YOU KNOW YOU’VE BEEN IN SWEDEN TOO LONG WHEN...........

[Lucky13]

1. You rummage through your plastic bag collection to see which ones you can keep to take to the shop and which ones can be sacrificed for rubbish.

2. You no longer snigger when you see grown women walking around with their hair in plaits.

3. The first thing you do upon entering a bank/post office/chemist etc. is to look for the queue number machine.

4. You accept that you will have to queue to take a queue number.

5. When a stranger on the street smiles at you, you assume:
a: he is drunk
b: he is insane
c: he's an American

6. You don't think twice about putting the wet dishes away in the cupboard to dry.

7. A friend asks about your holiday plans and you answer "Oh, I'm going to Europe!" meaning any other Western European country outside of Sweden.

8. You no longer crunch up or fold your paper money. You always put your money in your wallet.

9. You see a student taking a front row seat on the bus and wonder "Who does he think he is?"

10. Silence is fun.

11. The reason you take the ferry to Finland is:
a: duty free vodka
b: duty free beer
c: to party hearty...no need to get off the boat in Helsinki, just turn around and do it again on the way back to Sweden.

12. Your coffee consumption exceeds 6 cups a day and coffee is too weak if there is less than 10 scoops per pot.

13. You pass a supermarket and think "Wow, it is open, I had better go in an buy something!"

14. A sharp intake of breath has become part of your vocabulary, as has the sound ”Jah hahh”

15. Your native language has seriously deteriorated, now you begin to "eat medicine", "open the television", "close the lights off", “take a beer”, ”look upon everything” and tell someone to “follow with me” or "you needn't to!" You start to say “for 2 years ago” and expressions like "Don't panic" creep into your everyday language.

16. You associate pea soup with Thursday.

17. Your idea of unforgivable behaviour now includes walking across the street when the light is red and there is no WALK symbol, even though there are no cars in sight.

18. Your notion of street life is reduced to the few teenagers hanging out in front of the railway station on Friday nights.

19. Your bad mood becomes your good mood.

20. Sundays no longer seem dull with all the shops closed, and begin to feel restful instead.

21. "No comment" becomes a conversation strategy.

22. You have only two facial expressions – smiling or blank. Also your arms are just hanging down when you chat with other people.

23. The fact that all of the "v's" and the "w's" are together in the phone directory seems right.

24. Your old habit of being "fashionably late" is no longer acceptable. You are always on time.

25. Hugging is reserved for sexual foreplay

26. You begin to understand Johan Tornberg's broadcast of the hockey game.

27. You refuse to wear a hat, even in minus 20 degree weather.

28. You hear loud-talking passengers on the train. You immediately assume:
a: they are drunk
b: they are Finnish
c: they are American
d: all of the above

29. You give up on trying to find fat-free food and pile on the butter, cream and sugar.

30. You know how to fix herring in 105 different ways.

31. You eat herring in 105 ways.

32. You no longer look at sports pants as casual wear, but recognise them as semi-formal wear.

33. Your front step is beginning to resemble a shoe shop.

34. You are no longer scared of Volvos and Volvo drivers

35. You have undergone a transformation:
a: you accept blodkorv as food
b: you accept surströmming as food
c: you accept alcohol as food
d: you accept

36. You can actually drink the coffee.

37. You no longer have to search for the flushing mechanism.

38. You no longer see any problem wearing white socks with sandals.

39. Indoors you wear sandals with socks, regardless of the season.

40. You no longer correct people who say MAC Donald's.

41. You just love Jaffa.

42. You've come to expect Sunday morning sidewalk vomit dodging.

43. You know that "religious holiday" means "let's get pissed."

44. You enjoy the taste of surströmming and lutfisk.

45. You know that "men’s public bathroom" is another phrase for footpath.

46. You know that more than three channels means cable.

47. You get all the Finnish and Norwegians jokes.

48. When you're hungry you can peel a boiled potato like lightning.

49. You eat jam with savoury dishes

50. You've become lactose intolerant.

51. You accept that 80 degrees C in a sauna is chilly, but 20 degrees C outside is freaking hot.

52. An outside temperature of 5 degrees C is mild.

53. It no longer seems excessive to spend 1,000kr on alcohol in a single night

54. When someone asks for ”three cheers” you say ”hoorah, hoorah, hoorah, hoorah!”

55. You think that riding a bicycle in the snow is a perfectly sensible thing to do.

56. You have conversations with people outside when it is –10C.

57. Having to book seat numbers at a cinema makes perfect sense. And you sit in your booked seat even if there are only 2 other people there and your seat is in the front row, on the side.

