who is not from usa?

@BlobbyMcBlobface Are the McBlobfaces a well established Scottish clan? I imagine the tartan is quite distinctive. 🤔

@FreddieUK We are and the tartan is quite blobby, it's made in Blobbington.

@dpoet So... where to begin? I can only really write about Stockholm, where I live, as I haven't yet travelled much outside.

First: Sweden is big - about twice the size of the UK - but with a population less than London. Even Stockholm with about 2 million in the larger urban area, doesn't feel crowded. It's very clean and tidy and a very pretty city built on 14 islands - so water (the sea!) is never far away. Also lots of greenery and virtually no high-rise buldings. People tend to be polite and reserved. Cars are driven slowly in the city and they always stop for pedestrians who look like they might be thinking about crossing the road.

But Stockholm is much less varied and vibrant than London - and that I miss about London. It's well-behaved and possibly slightly dull, but that has its plus sides! Public transport is very very good (metro, bus, tram, boat), but not cheap (it costs 49 SEK for a 75 minute all-you-can eat ride, but monthly etc. tickets are available for regular travellers). I find Swedish food quite dull so tend to cook other cuisines, although ingredients are pretty good quality.

The health service is very similar to the NHS in that it is (virtually) free. It also has its problems but from what I can see tends to be rated a bit higher than the NHS in international rankings. Education (including university) is free and of high quality. Many universities teach courses in English.

Almost everyone speaks English, except some older people. I'm learning Swedish as fast as I can, but you could actually exist here without speaking the language.

The weather and seasons are a big change from the UK. Stockholm is further north than the most remote Scottish islands, so winters are DARK - by mid-afternoon it feels like night. But in the summer, days are very long - it's still light at 11 PM. Of course, in the northern part of the country there is permanight for most of the winter.

Society is very digital - just about everything can be done online and "just works". Cash is almost never used. I've not used it once since I arrived here over five years ago.

Sweden punches above its weight industrially. It designs and builds its own fighter aircraft (Saab) and global brands like Spotify, Volvo and IKEA are all Swedish.

It's quite an expensive place to live. Housing in Stockholm is difficult to find and costly (but probably not as bad as London). Food is a bit more expensive, but wine and spirits bought in the shop are a little cheaper than the UK. And you can only buy alcohol in the state-owned Systembolaget chain, but which is very popular and generally loved. Income tax is similar to the UK, but there is no council tax and no NI. VAT is higher (25%).

That's a first braindump - but ask any questions and I'll do my best to answer.

@Adeptlinguist what about culture? the people? making friends? relationships? what's the biggest differences you felt? thank you so much for sharing

@dpoet It can be notoriously difficult to make friends here, but if you persist people open up. Learning Swedish definitely helps but I think there is an underlying (and hidden) xenophobia - if you're not Swedish (not talking about skin colour here) then it is very difficult I think not to be an outsider to some extent. But paradoxically it also feels very European and Swedes are pretty international in their outlook. My partner is a naturalised Swede, so we're both outsiders to an extent but her Swedish is much better than mine (she's been here for a very long time but has also lived in other places including the UK). I've found I've been pretty accepted here - I sit on the board of my housing association (was elected) and at work people are welcoming (although I work for an international company so that probably attracts Swedes who are more open to other cultures). At times it can feel like a very small place - you often see famous people including pop stars or politicians in the shops just going about their business. You wouldn't see that in the UK. One of the ABBA members regularly shops in my local supermarket, for example!

@dpoet come on where? I like it here

@ScreamingFox be nice

@dpoet how is it that not nice? It's called joking around. It's called fun.

@SunshineGirl how come you are from 2 places at the same time?

@dpoet My parents' nationalities. I was brought up on military bases around the world.

@ThaiGirl from where?

@dpoet thailand