Interesting video. I'm an American with Swedish ancestry. My grandparents came to America 100 years ago. They did not know English, as was probably the case for many Swedes back then. As I listen to videos like this I learn more about what parts of my upbringing reflect the Swedish heritage. As kids our rule was simply to not be at friends houses when supper time was nearing. I'm sure this helped prevent any awkwardness. Many family friends also had Swedish heritage so I guess we all knew the same rules.
Your dry description of point 8 (Sweden =/ Switzerland) made me smile. On being good English speakers, I actually find the spoken English in Stockholm to be often better than in parts of the UK (joking, but sort of not; on my first visit I earnestly asked someone in Swedish “I am sorry. I don’t speak Swedish, but do you by any chance speak English?” only to be met by a bemused “Yes, of course.”). Stockholm is Stockholm, of course. As for miserable winters, you make up for it with beautiful soft lighting. Again in Stockholm, I remember seeing so many lovely lighting shops. It brings a warmth to the long, grey, dark days. I’m happy to be fairly nomadic and make do with very little, but a Stoic preferred indifferent for me would be soft, warm, paper-filtered side-lighting.
Haha thank you Alec :D Hahaha, people from Stockholm are a different kind of Swedes. To be honest, I only know one person from Stockholm. For us down South they are very much mythical creatures and we're kind of scared to go there "to the big city" haha! Oh yes! I miss the lighting. We actually have an old saying that every room needs 7 lights, rather than one big one. I love paper and fabric covered lights! :) So beautiful!
@@SagaJohanna Heh. You should hear what those in the North say about them. XD But yeah, as someone who lives about an hour from Stockholm, those people are truly a different breed. Still the only town where I had to literally jump out of the way of a very stressed man.
Hej Saga and Saga's husband (and anyone reading), I'm from France and all testimonies I can read from french people who moved to Sweden is that there everyone speaks a perfect english and you can work without problem if you speak only english (especially in south where a lot of things are written in english but not in swedish for example, it's more swedish in the north where they say you are totally obliged to speak swedish). They tell that when they tried ro speak swedish, if swedes were seeing it was a bit long or difficult for the french person, they were speaking in english directly. Though, when I look at jobs announcements, swedish is almost always asked. Also about clothes (maybe it was in another video you spoke of it), they say that fashion is not a thing in Sweden and that people are wearing comfort outfits because the important for swedes is to be comfortable and warm. Like it's not easy to be super fashionable when the weather is rainy and cold. I did not go in Sweden myself yet to have my own opinion, but so for any french looking at testimonies, all swedes perfectly speak english like a mother language and wear comfortable clothes so no need to look for any style. 😅😅 We have a lot of statements this way, but luckily we know Sweden is not Switzerland.
Saga, I'm not Swedish or anything but so glad this video got suggested to me... And I needed to say specifically about the myth #4 I've never personally heard about that myth regarding Swedes before (maybe this is a bigger myth in the US, idk), but as a Brazilian woman I can feel and relate 100% about how annoying and low-key dangerous those kinds of myths can be, especially for women... Unfortunately we have a similar myth about Brazilians, and I also lied about my nationality (generally I say I'm either Portuguese or Argentine) to avoid this kind of issue with foreigners I wish this kind of myth didn't existed with anyone tbh
I am an American living in Switzerland for 15 years, The only people I have heard confuse Switzerland with Sweden are Americans...who I might add are not particularly gifted in Geographic knowledge :) to put it diplomatically. When in American they often ask which hemisphere Europe is in, and refer to Europe as 'out there'. They will ask....'whats it like out there'?......😱🙄 I don't want to offend any Americans watching 'over there' so I'll leave it at that! Great video...as always.
I went to a US university and there was a Swedish girl which cause some discussion about that country. I'd say you did a good job in dispelling many myths that I thought people believed about Sweden. I'd add that most people do not realize that there are pagan traditions (St. Lucia, Summer Solstice) that have nothing to do with Christianity, but that may coincide with Christian holidays. The Vikings were there for thousands of years before Christianity arrived in Scandinavia. Sweden is much less of an individualistic society than USA, which is why many Americans think it is "socialist". I think in general, Scandinavians are not the first people to start a conversation in an elevator, and Swedish definitely have a culture of not bragging about themselves (I forgot the Swedish word for this, but I heard it on your channel). But the internet has really changed how much Swedes know about American culture and even Asian culture, like food and yoga. As a Canadian, I like Swedes very much and think we share many things in common.
