A Flirt? Moi? No, I'm just being friendly!

I have changed a lot since my first visit to the United Kingdom, land of the Brits, football, beer and chicken tikka. My habit of speaking my mind loud and clear is no longer as fiercely noticeable. The honesty we Swedes speak with is not always the best approach when meeting people from other countries. We'll be considered rude, albeit charmingly rude, and as a girl you'll be considered to be very forward and might even be seen as flirtatious.

When me and my fellow students were sent here we painted the town red. Bright red. There were rumours about us even before we had done anything that could possibly be seen as valid gossip. "Oooh, we've heard about you. 5 Swedish girls living in a flat. Together!" Yeah, that's a shocker!

And as we all know, Swedes (and girls in particular) have a tendency to strip down to bare minimum and give each other Swedish Massages (I still don't know what that is!) and performing different flexible gymnastic moves in skimpy knickers.

I hate to disappoint those of you who have been enjoying such fantasies and imagery. It did not happen. Not in our flat anyway...

Despite the lack of lubed up massages - we had an awesome time. Our Uni back home didn't really care what we were doing so we (or perhaps just me) chose courses that were dead easy and even one that I'd basically done before. So with only 2,5 hours required Uni-time per week, we shopped. Clothes. Stuff. Videos. Books. You name it - we shopped it. What I spent most of my money on was - tam ta taaaam - booze. + of course everything else that comes with spending the evenings at various places, clubs and whatsits.

So back to the flirtatious bit. We were at this club, close to the flat, and being used to Swedish uni pub and just being polite to non-smokers, I went outside to smoke (I only smoked when partying which at that time happened to be basically every night) and when standing there freezing my frontbumps off I had a chat with the bouncers. They were fun and it just seemed foolish to stand there and not say anything for 10 minutes or so - again; being polite! + we'd seen them so many times as we lived literally 1 minute away.

Mr Big Bouncer had an awesome laugh (think Michael Clarke Duncan) and Mr Short Steroid Bouncer thought he was the man. Talking and laughing is, in my book, just a normal conversation - and I admit I was a bit intoxicated but that's often the case when going out, isn't it? - but to them I was the biggest flirt e v e r! And it was "so obvious" that I was out to get into the sack with Mr. SSB! Eh, hello? We're having a conversation while I was out for a smoke, nothing more, nothing less. And I'm telling you - I wouldn't have needed to spend money on a cab as he so gallantly offered to drive me back "afterwards"... Oh Jeez. The things we happy, friendly Swedes have to put up with...

Thankfully my friends came out to get me and simply told Mr BB and Mr SSB that I was not a flirt at all and that we were all going home together. 5 going out, 5 coming home. No more, no less. Thank you very much.

There have been other times since then when I have been deemed a hopeless flirt by some of the Brits I've come to know but that'll have to wait till next time or the one after that. I have things to do - I am going to stand in front of the mirror and practice on being a hopeless-but-denying-it-flirt...