The Awesomeness of Sweden

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Wow. I was so lucky to get the chance to go back to Sweden in September for a Swedish wedding. I got to see my friends, the town I lived in, and experience even more Swedish culture (including hockey!). And it was heart-breaking, realizing I had to leave.

Realizing the awesomeness of Sweden and what I was missing by not living there. But really, what am I missing when not living in Sweden and living in the US? Well, let’s take a look at the awesomeness of Sweden a bit.

Swedish Beauty

Swedish beautySweden is gorgeous! In Norrland there are little people and lots of trees. I love it. I could go forever seeing trees in the forrest and the lakes of Sweden. It is definitely a beautiful country. And this is not comparing it to anything else (Montana is beautiful too!)

And then the people. I think it must have something to do with the sun not being up during the winter, but people in Sweden have the greatest skin! They are a beautiful, beautiful people. I think I have yet to meet an ugly Swede.

Universal Health Care

So, in the United States we don’t have this. And I miss it, and more than ever after living here for 11 months.

True, I did like Czech Republic’s health care better than Sweden. Sweden’s health care is not flawless. Especially their lack of focus on prevention. But everyone has it.

There are no fundraisers for a child with cancer. Or for your friend with cancer. Or for your neighbour with cancer. There is no need to fundraise because people are taken care of! True, higher taxes pay for it. But why force people to worry about money when they are sick??

Universal Education

I applied to get my master degree in Sweden because it was free and I wanted to get my masters. Amazing. Sure, you have to calculate cost of books and cost of time, but you don’t have to actually pay for your education if you are a Swedish citizen.

Back in the U.S. my brother has more than a $30,000 to pay off for his masters, my roommate has a loan for her education, and my little brother will be getting a $160,000 loan to pay for his schooling. And yes, there are interest rates on these loans.

For some reason, I think tax paid education is awesome!

Being Greenbiofuel garbage truck

When I think of Sweden, I think of blue and gold (the flag), and white (snow). But the true color of Sweden is green! They recycle everything and are super innovated when it comes to technology. But they are very aware of the affect they produce on the environment. There are rules in place such as not running your car on idle, in order to protect the environment.

It may not work perfectly, but Skelleftea recycles it’s organic waste to make fuel for the garbage trucks and other city vehicles. Sweden turned me completely green, and now I miss living in a country where the environment takes a huge priority.

More Play, Less Work

Swedes know the importance of free time and enjoying your life. Remember, we only have one life to live, or at least that we know of. So we should enjoy our life!

Which is why, in Sweden, you get 5 weeks paid vacation. Not two. 5 weeks to enjoy yourself and live your life! This does not mean that nothing gets done, or that the economy suffers from it. Nope. Sweden functions extremely well with 5 weeks paid vacation.

And shall we talk about maternity leave? 480 days of materinty leave last I checked. Daddies get some days off too! So you actually have time to enjoy your child’s early years. This is actually quite common in Europe, to have maternity leave longer than 6 months. And I think in the U.S. many people don’t even get 6 months. Maybe two.

I know that I want to enjoy my life, and my children when I choose to have them. And not only work until the grave.

Swedish Friendliness

When I left Sweden, I kinda felt kicked out of my home. I didn’t dive too much into my personal situation on here, but all you need to know is that it didn’t end on a kindly note with the people involved.

With Skelleftea being such a small town, and with most of my friends being people I met through my ex, I was afraid I would be ostracized. I was afraid that everyone would think I was evil.

Silly American. How untrue that was! Everyone was so welcoming. They were so happy that I made the trip out there for the wedding, and they treated me with such grace and respect. We know that Swedes hate confrontation, which could have been part of it, but I felt loved and welcomed and wanting to return home!

As an American, I do find Swedes hard to read sometimes, because they are less emotional than what I’m used to. But also as an American who lived most of her adult life in Europe and now finds herself thrown into middle America, I find many Americans way too emotional, dramatic, and hard to deal with. Even the men!

