Culture shock, sure, but the whole “Nordic model” is just a bit… Shit, honestly.
The whole country (that I have seen so far) feels like “Pleasantville”, but woke, and uber-modern, rather than 1950s Americana…
And the Turks. The fucking Turks here. Eugh…
Their rudeness seems more intentional than I would say it seems to be with more… “Native” Swedes.
Gonna be interesting learning to survive here. As a very “social” person, I… Certainly have some adjusting to do.
The strange mix of ultra-conformity and extreme cultural introvertedness is… A vibe. I’ll say that much.
Customer service? Ha…
You really moved to the only place that's worse than where you were.
Maybe, arguably. But there’s not as much “me”, here, so it’s a good opportunity to pretty much completely start over, without any of that “baggage”, from that perspective.
You know what surprises me, though? How fucking dirty everything is…
Oddly, for a country with a reputation for pretty much the opposite, the sheer amount of flies (everywhere) and litter is… Disconcerting.
But anyway, we’ll see, I guess.
That's how Italy was as I experienced it (20ish years ago but still) especially Roma. Garbage piles, flies, and the stench of rotten fish and open drains.
New Orleans is the only city that smells worse.
So much for the center of western culture and history, though I suppose it could be taken propheticly.
The garbage problem in various Italian cities was actually the result of mafia extortion rackets and other scams, which included burying toxic waste on arable land.
That's why you should avoid buying produce from Italy. It might be laced with carcinogens.