to say that Sweden is too cold and dark to live there?

[Almondmilk]

My partner gets very upset when I say that I don't want to spend my life in Sweden because of cold and dark endless winters. And people aren't friendly. But mostly just wondering if this is absolutely not an argument to not like to wear beanies from september to may.
Aibu?

[HundredsAndThousandsOfThem]

It really depends on the individual. Lots of people can't cope in the UK because of our long miserable winters, for some people climate affects their mood quite a lot. Personally I'd like to live somewhere cooler but couldn't cope at all in a hot or humid climate.

[frankie001]

Yabu I've lived there for 3 years and they were the best in my life. The summers are lovely!

[SwedishEdith]

Do you actually live there now?

[TinfoilHattie]

Depends where in Sweden. The very southern part is no further north than Newcastle.

I find the dark nights in December depressing (we're in Glasgow). I hate the three weeks either side of 21st December and really struggle. BUT the light nights in summer are amazing and more than make up for it.

[NeonGod73]

Swedes are not friendly? Where do you get this from?
And why do you have to live in Sweden? Is your partner Swedish?

[Almondmilk]

I have lived 3 years in Stockholm, we are away for a bit now, in the UK. Option n°3 is France...

[juneau]

YANBU to have an opinion on this. We all have opinions about where we want to live and where we'd hate to. I used to live in the US. I thought the climate was awful - long, bitterly cold winters, boiling hot, humid summers. We now live back in the south of England and while I hate the grey gloom of winter I much prefer the temps here, but many people look at me in amazement that I prefer to live in England. Each to their own.

[Almondmilk]

NeonGod73 swedes are polite, not in your face, neutral...they are many positive things but def not friendly and chatty

[corythatwas]

I had lots of friends when I lived in Sweden. If you find them unfriendly, are you sure this is not you struggling to adapt and expecting everybody to socialise in exactly the same British ways that you are used to? I found when I moved to the UK that I had to change a lot of the ways I thought and interacted around people. Never occurred to me to write it down to British people not being friendly though.

[Ihavefriends]

Stockholmers are not dissimilar to Londoners, yabu to assess the friendliness of the whole country on a big city!

I find people are friendlier all over the world when you start the conversation. Even London. And Stockholm.

[Almondmilk]

juneau where were you in the US?
I really never liked cold temperatures and I can handle warm weather much better. Basically I am always feeling cold and I never sweat! I thought UK weather was rubbish until I spent time in Sweden! Now I think UK has a mild winter and it's not so bad.

[corythatwas]

"neutral" is hardly the word that springs to mind when thinking of some of my relatives and friends...

[Almondmilk]

People are def friendlier in London. They chat, they smile.
I was asking AIBU regarding the weather, let's not change the topic! ;)

[corythatwas]

Stockholmers do have a reputation for being a bit more stand-offish than the inhabitants of e.g. Gothenburg. But then again, when I think of some people I know...

[corythatwas]

OP, you did put unfriendliness in your OP, so it's hardly changing the topic to discuss it.

[Ihavefriends]

But Swedes can be abrupt by English standards. "How much do you earn?" at first meeting took me by surprise. As did the exactness of familial descriptions, and openness in questioning my qualifications. But once over my shock, it can be refreshing. And "I'm English, we don't talk about such things, hahaha!" was always tolerated.

[Greatwhiteworld]

We moved from southern England to Maine. I love having seasons now. Sweden is a great country

[Ihavefriends]

Sorry, well, the weather isn't that bad in Lund. Its pretty bad in Piteå! Stockholm is no worse than some parts of the UK, really.

If you're comparing Norland with Kent, then that's like complaining Newcastle has different weather to Cannes.

[Almondmilk]

Ihavefriends snow beg of November last year and in April the year before...It can snow from November to April inccluded. I don't think UK gets that bad...?

[Ihavefriends]

There are parts of the UK with snow in June some years.

Nov to April for snow sounds like the climate of at least 3 places I've lived in the UK.

[ArriettyClock1]

My dh works for a Swedish company and spends lots of time in Sweden.

Like any country, there are positives and negatives.

He would, however, hate to live there. Not because of the admittedly endless dark winter days (but then you get summer days that barely end), but because he finds the Swedes a humourless bunch and it's just not a very 'lively' place!

His Swedish colleagues seem to have an endless supply of annual leave though - they take the entire summer off! Plus their system for parents puts us to shame.

[Ihavefriends]

Eg. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairngorms

So, if you're comparing Malmö and Aviemore, yabu, but if Piteå and Torquay, yanbu!

[corythatwas]

Arriety, when I first moved to the UK I found nobody laughed at my jokes. And I found the British pretty humourless because I simply did not understand their humour. That's going to be the same if you try to live in pretty well any other culture.

On the whole I think Swedish humour is more based on wordplay and general playing around with language (so you have to be pretty good at Swedish to get it), but far less sexual and anal humour. Took me years to get Blackadder. but I persevered Some very good satire too (Grönköpings Veckoblad)- but again, you really need to know a fair bit about the culture to get why it's funny.

[corythatwas]

I do find the damp UK climate is better for my throat though; when I moved here I stopped getting tonsillitis every 5 minutes.

But the sea even around the British south coast seems to stay very cold, even in summer- the Swedish West coast gets the benefit of the Gulf Stream, plus it is shallower and more sheltered. Very good for swimming.