Hello! It’s now the beginning of my 4th week here in Stockholm and nearing the halfway point of the International Internship Program. Last week I was able to make a lot of headway on some of the assignments my supervisor gave me as well as help out where needed in my company. The CMO of my company is now on holiday and given me responsibility of continuing to distribute and deliver the remaining merch where needed. I’ve met all of the different venue managers and they have all been told to come to me if they need more posters, hats, shirts, etc whatever they are running low on I can run over to the venue and drop it off for them. While this task isn’t the most complicated in the world it does give me some sense of responsibility as well as helping me further develop my communication skills which I’ve found is vital to working well with a team of people. Other than that I am continuing to work on some of the other main assignments and make serious headway with them, researching, finding, and connecting with suppliers throughout multiple different industries.

As far as assimilation to culture goes, Sweden is a very interesting culture and is much different to any other place I’ve been to before. I want to preface this by saying my time in Sweden thus far has been amazing. I really don’t think I’ve had any bad experiences thus far which for being here close to a month is surprising to me. Being here so long, I have also make observations about culture here in Sweden. I’ve gotten used to how most people act and have assimilated many of those aspects into my own personal mannerisms in a public setting here. There are things about Swedish culture which I really like, and respect but at times throughout this program I’ve felt more distant to the people here than in any other country I’ve been to, despite on paper those countries having much larger cultural differences than Sweden to the US. In Swedish culture, people are very very reserved in a public setting. There have been very few times I’ve seen a group of Swedish people being super expressive and loud in public. On trains, most people just sit to themselves and scroll their phone or sit in silence looking around. This isn’t much of a problem but this complete lack of anyone interacting with each other has at times made me really see a huge cultural gap between the US and Sweden. In the workplace, people sit here and get their work done. As I’ve discussed before, people just hunker down and get to work until their day is over. The Swedes lunch time is really the only time in which they relax and chill out. I have began to adapt more and more to this difference and really appreciate it. While I don’t think its totally out of line to check your phone for a few minutes here and there throughout the workday I feel like having a complete sense of focus on your work will really contribute to higher quality work.

I also find work culture in Sweden to be very bonding, I’ve been able to bond with the colleagues I share an office with and while they are now on vacation and I won’t see some of them till the end of the program I really have felt welcomed by everyone here and gotten to get a little insight on the lives of people who are so used to Swedish culture and can give me their opinions and confirm my observations about the culture. I have also been invited to multiple workplace events, since we are a restaurant company this means all of these events are just going to the restaurant and enjoying the great food and ambience. I’ve gotten to chat about things not pertaining to work at these events and see what type of shows and pastimes my coworkers enjoy. Most of the office skews older in age but I still find many many similarities, particularly in the TV shows we watch. I don’t know if it’s because I have an “older” taste in TV or these are just classic shows but I found that many of my coworkers love shows like Modern Family, The Office, and even newer shows like Squid Games. These moments of bonding with Swedes are what has really stuck with me through this program thus far. Really getting to sit there and feel a genuine sense of immersion in the culture makes me really appreciate this experience and realise that I am getting exactly what I wanted from this program, a sense of true cultural immersion. While there are (many) times I sit here in the office and listen to my colleagues speak in Swedish and wonder what they are saying or talking about I take these moments and realise that back in the US, when I eventually get a job and likely sit in an office very similar to this I will take for granted to immense differences in workplace culture here. I will miss hearing a different language be casually spoken even if I can’t understand it. That’s not to say I prefer Swedish workplace culture entirely. Just more that I really appreciate this experience and what it has shown me. It’s really been a great object to help expand my worldview.

Anyways, things in Sweden here are great. I really enjoy the culture and further getting to assimilate like I’ve never really been able to abroad before.