Crush Me Out on Sweden!
December 17, 2013 4:59 PM Subscribe
I have developed an unavoidable crush on Sweden. I want to hear from Mefi locals about the best your country has to offer, things you love about living there, music, culture, all of it - help me crush out on Sweden!
Take me on a virtual tour of Stockholm, turn me on to your fave local bands, etc!
SLAPP HUNDARNA!
Take me on a virtual tour of Stockholm, turn me on to your fave local bands, etc!
SLAPP HUNDARNA!
Best answer: omg sweden !!! I'm American, but I lived there for half a year in 2011 and the crush has only blossomed. I've gone back every summer since.
This website is awesome: http://sweden.se
Swedish music (kinda a big range of stuff here, but just roll with it):
The Sounds, Robyn, Icona Pop, John Dahlbäck, Dada Life, Swedish House Mafia, Avicii, Slagsmålsklubben, The Knife, Air France, Boat Club, jj, Tough Aliance, CEO, Lykke Li, Rebecca & Fiona, Veronica Maggio, Familjen, Den svenska björnstammen, Little Marbles, Movits!, NONONO
Probably the most important video to watch: Regular Ordinary Swedish Meal Time
@sweden twitter account (a new person every week posts about their life, you can ask them questions, etc.)
Jönköping instagram account -- just that city, but there may be more
I wrote about culture shock & being a student there, here and here.
Concepts to learn/study: fika, mysig, jantelagen, lagom, Swedish self-deprecation and humor (see: this video), which was from Eurovision, which you should also know about.
Also, NEVER underestimate the importance of Robyn.
I find Swedish movies really depressing and scary/sad, but some of them that are funnier/I've sorta enjoyed more are:
Jalla Jalla
Smala Susie
Fucking Åmål (ok, this one is pretty sad still)
Solsidan (I swear, the only swedish TV series anyone has ever seen)
But really, they all just watch American TV. Every Swede I have ever met is a walking encyclopedia of The Simpsons, Seinfeld, and How I Met Your Mother.
Feel free to memail if you want more info about… anything. And if you have the financial means, definitely save up to GO THERE!!! It's fucking magical.
posted by mokudekiru at 6:48 PM on December 17, 2013 [3 favorites]
This website is awesome: http://sweden.se
Swedish music (kinda a big range of stuff here, but just roll with it):
The Sounds, Robyn, Icona Pop, John Dahlbäck, Dada Life, Swedish House Mafia, Avicii, Slagsmålsklubben, The Knife, Air France, Boat Club, jj, Tough Aliance, CEO, Lykke Li, Rebecca & Fiona, Veronica Maggio, Familjen, Den svenska björnstammen, Little Marbles, Movits!, NONONO
Probably the most important video to watch: Regular Ordinary Swedish Meal Time
@sweden twitter account (a new person every week posts about their life, you can ask them questions, etc.)
Jönköping instagram account -- just that city, but there may be more
I wrote about culture shock & being a student there, here and here.
Concepts to learn/study: fika, mysig, jantelagen, lagom, Swedish self-deprecation and humor (see: this video), which was from Eurovision, which you should also know about.
Also, NEVER underestimate the importance of Robyn.
I find Swedish movies really depressing and scary/sad, but some of them that are funnier/I've sorta enjoyed more are:
Jalla Jalla
Smala Susie
Fucking Åmål (ok, this one is pretty sad still)
Solsidan (I swear, the only swedish TV series anyone has ever seen)
But really, they all just watch American TV. Every Swede I have ever met is a walking encyclopedia of The Simpsons, Seinfeld, and How I Met Your Mother.
Feel free to memail if you want more info about… anything. And if you have the financial means, definitely save up to GO THERE!!! It's fucking magical.
posted by mokudekiru at 6:48 PM on December 17, 2013 [3 favorites]
In August I made an fpp about the Sound Opinions world tour examining different current musical tastes and they had an excellent podcast episode about Sweden.
posted by mannequito at 2:37 AM on December 18, 2013
posted by mannequito at 2:37 AM on December 18, 2013
I lived and worked in the town of Karlskrona, in south-eastern Sweden for several years. Many of the best things about it were the kind of intangibles that I noticed more whenever I left than while I was there: clean air, tidy streets, low crime, good infrastructure, really fast internet.
mokedekiru’s list of concepts is a good one. There’s also the importance of the stuga (country cabin or cottage), the ideal of the smultronstället, and the typical three-week vacation in July; the custom of watching Kalle Anka (Donald Duck) on Christmas Eve. And the raggare subculture is a curious thing: Swedish rockabilly rednecks!
