You will probably experience many cultural clashes during your stay in Sweden, from their love of queue systems to the obsession of the sun. Here is a small list of some things that might or might not be new to you about Sweden and Swedes.

Nature, The freedom to roam, Allemansrätten - Swedes love nature and the Swedish Allemansrätt (every mans right) is a freedom granted by the Swedish constitution. The maxim is "do not disturb, do not destroy" (inte störa, inte förstöra), and many Swedish people consider this to be a form of human right. But what does it mean? Allemansrätten among other things gives a person the right to access, walk, cycle, ride, ski and camp on any land - with exception of private gardens and the immediate vicinity of a house or land under cultivation. Some restrictions apply to nature reserves and other type of protected areas. It also gives the right to pick wild flowers, mushrooms and berries, provided they are not protected. This does not mean that you can stroll in to someones garden and pick their apples. You can read more about Allemansrätten and what you can and cannot do when roaming in nature at Naturvårdsverket. If you plan on spending time in nature it might be a good idea to vaccinate yourself against TBE and invest in a tick removal device - you can buy them at the pharmacy for less than 100SEK.

Public transport and biking - Many Swedes prefer public transportation and cycling as modes of transportation, as opposed to driving. The Swedes themselves often complain about the bike roads and the public transport, but in comparison to many other countries it is good. In Göteborg you have to get used to the hills though when biking, there are hills in every direction. In the springtime there is usually a used bike event somewhere on the Johanneberg campus, so keep your eyes peeled for information about that. If you bike, make sure that you are aware of the traffic rules and regulations that applies to bikes (including electric scooters) for instance it is illegal to bike on the pavement (500SEK fine) and drive against red ligth (1500SEK fine). (and yes we know that there are plenty of people violating these rules but please don't be a lemming) Bike roads can be one-way, the pedestrian and bike-lights at crosswalks are not always in sync - so make sure you check the correct one, and even though pedestrians at unattended crosswalks have priority over cars, bikes don't - unless its a special kind of rare crosswalk. It is also good to keep in mind that in traffic, the trams usually have priority and they won't make way for you - even as a pedestrian. So watch out. Västtrafik, Styr och Ställ, cykelreseplaneraren

SR and SVT - the Swedish public service radio and tv stations. Radio Sweden in english, Radio Sweden in easy swedish, svtplay

Recycling - Swedes recycle, a lot. You both have the regular centers spread out around where people live and the bigger recycling centers where you can bring bigger things and "farligt avfall" - old paint, car batteries, pipe cleaner and such. You can find information about waste management and recycling at the city of Gothenburg.

Föreningsliv - Swedes love to join associations, "Föreningsliv" (being a part of some type of association) is a big thing in Sweden. If you want to make Swedish friends one safe bet is to start doing a team sport in a local club (not a gym), if you are a beginner to team sports it is even better if it is an odd sport - no one will expect you to know everything about it and the communities are very welcoming. If you don't like doing sports then joining a choir for instance has the same effect, or growing vegetables in an allotment association. When you are a part of an association you are also expected to contribute to things like cleaning days, bake sales or other things the association need to get done. The trickiest thing is to find an association since most of their websites are in Sweden. But most of them do have websites! So try google translate whatever thing you want to find or ask someone who knows Swedish for help. We also wrote a little bit about the associations in the student unions, there might be an association that aligns with your interest there.

The Weather and the Sun - Oh, why did this get a bullet? Well, you sort of have to get used to it and adjust to it. If you come from a warm and sunny country you will soon notice that something you thought was causality isn't. During the winter for instance - sunny usually means colder than when it's cloudy. When it's cold you have to learn to dress in layers (lager-på-lager-principen), and also to adjust to the almost constant downpour of some type of water during the dark months. There's a Swedish saying "det finns inget dåligt väder, bara dåliga kläder", which means "there is no bad weather, only bad choice of clothing". The weather changes fast, so the prognosis for tomorrow might not apply when tomorrow comes. And even during the same day it can go from sunny to storm. This is even more noticeable in the spring, so called Aprilväder so befriend the forecast (for instance yr.no, smhi ) Here you can also check when the sun goes up and sets since this also changes over the year. The shortest day in the winter in Gothenburg is around 6h and the longest in the summer is around 18h. Also, the weather and the sun specifically is one of the few things you can actually small talk with a Swede about. (small talk in Swedish is "kallprat", which translated exactly means "cold talk". And no one likes cold talking right? We all want warm and friendly conversations :) ) If you decide to hang out with a Swede when the weather is nice (= the sun is out and the sky is blue, temperature doesn't matter.) they will get mad at you if you suggest an indoors activity.

AW or After Work - Maybe you have seen the signs outside pubs and restaurants, advertising for "after work" or "aw" prices or special offers? "After work" is pseudo anglicism, which means that despite the words being English, the concept actually does not exist in the English language. It is a very Swedish thing, and is when people meet up directly after work to socialise, usually at a pub or restaurant (that serves alcoholic beverages). An AW can never be a fika.

Café, coffes and fika - When Swedes talk about fika, what they generally mean is a coffee break. The coffee can be switched out for tea or even lemonade, but some kind of non-alcoholic and preferably hot beverage is always a part of the deal. More arbitrary is the presence of a snack. If there is one, it’s commonly something sweet, but sandwiches can also occur. However, if there is an announcement of "fika" in the workplace, it mainly means that your coworker wants to sit down and socialise with you for a bit, since fika is both a noun and a verb. As you might have suspected, Swedes drink a lot of coffee. Swedens coffee consumption (kg beans per capita) is the 6th largest in the world. Ahead of Sweden is the rest of the Nordic countries and the Netherlands. Perhaps it has something to do with "påtår"? In Swedish påtår is a refill of coffee in your cup, in some cafés it is discounted and in many cafés påtår is included in the price. This is however only valid for regular brew/filter coffee, never for fancy espresso/cortado/cappuchino-versions. You can look for a sign that says "påtår ingår!" or something similar, or just ask "ingår påtår?" if you can't find any information about it. And in case you missed that part: a fika is never an AW.

Acting like a Swede - there are many things not covered in this page on what's going on in Sweden and why Swedes do what they do, but many other pages have written it already. Check out these blog posts for instance from the nordic perspective, hej Sverige, the newbies guide to Sweden 1 and 2. We're not saying that you have to assimilate but knowing why people do what they do might in some cases make things run smoother, if you know what to expect.