When you hear Sweden, you most likely think of a Nordic land with blond people, weird festivities like Midsummer, and edgy Stockholm street style. Not only that, every year, Swedes are reported to be among the happiest people with enviable work-life balance and renowned social equality.
So no wonder foreigners who come to live there have quite a culture shock, with so many quirks and nuances of Swedish culture. This is what happened to the 30-year-old Canadian Madeline Robson, who moved to Malmö, Sweden two years ago and ended up falling in love with the city.
Now Madeline shares her experiences from everyday life on her TikTok channel where she says she’s “romanticizing my Scandi life.” With 143.9K followers, she has gained quite a solid following, so let’s see some of the most interesting cultural differences she came across in the far Nordic land!
More info: Madelineraeaway.com
#1
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#2
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#3
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#4
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#5
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#6
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#7
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#8
"This means that when you have a baby you submit your name to the government and they can approve or deny it. Here's some of the banned names: Ikea, Metallica, Elvis, Superman, Varanda, Q,, Michael Jackson, Token, Ford, Brfxxcxxmnpccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlkb11116 which apparently = Albin"
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#9
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#10
"It is common to see people walking, jogging, pushing strollers, walking dogs, or even meeting friends for fika in the cemeteries. Seeing the way the cemeteries have been adapted to urban life was very new for me"
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#11
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#12
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#13
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#14
"Did you know? Swedes are the second highest coffee consumers in the world. I always thought that we drank a lot of coffee in Canada but I was never a big coffee drinker.. until I moved here. It feels like Swedes whole days revolve around drinking (very strong) coffee. The coffee in Canada is so weak by comparison"
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#15
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#16
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#17
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#18
"This one is a language nuance and I am so CURIOUS if you have noticed this or do this. When I started working my corporate job I would ask yes/no questions and not understand the answer. They would respond to a basic question with a *BREATH IN*. Just a simple breath. I was so confused... like does that mean YES or NO? Over time I realized that it means YES or is a way of agreeing to the question and I know in the north of Sweden this is done much more obviously"
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#19
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#20
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#21
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#22
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#23
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#24
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#25
"I was blown away by how amazing your English is. I was told swedes are the second-best English speakers in the world but I wasn't ready for just how fluent most people are. I know you were exposed to English growing up and taught it in school, but I was taught French most of my life and I'm not fluent in French. Learning a second language is hard so you should be proud of yourselves"
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#26
"Sauces are often sold in tubes. You have things like shrimp, bacon or saffron-flavoured tube cheese. You can also find common condiments like mayo in tubes too"
Image credits: madelineraeaway
#27
"I was shocked by how different Swedish dialects are depending where you're from and found out I was apparently learning the most difficult dialect. In Canada accents don't vary THAT much (unless you're from the east coast). I always thought my Swedish accent was pretty neutral but you guys told me otherwise. In a video I said: "JAG KOMMER FRÅN KANADA" and everyone said I spoke skånska. This whole accent thing was such a shock for me"
Image credits: madelineraeaway
from Bored Panda https://bit.ly/36UozHG
via Boredpanda
