i think it'd be nice that swedes were more sociable since they could share their secrets with us haha.

[@SilverionX]

@@leandrogabrielsalviagarram9224 Disclaimer: these are my personal thoughts and my experiences. People are still different here and everywhere. Also sorry for the wall of text, I just felt it was important to adress your comment properly. I don't think being less or more sociable has anything to do with it. We ARE sociable, just not with random strangers on the street. I'm Swedish and a lot of this stereotype comes from us having a lot of respect for peoples privacy, probably too much at times. The other part is fairly closed social circles. We want to go to work, do a good job then leave and spend time with the people we actually want to be social with. This is a cultural thing so you grow into it, our kids and teenagers are probably just as chatty at school as yours are, for the most part. Intelligence is humanity's greatest evolutionary advantage and that's not going to vary much depending on region and ethnicity, especially considering how new we are as a species. There are also many different kinds of intelligence, with the number being a topic of contention among scientists, 4, 8,9, 12 or more different kinds have been presented. If we were to average all of the different intelligences into one number it would probably even out. I would say if you focus more on school and less on social interactions, you're probably going to get better grades, that seems pretty logical to me. Also, we may have had success compared to some other parts of the world but capitalism is doing it's best to dismantle our welfare systems just like it's picking at every other country/region. We certainly have our share of problems here too. I'm afraid I don't know very much about the situation in Argentina or the rest of South America so it's hard for me to compare, but I think our history and outside pressures have been very different. The reason I'm writing this is that I feel it's important to reply to these kinds of misconceptions about Scandinavia and comparing it to other parts of the world. We're not that special. I believe Argentina or any other country could be just as good if not better. We just had the right circumstances at the right time to make a change. Which, I might add, started in the 1800-s with the industrial revolution, so it took some time.

[@deanmcmanis9398]

I've noticed when traveling in Europe that most people will not start a conversation with a stranger in the big cities, in fact in a train most people avoid eye contact. But in rural areas, or in social places like parks, food or beer halls, they are openly talkative. Rural areas sometimes are more welcoming to strangers, especially if there is a large tourist industry in the region. College towns have more diversity and younger people who can be comfortable with small talk.

[@justmike1753]

In big cities, a random person approaching you for a chat on the street or subway is usually someone trying to sell you something or begging for money. So people have learned to avoid others by default.

[@deanmcmanis9398]

@@justmike1753 Of course that depends on the city, region, and the people in question.

[@BlanchestarlightUwU]

In rural areas it's usual that people know each other. In parks, it's mostly because of kids and pets playing together. 😅

[@jey.1024]

Americans have a big "we love small talk" stereotype and although compared to the rest of the world it seems like we do, it's actually more like how you described. Southern/mid-west USA (think Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, etc) love being super welcoming and homey and have a mentality that everyone can be family. In more urban places (especially New York City), people mind their own business and just stick to themselves. New Yorkers have a stereotype that they're rude or ignore people because they're hustling and just wanna get to wherever they're going, but honestly they're just more reserved and less social with strangers, that's all. Amongst people they know, I think Americans do like small talk no matter what region they're from. Moral of the story: The U.S. is really big so generalizing one stereotype for the whole country usually doesn't work out 😅

[@henri_ol]

I had already liked Oscar from Sweden a lot in his first appearances, very good to see him again 🇸🇪

[@Mr_Seppo]

I was more like, why do they use this guy to talk about sweden or sweeds, he know nothing about it, in his mind all people are like he and his friends are and when he said there isnt native swedes, where did he get that from, ofc there is, maybe he forgot the sami people, i dont know or he doesnt know anything about them, as i said he isnt the right one to use in this.

[@baverfjant]

@@Mr_Seppo He also only mentioned fishing in the Stockholm archipelago on the question if Swedes hunt or fish, and only in the summer (ice fishing???). We do hunt and fish, it's pretty damn big in the rural areas of Norrland, Skåne etc.. Not in Stockholm of course although some Stockholmers do hunt outside Stockholm as "guest hunters". I get that he might not have the personal experience but I feel like any Swede should know that hunting is a thing here.

[@likori777]

I'm a Swede that have an Amercian friend that visited me in Sweden. He was extremely shocked about small talk and language in general. His own words were "You guys are so quiet, I legit got a migraine when I came home, from people being so laud!", I think that says alot about small talk and also other parts of Swedish stereotypes.

[@Verbalaesthet]

I love Swedes. They are awesome. I can relate to them on a deep level as a German. It feels like family.

