What does a Swedish family mean? “Swedish family”: what is it in the modern world and why the term has become a symbol of debauchery
“Swedish family” - this term that excites the imagination of Soviet people arose on the territory of the Soviet Union in the 70s of the last century. Then, on the wave of the sexual revolution, rumors reached the USSR from the West about representatives of the left-wing Swedish youth living together in so-called communes, in Swedish - collectives. Probably, the delightful group ABBA, consisting of two couples and singing sweet songs about love, also contributed to the creation of the legend.
The concept of a “Swedish family” was established only in the former USSR and is not known anywhere else in the world. (Another expression entered the lexicon of English-speaking countries in the 1950s: swedish sin - “Swedish sin”, the origin of which is associated with the achievements of Sweden in the field of sex education for schoolchildren and the bold experiments of Swedish filmmakers.) The Swedes themselves still remain completely unaware of existing ideas about the Swedish family in Russia, which, of course, does not mean that this type of coexistence is not known in Sweden. “Poly” (from the Greek poly - many) is, according to the definition of the Swedish Union for Sexuality Education, founded back in 1933, “sexual and / or romantic relationships involving more than two people.” However, in modern Swedish society, “poly” are rather poorly represented. In 21st century Sweden, forms of family life such as “sambu” and “delsbu”, “serbu” and “shelvbu”, as well as “large” and “bonus” families have become much more widespread.
We need different mothers. And dads too
Despite the existing diversity, the vast majority of Swedish families still look very traditional: mom, dad and a couple of kids. At the same time, approximately a third of parents prefer not to formalize their relationship. Here they are called “samba” - literally “living together”. The distribution of housework and childcare responsibilities also seems typical (for emancipated Swedish society). Dads try to actively help moms, but the lion's share of household chores still falls on women's shoulders. As for maternity leave (480 days), according to Swedish law, parents themselves can decide in what proportions to distribute it among themselves, with the exception of 60 days, which must be used by one of the parents, the de facto father. On average, Swedish men spend even more than the reserved time with their children, about 20% of maternity leave. According to this indicator, the Swedes are second only to the Icelanders. In the future, as both the right and the left hope, fathers and mothers will share parental leave equally. Judging by a recent public opinion poll conducted by Swedish television, 7 out of 10 adult citizens are inclined to this point of view.
A distinctive feature of modern Swedish society is the existence, in parallel with traditional families, of various non-standard forms of cohabitation. This postmodern variation is reflected in the Swedish language. Among the established new terms are, for example, “bonus parents” - this is the name given to mothers and fathers raising children from a previous marriage (there are more and more of them, as well as “bonus children”).
At the same time, there are also more complex options for which there are no generally accepted names yet. So, recently a Swedish woman (let’s call her Anna) contacted one of the central newspapers with a proposal to jointly find a definition for the type of family of which she found herself part. The fact is that the father of Anna’s child already had a son from another woman before meeting her. After some time, having met a new love, he broke up with Anna. Apparently, the new love did not last too long, since soon, having given the lady another handsome boy, the “noble knight” again went in search of adventure. It is curious that each abandoned woman helped her friend in misfortune, and as a result, all three mothers and their children became good friends. At the same time, dad, being a real Swede, did not forget about his offspring and often visited them and, accordingly, his former girlfriends.
Anna was most concerned about the question of what to call the mothers of her child’s brothers. Having not found an answer in the Swedish dictionary, the woman offered her own version to describe relationships of this kind - “big family”.
It must be said that such spontaneously emerging “large families” are indeed not something unusual for Swedish society, in which the desire for individual freedom and independence is combined with mutual responsibility and the traditional ability to overcome and even prevent conflicts, guided by the principle “give live for yourself and other people.” In this sense, the variety of forms of Swedish community life that is so surprising to an outside observer is perhaps only a reflection of equally diverse options for solving practical problems and organizing life.
One such option is group homes, which are increasingly popular in modern Sweden. Unlike their predecessors in the 1970s, today's collectivists prefer to live in separate apartments, socializing only a few household chores. There are different types of collective living: for those over 55, for adults without children, for groups of mixed age composition. The main goal is to help each other in solving everyday problems, reduce expenses and at the same time find new friends and acquaintances. For Sweden, which leads the world in the number of families or, as statistics say, one-person households (more than 45%), this issue is very relevant.
Alone, all alone?
