I have lived almost all of my life in the United States, and while I have been fortunate to travel to other places, this summer has been a completely different experience because I decided to travel to Sweden.

Most of the countries to which I have traveled prior to Sweden have either been English speaking countries, or countries where I have been surrounded by a group of English speaking people. So why did I choose to come to a country where the only word I know how to say is 'hello' (or, 'hej' pronounced like the English, 'hey')? Well, last year through a series of interesting events, I ended up hosting a really lovely Swedish exchange student. We got along really well, especially since we shared a bedroom at my house, so when I was trying to figure out what I was doing this summer, I decided to pay her and her family a visit.

I researched flight prices and discovered that the cheapest flights I could get were 5 weeks apart, which meant I would be spending most of my summer in Sweden with her family. I decided it would be an\ worthwhile experience to immerse myself in a culture that I didn't know much about; I booked my flights, packed my bags, and left the U.S. to explore the land of Swedish Fish and IKEA.

I arrived on the morning of Tuesday, June 16th at Gothenburg Airport, and was picked up by my new hosts. It took me a few days to settle in, and it was nice that my friend and her family all speak English very well — in fact, most Swedes speak a decent amount of English — because that helped my transition. My first bit of culture shock happened on the first Friday of my stay: Midsummer.

In Sweden, Midsummer (Midsommar) is one of the biggest celebrations of the year. Family and friends party all day, and they have unique traditions; they sing songs at the lunch feast, and continue the melodies throughout the night. Naturally, a horde of people came over to my friend’s house. It was really cool to meet some more Swedes, but I also felt a bit isolated and like an outsider for most of the day. This wasn’t intentional of course, but everyone just found it easier to communicate in their first language. The traditions were described to me in English, and every once in a while someone asked me a question in English, but other than that I mostly just sat silently and observed everyone. The day concluded with a sing-along around the table with a bunch of very drunk adults singing songs, and I didn't know any of the words. Despite the barrier I felt, I still had a very enjoyable time, and I even tried to sight read the lyrics from a website so I could join the sing-along.

I’ve now been in Sweden for 3 weeks, and while I still don’t usually understand what is going on, I’ve learned so many interesting things by observing different aspects of Swedish life. I have therefore decided to compile a list of what I have learned so far about Sweden.

Eleven of my observations of Sweden and Swedish people from my personal experience:

1. They drink A LOT of coffee and every afternoon around 3pm we stop for a coffee/tea break.
2. Everyone here is very fit, and they work out a lot.
3. They have a really great public transportation system, and even though I am staying in the small town of Särö, we can still easily get to the bigger towns and cities with just a quick bus ride.
4. Many people have “Summer Houses” (similar to beach houses in the U.S.) where they spend their summer vacation. I’m going to one next week!
5. Everyone I’ve come across, especially the people in Stockholm, has been very well dressed. It makes it easy to spot the tourists.
6. Instead of a million ads on TV for different medications, the Swedes have a million ads on TV for casino apps.
7. They don’t like peanut butter. ~gasp~
8. I have not seen a single bag of Swedish Fish yet.
9. Most people in the countryside have a flag pole, but you can only fly the Swedish flag on certain days of the year, so most of the time it is just an empty pole.
10. IKEA is actually pretty big here.
11. Homemade Swedish meatballs are the food of the gods.

Along with these observations, I have learned a bit about the history of Sweden, something I didn't know much about thanks to my Americentric education. I have also learned to identify some Swedish words, and I even ordered my own food yesterday...in Swedish! This has been a really fun and interesting adventure so far, and I will be forever grateful to my friend and her family for sharing their lives with me for the past few weeks and the next few to come. Never be afraid to try something new if you have the opportunity; you never know what kind of fun experiences you will have! Don't let something like the fear of a language barrier — or uncertainty about being far away from home — stop you from adventuring and living your life to the fullest.