Written by Marina
25 Feb 2016
Hej everyone!
This week I’ve got a very cool e-mail all the way from Canada with a very interesting question that inspired me to do this post. The question was about making friends and approaching new people in Sweden and that first interaction state before you can even say that you “know” that person. And also about how sometimes people can be shy to do this approach. So, I decided to give you some tips on doing that.
First things first, I may not be the most indicated person to talk about being shy, because I’m really not. I’m that loud, smiley person that would do anything to start a conversation. But of course I’ve been there, in that position of being really afraid to say something first or even answering back, so that counts as experience and I can tell what I did to overcome that fear. So, let’s start with the list!
- Mental preparation: it’s always good to have in your mind already the thought that you are going abroad and that you will have to talk CONSTANTLY with new people and people that you barely know. So before coming, keep thinking that you will HAVE to do this.
- Thinking the worst scenario: worst case of approaching someone new is that they will ignore you, not understand you or be mean to you for some reason. I must say that none of these results is common or has a really bad effect on your life, so don’t worry and just say something!
- Start with the classics: there are some questions that are very basic when you are a student in Sweden, you can always go for the “What’s your name? What are you studying? Where are you from? Do you like Sweden?” And believe, that is a conversation that will happen over and over again, so you will feel very comfortable at some point.
- Remember you’re in Sweden: luckily for you that chose Sweden as a place to study, people here are so polite that they would never ignore you or even be mean. On the contrary: they are very receptive and willing to help with anything. So that’s a plus!
So this is what I can help you with when it comes to being social. Sometimes you just have to put your littles fears behind and fully enjoy your experience studying in Sweden, keeping in your mind that this is an amazing opportunity to be less shy and make not only a lot of Swedish friend, but also friends from all over the world!
Don’t forget to send me emails with your questions and thoughts, it was really nice to get a little bit of inspiration like this.