58. You regard it as sensible to eat ice cream when it is –15C.

59. You regard it as sensible that the ice cream van comes around playing that annoying song when it is -15C.

60. Someone calls you a ”good moron” first thing in the morning and you smile acknowledgement.

61. It's acceptable to eat lunch at 11.00.

62. Julmust starts to taste good.

63. You associate Friday afternoon with a trip to systembolaget.

64. You think nothing of paying $50 for a bottle of 'cheap' spirits at systembolaget

65. You know all of the “telephone times” by heart.

66. It seems sensible that the age limit at Stockholm night clubs is 25.

67. You actually care who wins 'Expedition: Robinson'

68. You have your own innebandy club.

69. You find yourself debating the politics of the social democrats.

70. You use ’mmmm’ as a conversation filler.

71. You have only two facial expressions, smiling or blank.

72. You think it's more fun to stay at home and drink then go out.

73. You wear warm clothing when it's 25 degrees plus in April - because it's April.

74. You wear shorts and t-shirt when it's barely 10 degrees in July - because it's July.

75. You get extremely annoyed when the bus is two minutes late.

76. You think women are more than equal than men and deserve to have better positions in the work place.

77. Your wife watches TV while you look after the kids.

78. You become a punctuality freak and dump your friends for being late more than once.

79. You spend the week's entertainment budget on a pack of cigarettes and a drink in Gamla Stan.

80. When a stranger asks you a question in the streets, you think it's normal to just keep walking, saying nothing.

81. You've been engaged for four years and don't have any plans to get married.

82. Americans start to look entertaining, witty and fun, and you just want to go to the U.S.A., travelling across country on a greyhound, because it's "romantic."

83. You and your friends know exactly the same information, and have the same attitudes and beliefs in the value of Social Democracy.

84. You lose any artistic talent whatsoever.

85. You think that if you smoke a joint you will wind up in an insane asylum. [or become a habitual criminal]

86. You jot down 'fisk fingrar' on your shopping list.

87. You no longer look for Vegemite on supermarket shelves, even if it's your first time in that particular shop.

90. You think black rimmed glasses are cool. Your wardrobe now consists of 20 different shades of black and grey.

89. You stop explaining to people what Christmas Crackers are and accept that they aren't - at least in Sweden

88. You have an uncontrollable urge to mail this list and point out the numbering is incorrect!

91. It doesn't feel like lunch unless it's a hot, full course meal drenched in gravy.

92. You eat unlimited amounts of sausage products without worrying about your nitrate intake.

93. You think that an unripe wedge of tomato on a limp leaf of iceberg lettuce can be called a salad.

94. You don't question the concept of 'telephone time'. It seems reasonable that no business can be conducted on Friday afternoons. [or the entire month of July]

95. You assume that anyone who apologises after bumping into you is a tourist.

96. You feel discomfort if you can't find the nummerlap machine.

97. You reach for your pocket 20 times a day as mobile phones ring all around you.

98. You actually care if your mobile phone meets the fashion standard - and so do your new Swedish friends.

99. It seems reasonable that even those begging for money at T-centralen reach for their pocket as the melodic music of the Swedish mobile phone resounds.

100. You get into a Mercedes taxi cab and think nothing of it.

[Heinz]

I like it!

[Lucky13]

101. Paying $6 for a cup of coffee seems reasonable.

102. You understand that when a colleague asks you out for "a drink," it will probably be a long night with a severe hangover the next day.

103. You start to think that having a sauna in the nude with a bunch of strangers is a necessary part of daily life .. and a necessary part of business.

