Ironically, my British husband had more snow days than me (Swedish) growing up, but they had never had enough snow to make a snow man! Fun fact: the only snow day I know of in parts of Sweden was 17 November 1995. A blizzard hit overnight and we had to basically dig out our own front door to get out. It was a Friday, so we got a long weekend. That was the only time that I know of. Even my parents couldn't get to work, the whole family stayed home.
That day was dope. Me and my 8 year old buddies jumped from the second story of my apartment building down into this huge pile of snow again and again. Later we also dug a cave out in this huuuget pile made by the snow ploughs. Super dangerous, but man was it fun!
I came to the US after years of living in Europe (not Sweden). One of the first things I noticed is when shopping, people say "excuse me" when passing 5 or even 10 meters in front of me!! They aren't even remotely close to me or are "squeezing by" and they still say it! My fiance and I constantly laugh at this and we find it absolutely bizarre! 😆
I have to say and Im born In sweden though Im 50% Swedish 50% Croatian, that I dont NOT talk to people, I talk to people that I see/feel want to talk. And that other thing about saying excuse me, I do it 100% of the time, that's just about if you have been raised to be decent human.. And my experience is that others do it to. Maybe not the younger people as much though.. But I would say at least 75% of them do it as well In my experience. Maybe it's because I live in Sweden's most friendly city Göteborg 😊👍. About the Restaurant service in Sweden. It's not that it's good or bad service, it's just a different culture. In Sweden we DO NOT want to be disturbed unnecessary by a waiter, checking every min or so asking if everything is ok or if we need something else.. That's just rude.. If We need something we will ask for the waiter.. But good video Andrew, I just have one complaint for you... Post more often ffs! hehe 😎😎✌✌
Hi, I am a Swede and I wonder if the "excuse me" is a generation thing? I might be wrong, but I am 40+ and most of the time I excuse myself if I have to pass people in a close proximity. And I semi agree with the "talking to strangers". A Swede usually doesn't stop to talk with a stranger or say hi just because. But I feel that most people would still be polite and answer back or even continue talking to some one who started the conversation, we are typically not the first one to start the conversation though. I live with a very extrovert husband, so thanks to him I have met some interesting and fun people both abroad and here in Sweden, cause he always start a conversation wherever he goes. And I also semi agree with the restaurant service. But I also think that it is a cultural thing. In the US you depend on the tip you get, hence a better service should provide a better tip. So a waiter in the US will probably come to you table and ask if you need anything more often then a Swedish waiter. In Sweden tip is not required and so I feel it is a more, waiters do not want to disturbe to much and will only come if asked for. A Swede might look at the service a US waiter provides as a bit fake, you know to get more tip, cause we don't need a waiter coming every 10 min asking us if everything is ok and if we need anything. I agree that the service is better in the US, but a Swede might look at the reason for this in a different way. The best service I have ever had is hands down Japan, with no tip involved. Linköping has a lot of restaurants, but we need a better variety.
I didnt talk to strangers. And I was super shy, didnt help. Then, 2014-2018, I was a taxi driver (in Stockholm). Now I talk to strangers. No problem at all. 😀
Oh man I'm sorry to hear that you talk less to strangers. I love the super extrovert american colleagues coming to visit the office, you guys are hilarious!
Also full of Swedes? Or was that another state? There is a famous book series about moving to America in the 1800s (utvandrarna), also made into a musical and movies.
@@Maverick811001 Found this: "Swedish Americans have a significant presence in several states, with Minnesota having the highest number of Swedish Americans at 402,715 or 7.04% of the state's population."
1: I've only been to the US once, but I really enjoyed talking to random people. Everyone was so polite and nice! Here, I'd rather cross the street to avoid meeting someone I actually know and have to talk with them. 2: Snow days? What the heck, I'd prefer a "sun day" off when the temperature is above 20 deg C. Put some clothes on! Way more socially acceptable than walking around naked because it's too hot outside. 3: Totally agree. One of few things that's better here :D 4: You seem like a perfectly nice person, but have you seen all the other people riding the bus/train/subway? Jesus. I'd rather hang myself before putting me through the ordeal of riidng with those people. 5. Totally agree. The restaurant experience is waaaay better in the US. Even in less expensive places, the service is impeccable. At least that's my experience from living almost solely on restaurant food for a month. Great video, thanks for sharing :)
I am a Swedish person and one time in United States there was a guy that was going by people and he was saying "excuse me" so many times, to like every person. I thought it was a bit funny.
I've followed you on youtube for a while and I have to say, this is certainly one of your best - the tempo, the rhetorical manner, the substance... 👌🏼 I think one of the best things with you in this forum is that you seem to be totally yourself, the Real Thing - excellent. Although you seem to have picked up some harsh smoky brandy voice I haven't heard before. As an estethic lady I would wish you had something nicer behind your shoulder to watch as we watch you talking. But on the other hand, thanx for sharing your space as it is, without being styled. ■ When it comes to restaurant experiences, I'd say, Linköping doesn't offer any particulary great places to eat I think. Check up the 3 biggest towns in Sweden for that: Stockholm, Göteborg/ Guthenburgh & Malmö.
LOL. During my six years in Swedish middle school and high school, we had one snow day. I grew up in Varberg, Halland. And, I hated that we always had to go outside in elementary school. That was an awful experience in the winter.
