Sweden
I've been
living in Sweden for two years now, so I should know a lot about the life and
people here. This last sentence made me realize how time flies…it feels like I
just landed in Stockholm. I’m waiting for my luggage, looking around the place
and noticing that there is far too many blonds and beautiful people here. They are
quietly speaking to each other, patiently waiting for the luggage and they look calm…like really calm. Later on I realized that
calm or "lugnt" is a Swedish way of living. It's really easy to get use to it.
Sweden is a
beautiful country and everybody can feel welcome here. Driving around Sweden feels
feel like you are in a fairytale. Flat land with endless fields, lakes, red and
yellow wooden houses...it's just breathtaking. It's pretty popular to bathe in lakes and
grill outdoors in the summer. That's what you usually get in a Swedish experience
package.
The best
time to visit Sweden in my opinion is May. It's usually really worm and Swedish
countryside starts to flourish in spring colours. People get happy because they
survived yet another winter and overall it’s a positive vibe.
It is
amazing how Swedes love their sweets, so called "godis". On the weekends it’s
pretty popular to have a "myskväll" (cosy night), enjoying "godis", snacks and
watching movies. They made a whole event out of what the rest of the world
calls Friday or Saturday night.
You can find some pretty interesting food in
Sweden. For instance a sill fish (herring) in a jar. If you want to explore the
culture you should try it. I would say it's from the Vikings time because they didn't know better, but some people find it tasty.
Another
Swedish thing is eating jam (for instance “lingonsylt” is one that I grown to
like) with meat. For me that was a little strange in the beginning and I became
a laughing stock when I served the jam with bread to Swedish guests for
breakfast…so learn from my mistakes.
Enough
about food…but don’t forget to try Swedish meatballs with potatoes, if possible
not the ones you get in IKEA but some homemade with an additional special spice,
called mothers love. I should write a poem about Swedish meatballs.
If you ever
wonder what to buy for a Swedish friend, I would strongly recommend a board game.
I probably played more board games here than in my whole childhood. Most of
them are associated with drinking, but it’s fascinating how much Swedes love
their games.
I will take
you around Sweden with pictures of some special places.
Stockholm
Göteborg
I really
like this town. People there are famous for being
friendly and less uptight than in Stockholm, so it's a good place to relax and ask locals for directions.
Linköping
Nynäsham
Lidköping
Vara
