Utlandssvensk

Jag har just raeknat ut att jag inte haft en egen laegenhet i Sverige pa tio ar. Tiden gar fort... Nu far man nog raekna sig som en haerdad utlandssvensk och jag erkaenner att jag har fatt en annan syn pa Sverige under dessa ar i England och Belgien. Aeven om jag kan tycka att Sverige kan kaennas foer litet och moraliserande ibland, foer att inte tala om denna jantelag som irriterar mig enormt sa tycker jag nog att det blir vackrare foer varje ar jag inte bor daer. Jag som aelskar riktiga vintrar med snoe borde ju inte ha bosatt mig i ett land daer det aldrig snoear och att inte kunna sticka ivaeg och bada i sjoe/hav naer sommarvaermen kommer kaenns alltid lika trist.

Man blir nog Sverigesentimental pa ett saett som hemmasvenskar inte aer naer man bor utomlands. Saker som man aldrig taenker pa naer man bor daer kaenns helt ploetsligt vaeldigt speciella foer oss. Jag koeper sadant i den svenska mataffaeren i Bryssel som jag aldrig aeter hemma (sist var det snabbmakaroner....) och aelskar att sitta en ljum sommarkvaell och lyssna pa Gyllene Tiders juni, juli, augusti medans jag foerundrar mig oever just hur fantastisk den svenska sommaren aer. Att sedan varannan sommar regnar bort brukar jag foertraenga....

Pa tal om hur det kaenns att vara utlandssvensk, eller bara svensk i allmaenhet sa har jag hittat en rolig sida daer man har radat upp typiska "svenskheter". Nedan har jag radat upp nagra som jag tyckte var ganska traeffande. Fler kan hittas pa: http://www.photos-suede.com/forum/culture-suedoise-f17/you-know-you-are-from-sweden-when-t10292.html

You get nostalgic by thinking of the summer of 1994.
You go seriously sentimental when entering an IKEA store, outside the borders of Sweden.
You know the names of a multitude of IKEA items.
You know how to pronounce these names and sigh when non-Swedes don't.
You don't really care about winning as long as the Swedish beat the Norwegians and the Finnish, no matter what the game/contest is.
You get a guilty conscience from throwing things in the dustbin that could have been recycled.
You know what the term "dansband" refers to, but know that it is a losing battle explaining to non-Swedes what it is.
You feel bad if you're not outside on a sunny day.
You find the ads for Coca Cola during Christmas completely useless since noone would consider drinking any other soft drink than "julmust" during Christmas anyway.
It annoys the hell out of you that there is no good translation for the word "lagom" in any language (except in Turkish, apparently).
You consider Sweden being on the verge of annoyingly "lagom". Like a tetra pack of mellanmjoelk, sort of.
You don't even realise that you speak/write Swenglish whenever you speak/write to Swedish people.
You know who Bamse is, and love him with all of your heart.
You find it adorable when people from other countries get excited about a few millimetres of snow that only stays on the ground for a few hours.
You have absolutely no idea what is meant by" Swedish massage" that keeps being advertised as a hot item in spas all over the world.