Hello, this is Sweden answering ... come and visit us

Sarah and Martin.

Our job is great in that every day is different and we get to converse with a wide range of people. Last week, we called Sweden.

Not to talk to a family member or even someone we know, but via their National Phone Number. Sweden is the first country in the world to do this and the idea behind the campaign launched by the Swedish Tourist Association is to promote Sweden to foreigners by letting citizens answer questions about the country rather than tourism officials. Ads have been placed on the radio and in the papers over there and volunteers have signed up to take calls from random people all over the world.

When we put our call through, a voice recording told us "a lot of people in Sweden are sleeping right now" so we weren't hopeful that our call would actually be answered.

But it was picked up by a lovely guy who we called Sweden as we didn't catch his name (he answered the phone saying "Hi this is Sweden".)

He told us he'd signed up to take calls just four hours earlier and had already received over 20 calls!

We had a great chat with him about all kinds of things; meatballs, moose, (to be enjoyed separately, apparently moose meatballs are a little gamey) the Swedish chef (who he insists isn't actually speaking Swedish) and even Candy Crush, which was invented by a Swede.

We asked him if we could stay at his place if we ever visited Sweden and after some hesitation he agreed to let us pitch a tent in his backyard (I promised to give him some Candy Crush tips in return). Whilst he was very nice and happy to tell us all about Sweden,

I'm not sure he's the best person to be manning the National Phone Number. When we asked him why we should visit Sweden he replied "well it's good for golf and sailing, but honestly I'd prefer you to go to Norway, it's much more beautiful!"

The voice at the beginning told us some calls would be recorded; let's hope that call wasn't one of them! If you'd like to find out more about Sweden or just have a chat to a friendly Swede (who may try to direct you to Norway), you too can call the National Number on 0046 771 SWEDEN (793336).