An interesting, newish Swedish band is Goat.
posted by misteraitch at 3:01 AM on December 18, 2013
mokedekiru’s list of concepts is a good one. There’s also the importance of the stuga (country cabin or cottage), the ideal of the smultronstället, and the typical three-week vacation in July; the custom of watching Kalle Anka (Donald Duck) on Christmas Eve. And the raggare subculture is a curious thing: Swedish rockabilly rednecks!
An interesting, newish Swedish band is Goat.
posted by misteraitch at 3:01 AM on December 18, 2013
Not a local, but I went there last year and we loved getting herring and remoulade from food trucks. We were also there around Easter, so saw kids dressed up as 'Easter witches'.
I also saw an awesome feminist comic called Zelda, but I don't know enough Swedish to read it.
posted by mippy at 4:19 AM on December 18, 2013
I also saw an awesome feminist comic called Zelda, but I don't know enough Swedish to read it.
posted by mippy at 4:19 AM on December 18, 2013
The books by Astrid Lindgren are an obvious suggestion but if you haven't read them yet then you're in for such a treat!
posted by yoHighness at 6:15 AM on December 18, 2013
posted by yoHighness at 6:15 AM on December 18, 2013
Best answer: You want a tour of Stockholm, Hoosier Tim's got you covered. 23-minute YouTube video. Lots of the city sights and sounds with no music, no narration, no graphics. My favorite parts are around 14 minutes in, just walking around the city, and about 18:30, when it's raining.
posted by cashman at 7:13 AM on December 18, 2013
posted by cashman at 7:13 AM on December 18, 2013
Best answer: I moved here in June to be with my girlfriend.
Summer is glorious beyond belief, and enhance by the fact that all the Swedes know it is a fleeting, temporary thing, and so they ensure it is enjoyed twice as much. The days are endless, the dusk, when it arrives, last for hours and hours. This was from midsummer this year, and is absolutely indicative of the feeling of that time of year.
The people are lovely, although can appear a little reserved if you're used to the opposite, as I am in Australia. There is also a hint of sombre-ness, or darkness perhaps, within people - kids stories can contain some fairly dark elements, some of the traditions are downright scary, and people seem to be more in touch - not necessarily in a bad way - with being alone, or a little down.
There is a widespread commitment to the environment, and to general socialistic ideals. This is beginning to change a little though, as the politicians have started to move more toward the centre than they have been in the past.
The language isn't too hard to learn, and is quite fun. I've found that when I put on my most sarcastic muppet accent is when people compliment me the most on my Swedish. You can say "Hey doo doo roo, her har doo der" and it's a simple 'hey, how are you?'.
I love it here. It's very expensive, and tricky to find work (but that's mostly because I'm not here permanently yet), but Stockholm is a beautiful city to wander through.
Come along!
posted by twirlypen at 9:27 AM on December 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
Summer is glorious beyond belief, and enhance by the fact that all the Swedes know it is a fleeting, temporary thing, and so they ensure it is enjoyed twice as much. The days are endless, the dusk, when it arrives, last for hours and hours. This was from midsummer this year, and is absolutely indicative of the feeling of that time of year.
The people are lovely, although can appear a little reserved if you're used to the opposite, as I am in Australia. There is also a hint of sombre-ness, or darkness perhaps, within people - kids stories can contain some fairly dark elements, some of the traditions are downright scary, and people seem to be more in touch - not necessarily in a bad way - with being alone, or a little down.
There is a widespread commitment to the environment, and to general socialistic ideals. This is beginning to change a little though, as the politicians have started to move more toward the centre than they have been in the past.
The language isn't too hard to learn, and is quite fun. I've found that when I put on my most sarcastic muppet accent is when people compliment me the most on my Swedish. You can say "Hey doo doo roo, her har doo der" and it's a simple 'hey, how are you?'.
I love it here. It's very expensive, and tricky to find work (but that's mostly because I'm not here permanently yet), but Stockholm is a beautiful city to wander through.
Come along!
posted by twirlypen at 9:27 AM on December 18, 2013 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by suprenant at 6:17 PM on December 17, 2013