Sweden does indeed have a habit of knowing English to quite the exceptional degree. Honestly to the point that a lot of young Swedes are fairly abhorrent at Swedish. It is a language that is likely gone in the next 100 years or so. In regards to Snus, yes it is just nicotine, a bit more concentrated as a cigarette and likely just as addictive as smoking 3 packs a day. Seeing a person used to snus use cigarettes to ease their addiction is a clear sign that it is an addiction. Since they will often start the next cig before the first even is finished. It is honestly quite abhorrent what people will do for relaxation... (not that it is relaxation by the time it is an addiction, by that point it is just one's "normal". The body simply gets used to it and build up a resistance, just like with any other mental stimulants.) Homelessness in Sweden is a bit of a weird one. We have "homeless" people. There is shelters for the few truly homeless that we have. But a far bigger problem is that we have people (often young adults) being stuck in "their" home. The real estate market here is frankly quite unaffordable to most people. Along side our laws protecting people from just being thrown out from their current home, it ends up with a lot of people just stuck in life. Often to the point of depression and a rise in suicides. Back in the day (the 70's) the Swedish government built 1 million new homes in 1 decade for the Swedish population. An act that were frankly quite overkill in the short term, but it did ensure that everyone had an affordable home. While also slamming a nail into the real estate building industry. In the early 2000's that stock of homes started running out. The real estate building industry has still not really gotten back on pace, so we have a large lack of homes. But the culture among a fair portion of our population is simply that "you should have move out at 16, I did that, why can't you. You are for f*** sake 28!" These parents completely forget how stagnant Sweden's real estate construction has been in the last 40 years. There are very few homes available at all, and there is far far more people eager to buy them at a moments notice than ever before. This radical shift in the ease of acquiring a home has left a very stigmatic issue in our society. And yes, Fika is wonderful. A lot of international companies setting up shop here in Sweden often get confused over it, often try to "not have it", but often times that isn't for the better. However, a lot of companies I have been at go for around 10-20 minutes. And "twice" a day is not all that common, most just have one in the afternoon. Some can have one before the work day has properly started. However, we do still have a lunch break as well. In regards to "cashless", well that were pre pandemic as well. Like we changed legal tender a couple of years before the pandemic, and a fair amount of people simply said, "well, I haven't seen cash in years, so why should I care how the new money looks." Some even argued that we could discontinue physical money as a whole instead of change to new bills and coins. So we have been cashless for well over a decade now. Swish has though removed the few last holdouts where people didn't have much of an option before. And yes, our shops do close a bit early on weekends in a lot of cases... I myself live in Stockholm, and even here it is not really much different.
@@therealwan Always fun to share some experiences. Sweden is a bit of a weird country. But some aspects are decent. Perhaps you will find your way past our lush industrialized forests in the future as well. Explore what other cultural shocks you can stumble over in your travels. It is often in these situations one really gets to understand each other and oneself a bit better. Even if most Swede's are far from as long winded and blunt as myself. But I guess I have just accepted my oddness...
As a swede myself id like to say that some of this is incorrect, atleast from my experiences. The language will definelty not die out within or anywhere close to a 100 years, sure a lot of younger people are especially good at english but at home they still talk in swedish and also with their friends and stuff.
(Pt 2) its certainly not standards to move out at 16, id say most move out somewhere when they start university (thats when ur about 19/20/21 depending on how many years inbetween u worked) to get closer to it depending on where they live but also quite a lot wait until they start working. Living at home at the age of 28 as u used in this example is too old to live home in my opinion tho. Sure a house in the more southern part of sweden can be expensive, but 99% dont start with buying a house they start with an apartment. U can also co-own a house so u have half of it and the other one has the other half. Edit: just realised u said home and not house, i know its pretty expensive in Stockholm but still
@@Mini_2147 "pretty expensive" in Stockholm.. Have you seen what an apartment cost? It's over 1 million (SKR) for a tiny apartment in the suburbs. And to get something to rent, you need at least 5-10 years in the queue. "Move somewhere else" people outside of Stockholm often say, not thinking about the fact that even people in Stockholm have close friends, partners, a family, a job... It's not that easy to just leave everything you have to move somewhere else and re-start your whole life.
It is the lack of vitamin D - the vitamin that comes from sunshine - that cause these depressions. If you take Vitamin D in the dark months (november - februari) you could fight the depressions.
I agree with swedish fika being awesome! The pastry you’re referring to must be the chokladboll. What they used to call it back in the day is best left unsaid 😅
@@therealwan Yeah, it sounds bad in English. That's why the name was changed, the Swedish people saw the negative connotations of the word and found it distasteful, even if the meaning of the word was not negative in the beginning, it has become negative. So they had it changed.
I grew up with my mixed cousin that I guess would be called black in the US (like Obama). Anyway she was upset that they changed the name to chokladbollar and thought it unneccessary and I was so surprised at her reaction. When we were kids that was just the name and there wasn't any awareness or maliciousness involved. But as we grew up and people learned better the name changed. Still, I think the Swedish N-word never had the same negative meaning as the English N-word. @@justmeandi8256
Thanks for your great video, Juwan. Please, don't give up learning Swedish, it gives you access to Scandinavian (Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland) people and culture, even if they all speak English. Take care, greets from Finland.
The recycling and getting money for your bottles/cans is called "Pant", would probably translate to pawn as in pawnshop in english but works more like a deposit. The system is to give you incentive to return and recycle the used bottles because when you buy the drinks you pay this "pant" as an additional fee to the product, and when you return them you get that amount back. So for the buyer the incentive is to not lose out on the money you "deposited" when buying the things. But if you didn't buy it yourself there's incentive to gather up the used bottles/cans and return them to the store for profit basicly. Many ppl actively seek out discarded bottles/cans in trash cans to make a small buck, and in some places there's even specific slots around regular trash cans to make them easily accessable for others to collect if you can't be bothered to do it yourself.
