Global Tales from Two Young Travelers

Globalization – English and the environment

By Jon Minor and Emily Reisch

There aren’t very many things that have really surprised us here in Sweden. Two of the things that have are that literally everyone speaks English and the huge concern for the environment.

This is the most comfortable foreign country we’ve ever been in. For one thing, it’s very safe. People leave their bikes unlocked outside and no one will touch them. There aren’t any homeless people – the government will provide housing and assistance to anyone who needs it. We haven’t seen a steering wheel lock on a car yet. In England, they lock their cars at all times, and everyone that we know has had someone try to break in at least once.

The fact that everyone speaks English makes it even more comfortable. English language classes are mandatory for Swedish students from about the age of 10. Most students we have met in their early twenties have had 10 years or more of English. Nearly everyone between the ages of 16 and 50 is very fluent.

Even the older generation speaks enough English to carry on a conversation. We were looking in a store window when an elderly lady said something to us in Swedish. Jon asked if she spoke English. She hardly paused and carefully pronounced, “A little. Can you read the price tag on that? Is it fifty-nine?”

Swedes love to speak English. We’ve heard it from several people and we’ve found it to be true. If we try to speak Swedish, they speak English as soon as they realize our Swedish conversational skills are limited. Most of the students we talk to apologize for their English, but we hardly notice that it’s their second language. We’re slightly embarrassed when they ask what other languages we speak.

The other international students are jealous because we don’t have to worry about our English, but we’re jealous because they’re all at least bilingual. Many speak a third or even fourth language. We are lucky our native tongue is quickly becoming a universal language.

Many of the TV shows are American with Swedish subtitles. The same goes for movies. American music and MTV also dominate the airwaves in Sweden.

Everything written is in Swedish though. This makes most things involving signs or reading more difficult. Which bus door opens, what we’re buying at the grocery store, how to set up our mobile phones… these are all instances where we’d have liked to have known a lot more Swedish.

Another surprising thing is how everything is recycled or made to preserve the environment. McDonald’s has thin cardboard containers for their sauces instead of the plastic ones we’re used to. The trashcans have a slot for Happy Meal boxes and cups to recycle the cardboard.

We have to buy bags at most stores to put our purchases in. After the second time having to pay for bags, we started remembering to reuse. It really cuts down on trash – how many Wal-Mart bags do you have under your sink?

We haven’t found milk in plastic jugs yet, only boxes. We pay a deposit for the plastic bottle every time we drink a Coke. There is an additional charge of 1 Swedish kroner (about one dime) that we receive back when we recycle it.

Everything also has a refill. From jelly to pickles, most food and soap items have a refill. It does make sense – why do we have to buy a new jar each time we run out of jelly?

Our washing machine takes two hours to go through the whole cycle. It’s about half the size of ours at home, and uses very little energy and water. One thing we definitely miss about home is a big washing machine and dryer.

Look for our next article - we’ll be writing about our adventures in the Arctic Circle.