Ash Wednesday Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 In England, "half four" is an hour apart from what they will say in Sweden "halv fyra" I have a better understanding of the Swedish term of this... so when they say in London "we'll be there half four" I'll be like "SO IS THAT 3:30 OR 4:30????" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puellapaschalis Posted August 22, 2014 Share Posted August 22, 2014 In England, "half four" is an hour apart from what they will say in Sweden "halv fyra" I have a better understanding of the Swedish term of this... so when they say in London "we'll be there half four" I'll be like "SO IS THAT 3:30 OR 4:30????" Ditto in Dutch. 'Half vier' is 3:30. My first quarter of an hour after landing somewhere else (or back here) is a crucial period when I have to think very very hard :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossCuT Posted August 27, 2014 Author Share Posted August 27, 2014 So an unrelated question about Sweden... So my fiance and I want to move after we get married....and obviously we will be leaving most of our belongings behind. So of course we dont want NEW things for wedding gifts. Is it impertinent to specify cash only as a wedding gift? That will be much more useful for us to purchase the basic things over there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marigold Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 HOW DID I MISS THIS? I'm Swedish. AshWednesday's pretty accurate so far though. And CrossCut, I don't think asking for cash only is rude since it's related to your circumstances and not because you don't like your grandma's taste in crockery! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cherie Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Very interesting! Crosscut, do you mind if I ask why you two want to move there? Any ties there, or just because you think it would be a nice place to live? I always love hearing about people's choices to live abroad. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Catherine Therese Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 There was an advertisement for something here in Australia a few years back that started with a heavily accented:"Vee ah yellow, vee ah blue, vee ah Sveedish, who ah you?"For some reason it seemed important to contribute that to this conversation.My work is done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossCuT Posted August 28, 2014 Author Share Posted August 28, 2014 HOW DID I MISS THIS? I'm Swedish. AshWednesday's pretty accurate so far though. And CrossCut, I don't think asking for cash only is rude since it's related to your circumstances and not because you don't like your grandma's taste in crockery! Do you currently live in Sweden Marigold? Very interesting! Crosscut, do you mind if I ask why you two want to move there? Any ties there, or just because you think it would be a nice place to live? I always love hearing about people's choices to live abroad. :) No I dont mind at all! Right now my friance and I are kind of just floating through life. We will be married in 2016 and dont plan on having kids right away. We also have no real ties to jobs here and what not. While we have no family or any friends in Sweden, we just want to have a change of scenery. Neither of us have lived anywhere else but our respective states and neither of us know another language. I feel culturally inept. haha! We just have an itch to go something fun and adventurous! We specifically chose sweden for various reasons. While their native language is Swedish, most of the population is quite fluent in english! (Of course this is not an excuse to be lazy on learning Swedish, I am completely dedicated to doing my very best!) But also, Swedish is very much related to enlgish in the germanic family of languages so it will be a good "starter" language for us to learn! Other reasons would be that they are just as developed as the US, and even while they are more socialist with about 30% taxation rates, their education and healthcare is suppose to be top notch! There was an advertisement for something here in Australia a few years back that started with a heavily accented: "Vee ah yellow, vee ah blue, vee ah Sveedish, who ah you?" For some reason it seemed important to contribute that to this conversation. My work is done. haha! Thank you! Go yellow and blue! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marigold Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Do you currently live in Sweden Marigold? No I dont mind at all! Right now my friance and I are kind of just floating through life. We will be married in 2016 and dont plan on having kids right away. We also have no real ties to jobs here and what not. While we have no family or any friends in Sweden, we just want to have a change of scenery. Neither of us have lived anywhere else but our respective states and neither of us know another language. I feel culturally inept. haha! We just have an itch to go something fun and adventurous! We specifically chose sweden for various reasons. While their native language is Swedish, most of the population is quite fluent in english! (Of course this is not an excuse to be lazy on learning Swedish, I am completely dedicated to doing my very best!) But also, Swedish is very much related to enlgish in the germanic family of languages so it will be a good "starter" language for us to learn! Other reasons would be that they are just as developed as the US, and even while they are more socialist with about 30% taxation rates, their education and healthcare is suppose to be top notch! haha! Thank you! Go