Swedish People

When I lived in England I hardly ever met any Swedish people. Great for my English but not that good for my sanity. I used to forget that I was Swedish, and everything that slightly reminded me of Sweden made me go mad.

Like Swedish people.

The first time I met a "Swedish" person was when I was working at Sandown Racecourse, about 6 years ago.


Sandown in Esher (Surrey)

I was working with a girl called Alex. We were chatting away and she was really nice. Then I said something about Sweden.

- Oh you're Swedish? she said.
- Yes.
- Min mamma är svensk (my mum's Swedish) she says in perfect Swedish!

I just stared at her, "Oh really?" I stuttered.
Why I answered her in English I don't know, I was just gobsmacked when this English girl started speaking to me in Swedish. She had never lived in Sweden, but still spoke it without a hint of an English accent. I am a language junkey, so this to me was gold!

The rest of the day we kept talking as soon as we got a chance, she told me how she had grown up with her mum speaking Swedish with her, and how she loved their long summer holidays in Sweden ("åh, lösgodis", she said).

After work she gave me a lift to the train station, and said we should meet up at some point. Like with most things this never happened, but I still remember our meeting after all these years.