I bet everything I have (in my pocket) that 99% of all Swedes would hate the "service" they get in America. It's way too much disturbing for us. People from Sweden love the fact that the people who work in the restaurant let them enjoy their restaurant without constant interruptions from the staff. (It makes us feel like they are saying this between the lines "Buy something from me or leave, you've already been here too long, right?!") That's not service to us. So yes, Andrew, I'm sorry. You do want to be pampered with, you actually interpret that as a grade of your importance on a subconscious and vice versa. (If you don't get it you feel neglected, it's like you think they don't give you the recognition you deserve.) To me however this type of behavior of the staff is a big no, no and it will affect their tip. Stay the heck away until I give to a sign and then come probably. (In Sweden they actually do exacly this if you know what to communicate correctly. )
My last experience was a month ago. My partner was served her food 15 minutes before my food came. This is the 10th time it's happened to me in Sweden. Come on!!! that's basic service 101. You feed everyone at the same time. I worked in the restaurant industry for 8 years. There is a way to do it. 1. Drink orders 2. Brings drinks 3. Take food order 4. Bring food 5. Ask if anything is needed with the meal and if it's ok. 6. Ask if you need another drink when one is empty. 7. Give bill when food is done. It's not hard and I will always disagree with Swedes on this one. I think people just accept bad service in Sweden
@@AndrewAustin No Abdew. We really don't like bad service. It's just that we have different values on good and bad in this case. For example. I hate if "you" would come over and ask if I need something more to drink just because my glass seems to be close to empty. (We might be in a really private conversation, right?!) Stay away until I give the signal. Trust me, the staff sees me (and you) and going to come within 30 seconds. On that note. Have no idea where you get that problem you talking about. Sure, I was waiting for 45 minutes 30 years ago (we still laugh about the fact that we stayed) but usually... I never need to wait more than 2-3 minutes at the most. On those occasions, they always agnologe me from the first second (and I can see that they talking to another table, while I wait.) In the US people who need me to pay their salary with my tip run circles around me (pampering me if you will) in the same situation before I am able to take my seat. Understand two things. 1. Your culture has created a need within you that demands this level of pampering for you to feel fulfilled. (You just don't know it.) 2. The only reason you get this over-the-top service is because the "employer" doesn't pay more than a fraction of their salary. (We don't want that system here. I rather wait until they have time, usually somewhere between 1 to 7-8 minutes.) I admit that my view also has a cultural component (NO, it's not that we are used to bad service) It's the fact that we are more private and like our experience in the restaurant to feel the same (private) with a prompt service. (It just that prompts to me depends on the situation. If I am going to go to a sports bar I don't expect to be able to stubble in 3 minutes before the game, place my order, and get it before the game starts. (Far from it.) I know that's the busiest time and that going to take longer time than normal. To me, that's not bad service, it's bad planning on my part. No employer can afford to pay staff plenty of extra staff just to accommodate people who can't arrive 15 minutes before the game (The time they need to take your order, prepare your food, and serve it.) As a former business owner who worked my way up from the floor, I actually know all the parts you need to get right to be able to run a successful restaurant/nightclub in Sweden. (If you have the waiting time you're talking about you won't survive.) That is if you don't have a monopoly in a certain area. Otherwise, people just show their opinions with their feet. (They never return.) With that said. Respect your opinion. Agree to disagree?!
yeah.. the "service" you get in usa feels fake and disingenuous... perhaps because they rely on tipping and with no worker rights or social net, are in a constant state of fear of losing their jobs
@@AndrewAustin This has never happened to me in my 30+years of living in Sweden. Must be a ........köping thing ;) (don't remember where you live) Though I think food quality sucks in most sthlm restaurants if you're not willing to splurge.
I would like to see a video about everyday life in Sweden. Like a "reality" show with a real family that you know personally. Your opinions and those of other videographers are interesting but I'd like to have a sneak peek at a Swedish family doing their daily routine. My mother lived there in her youth and although times have changed, I'm sure some of the customs and traditions are the same. Even a session at a restaurant or a bar would be refreshing and informative. Just a thought of some new material to consider.
I actually experienced a "snow day" in Linköping, some day in the mid-90s. But that was a full on snow storm. I studied at the University back then, and I took the car to go to the lecture. The wind was so fierce that the snow blocked the roads just a few meters behind the snow ploughs, and the only way to not get stuck was to carry enough speed so tha car could power through the snow walls. Which sometimes made the car go a bit sideways. When I finally arrived at the University I realized I was the only one who had made it, and there was no lecture. When it comes to public transportation I think the US has a HUGE urban sprawl problem. Getting usable public transportation is almost impossible when cities are as spread out as many American cities, and the only thing that kinda works is cars. And it only kinda works, I hear about crumbling infrastructure all the time, which is basically a result of having cities that are too spread out, which results in too much infrastructure per household. Unfortunately Sweden is just marginally better, with large parts of many cities being too spread out to be sustainable.
I dont know if its just me or if its my hometown. I live in Gothenburg and I constantly ends up talking with strangers, and often times its people starting to talk with me.
I kind of disagree with you on the costumers service and restaurants part. Having lives in Scandinavia my whole life (Denmark to specific), I’ve always felt that our restaurant culture pretty good. While waiters and waitresses here are not going above and beyond, they are certainly helpful and polite in most places. I think this is at least partly due to tipping being seen as a nice gesture, not a must, and the fact that the staff are actually paid a living wage. When I was in the States, I found dining out less relaxing than it is here. In large part due to the tipping culture, and the staff trying to impress to get a tip. So whole service here may not be glamorous, it’s certainly sufficient and relaxed. Just as it should be.
Wait, wuuuut? If you’ve got better insurance in the US, you get seen faster than someone who’s more ill but doesn’t have great insurance? That’s actually really sad. I’m Canadian and our system is FAR from perfect, but I’m glad that I don’t have to worry that I’m gonna be getting slower treatment compared to someone who has more money.
