Posted on 03/01/2011 3:08:40 AM PST by WesternCulture
Swedish producers are scouring the United States for Americans with Swedish ancestry to take part in a new reality television series that will bring participants to Sweden to compete in cultural challenges.
With a nationwide casting call underway in the US, Swedish producers have put the shout out for fun, outgoing Americans with Swedish ancestry to participate in a new reality television series “The Great Swedish Adventure.”
The series seeks to take Americans, who have even the tiniest fraction of Swedish lineage, on a journey throughout Sweden to discover the land, the culture heritage and their roots.
“It's Americans who come here and seek their origins. Their experiences and surprising encounters with our culture also will reflect the image of Sweden," Mathias Engstrand, Entertainment Manager for Sveriges Television (SVT) told the Metro newspaper.
Chosen participants will travel to Sweden and compete in extreme cultural challenges to discover their roots while trying to win the grand prize: meeting their Swedish relatives.
“The Great Swedish Adventure” will be shot and broadcast in Sweden and potentially other countries as well.
The show will be produced by Meter Television, producers of the Swedish version of “American Idol” and “Minute to Win It.“
“It’s sort of like ‘The Amazing Race’ with a ‘fish out of water’ hook,” Christer Åkerlund, producer of the project, said in a statement.
From 1846-1930, about 1.3 million Swedish people immigrated to America in hopes of building a better life for their families.
According to US Census data from 2000, about 4 million Americans claim to have Swedish heritage.
Another program recently shown on Swedish tv featured this American guy, a musician from NYC, who was trying to get to know Swedish culture from within.
He actually started crying!
Not because he got knocked down in a hockey rink or was forced to eat surströmming (”rotten” herring), but because he found the people he encountered so cold and uninviting.
I understand him in one way. In many parts of Sweden people don’t talk to each other. Especially not in the central and northern parts. It’s more or less like a social crime to address a stranger.
Anyway, apply here:
http://www.greatswedishadventure.com/
Reality shows? Hell, 16 year old boys want Swedish-Americans.
An actual story told to me by an American who had visited Finland. He was standing at a bus stop and noticed three Finns conversing. The thing was....none of the three were facing who they were conversing with. They were all pointing about five to ten degrees in a different angle. My associate then began to notice that almost all Finns speak to others in the same fashion...never face-to-face....but always at an angle so they aren’t looking at the guys face.
ping - for my daughter.
The producers should go to Minnesoootah, they’ll find plenty of candidates. :-)
B O R E F E S T
There was a belief (dating back to the Age of the Sagas) in the scandinavian countries that wishing ill about another person could actually cause ill to occur (it’s mention in old folklore and literature). This is kind of like the scandinavian version of the “evil eye,” and people were considered justified in brutal revenge against those that had caused them such ill. Imagine what that kind of belief (especially the retributive part) can do to social relations...
There was a belief (dating back to the Age of the Sagas) in the scandinavian countries that wishing ill about another person could actually cause ill to occur (it’s mention in old folklore and literature). This is kind of like the scandinavian version of the “evil eye,” and people were considered justified in brutal revenge against those that had caused them such ill. Imagine what that kind of belief (especially the retributive part) can do to social relations...
Like said, in the central and northern parts of Sweden, people are known for being rather “mute”. Is there any such place in/part of America?
In Gothenburg, where I live, people in general are quite the opposite. If you're the social type of person, It's hardly a place that will make you cry out of isolation and loneliness. In fact, to talk a lot, “tjôta” (don't try and pronounce it), is a sort of cultural institution in my city. Maybe it has to do with the fact that we are a large port city and that the places of work in Gbg typically are assembly lines, harbor environments and such places where people are dependent on each other and on communicating even if everyone doesn't know everyone else.
I've noted the same differences between different parts of a country when traveling abroad. For instance, in Florence, Italy, people are polite, yet very reserved. In Rome and especially in Naples people are completely different. In one way it's a bit amusing, but sometimes it's annoying when strangers intrude on your privacy.
Most Swedes are aware that a lot of us ended up in Minnesota (and also in Chicago).
In fact, a lot of Swedish tourists to the US visit Minesota because it’s a funny experience to find Swedish names of towns and traditional Swedish food thousands of miles away from home.
"I'd like a beer," she said to the bartender.
"Yes, ma'am," he replied. "Anheuser-Busch?"
"Just fine," she said. "And how's your penis?
My aunt married someone of Swedish descent. It was always funny when we visited from Mississippi (land of friendly “hellos” and finding out about your personal business).
Neither is it a very unlikely conversation as few Swedes have heard of Anheuser-Busch. We drink a lot of beer (even though we can't compete with the Danes in that field) but seldom Belgian ones (Anheuser-Busch is based in Belgium).
Speaking of Belgian beers, two years ago, my father and I rented a house near the Belgian/French border. In supermarkets down there it could be difficult finding what most people consider to be “ordinary beers”, the people in this part of Europe mostly drink very strong and very dark ale. They seem to think beer should taste just as strong as wine.
Personally, I have no problem drinking ale that tastes like wine, but traditional German pilsner (lager) is the best. My favorites are Warsteiner (guess you can find it in the US as well) and Rostocker pils, but there are hundreds of German beers that are of more or less the same quality.
Sweden doesn't have a lot of great beers, but Åbro Export and Mariestads Export are indeed exceptions to that rule.
By the way, I enjoyed some Liberty Ale and Anchor Steam Beer yesterday evening (not too much though, today is working day). They are pretty popular here in Sweden.
Uf Da! Thread Winner!
Since I’m Norwegian-American, I guffawed. I don’t know how other Scandinavians would react (or not react).
I thought you might find this of interest.
“My aunt married someone of Swedish descent. It was always funny when we visited from Mississippi (land of friendly “hellos” and finding out about your personal business).”
- The only part of the US I’ve visited is Florida. The locals were very much like that; lot’s of friendly “hellos” - and not only coming from people who wished to sell you something.
From what I understand people in the south of USA in general are known for being open, cheerful, friendly and hospitable.
In Scandinavia (including Finland) Danes, Norwegians and people in southern Sweden are known for being friendly, while inhabitants of Stockholm are considered arrogant and stressed-up and people in Northern Sweden and Finland are known for being mute, playing ice hockey, hunting moose and Russian soldiers (tiny Finland is the only nation that ever defeated the Soviet Union in a war).
“Since I’m Norwegian-American, I guffawed. I don’t know how other Scandinavians would react (or not react).”
- Most Swedes have no objections to jokes involving Swedes, Swedish girls named Inga who say “JA” to everything, Volvos, Swedish socialism and so on.
We Swedes joke a lot about other ethnic groups (like most other people on Earth do).
Furthermore, most Swedes find Sweden and the Swedes very amusing. This is an expression of that attitude; meet Inga from Sweden:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixVGpuYFSaY
It's also the only country to repay its WWI debt to the U. S.
That and their quirky passion for the tango has caused me to have a soft spot for the Finns :-)
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