19 weird things about Sweden

Coming here, I didn't really know what to expect, and I was really correct.

I have met some Swedish during my trips and always interested in Swedish culture (some Pipi Långstrump, Laureen, Nils Holgerson, ABBA and Elena Paparizou was mainly my Swedish education until I found my self studying here!).

You can not really guess what Sweden (and Scandinavia) is if you are not coming here and experience it... So after my arrival, this new world was just full of surprises that I decided to start writing notes of not really normal things I have seen here... so here is my list! (It's just a houmuristic list from a person with different cultural background, experiencing for the first time Sweden).

So let's start! (nu kör vi igång! )

(1) Human Relationships

Many times I just repeat a greek saying that we use, when something is very open-minded... So what we say, “ it's like we are in sweden” *Σουηδία γιίναμε... when something very cool is happening and maybe not fitting stereotypes and traditions from our country (and I guess most of the southern European countries). Many people here in Sweden are divorced, and most of the time there are also children in those families. Separating is normal, and the parents keep having healthy relations, for their children to be as happy as possible! Those differences in how a family works were pretty shocking for me the first time I met Swedish, who were holidays with the mom, new partner of the mom, 3 siblings (and girlfriend of one of the brothers! )

There I realize that we have a huge cultural gap...

(2) You can be proud of being whatever you feel

Still talking about human relationships, I proudly want to mention LGTBQ+ community here. Coming from a small village in Greece, and a quite traditional way of living, arriving in Sweden and watching LGTBQ+ flags all over the cities, I was positevely shocked, -Now feels impossible to live again the same way I did when I was back home.

(3) Equality

So as you may understand already seeds love equality, with what it can mean. It can mean for example that I call my teachers in my university by name or that I am going to pay for my beer on the first date (what? ). So considering this cultural difference, I had some difficulties to understand how things work here...

(4) At the table...

Going back to my trip to Mexico, I was traveling with a Swedish boy, and one day we found ourselves hosted by a lovely Mexican family.

We made some food for ourselves and eventually the whole family showed up. Joel asked the family if they wanted to eat something and they said no, and then I told him to put some food for them.

- "but they said no. "

- "but they want, joel. "

Then we asked if they wanted some more, and without waiting for an answer, I just full their plates again, showing caring in my culture. Joel could not really understand (4) how he should act, but for me was a very familiar way of living in Mexico. (Yes the Mexican culture felt more familiar than the Scandinavian for me, even though we were in a different continent! ). On that occasion, he explained to me that, that could be considered rude in Sweden, if someone says no, you have to respect it, they are just not hungry! ).

(5) In other words honesty... You have to be straight forword here (and extremely polite).

So if someone asks you if you want food just say "yes please", the will not ask 2nd time (I got a couple of times starving, waiting for them to put some food in my plate without asking, and just refill again and again, like my grandma or my parents... still waiting... ).

Another day I went and meet another Swedish friend in Gteborg, and when he asked me if I wanted to sleep in his bed, I said that I could sleep in a sleeping bag on the floor (my greek background told me that he will ask again, but guess who slept on the floor! ) - I could just ask to sleep in the bed, but just not used to that simplicity!

(6) Another thing that was different for me, the first period here, was that people are really reserved and not very talkative.

The first time I met my corporate, he didn't tell me his name. We stayed maybe 2 months together until I finally learned what was his name. Most of the time they don´t feel like talking, and they just wear their headphones, say hej, and that's the end of the conversation... For me that was something very hard to get used to. The bus was a great example for what I'm talking about, in a bus, everyone sits alone, and as far as possible... when the bus is full, they will sit next to you, but by the time that another seat gets free, they prefer to just go and sit alone. (no, most probably/hopefully, you are not smelly or weird).

"It's not something you should feel bad", Swedish friends used to tell me, "he just respects your personal space, and wants you to feel comfortable too! " Now I sit alone in the bus, and not talk to strangers in the bus stations. It works.

(7) The Climate

For those who don't know, I live in Umeå, a small city in the north of Sweden.

In Greece we have snow once every couple of years -and when we do, a chaos is happening- schools get closed, the highways are closing, we don't have water, and nothing really works. (It's not that usually it does, but that's another story. But coming here, I realize that 20 °C below zero is still ok to go to a lake and have a BBQ with your friends (true story).

So, after experiencing 30 °C below zero, tons of snow, I can admit the "Det finns inget dåligt väder, bara dåliga kläder" or simply at there is no bad weather, only bad clothes.

(8) Darkness - the most difficult thing

Living 6 months under a black sky was something I just read in the geography books when I was 10, and I simply couldn't understand that it can be real. Well, yes it can. Such a long period in darkness is indeed hard for your mood, as well as your body, so it's very important to take some extra vitamin D (there are some things that are quite unique about this darkness).