Foreign media often write about widespread loneliness among Swedes, leading to alcoholism and suicide. Statistics, however, refutes this version. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the country's actual suicide rate is no higher than the European average, and Swedes are among the least drunk in the world when it comes to alcohol consumption. Moreover, the results of most international studies measuring happiness and life satisfaction place Swedes among the happiest and most satisfied.
How can we explain this paradox of the lonely and the happy? Firstly, the number of real “singles” in Sweden is less than the statistics indicate. The fact is that lonely people also include those who prefer to maintain close relationships with each other while living apart. These people are called “Serbu” here. But there are also delsbu - those Swedes who live sometimes together, sometimes separately, making the task of statisticians completely impossible.
In addition, contrary to the popular belief that Sweden is boring, the majority of Swedes, in all age groups, lead an active social life. The uninitiated do not always notice this, since in this country not only work and study, but also leisure and communication take place according to a schedule. And visiting various hobby groups and clubs can generally be considered a national sport - in this sense, Sweden is an example of a modern network society. Add to this regular multi-hour outings into nature, the so-called folk schools, where you can learn anything at any age, and you will understand that the Swedes simply do not have time to settle accounts with life.
But still. Numerous letters from “singles” to the press, where they share painful things, indicate that the problem of loneliness really exists. It is symptomatic that in modern Swedish the word “one”, burdened with unpleasant connotations, has increasingly been replaced by the positive “self”. For example, the following options are heard: “I went on vacation myself” or “I live in my own apartment.” Even the concept of “shelvbu” appeared - “living on its own.” However, this does not change the essence of the matter.
If you look at what single or, if you like, independent Swedes write about, you can see that almost every one of them talks about a feeling of uncertainty and even fear - fear of making the wrong choice, losing part of their freedom, and so on. The list of reasons that cause deep feelings and anxiety is long.
All secularized societies face similar sentiments today, where almost limitless faith in knowledge, technology and a person’s ability to completely control their life has led to an obvious contradiction between the desire for absolute security (in Sweden, psychologists are already comparing the exaggerated need for security with drug addiction) and the inability to provide it in practice. Against the backdrop of a growing information flow, this gives rise to ever new forms of phobias. In Swedish society, the problem is perhaps exacerbated by the peculiarities of the national system, which, as they say, takes care of a person from cradle to grave. The system helps to avoid many troubles in life, but at the same time it makes people less confident - including in the formation and development of personal relationships.
Andersson is one of the most common Swedish surnames, appearing with enviable regularity in the address books of all 290 municipalities in the country. It’s impossible to come up with a more precise surname for an ordinary Swedish family.
Let my mother's name be Maria: this name was very popular in 1969, when she was born. It must be said that this is one of the most popular female names in Sweden in general, so don’t be surprised if it comes up here often. Dad – born in 1971. We'll call him Fredrik - in the early 1970s, this particular male name was especially common in Sweden. According to statistics, the average Swedish family has an average of 1.55 children, but we will round this number to two. So, before us are the average Swedish children: a 13-year-old girl named Julia and her younger brother William, who was barely 10. Here you have the most typical Swedish family. Although no, perhaps not entirely so.
In the case of the Andersson family, Maria is older than Fredrik, but in general for Sweden this option is less typical, since most Swedish husbands are slightly older than their wives.
On maternity leave
By the way, did you know that working parents in Sweden have the right to paid leave of up to 480 days? When Julia and William were little, their mother spent 10 months on maternity leave, and their father spent 8 months on maternity leave. How did Fredrik's colleagues at work react to this? No way. Now, if he had not exercised his legal right to maternity leave, then his colleagues would definitely have been surprised. Equality between men and women is so firmly established that sharing maternity leave between both parents has become the norm in Sweden.
When Maria and Fredrik return to work, their children will go to kindergarten and then to school, like the vast majority of young Swedes. This will cost parents a maximum of 1,382 kronor (≈134 euros) per month per child - which is only slightly more than the amount of the benefit they receive monthly from the state. This enables mothers and fathers to combine work with family life and childcare.
This text mentions the average salary and price level in Sweden. In November 2018, 10 Swedish kronor (SEK) was equal to 97 euro cents.
Two children per family is the norm
More than half of all Swedish families with children have two children. Only a little more than 18-20% of families are raising three children. Large families are a completely unusual phenomenon for Sweden. Parents deciding to have a fourth child make up no more than 10% of all families with children.
No rush to get married
In 2014, only about a third of Swedes – 3.3 million – were married. Partly because many couples in Sweden simply do not consider it necessary to officially register their union. “Sambu” is more common; this concept implies that partners simply live together without legitimizing the relationship. Another reason for such a low rate of married people among the population can be considered, perhaps, the well-known love of the Swedes for personal freedom, not constrained by marriage.
