Going on a backpacking trip around the world alone with Kyun-S!  Sweden (35)

(30) Sweden

Countries in Northern Europe. It is in the eastern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, between Finland and Norway, facing Finland and the Baltic Sea across the Baltic Sea, and its capital is Stockholm, a city where you can enjoy beautiful architecture, museums, and natural scenery.

It is the most populous country in Northern Europe and has historically reigned as the loser of the Scandinavian region, making it the country that traditionally leads Northern Europe. It is known as a descendant of the Vikings along with Denmark and Norway, and in modern times, it has become a popular place in Europe, such as Switzerland, Portugal, and Iceland.

Because it did not directly experience two world wars, it is also called a lucky country internationally. Sweden’s geological structure is based on the metamorphic rock ground formed in the Precambrian Belt, and the huge Scandinavian Mountains, which are rare granite mountains in Europe, end the country.

It is a major exporter with abundant iron, but it is dependent on imports due to a shortage of coal. The climate is very different between the south and the north, and although it tends to be warmer than other regions at the same latitude due to the influence of the Gulf Stream, one-seventh of the country belongs to the Arctic Circle.

The sun does not set for 24 hours for about a month before and after the summer solstice, and the sun does not rise for 24 hours around the winter solstice. The city with the highest sunlight is Östersund, located in Jöntland in north-central Jöntland with 654 hours of sunshine during the midnight sun.

And in the case of northern Norland, the snow does not melt for about half a year. It is often known as a clean area with clean water resources and clean air, and the ground itself is a granite area rich in radioactive isotopes, and the water from the glacier flows down through such granite.

If you include reefs as islands, it is also the country with the most islands in the world, and there are many small islands located in inland lakes mostly caused by glaciers, and there are many densely populated islands near Sweden’s big cities, so the islands are densely populated than the mainland.

From the Germanic and medieval Rus’ Kagan states that emerged in the ancient Roman era, to the Duchy of Kiev and the Duchy of Normandy, which are the direct origins of Russia, it is very splendid in terms of Swedish history, but it is said that it is more important to see it as a country that has existed since 1523 rather than just Swedish history.

Sweden, like other countries in Western Europe, has not seen much population growth, but it has been growing quite steadily, so there was a time when the population grew slowly from 1980 to 1990, but it continued to grow, and in 2017, the Swedish Statistical Office said that the population exceeded 10 million.

The spirit of so-called ‘gender equality’ is close to the concept that women work a lot and demonstrate their abilities, but in Sweden, it is not strange for women to be strong, even if they are children, as described in the tomboy Pippi.

No matter how women are, if they can do ‘bad work’, it is close to a labor policy to let them do it, and it is even said that women do more weight training than men. In the current capitalist society, where double income is necessary,

It is said that when she became a mother, she was able to have relatively many children because she was less criticized even if she did not work. Also, there is an image that I don’t smile much because of my national character, but it’s just a stereotype, not an extrovert, but my social life and people’s facial expressions are normal

It is also famous for the fact that the state controls the sale of alcohol, and in stores you can only buy beer with an alcohol content of 3.5% or less, and more than that, you can only buy it by going to a dedicated reseller. This is a common phenomenon in countries with many Protestants.

Cigarette prices are not generous, but smoking is common on the streets, and it is easy to see baby mothers pushing strollers and burning cigarettes, and teenagers gathering in the city after school and school to burn cigarettes.

There is also something called allemansrätten (right to enjoy nature). In English, it is also translated as ‘freedom to roam’, and it means to swim freely, including walking through the forest and collecting forest products such as raspberries, blueberries, and mushrooms.

It gives you various rights that you can have in nature, such as being able to start a fire within a non-dangerous range. However, various animals and plants are designated as protected species, so you need to be careful as picking flowers or harming animals can be illegal.

It has been the tallest country in the world for a long time, and it is still in the top 10 in the world, with an average height of 181.5 cm for men in their 20s~30s, an average height of 167.0 cm for women, and an average weight of 87 kg for men.

If the holder of a general residence permit leaves another country and enters Sweden after the expiration of the period, he or she can stay for an additional 90 days (Schengen Agreement), and if it is difficult to go to a hospital, he or she can use a telemedicine application or a private hospital.

Tuition is free for Koreans to college, and in addition, welfare in the education part is a good transfer. The school system consists of 9 years of elementary school, 3 years of high school, and 4 years of university, and the childcare system is especially well established.

