Eurotypes
What you think of each other. Any critiques? Any addenda or errata?

The Scandinavian stereotypes, in particular, looked a little bit off. The Scandinavians — Widely respected by most other Europeans, because of their high standard of living …and blond hair and blue eyes. However, within Scandinavia there are some persistent stereotypes. The Norwegians, Danes and Finns all think the Swedes are stupid and uptight. Norwegians are considered racist. Danes are considered more blunt than the others, maybe a bit more cranky, and the Finns are oddly introverted, even by Scandinavian standards. Except for the Danes really disliking Germans, and Finns really disliking Russians, they don’t really have anything against other Europeans. Over here at least, it's the Danes who have the reputation for being racists - not too surprising since the all-but-openly-racist Danish People's Party is the third largest in the country. It's true that stupid Swedes are a stereotype among both Norwegians and Danes (or used to be); conversely, growing up I used to hear endless Swedish jokes about daft Norwegians. Though I've heard the latter tradition was recent and mostly inspired by envy about their wealth in oil... In general, Norwegians seem to often have some animosity to Swedes, often comparing themselves favourably to them and so on. Swedes, meanwhile, mostly totally ignore the Norwegians. The classic Swedish stereotype of Finns is that, apart from being gloomy and introvert, they are drunken and violent.

This was amusing though: In Heaven… the mechanics are German the chefs are French the police are British the lovers are Italian and everything is organized by the Swiss. In Hell… the mechanics are French the police are German the chefs are British the lovers are Swiss and everything is organized by the Italians :D

Old but good joke, yeah. Though the way I first heard it was: In hell, the British handle the cooking, the Germans the policing, and the Swedes the television entertainment.

I was amused by the part where the Germans consider the Poles to all be car thieves, and that they have much the same status as Mexicans in the US. I'd bet that the former Yugoslavia could provide some interesting perspectives.

Sorry I stopped reading this about half way through It's bloody offensive. I pulled up sharp at the line 'The Spanish consider themselves white and European' That may be because they are ( on both counts ). I wish I had a quid for every time I come across this snidey sh1te ( a lot working in the travel trade ). It's about time the writers of this bilge found out exactly how many countries there are ( to the nearest +/- 10 ) in Europe and stopped taking Irony at face value.

I don't bother with these anymore. I usually disagree with most what is written in those things. But here goes my view on Scandinavian stereotypes: Swedes are arrogant and condescending, especially towards Finns. Norwegians are introverted, rich and hate Finns. Danes are high and the only ones who actually have blonde hair and blue eyes. Iceland doesn't count.

The arrogant-and-condescending-Swedes stereotype is common in Norway too, according to my expatriate friend who lives there since a decade. I think the grain of truth in it is that there's a certain Swedish tradition of self-righteousness - we take it for granted that we know better. It doesn't usually show up as overt chauvinism, more as a quiet assumption that of course the Swedish way is the best.

Note to Theo: I didn't mean you, BTW. :) But it is true though, when I was in Falun and mentioned to a local guy that I was from Finland he made a snorting sound and started immediately talking about how ignorant, stupid and drunk Finns are. Which sadly enough up to a certain point is somewhat true. :?

Sounds about right if you think everybody has and sticks and acts according to over-the-top stereotypes. Hard to judge about what other think of you, but the ones about the Dutch do seem to be based on how we do tend to behave when at our worst. Just like other people I presume. Besides, we do know better about a lot of things. The rest of the world just has to catch up at some point, why not nudge them along a little? In general, in every European country I've travelled through, people are friendly, helpful and will happily take your money for their services. The occasional rude, ignorant, unhelpful arse (stay away from a particular diner close to the leaning tower in Pisa, Italy), doesn't do much to increase my dislike of everybody else but myself. It's been like that since I was born anyway. :)

The only stereotype about the Dutch I had heard before is that they're supposedly cheap - and particularly, that stinginess isn't stigmatized there the way it is in, say, Scandinavia. I remember reading long ago about a Danish comic strip about an absurdly (and ingeniously) cheap man that supposedly flopped in Holland because the Dutch didn't see what was funny about his antics - that was just good sense. Whether there's any truth to any of this, I have no idea.

The only stereotype I can think about the Dutch is that they are excessively laid back. And I think the Swedish are seen as impossibly perfect. :wink:

Amusingly, probably the most pervasive Swedish stereotype of ourselves - paradoxal to our less conscious smugness - is that we're boringly mediocre and lukewarm. :)

The only thing I really know about Dutch are tulips and the Dutch Oven... :D

Windmills? Wooden shoes? That saving money thing might be true, we consider ourselves still careful with money. Wonder if it's really true though.