Just a funny anecdote, my grandma migrated from Sweden to the US and she always had instant coffee in her purse so she could add it to the coffee she had in restaurants 😁 American coffee was too weak 😂 I don’t drink coffee myself but when people I know from the US visit Sweden they’ll say it’s so strong you could stand you’re spoon in it 😁
Technically, the two fika breaks at work are supposed to only last ten minutes each, but in many places they end up being closer to the thirty minutes you mention… Depends a bit on the workload and the company culture though. And the fika break does allow for social bonding that strengthens the team spirit at work, so often management is OK with the longer breaks as long as you all deliver what you’re supposed to.
@@therealwan AFAIK the rule is five minutes off every hour of work. Eight hours equals two sets of twenty minutes. But sometimes there are things to do, and at other times less so, so it differs.
As someone who have been working in a store... It's fantastic that the stores close earlier during weekends ;) Since swedes know that the opening times may differ, they keep an eye at the opening hours and make sure to get there in time. Also, since everyone wants to spend time with family or watching tv or something else in the evenings, even when the stores are open late, there's almost no people shopping. When people work "uncomfortable hours" (late afternoon/night/early mornings/weekends) they get paid extra. In some type of jobs, you get paid double if you work during a Sunday for example. And no, the stores can't choose not to. So if the store should have open for more hours, and not that many people are shopping, they have to make everything in the store cost more to buy. And when it gets too expensive, people don't shop at all. So in order to keep the costs down and also to keep the staff happy and energetic (by letting them have some time off work), the stores close earlier during weekends.
Great to see your perspective. I’m Dutch visited LA last April. I was shocked at the homeless people and how disgusting LA was. Reverse of your culture shock. Full props for you trying to learn the language.
@@therealwan i heard about that, but they were everywhere. Very hard to see people struggle like that. Even the centre (downtown) was shocking to me. Thanks for makkng the vid. Very nice to see your perspective.
I moved to LA from Prague (for business) in 2019. I know I was kinda spoiled coming from a medieval city, but I was appalled by the looks and life in LA. I decided to move back, this is not a good life here, too stressful and rushing.
The thing to remember about the recycling of the bottles - you pay a little more for the drink when you buy it - but then get reimbursed then you return the bottle to the store. Same here in Denmark.
Mad props for trying to learn Swedish! Few know it, but Sweden has a bit of an Asian type face culture: as soon as a swede notices you struggling we switch to English to spare you from embarrassment. Makes it hard to learn the lingo - you have to insist that you’re trying to learn Swedish.
@@therealwanand ”har ni frukost” definitely wasn’t a failure! She understood what you said, eller hur?💪🏼👍🏼 And I’m sorry we’re so eager to speak your language🙈 We really ought to do better (I know I do). Nice video!
@@therealwanwe have the other side of the "learning swedish" coins too though. When we know you and hear that you're fluent, then comes the correctings instead. Its not to be mean or degrading though, its just that many words that we -en/-ett are correct grammar just because that is how we say it and maybe not academical. But it sure do look like we either dont let anyone learn or that we dont tolerate any failures 😂
The Fika in Sweden varies from workplace to workplace. I've worked in many places here, the biggest one served Fika food (like you're talking about) for free, and long breaks. But the American companies here tried to squeeze the "fika" as low as acceptable, like 10 minutes and 5 minutes, and you have mandatory phone/business service during that fika, but can be together with your colleagues, and zero food provided. And in smaller businesses its usually the boss that brings along some fika.
Since my partner have astma and I'm a bit sensitive to just about everything, I'm really happy that people are using snus instead of smoking cigarettes. The snus only affect themselves, cigarettes affects everyone around the smoker as well. Now it's banned to stay just outside restaurants and such to smoke, but when it was allowed, it could be really difficult for me to go where I wanted to go especially during summertime. I had to adjust my walks even if I just wanted to go grocery shopping, just because of all people smoking and I wanted to be able to breathe... I'm happy when people don't smoke.
I think the stores closing early on weekends (though systembolaget is never open past 3 pm on Saturdays) might be due to the workers’ pay. Stores are open later in larger cities but not as late as I’ve seen them in some other countries. People working in grocery/clothing stores, warehouses and the like has double pay (if they abide by the union agreement and most do so) after 12 on saturdays and all day sundays (+ all bank holidays) so in small cities with fewer costumers it might be too expensive to stay open later.
Fika at my workplace is usually 2x30 mins xD but during fika there is often work talk going on so in a way it's a bit like working still! I usually usually have meetings booked during fika time tho so i end up not taking fika breaks, but if that happens i can end my workday a bit early, its pretty flexible.
Chokladbollar 4 tablespoons cocoa 3 Dl oatflakes 1 1/2 Dl sugar 100 gram butter A little vanilla A pinch or two of salt (important) 1 tablespoon brewed cold coffee Mix it together and roll in coconutflakes. For a deeper taste you can add a little cinnamon in the mix 😋
snus is nicotine. It's like cigarettes on steroids because the concentration of snus is much higher then in cigarettes. I'm Swedish, I smoke occasionally but I never have and never want to get into snus xD the upside of it that is that its no second hand damage to others (I only smoke in secluded areas personally and never in public especially around kids and animals) lol I never even have cash on me unless there's some specific reason. I kinda get slightly annoyed if someone gives me cash instead of a transaction If you worked in a store, you would love the early closing in the weekends. The stores staff have adjusted pays to "uncomfortable worktime" (like late hours, weekends or holidays) because we have a strong union culture =)
Thank you for your comment and engaging lol. I had no idea snus was more addicting than cigarettes. I guess that makes sense since it’s more discrete than smoking.
Fika is (I think) from Chimney Sweeper's slang, Coffee is Kaffe in Swedish, but the syllables were switched to Feka which became Fika. So the word just means Coffee. Nowadays it is also used for the social event when people have Coffee (or Tea or Hot Chocolate), and perhaps a Cinnamon Roll or something with it. The pastry you showed when saying Choklad is called Chockladboll. It was previously known as Negerboll, a word not many people use now for obvious reasons
Actually it's older than that. It's from the middle of the 18th century when noble ladies used to twist the language to have some fun, when they were drinking coffee. In those days the Swedish word for coffee wasn't kaffe but kaffi. which twisted became fika.
