Abstract
For most exchange students their first experience in the laundry room is one of confusion and bewilderment. What is the sign up sheet for? It is only after we are taught by someone that we are able to adhere by the laundry rules. There was one story in particular that inspired us to choose ‘laundry terror' as our observation topic. One of our group members attempted to do his laundry at the time he had signed up for; however, the machine was already in use. Annoyed, but not prepared to make a fuss, he went back to his predominantly Swedish corridor and wondered aloud if he himself had made the mistake. The Swedes were incensed at this situation and stormed down to the laundry room and attempted to stop the machine. They pushed buttons and attempted to remove the electricity plug from the socket. These boisterous and rather aggressive actions were in stark comparison to the usually quiet and reserved personality of these people. This account of his first run-in with the laundry system in Sweden was a good introduction to the characteristics we wanted to observe and study. Our group decided to investigate if this was a cultural phenomenon or simply a case of strange housemates?
