Posts
Tonight, July 10, 2014, a new show airs in the U.S. called Welcome to Sweden. The premise is that an American Guy with a Swedish girlfriend moves to Stockholm and what ensues are all kinds of cultural clashes and amusing situations.
 |
| Here we are, in 1998, shortly after we moved to Sweden! Who would've guessed then that these two crazy "kids" would spend 16+ years of their life here!!! |
Of course, the stereo-typing is obvious but even so, we had to pause at times because we were on the floor laughing or rewind to watch a scene twice due to the reality depicted in the TV show! Some of it hit quite close to home!
So...now, a lot of our friends, who have either lived here or have some close affinity to Sweden, are posed and ready to watch tonight on NBC at 9.00/8.00 central time.
We are very curious about the US re-action so while the show airs, I'd like to have a running commentary on what you as viewers outside of Sweden thought was funny or confusing. I'd like to hear on this blog post in the comments section, your reactions to this show.
Since we are ahead of the US in time, it will be Friday morning before I see the reactions. I will re-watch the show through the wonders of a slingbox and comment on your comments!
Let's use this opportunity for a wonderful, while tongue in cheek perhaps, look at what it means to live another country! I will share my thoughts within a day of the show airing and tell you what I resonated with as someone who lived this sitcom in real life! It will be a great opportunity for us to engage in a cultural exchange!
I'm fascinated by Americans who want to live in Sweden. After having lived here for 16 years, there's not much fantasy about it, even if there are things that I find completely wonderful. But I am interested in what drives that desire to live here...and how watching this over the top, stereo-typical sitcom yet still has some truth in it sitcom either encourages that desire or causes you to wonder.
I look forward to the conversation!
I really do hope you enjoy Welcome to Sweden! I look forward to seeing it again!
Thanks for the reminder - I just set the DVR to record the series!
ReplyDeleteso curious about this show! will be watching for sure! Jorie
ReplyDeleteI loved it! I can't wait to see more. Best bit, 'why is he wearing those shorts'.
ReplyDeleteWe thought it was pretty funny. It definitely helps if you have been to Sweden or know some Swedes. Cute show, but all the commercials were super-annoying. I will watch it again.
ReplyDeleteI loved watching this tonight. It brought back lots of wonderful memories for me-the islands, the traditions,etc. It did, however, remind me of the difficulty of trying to settle in Sweden and learn the language, in particular. I was always asked if I spoke and/or understood the language. Despite years of lessons I could only read Swedish but not converse. No one was willing to listen to my "bad' Swedish and was not willing to help me out. Their feeling was that their English was better than my Swedish which was, of course, true but mine wasnt
ReplyDeletegoing to get better. The other issue that I remember, in relation to this episode, was that they all felt they understood American culture because they had watched many American movies. I had many conversations about how it was not appropriate to use 4 letter words in polite conversation even though those words were used repeatedly in movies. I heard often, 12 year olds using the "f" or "s" word (in English) since they had heard it American movies. They wouldn't use the equivalent words in Swedish because that wasn't appropriate but they were very happy using the English word.
My anonymous comment is from Liz MacKie Venturato. I can't figure how to respond otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI laughed and you know I love to hear Swedish. :)
ReplyDeleteI loved the use of the Amanda Jenssen song too. Looking forward to seeing more.