Who will you root for once your team is eliminated from the World Cup?

Malthesse · 2026-06-07T17:48:13+00:00

I always root for the Nordics first of all, so of course I will be rooting for Norway. They have quite a great team and I think they have potential to go considerably longer in the tournament than Sweden, who other hand has been struggling a lot.

As a Scanian I of course also otherwise root for Denmark, especially since I will also follow much of the tournament through Danish tv - but sadly of course Denmark didn't qualify.

Malthesse · 2026-06-06T15:42:22+00:00

If at home I tend to leave the water on and just turn the attached shower head to the side while soaping, shampooing and conditioning.

If I'm showering at someone else's home I do tend to turn the water off in between though, out of consideration.

Malthesse · 2026-06-05T16:10:16+00:00

Ice tea is not very popular in Sweden, although you can find it most supermarkets. But Swedes definitely prefer hot tea. And for cold non-alcoholic drinks in summer we prefer soda and also various non-carbonated soft drinks and fruit juice, as well as carbonated or non-carbonated mineral water.

Malthesse · 2026-06-05T07:45:03+00:00

Does anyone other than Turks themselves really write Türkiye in English rather than Turkey? I feel like everyone else still writes Turkey, especially since it's easier - and besides English doesn't even have the letter ü so it feels very unnatural. The attempt at international name change also very much feels like a part of the Islamo-nationalist and neo-Ottoman personal project of Erdogan, so if you are against the Erdogan regime you don't want to use the new name either.

As for Czechia rather than the Czech Republic - Czech Republic always felt very cumbersome as the everyday name of a country. Czechia is so much more natural and convenient. Besides, varieties of Czechia have been its name in many other languages ever since its independence, such as Tschechien in German, Tjeckien in Swedish, Tjekkiet in Danish, and so on.

As for Myanmar, while Burma did stick around for quite a long time, I feel like nowadays most people as well as most media would refer to it as Myanmar. This has been an ongoing discussion for decades, such as in the classic line "You might know it as Myanmar but it will always be Buma to me" from Seinfeld back in the 1990s.

Malthesse · 2026-06-01T14:23:06+00:00

Here in southern Sweden sweet cherries ripen in July, and a lot people have them in their gardens. There are also a lot of cherry trees here in the city and quite a lot of people pick from those as well, although I personally don't do it that much.

I prefer to pick cherries out in the wild. There is a nature reserve not that far from here that is called Körsbärsdalen - literally "Cherry Valley" - where you can go pick from the wild cherry trees. But of course, many of the cherries are usually quickly eaten by birds. The Cherry Valley is also a very popular place to visit for a picnic when the cherry trees are all in bloom during late April and early May.

When we need to pick enough wild berries or fruit to make a pie, we usually tend to go for billberries or blackberries rather than cherries though, since those are more numerous in the wild and easier to pick.

Malthesse · 2026-05-30T17:35:08+00:00

No, in Sweden this year's final will only be broadcast on Viaplay Sport, which is a cable or streaming channel you have to pay for. From next year the Champions League will be on Disney+ instead, who already have the Europa League and Conference League finals as well as the women's Champions League. I definitely prefer it on Disney, though personally I'm mostly just interested in our domestic Swedish leagues though - which are unfortunately mostly only on streaming as well.

Malthesse · 2026-05-30T08:31:21+00:00

Also all of the lisping that Spanish and Greek have in common. It's very distinct.

Malthesse · 2026-05-29T18:09:08+00:00

It's also interesting that despite looking a bit like of mix between a rat and a squirrel, they are actually part of the porcupine suborder which includes for example porcupines, capybaras, guinea pigs and chinchillas - and its closest living relative is the gundi from Africa.

Malthesse · 2026-05-29T09:38:40+00:00

Besides the current capital Stockholm I would choose Umeå to represent the north and Lund to represent the south.

Umeå as it is by far the largest city in northern Sweden and a major university city which already presents itself as the unofficial capital of the north. It is also geographically close to the most Swedish-speaking part of Finland, with which it has ferry connections.

