I’m here right now. I’ve been here for almost exactly six months.
It’s… Ok. That is the best I can say about it.
The national bird (possible even animal) is a blackbird. The weather is, for six months of the year, solidly beige, if not outright grey. I would describe their “national character” as also beige.
It’s just… Meh. Like a giant suburb.
Yes, the average woman here is more attractive than in Anglo countries. And yes, it’s fairly safe (depending where you are), and pay is fairly good. But it’s expensive, accommodation is shit, and culturally it’s just… A bit off.
As I have discussed extensively with other foreigners here (mostly English-speakers, but also French et al), it’s just… Very “cold” culturally, and very… Reserved. Exactly as Sontag described it. And they judge you fairly openly. And they fucking love staring…
You know what I would say to really piss Swedes off..? I preferred Denmark. And it’s true. I did. I also preferred Finland, for that matter…
But I’m glad your friends had a great time. I don’t… Hate it here, but if, for some reason, I decided to come back again, long-term, I don’t think I would live in Stockholm.
Quite literally everywhere else I have been in Sweden, with the exception of the village I lived in for three months, has been better than the capital…
Stockholm just… Doesn’t work, for me. I’m not sure why, but it doesn’t.
Yeah, it's fine. But that's all it is. Fine. Dull. Beige. "Adequate". Perfect if you don't care about never fitting in (I tried. Really damn hard), or having decent bars, or good (beyond average) cuisine...
But I can honestly say that it's no mystery to me why most expats (from other Western countries) hate it here...
Did your friends go up North? Because I believe that's where most of the more exciting, "authentic" experiences are to be found.
Stockholm is just meh. Overpriced, over-competitive meh.
Guy, you know that the Sweden that you are defending is dying, right? That the demographics of the Swedish population have an end date for Swedish culture?
Whatever you like or don't like about Sweden will end in your lifetime. The people or leaders (it doesn't really matter which) invited in a literal army of invaders to out-breed and out-vote the Swedish people. Their days are very definitely numbered unless they literally pick up arms to fight off the "immigrants", which they won't. They would literally rather die. To my mind that is a glaring flaw in the national character.
So it may look adequate. But it isn't. It is dying day by day. Go and visit it before it is gone so you can tell your grandkids what it was like.
I’m here right now. I’ve been here for almost exactly six months.
It’s… Ok. That is the best I can say about it.
The national bird (possible even animal) is a blackbird. The weather is, for six months of the year, solidly beige, if not outright grey. I would describe their “national character” as also beige.
It’s just… Meh. Like a giant suburb.
Yes, the average woman here is more attractive than in Anglo countries. And yes, it’s fairly safe (depending where you are), and pay is fairly good. But it’s expensive, accommodation is shit, and culturally it’s just… A bit off.
As I have discussed extensively with other foreigners here (mostly English-speakers, but also French et al), it’s just… Very “cold” culturally, and very… Reserved. Exactly as Sontag described it. And they judge you fairly openly. And they fucking love staring…
You know what I would say to really piss Swedes off..? I preferred Denmark. And it’s true. I did. I also preferred Finland, for that matter…
But I’m glad your friends had a great time. I don’t… Hate it here, but if, for some reason, I decided to come back again, long-term, I don’t think I would live in Stockholm.
Quite literally everywhere else I have been in Sweden, with the exception of the village I lived in for three months, has been better than the capital…
Stockholm just… Doesn’t work, for me. I’m not sure why, but it doesn’t.
Unlike Gothenburg or Malmö, that is.
I mean it sounds perfectly fine
Yeah, it's fine. But that's all it is. Fine. Dull. Beige. "Adequate". Perfect if you don't care about never fitting in (I tried. Really damn hard), or having decent bars, or good (beyond average) cuisine...
But I can honestly say that it's no mystery to me why most expats (from other Western countries) hate it here...
Did your friends go up North? Because I believe that's where most of the more exciting, "authentic" experiences are to be found.
Stockholm is just meh. Overpriced, over-competitive meh.
No they were in Stockholm, but they also visited other areas.
Adequate sounds perfectly good tbh, considering the rest of the entire earth. I don't know why that should constitute feelings of hate
Guy, you know that the Sweden that you are defending is dying, right? That the demographics of the Swedish population have an end date for Swedish culture?
Whatever you like or don't like about Sweden will end in your lifetime. The people or leaders (it doesn't really matter which) invited in a literal army of invaders to out-breed and out-vote the Swedish people. Their days are very definitely numbered unless they literally pick up arms to fight off the "immigrants", which they won't. They would literally rather die. To my mind that is a glaring flaw in the national character.
So it may look adequate. But it isn't. It is dying day by day. Go and visit it before it is gone so you can tell your grandkids what it was like.
Visit London while you are at it.