However, since homeschooling is illegal, parents who want to homeschool may move to Finland, where it is legal (mainly the Åland Islands and Turku, where Swedish is spoken), and in Sweden, graduating from high school means ‘leaving their parents’.

With the belief that true independence and freedom come from economic independence, such as the average age of young people leaving their parents’ homes is 26 years old in Europe and 18.5 years old in Sweden, the government actively supports women’s economic activities.

Since 1972, the government has been promoting the welfare of the elderly and children who do not have the economic ability to break down the traditional dependence between families called the “family of the future” (Familjen i Framtid) and “create a society in which all members of society live freely and independently.”

Sweden is one of the first countries mentioned when it comes to welfare states, and it is known that Sweden’s medical expenses are completely free, but it varies depending on the local government, but on average, up to SEK1300 per year is self-paying.

It is a country where telemedicine is legal, and it provides an opportunity to easily meet nurses, doctors, or psychological counselors through various telemedicine apps, and it is difficult to reach the upper limit of medical expense exemption unless you get sick as often as possible, and SEK1300.

The amount you pay for one visit to the hospital is SEK200~250, the emergency room is free, and the cost of medicine is protected by an upper limit, so the burden of medical expenses is quite small. On the other hand, dental care is said to be expensive, but you can still get free dental care until the age of 24.

As in Northern Europe, security is generally good, but among OECD countries, the problem of sex crimes is statistically serious. Although the murder rate is very low, around 1 per 100,000 people, violence/sexual violence ranks third in Europe, and rape ranks second in the world according to UN statistics.

However, this is due to the different counting standards, because if a sex offender sexually assaults a victim every day for one year, most countries punish this number as a single crime, while in Sweden, each daily act is classified as an individual crime.

On the other hand, Sweden is also famous for its neo-Nazis, and since the 1950s, neo-Nazi parties have emerged, and in the 80s and 90s, far-right young people such as skinheads committed murders, bombings, and various crimes, and foreign media reported that there were surprisingly many neo-Nazis compared to the size of the population.

In fact, Sweden was a safe country to walk around in the middle of the night until before the European refugee crisis, especially in the middle of summer in June, when the sun does not set even after midnight, so it is said that it is okay for children to walk around at midnight.

However, after the refugee crisis, the government has been forcing the introduction of Sharia and Islam in exchange for its tolerance to the refugees, as violent crimes and disorder have spread to most areas, and it is said that places with few Muslims are safe.

Astrid Lindgren’s fairy tale tomboy Pippi is famous, and it is also a country that has been attracting a lot of attention since the 2000s because it has a knack for genre novels such as crime, horror, and thrillers.

The Millennium series and Let Me In are representative. Obera is famous for a man and a 100-year-old man who ran away through a window, and it is also one of the powerhouses of Nordic music culture, so it is a country where soft Swedish pop, radical death metal, black metal, and dazzling Euro electronic music coexist.

In addition, prostitution is prohibited by law, and the subject of sex is defined as weak compared to the person who buys it, and the punishment is also focused on punishing the subject who buys sex. However, it is said that no de facto punishment will be achieved.

Meatballs, which are a typical 3-minute dish, are a traditional Swedish dish, and they are eaten with gravy and bilberry jam instead of the tomato sauce that often comes to mind when you think of meatballs, and they are sold a lot at IKEA, so they are quite famous around the world.

Absolut vodka, famous for its artistically designed bottles and advertisements, is also made in Sweden, and in the north, you can eat things like Sulströming, a fermented food unique to Sweden, and enjoy hot dogs, kebabs, and felafel as street food.

Janteloven in Danish, Law of Jante in English. There is a social morality and rules of conduct that are widely accepted in the northern Nordic countries, including Denmark and Sweden, such as the Ten Commandments of Nordic society, which means that you should not think that you are special or better than others.

This can be said to be a moral view that criticizes individualism or meritocracy that pursues private interests, prioritizes the interests of the community, and places more emphasis on harmony and coexistence with others. It is also the cultural background that the Nordic countries have become welfare states that aim for equality and the common good.

The official language is, of course, Swedish. Swedish is well understood by North Germanic, which is in line with neighboring countries such as Danish and Norwegian, but there are residents in the northern region who speak Finno-Ugric languages.

Like all Nordic countries, most of Sweden’s people speak English fluently, and although it is the same Germanic language, because of Sweden’s good English education, the percentage of English speakers in Sweden is actually 86%, which is similar to Canada.