When Sweden invites you to reach out and get connected to a random Swede, it’s pretty hard to resist the call.
In a masterstroke of tourism marketing, the Swedish Tourist Association set up a hotlineearlier this week inviting callers from around the world to talk to regular Swedes. The idea is "to spark people's curiosity about Sweden -- our culture, nature and mindset.”
All the Swedes answering the calls have volunteered for the job by downloading an app. They are not given any instructions about what to say; just encouraged to chat up Sweden.
Of course, there’s no telling who you’re going to reach – or whether they’ll even speak English. But I tried the number on Friday morning and got put through to Hannes, a very nice man who works at a steel company on the country’s east coast and is eager to practise his English.
The Swedish tourism website suggested we could discuss such heady topics as feminism, the Nobel Prize, and suicide rates. Hannes and I mostly talked about food.
A lovely conversation, all in all, presented here in full:
AM: Hello, have I reached Sweden? Who’s this?
Yes, hi. It’s Hannes.
AM: Hi, this is Angela. I’m a writer with CTV News in Toronto, Canada. Where are you from, Hannes?
I’m from a small town called Gavle, which is about two hours north of Stockholm. (Explains that he works at a steel company)
AM: Ah, I see. And how did you find yourself taking these calls?
I signed up for this today and I’ve had about 15 calls. Yeah, actually, CNN called, some American radio show has called, a call from Korea, from Australia, a couple of Dutch people, one German – a lot of them. It’s been really fun.
Some of them are calling because they want to come here, some are just calling to say ‘Hi’ and just asking random questions. It’s been hilarious.
AM: I see. Well, can I ask a few random questions?
Of course!
AM: Ok, well, if I were to come to Sweden, tell me what are the top three things I should see?
Uh, well, Stockholm, definitely. That would be No. 1, I would say. It’s really beautiful, the Stockholm archipelago, and Stockholm in the summer is really nice.
After that, I would definitely go far up north, to just any town way up north to see the countryside and the mountains. I mean you’re from Toronto, so maybe you’re not so interested in winter, but for some people, that would be exclusive. But yeah, far up north, it’s nice, the countryside.

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And third… maybe go to Gothenburg? It’s our second largest city and it’s also nice there. That’s what I would recommend.
AM: Ok, and what should I eat? I mean, besides meatballs.
Oh, you should definitely try the meatballs! But don’t get them at the restaurant. Try to make some Swedish friends and get some real, homemade meatballs.
Otherwise, you should try surströmming, which is rotten herring. It’s not rotten; it’s fermented, but it’s… it’s disgusting (laughs). But it’s kind of a Swedish tradition. I don’t eat it, it smells so… well, you have to open the can in a bucket of water; otherwise, the stench will stick to you.
AM: Wow. That sounds great!
Yeah, I know! (laughs) I’m doing a good advertising here! Other than that, get some other good meat, like elk maybe. Oh, well, you get elk in Canada…
AM: No. Well, yes, we do have elk in Canada, but I think most of them are protected in national parks. We don’t usually eat them. (I turn out to be misinformed on this. Elk meat is sold in Canada and is said to be rather tasty.)
Oh you don’t? Oh, well we have a surplus of elk over here. They’re just roaming around over here. Sometimes they get into towns and become a problem so they have to go shoot them.
AM: Well that sounds a bit like our raccoons over here.
Yeah, yeah. Except the elk are a tad big bigger.
AM: True! (Mutual laughter, merriment.) So Hannes, tell me: Why did you sign up to take these calls?
Oh, just for fun. I like talking to people, and I like to keep my English up to date, so it helps to talk to people.
AM: Well, you’re doing great. So I should come soon, like in June or July?
Yes, come in June or July, that’ s when the weather is nice, Of course, if you like skiing, you should come in the winter, but June and July are nice.
But if you want to do a really fun thing, you should come at the summer solstice – is that what you call it? The solstice? Yeah, we celebrate that with a big-ass party. It’s a very Swedish thing. So that’s something you should put on your Top 3 list. It’s better than Christmas – way better!
AM: Oh? And will they play ABBA at this big-ass party? 
Let’s hope not! (laughter) I mean ABBA’s fine, but geez, we have them everywhere -- well , maybe not as much anymore, but when I was a boy, it was ABBA everywhere. Really strange.
AM: Ok, well listen, thanks for taking a few minutes to talk with me, Hannes.
Thank you! It was nice talking with you. Hope you have a nice weekend.