What's the Strangest Place You've Met a Jehovah's Witness? I'll Go First...

I stumbled upon a day trip from Denmark to Sweden while looking for things to do in Copenhagen. Knowing how much my dad loved Sweden when he went, plus my first American Girl Doll being Swedish, I knew I wanted to go.

A tour bus picked me up at a nearby hotel, and we were on the way to our first stop of three for my trip to Sweden, Kronborg Castle. However, Kronborg is in Denmark, and we're talking about Sweden in this blog. If you want to read about my experiences in Denmark, check out my other blog: The Danes Live in Denmark, Not the Dutch.

To get from Helsingør, Denmark, to Helsingborg, Sweden (I know, it's very confusing), you take a 20-minute ferry ride. You spend about 5 minutes in Danish waters, 10 minutes in international waters, and 5 minutes in Swedish waters. The sale of alcohol is very different between Denmark and Sweden, so you can only buy alcohol in Danish and international waters. Apparently, a lot of Swedes will buy roundtrip tickets on the ferry just so they can drink.

When we got to Sweden, we didn't stick around in Helsingborg but instead went to Lund to see the Lund Cathedral, another cathedral that was built in the 1000s. They had a solar clock that still ran using the technology that was used hundreds of years ago, elaborate stained glass, and lots of beautiful prayer stations. They also had a gift shop a few meters away from the church. I stopped in just to see what they had.

After I left the gift shop, I still had quite a bit of time left in Lund. Lund is a university city, so there are a lot of university students, older university buildings, and little shops. I found a coffee shop nearby and got an oat milk latte and a chocolate pastry that looked like it could be a croissant, but the barista didn't call it that for lunch before walking around the city a bit to explore.

I ended up going into a yarn store, a bookshop, a university supplies store, and a stationary shop just to look around and see what I could see. After I looked around all the shops I wanted to see, I decided to head to the parking area behind the Lund Cathedral and walk around before leaving. It was peaceful and absolutely beautiful fall weather.

While I was walking around the city of Lund, these two guys stopped me on the street and started speaking Swedish to me. Believe it or not, I do not speak Swedish. I was so startled I backed away a bit, and the two boys stepped closer and kept talking in Swedish. This wasn't the first time this had happened that hour. A woman had grabbed me outside the cathedral and asked me something in Swedish. I had to explain that I didn't know what she was asking and I was sorry (with a language barrier), so I assumed this would be the same.

I explained to the boys that I could not help them because I didn't know what they were saying, I was not Swedish, and I'm actually about to leave Lund. The leader of the two said, "What?" and started speaking in Swedish again. I said again I could not help them and tried to walk away. The guy asked if I spoke Swedish, and I said no. Then he asked if I spoke English which... it very much seemed like he wasn't listening to a single thing I said beforehand. I said yes, and he said, "So you don't understand what we just said?" to which I replied, no, I did not.

He explained that they had a quick survey question and were looking for responses, and I said I could try and help them. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that both boys were wearing name tags, and I thought there was no possible way they could be Jehovah's Witnesses and that they must be university students.

Then they said, "Do you believe in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ?"

I cannot explain to you how stunned I was that I had met Jehovah's Witness' in Lund, Sweden. UNC Greensboro occasionally has Jehovah's Witnesses come to campus, but I try and avoid them if I can. But of all the places on Earth I didn't expect to be witnessed, Sweden was last on my list.

Eventually, they realized I had an American accent and asked if I was from the States. I said yes, I was from North Carolina, and they - very excitedly - said they were also from the US but from Utah. I 100% could have told you that as soon as I realized they were Jehovah's Witnesses, but before they could get too preachy, I told them I was on a time crunch and really had to go. When we were back on the tour bus, my seatmate, who was also American, thought it was really funny.

Soon we were leaving Lund and on our way to Malmö. When we got to Malmö, it was late afternoon and already growing dark. I wanted to eat dinner in Sweden for two reasons: 1) it's Sweden, and 2) a Swedish Krona is .09 of a US dollar which is cheaper than food in Denmark. The tour guide recommended the Lilla Torg (Small Square), which had lights and a lot of restaurants around it. I found a small restaurant Plocke-Pinn (Pick-Stick) that serves small plates, and you order a variety of them. I had parmesan roasted potatoes, cauliflower soup, and a class of Cava.

After leaving Plocke-Pinn, I made a quick stop in a little souvenir shop before walking around the Stortorget. I looked at the different buildings and statues they have before we headed back on the bus to our next couple of stops in Malmö.

First, we went to the Turning Tower, the first spiral skyscraper in the world. It was really cool to see, but if you're taking pictures, you have to be careful not to get crushed by a bike. Then, before going on it, we went to see the bridge that connects Sweden, specifically Malmö, and Denmark, specifically Copenhagen. It's the longest bridge in the world with train tracks on it, and even though there aren't as many lights now because of the energy crisis, it was still very cool to see.

Then we got the chance to actually go on the bridge, which was completely terrifying. It's very windy on the bridge, so windy that whatever you're driving across it with tends to swerve all over the road. But we ended up getting back safely and in one piece.

I would love to go back to Sweden some time, so we'll see where this year ends up taking me!

In order from right to left: Me in front of the Turning Tower; Malmö at night; Lund Cathedral; The Solar Clock; Lund in the Afternoon; Views from the park in Lund; Me in Denmark with Sweden in the background; Building in Lund; Lilla Torg

For more pictures, go to my Photos page!