The funny thing with snow days now is that since the pandemic, a lot of schools has switched to having virtual days instead of snow days (at least where I live in the Midwest)
I think you are pretty spot on. Except maybe regarding the restaurant service. I mean, you are right, but I feel that US service usually is a bit too much. Probably a cultural thing . I do miss NY and LA street food though. Maybe not the sometimes explosive consequences, but the taste :)
Andrew do you miss all the hormones and other supposed things in US fast foods and Supermarkets that wasnt meant for the human stomach when you was livining the US? Quality of food is way better in Sweden and Europe in general don't you agree?🤔🙄
Take a Buger king wooper compare it here to what is served in US resturants. Don't you see a difference? Do you think US restaurants are better than Swedish restaurants? Just wondering?
@@snnetwork8420US restaurants are usually amazing, and there's an insane variety of types of food, too. A huge part of the culture in the US is going out to eat often, like upwards of 4 times a week for some (especially midwestern) families. Of course we still have the garbage restaurants, too, like Burger King. But you don't go to those for real food, you go to those for cheap fake food (which is sometimes exactly what the stomach wants). I think a lot of Europeans come to the US and visit the stuff they're familiar with, which is usually chain restaurants that are indeed much worse quality in the US than Europe. But those chain restaurants are bad because that's the niche they fill in the US because they couldn't hope to compare to even the most middling sit-down restaurants. If you're ever in the US, make sure to ask locals where to eat. Don't go to Burger King expecting a real burger-they don't make those, and nobody wants them to.
@@glowerworm Studied in the US for 4 years in WA. Was appalled by the food there. Americans don't really know about real food since they usually dont travel outside the US and been brainwashed by the media there that US is a food heaven. Good food comes when its freshly served which many resturants fail to do - mainly due to greed and thinking only about the profits. I am sure there are some resturants that are good but overall its very low quality stuff over there. Trust me but I guess everybody enjoy their backyard more and used to the food they grow up with.👍😉
I often hear what you say about Swedes not talking to strangers. I know that my UK customers has often said that I am different from other Swedes, but I feel like a typical Swede. I have no problem to talk to strangers. If I sit in an airliner alone and the person next to me does not want to pick up a conversation I feel that that person is pretty boring and overly introvert. I have a tendencey to concider a new aquaintence a friend long beforer that person considers me a friend, That goes also for people from other countries and not only other Swedes. I also hate snow and cold weather, pickled herring, cured salmon and I would never ever dream of trying fermented herring. I also do not appreciate snapps at all. It is not totally discusting and revolting like wiskey and brandy, but still it has no attraction for me. I also really do not like coffey at all. I cannot for my life understand why something as discussing is so popular. Swedes are otherwise the second highest consumer of coffey after the finns. That perhaps pretty much summarise why my english customers consider me different as the sterothypical Swede is supposed to like all of those things. And also not talk to strangers. I do agree to the service level in restaurants in general in Sweden. I would not say in all Swedish restaurants. There is a restaurant verry close to where I live. The location is great. It sits on stilts out in lake Mälaren. Therefore the view is great. The restaurant has often changed hands as they do not seem to survive long. Often the food it self has been good but certainly not the service. They tend to employ young, inexperienced and most likely cheap waitresses. At the worst occasion we even left the restaurant whithout even having been seviced at all. When we told them that we are leaving due to no service there was pretty much no reaction. A complete disaster. Anyone ever engaged in sales would know that the way you handle complaints is one of the most important things for repeat sales. I do not claim this is a general complaint but the tendancy I see is that restaurants seems to preffer to employ young and inexperienced personnell. This is a shame for anyone who is themselves used to be a customer in a restaqurant knows how a customer wants to be treated. Sometimes I feel that if I would start a restaurant I would knock the competion out of their socks. But perhaps that is a bit unfair. There are also good restaurants if you can just find them.
I’m a Brazilian (married with a Swedish woman) and living here for 2 years after being living in UK for 15 years where I met my wife, and I couldn’t agree more with this video. I definitely love Sweden but their weak points (in my point of view) is: 1) - Bad customer service, especially in restaurants. 2) - If you are foreigner and call to complain (even politely) to any public service they treat you as they are doing a “favour” for you, so you shouldn’t complain. Unfortunately for the most of Swedes immigrants and refugees are in the same bowl. The most of times I need to mention that I’m also a tax payer and not a “parasite”! 3) - If you accidentally break an equipment or just got problems, buy a new one! In Sweden is almost a joke the price to fix stuff. It happened with my bicycle and I had to buy a new one because the difference of price to fix or buy a new one was nonsense. 4) - If you are a man and foreigner you are definitely the target in Sweden, so be careful even when you smile to your Swedish female working colleagues, because they may use their feminism authority power to acuse you of harassment in case if you have any professional argument. It happened with me, so I need to act like a robot at my work.
No 4 - that's sad to hear. I'm sure you just work in a dysfunctional workspace. I'd say keep on smiling and be nice and yourself - Swedish women and men just want to be treated as brothers and sisters, unless one of them is your lover.
I have had a "snowday" once in my life in Swe, it was during high school in 2009 or 10.. But it was because we got like 1.5 meters (5 feet in American) of snow over night.. so it was a freak event.. It wasn't announced that the school-day was off, you just looked out the window and assumed (well their is no fucking way)
I would probobly say that resturants USE to be more expensive in Sweden than in the US. And well to a degree, its depends on where you are. If you are in a large city there is a wider spectrum of restaurants, if you are in a town, there is only cheap restaurants and fine dining. The fine dining is typically really expensive in Sweden. But the cheap restaurants are really not. And you can get real meals in the cheap restaurants (well depending on) that is generally pretty high quality. This is also something that need to be taken into account. There is less so processed food. Most of it is real, even at the cheapest of cheap restaurants. And with the enormous inflation in USA the last 2 years, i kind of thing its probobly cheaper in Sweden. Granted yes. wages is also quite a bit lower in Sweden and taxes are a bit higher.
