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[keenoled]

Glee owns my soul. No surprise there.
Last episode totally smashed my brain, too, and my crush on Chris Colfer has reached truly numbening heights. Like, youtube marathon stalking sessions heights. Where I sit and am adored by him putting on a really credible fake Russian accent with Cory or watch him swirl tiny swords around or just, seriously, the

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[anonymous]

I'm going to stop threading... the librarians' argument (I'll spare you the online geek-link) is ICELANDERS use the first name for their alpha filing -- like the phone book. Arnaldur Sweinsson = Arnold, son of Swein or whatever. My response is, yeah, that's great, but in the USA, 99.5% of anyone looking for a book by that author (ie anyone not Icelandic or a librarian) is going to look under SW and wonder why the hell it's not there.

Finns -- in the book the detective says Finnish murder rate is almost like US (I find that hard to believe?) but there's seldom a mystery because they get drunk and stab each other - husband, brother, friend. Also, I seem to recall that northern Sweden (where southern Swedes eyeroll about the accent, the people etc) is more "Finnish" -- has people who speak Finnish or Finns who've married Swedes, etc. I will say, though, that googling hot Finnish guys has produced some satisfying visuals. :)

I'll be honest, the entire drinking culture is foreign to me (NOT a criticism.) You see this in the UK as well -- public drunkenness among nicely dressed people is not unusual. Here it's much more frowned upon. Of course we have drinking problems and alcoholics etc., and drunk driving is a huge issue -- but public drunkenness per se is frowned upon as embarrassing. And it's illegal to drink in public places (on the street, in parks) in most places. Again, not judging - just seems so different to me. If I lived in a Nordic place my guess is I'd just get used to it.

Also, the smiling -- I read online (from Americans and others): that people in Sweden/Finland/Norway don't smile in public, don't smile at strangers, don't talk to people they don't know. I know that's a gross generalization - my guess is it's truer in some places than others. What do you think? Are Swedes in, say, Goteborg less "friendly" to strangers? Is this more a generational thing? Again, I know I'm generalizing grossly here. I live in an Eastern city famous for its unfriendliness but in smaller towns, folks are friendlier to strangers.

[keenoled]

Oh Icelanders, we used to do that too. Eight hundred years ago, that is.

I didn't know about the murder rates. Not surprised though... I did know that the number one cause of death in Finland is alcohol.

I haaate the public drunkenness. Dude, it's true, I didn't see much of it in the US! Saturday nights downtown? It's like the zombie apocalypse or something. Avoid avoid avoid.

It's true! I'm not very Swedish like, I do it all the time. Very seldom got a response until I moved to Gothenburg. That's why I stayed, Gothenburg isn't like the rest of Sweden. :) That's also why I adore UK and the US so much, I feel much more at home with all the spontaneous friendliness.
It's because we haven't caught up to the fact we're more populated countries yet. It used to be sparse on people, so when you never met strangers, of course you'd be shy and closed off. This goes to opening up as well, but once you've gotten a Scandinavian to open up, they're friends. That's confusing about Americans to us Swedes, you get a friendly talk and some intimacy, and then you realize it's a people trait, not an actual proof you've made a friend connection to last for all time, haha!
Gothenburg is super friendly, Malmö down south is friendly, Stockholm is so not (like Paris). Smaller towns, no, not so much. Hick shyness.

[septemberoses]

Why do you think there's so much drinking/drunkenness -- public or not. No, seriously. Again, not judging. Just the way it's done? Here... everyone drinks a lot in college (even tho they're still illegal, drinking age is 21!) but by the time you're in your mid-20s if you are still drinking that hard, people start to wonder what the problem is. Is it the weather? Social lubrication for shy people? Something else?

When I lived out west for awhile I had to get used to strangers being friendly (like in a queue) - the gut response is they're scamming you or crazy. Then you get used to how everyone will talk and smile to strangers. Then I moved home to the city and a friend here and I have a contest -- trying to get strangers to make eye contact and/or smile or say hi (if we say it first.) If I strike up a conversation with the person in line behind me at the store, they start looking around for security. :)

So.... how do you get a Scandinavian to open up? How do you know if you are friends? Is it just a slower process than in the states, or completely different? (And yes, in the US someone at dinner could tell you their life story, sober, and then never speak to you again.)

[keenoled]

Totally social lubrication. People here have a problem to let loose and just have fun, because someone might be WATCHING and JUDGING, but as long as you have the excuse you were drunk, everything's fine. Half the people you see acting drunk probably haven't even had more than half a beer or something. But yes, lots of people get really really drunk.
I dislike drunks, but I also really dislike people acting like they don't have to be held responsible for their actions when they know exactly what they're doing.
I know a lot of middle aged men who use their half glass of wine as an excuse to say nasty shit. And people will be all "don't pay him no mind, he's drunk" and I'm like Nuh-uh! He's just being an asshole!

That sounds like Stockholm! If you start talking to people there, they think you're high on something and slowly back away.

Scandinavians will open up pretty easily to Americans. We just don't get that it mostly means Americans are being friendly, we think a true connection's been made and we'll be friends forever and ever. :D
This is of course mostly in non-theatre communities. That's why I love where I'm at, with my artsy wacky bohemian friends. They're not like the norm Swede at all, they're more like Americans. :)

[septemberoses]

You may be the wrong person to ask, but then is American friendliness annoying? Like a puppy, maybe one straddling your leg in a too-friendly fashion? ;-P

[keenoled]

Seeing as I'm more American in my ways than anything else, I'd say no! I love it! You'll probably be able to find insecure frightened people who will whine about Americans not being genuine. Behind their backs, of course. In big brother's face, they'll just fawn.