I have been living in Sweden for two months now, and I have been immersed in Swedish culture a lot.
As I am a serious minimalist, I have realised that how Swedish people spend their life is quite close to the idea of minimalism.
So, in this article, I would like to focus on why the Swedish lifestyle is very close to minimalism and how we can apply it to our own life.
The recent post about Minimalism
Minimalist lifestyle essentials: do not compensate for the coffee mug
1. Not talkative to the strangers
When I was 20 years old, I lived in the United States and the big difference between the culture of the United States and here is that people normally do not talk to strangers.
So if you are travelling to Sweden, I suggest you not talk too much to strangers unless you need some help, because they will feel uncomfortable, and you will also feel.
The reason why I thought the culture of not talking to strangers is minimalism is that you are focusing on your own time, and also you’re focusing on who to talk to.
If you start a conversation with strangers, there is a possibility that you may get offended somehow or feel uncomfortable, so personally, I also prefer to be this way.
One more interesting point about this aspect of Swedish culture is that when you get along with someone, then that person can be very talkative because they are your friends.
Honestly, 2 months passed after coming here, and when I was on the bus, literally no one talked to me, even though I was not listening to music with my headphones.
2. Swedes avoid conflicts
The next Swedish culture that I found very minimalistic is that Swedes avoid conflict.
Avoiding conflict is one of the most important ideas to get used to Swedish culture; you would never fight against someone, especially in a public area.
When I was riding my bike on the road towards the bus station on an icy road, another person was coming towards my direction.
Knowing some basic Swedish culture, I immediately thought that I want to avoid falling down when I’m about to pass by that person because it may lead to apologies and other unnecessary conversations that I could have avoided.
While walking, I was thinking about what to do to prevent this, and then the person stopped walking and let me pass first.
As a Japanese living in Sweden, it is very interesting to see the cultural similarities in terms of paying attention to others in order to avoid conflicts.
3. Consideration of others makes everything simple
When you get on the bus in Sweden, especially in the northern part of Sweden, you will feel warm consideration from other passengers.
When you try to get off the bus at the same time as others, most people will let you get off first, especially if you look very busy or something like that then there is a high possibility that other people will let you get off first.
This happens in my home country, Japan, quite often as well, but I have never expected this to happen in Sweden.
I’m not sure whether this is a regional character here in the northern part of Sweden, but I’m pretty sure that this way of showing the consideration for others can help you to avoid conflicts.
During the first month in Sweden, every single unfamiliar experience was not making sense to me, but the more I learn about Swedish culture and the more it makes sense.
If you are coming to Sweden for travelling or studying, please try to remember these three points to make your stay in Sweden more comfortable.
Thanks, thanks for reading.
The information written in this post is all personal opinion, and not intending to explain the general idea.