Swedish in Spain

What cultural differences have I encountered?

The two kisses

The first ´culture shock´, if one would call it that, I experienced was the Spanish way of greeting with two kisses (dos besos in Spanish). When meeting someone in Spain you greet them by giving them a kiss on each cheek (even if you have never met them before!). Kisses are given between women, men and women, when men greet each other simply a handshake is sufficient. The kissing is performed left to right (you´ll want to get this bit right to avoid kissing someone on the lips, in Italy I believe the kisses are performed right to left). There are also different degrees of kissing, where some more firmly plant a kiss on your cheek and others make more of a kiss in the air.

This is a very foreign practice to someone from Sweden, kissing in Sweden is restricted to close friends and family, and even then it is quite rare. When greeting someone in Sweden usually a handshake, even just a nodding of the head, or at the most a hug will be adequate.

Shoes indoors

Something very difficult for me to get accustomed to here is wearing shoes indoors. Though there are other countries like the US that wear shoes indoors and it isn´t a completely foreign practice to me, I still can´t get used to it. In Sweden you will never wear shoes indoors, swapping to slippers when entering the house. I was positively horrified when someone walked into my bedroom with their shoes on. I don´t much like the idea of when I am practicing yoga on the floor, my face is where someone has stepped with a dirty shoe…

Eating hours

I think the biggest change for me here has been the Spanish daily routines, at what hour things are done. Everything happens later in Spain. You wake up later, work later, eat later, and socialize later…I am definitely not complaining about getting up later in the mornings, starting work at 9am seems quite humane.

The eating hours here are very different from what I am use to in Sweden. Food is very important for the Spanish people and in fact they have five names for different meals of the day. El desayuno (breakfast) is often eaten between 7-9 am and el almuerzo (snack between breakfast and lunch) usually around 11 am. La comida (lunch) is the largest meal of the day eaten at 2pm or 3pm when most people have the traditional siesta break from work between 2pm and 4.30pm-5pm. La merienda (tea time) is a late-afternoon snack or coffee around 5-7pm. Finally la cena, the dinner, starts at around 8 or 9pm and continuing until midnight or later.

In Sweden generally we get up earlier in the morning and eat breakfast between 6-7am, therefore lunch is also earlier between 11.30am-1pm. Dinner can be eaten as early as 5.30pm, but normally around 6-7pm, at the latest 8pm, which for many is getting a bit late.

Culture and climate

I have discovered that customs and meal times, apart from being cultural, also are very dependent on the climate. For example in Spain where the weather is warm there are more opportunities to be outside and the mealtimes are planned around the traditional midday break, siesta, when it´s too hot to be working. In Sweden however, with large parts of the year being cold and dark, the day starts early and finishes early evening when the dark and the cold takes over. Now it may sound like Sweden is some depressing torment but on the contrary the winters are beautiful with snow and skiing and my favourite part of the year, the long summer days with warm weather and light almost all night long!

Even when writing about cultural differences it is important to remember that though there are differences, on the whole we are very much the same and we have more things in common than not. We all sleep, eat, work, study, socialize, enjoy music…and the differences provide some fun and a chance to experience new things!

"To act like a Swede"

Shortly after arriving in Spain, people told me of the Spanish expression "To act like a Swede". "To act like a Swede" means to turn a blind eye, pretend that you do not understand what you are told or what is going on, when in fact you understand, but just want to ignore it or act unknowing.

There are lots of theories of the origin of the expression "To act like a Swede". One interpretation is that it comes from when Swedish tourists started coming to Spain and did not understand anything when people spoke to them in Spanish. Some believe the origin of this phrase is in the hidden and discreet character of the Scandinavian people.

Possibly the most accepted theory is that the idiom in fact does not allude to the Scandinavian people, but has derived from the Latin word "soccus" which was the theater footwear worn by ancient Roman comedians. The word in Spanish evolved to “zueco”, which is basically identical to the Spanish word for a Swedish person “sueco”. Therefore “to act like a Swede/sueco” may well as be “to act like a zueco” referring to the comedians; the clumsy fool, who does not understand what is said.

I cannot say that ´´to act like a Swede/to act unknowing´´ is habitual for the Swedish people, or that we use it more than other countries, but I won´t deny that it can be useful at times!