Good video. I am a service coach at my company and it can be a real pain in the ass just to get my colleagues to greet and/or talk to the customers. Once they do, they do a great job. That’s really annoying when it comes to Swedish culture…
As a customer I appreciate not being talked to, unless I want some help. I hate when I'm just walking around in a store looking at things and someone asks if I need help. I'll ask for help if I need to, please leave me alone!
@@johnnyrosenberg9522 you seem like you have never interacted with a good service person before. If I walk into the same store every day and see the same people I would be really annoyed if no one said hello. Well each to his own I guess.
@@Bentzel75 I just have a different opinion on what a ”good service person” is. To me it's just someone who is there to help, but only if I ask for it. We are all different, I guess.
@@johnnyrosenberg9522 helping people who need help is basics of service. Making people feel welcome on the other hand creates a loyal customer. If someone looks like he wants to be left alone I won’t ask if he needs help, but I will say hello to anyone that meets my gaze. From the reaction to that hello I can almost instantly understand at what level that customer wants to be interacted with.
Great video. Two small defensive thoughts tough in the back of my head. 1 USD = 11 SEK makes most restaurants in US i horribly expensive after tax and tip. My US customer experience at McDonalds and Burger King has for the most part been intimidating “gangsta style” 😅😬😳
I think it's sad that you stoped talk to strangers and using the "excuse me" fraze when you're getting to close to strangers when passing, because that is some things I really like more with the US/UK culture then the Swedish (and I'm a swede). Still interesting subjects you put up in your videos. Keep it up bud.
Don't particularly agree with the last point. I've been quite a few times in the US as a Swede and the restaurant experience varies a lot, i also don't like the whole tip thing. If i see a price, that's what I expect to pay not 20% on top of it. Service being better in the USA also is questionable tbh. is the service actually better or is that you're used to the way the service is because you grew up there? I find that a lot of things are not better or worse, just different. It's preferences a lot of the time. My girlfriend lives in Florida, she's from there and she was over here in Sweden with me for 3 months earlier this year and that ruined food for her because she said the food tastes so much better here than in the US. Very interesting how it can be so different on some things.
So how cold and how much snow does it have to be for you to wanna have a snow-day? For me if it's -20C, then I refuse to be out for more than a couple of minutes.
I don't know how it is in Sweden but in Finland if it is more than -20 c we have school but children maybe can stay inside at the break. But this winter we had many days -20 and always had school.
@@olivialehti11 I live in southern Sweden so -20 is the coldest it gets. It might have been colder when I was a kid, but I never hade a ''snow-day''. The reason I don't like the -20 cold is because I'm hyper-sensitive so cold and wind is much more painful for me. And that a couple of years ago on Christmas my parent decided that we should walk for 30 minutes to my grandparents. It was -20C and I couldn't wear layers of clothes on or else I would be drenched in sweat during the celebration.
Honestly Swden has much better fruit and vegetables especially you can get a full box full of ecological stuff for 2 people for 2 weeks delivered home for 35 dollars on the other hand US desserts and barbecue on the 3 rd hand you can now get pretty darned decent mexican food in Sthlm ( fastfood variety) though more gourmet stuff US still wins not to talk about frozen yougurt but Sweden has much better Italian icecream.
You can't count Stockholm as the whole of Sweden. It isn't. Where i live we talk to strangers, we have snow, we have almost no deletes, we don't have movie theaters like you say either! And leave the city and you see the collective traffic isn't as good ad you think either, and our restaurants, even fast food restaurants,except McDonald! I think you need to go away from the city!
I don't live in Stockholm. Sure, if you are out of the city you may need a car, but it is not the same. Unless you live in LA, NYC, or maybe Chicago, you can't do anything without a car. You can still take public transportation almost anywhere, but yeah maybe you need a ride at the bus station if you live in Sweden.
Andrew did not say Sweden doesn´t have snow. He said Sweden doesn´t have snow days, which in US context means that your school is closed because of bad weather condition. You seems to have misunderstood what he said.
@@AndrewAustin If you don't live in the south, in a city or near the coast, which is most of Sweden, public transport sucks and you have to have a car, more than one if you're a family in most parts of Sweden, as soon as you come north of Stockholm and away from the coast you're lucky if you see more than 3 busses a day and two of those are for school runs, even school's have to order and pay for extra busses in many cases because public transport sucks. The US and Sweden isn't that different in this regard, the difference is the size of land mass so it seems like it's worse in the US but if you factor that in it's not really that different when it comes to needing a car, you're just plain wrong on this one man.
Customer Service in Sweden sucks. For about 10-15 years ago it was top notch but now the companies can't afford it and they don't care. They love to blame customers and even make rumors about bad customers so all employees know.
The content creators Tiktok I saw and was inspired by is @tripsandtraveltips
Ironically, my British husband had more snow days than me (Swedish) growing up, but they had never had enough snow to make a snow man!
Fun fact: the only snow day I know of in parts of Sweden was 17 November 1995. A blizzard hit overnight and we had to basically dig out our own front door to get out. It was a Friday, so we got a long weekend. That was the only time that I know of. Even my parents couldn't get to work, the whole family stayed home.
That day was dope.
Me and my 8 year old buddies jumped from the second story of my apartment building down into this huge pile of snow again and again. Later we also dug a cave out in this huuuget pile made by the snow ploughs. Super dangerous, but man was it fun!
I came to the US after years of living in Europe (not Sweden). One of the first things I noticed is when shopping, people say "excuse me" when passing 5 or even 10 meters in front of me!! They aren't even remotely close to me or are "squeezing by" and they still say it! My fiance and I constantly laugh at this and we find it absolutely bizarre! 😆
In Italy you can walk so close to people that you make them trip and they will say excuse me like it was their fault.
We often have way more personal space. Also we are armed so being polite is a safe thing.
I have to say and Im born In sweden though Im 50% Swedish 50% Croatian, that I dont NOT talk to people, I talk to people that I see/feel want to talk.
