Swedes and alcohol: if the two were friends on Facebook, they would surely define their relationship with ‘it’s complicated’, writes columnist Paula Dubbink.
During one of my first months in Lund, I was invited for some study drinks and as it was the time around Christmas, I was offered a mug of glögg. Or actually: a small paper cup that at max could contain 150 milliliter liquid – and mine was only filled half. While the pan of glögg was still on the stove – boiling away the little bit of alcohol that the glögg still contained – a teacher asked me “men kör du bil?” She was concerned about the risks of me driving a car at least one hour later. I reassured her that I would bike home.
Swedes and alcohol: if the two were friends on Facebook, they would surely define their relationship with ‘it’s complicated’. I am not only talking about my seldom visits to Systembolaget or, rather, to the visit of my Austrian friend, who mistakenly took his 19-year-and-350-days-old sister along and never got to take the desired bottle of whiskey home. I think that he is still angry. Neither am I talking about the infamous concept of lättöl. It’s more about the fact that the Swedish alcohol consumption seems to struggle with moderation: either alcohol seems close to the devil – it can be enjoyed, but Please Be Careful and pay insane amounts before getting it – or it is enjoyed the stereotype student way: drink it now or regret it forever. To phrase it with the words of the newest generation – I’m getting old – YOLO.
The latter side I discovered at my first sittning after a mere two weeks in Lund. Pre-drinks on our way to ÖG’s, people buying entire bottles of wine for during the dinner, and other people standing on chairs trying to sing without mistakes – a shot for every mistake, after all. Only months later I was actually able to translate the text of one of the best-known drinking songs, Spritbolaget. It confirmed my impressions: “To Systembolaget I run/and I bang on their door/I want something that burns well/and makes me fucking drunk soon.”
But there are extremes at the other side of the spectrum too: recently I was on a party without alcohol, which I to my surprise only discovered afterwards. The party consisted of a potluck: everybody brought a dish. The host provided for the drinks which consisted of sodas and sparkling water. Nobody brought his own wine, cider or other alcoholics and so the night progressed in peaceful sobriety. We had undoubtedly a great night, but couldn’t a small glass of wine added to the joy?
Sweden, what have you done to alcohol that it seems ‘everything or nothing’? Is it the prices, Systembolaget or just a legacy of the 19th-centurist nykterhets-movement? Whatever it is, please take it bit more relaxed and find a balance between the two. As always my country might take it to the other extreme side by until recently allowing 16-year-olds to buy beer, but please…
I promise not to get wasted.
