When arriving in a different country, a new feeling rushes to the mind. “This is a new place and their culture might be very different”. Even though the thought of that their culture might be different is often thought, it is hard to comprehend it and believe it fully. A very good example is when Bill Bryson visits Sweden. Bryson states that Sweden is a very cold and unfriendly country. Bryson who usually lives in England travels through Europa and in chapter 11 he visits Sweden, Gothenburg. He was very unlucky from the get-go and from his perspective he had a dreadful time in Sweden. He nags and points out all the different things in the Swedish culture that is inferior to his culture, like how swedes usually are very finicky and punctual or how everything is too expensive. To top it off, a quote from Bryson when he summarizes Sweden. “No wonder so many Swedes kill themselves”. …show more content…
Swedes often hold their feelings to themselves and are not very public about their opinions and beliefs. Different things are taboo in different cultures and in the Swedish culture a lot of things are taboo, even showing a lot of emotions in public is taboo. Daun brings out an example of when a woman is in birth labour, she is expected to not cry or shout out loud. “Zero emotions” is the way to go in Sweden. It can be hard for Swedes to express emotions publicly and this can lead to depression and/or misunderstandings between friends and