Oh thank you so much! I agree! Such good points! Do you have Swedish ancestry given your name? My family emigrated to Canada and they came to visit us many years ago and brought maple syrup and Canadian made pens :)
The Vikings were there for thousands of years before Christianity arrived in Scandinavia? That is not the case. The Viking Age lasted only a few hundred years (793-1066 CE) and the first clear traces of a Christian mission go back to the beginning of the 9th century and 700 years of Christianisation followed.
@@georgiaroarwell9737 Thanks for the info. I should have written "Scandinavians" were there thousands of years before Christianity arrived. Not all Scandinavians were Vikings and the area was populated by different people, some of which come from what is now Russia, others Finland etc.
I never had most of these ideas about Sweden and would not confuse with Switzerland. Sweden is my favourite country and in the UK we are celebrating Swedish St Lucia - bringing the light on 13th December. Hej da Saga.
Same here! I would never confuse Sweden and Switzerland. How odd!! I'm of Swedish descent on my mom's side, so I"ve always had a fascination with Sweden and its culture, including St Lucia Day.
@@bobbiestrella8160 So funny! I love Lucia, it's probably my favorite holiday. I think the yearly Lucia concert is always streamed on SVT play for free and available abroad I believe! xx
Hey! Thanks for being vocal about Sweden. There's a lot of stuff out there that is simply the description of someone's experience which holds biases. We tend take them for their word and we don't really get to see what the actual Swede is like. Will be trying to read the Red Orm shortly, seemed quite interesting when you mentioned it in the other video. Keep up the good work! Your videos has the laid-back minimalistic pragmatic vibe to it.
Hej, Smiley! haha Thanks, great video! I have known or found out, most of what you have mentioned. I watch several channel from Sweden, hoping to pick up on the language. I have picked up on a few words, reading them, but hearing the words is a lot harder. I have noticed that most people from there do not seem to like to talk to "outsiders". I do chat with one woman, regularly, and a few respond to my comments, but not very chatty. She has said they, Swedes, don't like to talk to outsiders much. The biggest question I had was about the "blondness"! I have noticed most of the kids were blonde and the adults had darker hair! haha And blue eyes seem to be more common? Your shirt really does compliment your eyes well. Have you ever been to the park at Liseberg? You will have to bring your husband there! Stay safe! Stor kram...
Thank you so much! :D Yes, my friends in Sweden say I am American in the way I talk to strangers. Haha! My friends in the US do not agree, they think I am very Swedish :) Blue eyes are more common too! It's so interesting how people are born blonde and then the hair just gets darker.I have been to Liseberg but only once! My favorite place is Tivoli in Copenhagen. It's small but magical, especially at Christmas. And although it's in Denmark it's closer from where I live in Sweden!
@@SagaJohanna 🤩😍😆 When you are home, you will have to try the new tunnel/bridge system that connects the 2 countries! Tivoli does sound familiar. I really was surprised at how "tight lipped" Swedes are! I guess most of my family has been "Americanized"! haha
@@SagaJohanna My dad's family had a bit lighter hair as children, light brown at the lightest. I thought you might like to know that the white-blonde hair of your childhood is called "towheaded" or "she is a towhead" in English. (Tow rhymes with go.) Here's an explanation from Grammarphobia: The “tow” in “towhead,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary, refers to “the fiber of flax, hemp, or jute prepared for spinning.” Since flax is light in color, blonde people (especially children) are sometimes referred to as “towheads” or “towheaded,” (expressions first recorded in the 19th century).
@@winamortenson9125 That is so interesting! I've never heard that word, I barely know how to pronounce it :D Thank you! Also, I love the colour of flax so that sounds extra great!
Tjena, Saga! Jag har lärt mig svenska i en månad och nu vet jag att ditt namn är svenskt ordet för fairytale faktiskt. Jag gillar verkligen dina videor. Jag hoppas att jag sa det rätt. 💙💛
Switching to engelska now though 😂. I would really love it if you made a video on Swedish books you love. I have just started reading Strindberg and Ibsen ( I know he’s norsk!!) and I am fascinated.
Oj, om du kan läsa Strindberg på svenska så har du lärt dig väldigt bra! Jag tycker väldigt mycket om Ebba Witt Brattström, Vilhelm Moberg (utvandrarserien), Karin Boye (dikter och Kallocain), Kerstin Ekman, P.C Jersild (efter floden), Selma Lagerlöf, Per Lagerkvist, Harry Martinsson (svåra texter dock). Alla klassiska böcker så om du gillar Strindberg och Ibsen tror jag du kommer gilla dessa också! Norska författare som du kan läsa på svenska är Cora Sandel, Aksel Sandemose (varulven), Sigrid Undset, och Herbjorg Wassmo! :)
Confusing Sweden and Switzerland? Whaaaat? Is it because they both begin with the letters SW and there is a language barrier with the person? I get it if somebody is confused between a fjord and a vuono. Or even confusing Ingrid Bergman with Ingmar Bergman. But Sweden and Switzerland? I'm gob smacked.