[@skumdum3764]

Tack! (thanks in Swedish) I am from Sweden and have been to Germany, I remember Lidl and the country is very similar to Sweden :)

[@adri2000]

@@skumdum3764 I was in Sweden last summer and immediately felt at home :) The people I met there were all very friendly and helpful, and yes, most seemed to dress better than here (on average of course lol), but they didn't seem more reserved than here in Northern Germany where I live. I will definitely come back to visit your beautiful country :)

[@LJBSullivan]

I feel like that too. From Minnesota in US. Tall, blonde and blue eyes. Norwegian, Swedish, German,, French decent

[@Verbalaesthet]

@@TabeaSerenety Well, probably the other way around.

[@The.4nimaL]

Är på grund av politiken och alla invandrare båda länder tar emot

[@gdzephyriac2766]

I brought this example up (I’m Swedish) when I was in Spain a couple months ago, that kinda shocked them. I was taking the train from Karlstad to Stockholm (~2h 30m) and I was sitting next to a stranger the whole time. We never said a word to each other. This is the norm in Sweden and it is actually kinda expected here that both people are just gonna focus on and be occupied by their own phones.

[@colocol]

once on a train to northern sweden they guy next to my mom started talking, only swedes can’t do that for seven hours straight so it became very awkward.

[@miramataija1628]

@@colocol It is probably true for norrlänningar.

[@FelixEarth]

I've been following this channel for a while and really enjoyed hearing about the countries differences in language, culture and so on. The stars for me are Christina and Lauren, with the recent additions of the two Andrea, they are so enjoyable to watch. And now we finally have a Scandinavian representative, Oskar is a cool and easygoing guy and the new American addition is very nice as well. I'm curious to learn more about Sweden, keep them coming!

[@bullfidde]

it's really hard to compare Stockholm area with the rest of Sweden. Stockholm feels more lika a continental city to me.

[@livedandletdie]

Stockholm is HELL. The South of Sweden is Paradise. Although we're drunkards, the Stockholm region should be nuked, for the sake of humanity.

[@DenDarEmi]

Yup, Stockholm is not like the rest of Sweden

[@miramataija1628]

The people are very not that different from people living in the rural areas in Sweden. I was surprised to discover that Stockholmare have the same mentality as rednecks. Stockholmare themselves like to think that they have more in common with other large cities in Europe. From your comment I understand you are from Stockholm yourself. Stockholmare have a very strong urge to think they are better than other Swedes and like to believe that they have nothing in common. In reality, Stockholm is very much like a small village only larger. People from Stockholm love gossip, enjoy other people's misfortune and make bad hosts as well as lovers. They are socially awkward, certainly no social butterflies, and even more reserved, racist and judgy. They make dull conversation partners, as they lack wit, warmth and manners. They have little in common with people from say the Mediterranean region. Even the dutch and germans have nothing in common with Stockholmare. A Swede on a party is usually standing in one corner of the room clutching a bottle of vodka. They don't speak until they are too drunk to stand up. Stockholmare love to think of themselves as worldy. In reality they are not. They are just farmers who happen to live in a large village. The men in Stockholm are usually more feminine, though. The straight ones are sometimes difficult to distinguish from the gay ones. The accent is partly responsible.

[@LeftyConspirator]

One stereotype here in Norway is the 'partysvenske' - literally, 'Party Swede'. Sort of like a preppy valley boy who parties extensively, only Swedish.

[@PannkakaMedSylt]

When it comes to blonde hair, like he said himself, he doesn't consider himself to be blonde! Thats typical in sweden mindset, blondes are very common here from a outsider perspective, but swedes don't call most hair blonde that other nations would! Example both mine and my sisters passport it says blonde, but in sweden we'd consider our selves brown hair, and we'd consider what many asians call brown hair to be black hair! From a international perspective I'd guess around 70% or more of swedes are blonde, but from a swedish perspective half of those "blondes" would have brown hair or some other color that we call hairs inbetween. About fashion, from american friends who have visited, and me visited american and many other south european countries, I'd say sweden has a rather minimalistic stylish clothes over, not too much bright colors, put on a bit to much and you look like a clown in the swedish enviroment, but a bit of color is good ofcours but usually more of a complimentary rather. Black, white, beige, grey, Marine blue, jeans type, a bit brown, usually the colors that covor 90% of swedes most of the time, then just some touches of color sometimes (some people dress up more color full ofcourse!) Children often wear very colorful clothes, and once a kid reaches teenage years, they usually wanna wear more muted colors to appear more grown up! Swedish, Norwegians, Finnish people are all rather un-social from a american perspective, don't talk to strangers unless you have to. Waiting on the buss and you start talking with someone else standing there unless you really know that person they'll think you'r a crazy person and perhaps take a step back, Unless you seem foreign on vacation, because then most understand aaah they dont know the customs here, so it's easier to go around that if you'r a foreigner.

