Scandinavian societies
Discussion
xjsdriver said:
Stevanos said:
Finlandia said:
I'm only an hour away from Stockholm, the number of trains not running on time is staggering, either there's a power cut or then the rails have failed. The roads are pretty well taken care of during the summer but in the winter you can have a foot of snow on them for days before it's cleared.
You know what they say.. West is best! ;-) Else where in Denmark the trains and buses outside of cities (of which there is barely 3) were not brilliant and were expensive and even in 2005 they were pretty well exclusively smoking only, a habit which the Danes seem reluctant to give up.
xjsdriver said:
Stevanos said:
Finlandia said:
I'm only an hour away from Stockholm, the number of trains not running on time is staggering, either there's a power cut or then the rails have failed. The roads are pretty well taken care of during the summer but in the winter you can have a foot of snow on them for days before it's cleared.
You know what they say.. West is best! ;-) 
THX said:
I'm not even convinced he's a real person. Just a word generator working overtime, roughly pointing in the direction of politics.
It's the little things that give it away; the way he (it) brushes off (masses of) criticism, and use of commas and full stops.
Listen, and understand. That XJFlyer is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead. Or reading binary code politics.
the scottish version is called a fluffnik.It's the little things that give it away; the way he (it) brushes off (masses of) criticism, and use of commas and full stops.
Listen, and understand. That XJFlyer is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead. Or reading binary code politics.
I've lived in Norway for some years now,
Having skim read the thread, busses and trains are bang on the minute and I've only just this year been asked by the council to start recycling, certainly don't get green issues force fed.
Janteloven is an interesting thing, I can feel it creeping in myself now, I caught myself as being rather bemused reading through the personalised number plate thread on here recently.
Having skim read the thread, busses and trains are bang on the minute and I've only just this year been asked by the council to start recycling, certainly don't get green issues force fed.
Janteloven is an interesting thing, I can feel it creeping in myself now, I caught myself as being rather bemused reading through the personalised number plate thread on here recently.
Finlandia said:
xjsdriver said:
Stevanos said:
Finlandia said:
I'm only an hour away from Stockholm, the number of trains not running on time is staggering, either there's a power cut or then the rails have failed. The roads are pretty well taken care of during the summer but in the winter you can have a foot of snow on them for days before it's cleared.
You know what they say.. West is best! ;-) Finlandia said:
Haywards Heath isn't the capital of UK though 
To compare UK to Sweden I can give some input here. I lived in West Sussex for most of my life, I moved to Sweden last year. The trains (Gothenburg side) work very well, I have been late to work on one or two occasions in a year, the trains are brand new, all the stations have been extended and had extra parking added. They run on time every 15 minutes most of the time during peak hours, when they double the train length so there is plenty of seats. The trains even have TV to watch and power points for charging phones laptops.
Compare this to using s
tty Southern Railways or SouthWest trains on any route and it is paradise, I lost count of how many trains were cancelled or delayed in just 6 months of commuting back the UK.I can speak for the Stockholm side of Sweden, but in the Gothenburg region things seem to work very well.
Stevanos said:
I moved to Sweden last year.
You still have the rose tinted specs on then Stevanos said:
Lost soul said:
I think the main point is that they have a community spirit that we lack , that is being slowly ruined by immigration
Immigration is a concern here for many people. I'm not sure about community spirit either, but they get things done and do them well. In short, the fire started because of a forest machine of some sort, the operator of said machine tried to put it out but failed, called the fire brigade, the fire was 30x30m at the time. Fire brigade was 30-45min late, due to satnav error, and when they came to the fire it had spread to 100x100m.
A military helicopter on its way from Southern Sweden, where it had assisted in a forest fire, back to the base in the North spotted the fire and landed close by, asking if they could be of assistance. Contacts were made to the military base to get the permission, the military declined due to arbetstidslagstiftningen (the law of working hours) so the chopper was grounded for the evening.
The next morning the fire had spread, and was now covering 500x1500m, and was totally out of hand.
Farmers and voluntary workers did all they could to surround the fire while working around the clock, one civilian flew three of his helicopters to the area to assist.
Three days later, there were requests for help sent out to EU, France and Italy responded with water bombers, the fire was then 10x10km.
Once the EU help arrived the fire was quite quickly under control and put out, but 25 houses and farms had to burn to the ground, along with woodland to the sum of approx 600M Sek, one fatality and one severely burned, all in all the sum will be somewhere around 1bn Sek or around £100M.
But at least the law of working hours was upheld
Stevanos said:
Lost soul said:
I think the main point is that they have a community spirit that we lack , that is being slowly ruined by immigration
Immigration is a concern here for many people. I'm not sure about community spirit either, but they get things done and do them well. (Stockholm / Malmo) the Swedes are very different to the Danes , the Danes are more can do where as the Swedes seem to drift along
I'm only speaking as I find it, nothing to do with rose tinted glasses, but since I arrived here in my little patch of Sweden I have seen several large construction projects start and be completed (on time) and without too much disruption. The local infrastructure in this part of Sweden is of a much higher standard than I found living the south of the UK, partly due to less stress being put on it (that is bad planning at the end of the day).
Some other positive observations...
- All of the local schools in my area seem brand new, built within the last 4-5 years or less.