Addendum to #3 about speaking English. First, spoken English has gotten way, way better the past decade or so - presumably thanks to social media and videos games. Unfortunately, this also means that the most common English words spoken in Sweden these days are fairly unpleasant curses. It's impossible to visit an elementary school (or even day care) without hearing a toddler, child or teacher (!?!) shout out an f-bomb. Second, while it's definitely true that Swedes speak English more readily after a few beers, the reason that Swedes speak English better on vacation is because they are speaking English to another non-native speaker. The language used is simple and everyone understands each other despite the grammatic mistakes.
Must say that in my opinion, the younger Swedish had a very good grasp of English grammar on so many levels, compared to your average English person. The English became very lazy with their use of grammar. It was so nice to hear it spoken properly many times when first visiting SE! I will counter, regarding international politics, it seem they want to always avoid confrontations, where often their views would help. Maybe it´s because Sweden has always been neutral?
Swedish prostitution law had very great intentions but has not really produced the results it promised as it has brought prostitution "under the radar", and made many prostitutes vulnerable to bad people and doesn't seem to have changed much in practice - as the amount of prostitution and human trafficking seems to not have changed. However its a quite hard problem to tackle, and it's hard to come up alternative legislation. To critize this law is very controversial in Sweden but many international organizations have done so such as Amnesty International with the reasons above stated.
"So take THAT ameriKa!" I absolutely adored that Saga (and all your life-affirming vids)! It's past time, imo, for ameriKa to be taken on... Our govt is seriously f-ing up all over the world imo. You can blame our interpretations of many of the films of one of my very fav directors, IngmarBergman, for some of these "types"! And, you likely know that many/most? ameriKans blur social-democracy with "communism/socialism" (those 2 also not well differentiated in the USA!), which borders on hysteria imo,
Its like comparing Sweden as a european/EU country, to a USA state! At first.. its almoste americans that not know the differens between sweden and other countrys! To there defens, we dont know that much about differens about US states/Canada or Mexico! In anyway, we study english at third degree, as a second language.. I would say that swedes is proficent to understand English, but could be shy to talk it.. to strangers!
My experience of vegan in Sweden is not so great 😂 I think Stockholm is pretty amazing for vegan food. Pretty much every single restaurant, even steak houses, serve at least 1 good vegan dish. But fully vegan restaurants there are not so many! If you’re there for sure download Happy Cow app! 🥰
I’ve never ever heard anyone say anything about promiscuity. Not sure where that came from, nor the freedom of speech or the sadness. Interesting but no one thinks any of that here in the US.
promiscuity from my friends in Southern Europe and a few American friends, but all in my generation :) The freedom of speech I've gotten asked about from a few friends abroad too!
There’s lots of things I didn’t know here, and your analysis is spot on. The prostitution law was new to me, but it makes perfect sense. I wish we had your government here, and lots of Americans feel that way. For myself, Sweden and Switzerland are distinct, but I occasionally confuse Sweden with Norway. Thanks for a very entertaining and informative video!
Apparently some other countries (like your neighbour Canada) followed! Haha! 🤣 I would say it's better to confuse Sweden with Norway than Switzerland. At least we're very close!
Sweden has so many similarities with us, Lithuania and this is why I like visiting Sweden so much. Similar landscape, forest and lakes everywhere, fish and potatoes with vegetables are common food staple in Sweden. The sauna culture is prevalent in both countries. I'm not sure about certain aspects though like nudity and openness. People tend to have similar names in both countries for men and women. Small cities look alike although Lithuania has soviet heritage. But it varies throughout the both countries. Perhaps that Sweden is our close neighbour and is a bigger and more influential country, recently Lithuania have adopted Swedish model/way of developing the country. People look similar, often tall with with blond hair. Swedish women are......... hmmmmmm georgous. Very Swede =)) ours I think are less attractive. Swedes go picking wild forest berries and mushrooms also. Sweden has real mountains but we don't. Similar style of houses and cities as well as roads infrastructure. Country side very similar. Sweden tends to have more horses and elks in my opinion. Maybe we should import from you horses and elks =) We, Lithuania are big on recycling and green things. Emissions free stuff. Energy, fuel. Sale of Alcohol is also somehow regulated, like in Sweden. This is what I've seen while staying in Sweden. For me, when coming to Sweden feels like home, just a lot more expensive though. Very expensive. But I love visiting Sweden so much.