[@hyperion256]

Thank you so much for giving us ABBA and your Talented Record Producers and for the videos of people eating Surströmming for first time😂🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪

[@goldengate4462]

Only 3 of 4 ABBA-members are from Sweden, the last one is from Norway.

[@Noah_ol11]

countries with the most blue eyes: 1st Estonia 🇪🇪 , 2nd Finland 🇫🇮 , 3rd Sweden🇸🇪 and 4th Norway🇧🇻

[@villekyllonen8941]

Perkele

[@herrbonk3635]

That heavily depends on whether you count only the native people or all people residing in the country. Sweden has 30-40% foreigners living within its borders.

[@greatgreat601]

Iceland, Germany, Nitherlands, Ireland, England, Poland, West Ukraina and west Russia

[@gustav1002]

@@herrbonk3635 It' 25% foreign born currently. About half of them are born in Europe or white countries. The rest are from outside of Europe.

[@herrbonk3635]

@@gustav1002 I wasn't talking about in which country (or hospital) they were born, or what kind of passort they got, but *who they are* and what culture (and therefore loyalties) they have. A cat born in a cowshed is still a cat.

[@swedishmetalbear]

A big reason why the fashion is colour neutral is that it makes it easy to add whatever accent coloured accessories you want to your existing wardrobe. Whereas straight up coloured clothes comes down to personal preference. It makes it harder to mix and match.

[@ariaresehn1246]

Omggg I love Sky’s energy. Oscar and Skys energy is *chefs kiss

[@reineh3477]

Yes, we (Sweden) have had a lot of immigration but they are maybe 15 % of the total population so blue eyes and light brown hair are still most common.

[@paneradefisken]

It is 25%

[@alvdansen7172]

We have around 78% of blue eyed swedes in Sweden and the immigration have lately gone up to 25%. We are around 54% of blondes in Sweden (this is what google say at least). So the most common hair color is brown and and the most common eye color is blue or grey/blue in Sweden. Brown eyes are not uncommon but they are the minority in Sweden.

[@PannkakaMedSylt]

@@alvdansen7172 From pass ports around 70% of sweden is clasified as blonde, thats because from an international perspective what we call light brown hair or even brown hair would be considered blonde! And we would consider what most of the world consider brown hair to be black.

[@alvdansen7172]

@@PannkakaMedSylt Ok, thanx for the info :)

[@quezcatol]

its probably closer to 30-35% now, and if you count second generation around 40%.

[@liamskarhed6068]

As a blue eyed Swed myself (though I am Redhead, not blond). Yeah blue eyes are partly true, but that more of a Scandinavian thing than Swedish thing in particular. About the fashion stereotype. I believe we Sweds tend to love black and white and more clean styles. And more colours during the warmer months, but still kinda clean looks. I feel like the mute brown is less common. More common for the elderly people I believe . But I might be wrong. I just haven't seen it that much as I am aware. Fun to se the perspective of the Swedish stereotypes from a fellow " Svene". But also from a outside Amercan perspective. I am kinda shocked we didn't have a stereotype about "fika". Like we eat it every day or something. Or one about IKEA 😆 I think Sweds from outside of Stockholm probably would have different options about most stuff said. Most stereotype are kinda true to a degree. But far from true though.

[@miramataija1628]

I don't agree that blue eyes are in minority. Most things that is true for Sweden is probably true for the rest of Scandinavia. Sweden probably have a higher percent brown eyes than Norway due to immigration.

[@shinegreymon45]

5:12 He mentioned many food cultures in swedish resturaunts but forgot the most popular dish out of them all (within sweden). Kebabrulle and kebabpizza.

[@pianistmanoj5780]

That is a Swedish food given a middle eastern name

[@ZetaReticuli87]

There is a theory on why Swedes is seen as a reserved kind of people. It is supposed to have roots in the fact that we have lived quite far from each other way back, you seldom met any other people because it is very far between neighbours. Sweden has lot of surface in comparison to our population and even today in northern Sweden some people have 1 hour to closest neighbour. I think the same goes for people in Finland, they are also quite reserved sort of people, but we love them anyway :)

[@miramataija1628]

I just listened to radio hearing a norrlänning speaking of how he drove 700 km to buy a part to his boat. Speaking of the distance between neighbours, it would be interesting to know how much of an impact laga skifte had.

[@pjschmid2251]

I think the relative level of small talk and chatting at least here in the US is in direct inverse proportion to the density of the population. So people on the subway in New York don’t look at anybody don’t talk to anybody because being in those kind of density populated scenarios is stressful and closing in on yourself is a form of protection. On the other side of the coin when you’re out in an area where the population density is low your interactions with people aren’t constant and stressful you feel more open to having small talk type conversations with random strangers.

[@christianav937]

Oh that's interesting...

