Stockholm way of living

Fun facts and interesting observations about how the day-to-day life in Stockholm differs from what I knew.

Honestly, I have 'lived' in Stockholm for just about a month now and all of it during a pandemic, so there is not a huge bunch of stuff that I have noticed that differs from my Finnish way of living, but here are the TOP 3 small and not-so-serious things that I have actually encountered.

1. Lunch bags

You thought this was going to be fika, right? No worries, that's the second point, but let me first talk to you about lunch bags. What a great invention. Never thought I needed one until I moved to Stockholm. One day I was complaining aloud at the office to my team mate about the fact that I couldn't keep my coffee mug to stay upright in my cotton bag while walking to work - HUGE problem, right?!

My co-worker is also a Finn, but she has already mastered the Stockholm-way-of-living by having lived here for many years, and immediately suggested that why don't I go and buy a lunch bag for myself. I had no clue about the world I was stepping into. I bought myself the first lunch bag immediately on the same day from a local store called Rusta. It was a bit boring, black bag with "Lunch time" written on it but as I usually just wear black, I thought I should at least try to match it with my outfits.

Later I saw a new bunch of bags in Lagerhouse and was really tempted to buy a second one, as it was a really nice color. I don't like owning too much stuff, since I would love to fit my life in a backpack or two, so I fought the temptation and did not buy a second lunch bag in the end.

Perhaps lunch bags are the next trend in Finland too? Maybe I am a trend-setter when I return? Or I'll just return to my old way of carrying the coffee mug on my hand.

2. Fika

You can't avoid the tempting smell of a cinnamon bun (kanelbulle) or cardamom roll (kardemummabulle) when walking the streets in Gamla Stan or Stockholm in general. Coffee and pastry is an extremely common combination in here, but I quite quickly learned that fika itself is much more than just about cinnamon buns. At the office they used to have a fika time every Friday, which would mean that the co-workers would stop working for a while and just enjoy some sweet or savory snacks, coffee and each others company talking about something else than work. This might be a more daily thing for the locals, but we try to do it at least once a week.

3. Slussen and small 'earth quakes'

Slussen is a very central area in Stockholm between Gamla Stan (old town) and Södermalm. Right now though, the place has been turned into a huge construction site that is expected to finish not earlier than 2025 - and it has been like this from 2016. They are apparently trying to renovate the roads and make the whole area more practical and to be able to host the many people passing through Slussen every day from tourists to locals.

I added this to the 'way of living' -list, since the construction site of Slussen has been a big thing for people from Stockholm for multiple years now. In the beginning, when I moved to Slussen, I wasn't aware of all this, and during the first evenings was a little terrified of the quite loud and strong mini earth quakes caused by the construction site explosions. I even had to remove everything from the little bit tilted shelf in the bathroom since everything kept on falling during these events.

Short but sweet - this was my list of three things I have noticed while living in Stockholm for a month and a half. What other interesting, peculiar or cool things have you experienced in Stockholm?