I'm from Sweden, but have lived in the US for the last three years. Here are some differences between the countries that I noticed after a visit home.

This is my third visit to Sweden since moving to the US, so I figured I'd write up some differences I've noticed. I live in the Boston area and this time I visited the Stockholm area which is where I'm from.<br><br>Please keep in mind that I'm Swedish, I love my home country and my fellow Swedes, I'm not trying to complain about my own country. It's mostly things I noticed about Sweden by comparing it to the US, and vice versa.<br><br>- Everything is so clean and well maintained! You can tell that Sweden has a strong government that keeps the infrastructure in good condition. The metro stations were spotless and so were the streets. I'm used to the (by Swedish standards) dirty T in Boston and its worn down stations with broken escalators at central stations.<br><br>- In Sweden you're basically not allowed to not recycle. This is something that I miss in the US because I'm a huge nerd when it comes to recycling, and the recycling system in Sweden is very easy to understand. You sort household trash into five different bags: one for actual trash to be incinerated, one for compost, one for paper (newspaper, cardboard etc. including paper cartons), one for corrugated cardboard and one for plastic and metal. The plastic and metal bag also includes glass bottles and jars. <br><br>- Swedes are friendly! This might sound weird, but I've noticed that I get a lot of annoyed looks in the US, people seem generally grumpier, whereas in Sweden people smile a lot and seem happy to be around others.<br><br>- I really don't like the bar and restaurant culture in the US. To me it feels like it's centered around getting really drunk instead of hanging out with friends while having a glass of wine or two. The bars in the US also seem to close really early, and you never know when they actually close since they seem to close at random hours. Sometimes 1am, sometimes 2am. In Sweden the bars are open until 1am, and sometimes 3am. We also tend to go out to eat at a restaurant, have one or two beers with the food, and then go to a bar or pub for more drinks. <br><br>- Cash is more accepted in Sweden than in the US. In the US it's sometimes frowned upon to pay with cash, or even looked down upon. In Sweden it's more accepted to pay with cash, although we are slowly becoming a more cashless society as well. <br><br>- Sweden is expensive. Food is expensive, going out is expensive, everything is expensive. I think this has to do with the taxation system, where Swedes pay a lot in taxes but don't have to pay for healthcare and most university studies. I noticed that everything is expensive except for the public transportation fee, which is very cheap. I remember a Chambers post about how to get around Dublin for cheap, the top comment was a Celticelebration of the cheap public transportation they have, and I'm just over here with my Stockholm public transportation fee of $73 for unlimited metro, bus and commuter trains. <br><br>- Swedes are very polite. Americans are very polite as well, but in a different way. In the US people are very chatty and talkative and seem to be friends with everyone. In Sweden people are much more reserved and talk mostly to the people they know. I think that sometimes makes Americans seem more polite. Swedes are very polite and courteous though, we just have a hard time opening up to strangers, and I think that's something that makes us seem more reserved. I've also noticed that in the US people are very good at pretending to be friends with everyone, and when you actually need help, it's not weird if they say no. In Sweden it's more like, we're not friends, but I will help you when you need me to, because that's the polite thing to do.<br><br>- In Sweden the tipping culture is different. We don't tip as much in general, but if we get bad service we will tell the server. In the US we tip more, but I've noticed that even if you get bad service, you're supposed to tip anyway. I think this is a weird system.<br><br>- Swedes are obsessed with their summer houses. If you don't have one, you borrow one from a friend, or rent one. We spend most of July at the beach in our summer houses, and it's heavenly.<br><br>- Swedes like to keep to ourselves. We have a tendency to (kind of rudely) keep to ourselves on public transportation, at the grocery store, walking down the street etc. We have a hard time approaching strangers and don't like to talk to strangers when we're out and about. In the US people are more chatty with strangers. It's not uncommon to make friends with someone you meet at the grocery store.<br><br>- The food is different. Swedish food is very light, whereas US food is very heavy. I think this has to do with the climate. In Sweden it's cold and the produce we grow is mostly berries, potatoes and carrots. We also fish a lot. In the southern parts of Sweden we have a lot of apples as well. In the US there's a big variety in climate throughout the country, which means that you have a huge variety in produce depending on where you are in the country. <br><br>- In Sweden we eat more bread and cheese, something I've noticed is not very common in the US. Breakfast might for example consist of just toast with cheese, or yogurt with muesli. <br><br>- Swedes don't love their country as much as Americans love their country. I think this might be noticeable if you talk to Swedes/Americans about their countries. Swedes don't love our country as much as Americans love the US, and Swedes tend to be more critical about our country and what's good and what's bad about it. I think this goes hand in hand with the tipping culture; we're more critical about what's not good and we will speak up about it, whereas in the US it seems like the common attitude is "If it ain"t broke don't fix it" which I think is very noticeable when you talk to Swedes and Americans about their countries.