CityPages Kuwait June 2016 Issue June 2016 | Page 50

FROM SWEDEN
WITH LOVE

Paul Tunbridge
A professional Facilities Manager
from England, and with work
experience across mainland Europe
before arriving in Kuwait in 2007
Paul's interests include architecture
and gardening as well as creative
writing and the arts in general.

I’ll be the first to admit that geography
was never my strongest subject at school;
although listening to the responses of some
TV quiz contestants, I sometimes wonder if
my knowledge of different places is actually
above and beyond.
In any case, even when I was knee-high to a
grasshopper, I had learned a little something
about the various countries of the world and
about their various attractions, lifestyles and so
on. Scandinavia, I observed, was to the north-east
of my English homeland, a hop over the North Sea
and comprised of three main countries – Norway,
Denmark and Sweden. I learned that Sweden was
seen as the most advanced of the three countries
in terms of technology; that the Norwegians
viewed Swedes as snobbish and arrogant; and

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that Danes considered Swedes as people who are
very concerned with order, but who lose all selfcontrol when they travel to Denmark to drink
cheap beer. And for some reason the Swedes see
themselves as cleaner than the other two nations.
As a car fanatic in my schooldays, I knew beyond
a doubt that the only two things for which Sweden
was famous were the cars manufactured by Saab
and Volvo. They had a reputation for being solid
and reliable, if not rather boring and suitable only
for old men and families! Of course, having been
the proud owner of no less than four different
Volvo models in recent years, I should stress that
Volvos are no longer viewed as old men’s cars!
Recalling a time when my father had to visit
Stockholm for his work, I was then educated by
my mother (in his absence) about the beautiful