In the end, everyone’s true colors come out. Once you get to know Swedes, you will realize how kind hearted the majority of them are.

Taking your fair share

Swedish Wedding CakeThis story I tell my American friends over and over again. And it still shocks me today when I think of it. But it is proof that Swedes know how to take just their fair share and nothing more!

So at this amazing Swedish wedding, there was a beautiful cake. Now the bride and groom did their typical cake cutting, and then sat down. In the U.S., usually the cake is served by the staff so everyone gets a fair share. Or there is so much cake it doesn’t matter how much you take. But this was one cake. One. And we were serving our selves.

I took my fair share, not to big, not to small, and went to sit down. And I watched. I watched the line of people who wanted cake, and I watched the cake dwindle. I thought for sure, for sure! this cake was going to run out before the last person. There just wasn’t enough cake for everyone.

Not with Swedes. They know how to take their fair share. Not too much, not too little. And I was wrong. There was enough cake for everyone. There was exactly one slice of cake left over after the last person took their fair share and sat down.

That is part of an amazing, work together, help one another, culture. And I love it.

My Home

As I’m writing these, I’m getting very teary-eyed. I wasn’t done with Sweden. And I’m not done with Sweden. They are building their country into something the whole world should model after. They help each other, help the world, and become better in the process.

Now, Sweden is far from perfect. They have flaws, just like any country has flaws. But they are on the right track, going in the right direction, at Swedish speed. Not to fast, not to slow, just right.

And it is something I would be proud to be a part of. So as I write this, I make a declaration.

I am moving back to Sweden.

 

16 thoughts on “The Awesomeness of Sweden”

  1. Hilary!!!! I was touched by that because somehow is the same thing I’m feeling nowadays!
    So Happy you made this decision, I was expecting this from you!
    “VOLERE è POTERE” – “WILL IS POWER” we say in Italy and any obstacle will vanish!
    Vi ses senare!

    Reply
    • Vi ses snart Alessio! I have it a lot harder than you do. I’m not in the EU, so it is going to be a tough journey. But I’m stubborn 🙂

      Reply
  2. Wow!, I loved your post. I’m a Sweden crazy fan too!!. I love their culture, people, landscapes…and everything. I’m learning swedish, so one day I can return (I’ve been there), and accomplish my biggest dream I have: to live there. I know how you feel, so your words really really got me. Amazing post.

    Reply
  3. missfoster- was your wedding story from the northern skelleftea area? all of my grandmas people were born in this area. i have been unable to find a connection to any 1 person who might could help me. am i correct that you are currently living in the usa? would you be willing to discuss with me how i might go about contacting or trying to find my andersson relatives? i have cousins in the south of sweden that i have met (on my g’fathers side) but they don’t seem interested in helping me- too busy. i have done my geneaology of my ancestors in the skelleftea area with the help of a geneaologist who had family there & he told me my g’fathers childhood home still stands but i have no clue how to find it or how to proceed. your story was quite interesting. on your plans to live there- does the FRIGID weather not deter you? i am planning a trip to southern sweden & it bothers me that i will be that close & not be able to find my family in the north. thanks for taking the time to post your story. hoping it opens a door for me. i am a retired school teacher/principal from south alabama. joel

    Reply
  4. Hi!

    Don’t forget the Paternityleave…….. of the 480 days, 60 days is reserved for each parent and can not be transferred. Then the famely decides how the rest is chared between them.

    Most of my colleagues (men) stays home at least 6 months with their newborns (the mothers usually takes the first 6-12 months depending on how long they breastfead).

    Still most of the days goes to the mothers but more and more days is taken by men. In Västerbotten a total of 26.6% of the days were taken by men!

    This semester, for example, two of my colleagues at the school is staying home on paternityleave one day/week and next semester one of them is going home full time!

    Reply
  5. Aww, so beautifully written! And so fun that you went further than just Stockholm and ended up in Skellefteå (of all places!). I’m far away from home right now and reading this gave me a heartache 🙂

    Do it! Move here (..there)!

    Reply

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