Did you do a good job? Have a good rest!
A typical Swede, like our Fredrik, works in manufacturing, earning on average 33,305 kroner (≈3230 euros) per month. Maria, like most working-age women in Sweden, works in the healthcare sector, where the average salary is about 24,176 kroner (≈2347 euros).
For most Swedes, paid leave of at least 25 working days per year is a given. Is it worth reminding that Sweden is known throughout the world for its social security system, which gives Swedes the right to a fairly long vacation, high-quality medical care, as well as good pension protection. All this was made possible thanks to a long history of cooperation between trade unions and employers to improve conditions in the labor market.
Most Swedes go on long holidays in the summer. Fredrik and Maria are among them. Julia and William, like other schoolchildren, are on vacation, which lasts about 2.5 months. Tourists who come to Sweden in the summer months get the impression that all business life in the country freezes at this time, and the Swedes themselves went as far as possible - to the sea or to resort areas. Which, in general, is true. Fredrik, Maria and their children love to holiday in the summer on Gotland, one of the most picturesque islands in Sweden.
Average monthly living expenses in Sweden
| Expense item | Child 15-19 years old | One man | Pair | ||
| Food | 176 | 230 | 370 | ||
| Cloth | 69 | 66 | 132 | ||
| Personal hygiene products, medical care | 38 | 48 | 95 | ||
| Sports and entertainment | 70 | 65 | 130 | ||
| Public transport | – | 84 | 165 | ||
| Electricity | 8 | 34 | 42 | ||
| TV, telephone, internet | 34 | 131 | 164 | ||
| Automobile | – | 271 | 271 | ||
| TOTAL | 394 | 926 | 1369 | ||
In the 1960-70s, the piquant concept of the “Swedish family” flew around the world - when representatives of Swedish “progressive” youth with leftist views decided to abandon the traditional “bourgeois” family, and arranged “love triangles”:
For example, two guys openly lived with one girl, slept three of them in the same bed, had sex in turns or group sex, and there were no signs of jealousy. Sometimes both husbands in such a “Swedish family” had sex with each other while the wife looked at them.
In short, the term “Swedish family” began to be perceived as a symbol of debauchery, from which ordinary normal families from Sweden suffered greatly in terms of their reputation.
Over time, healthy conservatism nevertheless prevailed in Sweden, and “Swedish families” somehow did not take root there, and are now found in isolated cases. Although the word is not a sparrow, and the term has remained, which is why normal Swedes still have to catch the sidelong glances of foreigners.
However, the most amazing thing is that the world’s first historically recorded “Swedish family” appeared at the end of the 18th century, and not in Sweden, but in super-conservative Catholic Spain!
Moreover, this Spanish “Swedish family” was not some marginal bunch of social dregs, no, it was the most important family in Spain.
So, meet: His Majesty King Charles IV of Spain, Her Majesty Queen Maria Luisa of Parma, and the Prime Minister of Spain, Generalissimo of the Land and Naval Forces, Duke of Alcudia and Prince of Peace, His Serene Highness Don Manuel Godoy. In the portraits that you see below, these tall ladies walk in exactly this order from left to right.
By the way, the portraits of Charles IV, Maria Luisa of Parma and Manuel Godoy that you see here were painted by the great Spanish painter Francisco Goya.
From the portraits one can guess that the third member of this peculiar Spanish “Swedish family” was much younger than the first two. And indeed it is.
Let's tell you how the story of this high-ranking “love triangle” began and ended.
In 1784, a 17-year-old boy from an impoverished noble family, Manuel Godoy, enlisted in the Spanish Royal Guard.
Now the word “guard” is understood as a certain elite, most combat-ready and best military unit. However, at the end of the 18th century, the term “guard” meant exactly what this word means in literal translation into Russian - “security.”
That is, Manuel Godoy began to serve as a guard at the royal palace. And in this palace, in addition to the king, also lived the Infante, that is, the eldest royal son and heir, Don Carlos, with his wife Maria Louise, Duchess of Parma.
The prince and princess were not at all young, as princes and princesses are usually imagined after reading fairy tales, no, they were already well over thirty.
There were a lot of guards, and at first no one paid much attention to Godoy - just think, there were soldiers standing guard with a gun, there are hundreds of them around here.
However, a year later, in 1785, 34-year-old Maria Louise of Parma nevertheless noticed not an abstract sentry, but a specific young man, 18-year-old Manuel Godoy, who was 16 years younger than her, and fell in love with him. And not platonically, but carnally.
