If you're ever fortunate enough to spend a full year in Sweden, you'd better be prepared for a whole universe of unusual traditions. Podcaster Oliver Gee of The Earful Sweden shares what he considers to be the five most unusual traditions in a Swedish year.
There are plenty of Swedish traits that quickly become part of your everyday life. We want to know what Swedish habits The Local's readers can't shake off.
If you've lived in Sweden (or read The Local) for a while, you are probably familiar with the social norms. But for a newbie, certain quirks can be confusing. Brit Ellie Day recounts the mistakes she made when she first moved to Sweden – so you don't have to repeat them.
After a while in Sweden, many foreigners find themselves turning a bit Swedish. Here are ten signs that you might have been here for just a bit too long.
The struggle to try to integrate is one many internationals experience, and Sweden is no exception. So what exactly does it take to be considered truly Swedish, according to the Swedes themselves?
If you're a foreigner who's got used to living life "the Swedish way", or a Swede who's moved abroad, common conversations with locals in other countries can end up feeling rather strange.
The Local's intern Saina Behnejad, whose Iranian parents moved from Stockholm to London when she was five, explains why she will always keep returning to Sweden.
The Local's Swedish Editor Emma Löfgren moved back to her home country in 2015 after years abroad. She's so happy she doesn't have to hear any of these things any more.
Do the Swedes have certain habits you just can't work out? Here, The Local's Emma Löfgren, who returned to Sweden from the UK four years ago, lists some of the Nordic traits that leave her foreign friends bemused.
To literally translate a proverb is a silly thing to do. But when some Swedish proverbs translate to such ridiculous things as "getting your beard stuck in the letterbox", we realized we simply had to gather more. Here are the top ten.
Sweden can be a difficult country to integrate into at the best of times, but what about the opposite? How hard it is to get under the skin of the Swedes? Check out The Local's guide to exactly what really makes a Swede tick.
Youth centre worker and columnist Milad Mohammadi questions whether traditional Swedish behaviour is really all it's cracked up to be if it often means not helping those in need.
Without a concept of "Swedishness" that can be shared by all, integration won't succeed in Sweden nor will it be a country that has a place for immigrants, argues argues Bosian war refugee <b>Jasenko Selimovic</b> of the Liberal Party (Folkpartiet).
A number of years ago, back when we lived in California, I read an article run in Swedish daily Expressen called, “Jag är hemmafru, men jag är inte desperate,” or “I’m a Housewife, but I’m not Desperate.”
<b>What to do when you’re sick of suffering in silence, frustrated with the reserve and basically bored with the <i>lagom</i> way of life? Try delving into one of the many books on getting to know the Swedes. It could make for a happy-ever-after ending to your story. The Local’s Christine Demsteader opens the page on some of these socio-cultural insights.</b>
<b><i>Buy a sweater at H&M and you don't expect it to last forever, but it will look good on you for the time being. With Sweden's high divorce rate, Swedes have a pretty similar attitude to spouses, says Sarah Tarnowski.</b></i>
