10 Interesting things about Scandinavia

First off.. loved the "I was afraid.." podcast. I also love that Robyn hypes up living aboard. I don't really have that support in my life. I appreciate her making it a positive thing. I just visited Scandinavia. It was great! Each country was so different and yet very similar. I'd really like to get into the history of it all.

1. Sweden didn't really care about Covid

I learned this from a Taxi driver. They never went into lockdown. They never made anything mandatory. If you were on the subway and an inspector came on the train you would put a mask on.. if they left.. everyone would take it off. They are considered a liberal country. I found it all fascinating. The government didn't want people to fear Covid. Sweden overall didn't have that many cases. My thoughts are that fear creates stress which creates sickness. Swedish people weren't afraid and so they didn't really get sick. It's my very simplified argument but it's what I think.

2. Swedish men are hot, passive and cheap.

I learned this from our food tour guide. She was fantastic. I told her I had heard that Scandinavian men are quite passive. She agreed and was totally annoyed by it. She said "they might be hot but they are passive and cheap." lol. I would totally be friends with her.

3. Swedish Coffee is the BEST

I can drink it with only one creamer. It is magical. I ordered some Gevalia when I got home because it is a Swedish coffee brand. My two favorite things about Sweden were Coffee and how they handled Covid.

4. Freetown in Copenhagen

There is an area in Denmark that is like a throwback to the 1960s. I think we went at the wrong time. It's supposedly a place where people can smoke weed and just swap goods in order to live their lives. You need to be recommended by at least 2 people that live there in order to be accepted. It was dirty and a little rough. Cops were there and they sectioned off a large part of the area. They were busting someone for smoking weed. So you can smoke weed as long as it doesn't smell like it? I am confused. It was an interesting place. If I was with different people I would go back.

5. Bicycles EVERYWHERE in Copenhagen

I am not a big bicycle fan. I don't own one and I don't want to. The seat hurts my butt and I am just not a fan. Well... everyone rode bicycles.. bicycles had their own stoplights. Almost no one wore helmets. Some wore the neck thing that expands to protect your head. I liked Copenhagen but... I couldn't live there because of the bicycles. They would annoy me too much.

6. Hygee is just eating pastries and being Lazy.

My sister said they way she remembered how to say it is think "huge gay" instead its more like hu gay. We did a tour all about Hygee. My mom and I have intolerances to gluten and dairy. Not trying to be annoying but if you don't do well on Gluten it sucks. It was an interesting tour. We learned that they are passing a law in the government where women have 9 months of maternity leave and if men don't take their 3 months of paternity leave than they both lose it. The woman will lose the 9 months. I just kept thinking about the one man I knew that took his paternity leave and the company realized they didn't really need him.

7. Are all Nobel Peace Prize Winners Liberal?

Oslo has a great museum dedicated to Alfred Nobel and the Nobel Peace Prize. I was looking at all of the people and it made me think.. do all have a Liberal mindset? Are they trying to promote that anyone with a conservative mindset are against peace? I tried googling it and didn't find much. I had a hard time appreciating the museum because I couldn't stop thinking about that question.

8. Norway was poor and now they are rich

Norway was pretty much the poorest country in Europe for a long time. They struck oil in the late 60s and all of a sudden had money. Lots of it. However.. if Russia was to invade Norway our tour guide said they could be taken in 30 minutes unless it was a Friday or Saturday night.. that would only take 15-20 minutes.

9. Bergen is sinking and it's an interesting story

I really enjoyed our historical tour in Bergen. The town was built in the water. There is a row of business that you see whenever you see a picture of Bergen. They are wooden and colorful and they are sinking into the sea. These businesses have also caught on fire over 30 times in the past 400 years. Bad fires.. They all burnt to the ground. I told my sister that I couldn't work there. I have a little ocd about unplugging things and turning the stove off.

10. Norway and drugs.

Norway has a lot of drug users because in the winter it gets DARK. It's like always dark. maybe 2-3 hours of sunlight. I asked if there were so many drug users than why isn't there more crime? He said "because there's methadone clinics all around and these people are taken care of by the government." huh.