[@adamnerden]

I think that in lower populated cities it is easier to know all the people in the area and that makes it easier to talk to a “random” from the street

[@eliseivanica]

i love this guy and would listen to him talk for hours

[@ViktorHark]

Watching a few of these videos and I just think Sky is so awesome :D

[@ADPeguero]

First time seeing you Sky. Welcome :-) Oskar's a cool dude :-) Listening to Oskar kind of reminds me of Vikings. But then again, that's where they were from.

[@LJBSullivan]

More the Norwegians

[@SilverionX]

@@LJBSullivan All Scandinavian countries had vikings, they just went to different places. Though most people were farmers or hunters and never went much further than the next village.

[@soumi3885]

How cute and kind they were 🥰 keep them coming together 🤍 especially Oscar the gentleman, respectful and for sure the handsome 😂🤍 all love from algeria 🇩🇿

[@TTDahl]

I wish there would be Christina USA, Lauren UK, Oscar Sweden. Plus some Norwegian plz

[@JosephOccenoBFH]

I think Christina is never coming back 😥 although I wish she would. Last time I saw she had her own channel.

[@TTDahl]

@@JosephOccenoBFH I hope does. But UK-Lauren do have her own YT-channel, but is still on here, I think..

[@acire8188]

Small talk in Sweden is a very location based thing. In the cities, especially the bigger cities it is more common. Every time I go to Stockholm or Göteborg (Gothenburg) there will be some people trying to do small talk and stuff like that. It makes me uncomfortable because I come from a small town and we don't do that here almost at all. We stick to ourselves, and barely even say hello to people if we don't already know them. It's rare for people where I grew up to come and talk to you, even if you live next door to each other. Some people do it if they're really extroverted but most don't. I'm from the most southern part of a place called "Norrland" and that means "Northern Land" I think. It covers almost the top half of Sweden. And most cities and towns up here are small compared to the more southern cities.

[@joelnilsson7129]

I live in "Örebro" which isn't exactly a small place and we still aren't social in general even thought it fits the criteria of a city as u mentioned. I live on the outskirts and within my area we are somewhat social when we meet people. But we don't small talk just short greetings.

[@acire8188]

@@joelnilsson7129 fair enough. Though everytime I go to bigger cities someone try to small talk. Maybe it's just a few who does and I somehow stumble upon them but it does happen a lot. Especially at the train station or bus stops.

[@jonatanmarklund7473]

About the hunting, fishing, from nature to table culture and mentality. I grew up in the way north of Sweden but live in Stockholm. Yes I'd say it's a really big part of the Swedish culture to hunt and fish and to be mindful or "green" about your food and produce. Hunting and fishing is huge when you live on the countryside, but not at all when you live in Stockholm in the same way. Also it's a way bigger thing for the older generation but not so much for the younger generation.

[@pokettoboi]

It has gone down a bit but Sweden has a huge hunting culture. Looking at population size we are one of the countries with the highest concentration of hunters in the world.

[@MDobri-sy1ce]

For me, it was Bass Hunter when, I started high school and met a few Swedish friends when MySpace was a thing that got me into learning Swedish.

[@colinafobe2152]

never realized until now. swedish guy has that accent when speaking english that reminds me strongly on how my uncle speaks serbian after living in sweden for 55 years. same pattern indeed. i visited sweden ages ago and i had impression all are blond there. maybe it was misconseption because of my very dark look. colourwise Belgians are the most neutral. from my experience

[@cendriia3738]

We’re not all blonde and blue eyed but we(nordics) have a larger percentage than the rest of the world so people might still “feel” like there’s a lot simply because you tend to compare it to what you’re used to 🤷‍♀️

[@colinafobe2152]

@@cendriia3738 yes exactly

[@Lundis919191]

As a Swede we do like our personal space, but we dont mind others sitting next to us in general. It's just that we spread out. I rode the train one day to do w/e and it was stuffed perfectly no one was sitting next to anyone haha. Mom with 2 kids came in and i was in a table isle. which is 4 seats, i and another sat there to the side and across from each other, so i just asked if she wanted my place.

[@joelnilsson7129]

This is a behaviour I saw not so long ago. As Swedes do, we spread out in the bus not close to eachother in the slightest but when a whole kindergarten class came on the bus everyone stood up so the children could sit. And only 2 sentences were said in total between like 5-10 people it just kinda happened :). So we aren't social but we are polite.

[@hugosoderblom64]

Imagine how different the answers would have been if the swede was from a smaller town in Sweden. I feel like it’s a BIG difference between Stockholm and the countryside

[@LessThanThree76]

Regarding the fishing and hunting in Sweden - genrally speaking, the further up North you come, the more likely it is that you hunt and fish and that your freezer is filled with either fish, reindeer meat or moose meat. I live in the far South of Sweden though, which is considered the agriculture heart of Sweden, so I can easily get my hand on like ”half a cow” that’s locally bread. But it’s not like I cut it up myself.

