Blog #2 Don't talk to strangers!- Or should we?

As a Swede, you will learn this from a very young age – Do not talk to strangers. You’ll learn who’s a stranger and who is not. It’s all for your safety off course, but could this deeply rooted statement affect us in the adulthood? I very much believe so.


Swedish people often seem very quiet and modest. But how could we not be when this is what we are taught and used to hear from a very young age. You should not talk to strangers, will follow us through our life. Not that we necessarily fear the “stranger” when we get older but we’re not used to invite them into a conversation. As new to this country/ culture it may seem odd that Swedish people won’t chat with you if you’re sitting next to each other on the bus. It’s not that we don’t like to talk, we sure do, it’s just how we role.

In June 2006 I moved to the United Stated for 1 year to work as an Au Pair. Over there it was the opposite, it seemed odd not to talk to each other if you sat next to someone on the bus. In the beginning I always got a little surprised and suspicious when someone I didn’t know started to talk to me. It could be at Starbucks when I was buying coffee and the barista gave me a compliment for my clothes or at the supermarket when 3 guys came and asked if my friend and I wanted to hang out with them sometime. To me it seemed so brave just to walk up to someone you don’t know and start a conversation. What if they would say –Excuse me, do I
know you? That would make me so embarrassed that I would want to sink through the floor.

I knew that if I wanted to meet some friends I had to break through this and start talking to strangers. So I thought to myself, - What is the worst thing that could happen? I won’t meet these people again anyways. So I did start talking to strangers. It was a little bit scary at first but then I realized that it was easier that what I thought. I started to love the Americans’ openness, and way of life. Why can’t we be more like this in Sweden?

So I guess that I still am a Swede but with a new perspective.

Being alone in this new country/culture still didn’t make me lonely, there were always people talking to me and including me into their society. Even if they just said hi, how are you or just smiled made it less hard being so far away from home, and made it easier to enjoy my time over there.

So don’t hesitate to talk to strangers. You’ll never know who you are going to meet. In fact, the closest friends I got there was just because I started to talk to strangers. So next time you’ll get on the bus, say hello, ask how they are or just smile. Maybe you just made someone’s day!


Over and out
Elin Littorin