![]() People might be a little more reserved than you’re used to but you have to keep working at it. You often hear that it’s difficult to make friends with Swedes, and it’s not always easy but once you do - you have a friend for life. You soon realise it doesn’t matter what shoes you wear to a party because no-one will see them anyway! 13. I actually really like this Swedish norm because it keeps the apartments so clean! It’s typical when you go to a party to see piles of shoes at the doorway when you come in. No shoes insideĪnother thing to remember is to always take your shoes off when you go into someone’s apartment. Swedes like to be on time and it’s considered quite rude if you’re late. But here, if you invite someone for dinner at 7pm, you really have to be there at 7pm. In South Africa, we rock up when we rock up - nobody’s exactly on time. You adjust pretty quickly but it can be a shock to the system when you first arrive! The stores aren’t open late in the evenings or on Sundays, which can really take some getting used to if you come from a country where alcohol isn’t regulated. In Sweden, you’re not able to buy alcoholic drinks that contain more than 3.5% alcohol anywhere other than Systembolaget, which is the chain of state-owned liquor stores. The country is really taken care of and you can see where your taxes are going. Areas are well maintained, so it’s rare that you would see a pothole on the road or other wear and tear on the streets or buildings. There’s a really good subsidised healthcare service, and great parental leave benefits. Taxes here are high but there are advantages to it. I don’t think you have that freedom in many other countries. ![]() So you can do activities like walking, cycling, skiing and camping pretty much anywhere. In Sweden, we have something called Allemansrätten which is the right to access any land, as long as it’s not someone’s private garden. Top outdoor workout routes in Stockholm.And all the routes are colour coded so it’s really difficult to get lost! Even if it’s dark, there are loads of lit pathways and hiking tracks. But then you realise that actually it’s much better for you to be out in nature, and luckily in Stockholm you have access to so much of it! It never takes long to find a lake or forest, regardless or where you live in the city. I found that when I first moved here, that first winter I tried to stay indoors as much as possible because it was so cold. People often do exercise classes at home too, or at the bare minimum they go outside for a walk and some fresh air. And the gyms are full throughout the year. It doesn’t matter how cold it is, people are outside running all year around. People here like to stay in shape and so exercise is a big part of people’s routines. But then, just a year later, I was doing the exact same thing! If it’s a sunny day, you’ll rush to go outside and enjoy it. You’ll often see people just standing with their eyes closed facing the direction of the sun. I guess because it’s dark for a big chunk of the year, when the sun is out you become a real sun worshipper. You can also try a light therapy lamp which really helps. So it’s important to take vitamin D supplements and work on your mental health because it can affect your mood. Coming from the southern hemisphere, I wasn’t used to it. Prepare yourself for the darknessĭuring winter, it can get pretty dark for long periods of time. Even when it’s cold and snowing, they have activities for every type of weather. People are quite active so they spend a lot of time outdoors. You will talk about the weather much more than you ever have before! It’s such a huge part of the lifestyle here. A lot of times visitors don’t realise this and end up being stuck with wads of cash that they aren’t able to spend anywhere! Sweden is a cashless society and it’s rare that a supermarket or store will accept cash. A practical guide to smooth your move to Stockholm.It also means you can use Bank ID, which is a personal identification system, and once you have that you can access services like online banking and Swish which lets you send money to other people or businesses using your smartphone. You need it for almost everything, even to become a member of a gym. Your personal number allows you to do everything that you need to do in order to function in Sweden, so try to get it sorted as soon as you get here.
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