A little explored side of Stockholm

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Welcome to PassionFruit, Coach Z’s juicy newsletter that helps you live with power & work with meaning!

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Word count this time: 817

Average time to read this: about 4 minutes

For some years I’ve been hearing about the suburbs of Rinkeby and Tensta, home to thousands of incomers to Sweden. The things I’ve picked up in the fringes of conversations indicated that the areas were rough, gun and knife crime were higher than average, and it was kind of a depressing place to live in. Affluent or even middle-class white Swedes typically don’t live there.

So that makes me, of course, really interested in being there, seeing for myself, forming my own ideas. Earlier this month I finally had a chance. My friend Sam from Amsterdam was visiting for a reggae concert (Sizzla!) and staying with friends in Rinkeby. So I went there to visit with her. We spent the best part of a Saturday just being in the area, walking to the shops and the park, drinking mint tea with her Gambian friends and enjoying the extremely warm early summer day.

I’m curious and observant. People fascinate me and it’s fun learning about cultures in a ‘live’ way. I saw that:

Every apartment seemed to have a remove-outside-shoes-at-front-door practice
Homes were clean, kids looked happy and the mood was gentle
People were celebrating being together, lots of visitings and comings and goings, people in their national costumes
People seemed to be snacking more on fruit than on crisps/chocolate
A number of taxis were parked in the resident parking areas – of course, taxi driving is always taken up by immigrants the world over
Yes, the flats were close together, but nowhere near ‘slum areas’ or tenements. There was open space, walking paths, greenery.

The warm weather meant doors were open, people were outside. Indications were that there was a loose sense of community, it felt safe and un-threatening. We asked directions and got in a conversation with a woman who was from Eritrea. In the shop, the guy answered in response to my question of where do you come from – ‘the country of blood’. Afghanistan.

Everyone learns Swedish. It’s necessary to become a bona fide citizen, and it is practical. However, the people I talked with, mostly Gambians, didn’t self-identify as Swedish. Their use of the term ‘Swedish’ referred to white Swedish people. Some felt more at home than others, and most said that they were quite conscious of how Swedish people and their ways were quite different to theirs. Orderly, quiet, self contained, work hard for themselves i.e. not parents or extended family … were some of their perceptions about Swedes.

Sweden has a Minister for Integration, a black woman. Obviously it’s taken seriously and I don’t know enough to know what grass-roots initiatives there might be to facilitate integration and understanding between cultures. There’s so much to learn and enjoy about the Swedish ways, their sense of ritual and also for the white Swedes to learn from other cultures simply about different ways of being. In a restaurant one evening I observed a group of 8 young women, maybe 18-24 age group, celebrating a birthday. No alcohol, super quiet, passing the gifts around in a highly orderly fashion – I couldn’t help but think about the slightly more inebriated and chaotic scene it might be in the UK with 8 girlies celebrating a birthday!

Food is always a great indicator of cultural feeling. Three quick observations:

We celebrated Midsommarafton (Friday 22^nd June, Midsummer Eve), a national holiday, with family … eating sill (herring – just one kind, not the traditional 7 kinds), and enjoying chilled schnapps of Aquavit and singing a few traditional songs. I listened!
The said mint tea at the Gambian folks place took about an hour to brew and prepare, a rather complicated process of brewing-straining-pouring-cooking before it was ready. Then it was drunk boiling hot with great relish.
Recently I heard a story from an Italian friend who had met some Icelandic people holidaying in Italy. They stayed in contact and my friend went to visit. It wasn’t a huge success, she cut short her stay with them, and the last straw was food. Apparently the Icelandic folk ate dried meat and beer for breakfast, which she couldn’t stomach, so she just ate a few apples. They found that equally strange.

Anyway, those are just a few summer musings for now. Next month I shall be studying Swedish in Stockholm every weekday, rather scary as of course I have to learn Svensk grammatik! I have no conscious memory of learning grammar in English. Learning a language as an adult is a good experience, good for the ego. It makes me feel rather humble to go back to baby-level learning to just put a few sentences together!

What are your observations on cultures/customs you’re unfamiliar with? What thoughts and learnings have you had? Enjoy your summer, whatever you are doing.

Until next time,

Coach Z

PS: Do pass this on to people that you know will be interested!

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Zarine Jacob

+44 (0)1353 662669 Mob: +44 (0)7939 539 843

Passionate about people development!