[@SilverionX]

The thing about Swedish people is they have a huge respect for peoples privacy. A swede in public and a swede in private or with friends are almost like two different people (especially if you give them some alcohol). There's also a difference between city swedes and those out in the country. If you are in one of the larger cities, people might seem very reserved and emotionally distant because they're just going about their own day and not wishing to bother other people, or be bothered by them. Many don't feel secure about their English even though it tends to be fairly decent, which leads to them being a bit awkward when dealing with tourists. Imagine yourself if you are trying to get home from work and suddenly some stranger stops you and wants to speak in a language you don't feel confident in, how would you react? Add to that the high level of pride swedes put in being efficient and professional in their work environment (chit chat is what fika and after work is for!) and you might begin to understand why we are perceived as a bit "cold" in most situations where an outsider might encounter them. This is of course just a broad cultural norm and individuals vary quite a lot, as always. I will add that if you break the ice first most swedes are more than happy to help you and very friendly.

[@hantront]

Very well put, as someone who grew up in a mid size city in northern sweden (50k population), spent a lot of time in bigger cities and now lives in the sparse bushes of Värmland. The individual matters, but even if you take someone from Stockholm and place them in the middle of Gällivare, they'll adapt and essentially adopt the same behaviour as the rest. It also really comes down to the interaction and timing, like he said in the video, no swede wants to be bothered on their way to work at 7AM in January (That's reserved for older generations and Norwegians, they just love to talk about nonsense at the worst times). Light hearted comedy is the golden ticket to making a swedish stranger smile though, it works 9/10 times as long as you're funny.

[@MHBW81]

I think with the small talk is If you know the person you meet the bigger the small talk is. I wouldn't stop a stranger on the street just to talk to them. Cashiers is usually "hi and good bye" or maybe if you need something.

[@danielkarlsson258]

That is a really Stockholm thing that not mentioning hunters anymore than go fish in the archipelago. There are more than 300 000 registered hunters in Sweden, and when the moose hunt starts and people want vacation can actually be a bigger problem for companies than the summer vacation. And more than 80 000 mooses are shot every year. And then we haven't even spoken about all the deers, boars and other animals. So hunting is a big deal in Sweden.

[@Pellefication]

A Swedish stereotype that is not true at all is that we are "unemotional". In general, we are just shy and reserved. Inside, there is a lot of emotion going on. By the way ..... I am very Swedish in many ways but have no problems talking to anyone, anywhere, about anything. Complete sober. If I'm in that mood.

[@indrajukame]

I think Latvians don't like small talk at all! If you don't know the person, you just don't talk to them more than needed. 🤣🤣🤣

[@li.v9]

Amazing video!

[@lovisanylander6984]

For me as a Swede small talk is really not my thing. I have social anxiety too so talking to people in general and making friends are really hard and it’s also hard to keep them😅

[@poisonbomb1]

Even though we might have more dark haired, brown eyed people than blonde, blue eyed in Sweden I'm positive that we have more blonde, blue eyed people than most other countries and therefor the stereotype. Agree that swedes are typically quite reserved except in specific surroundings but not unemotional, we just don't wear our emotions like other cultures does. Yes, we do wear quite muted, neutral colors. Much grey, black, white and beige. But mostly because it's a modern fashion thing and looks good, not because they like those perticular colors. In the summer there are quite a few colored shirts and dresses out there. I think swedes in general dislikes smalltalk. The weather thing is pretty much ONLY when there's an uncomfortable silence and you feel like you have to say something, you don't like it but that's the emergency button. Trying to start smalltalk to a stranger is normally a major no-no, one typical exception is service workers (whilst working).

[@meowmeow-hj4kw]

I’m swedish and if someone would start talking to me on the bus I would probably get off the bus

[@constantinvalentina2183]

Oskar has amazing eyes.

[@evelynbustos7313]

I like Oskar he's cute ❤️ 🇲🇽🇸🇪

[@jaylabreanna8025]

Loved sky ✨✨✨

[@rickardelimaa]

According to a study made in 2019 "54% of Swedes have blond hair, while 78% have blue eyes" - other Nordic countries ranges from 48-64% when it comes to blonds (Iceland and Denmark having the highest percentage).

[@rickardelimaa]

Had to look it up, because I was curious. Should say that the high number of blue eyes are present in countries like Estonia and Ireland as well, so it's not just the Nords...

[@jollan1747]

I feel like blue eyes are very common in Scandinavia, people from all over the world live in Sweden so that counts I guess you could consider blue eyes a minority. But if you only count the Swedish people in Swedish families born in Sweden I'd say it's a majority.