yellow and blue! No I'm in London, but I grew up half and half there and in the UK. The standard of living is extremely high, with the exception, unfortunately, of education and healthcare. Sweden is still riding on the reputation it has as an egalitarian paradise, but the governments of the last 15-20 years have been undoing that with amazing determination. My London secondary school was an inner-city comprehensive in a poor borough with the distinction of having the highest rates of teen pregnancy AND STIs in Europe (!), but I was shocked at how lax and low the education standard was when I spent time with my Swedish cousins in theirs. I thought hearing teachers called by their first names was going to be bad (only sort of joking - Brits can be very prim about things like that), but we freely wandered in and out, nobody really did anything, the teachers were on their phones and seemed to be following the beck and call of the loudest kids. There was a general 'artsy' atmosphere but not in a creative way... Don't get me started on the healthcare. Most of my family don't go to the doctor these days unless it's an emergency because it costs so much to even be seen. That's the exact kind of thing Europeans ridicule America for but it's right here too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossCuT Posted August 28, 2014 Author Share Posted August 28, 2014 No I'm in London, but I grew up half and half there and in the UK. The standard of living is extremely high, with the exception, unfortunately, of education and healthcare. Sweden is still riding on the reputation it has as an egalitarian paradise, but the governments of the last 15-20 years have been undoing that with amazing determination. My London secondary school was an inner-city comprehensive in a poor borough with the distinction of having the highest rates of teen pregnancy AND STIs in Europe (!), but I was shocked at how lax and low the education standard was when I spent time with my Swedish cousins in theirs. I thought hearing teachers called by their first names was going to be bad (only sort of joking - Brits can be very prim about things like that), but we freely wandered in and out, nobody really did anything, the teachers were on their phones and seemed to be following the beck and call of the loudest kids. There was a general 'artsy' atmosphere but not in a creative way... Don't get me started on the healthcare. Most of my family don't go to the doctor these days unless it's an emergency because it costs so much to even be seen. That's the exact kind of thing Europeans ridicule America for but it's right here too. Oh interesting! Thats the first complaint Ive really heard on the issue! Well in any case, we will at least be even in that sense; the US and Sweden. haha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Wednesday Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Today, my husband and I went for a walk (we are currently visiting his parents in Sweden). We saw a guy on a bicycle who wasn't wearing a standard bike helmet. He was wearing a hockey helmet. It was fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossCuT Posted August 28, 2014 Author Share Posted August 28, 2014 Do they have regulations for bike helmet use? It varies by state here....most of them dont require it at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Wednesday Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Do they have regulations for bike helmet use? It varies by state here....most of them dont require it at all. Just asked husband, he said no, not really. Most of the time I've seen people wearing them, though. The same for where I'm from in Washington state. Other parts of Europe I'm absolutely shocked by the lack of helmet use in some places, though. Maybe a little less by the people casually dipsy doodling through the park or on the little streets in places like Copenhagen but on major roads where cars go at a decent speed, I see it a lot where I am in England, a number of people don't bother wearing helmets and it kind of freaks me out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrossCuT Posted August 28, 2014 Author Share Posted August 28, 2014 (edited) I always thought it was weird that some states dont even require helmets for motorcycles. Just sun glasses or some sort of eye protection. Seems bananas to me. Edited August 28, 2014 by CrossCuT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puellapaschalis Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Other parts of Europe I'm absolutely shocked by the lack of helmet use in some places, though. Maybe a little less by the people casually dipsy doodling through the park or on the little streets in places like Copenhagen but on major roads where cars go at a decent speed, I see it a lot where I am in England, a number of people don't bother wearing helmets and it kind of freaks me out. Here in NL no-one wears cycle helmets except a) kids with psychotically overprotective parents and b) (German) tourists. Cycling in the UK, with or without a helmet, is suicidal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Wednesday Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 Here in NL no-one wears cycle helmets except a) kids with psychotically overprotective parents and b) (German) tourists. Cycling in the UK, with or without a helmet, is suicidal. I saw a man at the Elephant and Castle roundabout in south London riding without a helmet, in the roundabout, and "suicidal" was exactly how I described him. :reaper: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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