What do you think of Sweden? (Spontaneous post)

[Inchante]

Yes, they are Nordic

And doesn't every country have that sort of rivalry... Australia vs New Zealand, Japan vs Korea, China Vs Japan, Us vs Canada etc

U.S. vs. Canada . . . U.S. vs. Canada . . . hmmm. I don't know if that would be considered a rivalry, even a friendly one, as I usually think a rivalry indicates competition. I personally never really had the idea that the U.S. was ever in competition with Canada, unless it involved hockey. But, perhaps other people see it differently. I suppose the creators of South Park seem to see it that way.

[propterhoc]

First thought when I hear Sweden mentioned: BRIO trains. I used to play with those wooden toy trains all day trying to build roller coasters.

Second though: krona. I've always thought that was cool sounding word for a currency.

[Aester]

I wouldn't say that there is or have ever been 'rivalry' between Swedes and Finns, I would actually say that there has been between Sweden and Denmark about who is the rightful conquerer of Norway, and Sweden and Russia about who is the rightful conquerer of Finland. We had kept both a pretty long time and in history we've been known to be pretty self righteous. :redface:

[Almac]

Tall blonds that's all I know about Swedes and Sweden..! Oh and not forgetting the Vikings, they conquered half of England and left their influence and descendants..! So there's probably a lot of people who are descended from Swedes over in England. Where I live was firmly Anglo-Saxon mile:

[marshlander]

Some of my favourite musicians include the great Hoven Droven (who will probably only have been seen by Americans if they happen to live in St Paul) and the late and very much missed Esbjörn Svensson (along with the rest of his trio, the extraordinarily talented Dan Berglund and Magnus Öström). I've only ever seen those musicians perform in England. American band, Sparks were commissioned by Sveriges Radio Radioteatern to write a musical drama and they decided to base it around the imaginary idea of Ingmar Bergman being whisked away from Sweden and transplanted into Hollywood. The piece was called "The Seduction of Ingmar Bergman". PA, being the great film buff that he is will know much more about Bergman than I, so I shall not comment further on that. To catch up I shall have to watch approximately sixty films.

I know that Sweden has some beautiful folk music. Long ago I told PA I would like one of the tunes played at my funeral to be Myhrpolska. By the time I die will I would love to have learned to wrap my feet and the rest of my body around the polsa's slinky dance rhythms, but will I have been able to work out how to unravel the music of the polska? I do know that many English people with whom I have played Swedish traditional music try to play it like they would any old English tune and they cannot find the beat and cannot find where to place the stresses. I know they are wrong, but they can't hear it and it drives me to distraction that I can't explain it yet and hear English folk musicians massacring beautiful Swedish music. One day I shall go to Sweden and try to learn to play and dance like the Swedes. I love the sound of the nyckelharpa and Swedish fiddle playing is very distinctive and wonderfully evocative. I introduced my children to Swedish folk and jazz musicians and they introduced me to Yngwie Malmsteen. Such an incredibly high standard of musicianship in such a small country. A friend came back after several visits to Sweden and says every community seems to have its own festival and the quality of the playing seemed to be brilliant wherever he went. He is not easily impressed so I have to go and find out for myself. Just so I am balanced I shall admit that the first Swedish music I ever heard was Bo Hansson's Lord of the Rings. It was underwhelming.

I know Lou Reed went to Sweden and returned declaring, "Swedish is not a language, it's a disease of the tongue." That says more about him than about the Swedish language which has a music all its own.

[Craig]

I cant say I know much about Sweden tbh. I watch a lot of video game related videos and if you do I'm sure you know Tejb! love that guy hes an awesome Swedish

[Drew]

Everything I've ever learned about Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and the rest of the Nordic countries I learned from this silly comic strip from a young Danish girl on DeviantArt:

http://humon.deviantart.com/gallery/11134763#

(Most of it is silly but I get a better sense of some of the attitudes and quirks certain Scandanavians have towards each other and towards the rest of the world)

[matty7]

i like sweden cos u have hot blond haired lads ,, but apparently its expensive to visit