Wander & Nest

We have spent the last 4.5 months and the final leg of our sabbatical year in Gothenburg, Sweden. Similar to New Zealand, we didn’t quite know what to expect. We were given warnings about a few things – the weather is tough, people keep to themselves, food might be weird to us, things can feel rigid with a strong focus on following rules. And of course we heard things that sounded really exciting – amazingly long days of summer, society is built for families, easy communication because everyone speaks English, great access to nature.

As with New Zealand, some of that was true, some was not, but in almost every category Sweden exceeded our expectations. Here are some highlights:

The people

I never thought that I would make genuine friends in such a short time in Sweden. I heard it takes 2-3 years to make a friend because of the stereotype that Swedes are closed off, but that wasn’t my experience at all! Interestingly, meeting people and making connections seems directly correlated with the weather. Once the weather started getting nicer I was seeing parents out at the parks or walking home from daycare pick up, and we’d start chatting and things went from there. I’m amazed at how many play dates and get together we had with families from Mara’s school. And in the case of Suzie and Ranya, the play dates were just more of an excuse for the adults to get together while the kids (somewhat) occupied themselves.

Generally interacting with people in Sweden was just so pleasant and easy. The prevalence of English helped immensely, but what was especially surprising coming from France is how happy people seem to be to speak English. It felt like no imposition at all. I’m sure life would feel very different in Swedish, but over and over again we had positive interactions with people in Sweden in all sorts of situations.

The weather

We didn’t really experience winter in Gothenburg since we arrived in March, but wow, from what we did see, it’s clear that winter is no joke. There were some very tough days of cold, wind, grey, and rain/snow, yuck. I don’t think any level of gear would ever make me enjoy those days, but I can certainly imagine being well enough prepared to get through them without much difficulty. But then… when the clouds lift and the sun shines it feels like a completely different and magical world. When the sun shines people pour outside and literally break into song. It’s a contagious appreciation for the sun that I loved.

Living more sustainably

There are many reasons to come back to Sweden, but I could plan a trip exclusively for second-hand shopping. You could find a second-hand shop anywhere in Sweden including in tiny fishing villages next to the ice cream stand. The respect for goods, organizations, and presentation was so inviting, sometimes I didn’t know I was even in a second-hand shop. It would be pretty easy to buy most things second hand in Sweden, and especially for kids stuff, it’s a no brainer!

As complicated as it felt to throw things away when we arrived in Sweden, I came to really appreciate all of the sorting of trash. Eight trash bins seems like the right amount now – food waste, paper, plastic, metal, textile, glass, batteries & electronics, other. It’s going to be very weird to go back to 2-3 bins, but we’ll do what we can to reduce waste and find recycling options where they exist.

Summer holiday

We were lucky enough to experience two summer trips at two different locations in northern Sweden. It’s more than the quaint farm house on the picturesque landscape, it’s a whole vibe. The sun is up most or all of the night which makes it feel like it doesn’t really matter when anything happens, even with a toddler – sleep until 10am, breakfast at noon, dinner at 10pm, play until midnight – sure, why not, it’s summer. The clock loses its power in the Swedish country.

Food and sweets

Food is quite possibly the most underrated things about Sweden. Sure the jarred herring wasn’t my favorite, but otherwise the food was really delicious. Meatballs, of course, seafood, salads, Swedish pizza (just not the curry banana one, I don’t get it), even basic takeout sushi was a delight. The real showstopper though are the Swedish sweets. I was almost always impressed by the confectionary creations and so many were totally new to me. Generally, I loved that things were not overly sweet, some even bordered on salty (yes please!), had great textures, and were so pretty to look at. I’m very excited to try making some Swedish sweets in France. The baked breads and rolls were ok, but since I have some weird aversion to cardamom (it takes like dish soap, I don’t understand how people eat it), the cinnamon and cardamom buns were out of the question.

I’m so glad we got to spend so much time in Sweden. We really tried to take advantage of every opportunity to explore something new and we barely scratched the surface of what the country has to offer. The good news is that we’ll be pretty close in France and something tells me the new friendships and Swedish summer will be calling us back soon.