As is very clearly evident from her portrait, Marie Louise of Parma was not a beauty at all, but rather quite the opposite. And also 16 years older. However, Manuel Godoy was not squeamish; he really, really wanted to become a big boss from a simple soldier, and for the sake of his career he became Marie Louise’s lover.
Marie-Louise, as modern sex therapists would say, was a nymphomaniac, and Godoy was a kind of sex machine like Grigory Rasputin, so the couple turned out to be ideal.
By the way, very little is known about this, but the great Russian psychiatrist V.M. Bekhterev established that Grigory Rasputin suffered from a mental disorder, expressed in increased sexual excitability, combined with a prolonged inability to complete sexual intercourse, which leads to an abnormal increase in the duration of intercourse and fixation on sex, the desire to have sexual intercourse again and again with different partners. Hence the reputation of a “sex machine” and a “sexual giant”. This disorder is now called satyriasis. The same was observed with Godoy.
The 37-year-old infante soon found out who his wife was having fun with, and according to the accepted concepts in hot Spain, he should have at least killed him. Why do I write “at least”? Because the Spaniards were great experts in various tortures and methods of slow and painful execution, so they could have done a lot of bad things to Manuel Godoy, and if they had simply hanged him, he would have gotten off easy, after all, he raised... no, not a hand, on the wife of the heir to the throne.
However, the unexpected happened - Don Carlos saw Godoy, and he liked his wife’s lover! To the point where he didn't object to their relationship. At the same time, he himself did not end his relationship with his wife, and they, so to speak, kept a waiting list.
In 1788, Don Carlos became King of Spain under the name Charles IV, and Maria Louise of Parma became Queen of Spain. Manuel Godoy continued to be the queen’s lover after that, with the full consent of the king.
After meeting Godoy, Marie-Louise gave birth to several more children, with the last “baby” at the age of 43. Some of these royal children looked like the king and some looked like Godoy.
The reader may have a question - was there anything like that between Charles IV himself and Godoy? After all, such a strange sympathy did not arise out of nowhere between them?
Historians do not have a 100% reliable answer to this question. In any case, no one caught King Charles IV doing any shameful things with Manuel Godoy, and if he did, it would have been more expensive to disclose it; after all, a person is given a head once, and after being chopped off it does not grow back.
However, it is absolutely certain that Charles IV treated Godoy very tenderly, called him “my dear friend,” spent a lot of time in his company, almost more than Marie Louise herself, and when he did not see Godoy for a long time, then started asking “Where is my Manuilenka?” So draw your own conclusions.
However, Manuel Godoy was not satisfied with the role of the queen’s lover and the king’s “dear friend”; he wanted wealth and power, which he began to hint about to the other two members of this peculiar Spanish “Swedish family”.
The king and queen understood the hint, and in 1791, 24-year-old Manuel Godoy became adjutant general of the royal guard. And a year later, in 1792, 25-year-old Manuel Godoy was appointed Prime Minister of Spain! At twenty-five years old - and already the head of the government! And this is not thanks to an outstanding mind, but thanks to an outstanding... you know what.
Then ranks and titles rained down on him as if from a cornucopia - he became a marquis, then the Duke of Alcudia, a 1st class grandee, a generalissimo of all naval and land forces, and finally the title “Prince of Peace” was invented especially for him.
It must be said that Charles IV did not like state concerns, his interests lay in a different area - he hunted from 9 to 12 and from 14 to 17 hours every day, in any weather, and he also loved to repair broken watches. Everything else didn't interest him. Therefore, when “dear friend Manuilenka” volunteered to steer, the king was only delighted.
However, Manuel Godoy was completely unsuited to the role of state helmsman. He understood foreign policy so poorly that for a long time he did not see any differences between Russia and Prussia - according to the Spanish Prime Minister, they were the same state!
The French ambassador Alquier reported to Paris that “The first minister of Spain has mainly two qualities - complete ignorance and a tendency to lie”. The next French ambassador, by the way, the adopted son of Napoleon Bonaparte, Eugene Beauharnais, wrote in his report that Godoy is “a sensualist, a lazy man and a coward, and takes bribes for all appointments to government posts”.
And indeed, Godoy put his paw into the state’s pocket to the maximum. He not only took bribes, but also simply stole government money, and soon his fortune exceeded the annual budget of the Kingdom of Spain!