104. You start to differentiate between types of snow.

105. You get offended if, at a dinner party, someone fails to look you in the eyes after raising their glass for a toast

106. Seeing a young woman with lit candles stuck to her head no longer disturbs you.

107. You become extremely skilled at assembling pre-packaged furniture kits.

108. "Candles" are a permanent fixture on your weekly shopping list.

109. You get to the movies early so that you can watch the commercials.

110. Most of your friends have the same names and you must use both names to distinguish between them.

111. You manage to convince yourself that you really enjoy eating potatoes, tuna, pasta and sausages and it's not just because that's all you can afford to eat here.

112. You accept you must walk 2 kilometres to collect your book/tape from the Post Office, because they don't deliver small packages (or large ones)

113. You finally accept that the milkman isn't going to roll up - ever- and you have to go out in the snow to the shop to buy your milk.

114. Your shed becomes the first stage in the recycling process and you can't get in it for bags of paper/cardboard/bottles, refundable glass/plastic, recyclable glass/plastic/ containers/etc.

115. You accept that you will never again wear your beautiful stiletto heels because:
a: there's snow everywhere and even if you did then,
b: you still have to take them off at the door which instantly ruins the hitherto glamorous line of whatever you were wearing as you drop, 10cm, onto your flat feet in your short and sexy little black dress. Not the same effect at all.

116. When offered a bottle of beer the first thing you look at is the alcoholic percentage.

117. You take every opportunity to raise an enormous flag in your garden.

118. You can't contemplate actually doing anything until you've first had a 'fika' (with coffee AND cake).

119. You think it entirely reasonable to pay $40 for a five minute chat with the doctor.

120. You use the alcohol percentage-per-kroner standard for measuring the quality of beer and wine.

121. You think it is normal EVERYTHING is regulated and you obey the rules voluntarily.

122. You no longer snigger when your kids ask for a Plopp when you're out shopping

123. You think it's normal to park your car only on the right hand side of the street and are quite happy to move it elsewhere on Thursday evening because the street is being cleaned

124. You accept that you will get parking tickets regularly and stop caring that you have no idea what was wrong with your parking.

125. You don´t eat the jacket on your potato.

126. Nobody fights to get the "parsons nose".

127. People keep showing you print outs of this list on the bus.

128. Hearing the words f*ck and shag on daytime TV seems perfectly normal.

129. You think Australia is wrong to drive on the left hand side.

130. You mutter "oy,oy,oy" continually to yourself even though you are the only one in the room.

131. You understand why there is a Green, Red and Blue underground.

132. You understand why the underground does not only operate underground.

133. Even you can hear your own accent.

134. When someone asks you for "sex" you assume they mean half-a-dozen.

135. All winter you dream of what you will do in summer, and summer is the warmest day of the year

136. You wear a dress or skirt over your trousers and combine them with training shoes (this is especially problematic if you are male)

137. You expect to find the glove you dropped in February hanging on a post in June

138. Bringing dead sticks indoors at Easter and hanging coloured feathers on them seems a good way to celebrate spring.

139. Pigs say ”nerf nerf”, frogs say ”kvack, kvack” and roosters say ”kuckeliku”

140. You immediately think that a bottle of wine contains 75cl, and a carton of cream is 3dl. And you can’t for the life of you remember just what 500ml is in dl or cl.

141. “It's 5 degrees outside" does not necessarily mean PLUS 5, it could mean minus 5.

142. You talk of –10C as ”10 degrees cold”, when in Australia +10C would be considered cold. And who else calls +1C, ”one degree warm”!

