Charlotte J. DeWitt - Sweden--Culture Smart!: The Essential Guide to Customs & Culture

First published in Great Britain 2004
by Kuperard, an imprint of Bravo Ltd
59 Hutton Grove, London N12 8DS
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8446 2440 Fax: +44 (0) 20 8446 2441
www.culturesmartguides.com
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Culture Smart! is a registered trademark of Bravo Ltd

Copyright 2004 Kuperard

Revised 2009; fourth printing

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission in writing from the publishers.

Series Editor Geoffrey Chesler

eISBN: 978-1-85733-584-2

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A CIP catalogue entry for this book is available from the British Library

Cover image: Gripsholm Castle, Mariefred.
Travel Ink/Leslie Garland

v3.1

CHARLOTTE DEWITT is President of International Events, Ltd., and has produced nearly 150 festivals, events, and conferences. A native Bostonian and graduate of Drake University, U.S.A., she has lectured and consulted throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia. She has written extensively on festivals and events as catalysts for cultural tourism and world understanding. Charlotte lived in Sweden for ten years and was President of The American Club of Sweden. She is First Vice President of the Federation of American Womens Clubs Overseas (FAWCO), which has special consultative status to the United Nations.

The Culture Smart! series is continuing to expand.
For further information and latest titles visit
www.culturesmartguides.com

The publishers would like to thank CultureSmart!Consulting for its help in researching and developing the concept for this series.

CultureSmart!Consulting creates tailor-made seminars and consultancy programs to meet a wide range of corporate, public-sector, and individual needs. Whether delivering courses on multicultural team building in the USA, preparing Chinese engineers for a posting in Europe, training call-center staff in India, or raising the awareness of police forces to the needs of diverse ethnic communities, it provides essential, practical, and powerful skills worldwide to an increasingly international workforce.

For details, visit www.culturesmartconsulting.com

CultureSmart!Consulting and CultureSmart! guides have both contributed to and featured regularly in the weekly travel program Fast Track on BBC World TV.

The Culture Smart! guides begin where most other travel books end. They emphasize people, not places. Written for the inquisitive traveler who wants more than research into hotels, sight-seeing, and transportation, they offer an insight into the human dimension of a country based on the values and attitudes of its people.

Sweden is an unspoiled paradise of vast, towering forests, beautiful mountains, and endless waterfront vistas dotted with thousands of islands. Its younger generation has readily embraced new ideas, but older Swedes retain a deep respect for their own cultural legacy.

If you are visiting Sweden for more than a few days, you will get much more out of your trip if you have a good background in the beliefs that make up the foundation of the Swedish way of life. Culture Smart! Sweden can help you get beyond the polite phase, so that you have a greater understanding of what is important to the Swedes and why they act the way they do. It considers the influence of Swedens geography and history in shaping the national character. In addition to detailed information on deep-rooted Swedish values and attitudes, it gives a comprehensive overview of doing business in Swedenessential information for anyone who needs to understand the unique way that Swedish businesses operate.

As for socializing, you will get an insiders perspective on visiting a Swedish home, as well as the qualities that Swedes most appreciate in a guest. With detailed chapters on the customs and traditions that form the cornerstones of life in Sweden, and information on how and where to meet and communicate with Swedes, this book is an indispensable guide to the real Sweden.

Sweden is a strikingly beautiful country with virtually no poverty and a profound reverence for a clean, tidy, and orderly natural environment. With a strong commitment to maintaining a safe and secure home of the people, the Swedes are justifiably proud of creating what they consider to be a near-perfect society, with basic health, education, and social welfare benefits for all.

Culture Smart! Sweden provides a cultural roadmap to use in navigating the new social and professional situations you will encounter as a visitor, and will help you to build good business relationships and make firm friends with the welcoming and fair-minded people who live and work here.

Have a great trip!