@@patricklindahl868 Interesting, I really thought it was from the 1800s, and at least to me it looks like a Knoparmoj slang word, but I have limited knowlege in the matter. Thanks!
@@patricklindahl868 Found this "Uttrycket sägs ha myntats först runt år 1910. Det är en förvrängning av det dialektala ordet för kaffe - kaffi. Det var populärt att medvetet kasta om bokstäverna i ett ord för att skapa nya uttryck, så kallat backslang. Kaffi blev alltså ordet fika." I have basically no idea what is correct, but it's interesting
the liqour store opening hours is not reflecting the rest of the stores tbh. the 3 PM closing is annoying af for us too lol because you actually have to PLAN your liqour purchase!
There is the "no sun in winter" in the northern north, but then there's also the "endless sun in summer" (which can cause sleeping issues in certain individuals)..! 👉👉
Systembolaget closes early on the weekend because it reduces domestic violence. So that is a sacrifice I am willing to make for those abused spouses of alcoholics.
Watching you from France(where nobody speaks acceptable english). Very interesting and cute view on your first steps in Sweden. Everyone in Europe envies and cites Sweden as an example, anyway...
Great of you to study swedish, it probably didnt do you any harm, but altso could let you understand a bit better when others speak swedish around you? We do start learning english at third degree, and in rest of our school years, but we learn the rest frome TV, our TV is not dubbed, it have swedish text at the bottom. Its great becuse it make us understand how it sounds! Fika is a coffe/tea break but means to us much more.. its to sit down and have a chat, with or without kanelbulle!
Your swedish was really good! It is hard but not impossible💪🏻 Just say to the straff: Snälla prata svenska. Jag vill lära mig(Please speak swedish, I want to learn) working in a grocerystore and have learn to ask if I should speak swedish och english sometimes
Try to get yourself a contract to play Basketball in Valencia (Spain). Here you can have awesome experience living abroad. Our city is big and beautiful, we have fantastic cultural heritage, excellent gastronomy, warm weather, long sandy beaches and friendly people. (And our basketball team is doing quite good lately).
No, the cinnamon-bun is ”kanelbulle” in Swedish. You absolutely MUST know kanelbulle if you live in Sweden. A kanelbulle is very often included in a Swedish fika.
I live in California but my Grandparents were from Bensbyn/Lulea and migrated to Canada in the 1920 famine. I visited for 3 weeks the summer of 2022, met new family from Lulea to Malmo and absolutely loved it for all the reasons you’ve mentioned! If not for the -22 degrees in the winter, I’d consider moving! So happy you had a wonderful experience as well!
Yeah the To "panta" that is to return your bottles is one reason why the cities is so clean. But if you visit a city during a holiday, like in my city of Uppsala, if you are here in the last day of april it is trash everywhere. Usually it is all picked and sorted by children in sports organizations and so on. They do a great job.
Congrats on becoming a TH-cam partner! I know you're currently back in the States now, however, are you planning to go back abroad to live in Sweden or elsewhere?
another difference is that if in the US you go to a sports match, it's about the accomplishments of the athletes. It is something you can happily go to with your family. In Europe a football match it is really like a tribal war
Awsome video😊 Im sorry! Its really hard to learn Swedish because we won’t give you the chance to ”stumble around”. My dad is a 65y old truckdriver, he easily makes his way in english.
Thank you for watching!! It’s no worries haha. I had to think of It this way. Swedes typically don’t get a chance to practice English that often so they were able to practice on me.
@@therealwan I'm glad you liked it, it's my hometown. Sadly, It tends to get rather gray and windy in the winter. Summers there can be unbelievably tranquil though ^^
Try cold brew coffee ;) Personally, haven't really used cash at all in the last 22-ish years. Never had the need to. I remember maybe two times when the internet was out at like a Subway and they didn't have a cell backup service, and they couldn't process cards, but that's exceedingly rare.
The funny thing is that Swedes are among the most nicotine addicted persons on the globe. But we also are the least smoking persons on the globe. The difference is ……….. snus.
The thing with snus is that it is totaly forbidden in most countries in the world. It is legal in US. And in India. The largest export markets for all the ”snus-manufacturers” in Sweden is India, then comes US. If you as a Swede travels to Germany, France or some other European countries, you are alowed to bring with you snus for you personaly. But to sell even just one small ”dosa” to someone with a citicenship outside of Sweden is strictly forbidden.
You made it sound like snus is some kind of drug, but it's actually just tobacco with nicotine, and I've heard that it's even more addictive than cigarettes.
@@therealwan I think you know what I meant 😊 It's comparable with cigarettes, and doesn't effect your mind, is all I'm saying. The kick you're talking about is from the nicotine, and you can get that from cigarettes too.
Snus has been around the US for at least 15 years. Surprised you didn't know that basically everyone in the Nordic countries speak English. Solidarity helps against homelessness. More countries should try it. Swedes haven't used cash in a long time. I think checks were obsolete in the 80's. You should try going to the Alps, stores are closed on Sundays and close dumb early. The liquor store system is dumb. Recycling is nice. The US doesn't like that system since lobbyism rules. The states which have a high recycle fee get back a lot more plastic and metal cans but it's just too inconvenient I guess. And few people care to participate.
Hi Juwan Grey. I’m from Houston, Texas. Seen your post and I read a few comments you have gotten, which is great for you. If you need to speak English to another Swedish person; to ask for something or to get what you are seeking to buy or find. Just walk up to them and get eye contact, then ask very nicely in Swedish: “Ursäkta mig. Kan du prata och förstå Engelska”? “Jag behöver lite hjälp.” If you say this at first, they will smile and gladly assist or help you. When your finished with their assistance and help. Tell them that their English was very good and ”Tack för hjälpen mig.” They will remember your thoughtful gesture to ask them (to speak English to you), when you needed something to buy or get something you need. If you say in Swedish, certain closing words such as: ”Tack”, “Jättebra”, ”Hej då” when you are leaving. Swedes like that. They will in turn say: “Det samma.”Keep learning Swedish to speak and understand. If you feel frustrated at times to speak and understand Swedish. Do the above and ask. In time, with confidence, you’ll be able talk and understand the Swedish language naturally. Will be watching for you on your TH-cam channel and playing basketball 🏀 too!