Something you said really makes me cringe. You refereed to to some of the stuff that goes in Tetra Pak as "fruit milk". The is no milk in fruit! Milk only comes from the mammary glands of mammals. I like almost everything you do. However milk from fruit or nuts makes me crazy. I know it is one of my failings.
Hahah! In Sweden we can still call nut milk milks! But we for sure don’t have fruit milk 😂 But growing up we’d only buy milk in plastic, so no Tetra Pak for cows milk! I don’t care too much about which words are being used when it comes to milk, but I like to think of it from different cultures perspectives. A lot of countries have used both nut and coconut “milk” for a long time, and they don’t really use milk as much. I wonder if they call it milk? ❤️
@@SagaJohanna I live in London Ontario Canada. when I m in the grocery store it appears that all of the things that used to be called are not any more. I have not researched what happened. However in Ontario we have an entity called the Ontario Milk Marketing Board. They seem to have great powers over dairy products. Thank for smiling about todays rant.
Sounds like me at age ten or eleven. Thought my hair was so dark blond, barely even blond at all. Yeah... Looked at old photos - my hair was golden, more or less - really blond. It was just that I compared it with the white blond hair I had as a child.
What happend to the religious books burning law? ops.. 😀 Also what is the advantage of allowing to sell sex vs just prohibiting all together selling and buying for men and women? i see no logic here ? 🤔
What you say is all true. I'm Danish (acutally part Swedish and a bit Norwegian as well: Scandinavian to make it short). You could say the same things about Denmark and Norway - except for this Swiss thing. Regarding blonde hair: You could look at ABBA. Agnetha - the blonde girl - was bottle blonde. Her natural hair colour was similar to the mens hair colour in ABBA (dark blonde / light brown or liver paté as we call it in Denmark). Frida - the dark haired girl - went darker often red or even purple at some point - and her natural hair colour was also dark blonde. She was actually Norwegian (mother) and German (father). It is true we as grown ups often gets a darker shade of blonde like you Saga, and has to go for the bottle if we long for the childhood colour. I was also white as snow as a child and darkened with age to liver paté - now slowly getting grey/white haired. The same goes with most of my friends. Looking at a school picture from 2.nd grade or so - everyone has white hair exept maybe two - and of of those two had red hair. I like the way you explaines supper habbits: It is so true!! I always had to be home at 6 PM. And yes, everythings was made from scratch. Still is. I make everything from scratch myself. Right now I have bread in the oven and have to check on it ..... 🙂 Thank you for yet another great video!
Interesting video. I'm an American with Swedish ancestry. My grandparents came to America 100 years ago. They did not know English, as was probably the case for many Swedes back then. As I listen to videos like this I learn more about what parts of my upbringing reflect the Swedish heritage. As kids our rule was simply to not be at friends houses when supper time was nearing. I'm sure this helped prevent any awkwardness. Many family friends also had Swedish heritage so I guess we all knew the same rules.
Wow that is so cool! Have you heard about the book series "The Emigrants"? That sounds similar to how I grew up too!
Your dry description of point 8 (Sweden =/ Switzerland) made me smile.
On being good English speakers, I actually find the spoken English in Stockholm to be often better than in parts of the UK (joking, but sort of not; on my first visit I earnestly asked someone in Swedish “I am sorry. I don’t speak Swedish, but do you by any chance speak English?” only to be met by a bemused “Yes, of course.”). Stockholm is Stockholm, of course.
As for miserable winters, you make up for it with beautiful soft lighting. Again in Stockholm, I remember seeing so many lovely lighting shops. It brings a warmth to the long, grey, dark days. I’m happy to be fairly nomadic and make do with very little, but a Stoic preferred indifferent for me would be soft, warm, paper-filtered side-lighting.
Haha thank you Alec :D
Hahaha, people from Stockholm are a different kind of Swedes. To be honest, I only know one person from Stockholm. For us down South they are very much mythical creatures and we're kind of scared to go there "to the big city" haha!
Oh yes! I miss the lighting. We actually have an old saying that every room needs 7 lights, rather than one big one. I love paper and fabric covered lights! :) So beautiful!
@@SagaJohanna
Heh. You should hear what those in the North say about them. XD But yeah, as someone who lives about an hour from Stockholm, those people are truly a different breed. Still the only town where I had to literally jump out of the way of a very stressed man.
Hej Saga and Saga's husband (and anyone reading),
I'm from France and all testimonies I can read from french people who moved to Sweden is that there everyone speaks a perfect english and you can work without problem if you speak only english (especially in south where a lot of things are written in english but not in swedish for example, it's more swedish in the north where they say you are totally obliged to speak swedish). They tell that when they tried ro speak swedish, if swedes were seeing it was a bit long or difficult for the french person, they were speaking in english directly. Though, when I look at jobs announcements, swedish is almost always asked.