Naturally, this did not arouse much love on the part of the Spaniards, and Godoy became the enemy of almost all courtiers and all ordinary Spaniards. They secretly laughed at him. Godoy was popularly called the “inseminator bull.” By the way, Napoleon Bonaparte, after a personal meeting with Godoy, said about him this way: “He resembles a bull.” Apparently, there was something in the Spanish prime minister that evoked similar associations.
In 1798, dissatisfaction with Godoy’s activities grew so much that, at the consolidated demand of almost the entire Spanish elite, he was removed from the post of prime minister, but he retained his position as the third member of the royal family, and continued to be “friends” with the queen and king. And in 1801 he was again made prime minister. Godoy's enemies were put to shame. The Russian proverb is right: “The night cuckoo will cuckoo the day.”
After this, Manuel Godoy, feeling omnipotent and impunity, became so insolent that he stopped maintaining decency altogether. He even began to cheat on the august couple.
Godoy set himself the following daily routine: first, he received some foreign ambassador in his office, then he took a break, and some woman was brought to him through another door (so as not to bump into the ambassadors in the reception room) for love pleasures, then he again he received another ambassador, then again another woman, then again some ambassador. And after a hard day of work, Godoy went to Charles IV and Maria Louise of Parma.
This idyll ended very sadly. In 1808 there was a popular uprising. To save Godoy from reprisals from the crowd, the king announced that he was removing Godoy from the post of prime minister, and even put him in prison, but not to punish him, but so that the rebels would not get to him.
Then Madrid was captured by French troops, and the entire Spanish “Swedish family” (King Charles IV, Queen Marie Louise of Parma and former Prime Minister Manuel Godoy) were sent to France, where the king subsequently signed an abdication.
After this, the former king, the former queen and the former prime minister left for Rome, and the three of them began to live openly, because now they were private individuals, and they had no one to be ashamed of.
They lived happily ever after in Rome, and even died almost on the same day. Marie Louise died on January 2, 1819, and Charles died 18 days later, on January 20. Manuel Godoy was left alone.
In 1830 Godoy moved to Paris. In 1847, Spain reported that he had been granted pardon for past sins and was allowed to return to his homeland. However, Manuel Godoy was already an old, sick man, and he did not want to return to Spain 39 years after his exile. He died in Paris on October 7, 1851, at the age of 84.
Speaking about the so-called “Swedish family”, we should immediately make a reservation: This phenomenon cannot be considered a typically Swedish tradition! Moreover, this is quite rare in Sweden. The name “Swedish family” is used exclusively in Russia and in some countries of the former Soviet Union, and this is associated with those representatives of the “progressive” Swedish youth who contrasted the traditional family, in which they saw part of bourgeois society, with life in the so-called. “collectives” - more precisely, communes. In other countries, this form of marriage is simply called “household for three.”
For the first time something similar appeared not in Sweden, but in one of the most conservative countries - in Spain, and not in the “crazy” 20th century, but at the end of the 18th century, and it was not done by some radical freethinking revolutionaries, but … The Royal Family!
The wife of the heir to the Spanish throne, Maria Louise of Parma, drew attention to 18-year-old Manuel Godoy from the royal guard, and the young man who was ready for anything for the sake of his career - even an affair with a not very young and not very beautiful woman - and made him her lover, and my husband... didn’t object! And he did not end his relationship with his wife. So the three of them lived, and continued to live after the accession of their husband to the throne (this was King Charles IV), and Manuel Godoy eventually became the Prime Minister of Spain... by the way, the king treated Manuel very well and spent almost more time than the queen, so all sorts of suspicions arise... but there is no direct evidence.
This is what what is usually called a Swedish family looks like– heterosexual marriage of three: two men and one woman or two women and one man – options are possible.
It should be noted that such a “marriage for three” does not always mean “sex for three.” Sexual relationships can be anything: homosexual, bisexual, and even... platonic, or there is a sequence.
Of course, such a “marriage” cannot, in principle, be registered either in Russia or in the West... i.e. Only one man and one woman will be registered; a third family member can only live with them informally.
What pushes people into such strange relationships?
To a certain extent, there are economic reasons: two men can quite decently provide for both a wife and a child; two women can share responsibilities: one gives birth and raises a child, while the other pursues a career... Psychological reasons also play a certain role: not finding understanding from her husband, a woman easily agrees to the presence of a second woman in the family, who satisfies her this psychological need...