"Ursäkta, pratar du engelska?" is simpler and doesn't sound so strange. Or maybe instead of "pratar" say only "förstår", because some could take "pratar" as speaks fluently without errors. Also "Tack för hjälpen" is enough, "mig" makes no sense in that sentence.
@@therealwan It is indeed a very Swedish thing. EU has banned the sale of Snus but it is legal in Sweden because we requested an exception from the general EU ban when we joined the EU. 😄
Why shocks? Cultural differences shouldn't shock anyone. Swedish and english are in the same language group, the germanic language group. Read up on that and it'll be some help in your studies. Also: Norse words still used in the english language.
These chocolate bolls with coconut did have a whole other name in Sweden 30-40-50 years ago. Then that name became politicaly impossible. I don’t even think if it is OK with the You Tube rules to mention that name here, but I take a chance. I just did try to publish the name, but got a pop up window from You Tube that publishing this word is illegal from a You Tube point of wiev. Sorry, you have to guess.
Why would you go shopping 🛒in the middle of the night?🤔In the night you should be sleeping so you have the strength to go shopping 🛒the next day buying crap you don't need 💩🤮😁
Sweden does indeed have a habit of knowing English to quite the exceptional degree. Honestly to the point that a lot of young Swedes are fairly abhorrent at Swedish. It is a language that is likely gone in the next 100 years or so.
In regards to Snus, yes it is just nicotine, a bit more concentrated as a cigarette and likely just as addictive as smoking 3 packs a day. Seeing a person used to snus use cigarettes to ease their addiction is a clear sign that it is an addiction. Since they will often start the next cig before the first even is finished. It is honestly quite abhorrent what people will do for relaxation... (not that it is relaxation by the time it is an addiction, by that point it is just one's "normal". The body simply gets used to it and build up a resistance, just like with any other mental stimulants.)
Homelessness in Sweden is a bit of a weird one.
We have "homeless" people. There is shelters for the few truly homeless that we have.
But a far bigger problem is that we have people (often young adults) being stuck in "their" home. The real estate market here is frankly quite unaffordable to most people. Along side our laws protecting people from just being thrown out from their current home, it ends up with a lot of people just stuck in life. Often to the point of depression and a rise in suicides.
Back in the day (the 70's) the Swedish government built 1 million new homes in 1 decade for the Swedish population. An act that were frankly quite overkill in the short term, but it did ensure that everyone had an affordable home. While also slamming a nail into the real estate building industry. In the early 2000's that stock of homes started running out. The real estate building industry has still not really gotten back on pace, so we have a large lack of homes.
But the culture among a fair portion of our population is simply that "you should have move out at 16, I did that, why can't you. You are for f*** sake 28!" These parents completely forget how stagnant Sweden's real estate construction has been in the last 40 years. There are very few homes available at all, and there is far far more people eager to buy them at a moments notice than ever before. This radical shift in the ease of acquiring a home has left a very stigmatic issue in our society.
And yes, Fika is wonderful.
A lot of international companies setting up shop here in Sweden often get confused over it, often try to "not have it", but often times that isn't for the better.
However, a lot of companies I have been at go for around 10-20 minutes. And "twice" a day is not all that common, most just have one in the afternoon. Some can have one before the work day has properly started. However, we do still have a lunch break as well.
In regards to "cashless", well that were pre pandemic as well.
Like we changed legal tender a couple of years before the pandemic, and a fair amount of people simply said, "well, I haven't seen cash in years, so why should I care how the new money looks."
Some even argued that we could discontinue physical money as a whole instead of change to new bills and coins. So we have been cashless for well over a decade now. Swish has though removed the few last holdouts where people didn't have much of an option before.
And yes, our shops do close a bit early on weekends in a lot of cases...
I myself live in Stockholm, and even here it is not really much different.
You dropped a lot of knowledge on me here lol, I love It!
@@therealwan Always fun to share some experiences.
Sweden is a bit of a weird country. But some aspects are decent.
Perhaps you will find your way past our lush industrialized forests in the future as well. Explore what other cultural shocks you can stumble over in your travels. It is often in these situations one really gets to understand each other and oneself a bit better.
Even if most Swede's are far from as long winded and blunt as myself. But I guess I have just accepted my oddness...
As a swede myself id like to say that some of this is incorrect, atleast from my experiences. The language will definelty not die out within or anywhere close to a 100 years, sure a lot of younger people are especially good at english but at home they still talk in swedish and also with their friends and stuff.
(Pt 2) its certainly not standards to move out at 16, id say most move out somewhere when they start university (thats when ur about 19/20/21 depending on how many years inbetween u worked) to get closer to it depending on where they live but also quite a lot wait until they start working. Living at home at the age of 28 as u used in this example is too old to live home in my opinion tho. Sure a house in the more southern part of sweden can be expensive, but 99% dont start with buying a house they start with an apartment. U can also co-own a house so u have half of it and the other one has the other half.
Edit: just realised u said home and not house, i know its pretty expensive in Stockholm but still
@@Mini_2147 "pretty expensive" in Stockholm.. Have you seen what an apartment cost? It's over 1 million (SKR) for a tiny apartment in the suburbs. And to get something to rent, you need at least 5-10 years in the queue. "Move somewhere else" people outside of Stockholm often say, not thinking about the fact that even people in Stockholm have close friends, partners, a family, a job... It's not that easy to just leave everything you have to move somewhere else and re-start your whole life.