Also about clothes (maybe it was in another video you spoke of it), they say that fashion is not a thing in Sweden and that people are wearing comfort outfits because the important for swedes is to be comfortable and warm. Like it's not easy to be super fashionable when the weather is rainy and cold.
I did not go in Sweden myself yet to have my own opinion, but so for any french looking at testimonies, all swedes perfectly speak english like a mother language and wear comfortable clothes so no need to look for any style. 😅😅 We have a lot of statements this way, but luckily we know Sweden is not Switzerland.
We do have a term for "cooking food from scratch" in Swedish - "laga mat från grunden"!
Saga, I'm not Swedish or anything but so glad this video got suggested to me... And I needed to say specifically about the myth #4
I've never personally heard about that myth regarding Swedes before (maybe this is a bigger myth in the US, idk), but as a Brazilian woman I can feel and relate 100% about how annoying and low-key dangerous those kinds of myths can be, especially for women...
Unfortunately we have a similar myth about Brazilians, and I also lied about my nationality (generally I say I'm either Portuguese or Argentine) to avoid this kind of issue with foreigners
I wish this kind of myth didn't existed with anyone tbh
I am an American living in Switzerland for 15 years, The only people I have heard confuse Switzerland with Sweden are Americans...who I might add are not particularly gifted in Geographic knowledge :) to put it diplomatically. When in American they often ask which hemisphere Europe is in, and refer to Europe as 'out there'. They will ask....'whats it like out there'?......😱🙄 I don't want to offend any Americans watching 'over there' so I'll leave it at that! Great video...as always.
Hahaha, that is so funny! Over there! :D
Continued appreciation of your content. But even more, your way of expressing objections with such positive energy.
Thank you so much
Re the Swedish/Swiss thing; "It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt." - Mark Twain
Haha! Good quote :)
I went to a US university and there was a Swedish girl which cause some discussion about that country. I'd say you did a good job in dispelling many myths that I thought people believed about Sweden. I'd add that most people do not realize that there are pagan traditions (St. Lucia, Summer Solstice) that have nothing to do with Christianity, but that may coincide with Christian holidays. The Vikings were there for thousands of years before Christianity arrived in Scandinavia. Sweden is much less of an individualistic society than USA, which is why many Americans think it is "socialist".
I think in general, Scandinavians are not the first people to start a conversation in an elevator, and Swedish definitely have a culture of not bragging about themselves (I forgot the Swedish word for this, but I heard it on your channel). But the internet has really changed how much Swedes know about American culture and even Asian culture, like food and yoga. As a Canadian, I like Swedes very much and think we share many things in common.
Oh thank you so much! I agree! Such good points! Do you have Swedish ancestry given your name? My family emigrated to Canada and they came to visit us many years ago and brought maple syrup and Canadian made pens :)
The Vikings were there for thousands of years before Christianity arrived in Scandinavia? That is not the case. The Viking Age lasted only a few hundred years (793-1066 CE) and the first clear traces of a Christian mission go back to the beginning of the 9th century and 700 years of Christianisation followed.
@@georgiaroarwell9737 Thanks for the info. I should have written "Scandinavians" were there thousands of years before Christianity arrived. Not all Scandinavians were Vikings and the area was populated by different people, some of which come from what is now Russia, others Finland etc.
I never had most of these ideas about Sweden and would not confuse with Switzerland. Sweden is my favourite country and in the UK we are celebrating Swedish St Lucia - bringing the light on 13th December. Hej da Saga.
I think you are closer to us being in the UK, I don't think any of my British friends actually has ever said any of these myths! :)
Same here! I would never confuse Sweden and Switzerland. How odd!! I'm of Swedish descent on my mom's side, so I"ve always had a fascination with Sweden and its culture, including St Lucia Day.
@@bobbiestrella8160 So funny! I love Lucia, it's probably my favorite holiday. I think the yearly Lucia concert is always streamed on SVT play for free and available abroad I believe! xx
Hey! Thanks for being vocal about Sweden. There's a lot of stuff out there that is simply the description of someone's experience which holds biases. We tend take them for their word and we don't really get to see what the actual Swede is like. Will be trying to read the Red Orm shortly, seemed quite interesting when you mentioned it in the other video. Keep up the good work! Your videos has the laid-back minimalistic pragmatic vibe to it.
Don't forget Gevalia Coffee of Gavle, Sweden, Saga! I've never been to the wonderful North Lands of Europe, yet! Darn! Have a truly good week!
Haha I didn't even know it was from Gavle!!! :D
I love your clarifications of the Swedish way!
