I just arrived from my long week of The Netherlands, and I must say it was frikkin' awesome! Finally I got to see my family en friends again (I really do miss them a lot), and it gave me a good perspective on my own country and on Sweden. I tend to say that everything sucks in Sweden except for the nature, and I also bother my friends here every day by saying that the Netherlands kick ass. It's easy to see the good things when you are away, and forget about the bad things. But my two homes have a lot of differences. A list!

Swedish people are affraid of Social contact
and Dutch people tend to be too 'social' by saying out loud everything they feel. I can understand that the loud Dutch people are quite annoying, but still I think it beats the total silence of Sweden (nobody laughing in the streets, nobody talking in the bus!).

There is no space for whatsoever in the Netherlands,
whereas in Sweden there are more forests and lakes then people! The calmness is nice, and if you get sick of it, you can always go to Stockholm, Göteborg or Kopenhagen (even if that's not Sweden). Oh, and you can camp almost anywhere you want, as long as it is only for one night! How brilliant!

The language of Sweden is soooooooo nice,
They really sing when they talk. And no strange I'm-choking-on-a-hamster-g's!

NATURE!
You actually have that in Sweden! It's everywhere! you can go swimming in a lake, run through the pine forest (but look out for the trees), fish fish and hunt älg (hahaha). And the air is so clean! No pollution!
Compare it to the Netherlands, with it's trucks, cars, industry and Amsterdam (The City That Never Smells Good). It get's into your cloths and makes you die when you are only thirty-five.

But the Swedish people are so frikkin' boring!
Too bad. They are always polite, but they JUST DON'T SAY ANYTHING! If you want to make Swedish friends, find some Danish people and pretend.

Swedish houses are blue, red and yellow,
which is really bad, because in the Netherlands it doesn't matter if you are colourblind or not.

Swedes like fashion
Dutch people like style.

Well, there is a lot more to say (I haven't used the word 'fika' yet, and didn't even tell about my frustration about not finding thousands and thousands of great Swedish bands), but I will stop annoying you with this nonsense. Sweden and The Netherlands are just two different countries, they have a lot in common, but a lot of differences as well. If you are a social person, go to the Netherlands, if you are a nature lover, go to Sweden. Even though there are nice people in Sweden as well (I like to exaggerate, don't take it personal, People Of Sweden!) and there is nature in the Netherlands as well (and it's called Moddergat). I'm looking forward to being here for another four months, but I'm also looking forward of going back and getting a normal life again (or at least I can try). One thing is: if you go to another country, you learn a lot about it, but also about your own country. Go and do EVS people, it broadens your horizon!

And go and listen to Laleh, Salem Al-fakir and The Knife a bit more, they are Swedish and they don't suck!