As every nation speaks a unique language, I believe that every nation also speaks a unique body language. That is the reason, why I decided to start this long-term series with no specific time for a new episode. When I travel to a new country, I pay attention to the unique accent of their body language and I will share it with you. In the very first episode, I will talk about our trip to Stockholm, Sweden.
Before I start, I want to tell that this is only my observation based on the 4-day-long visit in Stockholm, so it is just surface observing. If anyone of you lived or live in Stockholm or Sweden for a long time, please let me know about yourself, I would be very happy to talk to you about your experiences and thought.
Stockholm is a beautiful place and people who live in there are beautiful in the same way, I know it’s a bit vague so let’s dive a bit deeper to the body language analysis.
The very first thing you notice when you come to Stockholm is the silence and quiet, calm lifestyle. As we came there from London it was a huge and very nice change. You walked there and the people were actually waiting till the green light on a traffic light appears on even when there was no car on the road. People walking in the underground in the peak-time on Friday seemed much more relaxed than people in London. Their faces were relaxed and the majority of them had a hint of a smile than a hint of stress and time press as it is usual for London underground. It was very comfortable and nice.
Next thing that was a bit closer to the Czech nationality was an apparent distant personality. When you come to the shop in Stockholm the people there are not smiling and waiting for how you are going to act. When you remain a stone face and only a professional discussion, they play along and act the same way. But, when you smile at them and act nicely to them, they completely turn around and start being very smiley, talkative and nice.
There is one story where I realised that. We went to hire ice skates and the girl who was behind the counter was distant, not smiling and appeared to be a grumpy face but with a closer look, it was because of the people who didn’t need to smile at her. When our turn came we smiled at her and start being nice, her face light up and she was very nice to us.
There are two morals in the story, haha. Always be nice to people you are talking to, smile to them and be emphatic and if you want to win a smile of Swedish, smile at them.
And a bit confusing thing for me was the way they sometimes smiled. And not smiling at us because it could be understood as we were foreigners but the way they smiled at each other within their nation. It looked like a contemptuous smile. One the lip corner was moving more than the other. We were on the train when I noticed that for the first time. A girl was texting on her cell-phone while smiling to her phone in this way but even the more confusing part of it was that she had contracted the Orbicularis Oculi muscles as well, the muscles around eyes. And after that, I have noticed a couple more times. Maybe, I am looking for some more sophisticated explanation than they are selfish and maybe I am wrong, but I don’t think that this was a sign of contempt and superiority.
Summa summarum, I really enjoyed staying in Stockholm, it felt very comfy and nice and the people there are very nice, I can only recommend it. And if you would like to hear more about Swedish Body Language, definitely check the video on YouTube, I posted there, where I talk about it more in detailed.
See you with the next episode and this time it will London Body Language, hope to see you next week.
Fancy knowing more about the observing body language?