And yet, this form of relationship contains an order of magnitude more “pitfalls” than a traditional family. Let's start with the fact that the more people there are, the more difficult it is for them to agree, and if two people do not always agree without problems who should take out the trash and who should go to the store, then what can we say about three! In addition, it is impossible in principle to divide attention equally - anyway, one of the two will receive more, the other less - or so it will seem... i.e. jealousy is inevitable. And love, by definition, focuses on one object - friendship can be divided into two men or women, but not love...
You need to think carefully about all this before agreeing to the “Swedish family”! And also that if “threesome marriage” had any meaning, there would be three genders, not two.
There is such an almost fairy-tale country in the world. Where capitalism coexists with socialism, Scandinavians with Arabs, and Lutherans with Orthodox.
- The Kingdom of Sweden is located on the Scandinavian Peninsula, the north of the European continent. Formally, the country is ruled by the King, in fact the Prime Minister, who is elected by parliament (Riksdag).
- The name of the country comes from a combination of two Old Norse words Svea and Rige, which means “country of the Sveans”.
- The capital of a country with a constitutional monarchy is the ancient city of Stockholm.
- In 1995, Sweden joined the European Union.
- Most residents live in communes of up to 2,000 people.
- The Swedes are considered the main nation of the Scandinavian Peninsula. In addition to the titular nation, the Kingdom is home to Sami, Finns and other nationalities.
- A big problem for Sweden has been the endless flow of immigrants. Every eighth resident of the state is an immigrant. Currently, obtaining a residence permit is very difficult. There are significant restrictions.
- The country can rightfully be considered multicultural. The Swedish government is trying to achieve harmony and equality among different groups of the population.
- The bulk of immigrants live in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö.
- The official language of the state is Swedish. The majority of the population of the Kingdom speaks English well. The country even has television channels broadcasting in English.
- The languages of national minorities are also developing: Sami, Meänkieli, Finnish, Gypsy and Yiddish.
- The bulk of the country's believers belong to the Lutheran Church, which is separated from the state. There are also Orthodox churches, Muslim mosques and synagogues in Sweden.
Swedish families
It is interesting that the origin of most Swedish surnames is, in one way or another, related to nature. And at birth a child receives the surname of the mother, not the father.
Women love independence, while men are silent and decisive. Equality and decency reign in Swedish families. Parents in such families are very caring and attentive to their children.
When you first meet Swedes, you get the impression that these people are reserved and taciturn. But this is only at first glance. In a friendly company, among familiar people, they open up in a completely different way, becoming friendly, hospitable and cheerful. How can they not have fun, Sweden is one of the few countries in the world where “socialism with a human face” exists. The Swedes managed to unite the collective and individual principles in man, and the whole state benefited from this unification. The population lives in a classless society. Despite the fact that Sweden is a fairly rich country, its workers pay very high taxes to the treasury. And boasting about your wealth is not held in high esteem here. Swedes are modest and reserved. In families, as a rule, both husband and wife work. Otherwise it is very difficult to survive. Raising children for Swedish mothers goes in parallel with their professional activities. This is a fairly emancipated country.
It is not necessary to officially register a marriage in Sweden, even if a child appears in the family. Such “informal” families have all the rights and enjoy all the usual benefits as registered families.
Education in Sweden is free.
Family traditions in Sweden
In Sweden, national traditions are cherished and revered. And all holidays, as a rule, are associated with preparing delicious food. There are also unusual holidays, such as Cinnamon Bun Day or the Season of Sticky Almond Butter. It's impossible not to love it.
If you are going to visit a Swedish family, then under no circumstances be late. They don't like it. Give flowers to the hostess and a bottle of good vodka to the host. At the table, sit only in the seat indicated to you, which you will find using the name card on the table. If you do not come alone, then be prepared for the fact that you may not be seated next to you. Swedes, like Russians, love to make toasts, so you can prepare a couple of original toasts. It doesn't hurt to leave on time either.
Holidays in Swedish
Officially, any Swedish worker has five weeks of vacation a year, plus days off and holidays. They devote this time to relaxing in nature. They go to the forest for a picnic, fish or pick mushrooms and berries. In the Swedish forests, special paths are laid out for tourists, on which there are houses where you can warm up and have a snack. Even the King of Sweden is a big fan of hiking.
You can also relax on the islands, in the fiords, not far from Stockholm. These islands are generally uninhabited. Real fishermen go there to indulge in solitude while fishing and think about the future. In these waters you can catch not only fish, but also shrimp, crabs and crayfish.
The Swedes are very careful about their nature and always carefully clean up their trash.
A cozy country, kind people, beautiful nature - this is what makes it worth visiting this fabulous Kingdom of Sweden at least once in your life.