Something I’ve wanted to talk about for a while now is how different families do dinner in everyday life. What I mean is not what kind of food they eat, but in what way the have dinner together. Is it always only one person making dinner? Or does the whole family help? Does the family sit together around a table and eat, or do they spread out? Do they even eat together?
In my house growing up, we almost always had dinner together. Most of the time one of the parents made dinner for everyone around six o’clock. We would either have the food sitting on the stove or on the table, and then eat together around the set kitchen table (plates, forks, knifes, glasses), discussing how our day had been, etc. Most of my friends’ families did the exact same thing. The only time family members would eat separately, is if there were special circumstances, for instance if someone worked late or had an activity.
Now, in my experience most Swedish families have similar situations to above. What about American families? As far as I have experienced, some people will do dinner in that kind of a way as well. However, a lot of American families I have talked to or heard about actually don’t. Someone, usually a parent, will make food, and then put a stack of plates next to the stove for everyone to come and take for themselves, and then go to sit wherever they please and eat. This can be around a table, but it can also be in your room or on the coach. The whole concept of sitting down, together, around a set table and talking to each other every single evening does not seem to be as common as in Sweden. Of course American families will have dinners like that on occasion, but not every night.
Anyway, I just wanted to clarify as usual that this is all based on my experience and what people tell me. It doesn’t mean it’s always the case. I even know of Swedes who don’t sit down for dinner like described, and Americans who do. Lastly there is one more detail I wanted to mention: eating with a fork and knife. When I was six years old, at school, I was forced to eat with both a fork and a knife. The teachers said that everyone had to eat “properly”. Now, I come to Minnesota, and A LOT of people only eat with a fork?! Why is this like this people? Even in restaurants, I will see complete families, all ages, eating with just forks. Even if it is meat or chicken. This is a cultural thing I just can’t understand, especially since it can be a little impractical? Like how do you cut with only a fork? (: Haha.
-K
Swede&Sour 