[@sirilundgren4288]

I mean it's hard to say that EVERYONE in a country behaves in the same way but I do think that Swedish people tend to be more reserved and avoid small talk. Like if you're in a Swedish subway no one talks to each other unless they know each other. It's almost like a sport to avoid eye contact with other people and talking with strangers unless you had a reason to would feel strange to me 😂

[@lmao2351]

1:07 ok im from sweden. I can say that the mass majority of people in sweden have blue eyes. If i remember correctly its around 80%, and around 50% are blond or dirty blond.

[@L4NTZEN]

On the Hunting part and where she talks about the south. generally you'll find that in the northern in-land parts of Sweden

[@anndeecosita3586]

Hi Sky, Great to see a Southern girl. Yes we Southerners love to talk to everyone and anyone. My family hunts and fishes too. We have cows and horses. 🇺🇸 The only stereotype I know is they are ghostly pale, blonde, blue eyed as far as the ethnically Swedish people but other than that I don’t hear people having discussion about Swedes. I thought that generally Europeans wear more subdued colors than Americans when I was there. I would wear bright yellow, hot pink or lime green in a heartbeat.

[@DenDarEmi]

I'm not sure about the rest of Sweden but I'm from Gotland (small island in Sweden) and we hunt and fix our own food a lot there, especially getting a whole cow or pig to last for the whole year

[@florzinhaw]

O Oskar é tão legal :)

[@IceMetalPunk]

I clicked on this video for the interesting conversation, and I'm leaving it hungry for Swedish meatballs 😂 I'm American, and I hate small talk. To me, if you're going to say words, they should have meaning; if you have nothing to communicate, then silence is perfectly acceptable 😁

[@likusone420]

bra video och ja var den 1000 tummen upp :)

[@thespankmyfrank]

As a Swede I'm excited for this one! Gonna be interesting. :)

[@jennye8833]

Okay, as a swede I will try to unbuckle some of the things (that I remember) to share my view on these stereotypes. - Blond hair and blue eyes - because we now hade a lot of mix with other countries I don't think this is true... but I read somewhere that nothern europe have very high cheekbones and I can imagine other countries 50+ years ago saw these blond blue eyes women with high cheekbones as something excotic and then the stereotype grew. About Sky getting questions about Russia och Sweden might be that her relatives is perhaps from those countries, USA is half build from european countries when we ockuppied so it wouldn't be surprising - Regarding "Unemotional and reserved" - most swedes are quite reserved in public spaces - but if you get to know them in a smaller setting (or after a few drinks) that is gone. But I agree with Oscar, it is a bit depending on the seasons because we are drawn to the sun as soon as its out XD - Fashion - so I haven't thought about this before but I have actually heard from especially americans that swedes tend to think more of how they are dressed and most offices have "business dresscode" which is more earthy colors - but the colors do come out more during the summer or christmas - it all depends. Most swedes learn to always have a couple of "base clothes" which is either black, white or beige which can always be matched with almost any type of accessory or pairing och clothes - though we almost never leave home in sweatpants if we aren't jogging. - Meatballs is a very common food especially when you have toddlers because they tend to be very picky. For example colleagues with toddlers almost always have a lunchbox with either swedish meatballs, bolognese (meatsauce) with pasta, Falukorv. and almost every swede eat tacos on fridays, Regarding hunting - I grew up on the countryside - there are some hunters in almost every community and they do hunt but share it (for pay) within the community, City people can buy meatpackages from farmers to have locally based food. - Small talk - it is common but as Oscar said - most feels it is intrusive. We usually have a small group of friends we speak to and don't tend to be in bigger group, most have perhaps 10 extremely good friends but doesn't go further with the other people they know.

[@mikbinx6541]

im from norrbotten in sweden which from the name you can guess its all the way north in sweden. we typically dont start small talk like ever, unless your friends then ive talked with them. max ive done with strangers is a quick answer or respond.

[@hantront]

Norrbotten is huge and sparse though, it's roughly the size of England. So people vary just as much as the accents. Like, someone who lived in central Luleå would differ a whole lot from someone who spent their entire life in Hakkas.

[@angelicanevarez6255]

Yo!!! YESSSS!!! Sky is def representing the south!!! Would def like to see a video of southern stereotypes 💕💕💕💕

[@bordercollielover9360]

I want to go to Sweden one day! Love ABBA

[@MHBW81]

Welcome! ABBA has a museum in Stockholm

[@ThePoonish]

Come visit!! I recommend around this time of year, when we’re not wearing thick hoodie jackets and just wanna get home from work! 😂🙏

[@skumdum3764]

Välkommen! (welcome in swedish:)

[@nyumie]

i wish i could go too !!! my dream country ^_^

[@Mr_Seppo]

@@MHBW81 You know Stockholm is a very small part of Sweden.

