Diana Naumenko 1 ICC Joint paper.

It is always challenging to get to know something new about people, cultures, counties, the way they live, behave and react in different situation. y general knowledge about !weden could be described in several tag words" #I$%&', #(olvo', #!ony %rricson', #)aindeer'. *or sure I knew basic information about them" they belong to !candinavian nation and ethnic group native to !weden and Nordic countries, climate is more or less stable +warm in summer and cold in winter,, also I had superficial knowledge about their -oy and pride. music and film industry, literature and architecture, but that/s not enough to say # I know what it is like in !weden', because I had no idea who are those people, who live in the country where &lfred Nobel and 0ippi 1ongstocking were born. 2hen firstly finding out about peculiarities of !weden I found out a lot of information about traditions, various celebrations and fancy things that actually form country/s culture as it is. !wedes are nature romantics, as they call themselves. 3hey are very concerned about preserving the ecology and recycling. It is obligatory to sort out your garbage in to 14 different types of litter. 3hat seemed a bit weird to me, until I reali5ed how much they care about environment and ecology. I also found a lot of resources evidencing that !wedes are reserved as most of the northern cultures. 3hey do not tend to be very open.minded and friendly, like !panish or Italians are, especially with foreigners. 3hough it is considered to be shortcoming, I found it nice, because to all of us sometimes it seems a bit hard to get ac6uainted with something new. oreover, as they tend to say, with a help of alcohol !wedes turn to be more out.going and easy to chat with. !wedes generally do not buy houses or apartments, but rent them, as they tend to move all around !weden or even %urope throughout their life. !ome !wedes even move to 3hailand, when they are retired and usually tired of cold !wedish winter. %ating habits do not differ a lot, rather than !wedish people try to eat healthy as much as possible and they do eat a lot7 3hey also have a fancy tradition called #*ika', which is a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll. 3his coffee breaks are made all the time throughout the day, for

e8ample when you are stuck with an essay or a pro-ect. 9ou can also ask out anyone for #fika',a friend, a girl you/ve -ust met or even a teacher. It was also interesting to find out that !wedes usually pay a lot of attention to the eti6uette. *or e8ample" being invited, make sure you are on time, dressed properly, try not to show that you are curious+ if they want, they/ll tell and show everything to you themselves. don/t be pushy,. 3hey consider essential that a person knows table manners and accept the fact that they care a lot about their personal space. oreover, a person should be careful with presenting !wedes with a gift. It is suggested to take practically the same gifts you would give in :nited $ingdom + flowers, bottle of wine, bo8 of chocolates,, but one should keep in mind that white lilies and chrysanthemums are usually given at funerals. *inally, I would like to say how !wedes spend their leisure. It usually depends on the city, town or countryside. In big cities like ;othenburg people + specially our peers, prefer to spend their free evenings clubbing or visiting various concerts that are held every single day or sitting and en-oying themselves in cafes, pubs and restaurants. I should also point out the attitude of !wedes to their famous )ock festivals and concerts +almost every genre is presented there,, cause since the second half of <4th century music industry was developing unbelievably fast. it I not -ust a way to spend their free time, but the way to live and breath. !wedes are very proud to have such a national heritage. =ut life differs a bit when you live noisy cities and co5y, but still overcrowded towns. In the countryside people spend much more time having long walks, reading, watching 3(, having long talks on no matter which sub-ect. !ome !wedes keep in mind old saying #>ow we spend our days. >ow we spend our lives'. I found these things a lot like they are in )ussia and that is always very nice not -ust to notice differences, but also common things. 3o sum up, I can say that it was a real pleasure to discover a new culture which is far from )ussian, but yet has many things in common.