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!

Ahhh, I just came back from a weekend in Kopenhagen and it was wonderful! We went couchsurfing there as well, in Simons place in the centre of Kopenhagen, so it was cheap AND nice. We saw Kristiania (a hippie part of Kopenhagen which is not really part of Kopenhagen. It's just Kristiania. It has a sign at the border, saying 'you are now entering the EU), and a lot of the centre, and we partied a lot. It was so nice!

But when we where there, we thought: God, this is so nice, all the people talking with us and partying. It made us think of the Swedish people: they are not really party-people. A lot of them are really superficial, only caring about how they look, and not really interested in us. We have been in Sweden for three months now, and still we didn't make any friends! That's just weird. But we are planning a party and we will invite all the Swedish people we slightly now (the guestlist includes 'record-shop boy' and 'girl we met in bus' and their friends). So we WILL find friends. But it's so much easier in Denmark, or any other country probably! Oh well, there are lots of other nice things in Sweden. Like the nature.

Pictures will come online probably this week. Music tip: The Knife! It's a bit electro-pop, and Emma (the Stockholm-couchsurfer girl) made us listen to it. In the Kopenhagen I found out that they have  actually written the original 'heartbeats' (you now, from the 'stuiterbal-reclame?') and that Jose Gonzalez (also a Swede) has just covered it.

- If you go to a party, you have to bring your own alcohol to drink. If you want to have other drinks, you have to ask it to the people who have brought those. And, if your unlucky, pay for it.
- Another stupid thing with alcohol is that you can't really buy it if you're 19, like me. You have to be 20 (or 21. I'll find out soon enough) to buy something in the systembolaget, the liquor store. If your younger, you'll have to do with 2,5% beer.
- It's stylish in Sweden to put your pants in your socks. All the young hip Swedes have it. Swedish youngsters are very stylish (well, Swedish stylish) anyway. They all look like an H&M-store dropped on their head.
- Swedish people like to make French word a little bit more 'svenska'. Take for instance 'fåtölj' (fauteuil), or 'buljong' (bouillon).
- The Swedish animal is the älg, the elk (or moose). That's a stupid animal, although really cool as well. Yesterday we went on an 'älgsafari' with the volunteers from Kamar and Växjö and their mentors, and Mathias, Claudia and Tove from Kumulus (my hosting organisation). We even touched an älg! Pictures online now!
- Swedish people listen to Cascada. Isn't she becoming famous in The Netherlands now as well? God, I hope not. Music tip: don't listen to Cascada.