Seasonal depression hits hard in Sweden, i've lived here all my life and i still get it pretty badly during the dark time of the year
It hits very hard! No matter how long you live there It will always hit. Interesting
It is the lack of vitamin D - the vitamin that comes from sunshine - that cause these depressions.
If you take Vitamin D in the dark months (november - februari) you could fight the depressions.
Taking vitamin D as a supplement in the winter can help alot to stave of seasonal depression@@therealwan
S.A.D
I agree with swedish fika being awesome! The pastry you’re referring to must be the chokladboll. What they used to call it back in the day is best left unsaid 😅
Agreed, if they were called the name my relatives there has told me. 😂
I thought they were joking at first, but no....
Somebody told me what the meaning meant and I was disgruntled
@@therealwan
Yeah, it sounds bad in English. That's why the name was changed, the Swedish people saw the negative connotations of the word and found it distasteful, even if the meaning of the word was not negative in the beginning, it has become negative. So they had it changed.
I grew up with my mixed cousin that I guess would be called black in the US (like Obama). Anyway she was upset that they changed the name to chokladbollar and thought it unneccessary and I was so surprised at her reaction. When we were kids that was just the name and there wasn't any awareness or maliciousness involved. But as we grew up and people learned better the name changed. Still, I think the Swedish N-word never had the same negative meaning as the English N-word. @@justmeandi8256
Thanks for your great video, Juwan.
Please, don't give up learning Swedish, it gives you access to Scandinavian (Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland) people and culture, even if they all speak English.
Take care, greets from Finland.
Thanks for watching my man! I still do daily lessons learning Swedish but it’s not as aggressive as I used to. I’ll keep that In mind!
Iceland and Finland don't belong to Scandinavia
I donnu about Iceland. Its a totally different language
The recycling and getting money for your bottles/cans is called "Pant", would probably translate to pawn as in pawnshop in english but works more like a deposit. The system is to give you incentive to return and recycle the used bottles because when you buy the drinks you pay this "pant" as an additional fee to the product, and when you return them you get that amount back. So for the buyer the incentive is to not lose out on the money you "deposited" when buying the things.
But if you didn't buy it yourself there's incentive to gather up the used bottles/cans and return them to the store for profit basicly. Many ppl actively seek out discarded bottles/cans in trash cans to make a small buck, and in some places there's even specific slots around regular trash cans to make them easily accessable for others to collect if you can't be bothered to do it yourself.
Just a funny anecdote, my grandma migrated from Sweden to the US and she always had instant coffee in her purse so she could add it to the coffee she had in restaurants 😁 American coffee was too weak 😂 I don’t drink coffee myself but when people I know from the US visit Sweden they’ll say it’s so strong you could stand you’re spoon in it 😁
That’s hilarious 😂 granny had to make sure she kept It on her🤣
And the Swedes that visits US call the US coffee "colored water".
Sounds like I need to visit Sweden just for the coffee 😂
Well, that explains the name of extremely watered down espresso: americano.
We Swedes have grown up with darkness during the winter months. It doesn't make people depressed in general, many find it nice and cozy.
I for sure found It cozy lol.
Technically, the two fika breaks at work are supposed to only last ten minutes each, but in many places they end up being closer to the thirty minutes you mention… Depends a bit on the workload and the company culture though. And the fika break does allow for social bonding that strengthens the team spirit at work, so often management is OK with the longer breaks as long as you all deliver what you’re supposed to.
Thanks for the breakdown!
@@therealwan AFAIK the rule is five minutes off every hour of work. Eight hours equals two sets of twenty minutes. But sometimes there are things to do, and at other times less so, so it differs.
As someone who have been working in a store... It's fantastic that the stores close earlier during weekends ;) Since swedes know that the opening times may differ, they keep an eye at the opening hours and make sure to get there in time. Also, since everyone wants to spend time with family or watching tv or something else in the evenings, even when the stores are open late, there's almost no people shopping.
When people work "uncomfortable hours" (late afternoon/night/early mornings/weekends) they get paid extra. In some type of jobs, you get paid double if you work during a Sunday for example. And no, the stores can't choose not to. So if the store should have open for more hours, and not that many people are shopping, they have to make everything in the store cost more to buy. And when it gets too expensive, people don't shop at all. So in order to keep the costs down and also to keep the staff happy and energetic (by letting them have some time off work), the stores close earlier during weekends.
Great to see your perspective. I’m Dutch visited LA last April. I was shocked at the homeless people and how disgusting LA was. Reverse of your culture shock. Full props for you trying to learn the language.
LA had an area where homeless people locate to named Skid row. Btw thanks for watching!
@@therealwan i heard about that, but they were everywhere. Very hard to see people struggle like that. Even the centre (downtown) was shocking to me. Thanks for makkng the vid. Very nice to see your perspective.
LA will never meet Dutch expectations. Being in les pays bas is a great time. I don't understand why people like LA so much
Great to know that you looked into why you can't buy alcohol after midday on a Saturday.
I moved to LA from Prague (for business) in 2019. I know I was kinda spoiled coming from a medieval city, but I was appalled by the looks and life in LA. I decided to move back, this is not a good life here, too stressful and rushing.
The thing to remember about the recycling of the bottles - you pay a little more for the drink when you buy it - but then get reimbursed then you return the bottle to the store. Same here in Denmark.
Interesting!
Mad props for trying to learn Swedish! Few know it, but Sweden has a bit of an Asian type face culture: as soon as a swede notices you struggling we switch to English to spare you from embarrassment. Makes it hard to learn the lingo - you have to insist that you’re trying to learn Swedish.
Thank you man. I don’t have a problem being embarrassed from speaking a new language lol. I guess I should have been direct from the start 😃
@@therealwanand ”har ni frukost” definitely wasn’t a failure! She understood what you said, eller hur?💪🏼👍🏼
And I’m sorry we’re so eager to speak your language🙈 We really ought to do better (I know I do).
Nice video!