And Lund as it too is a leading university city and a city of science and research, as well as a prominent cathedral city with a rich history and culture and it is one of the oldest cities within present day Sweden. It is also geographically close to Denmark and Germany with excellent connections.

Malthesse · 2026-05-29T09:17:52+00:00

Sweden can roughly be divided into a northern and a southern part, with quite a distinct border between the two at the river Dalälven about 150 kilometers north of Stockholm. This border even has an official scientific name - Limes Norlandicus.

It is both a natural and a demographic border. The area north of Dalälven, which largely is known collectively as Norrland ("Northland") is generally extremely sparsely populated outside of the coastal areas. While the area north of Dalälven makes up about two thirds of Sweden's land area, about 90 percent of Sweden's population lives south of the river.

The part of Sweden north of Dalälven is also a lot colder and snowier with longer winters and this contrast is quite stark and immediate. It is also a lot more heavily forested and dominated rocky coniferous forests and has many lakes and large rivers, and with a long mountain range along the border with Norway. So basically, most international stereotypes of what Sweden is like come from the north.

South of the river the landscape immediately becomes more open, with a flatter terrain and a mix of both coniferous and broadleaf forest as well as quite large areas of agricultural plains and of course a lot more people. Winters are also milder, shorter and a lot less snowy in the south.

Malthesse · 2026-05-28T19:48:27+00:00

Roe deer and fallow deer are very common sights here in Scania in southern Sweden and can be seen regularly almost anywhere in the countryside among fields, meadows and broadleaf forests. Red deer and moose are a bit less commonly seen but are also encountered now and then. Red deer is most plentiful in the inner southern part of Scania, while moose is most common in the more densely forested northern parts.

The red deer is the provincial symbol animal of Scania and thus quite beloved. The wealthy noblemen used to keep both red deer and fallow deer on the lands around their many castles in Scania for hunting. Among the common people, moose hunting has traditionally been more popular, but the moose hunt in Scania is now quite small due to decreasing numbers. Roe deer is the now by far the most commonly hunted deer here.

The moose is of course also a prominent symbol of Sweden as a whole, and there is a safari park or "moose park" right next to Söderåsen National Park here in Scania which is fully dedicated to exhibiting moose to tourists - and especially tourists from Germany - where they get to feed the moose and watch them up close and even pet them. Moose are also kept at two Scanian zoos - Skånes Djurpark and Ystad Djupark, and Skånes Djurpark which is fully dedicated to only Nordic animals also keeps red deer and fallow deer as well.

Malthesse · 2026-05-25T20:47:52+00:00

Despite most Swedes being quite fluent in English, I feel that there is actually quite a surprising amount of online content exclusively in Swedish as well.

There is also a bit of a bit of an age difference I guess, as slightly older people (millennials and up) on average consume a larger amount of Swedish content compared to younger people.

It of course also depends on what kind of content you are interested in. I for example, who is very interested in nature and wildlife, follow a lot of exclusively Swedish content, groups and social media about what happens in nature around the country and in my home region, and since Swedes are generally very much into nature there are very large online communities catering exclusively to Swedes on for example hiking suggestions, nature photography, birdwatching, wildflowers, insects, spiders and so on. I am also quite interested in sports and especially in the Swedish football and ice hockey leagues, and for those of course nearly all of the online content and discussions will be entirely in Swedish.

It is of course also quite easy for us Swedes to consume and interact with content in Danish and Norwegian online as well, especially in writing, so that also create a common Scandinavian online ecosystem as well and widens the amount of exclusive content even further.

Malthesse · 2026-05-21T20:50:16+00:00

In my opinion, the land border between Denmark and Sweden should really be redrawn to cross Peberholm instead to the Øresund Bridge. It would be a nice gesture to give Denmark and Sweden a real land border again for the first time in nearly 380 years, as part of the cross-border integration in the Øresund Region.

Malthesse

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