这篇文章探讨了瑞典人的性格与酒精的微妙关系，过程中也透露了我对瑞典人嗜酒的诧异与不解。不过我相信即使文化不同，表面上的行为不同，来自五湖四海的人还是可以成为朋友；决定不同国家的人是否能成为朋友，个体差异的作用大于文化差异。纯属杂谈随感，语言也颇口语化，读者毋要认真。因为文章原始发发布求英文，而最近忙于考试未能来得及翻译，如给部分读者带来不便，还请见谅.

In the culture where I grew up, people are curious about foreigners. I have been a foreigner in Sweden since Aug 2010. And I remain  curious about the world around me, even though I’ve been here more than one year, it’s still new to me. I‘m going to tell you several things which I don’t understand about Sweden 😀 It is interesting to explain why, but at the same time avoid giving a ‘right’ answer.

1. People become very happy to talk to you when they have a glass of beer or wine…and I once asked a Swedish friend why it is like that, he said “because we feel relaxed”

I was kind of surprised by his answer. So, they don’t feel relaxed without alcohol?

I cannot understand, absolutely not, because I felt nervous and my heart beat quite quickly when I drank alcohol. During my first year in Sweden I had the most chances(ever in my life) to drink, and most of the time I didn’t feel comfortable, so I just quit drinking last summer (but the most important reason or that is Buddhism)

So, I suppose have no opportunity to figure out why Swedes feel relaxed when they drink anymore 😛

2. Yes, most Swedes I’ve ever talked with, if you agree, I think they are quite shy. But on average girls are easier to talk with than boys. Maybe I’m more shy than them,so they are very polite and gentle when they are talking with a nervous Chinese girl, hahaha. This behavior doesn’t seem natural for them, maybe they are changing for me?  However, what makes me happy is that I have some awesome Swedish friends, they are not like the “traditional” Swedes who are shy and nervous, even without any drinks!

One thing is, I think the most important reason that it is hard to communicate with some people is, maybe, language skills. I always want to speak more than that I actually do. The second important reason is the difference. Notably, it is not cultural difference here, because I do have some good friends from different backgrounds, and some ‘hi-bye’ Chinese friends though we are from a common culture. Maybe the values you believe in, the things you focus on are all factors which have influence, and I think they overcome the so-called culture difference, the difference between individuals are more significant than the difference between cultures.

That’s all for today! More stories are going to be discussed soon!