And that other thing about saying excuse me, I do it 100% of the time, that's just about if you have been raised to be decent human.. And my experience is that others do it to. Maybe not the younger people as much though.. But I would say at least 75% of them do it as well In my experience. Maybe it's because I live in Sweden's most friendly city Göteborg 😊👍.
About the Restaurant service in Sweden. It's not that it's good or bad service, it's just a different culture. In Sweden we DO NOT want to be disturbed unnecessary by a waiter, checking every min or so asking if everything is ok or if we need something else.. That's just rude.. If We need something we will ask for the waiter..
But good video Andrew, I just have one complaint for you... Post more often ffs! hehe 😎😎✌✌
Goteborg is pretty friendly.
Hi, I am a Swede and I wonder if the "excuse me" is a generation thing? I might be wrong, but I am 40+ and most of the time I excuse myself if I have to pass people in a close proximity. And I semi agree with the "talking to strangers". A Swede usually doesn't stop to talk with a stranger or say hi just because. But I feel that most people would still be polite and answer back or even continue talking to some one who started the conversation, we are typically not the first one to start the conversation though. I live with a very extrovert husband, so thanks to him I have met some interesting and fun people both abroad and here in Sweden, cause he always start a conversation wherever he goes. And I also semi agree with the restaurant service. But I also think that it is a cultural thing. In the US you depend on the tip you get, hence a better service should provide a better tip. So a waiter in the US will probably come to you table and ask if you need anything more often then a Swedish waiter. In Sweden tip is not required and so I feel it is a more, waiters do not want to disturbe to much and will only come if asked for. A Swede might look at the service a US waiter provides as a bit fake, you know to get more tip, cause we don't need a waiter coming every 10 min asking us if everything is ok and if we need anything. I agree that the service is better in the US, but a Swede might look at the reason for this in a different way. The best service I have ever had is hands down Japan, with no tip involved. Linköping has a lot of restaurants, but we need a better variety.
As a Swede, the ability to talk to strangers anywhere as if they are old friends is something I love about the American culture. 😊
Yes! And smiling at strangers without them thinking you're off your rocker!
I didnt talk to strangers. And I was super shy, didnt help. Then, 2014-2018, I was a taxi driver (in Stockholm). Now I talk to strangers. No problem at all. 😀
Oh man I'm sorry to hear that you talk less to strangers. I love the super extrovert american colleagues coming to visit the office, you guys are hilarious!
Here in rural out-state MN, we order movie tickets online and choose our seats.
Minnesota also has lunches for all school students. They are ahead of a lot of states as far as innovation.
Also full of Swedes? Or was that another state? There is a famous book series about moving to America in the 1800s (utvandrarna), also made into a musical and movies.
@@Maverick811001 Found this:
"Swedish Americans have a significant presence in several states, with Minnesota having the highest number of Swedish Americans at 402,715 or 7.04% of the state's population."
1: I've only been to the US once, but I really enjoyed talking to random people. Everyone was so polite and nice! Here, I'd rather cross the street to avoid meeting someone I actually know and have to talk with them.
2: Snow days? What the heck, I'd prefer a "sun day" off when the temperature is above 20 deg C. Put some clothes on! Way more socially acceptable than walking around naked because it's too hot outside.
3: Totally agree. One of few things that's better here :D
4: You seem like a perfectly nice person, but have you seen all the other people riding the bus/train/subway? Jesus. I'd rather hang myself before putting me through the ordeal of riidng with those people.
5. Totally agree. The restaurant experience is waaaay better in the US. Even in less expensive places, the service is impeccable. At least that's my experience from living almost solely on restaurant food for a month.
Great video, thanks for sharing :)
I am a Swedish person and one time in United States there was a guy that was going by people and he was saying "excuse me" so many times, to like every person. I thought it was a bit funny.
I've followed you on youtube for a while and I have to say, this is certainly one of your best - the tempo, the rhetorical manner, the substance... 👌🏼 I think one of the best things with you in this forum is that you seem to be totally yourself, the Real Thing - excellent. Although you seem to have picked up some harsh smoky brandy voice I haven't heard before. As an estethic lady I would wish you had something nicer behind your shoulder to watch as we watch you talking. But on the other hand, thanx for sharing your space as it is, without being styled.
■ When it comes to restaurant experiences, I'd say, Linköping doesn't offer any particulary great places to eat I think. Check up the 3 biggest towns in Sweden for that: Stockholm, Göteborg/ Guthenburgh & Malmö.
Thanks for the kind words. I was sick the week before so that's why I have a smokey voice
@@AndrewAustin Bless you!
LOL. During my six years in Swedish middle school and high school, we had one snow day. I grew up in Varberg, Halland. And, I hated that we always had to go outside in elementary school. That was an awful experience in the winter.
I bet everything I have (in my pocket) that 99% of all Swedes would hate the "service" they get in America. It's way too much disturbing for us. People from Sweden love the fact that the people who work in the restaurant let them enjoy their restaurant without constant interruptions from the staff. (It makes us feel like they are saying this between the lines "Buy something from me or leave, you've already been here too long, right?!")
That's not service to us.
So yes, Andrew, I'm sorry. You do want to be pampered with, you actually interpret that as a grade of your importance on a subconscious and vice versa. (If you don't get it you feel neglected, it's like you think they don't give you the recognition you deserve.)
To me however this type of behavior of the staff is a big no, no and it will affect their tip.
Stay the heck away until I give to a sign and then come probably. (In Sweden they actually do exacly this if you know what to communicate correctly. )
My last experience was a month ago.
My partner was served her food 15 minutes before my food came. This is the 10th time it's happened to me in Sweden.
Come on!!! that's basic service 101.
You feed everyone at the same time.
