Thursday 12 March 2009

Culture Shock & Cultural Differences

After 15 years in Sweden you would think I would have a pretty good notion of how things work in this country. Yet every time I find myself in a new situation it hits me that I spent the first 25 years of my life somewhere else and that these years still fundamentally form who I am and how I think.

Still, as time goes on it becomes more and more difficult to know exactly where the cultural differences lie. Is it just because it is a new situation? Is it a generational difference? Is it some other reason or is it because my frames-of-reference, my learnings, my experience - my culture, is of a different origin?

2 comments:

  1. Well, being born and bred here I still or rather more and more feel like a square peg trying to fit in a round hole - or more like a round peg trying to fit in a square hole actually - in certain situations.

    A few issues back in the magazine Damernas Värld there was a very interesting article about three Swedish women who had worked/lived abroad for many years/on and off and their stories when moving back here, their feelings towards Sweden and Swedes were really interesting. I could very much relate to most of it, which I'm not sure is an overall good thing if you don't like brooding to much over living in Sweden...

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  2. Pia it must be tough feeling like a round peg in a square hole in your own country and I'm sure yo are not alone. I missed that article but it sounds interesting - might see if I can find it online. Repatriation is a big challenge and I can't imagine how hard it would be to move home. I thought it was interesting to read this article recently published in NYTimes http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/10/business/10home.html?_r=3

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