Yesterday my roommate and good friend Johan turned thirty. I am very proud of him, and was honored to attend a garden party at his parent's BEAUTIFUL home. As is to be expected at any big social event where a foreigner is present, the conversation inevitably derailed into Swedish habits and peculiarities. Here's some things I learnt:
1. Shoes are not worn in the home (this seems to be in line with what we do in Canada, though maybe not in the States...where everyone thinks I am from at some point)
2. About the "swedish corner": say you have a cake (as one often does at a birthday party). Swedes will cut away at the cake until there is just a little bit left. It is rude to take that last piece of cake. This last piece of cake causes Swedes a great deal of anxiety for they may really want it, but they cannot, MUST NOT be the one to take the last piece. Instead, they may take half of the last piece, and then a half of that half and so on until there is but a crumb left on the plate. While hacking away at this last piece, one must also insist to others that THEY take this last piece. The others must politely refuse and insist that half of whatever is left will be fine for them, thank you very much.
The result: there was a little bit of each cake left over that night. As a foreigner, I considered it my duty to put these polite party-goers out of their misery and finish off all the chocolate, blueberry and coffee-cake that was brutalized into little pieces on the plate.
Funny funny Swedes. I will miss you dearly.
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