Ok, so me coming from Sweden is not a big surprise to some of you by now. But I'll share some information about my diverse and weird country. First off, our national anthem! "You old, you free!".
Sweden is a big chunk of land which is mostly covered in forest (around 70%) and a very minor part is actually built upon. So we are blessed with clean water, lots of nature and fresh air (we also work very hard on enviromental issues here!). There are heavy laws on regrowing trees after they are cut down, so as to keep our forests as well. So it's a great place if you like hiking, camping or other activities in nature. Not an uncommon view in Sweden.
![[Image: Bergvik1659.jpg]](http://www.bergvikskog.se/rrwp/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Bergvik1659.jpg)
Equality and fairness is a huge part of the Swedish culture, and that includes all races, genders and sexual preferences. These topics are in fact so big here, that if you publically show patriotism, people will think you're a nationalist, and we frown upon those in Sweden (they do exist, and due to recent events are growing in numbers, still a minority by far though)! We were also the first country in the world with freedom of the press.
Our population is closing in on 10million, so of course there are differences in opinions and such, we're not all the same, and it wouldn't be accurate to say "Swedes are all like this". We're not all blonde or blue eyed for example, which is a common stereotype. But we have some common ground that the majority agrees on. We're a very politically invested country, with nearly 90% of the allowed population voting (citizens of Sweden who are old enough), our lives will be affected after all!
In Sweden we love our "pick'n'mix" candy more than any other. We like to be able to pick for ourselves after all! And "Fika" is something many of us love! There is no translation for the word, even if google claims so, trust me. It involves drinking a cup of coffee/tea/juice or whatever, eating a cookie/bun/etc and chatting with friends or family. And as I said, we're big on fairness and equality, so obviously we're a socialistic country, with high taxes on almost everything, especially alcohol. And only the government is allowed to sell alcohol stronger than 5% (so our alcohol is very expensive compared to other countries, especially at bars/pubs/clubs). But this also means school is not only free, we get paid to go there, there's free healthcare and parents get 480 days of paid parental leave. There's obviously a lot more, but let's leave it at that. PICK'N'MIX!
![[Image: 1376612128103.jpg]](https://i.warosu.org/data/ck/img/0047/19/1376612128103.jpg)
Some very Swedish foods include (but not limited to) Surströmming (pickled herring), Smörgåstårta (sandwich cake), Köttbullar (meatballs) and Jansons Frestelse (Jansons Temptation). I recommend trying them all, except maybe Surströmming. It's a rather sensitive dish that needs to be eaten right or you'll just dislike it a lot. Meatballs can be had if you visit IKEA. Sandwich Cake!
![[Image: 0715-58-01_big__b468m.jpg]](http://www.hemmetsjournal.se/ImageProvider/upload/hj/recept/bilder/0715-58-01_big__b468m.jpg)
And some very Swedish drinks include (but not limited to) Julmust (julmust), Glögg (mulled wine), Flädersaft (elder berry juice) and Akvavit (a flavoured spirit). Julmust and Glögg can both probably be bought at IKEA, and I'm sure some places have Akvavit as well (not IKEA though).
Most of us are pretty accepting of most forms of comedy, and there are very few topics that are taboo to joke about. I know some have been upset/baffled by some of my jokes in the past, and I understand that it's a culture thing. But know that my jokes are just jokes, I have no hate to spread. (we love joking about ourselves as a people or when others joke about us, we love the attention!) ^^ We also have IKEA of course, but I shall not go into detail about my evil overlords, out of fear for torture and "reprogramming".
We also have Norrsken in northern Sweden, which a lot of people find very fascinating, but we take for granted. Here's a video from last year, taken in the city I live in. Can come in more colors than green as well.
Big Steve talking about certain "rules" we have in Sweden. Which are true, but he's exaggerating on some of them. ^^
I appologize for the massive post. And I just wanna end with saying, Sweden is not perfect in any way. I love it here, but for ever person who likes something, there's a person who dislikes it. So take what I say with a pinch of salt.
Sweden is a big chunk of land which is mostly covered in forest (around 70%) and a very minor part is actually built upon. So we are blessed with clean water, lots of nature and fresh air (we also work very hard on enviromental issues here!). There are heavy laws on regrowing trees after they are cut down, so as to keep our forests as well. So it's a great place if you like hiking, camping or other activities in nature. Not an uncommon view in Sweden.
Equality and fairness is a huge part of the Swedish culture, and that includes all races, genders and sexual preferences. These topics are in fact so big here, that if you publically show patriotism, people will think you're a nationalist, and we frown upon those in Sweden (they do exist, and due to recent events are growing in numbers, still a minority by far though)! We were also the first country in the world with freedom of the press.
Our population is closing in on 10million, so of course there are differences in opinions and such, we're not all the same, and it wouldn't be accurate to say "Swedes are all like this". We're not all blonde or blue eyed for example, which is a common stereotype. But we have some common ground that the majority agrees on. We're a very politically invested country, with nearly 90% of the allowed population voting (citizens of Sweden who are old enough), our lives will be affected after all!
In Sweden we love our "pick'n'mix" candy more than any other. We like to be able to pick for ourselves after all! And "Fika" is something many of us love! There is no translation for the word, even if google claims so, trust me. It involves drinking a cup of coffee/tea/juice or whatever, eating a cookie/bun/etc and chatting with friends or family. And as I said, we're big on fairness and equality, so obviously we're a socialistic country, with high taxes on almost everything, especially alcohol. And only the government is allowed to sell alcohol stronger than 5% (so our alcohol is very expensive compared to other countries, especially at bars/pubs/clubs). But this also means school is not only free, we get paid to go there, there's free healthcare and parents get 480 days of paid parental leave. There's obviously a lot more, but let's leave it at that. PICK'N'MIX!
Some very Swedish foods include (but not limited to) Surströmming (pickled herring), Smörgåstårta (sandwich cake), Köttbullar (meatballs) and Jansons Frestelse (Jansons Temptation). I recommend trying them all, except maybe Surströmming. It's a rather sensitive dish that needs to be eaten right or you'll just dislike it a lot. Meatballs can be had if you visit IKEA. Sandwich Cake!
And some very Swedish drinks include (but not limited to) Julmust (julmust), Glögg (mulled wine), Flädersaft (elder berry juice) and Akvavit (a flavoured spirit). Julmust and Glögg can both probably be bought at IKEA, and I'm sure some places have Akvavit as well (not IKEA though).
Most of us are pretty accepting of most forms of comedy, and there are very few topics that are taboo to joke about. I know some have been upset/baffled by some of my jokes in the past, and I understand that it's a culture thing. But know that my jokes are just jokes, I have no hate to spread. (we love joking about ourselves as a people or when others joke about us, we love the attention!) ^^ We also have IKEA of course, but I shall not go into detail about my evil overlords, out of fear for torture and "reprogramming".
We also have Norrsken in northern Sweden, which a lot of people find very fascinating, but we take for granted. Here's a video from last year, taken in the city I live in. Can come in more colors than green as well.
Big Steve talking about certain "rules" we have in Sweden. Which are true, but he's exaggerating on some of them. ^^
I appologize for the massive post. And I just wanna end with saying, Sweden is not perfect in any way. I love it here, but for ever person who likes something, there's a person who dislikes it. So take what I say with a pinch of salt.
![[Image: xpXEtwW.gif?noredirect]](https://i.imgur.com/xpXEtwW.gif?noredirect)