@@therealwanwe have the other side of the "learning swedish" coins too though. When we know you and hear that you're fluent, then comes the correctings instead. Its not to be mean or degrading though, its just that many words that we -en/-ett are correct grammar just because that is how we say it and maybe not academical. But it sure do look like we either dont let anyone learn or that we dont tolerate any failures 😂
The Fika in Sweden varies from workplace to workplace. I've worked in many places here, the biggest one served Fika food (like you're talking about) for free, and long breaks. But the American companies here tried to squeeze the "fika" as low as acceptable, like 10 minutes and 5 minutes, and you have mandatory phone/business service during that fika, but can be together with your colleagues, and zero food provided. And in smaller businesses its usually the boss that brings along some fika.
That’s so cool that workplaces mandate fika. That’s great for boosting productivity & morale
Since my partner have astma and I'm a bit sensitive to just about everything, I'm really happy that people are using snus instead of smoking cigarettes. The snus only affect themselves, cigarettes affects everyone around the smoker as well. Now it's banned to stay just outside restaurants and such to smoke, but when it was allowed, it could be really difficult for me to go where I wanted to go especially during summertime. I had to adjust my walks even if I just wanted to go grocery shopping, just because of all people smoking and I wanted to be able to breathe... I'm happy when people don't smoke.
I think the stores closing early on weekends (though systembolaget is never open past 3 pm on Saturdays) might be due to the workers’ pay. Stores are open later in larger cities but not as late as I’ve seen them in some other countries. People working in grocery/clothing stores, warehouses and the like has double pay (if they abide by the union agreement and most do so) after 12 on saturdays and all day sundays (+ all bank holidays) so in small cities with fewer costumers it might be too expensive to stay open later.
Thanks Juwan! Intersting reaction and comments. Glad you liked it here. Welcome back to Sweden! 🙋♀️
Thank you for watching!! I’ll visit Sweden sometime soon
Fika at my workplace is usually 2x30 mins xD but during fika there is often work talk going on so in a way it's a bit like working still! I usually usually have meetings booked during fika time tho so i end up not taking fika breaks, but if that happens i can end my workday a bit early, its pretty flexible.
Happy to see the channel grow, I was one of those who dropped by the last video you made. Congrats Juwan, keep up with the original content!
Thank you for tuning In and supporting!! You’re a real one 🤝
Chokladbollar
4 tablespoons cocoa
3 Dl oatflakes
1 1/2 Dl sugar
100 gram butter
A little vanilla
A pinch or two of salt (important)
1 tablespoon brewed cold coffee
Mix it together and roll in coconutflakes.
For a deeper taste you can add a little cinnamon in the mix 😋
I will definitely be using this!! Thank you
snus is nicotine. It's like cigarettes on steroids because the concentration of snus is much higher then in cigarettes. I'm Swedish, I smoke occasionally but I never have and never want to get into snus xD the upside of it that is that its no second hand damage to others (I only smoke in secluded areas personally and never in public especially around kids and animals)
lol I never even have cash on me unless there's some specific reason. I kinda get slightly annoyed if someone gives me cash instead of a transaction
If you worked in a store, you would love the early closing in the weekends. The stores staff have adjusted pays to "uncomfortable worktime" (like late hours, weekends or holidays) because we have a strong union culture =)
Thank you for your comment and engaging lol. I had no idea snus was more addicting than cigarettes. I guess that makes sense since it’s more discrete than smoking.
Fika is a coffee break, usually with coffee and small sweet treats. Have a cup of good coffee and a small piece of cake and be happy.
I love fika
Fika is (I think) from Chimney Sweeper's slang, Coffee is Kaffe in Swedish, but the syllables were switched to Feka which became Fika. So the word just means Coffee.
Nowadays it is also used for the social event when people have Coffee (or Tea or Hot Chocolate), and perhaps a Cinnamon Roll or something with it.
The pastry you showed when saying Choklad is called Chockladboll. It was previously known as Negerboll, a word not many people use now for obvious reasons
Actually it's older than that. It's from the middle of the 18th century when noble ladies used to twist the language to have some fun, when they were drinking coffee. In those days the Swedish word for coffee wasn't kaffe but kaffi. which twisted became fika.
@@patricklindahl868 Interesting, I really thought it was from the 1800s, and at least to me it looks like a Knoparmoj slang word, but I have limited knowlege in the matter.
Thanks!
@@patricklindahl868 I wonder if it's related to the ban of Coffee in 1776
@@patricklindahl868 Found this "Uttrycket sägs ha myntats först runt år 1910. Det är en förvrängning av det dialektala ordet för kaffe - kaffi. Det var populärt att medvetet kasta om bokstäverna i ett ord för att skapa nya uttryck, så kallat backslang. Kaffi blev alltså ordet fika."
I have basically no idea what is correct, but it's interesting
Thank god we have progressed since then, but when I was young that is what we called it.
The city I noticed from folks I follow from there How clean it is❤ Thank you for sharing this video
the liqour store opening hours is not reflecting the rest of the stores tbh. the 3 PM closing is annoying af for us too lol because you actually have to PLAN your liqour purchase!
It’s a major inconvenience for the party people haha
@@therealwan yeah most of the party People are not awake betore 3 pm haha
The coffee in sweden is what i have heard kinda strong compared to many other countries
I believe It haha. I was not a fan
We need it to stay awake wintertime I Luleå 😅😂
There is the "no sun in winter" in the northern north, but then there's also the "endless sun in summer" (which can cause sleeping issues in certain individuals)..! 👉👉
I don’t know how I would feel about that. I need to see the sunlight and darkness everyday lol
Fika is what makes youtubers do videos about Sweden. Its nothing more complicated than the fact people drink coffe and have a cake or a cookie.
Fika was literally just a brief point in this video lol
Systembolaget closes early on the weekend because it reduces domestic violence. So that is a sacrifice I am willing to make for those abused spouses of alcoholics.
When you put It that way, I would too.
Snus is getting popular in the US too
Watching you from France(where nobody speaks acceptable english). Very interesting and cute view on your first steps in Sweden.
Everyone in Europe envies and cites Sweden as an example, anyway...
Thank you for watching!
