10 Things I Learned in my First Year in Sweden
136,133
Published 2021-02-24
I love Sweden so much, but I still have a lot of questions about how things work around here...
After years of studying the language and previously living in Stockholm, I still experienced culture shock when moving to Sweden in 2019. I've learned a lot of Swedish cultural differences during the past year and a half that you won't find in the books. This is not a list about Fika and Midsommar, but rather the nuances of everyday life abroad.
The list:
1. Customer service is not the same
2. No cash / cashless society
3. Queues for everything
4. No water fountains
5. Drinking songs at during holidays, Helan Går
6. Swedish mile, Scandinavian mile, Svensk mil
7. Padel, racquet sports
8. Everyone has a shoehorn
9. Weird Robot voices on Swedish reality tv shows
10. Packages are picked up, rarely delivered to your door
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På svenska
SKOHORNAR.
Jag älskar Sverige så mycket, men jag har fortfarande många frågor om hur saker fungerar här ...
Efter år av att ha studerat språket och tidigare bott i Stockholm upplevde jag fortfarande kulturchock när jag flyttade till Sverige i 2019. Jag har lärt mig en hel del svenska skillnader under det sista året som man kan inte hitta i böckerna. Den här listan handlar inte om Fika och Midsommar, utan snarare nyanserna i vardagen utomlands.
Listan:
1. Kundtjänst är inte liknande som USA
2. Inget kontant / kontantfritt samhälle
3. Köer för allt
4. Inga fontäner
5. Dricklåtar på semester, Helan Går
6. Svensk mil, skandinavisk mil
7. Padel, racketsporter
8. Alla har skohorn
9. Robotröster i reality-tv-program
10. Paket hämtas, sällan levereras till din dörr
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All Comments (21)
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10 Millimeters makes 1 Centimeter 10 cm makes 1 decimeter 10 decimeters makes one meter 1000 meters makes one km 10 km makes a mil Is this not an easier way to measure a distance than an imperial way? And we will not even go into Fahrenheit. Hope you enjoy your stay here. We are a strange but lovely people
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”Mil” actually make perfect sense. Why dont you just say 200 kilometer? Well, why dont you just say 200 000 meter? I understand the confusion regarding the ”name” mil. So your issue should actually be the name of the measurment, and not the logic in use of the measurment.
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If americans could actually bother to take their shoes off when entering a house or apartment they would soon realise the benefits of a skohorn 😂
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Ok, but the shoehorn is the best thing EVER
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As a swede I always get really shocked when i can hear peoples real voice on shows like cops, or like in "To catch a predator" where they show their voice, face and name! I can't get used to it. The robot voice is epic. You can't live without it, that's illegal! Ring åklagarn!
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I'll just say this once and for all regarding shoehorns. Sweden like the rest of Northern Europe has a no shoe indoors policy, combined with very small hallways in apartments and harsh winters the shoehorns are a gift from above. Because when you put on your double or maybe ever triple layer pants, comfy scarf, warm hat, and heavy winter's coat you are not in position to bend knees down to put on boots in the very small hallway. So the shoehorn solves the issue of not having to risk tripping over and like a turtle on its back recover. Plus it eliminates tearing on the back end of the shoe from the repeated friction motion, so it makes shoes last longer.
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I always get so frustrated when I visit someone and they don’t have a shoehorn :/
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We actually don't really like Amazon and not many Swedes are buying from them now that they're in Sweden. The reason is the poor conditions for the workers. In Sweden worker's rights are really important and we have strong trade unions. So the launch of Amazon in Sweden was not really something most of us liked.
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we use shoehorns in whole Europe. it makes it easier to put your shoes on. I'm french and we have always used shoehorns in France. And living in Sweden i use it several times daily. Especially since i never untie my shoes.
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The "Swedish Mile" (which is also used in Finland and Norway) is from the 17th century, so it's basically older than the USA, but it wasn't standardised until the 19th century when SI units were introduced in Sweden. There are still super old mile stones standing here and there along old roads all around Sweden.
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About Amazon, I really hope we kick them out as soon as possible.
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It's really important to understand, that things happening in Stockholm, most likely isn't normal anywhere else in Sweden.
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As a Swede that live in Canada I'm surprised that you didn't mention how Swedes love to form organizations, I think there is an old joke about when three Swedes get together they elect a President, treasurer and a secretary - and I think that's pretty true lol
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I hear foreigners comment on Swedish queuing and I'm just like... how the hell do you function without it? Wouldn't it be terribly chaotic to not wait in line?
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Packages can be home delivered often, any time you order something online you get several shipping options on checkout. We dont like delivery men ringing our door and giving us social anxiety, better to pick it up at nearest store (which you will be at anyway regurarly)
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Why on earth you would not use shoe horns? Makes life that much easier.
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I never bother with untying my shoes, so I use shoehorns all the time
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5:00 this is also because swedes hates situations like these we would rather take the queue number to ensure this wont happen
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20 mil: 3 syllables 200 kilometer: 7 syllables Think that’s the biggest reason, except for collective habit of course😊
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The Scandinavian mile is technically a remnant of the old Swedish imperial measurements. It was originally 18,000 alnar (cubits). And that was almost exactly 10 km so it stuck around.