Thank you! 🇸🇪
Rule #1
*Watched 🎧 ➡ pressed 👍🏻 ➡ pressed 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻 to the comments from others* ✅
Hi Saga, thank you for the informative video! I hope that you and your husband will have a lovely time in your home country of Sweden!!❤
Thank you so much ❤️
Thank you so much.
Have a good Day ☺👍
Thank you too :)
I had never heard any of these so it was very interesting to both know the myths/stereotypes and what the real thing is.
Thank you!
Hej, Smiley! haha Thanks, great video! I have known or found out, most of what you have mentioned. I watch several channel from Sweden, hoping to pick up on the language. I have picked up on a few words, reading them, but hearing the words is a lot harder. I have noticed that most people from there do not seem to like to talk to "outsiders". I do chat with one woman, regularly, and a few respond to my comments, but not very chatty. She has said they, Swedes, don't like to talk to outsiders much. The biggest question I had was about the "blondness"! I have noticed most of the kids were blonde and the adults had darker hair! haha And blue eyes seem to be more common? Your shirt really does compliment your eyes well. Have you ever been to the park at Liseberg? You will have to bring your husband there! Stay safe! Stor kram...
Thank you so much! :D Yes, my friends in Sweden say I am American in the way I talk to strangers. Haha! My friends in the US do not agree, they think I am very Swedish :)
Blue eyes are more common too! It's so interesting how people are born blonde and then the hair just gets darker.I have been to Liseberg but only once! My favorite place is Tivoli in Copenhagen. It's small but magical, especially at Christmas. And although it's in Denmark it's closer from where I live in Sweden!
@@SagaJohanna 🤩😍😆 When you are home, you will have to try the new tunnel/bridge system that connects the 2 countries! Tivoli does sound familiar. I really was surprised at how "tight lipped" Swedes are! I guess most of my family has been "Americanized"! haha
Thanks for the clearer picture of SWE, and I hope your return is happy for both of you. We in the US who watch skiing know SUI isn't SWE:)
Thank you so so much
very interesting video, thank you! I have dreamed about visiting Sweden my entire life and it is fun to learn more :)
Glad you enjoyed it! Oh that would be wonderful!
Very enjoyable! I'm of Swedish descent on my father's side, and he and his 5 siblings all had black hair.
That is so fascinating! All my uncles had white hair during childhood which then turned completely black. Yet my hair stayed somewhat blonde.
@@SagaJohanna My dad's family had a bit lighter hair as children, light brown at the lightest. I thought you might like to know that the white-blonde hair of your childhood is called "towheaded" or "she is a towhead" in English. (Tow rhymes with go.) Here's an explanation from Grammarphobia: The “tow” in “towhead,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary, refers to “the fiber of flax, hemp, or jute prepared for spinning.” Since flax is light in color, blonde people (especially children) are sometimes referred to as “towheads” or “towheaded,” (expressions first recorded in the 19th century).
@@winamortenson9125 That is so interesting! I've never heard that word, I barely know how to pronounce it :D Thank you! Also, I love the colour of flax so that sounds extra great!
@@SagaJohanna Tee hee! It's tow like a tow rope or a tow truck. Or "toe"! When I was little, I probably thought people were saying "toe head"! 😄
Tjena, Saga! Jag har lärt mig svenska i en månad och nu vet jag att ditt namn är svenskt ordet för fairytale faktiskt. Jag gillar verkligen dina videor. Jag hoppas att jag sa det rätt. 💙💛
Switching to engelska now though 😂. I would really love it if you made a video on Swedish books you love. I have just started reading Strindberg and Ibsen ( I know he’s norsk!!) and I am fascinated.
Åh så kul! Tack och det stämmer! Du sa det helt perfekt!!
Oj, om du kan läsa Strindberg på svenska så har du lärt dig väldigt bra! Jag tycker väldigt mycket om Ebba Witt Brattström, Vilhelm Moberg (utvandrarserien), Karin Boye (dikter och Kallocain), Kerstin Ekman, P.C Jersild (efter floden), Selma Lagerlöf, Per Lagerkvist, Harry Martinsson (svåra texter dock). Alla klassiska böcker så om du gillar Strindberg och Ibsen tror jag du kommer gilla dessa också!
Norska författare som du kan läsa på svenska är Cora Sandel, Aksel Sandemose (varulven), Sigrid Undset, och Herbjorg Wassmo! :)
Thank you for this, it was a very nice video!!
Thanks so much ❤
Tack så mycket som alltid... 👏💐
Confusing Sweden and Switzerland? Whaaaat? Is it because they both begin with the letters SW and there is a language barrier with the person? I get it if somebody is confused between a fjord and a vuono. Or even confusing Ingrid Bergman with Ingmar Bergman. But Sweden and Switzerland? I'm gob smacked.