[@hellsSG]

Sweden is definitely a fishing and hunting country. Lot's of coasts and even though Finland is known as the land of 10'000 lakes, that could be said about Sweden aswell.

[@henri_ol]

welcome to the world friends, Sky from the United States 🇺🇲

[@packythedon]

I personally think that gothenburg is the most social city

[@Helga7850]

I mean...even the flag is blue and yellow. so yes...they are all blonde and blue-eyed...LOL

[@anndeecosita3586]

😂 I didn’t notice that.

[@ThePoonish]

Why have I never thought of this?! 😂👏

[@lealarsen2017]

the colors is kind of true because you almost always see people on videos, with their coats on and it´s important that the coat is not to flashy if it´s gets dirty. it will hide the dirt more if it´s darker. but in sommertime there is also of colors

[@living_peace]

Not every European have blond hair in south European countries like Italy and Greece are very different than north Europe ...

[@loveintheend89]

There are many blond Greeks and Italians, myself included. Dark skinned/haired South Europeans is also a stereotype.

[@stiglarsson8405]

We do small talks! I think it comes a bit frome that phrase, "Hey, how are you", in swedish "Hej hur mår du", in swedish its a question, and one ask about there healt or life situation! Anybody that knows a bit of US culture know thats a phrase, that is a polite way to pretend to care! And that shall be answered in the same polite way! We do our small talks in a different way in sweden, dont use questions as a phrase if you dont realy want to get a straight forward answer!

[@patriciamartin6756]

Mats is quiet and reserved. He loves Kalles and Salmon and potatoes are his favorite food. He really doesn't like small talk and chit chat. Even though we are in a small apartment and can see each other from the next room we communicate by calling each other. He thinks it's funny when I call him and my call goes to his voice mail even though I am sitting next to him. I asked him why and he says he needs quiet during morning coffee

[@bebbabebba579]

I'm from Sweden and I like small talk with my friends and family, but if a stranger started talking to me, I'd think it was really weird and walk away (maybe run..)( I used google translate because I'm not so good in English, so if something is misspelled or weird, it's not my fault..)

[@hantront]

Du borde försöka vara mer öppen för konversation ibland, de flesta människor du möter är snälla :)

[@pangling2217]

Mostly I don't think we swedes like small talk, but if there's alcohol involved, we like small talk. Otherwise it's mostly if it's regarding something specific it's okay. When someone starts talking to me from nowhere, it's a bit weird and like what do you want? Mostly after that confusion, it's like okay, sure I can help you or other nice small talk.

[@herrbonk3635]

Blue (or green-grey) eyes are definitely the most common in Sweden (except for the 30-40% with mostly middle eastern background).

[@diddeboi]

i dont like small talk but i always small talk to show that im a nice person (im swedish)

[@elsathebest9852]

i think it depend on who you are if you like small talk but parents ALWAYS love small talk. They can do small talk for HOURS. When your parents come to pick you up from your friends house they are either in hurry because its late or something OR start the small talk for hours so you can keep playing with your friends.

[@faridputra6250]

Oskar have beautiful smile

[@otakubancho6655]

I know one famous stereotype,the Swedish chef from the Muppets!😆😆😆

[@Shittzponfrittz]

Yea but like the clothes stereotype is like very true thoo, like 90% of all the ppl I see when I go to school and sit on the bus or go somewhere has like black clothes Like almost everyone

[@reineh3477]

6:20 skärgård in English is archipelago.

[@Rubbe87]

In Sweden if you talk or smile at a stranger they will think you are insane. Oskar is probebly from some rich area in stocholm its not the same as the rest of Sweden. Swedish people don't have black hair, other countries consider brown hair to be blond.Swedish people consider platinum blonde, blonde. Kids usually have white or blond hair then it get brown when older.

[@Cassxowary]

*friendly reminder that both Sweden and the US and the American countries in general, like all, have more & more people starting to use their hearts&brains & being kind to all kind so vegan & against murdering others in their homes too (:*

[@ichbinfun7730]

Pewdiepie's always complaining about how he doesn't like small talks with strangers and how in Sweden where he lived people weren't into it too.

[@hantront]

I find people in Gothenburg to be pretty talkative in general, especially the older generations. Gothenburgians are the loudest people in sweden as well and their dialect will cut through the air like a knife.

[@andersjackson4014]

Americans are loud, Swedes are generally much more reserved. And Finns even more. 🙂 "A Swede and Finn sat in the sauna. Having a beer. After a while, the Sweed said 'Hello, it's cold outside'. The Finn turned to the Swede and said "Shall we talk or shall we drink""

[@johankaewberg8162]

The traditional northern conversation “Coffe?” “Jop”. Make sure to inhale the “Jop”.

