I was chatting with my husband earlier about the possibility of going out for a trivia game tonight, and I asked him to look up the newsletter answer (he sits at a computer all day whereas I do not sit at a computer while I’m working, so it’s easier for him to do these things). He says the answer is “the capital of Sweden, duh.” I offered some “joke” answers – Sweden City, Swedeville, and then…”Swede Home Alabama.” Then my mind started making this whole idea… take form!

What if…there was a Swedish aeronautics student who wanted to get a job in the United States after graduation, and managed to get a job in Huntsville, Alabama (lots of aerospace employers down there)? Imagine having to adjust to the culture shock of being in the “deep south,” especially when you wander away from the larger cities?

I remember someone I know graduating from the University of Michigan and experiencing his own culture shock in “Alabammy.” This Wisconsin native named Jay could not have been more “Wonder Bread white.” Blonde, muscular build, pale as a white paper plate, Polish blood, he was “Pure Wisconsin” and would frequently bring cheese curds along on camping/cabin trips. Yet he said while he walked down the roads in Alabama, he was occasionally cat called by the locals. One of the things they called him was “hippie.”