Great of you to study swedish, it probably didnt do you any harm, but altso could let you understand a bit better when others speak swedish around you?
We do start learning english at third degree, and in rest of our school years, but we learn the rest frome TV, our TV is not dubbed, it have swedish text at the bottom. Its great becuse it make us understand how it sounds!
Fika is a coffe/tea break but means to us much more.. its to sit down and have a chat, with or without kanelbulle!
Your swedish was really good! It is hard but not impossible💪🏻 Just say to the straff: Snälla prata svenska. Jag vill lära mig(Please speak swedish, I want to learn) working in a grocerystore and have learn to ask if I should speak swedish och english sometimes
Great tips!! Will try next time I go to sweden
Try to get yourself a contract to play Basketball in Valencia (Spain). Here you can have awesome experience living abroad. Our city is big and beautiful, we have fantastic cultural heritage, excellent gastronomy, warm weather, long sandy beaches and friendly people. (And our basketball team is doing quite good lately).
No, the cinnamon-bun is ”kanelbulle” in Swedish. You absolutely MUST know kanelbulle if you live in Sweden. A kanelbulle is very often included in a Swedish fika.
Thanks for the fact check haha. I loved kanelbulle!!
Yay, greetings from Luleå, visit in the summer next time, more light than you had there down in the south.
Next time! I’ll try & make It a trip up there. Luleå was one of my favorite Swedish cities
I live in California but my Grandparents were from Bensbyn/Lulea and migrated to Canada in the 1920 famine. I visited for 3 weeks the summer of 2022, met new family from Lulea to Malmo and absolutely loved it for all the reasons you’ve mentioned! If not for the -22 degrees in the winter, I’d consider moving! So happy you had a wonderful experience as well!
I'm from Sweden and l've whatched a couple of your videos and you seem as a really genuine guy 👏
Mabye it should be "seem like" 🤔😅 and then...it should be "watched" 😬😅
Haha it’s all good my man, no worries. Thanks for tuning In!!
You are welcome back . And yes summer is best time too come
🙏🏽
I think I rode in a bus at the parking at Arlanda airport with you!
Yeah the To "panta" that is to return your bottles is one reason why the cities is so clean. But if you visit a city during a holiday, like in my city of Uppsala, if you are here in the last day of april it is trash everywhere. Usually it is all picked and sorted by children in sports organizations and so on. They do a great job.
We would never shun you. Great you had a great visit here in Sweden.
Thanks! 😃
Congrats on becoming a TH-cam partner! I know you're currently back in the States now, however, are you planning to go back abroad to live in Sweden or elsewhere?
Thank you!! I’ll be headed to Romania In a few weeks
Thanks for sharing! 😊
You are so welcome! Thanks for watching!!
Its called chokladboll :) super easy to make at home, best fika ever
So good! I may try to make It myself here In the states 😄
I work for myself, I'm going to start taking two fika a day to catch up with me 😂
Aye I ain’t mad at It🤣
another difference is that if in the US you go to a sports match, it's about the accomplishments of the athletes. It is something you can happily go to with your family. In Europe a football match it is really like a tribal war
Awsome video😊
Im sorry! Its really hard to learn Swedish because we won’t give you the chance to ”stumble around”.
My dad is a 65y old truckdriver, he easily makes his way in english.
Thank you for watching!! It’s no worries haha. I had to think of It this way. Swedes typically don’t get a chance to practice English that often so they were able to practice on me.
About 1.200 000 migrated from the year 1880-1920. Roughly halv of our population
Hey, I'm from Kalmar. It's fun to have the city mentioned in a video like this. Also.. Jag snusar, men försöker sluta 😅
Ahh you went to Östersund. To bad you went there during the winter ^^
It was super nice during the winter! I’ll catch It during the summer one of these days!
@@therealwan I'm glad you liked it, it's my hometown. Sadly, It tends to get rather gray and windy in the winter. Summers there can be unbelievably tranquil though ^^
Snus is just like smoking but without the smoke. Nicotine is nicotine.
I know what fika means in my own language ( Italian ) .It is defintly something nice....
In Denmark at least, we have a rising number of couch jumpers among young people.
US ”coffee” is what we call ”dark water”. US coffee is like US beer…. It’s like having intercorse in a canoe… :D
I'm Swedish and I don't drink coffee, and I don't use snus. On the other hand, I don't drink tea either. 😂👍
Oh wow! A very unique Swede lol
What you see at 6:44 is Frösön.
Ok thank you!
My 6 year old son has learned english from youtube and are now almost fluent i talking english. :-D
Wow that is amazing!
Try cold brew coffee ;) Personally, haven't really used cash at all in the last 22-ish years. Never had the need to. I remember maybe two times when the internet was out at like a Subway and they didn't have a cell backup service, and they couldn't process cards, but that's exceedingly rare.
No more coffee for me lol. Times have changed, cash is going to be a rare commodity soon
@@therealwan Just as I said that, I went to return some bottles, got ice cream and was handed a few pennies of cash. God dammit lol.
Love to watch you play. Fortsätt lira som du gör
Thank you for supporting!!
The funny thing is that Swedes are among the most nicotine addicted persons on the globe. But we also are the least smoking persons on the globe.
The difference is ……….. snus.
The thing with snus is that it is totaly forbidden in most countries in the world. It is legal in US. And in India. The largest export markets for all the ”snus-manufacturers” in Sweden is India, then comes US.
If you as a Swede travels to Germany, France or some other European countries, you are alowed to bring with you snus for you personaly. But to sell even just one small ”dosa” to someone with a citicenship outside of Sweden is strictly forbidden.
Haha that’s right. Nicotine is the same but if I had to guess I would assume sinus is better than smoking
That’s interesting. I wonder why suns is banned In other EU countries
"Chokladbollar". Mostly butter and oats. I hate coffe too ;-)
Those snacks are soo good.
You made it sound like snus is some kind of drug, but it's actually just tobacco with nicotine, and I've heard that it's even more addictive than cigarettes.
