Hello, is this Sweden?: A quick chat on the country’s very own phone number

Sweden is celebrating 250 years of being the first nation to introduce a constitutional law to abolish censorship. To celebrate this milestone of free speech, anyone around the world can call this number and talk to a random Swede about anything you want.

The Swedish Tourist Association urges people to call the number to find out whatever they’d like about Sweden.

Swedes who who want to participate and take calls need to download the ‘The Swedish Number’ app to their phone in order to be connected to somebody random calling in.

I wanted to be that random person.

I was on hold for over a minute before an automated message told me that a lot of people were calling Sweden and that I should be patient.

“Hi, this is Maja [pronounced ‘Maya’],” said a pleasant female voice, which startled me.

We exchanged pleasantries, I told her who I was and that I was calling from Canada for a story.

After getting the correct spelling of her name, I found out that she’s a woman in her thirties living in the rural Southern part of Sweden, known as Skåne County, and that the local weather was finally good enough to go outside and do some gardening.

Before asking about Sweden, I wanted to know how she became a part of this social experiment.

“I read about it this morning, just in [an article],” she said. “I thought it was interesting, so I went on the website and I downloaded the app.”

She told me that I was already the ninth person to speak to her and that none of the calls so far had come from the same country.

Maja said most callers were just seeing if the number actually worked. After confirming that it was legitimate, she said they asked questions about the local cuisine and where to visit if they were ever to come to Sweden.

When she asked what I wanted to know about Sweden, I questioned her about dinner time, and what’s traditionally seen on the table when its time for the family to get together.

She said it depends on the day of the week. On Thursday, dinner may consist of ham and pea soup with pancakes. It’s traditionally payday on Friday, so whatever meal that’s to be had the day before should be simple and cost effective.

Families are urged to have soup once a week in order to manage food waste. Maja said soup is a great way to use up as much of your food as possible.

When asked about her hometown and how the locals interact with each other, she told me everyone knows everybody, and generally everyone is polite.

“But in the city too, you know, people are quite friendly,” said Maja. “Except for when it’s cold and gray, then they are in a hurry.”

After telling me about her conversation with a man in Egypt who was disappointed he wouldn’t be able to use his Euro-cup tickets because of the increased security on the Egyptian border, I asked her what she’s been able to take out of this experience.

“I think it’s a great social experiment, it’s more than just about tourism. [It’s] a great initiative just to get people talking and asking questions. And it’s real.”

Maja said there’s no instructions or required reading to get started. She can also set the app to ‘I’m not available’ and the calls will stop.

“I think more people should participate and I think more people should take the time to call,” she said. “We need more things that bring down the borders and allow people to just, chat.”