Skakespeare in Swedish

Right now at Swedish language school (Yup, I'm still there) I'm working on a rather large topic regarding different forms of literature during the last 2000 years. For the moment it's just learning and reporting on the basics. While I'm presenting the work in Swedish, it's not really Sweden related.

Which takes me back to an earlier post. It's been my observation that the majority of Swedes are not terribly street smart when it comes to the practicalities of life outside of Sweden. They tend to come across as slightly confused, especially when there are not 15 different varieties of sausage to choose from, or when faced with a sandwich that has a slice of bread on the top. Quite happy tourists, just rather unsure and a little lost.

The other side of the situation is that most Swedes are very well educated in the outside world. In a theoretical manner. They know a lot about the history, geography, and current affairs of a great many countries which have little connection with Sweden. They seem to like learning about such things.

So here I am, sitting in a Swedish language class, being educated on the great English authors of the past 1,000 years. And I am embarassed to say that my Swedish language tutor knew far more about the topic than I did.

Looking back on the New Zealand education system, I am shocked to realise exactly how narrow a focus it had. We studied world events, and we studied literature. But only those events and works which had a direct bearing on NZ. 30 years later I can still recite extracts of "In Flanders Fields", and tell you the date of the signing of ANZUS treaty alliance (as much of a monumental mistake as that was). But I couldn't tell you where Portugal is. Or what language they speak in Belgium. There was an optional class in my final year of high school where one could learn about classic (non-NZ related) works of literature, but that was generally considered to be the domain of those who buttoned their school blazers on the wrong side.

Talking at school, and at home, the generally opinion seems to be the same. Swedes learn an aweful lot about the world outside of Sweden, but not so much about Sweden itself. A kind of parallel universe to the one I left behind. I'm not sure why that is. Possibly Swedes think it's a bit too boastful to be studying themselves. They can be a tad bashful. Or maybe they don't think that their country is important enough to study. I'm not suggesting that they know nothing about their own country, but the balance between national and international knowledge is rather strangely weighted. I enjoy watching the Swedish version of the TV game show "Are you smarter than a 10 years old?". Or whatever the correct name is. It's a great programme to help me with my language. Anyway, I see that the adults playing the game are way more comfortable with world history topics than they are with Swedish geography questions. Which gives strength to the conclusion.

Personally, I think they are missing out. Sweden is a very unique country, with so many special little quirks (not all of which are positive, admitedly) that it's a crime not to explore it in depth. Sweden holds a special place in world history, and has affected some many other countries along the way. Despite it's comparative isolation on the world stage. A few years ago there was an advertising campaign in New Zealand, in response to the large numbers of people emigrating to greener pastures. The catch phrase was simply "Don't Leave Town Till You've Seen The Country". Could be worth a try.