I worked in the restaurant industry for 8 years. There is a way to do it.
1. Drink orders
2. Brings drinks
3. Take food order
4. Bring food
5. Ask if anything is needed with the meal and if it's ok.
6. Ask if you need another drink when one is empty.
7. Give bill when food is done.
It's not hard and I will always disagree with Swedes on this one. I think people just accept bad service in Sweden
@@AndrewAustin No Abdew. We really don't like bad service. It's just that we have different values on good and bad in this case.
For example. I hate if "you" would come over and ask if I need something more to drink just because my glass seems to be close to empty. (We might be in a really private conversation, right?!) Stay away until I give the signal. Trust me, the staff sees me (and you) and going to come within 30 seconds.
On that note. Have no idea where you get that problem you talking about. Sure, I was waiting for 45 minutes 30 years ago (we still laugh about the fact that we stayed) but usually... I never need to wait more than 2-3 minutes at the most. On those occasions, they always agnologe me from the first second (and I can see that they talking to another table, while I wait.)
In the US people who need me to pay their salary with my tip run circles around me (pampering me if you will) in the same situation before I am able to take my seat.
Understand two things.
1. Your culture has created a need within you that demands this level of pampering for you to feel fulfilled. (You just don't know it.)
2. The only reason you get this over-the-top service is because the "employer" doesn't pay more than a fraction of their salary. (We don't want that system here. I rather wait until they have time, usually somewhere between 1 to 7-8 minutes.)
I admit that my view also has a cultural component (NO, it's not that we are used to bad service) It's the fact that we are more private and like our experience in the restaurant to feel the same (private) with a prompt service. (It just that prompts to me depends on the situation.
If I am going to go to a sports bar I don't expect to be able to stubble in 3 minutes before the game, place my order, and get it before the game starts. (Far from it.)
I know that's the busiest time and that going to take longer time than normal. To me, that's not bad service, it's bad planning on my part.
No employer can afford to pay staff plenty of extra staff just to accommodate people who can't arrive 15 minutes before the game (The time they need to take your order, prepare your food, and serve it.)
As a former business owner who worked my way up from the floor, I actually know all the parts you need to get right to be able to run a successful restaurant/nightclub in Sweden. (If you have the waiting time you're talking about you won't survive.) That is if you don't have a monopoly in a certain area. Otherwise, people just show their opinions with their feet. (They never return.)
With that said. Respect your opinion. Agree to disagree?!
yeah.. the "service" you get in usa feels fake and disingenuous... perhaps because they rely on tipping and with no worker rights or social net, are in a constant state of fear of losing their jobs
@@AndrewAustin This has never happened to me in my 30+years of living in Sweden. Must be a ........köping thing ;) (don't remember where you live)
Though I think food quality sucks in most sthlm restaurants if you're not willing to splurge.
I would like to see a video about everyday life in Sweden. Like a "reality" show with a real family that you know personally. Your opinions and those of other videographers are interesting but I'd like to have a sneak peek at a Swedish family doing their daily routine. My mother lived there in her youth and although times have changed, I'm sure some of the customs and traditions are the same. Even a session at a restaurant or a bar would be refreshing and informative. Just a thought of some new material to consider.
I actually experienced a "snow day" in Linköping, some day in the mid-90s. But that was a full on snow storm. I studied at the University back then, and I took the car to go to the lecture. The wind was so fierce that the snow blocked the roads just a few meters behind the snow ploughs, and the only way to not get stuck was to carry enough speed so tha car could power through the snow walls. Which sometimes made the car go a bit sideways. When I finally arrived at the University I realized I was the only one who had made it, and there was no lecture.
When it comes to public transportation I think the US has a HUGE urban sprawl problem. Getting usable public transportation is almost impossible when cities are as spread out as many American cities, and the only thing that kinda works is cars. And it only kinda works, I hear about crumbling infrastructure all the time, which is basically a result of having cities that are too spread out, which results in too much infrastructure per household. Unfortunately Sweden is just marginally better, with large parts of many cities being too spread out to be sustainable.
I dont know if its just me or if its my hometown. I live in Gothenburg and I constantly ends up talking with strangers, and often times its people starting to talk with me.
I kind of disagree with you on the costumers service and restaurants part.
Having lives in Scandinavia my whole life (Denmark to specific), I’ve always felt that our restaurant culture pretty good.
While waiters and waitresses here are not going above and beyond, they are certainly helpful and polite in most places. I think this is at least partly due to tipping being seen as a nice gesture, not a must, and the fact that the staff are actually paid a living wage. When I was in the States, I found dining out less relaxing than it is here. In large part due to the tipping culture, and the staff trying to impress to get a tip.
So whole service here may not be glamorous, it’s certainly sufficient and relaxed. Just as it should be.
Wait, wuuuut? If you’ve got better insurance in the US, you get seen faster than someone who’s more ill but doesn’t have great insurance? That’s actually really sad. I’m Canadian and our system is FAR from perfect, but I’m glad that I don’t have to worry that I’m gonna be getting slower treatment compared to someone who has more money.
The funny thing with snow days now is that since the pandemic, a lot of schools has switched to having virtual days instead of snow days (at least where I live in the Midwest)
Teacher Shortage
I think you are pretty spot on. Except maybe regarding the restaurant service. I mean, you are right, but I feel that US service usually is a bit too much. Probably a cultural thing .
I do miss NY and LA street food though. Maybe not the sometimes explosive consequences, but the taste :)
Andrew do you miss all the hormones and other supposed things in US fast foods and Supermarkets that wasnt meant for the human stomach when you was livining the US? Quality of food is way better in Sweden and Europe in general don't you agree?🤔🙄
Take a Buger king wooper compare it here to what is served in US resturants. Don't you see a difference? Do you think US restaurants are better than Swedish restaurants? Just wondering?
