Niklas Härkänen Artan is a teacher from Åmål Sweden who spent a week – Oct. 20-27 – in De Pere (Wis.) along with several students and one other teacher as part of the Sister City Program. He detailed his experience during his trip to America and the differences he has noticed between American and Swedish culture in an interview with the Crimson Aviator.
What do you teach?
I teach English and religion. My major is English, my minor is in Religion. I’ve studied more English than Religion.
How has your experience in America been so far?
It’s been a blast! I haven’t been to America before. I know a lot about American culture like fast food and all that fun stuff, but I’ve never been here before. Everything is larger; there are so many things that are just larger than life. Everyone is so nice, very talkative compared to Swedes that don’t talk a lot.
What is the biggest difference between Sweden and America?
For sure that everyone likes to talk! In Sweden, if you’re waiting for the bus, you stand there and then two feet away someone else will stand. We don’t like standing next to people. Being social, being talkative, asking people that you don’t know how their day is or how they’re doing, that’s not normal. That’s been the biggest shock to me. That and the cup sizes – getting a large soda is like twice the size of what you’d get in Sweden.
What about the biggest difference between the schools?
The way your classes are. You guys can pick and choose so much. I believe you guys can pick all the classes, that’s different. In Sweden you pick tracks, so if you wanted to go into the social science program, you would have a track of classes that are pre decided. Also, the relationship between teachers and students is different. I am a mentor for 15 students. I have to keep track of them and keep an eye out on their studies and their absences, keep in contact with their parents, which you don’t do here.
How is the food here?
It’s different. A lot more fatty. The portion sizes are bigger and the food is more processed. But also I think it’s better; taste-wise, it is better. And there’s a lot more variety. You can find food from all across the world here. In Sweden it’s different, it’s more healthy for sure, but it’s more boring. I had a cheesesteak burrito at Taco Bell. I’ve never had that before. They don’t have that in Sweden.
If you had more time in America, what would you want to do?
I would like to travel. I want to see the West Coast – Las Vegas, San Francisco and Los Angeles. I want to go to the East Coast as well. I want to check out New York and Philadelphia. … I would also want to go to the Rocky Mountains. But I could easily just stay here as well. De Pere is a nice starting point. I feel very aware that I’m in America, but it’s not as overwhelming as New York might have been.
What were you most excited about coming over to America?
For sure the food. Particularly, I wanted to try the pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks, because I was so excited. I bummed me out because we have something similar in Sweden. I thought it wouldn’t be the same but it is. I also wanted to see how stupidly large things are. I wanted to go to Walmart.
What’s a fun fact about yourself?
I have a huge, huge family. I have many cousins, it’s up in the hundreds. I’ve met about 140 of them at a wedding. We had to rent a cinema because we wouldn’t fit in a normal venue. I had to ask my mother who all of them were. Also, I once ate a fried cricket that a student pulled out of her pocket. Who am I to say no to someone who brought fried crickets to school?
