Guiseppe (Paolog Migone), living in Italy in the 1950s, knows that he is poor and his country is poor. Nonetheless, he has a little romance going on with Maria and passes much of his time pleasantly enough, playing billiards at a local eatery. However, when he hears from his friend Franco that Sweden is a "paradise" and that he can earn big money there, he picks up stakes and heads to this unlikely land of milk and honey. He gets his first intimation of things to come when he and other immigrants from southern Europe are routinely deloused at the border. Then he heads off into the countryside to find his friend Franco. It turns out that he works at a pretty grim factory for lower wages than he had bragged of, and that "paradise" consists of a barracks that the immigrant workers live in. All the same, Guiseppe gets a job at the factory and tries to make the best of it. However, not only is his daily billiards game not possible, but the local people take a dim view of Italians dating their women -- especially if the women are married. It's soon time for him to consider moving back to his home.