@@snnetwork8420US restaurants are usually amazing, and there's an insane variety of types of food, too. A huge part of the culture in the US is going out to eat often, like upwards of 4 times a week for some (especially midwestern) families.
Of course we still have the garbage restaurants, too, like Burger King. But you don't go to those for real food, you go to those for cheap fake food (which is sometimes exactly what the stomach wants).
I think a lot of Europeans come to the US and visit the stuff they're familiar with, which is usually chain restaurants that are indeed much worse quality in the US than Europe. But those chain restaurants are bad because that's the niche they fill in the US because they couldn't hope to compare to even the most middling sit-down restaurants.
If you're ever in the US, make sure to ask locals where to eat. Don't go to Burger King expecting a real burger-they don't make those, and nobody wants them to.
@@glowerworm Studied in the US for 4 years in WA. Was appalled by the food there. Americans don't really know about real food since they usually dont travel outside the US and been brainwashed by the media there that US is a food heaven. Good food comes when its freshly served which many resturants fail to do - mainly due to greed and thinking only about the profits. I am sure there are some resturants that are good but overall its very low quality stuff over there. Trust me but I guess everybody enjoy their backyard more and used to the food they grow up with.👍😉
@@glowerworm but not gonna lie did like taco bell and mcdonalds. Also In and out and chipotle looks as a good time as well.👍😉
I often hear what you say about Swedes not talking to strangers.
I know that my UK customers has often said that I am different from other Swedes, but I feel like a typical Swede.
I have no problem to talk to strangers.
If I sit in an airliner alone and the person next to me does not want to pick up a conversation I feel that that person is pretty boring and overly introvert.
I have a tendencey to concider a new aquaintence a friend long beforer that person considers me a friend,
That goes also for people from other countries and not only other Swedes.
I also hate snow and cold weather, pickled herring, cured salmon and I would never ever dream of trying fermented herring.
I also do not appreciate snapps at all.
It is not totally discusting and revolting like wiskey and brandy, but still it has no attraction for me.
I also really do not like coffey at all.
I cannot for my life understand why something as discussing is so popular.
Swedes are otherwise the second highest consumer of coffey after the finns.
That perhaps pretty much summarise why my english customers consider me different as the sterothypical Swede is supposed to like all of those things.
And also not talk to strangers.
I do agree to the service level in restaurants in general in Sweden.
I would not say in all Swedish restaurants.
There is a restaurant verry close to where I live.
The location is great.
It sits on stilts out in lake Mälaren.
Therefore the view is great.
The restaurant has often changed hands as they do not seem to survive long.
Often the food it self has been good but certainly not the service.
They tend to employ young, inexperienced and most likely cheap waitresses.
At the worst occasion we even left the restaurant whithout even having been seviced at all.
When we told them that we are leaving due to no service there was pretty much no reaction.
A complete disaster.
Anyone ever engaged in sales would know that the way you handle complaints is one of the most important things for repeat sales.
I do not claim this is a general complaint but the tendancy I see is that restaurants seems to preffer to employ young and inexperienced personnell.
This is a shame for anyone who is themselves used to be a customer in a restaqurant knows how a customer wants to be treated.
Sometimes I feel that if I would start a restaurant I would knock the competion out of their socks.
But perhaps that is a bit unfair.
There are also good restaurants if you can just find them.
But we do have snow days, we just have another definition of what bad weather is...
I live in DK. I dumped my car 20 years ago. Best “investment” I ever have done.
snow days in Scandinavia...lol.. you'd miss several months of school every year then
I’m a Brazilian (married with a Swedish woman) and living here for 2 years after being living in UK for 15 years where I met my wife, and I couldn’t agree more with this video. I definitely love Sweden but their weak points (in my point of view) is:
1) - Bad customer service, especially in restaurants.
2) - If you are foreigner and call to complain (even politely) to any public service they treat you as they are doing a “favour” for you, so you shouldn’t complain. Unfortunately for the most of Swedes immigrants and refugees are in the same bowl. The most of times I need to mention that I’m also a tax payer and not a “parasite”!
3) - If you accidentally break an equipment or just got problems, buy a new one! In Sweden is almost a joke the price to fix stuff. It happened with my bicycle and I had to buy a new one because the difference of price to fix or buy a new one was nonsense.
4) - If you are a man and foreigner you are definitely the target in Sweden, so be careful even when you smile to your Swedish female working colleagues, because they may use their feminism authority power to acuse you of harassment in case if you have any professional argument. It happened with me, so I need to act like a robot at my work.
No 4 - that's sad to hear. I'm sure you just work in a dysfunctional workspace. I'd say keep on smiling and be nice and yourself - Swedish women and men just want to be treated as brothers and sisters, unless one of them is your lover.
I have had a "snowday" once in my life in Swe, it was during high school in 2009 or 10.. But it was because we got like 1.5 meters (5 feet in American) of snow over night.. so it was a freak event.. It wasn't announced that the school-day was off, you just looked out the window and assumed (well their is no fucking way)
Also, the movie theatres that have food and alkohol like Rigoletto or Capitol. I love it. :D
I lived in Copenhagen last year, they ride their bikes in both rainstorms and blizzards 😂😂😂
Movie theaters have assigned seats here in the USA after COVID.
You go Andrew 😁 Jag älskar att lyssna/se på dina "Things" !
Friendly strangers is the best part of American culture ❤️
I would probobly say that resturants USE to be more expensive in Sweden than in the US. And well to a degree, its depends on where you are.
If you are in a large city there is a wider spectrum of restaurants, if you are in a town, there is only cheap restaurants and fine dining. The fine dining is typically really expensive in Sweden. But the cheap restaurants are really not. And you can get real meals in the cheap restaurants (well depending on) that is generally pretty high quality.
