When I say to my friends “I am moving to Sweden” the first thing that the reply is “Swindon? Why would you want to move there?” It is only when I correct their pronunciation that they understand, yet even then there is always a look of uncertainty on their faces.
I did a small experiment the other week. I asked ten of my friends to list 5 things that immediately came into their head when I mention the word Sweden. The results were very similar and here were the top 5.
• 1.Ikea
• 2.Abba
• 3.Sven Goran Eriksson
• 4.The Chef from the Muppets
• 5.Ulrika Johnson
If I were a Swede I would find this rather insulting. For a country with as much history as our own their global recognition are a chain of stores, a band from the 1970’s, a failed football manager and his mistress and finally a puppet (I did not include expensive beers as three of my friends quoted!)
Sweden is a country that sits nearly on the top of Europe yet so many people are unaware of the true beauty of this country. Since I began really researching the history I would say that my top 5 would not be too similar from that above but Sweden has a history so rich and important that many of my friends would be surprised at just how wonderful this country really is.
In a few years time Sweden will not only be my home but it will also be the country that I will hopefully be a citizen of and there is no country I would rather belong to than this.