Love you and your videos!
Thank you so much!
Addendum to #3 about speaking English.
First, spoken English has gotten way, way better the past decade or so - presumably thanks to social media and videos games. Unfortunately, this also means that the most common English words spoken in Sweden these days are fairly unpleasant curses. It's impossible to visit an elementary school (or even day care) without hearing a toddler, child or teacher (!?!) shout out an f-bomb.
Second, while it's definitely true that Swedes speak English more readily after a few beers, the reason that Swedes speak English better on vacation is because they are speaking English to another non-native speaker. The language used is simple and everyone understands each other despite the grammatic mistakes.
Haha wow those are some crazy daycares! I've worked at a couple and those were alright haha :)
Must say that in my opinion, the younger Swedish had a very good grasp of English grammar on so many levels, compared to your average English person.
The English became very lazy with their use of grammar. It was so nice to hear it spoken properly many times when first visiting SE!
I will counter, regarding international politics, it seem they want to always avoid confrontations, where often their views would help.
Maybe it´s because Sweden has always been neutral?
Haha that is great! And I agree, I must say my younger siblings/cousins speak English better than the older generations. Yes, we have!
You are too nice, I would tell them immediately if they failed in their geography exam
😂😂😂 maybe I should try that next time!
Maybe in recent 2 or 3 years, my target is be a swiden Phd, I like this region
Oh good luck! That’s so cool!
Swedish prostitution law had very great intentions but has not really produced the results it promised as it has brought prostitution "under the radar", and made many prostitutes vulnerable to bad people and doesn't seem to have changed much in practice - as the amount of prostitution and human trafficking seems to not have changed. However its a quite hard problem to tackle, and it's hard to come up alternative legislation.
To critize this law is very controversial in Sweden but many international organizations have done so such as Amnesty International with the reasons above stated.
You're terrific. So interesting. Nice necklace also
"So take THAT ameriKa!" I absolutely adored that Saga (and all your life-affirming vids)! It's past time, imo, for ameriKa to be taken on... Our govt is seriously f-ing up all over the world imo.
You can blame our interpretations of many of the films of one of my very fav directors, IngmarBergman, for some of these "types"!
And, you likely know that many/most? ameriKans blur social-democracy with "communism/socialism" (those 2 also not well differentiated in the USA!), which borders on hysteria imo,
Haha I love your comment so much
I purposely say Sweden or Swaziland to my friends in Switzerland as a joke. They laugh .. politely.
lol
Its like comparing Sweden as a european/EU country, to a USA state!
At first.. its almoste americans that not know the differens between sweden and other countrys!
To there defens, we dont know that much about differens about US states/Canada or Mexico!
In anyway, we study english at third degree, as a second language.. I would say that swedes is proficent to understand English, but could be shy to talk it.. to strangers!
Hej Saga! Tack sumi keat!
Please tell more vegan life there! Tack Tack
My experience of vegan in Sweden is not so great 😂 I think Stockholm is pretty amazing for vegan food. Pretty much every single restaurant, even steak houses, serve at least 1 good vegan dish. But fully vegan restaurants there are not so many! If you’re there for sure download Happy Cow app! 🥰
@@SagaJohanna Tack Tack Saga... Me is almost Vegan... 😀
I’ve never ever heard anyone say anything about promiscuity. Not sure where that came from, nor the freedom of speech or the sadness. Interesting but no one thinks any of that here in the US.
promiscuity from my friends in Southern Europe and a few American friends, but all in my generation :) The freedom of speech I've gotten asked about from a few friends abroad too!
@@SagaJohanna after watching this video, I actually saw another video that said this same thing....mind blown - I hadn't ever heard this. Tack!
There’s lots of things I didn’t know here, and your analysis is spot on. The prostitution law was new to me, but it makes perfect sense.
I wish we had your government here, and lots of Americans feel that way.
For myself, Sweden and Switzerland are distinct, but I occasionally confuse Sweden with Norway.
Thanks for a very entertaining and informative video!
Apparently some other countries (like your neighbour Canada) followed!
Haha! 🤣 I would say it's better to confuse Sweden with Norway than Switzerland. At least we're very close!
I do too! But Scandinavia and sometimes Denmark and Finland are smacked together as a whole. Wich, you defenetly know isn't true. @@SagaJohanna
Vegan for the animals ❤😊
Watch earthling ed, gamechangers
Also love forks over knifes & what the health! ❤😊
sweden and lithuania have very similar car plates
I had no idea! :D
Sweden has so many similarities with us, Lithuania and this is why I like visiting Sweden so much. Similar landscape, forest and lakes everywhere, fish and potatoes with vegetables are common food staple in Sweden. The sauna culture is prevalent in both countries. I'm not sure about certain aspects though like nudity and openness. People tend to have similar names in both countries for men and women. Small cities look alike although Lithuania has soviet heritage. But it varies throughout the both countries.