This is also something that need to be taken into account. There is less so processed food. Most of it is real, even at the cheapest of cheap restaurants. And with the enormous inflation in USA the last 2 years, i kind of thing its probobly cheaper in Sweden. Granted yes. wages is also quite a bit lower in Sweden and taxes are a bit higher.
Good video. I am a service coach at my company and it can be a real pain in the ass just to get my colleagues to greet and/or talk to the customers. Once they do, they do a great job. That’s really annoying when it comes to Swedish culture…
As a customer I appreciate not being talked to, unless I want some help. I hate when I'm just walking around in a store looking at things and someone asks if I need help. I'll ask for help if I need to, please leave me alone!
@@johnnyrosenberg9522 you seem like you have never interacted with a good service person before. If I walk into the same store every day and see the same people I would be really annoyed if no one said hello. Well each to his own I guess.
@@Bentzel75 I just have a different opinion on what a ”good service person” is. To me it's just someone who is there to help, but only if I ask for it. We are all different, I guess.
@@johnnyrosenberg9522 helping people who need help is basics of service. Making people feel welcome on the other hand creates a loyal customer. If someone looks like he wants to be left alone I won’t ask if he needs help, but I will say hello to anyone that meets my gaze. From the reaction to that hello I can almost instantly understand at what level that customer wants to be interacted with.
Great video. Two small defensive thoughts tough in the back of my head. 1 USD = 11 SEK makes most restaurants in US i horribly expensive after tax and tip. My US customer experience at McDonalds and Burger King has for the most part been intimidating “gangsta style” 😅😬😳
I think it's sad that you stoped talk to strangers and using the "excuse me" fraze when you're getting to close to strangers when passing, because that is some things I really like more with the US/UK culture then the Swedish (and I'm a swede). Still interesting subjects you put up in your videos. Keep it up bud.
Have you been to Cloetta yet, if you live in Linköping?
Don't particularly agree with the last point. I've been quite a few times in the US as a Swede and the restaurant experience varies a lot, i also don't like the whole tip thing. If i see a price, that's what I expect to pay not 20% on top of it. Service being better in the USA also is questionable tbh. is the service actually better or is that you're used to the way the service is because you grew up there? I find that a lot of things are not better or worse, just different. It's preferences a lot of the time. My girlfriend lives in Florida, she's from there and she was over here in Sweden with me for 3 months earlier this year and that ruined food for her because she said the food tastes so much better here than in the US. Very interesting how it can be so different on some things.
The "Excuse me" when passing through is one up on the US!! I like that!!
So how cold and how much snow does it have to be for you to wanna have a snow-day?
For me if it's -20C, then I refuse to be out for more than a couple of minutes.
I don't know how it is in Sweden but in Finland if it is more than -20 c we have school but children maybe can stay inside at the break. But this winter we had many days -20 and always had school.
@@olivialehti11 I live in southern Sweden so -20 is the coldest it gets. It might have been colder when I was a kid, but I never hade a ''snow-day''.
The reason I don't like the -20 cold is because I'm hyper-sensitive so cold and wind is much more painful for me.
And that a couple of years ago on Christmas my parent decided that we should walk for 30 minutes to my grandparents. It was -20C and I couldn't wear layers of clothes on or else I would be drenched in sweat during the celebration.
I am Swedish and do not recognize myself in your claim that we are somehow reserved.
As a Swede i would have guessed that you missed the excessive amount of sugar in everything Americans eat or drink and disliked the saltyness
I wonder what you mean by saying the service is not as good as in the USA🤔Do you suggest that the waiter should put the food 🍲in your mouth 👄🤨
Honestly Swden has much better fruit and vegetables especially you can get a full box full of ecological stuff for 2 people for 2 weeks delivered home for 35 dollars on the other hand US desserts and barbecue on the 3 rd hand you can now get pretty darned decent mexican food in Sthlm ( fastfood variety) though more gourmet stuff US still wins not to talk about frozen yougurt but Sweden has much better Italian icecream.
You can't count Stockholm as the whole of Sweden. It isn't. Where i live we talk to strangers, we have snow, we have almost no deletes, we don't have movie theaters like you say either! And leave the city and you see the collective traffic isn't as good ad you think either, and our restaurants, even fast food restaurants,except McDonald! I think you need to go away from the city!
I don't live in Stockholm. Sure, if you are out of the city you may need a car, but it is not the same. Unless you live in LA, NYC, or maybe Chicago, you can't do anything without a car. You can still take public transportation almost anywhere, but yeah maybe you need a ride at the bus station if you live in Sweden.
Andrew did not say Sweden doesn´t have snow. He said Sweden doesn´t have snow days, which in US context means that your school is closed because of bad weather condition. You seems to have misunderstood what he said.
@@AndrewAustin If you don't live in the south, in a city or near the coast, which is most of Sweden, public transport sucks and you have to have a car, more than one if you're a family in most parts of Sweden, as soon as you come north of Stockholm and away from the coast you're lucky if you see more than 3 busses a day and two of those are for school runs, even school's have to order and pay for extra busses in many cases because public transport sucks. The US and Sweden isn't that different in this regard, the difference is the size of land mass so it seems like it's worse in the US but if you factor that in it's not really that different when it comes to needing a car, you're just plain wrong on this one man.
Hahaha…. what about all of the US 😂 Calm down ❤
My mom said it’s my time to get pinned
Strange talk,we always with stranger!Maybe you meet strange sweds😂😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣
😅💖
Of course - blame Sweden
like he said in the beginning of the video, this is supposed to be lighthearted and not to be taken seriously :D
Customer Service in Sweden sucks. For about 10-15 years ago it was top notch but now the companies can't afford it and they don't care. They love to blame customers and even make rumors about bad customers so all employees know.
You actually like steroidal meats? 😅