Nudity & Swedish people

Nudity & Swedish people

Today is a really really funny article that I am going to write, I still laugh about it!

When I arrive to Sweden, I had no idea how Swedish people are! It was actually really interesting to discover everything! But I want to explain you the first time I went to the Swimming pool!

So, I went to the public swimming pool, I did not expect that this story will follow me a long time. I assume that ALL the public pools in the world have private booth to change! but hey, you discover new things everyday. My boyfriend told me that it was separate changing room and we meet on the other side. Yes that’s fine I thought. I enter and I discover that it was a big room and every one was naked, I was a bit confused – looking after my private booth, I look around – NOTHING. And then I realised, that everyone is naked – take a shower – and after put the bikini on. And it is FINE.

Well, fine, fine, I don’t know! I was absolutely not prepared for that, I took a deep breath and I changed, hiding my body the best I could, take my shower WITH my bikini (ahah I am still French, don’t worry!) and I met my boy friend outside, he instantly saw at my face that something was wrong and he was wondering why it took me 20 minutes to change! I explain him all my story and I saw all these naked women, and I was still looking for my private booth!

He laughed a lot. After almost 3 years, I am still a bit uncomfortable and now I have a trick! I put my bikini before we arrived! Ahaha.

Swedish people are not prude at all. A body is a body. In France, we learn super young that this is your body and you have to keep it secrete, we have our private booth at the pool, and I had never seen this before! It is super interesting to see the difference between 2 countries that are not so far away, but still so different!

PS. I still did not go naked to the sauna with friends! I will keep my bikini for now! 🙂

Is Sweden an expansive country?

Is Sweden an expansive country?

Before I move to Sweden, I heard a lot of things about “Sweden is an expansive country”.

The answer to this question is “IT DEPENDS”.

  • Haircut: min. 60€ long hair for a girl – 45€ short cut for boys
  • Restaurant for lunch 10€ for one person
  • Restaurant for dinner 30€ for one person
  • Beer at the bar (50cl) 8€
  • Clothes/fashion: same as France
  • Grocery store: 80€ for 2 people for a week
  • Cinema: 16€

Services are more expansive than France, especially for hair dressers. The reason is that they have taxes and they need to have of course everything is counted by hourly rate.

Salaries are higher than in France, that’s why the life does not seem as expensive as it is.

Buy Alcohol in Sweden

Buy Alcohol in Sweden

This article may seem strange but it is actually a different system than in France.

Sweden has a clever way to sell alcohol, it is controlled by the government. The only way to get alcohol is to go to a shop called “Systembolaget” (and you need to be +20yo) where you find only alcohol. You will pay around 20€ for a good bottle of wine and 30€ for a normal bottle of vodka.

Why is Alcohol only sold there? The reason is the control. The government knows how much Swedish people consume alcohol and it is high taxes on it. If one day, the consumption is higher, the prices will increase. Thanks to this, the cost of buying alcohol does not encourage people to drink a lot.

The pourcentage of alcohol addicted is way lower than in France for example.