Lessons in the Absurd: Swedish Oddities Vol. 2

Back by popular demand, or because I'm running out of things to write about, let's explore the things I still find particularly strange about Swedish culture. This will be a fast-paced, point-by-point, seat-of-your-pants, apparently dash-friendly ('-'!) post.

- Fun versus funny. Swedes confuse these two English words all the time. 'That football match was quite funny.' Really? Because I wasn't laughing, but I did enjoy myself.
- The Swedish Mile. Converting from miles to km in my head all the time makes me loathe the US system of standard units. It's dumb. Decades of numbers makes more sense because, ya know, ten fingers. To add to the confusion, in northern Sweden where things are ridiculously far apart, the concept of a Swedish mile exists. 1 Swedish mile = 10 km ~ 6.2 miles. Stupid units of measure!
- Random street signs. They are sometimes odd and often hilarious:

'Don't drive a 1960s British Mini into the water' 

'Warning:  man shoveling from large pile into small pile ahead' or 'Mogul building ahead.'

- Personal public bathrooms. This is actually a really convenient thing. You always get the calming privacy you come to love in your own bathroom.

Yeah, I took a picture of a closed bathroom door.

- Julmust. A holiday staple that they begin selling midway through October. Literally means 'Christmas sap.' Over the past month I've heard this phrase twenty times:  'Julmust, it's a must!' Swedes think they are so funny (or is it fun, argh!)

Creepy Swedish Santa approves.

I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting, but in the end Sweden is pretty similar to the US.

Skål!