MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF SWEDEN! HOW DOES AN AMERICAN GIRL VIEW SWEDEN?!

Most of us understand English perfectly and have pretty big vocabularies but we seldom speak English so the brain-mouth connection is a bit slow. English to Swedish is easy but the other way around often needs some extra thinking and that makes us nervous. It's all about practice.

The thing about non rules in Sweden is that we tend NOT to sue everybody when we make a mistake. You can camp, hike, forage etc in Sweden with the Allemansrätten but there are restrictions. Not to close to homes, military compounds, dont break things of trees etc.

No signs, no lifeguards etc. is how we take care of the gene pool in Sweden

In regards to the laundry time thing, in Sweden most apartment complexes has a common laundry room that is used by all tenants. There is a booking system in each laundry room, which is why your friend said "yeah you can't just do laundry any time duh". You are of course free to get a washing machine and do laundry whenever you want as well if you prefer that.

If you were amazed by Castles you ought to see Swedish runestones from the period of the Iron Age, and large ritualistic rock carvings from the Bronze Age. Easily accessible just a cardrive away, if you live in the Mälardalen region (Stockholm and neighbouring cities). Also old Swedish churches often have wall paintings from the Renaissance or Medieval period, like many churches in the County of Uppland, which have paintings by Albertus Pictor, who painted the scene of a knight playing chess with Death, which inspired Ingmar Bergman in his film The Seventh Seal.

Maybe react to swedish music. You'll be surprised to find out how many good songs/artists actually come from Sweden. And just so you know... winter in Skåne isn't real winter.

love love LOVED this! I came to Sweden from Florida in July and I found myself agreeing with pretty much every word lol🇺🇸🇸🇪

As a swede (sorry for sounding pompous) I find it pleasant to hear a full-fledged american speak so highly, of th nation I call "home". My best friend of 12 years is american, so I'm very accustomed to said twang. Plus I have a genuine interest in your language. Great video and thank you for sharing your experience.

Hi, Kim 👋 About the different colors and sizes of swedish money bills(and coins), it's so the blind and visually impaired can tell the difference between them and not get easily ripped off. 😊

The washing schedule is only for those living in apartment blocks, I think :) Im not Swedish, but it is the same here in Norway, at least some places.

There's a funny old saying that goes like this: Europeans think 200 kilometers is a long distance. Americans think 200 years is a long time. 😁 Edit: Also, the types of beaches in Sweden are amazingly varied for a country barely the size of California - we even have a few coral beaches! The town I grew up in had beautiful golden sand beaches, but a mere half hour's drive away there was a coral beach with white sand and the water was incredibly shallow - it was very popular with parents of toddlers because of this.

if I remember correctly, the different sizes of cash here are for the blind to be able to decide if it is SEK 20 or SEK 100

There are many reasons why geographical places have different names in different languages. The most obvious is that people speak different languages, and that languages constantly change, sometimes very fast. The importance and influence of individual languages also change frequently as they follow geopolitical shifts. English was for instance largely unknown in Western Europe before WWII. Back then, German and French served as the European lingua francas. In Eastern Europe, Russian was the most important foreign language up until 1989. Without one global language (which will never happen for a number of reasons), speakers of any given language are going to have their own word for a certain part of the world. It is common to either approximate the name, or to translate the meaning of it, but sometimes it becomes completely different. The formal Swedish name for the US is btw 'Amerikas förenta stater' which is a translation. Then we have all the historico-geographical reasons. Migrations, wars, conquests, ethnic displacements, genocides, colonisations, commercial confederations, natural disasters etc. This has been going on since the dawn of time. Language is a powerful weapon. The language of those in power becomes dominant, languages spoken by those conquered become marginalised. Changing the names of conquered places is a way to exert power. Not many indigenous names remain in colonised regions. Some places of great strategic importance may have had quite a few names over the centuries. Sweden is a very old country. It's not surprising that it has different names in different languages. In one of the oldest of all English sources, Beowulf (700-1000), Sweden is known as Sweorice - the land of the Swedes. It is an approximation of the Old Norse 'Svíaríki'. The modern form 'Svea rike' is still occasionally used in Sweden. 'Sverige' is simply a softened up contraction. As the English language gradually changed, the name shifted into 'Swedeland'. The current word 'Sweden' was eventually borrowed from Middle Dutch during the 17th century. In languages, nothing is static, everything is constantly changing.

I love watching your videos about Sweden, you spread so much joy and positive vibes. and it's really interesting to hear how you see Sweden and how everything works here and what the differences are against the USA

Fun fact; the name "Sverige" comes from a combination of the old swedish phrase "Svea Rike", meaning the "Kingdom of Svea". Svea is an old word meaning "of the Swedes". There's also "Mother Svea", an image of a patriotic female warrior created somewhere in the 1600's, something akin to a national symbol.

All of what you say about Sweden applies to my country, too. Norway. We're good neighbors, you know. 😉

On why we talk good english is we started with subtitles on the television instead of dubbing. So as a child we could hear the english landguish while learning to read at the same time what the english words meant. Sooo helpful. Then we are american luvers. Movie and music... We luv american culture. So we just automaticly just talk it natrully. ❤️

Love that you noticed that they swim speak perfect English and that the country really cares about everyone…no homeless

The different colour and sizes of the new Swedish banknotes follows the same design logic as the Arla dairy products. The colours (and in the case of the banknotes, sizes) makes it easier for people with impaired eyesight to tell them apart. I think the banknotes also has the value in braille on them now...? (sorry, haven't used cash in years...)

I LOVE YOUR PRESENTATION, at least personal and make sense and interesting to share YOU your self with us in a honest manner