Perhaps that Sweden is our close neighbour and is a bigger and more influential country, recently Lithuania have adopted Swedish model/way of developing the country. People look similar, often tall with with blond hair. Swedish women are......... hmmmmmm georgous. Very Swede =)) ours I think are less attractive.
Swedes go picking wild forest berries and mushrooms also.
Sweden has real mountains but we don't. Similar style of houses and cities as well as roads infrastructure. Country side very similar. Sweden tends to have more horses and elks in my opinion. Maybe we should import from you horses and elks =)
We, Lithuania are big on recycling and green things. Emissions free stuff. Energy, fuel. Sale of Alcohol is also somehow regulated, like in Sweden.
This is what I've seen while staying in Sweden. For me, when coming to Sweden feels like home, just a lot more expensive though. Very expensive. But I love visiting Sweden so much.
Something you said really makes me cringe. You refereed to to some of the stuff that goes in Tetra Pak as "fruit milk". The is no milk in fruit! Milk only comes from the mammary glands of mammals. I like almost everything you do. However milk from fruit or nuts makes me crazy. I know it is one of my failings.
Hahah! In Sweden we can still call nut milk milks! But we for sure don’t have fruit milk 😂 But growing up we’d only buy milk in plastic, so no Tetra Pak for cows milk!
I don’t care too much about which words are being used when it comes to milk, but I like to think of it from different cultures perspectives. A lot of countries have used both nut and coconut “milk” for a long time, and they don’t really use milk as much. I wonder if they call it milk? ❤️
@@SagaJohanna I live in London Ontario Canada. when I m in the grocery store it appears that all of the things that used to be called are not any more. I have not researched what happened. However in Ontario we have an entity called the Ontario Milk Marketing Board. They seem to have great powers over dairy products.
Thank for smiling about todays rant.
Tack Saga
you gotta feed those poor kids that you are hosting in your home :) kekw
#8 is hilarious
White hair?!
I don't agree with some of this and I suspect that is because I'm about twice your age. We Swedes are somewhat weird.
Haha yes :)
Västerbotten cheese
That's Swedish too! Not sure if you can find it abroad though ?
points at some of the blondest hair I've ever seen: "most of us don't get much blonder than this"
😂🤣🤣
Sounds like me at age ten or eleven. Thought my hair was so dark blond, barely even blond at all. Yeah... Looked at old photos - my hair was golden, more or less - really blond. It was just that I compared it with the white blond hair I had as a child.
What happend to the religious books burning law? ops.. 😀 Also what is the advantage of allowing to sell sex vs just prohibiting all together selling and buying for men and women? i see no logic here ? 🤔
What you say is all true. I'm Danish (acutally part Swedish and a bit Norwegian as well: Scandinavian to make it short). You could say the same things about Denmark and Norway - except for this Swiss thing.
Regarding blonde hair: You could look at ABBA. Agnetha - the blonde girl - was bottle blonde. Her natural hair colour was similar to the mens hair colour in ABBA (dark blonde / light brown or liver paté as we call it in Denmark). Frida - the dark haired girl - went darker often red or even purple at some point - and her natural hair colour was also dark blonde. She was actually Norwegian (mother) and German (father).
It is true we as grown ups often gets a darker shade of blonde like you Saga, and has to go for the bottle if we long for the childhood colour. I was also white as snow as a child and darkened with age to liver paté - now slowly getting grey/white haired. The same goes with most of my friends. Looking at a school picture from 2.nd grade or so - everyone has white hair exept maybe two - and of of those two had red hair.
I like the way you explaines supper habbits: It is so true!! I always had to be home at 6 PM. And yes, everythings was made from scratch. Still is. I make everything from scratch myself. Right now I have bread in the oven and have to check on it ..... 🙂
Thank you for yet another great video!
I'm half Norwegian and my cousins are Danish (my uncle moved there). And I didn't know that about Frida!
Oh how delicious with home made bread!
Not proficient in English? Uff da! :)
hahah
I really don't think people should be allowed to have sex anyway.
lol......🤣
🤣🤣🤣
Saga when you go back to Sweden please don’t burn religious books in certain areas.
So Qurans can't be burnt but Bible can?
The dads hair looks brown, not black.
Think it depends on the lighting 😂
Average säpo propaganda
Haha, får man vara mot NATO ändå?