And as I said before in a previous article, I used to make fun of people that just stand out when it was sunny because in Greece we usually have sunny days even the winters.

The first time I saw the sun here in Umeå, after 3 weeks, I found myself, just standing and looking at the sun smiling.

(9) Languages

Realizing that the weird things are more than I thought they will be, I'll come to "our" beautiful language.

So you think you are good in English, untill you are coming here. Those people, can speak english extremely good, from a 4 year old to a 90 year old. But they also have their one language with weird vowels, which are all the same sound for me ö, ä, å, but also their pretty strong accents. You can find skåne accent (you can call it danish) with a very strong rrr, the snobby (nollotare) stockholm accent, and finally our north cute accent, with the weird sound of sucking (? ) air, instead of saying yes, syoup sound, and syoup, we do it.

(10) Snus

Another thing I have seen for the first time here was the snus. I saw it again for the first time with Joel in Mexico, and then I was just freaked out why someone would do something like that. It is tabbaco in a "tea bag" that you put under your lips and it's super strong ( approximately as strong as 11 cigarretes) and smells horrible. But the worse one is the loose snus, that you just have some disgusting dust in your mouth, do not try, you most probably puke after it.

(11) Alcohol

So after the "smoking experience", time to talk about "alkohol".

My international friends just decided we should throw a party tonight, for our first weekend in Sweden, and I'll just go and take some alcohol from the supermarket! "What do you mean no stronger alcohol than 3, 5% in the supermarkets?"

Do not forget your ID when you are going downtown, because you have to prove to them that you are older than 20 (I was 19 by that time). Weekdays until 19, Saturdays until 15, and Sundays closed. That's systembolaget, the state-owned company which is the only retail store allowed to sell alcoholic beverages that contain more than 3.5% alcohol by volume. And that's how I get to love the cheap 3,5% beer from ICA.

(12) Safety

I am just complaining about the systembolaget, but this is also a reason why I feel really safe in that country.

We are not allowed to drink outside, and ofc (dad! ) to drive drunk, but even without alcohol, the drivers are really careful here. The first time they stopped for me to cross the street, I was thanking them again and again, and I had difficulties believing it.

But there is safety in more ways (I can leave my laptop in the library and nobody will touch it, I may forget my bag, and if they will find it, they will give it back, or just leave it there to find it again! ). Unbelievable, isn't it?

More human relationships

It's pretty hard, in general, to get close to Swedish people, but by the time that you are their friend, they really take care of you and love you a lot!

(13) Generally they love traveling and my experience says that they are quite more open and sociable when they are abroad than back here.

Thinking about my friends... One of them spent 3 months working in Japan, another spent a year in Australia, another did the south America round with a van, southeast Asia with a bicycle, and a girl was an Aupair for 6 months in the USA to improve her English when she was 14.

(Those people traveled more in one year than all my friends and family from back home all over our lives, well done Sweden, explore the world! ).

(14) Something else that I remember from the first sweds I met was the way that they are saying grandma and grandpa.

So depending if it is the mom's parents they are mormor (mom's mom) and farmor (mom's dad) and then, dad's parents called farfar and farmor, cool, isn't it?

And that's an example of how precise they usually are. So when you ask them when they will have free days, this winter, they say week 46. How do I suppose to know which week is the 46? Or when asking them where do they live, and they say 30 miles south of Piteå, I don't know Piteå, and I don't know how much are the miles, km please, tack.

(15) Some weird words.

Tack tack tack, they use it more than you think, that can be thank you, you are welcome, there you go, etc etc etc. Tackatacka (the double of the words is also kind of cute, hej hej, puss puss, tjena tjena etc).

(16) And please take your shoes off in the house

In the library, in the museum, in the class. Comfier and a lot cleaner!

(17) "Fika"

Last but not least, fika! The tradition of drinking coffe twice a day, at 10 and at 15, while eating pastries. Ok maybe this national sport comes after brännboll and ice hockey, and skiing, and Eurovision...

Branboll is the swedish cover of baseball.

They drink a lot -a lot- of coffee but they even have the fika paus, that's simply the cake, coffee and socializing break!That's something really important and pretty cool that they actually have a word for that.

My first fika, last year, with international friends!

That was pretty much most of the weirdest things I found out, after a half year in Sweden, but I'm sure there are a lot more, and some that I want to forget...

(18) strong>Surstrumming: gruesome fermented herring )

Sweden is a great country to live, maybe hard sometimes because it has a very unique culture, and you better try to fit in, but I'm happy to be here and have that experience, (ohh and yes swedish people look gorgeus! 19! ).

Do you have some more, that I may forget?

Comment or send me your ideas!

And share the article, you really help me!

Thanks for reading!

See you in 5 days!

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