Swedish Karoke

As an American, I view Karaoke as a cheesy outing that "nerdy" people love. I find Karaoke embarrassing and out of date. This is not the case to Swedes and the Finnish. From what I have observed on many occasions, Young and old Swedes and Finnish people really enjoy this activity. When I say enjoy, I really mean they take Karaoke seriously and not as a joke. WOOPS! Quickly I realized that I was acting as if it was all a joke, which I am sure would be viewed as rude and arrogant. Quickly I had to change my attitude and take the person singing seriously. I was somewhat shocked to see older men going up and singing their hearts out. At first my first reaction was to start laughing and thinking "this guy is crazy!" but then I had to stop myself once I saw everyone else around me sitting quietly giving him their undivided attention. Karaoke is NOT a joke and a way to act silly in front of a bunch of strangers. This first discovery of Karaoke was on the Viking boat to Finland. My next encounter with Karaoke was with a bunch of my friends and some Swedes we met a few nights previously. They had invited my friends and I to a Karaoke bar. I figured it was going to be a large open bar with one stage and people waiting their turn for the spotlight. This assumption was 100% wrong.
As soon as we arrived to the bar we had to have a reservation to get in. I was really confused to why we needed a reservation to watch people sing in an open bar... Later I talked to the bouncer and persuaded him to let us in. He said "you can go to the open bar but you can not have your own room. Go to the front desk and they will show you where to go". Wow. What does he mean by reserving our OWN room?
Soo confused I headed down the stairs to the underground Karaoke bar. I immediately thought I was in a brothel by the layout. I was somewhat frightened for what I had gotten myself into. Thinking to myself, "Why are there so many different small rooms? people actually rent rooms to sing Karaoke with their friends? Why are there old men walking out of the rooms?" I could not understand what this place was! Yet, I did not let my fear get the best of me. I realized this was an opportunity to experience another culture and it really wasn't soo bad. Was it weird? Yeah! But now I have a story to tell to people that if they every go to a Karaoke bar in Sweden, remind yourself IT IS NOT A BROTHEL! The Swedes just like to have a good time with their friends and their friends only. And if you are sharing one common room with Swedes, be prepared to fight for the microphone.

             I am a strong believer that food is the most important element of diverse cultures. So when I travel, my first thoughts are "what is the food like? What do they consider delicacies? What are their most famous dishes? What are their local resources? What do they eat?" The most exciting thing about traveling is trying new foods. Let's be honest, everyone loves to eat. So when the opportunity comes where I can experiment with different flavors, smells, and textures I immediately get excited.
            Food says a lot about ones culture. For instance, I am proud to be a citizen from the land of the worlds greatest lobster, I also feel privileged because other parts of the world find it a delicacy. Other countries are known for the worlds best seafood, worlds best baklava, meatballs, cheese, fruits etc. When I travel, I feel privileged to have the opportunity to try dishes that you cant get anywhere else.
             I have traveled to many countries and each country had very special traditional meals. All the countries I have been to have had very exotic fruits, spices, meats, sauces, you name it. Everything is soo different in Turkey, Jamaica, and Scotland but not in Sweden. So far, I have been in Sweden for a little over a week and I have yet to discover a true traditional meal. It has been very difficult for me to distinguish what Swedish cuisine is. Even if I did know what it was, I wouldn't be able to find it in any of the restaurants. Swedish foods seem to be very Americanized. The only food I have been eating is pizza, hamburgers, hotdogs, and salads. This was not what I had expected. I figured that unlike the U.S, European countries had street food, exotic foods, and better quality.
Later I came to realize that Sweden does have traditional foods such as Swedish meatballs, salted salmon, craw fish sandwiches, and an interesting display of sandwiches. Yet, this food is not easy to find and can be very expensive. It seems as if Swedes find their own traditional dishes a delicacy and hard to come by. I find this to be very sad, and they should embrace their past culture and keep their traditional recipes alive. Their foods should be flaunted around the city at venders like a hotdog stand, or a food truck. Traditional Swedish food should not be hard to come by because I believe if you are ashamed of your food, you are ashamed of your culture.