Image: cold heart, by x-girl.

13 Things I Loved and Learned About Sweden

1. Five days here, no need to wear jeans/trousers/pants. -10C isn’t so cold after all!

2. Probably should have bought snow boots, though. Have slipped and fallen on my ass four times so far - and there’s still time for one more.

3. Will no longer joke that climate change negotiations should be held closer to the equator. The people here actually talk about it like it’s real and undebatable, in a way you don’t see in Australia. For example, on the boat tour yesterday, the guide talked about how they hadn’t had a white winter (aside from this one) in ten years… due to climate change. And the history museum we went to had a temporary exhibition on how climate change would impact our ability to preserve historical buildings and artefacts.

4. History museum was very social constructionist in general. Heaven.

5. Downside of Swedish leftism? 25,000-strong waiting list to get an apartment in Stockholm. Sydney’s rental market looks good in comparison.

6. Best apple crumble ever.

7. Fish for breakfast! And lunch! And dinner!

8. Lobsters seen at farmer’s markets: 125. Lobsters consumed by me: 0.

9. Fantastic art exhibition featuring Salvador Dali and Francesco Vezzoli. Who knew Dali designed perfume bottles, Vogue covers, and a very amusing newspaper? Not me, but I appreciate him all the more now.

10. Horses here have long hair. And are cuter than Australian horses.

11. Swedes are amazingly upfront about and resigned to the ignorance of English speakers. Many things are translated into English for tourists, and almost everyone speaks English.

12. I’ve decided I’m going to win a Nobel Prize for Literature, and [boyfriend] going to win one for Peace. (No wonder de Botton is perpetually dissatisfied.)

13. One for the economists: the Nobel Prize for Economics isn’t a real Nobel Prize. 

Related: So, I’m picking my New Years Eve destination out of a hat
And the winner is… Stockholm!