- I can get a same day appointment with the doctor, I just pay £20 (something the NHS should do stop time wasters).
- The roads are of a good standard, haven't really seen a pot hole.
- Busses and trains seem to operate in a synchronised fashion.
- Cycle paths everywhere and people actually using them!
- I'd say civic pride is higher here in Gothenburg and the local area, can't speak for other areas.
- I enjoy the outdoors and have yet to come across any fly tipping, something you will see on almost every occasion when walking around Sussex.
- There are a lot of play areas for children and also family amenities like BBQ and fire pits in parks, diving boards on the coast in safe spots (guess this better than tombstoning).
- Young people seem to be encouraged to play a lot more sport and there are a lot of sporting facilities available to all.
- Property market seems less mental than the UK (excluding Stockholm)
Some negative observations....
- Buying a bottle of wine or some beer is a complete pain the butt, the government think people are not capable of making their own minds up.
- The person number, you need this to do almost everything, quite silly really.
- The Swedes drive pretty badly.
- Pedestrian crossings on every road junction and roundabout (so dangerous).
- Employmemt rules etc - see post about forest fire above as an illustration.
- No pay on your first day of sickness.
Some other positive observations...
- All of the local schools in my area seem brand new, built within the last 4-5 years or less.
- I can get a same day appointment with the doctor, I just pay £20 (something the NHS should do stop time wasters).
- The roads are of a good standard, haven't really seen a pot hole.
- Busses and trains seem to operate in a synchronised fashion.
- Cycle paths everywhere and people actually using them!
- I'd say civic pride is higher here in Gothenburg and the local area, can't speak for other areas.
- I enjoy the outdoors and have yet to come across any fly tipping, something you will see on almost every occasion when walking around Sussex.
- There are a lot of play areas for children and also family amenities like BBQ and fire pits in parks, diving boards on the coast in safe spots (guess this better than tombstoning).
- Young people seem to be encouraged to play a lot more sport and there are a lot of sporting facilities available to all.
- Property market seems less mental than the UK (excluding Stockholm)
Some negative observations....
- Buying a bottle of wine or some beer is a complete pain the butt, the government think people are not capable of making their own minds up.
- The person number, you need this to do almost everything, quite silly really.
- The Swedes drive pretty badly.
- Pedestrian crossings on every road junction and roundabout (so dangerous).
- Employmemt rules etc - see post about forest fire above as an illustration.
- No pay on your first day of sickness.
Stevanos said:
- All of the local schools in my area seem brand new, built within the last 4-5 years or less.
- I can get a same day appointment with the doctor, I just pay £20 (something the NHS should do stop time wasters).
The buildings are new, yes, but the education received in them is crumbling. According to a recent study 1/8 in grundskolan (9 year elementary school) doesn't have required levels to go to gymnasiet (2 to 4 year sixth form college), 1/4 in gymnasiet does not have required levels for a degree. - I can get a same day appointment with the doctor, I just pay £20 (something the NHS should do stop time wasters).
According to another study, 1/3 teachers in grundskolan are not qualified, in gymnasiet that number is 1/2.
The schools are a real worry, and it was one of the biggest issues and discussions in the recent elections here.
Another way of looking at it is that you pay one of the highest taxes in the world, and you still need to pay extra to see a doctor. When I lived in Dorset I had two wisdom teeth removed, £13, my FiL had one removed a week later in Västmanland, 1000 Sek or £100.
Surely you haven't missed the "diapergate"? In short, diapers were weighed in elderly care homes to see if they can be reused.
The healthcare and elderly care is more or less a catastrophe, and it was also one of the biggest issues and discussions in the elections.
Gothenburg is nice though, very different from the rest of the country scenery wise
Finlandia said:
When I lived in Dorset I had two wisdom teeth removed, £13, my FiL had one removed a week later in Västmanland, 1000 Sek or £100.
Was that before or after 2006? Getting dental treatment done on the NHS is a bit of a lottery these days. £13?!! - you wouldn't even get a filling done for that. I've just spent £500 on root canal treatment for a single tooth.fido said:
Was that before or after 2006? Getting dental treatment done on the NHS is a bit of a lottery these days. £13?!! - you wouldn't even get a filling done for that. I've just spent £500 on root canal treatment for a single tooth.
It was 2007 or 2008, had referral from a NHS dentist to Bournemouth hospital for removal. I had some other work done at the dentist (inspection and two fillings I think it was) and it summed up at £50 or so, same work in Sweden at that time would have been at least four times that, plus the removal on top.I'm certain the removal was £13 though, as I was really surprised by the sum.
Finlandia said:
Oh look, no train service between Stockholm and Västerås again... 
Move to the West Coast!In other news... http://www.helpage.org/global-agewatch/data/global...
Perhaps Sweden is not such a bad place to grow old!
Stevanos said:
Move to the West Coast!
In other news... http://www.helpage.org/global-agewatch/data/global...
Perhaps Sweden is not such a bad place to grow old!
Buy a better and faster car, more like In other news... http://www.helpage.org/global-agewatch/data/global...
Perhaps Sweden is not such a bad place to grow old!
My MiL and FiL would strongly object to Sweden being a good place to grow old, and they are not alone.
http://www.svd.se/nyheter/inrikes/lasarna-haller-i...
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