Tobacco with nicotine is a drug…
Therefore snus Is a drug
@@therealwan I think you know what I meant 😊 It's comparable with cigarettes, and doesn't effect your mind, is all I'm saying. The kick you're talking about is from the nicotine, and you can get that from cigarettes too.
So people in other countries don't take time for a cup of coffee, tea, juice and eat a cookie, some cakes or buns now and then that we call fika?
Swede here, and I don't drink or like coffee. On the other hand I don't like or drink tea either. Or snus.
You are a very rare commodity amongst the Swedes sir lol
Kan du snälla besöka Linköping
I dont live In sweden anymore
Snus has been around the US for at least 15 years. Surprised you didn't know that basically everyone in the Nordic countries speak English. Solidarity helps against homelessness. More countries should try it. Swedes haven't used cash in a long time. I think checks were obsolete in the 80's. You should try going to the Alps, stores are closed on Sundays and close dumb early. The liquor store system is dumb. Recycling is nice. The US doesn't like that system since lobbyism rules. The states which have a high recycle fee get back a lot more plastic and metal cans but it's just too inconvenient I guess. And few people care to participate.
About the pant. Recycle bottles... you actually dont get a discount.. you allready paying for it. You paying "pant" when you buying the bottle.
Kanelbulle! (Cinnamon roll)
That’s what It is!! Thanks for clarifying !
Hi Juwan Grey. I’m from Houston, Texas. Seen your post and I read a few comments you have gotten, which is great for you. If you need to speak English to another Swedish person; to ask for something or to get what you are seeking to buy or find. Just walk up to them and get eye contact, then ask very nicely in Swedish:
“Ursäkta mig. Kan du prata och förstå Engelska”? “Jag behöver lite hjälp.” If you say this at first, they will smile and gladly assist or help you. When your finished with their assistance and help. Tell them that their English was very good and ”Tack för hjälpen mig.”
They will remember your thoughtful gesture to ask them (to speak English to you), when you needed something to buy or get something you need.
If you say in Swedish, certain closing words such as: ”Tack”, “Jättebra”, ”Hej då” when you are leaving. Swedes like that. They will in turn say: “Det samma.”Keep learning Swedish to speak and understand. If you feel frustrated at times to speak and understand Swedish. Do the above and ask. In time, with confidence, you’ll be able talk and understand the Swedish language naturally. Will be watching for you on your TH-cam channel and playing basketball 🏀 too!
"Ursäkta, pratar du engelska?" is simpler and doesn't sound so strange.
Or maybe instead of "pratar" say only "förstår", because some could take "pratar" as speaks fluently without errors.
Also "Tack för hjälpen" is enough, "mig" makes no sense in that sentence.
Thanks for the tips!! Next time I travel to Sweden I will try It out!!
Thanks for watching!!!
@@erik.... Oh, I didn’t think about saying it that way. That’s good to know. Thanks for your tips about it.
Just keep up the trying to learning and insist on you speak Swedish, same goes for all Scandinavian countries. It's fine they respond in English.
Of course you must be here in midsummer together with your swed friends and party... dont miss it...
One day!!
@@therealwan whaooo you should wright a book...
in Italian fica(read fika) is slang for vagina... watch again the part about it and you'll undestand how much I laughed😂😂
Oh no lol
I love fika! 😂
How can somebody not like fika?? It’s amazing
you said it really good tho!
Thank you! Glad you agree 🤝
Waiting to buy your booze from 3 pm Saturday to 10 on Monday is perhaps manageable.
I agree. Some people may not be able to handle that though.
Good points! En trepoängare :D
😃
Snus is also tobacco=nicotine.
I’ve never saw It until Sweden lol
@@therealwan It is indeed a very Swedish thing. EU has banned the sale of Snus but it is legal in Sweden because we requested an exception from the general EU ban when we joined the EU. 😄
@@deaodaggi Its totally legal in Slovakia even for kids under 18...
Wow! So Sweden is the only country where you can purchase snus? interesting
hmm interesting!
Its about 35.000 homeless people in Sweden. I'm not going to say by choice...but by law u have the right to have a roof over your head
The reason people have a hard time to stop with the Snus is because of the nicotine inside. For those who don't know, nicotine is also in ciggarettes
The nicotine must be strong lol
@@therealwanit’s also the habit of doing it, at least for me! And social bonding for teenagers 😅
Everybody don't like coffee ☕ ☕ simpel like that🤢but you can drink tea ☕😋 instead that's nice to 😉
Why shocks? Cultural differences shouldn't shock anyone.
Swedish and english are in the same language group, the germanic language group. Read up on that and it'll be some help in your studies.
Also: Norse words still used in the english language.
Don’t take the language too literal. In America, we say culture shock.
It’s not an insult.
These chocolate bolls with coconut did have a whole other name in Sweden 30-40-50 years ago.
Then that name became politicaly impossible. I don’t even think if it is OK with the You Tube rules to mention that name here, but I take a chance.
I just did try to publish the name, but got a pop up window from You Tube that publishing this word is illegal from a You Tube point of wiev.
Sorry, you have to guess.
Now that you said something, I remember my Swedish teammate was telling me the name of this snack.
It’s not worth typing
We call them wienerbreads :)
I don't get anything as a reward for recycling anything like in the US or Sweden. I'm going to stop
Why would you go shopping 🛒in the middle of the night?🤔In the night you should be sleeping so you have the strength to go shopping 🛒the next day buying crap you don't need 💩🤮😁
Some people like to make things complicated
😁👍
Snus 🤤
It’s that good huh?
@@therealwan So good that it’s prohibited in the rest of eu!
Never woulda thought they speak English lol
I know shorty had you blown 😂😂😂😂
Man listen 🤣 I was ready to have a conversation and all
They speak better English than some Americans lol
34ýe
How can you do one minor thing like snus and then be so vocal about it. You need to calm down. Also most "beggars" in Stockholm are organised ...
My reasoning for being vocal is because snus is very common from where I’m from that’s all.