Fork in the right hand, napkin on the lap, perfect posture, no elbows on the table; that’s what good table manners are – in America anyway. I can see it now – after the sentence you just read you’re thinking “So what are manners in Sweden? Do they use their sleeves to wipe their mouths?” and I can assure you that it’s not so. What I mean is there is a small differnce between American and Swedish etiquette and though the difference is small, it’s surpirsingly important.

My mother once told me a story that had to do with this difference, though I don’t know if it is true or not. She told me once about some of fugitive, an American fugitive that was in Sweden. The Swedish police were after this guy who was constantly on the run. One day when the fugitive was particularly stressed by the police who were hot on his trail, he went into a restaurant, ordered and began to eat, looking casual and calm. He hoped the police would pass the restaurant by. When the police were on the same street as the restaurant the fugitive had already started his meal. The police (who had no idea what the fugitive looked like, only that he was a foreigner) walked into the restaurant to ask the waiters and waitresses if they had seen anyone unusual when they spotted a man at a table nearby. Immediately they grabbed his arm and took him in. How could they tell it was him they were looking for? Simple: He was eating with his fork in his right hand.

OK, this may not be the ending you were looking forward to, and it may sound ridiculous, but it is, indeed, realistic. My mother always ate the Swedish way (fork in the left hand) but never made her kids do it and, though I was aware that my mother always ate with the fork in her left hand and the knife in her right, I didn’t think it was important and I was not even sure if it was a Swedish thing. But it is, oh it is! I’ve learned that, as a kid you eat with the fork in your right hand but by the time you reach the age of 11 or 12 it’s time to learn Swedish etiquette. It is considered rude and immature for a person of the age of 15 to still be eating with their right hand only.

Imagine how funny it is for Swedes to see scholars and important people at the Nobel Prize in Stockholm every year eating with their right hands and no fork in the left hand – and in front of the royal family! So, keeping all of this in the back of my head, I just ate like those around me and, thankfully, didn’t find to too hard. Actually, I didn’t think it was even that interesting to tell about, nor did I think it was especially hard to eat differently (I’m still convinced that this is a boring topic but have been assured that it is different and, therefore, interesting). However, when Danielle and Anna came to visit me. it was clear that the unique way of eating was not simple. I didn’t make them do it, but Anna noticed it and said she wanted to try. I thought they would only eat like that for one meal, but they tried it at every meal time and I was so pleased and impressed.

It was pretty funny to watch though, I have to admit. There was a lot of spilling of food onto laps, but I think it was fun for them to learn and experience a new culture like that. It does, admittedly feel backwards to eat like that; at least in the beginning.

For me it’s completely natural and I wonder if I’ll go back to the American way or keep this little habit. This feels so weird, though because this topic does not feel interesting at all and people who found this article boring probabaly put the paper away a while ago, returned to their cereal bowls and turned their attention to the back of the cereal box. However, here’s a challenge for those of you who made their way all the way to the end – at each meal you eat today that includes the use of a fork and knife, try taking the fork in your left hand and eating like that. Lycka till! (Good luck) Oh and, keep a napkin handy…

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