Swedish Blog

Because it is Sveriges nationaldag (Swedish National Day) today, let’s celebrate it with a light-hearted look at “swedishness” at its finest.

This installment is about one Swedish institution we all love and cherish – IKEA.

So, you know you’re from Sweden when…

1. You trust IKEA more than your government.
2. IKEA is your home away from home.
3. You grew up in a house looking exactly as if it would have been in the IKEA catalogue.
4. You fear beyond death not getting the IKEA catalogue if you put up a sign for the postman saying that you don’t want any adverts.
5. You know the names of a multitude of IKEA items.
6. You know how to pronounce these names and sigh when non-Swedes don’t.
7. You live abroad and virtually all your furniture is from IKEA, even if there are still no IKEA stores in the country. (Note the word “still” as in: you are expecting IKEA to one day be found in every single country in the world.)
8. You rarely visited IKEA when you lived back in Sweden but once you are abroad you think visiting IKEA is a small trip back home, which makes your eyes damp and feel even more homesick than before.
9. Going to IKEA abroad, you end up loitering in the Swedish Food Market and buying more food than furniture.
10. While on the one hand you praise the Swedish Food Market, you feel betrayed since the “svenska bullar” they sell are clearly not anything like what you had back home.
11. In addition, you just have to stop and explain to the locals shopping in the Swedish Food Market what they are buying and exactly how delicious it is.
12. When living outside the borders of Sweden you panic when IKEA has sold out of “julmust” before Christmas.

Now it’s your turn – feel free to add your own IKEA points to the list.

And tomorrow, if you are eligible to vote in the European parliamentary election, please go and cast your vote – you CAN make a difference.

Happy National Day!!!