[@raidkoast]

About the party thing... If a Swede or any one from the "Vodka belt" in Europe ask you to drink along with them, AKA match them drink for drink.. Be careful. I've seen people literally on the verge of stopped breathing from trying that. I don't know what it is, but we seem to be able to guzzle alcohol in a different way here.

[@dennislindqvist8443]

When I lived in Stockholm, I had no success speaking Swedish with Finnish accent when I wanted to socialize at the bar. But when I switched to English with a British accent, it was ok. They are generally nice people but some of them are too insecure.

[@peachyarts386]

I’m a swede and when it comes to the stereotype of blonde hair and blue eyes I can confirm at least from where I live which is like in the middle of Sweden it’s very rare so see someone with both of those features it’s either one or the other, or none like me I have dark brown hair and hazel eyes- but then also a lot of people that live in my town are also not originally from Sweden or have immigrant parents so that’s like understandable but for me I’m mostly Swedish only partly Finnish from what I know so yeah- I mean I’m not offended by that stereotype but I would get probably a bit annoyed if someone comes up to me and said I don’t look Swedish because I don’t have blonde hair and blue eyes..

[@quezcatol]

when they dug up vasa ship every character was painted as blond on that ship -we have viking teeth dna and can tell that they all carried the recessive genes that create blond or blue eyes, doesnt mean they had it- meant they carried the gene. sweden never looked anything close to what it did today 50 years ago. the real issue is what do you define swedish as? I mean if Japan had 30% migrants from africa, are we gonna pretend japanese are black?! or are we gonna differ the migrant population from the native? thats the issue. dna wise the scandinavian population has been blond and "white". but ofc immigration has always existed since medieval time from germany, poland, france, belgium,finland etc- but that was the only countries until recently

[@Wonder...Paws-]

Im from sweden and I ofc talk sweden but I type this on english or yea becus I think it more english here! And btw my hair color is brown and a litel blond and my eyes are brown with a like a green dot my dad has green my mom green and brown and my big bro has blue my perfect family!!!

[@GoatingVirtual]

From my own experience; almost nobody does any small talk. Personally, I try to make small talk but I always fall off. I try to be social in my streams, but it is SO hard to keep it up!

[@CoCooMa11]

Alot of stereotypes in this one, love it :D now... lets get into it and break it down from a swedish perspective. 1: alot of nordic countries do have more blond and blue eyed people than the rest of the world, but the brown hair and brown eyes are still a majority. 2: We do love to party on weekends and when we are on vacations, other than that, we are quite reserved and dont like to stirr things up and try to keep to ourself. 3: meatballs.... sure, thats quite a normal meal, salmon, personaly more of something during midsummer or christmas, but im not heavy into fish. 4: small talk.... This one might depend on what generation you are, im born in the 80´s, so I definatly dont like small talk... but I know alot of people that is born in the last 20 years that seem to need to stop and small talk to people. The thing with us is that if someone start to talk with us, we will always be friendly and talk back.... but we might not like it, but since it is ingrained from young to be nice to others, we dont say anything.

[@Albingrafstrom]

As a Swed we never small talk in fact if you Evan sit next to them on a bus its considers rude. More context: In Sweden on the busses the sites are in groups of two, so in other contrary if theirs a site next to someone you generally take it but in Sweden nobody does that (unless we talk about old people but there weird) so if you see a site next two someone in Sweden consider it taken and if there is no other seat just STAND

[@MontagZoso]

When I think of Sweden, I think of Bjorn Borg, ABBA, clogs and IKEA. And I love all those things, so it’s a big compliment. 👍 🇸🇪

[@zuttboll1914]

I work in a resturant here in Sweden and I can comfirm that about 50-75% like smaltalk

[@sushi777300]

Oskar is a sweet Swede 😊

[@judna1]

Small talk in Catalonia isn't a big thing, but it isn't a small thing either, just like in Sweden, it's a middle ground and it depends on the situation.

[@perkristerkallstrom8312]

And it depens were in sweden you live. Up in north it is not always dark outside. The sun is up more in the north vs the south.

[@platypusmoon85]

when its winter in sweden we have such small amount of sunlight so we get super antisocial. we turn into lone wolfes at winter

[@Cookie-bk7sj]

“Overclass”ppl are, from my experience, usually not ppl who would make smalltalk with u but I’ve encountered some who are really nice!

[@arnekronvall817]

Swedes are very alert and cautious, loves routine and stick to old habits more easily than other cultures.

[@sweiland75]

"Americans love small talk" Americans love to make sure everyone knows that they are present by being louder than everyone else.