143. You know that ”Extrapris” goods are cheaper, even though your English mind translates the word as ”extra price”

144. You will squeeze past somebody rather than say excuse me.

145. When returning to "civilisation" you hear yourself saying TACK all the time.

146. The first thing you do in the morning is to switch on your car heater.

147. Drinking spirits can only be accompanied by formal singing from song sheets and vice versa.

148. You accept that adverts for houses do not include the price of the house.

149. You accept that Job adverts do not include the salary scale.

150. A fun way for people to pass a wintry afternoon is to watch a Bandy match outdoors when it's minus 20 degrees.

151. Everybody has an outdoor thermometer at home and they all compare temperatures when they get to work.

152. You start eating egg and bacon instead of bacon and eggs.

153. You ringed somebody yesterday instead of you rang them.

154. Your husband is very long instead of being very tall

155. You think coffee is supposed to look and taste like mud, complete with a mouthful of coffee ground sediment.

156. You pay the TV-avgift because you think you're getting your money's worth watching SVT.

157. You start looking at socialbidrag (welfare) less as an absolutely desperate last resort and more as a way of life.

158. You pour filmjölk (soured milk) on your Kellogg's Frosties.

159. You put tomato sauce (as in Heinz Big Red) on your macaroni. Just tomato sauce. And love it.

160. Your preferred pancake topping is lingonsylt.

161. You begin thinking that you're going to actually miss blood pudding for breakfast while you're visiting Australia.

162. You don't want a cold glass of Coke with ice on hot summer days but rather a nice steaming cup of coffee.

163. You start to think that smoking is really not that bad, even for 13 year olds.

164. You stop searching for a T-Bone steak.

165. You start believing that good service is overrated.

166. You can't remember the words to the theme of Gilligan’s Island.

167. You accept and take for granted that you will just have to suffer through a cold.

168. You take two hour naps at work and the idea of losing your job never crosses your mind.

169. You don't even get surprised when the doctor, not only can't help you, he/she can't even diagnose you.

170. You take it as a given that your wife/husband will get so wasted on Midsommar that he/she will end up in bed with someone other than yourself.

171. You tailgate people who are driving 120 on the freeway.

172. You think Australian coffee tastes like water.

173. You don't get ed by the little balls of discarded snus (chewing tobacco) at your feet at every bus stop.

174. You don't even get ed by seeing people spit, constantly.

175. You start talking to yourself in Swedish.

176. You think nothing of spending all day at IKEA looking for a piece of furniture and then spending the whole next day putting it together.

177. You wonder how you ever lived with wall to wall carpeting

178. You take your shoes off when entering a house while visiting your family in Australia.

179. You can't throw a plastic bottle away with out having a guilty conscience.

180. You think an hour and a half cycle on your washing machine is a "quick wash".

181. You not only order a pizza with asparagus, banana and bernaise sauce on it, but you actually like it and wonder why they don't offer it back in Australia.

182. You think of where you will be going in terms of the shoes that you will wear. Your favourite pair of "Barbie" shoes keep getting buried further and further back in the wardrobe.

183. You find yourself munching on Kalles Kaviar and hårdbröd at 3 A.M.

184. You get used to hotdogs being called sausage and you eat them as the "meat" part of a meal without a bun.

185. You find yourself wobbling home from the pub on your bicycle.

186. You know how to take care of a toddler, a pram with baby, a shopping trolley (that needs to be returned for the coin), paying for and bagging all your own groceries, without ever once expecting anyone to offer to help you

187. You hide 5 or 6 bottles of spirits in your suitcase, one or two in your backpack, and put just one in the duty free shopping bag

188. You think horse meat is a totally acceptable sandwich topping

189. You think there is nothing wrong with planning Christmas around Kalle Anka (Donald Duck)

190. You don't even think about what you are saying when you are off to the shop to buy your favourite brand of cat food, and you say, "Be right back love, I'm just gonna go get some Pussi"

191. You start calling Coke "cola"

192. You get up for a cigarette at 2 AM in July and put on your sunglasses first

193. You have 53 different recipes for strömming and you're about ready to clip number 54 from Dagens Nyheter

194. You start thinking dance bands and Tom Jones are kind of cool

195. You think that people who wear other colours apart from black, grey, white or blue are exhibitionists

196. You start to miss falukorv when you go on vacation

197. You know the words to more than one 'snapsvisa' and sing them without difficulty

198. You can deal with the idea that the week starts on Monday

199. You would never ever even consider using a metal knife on the butter

[A4K]

...You forgot some...!
200. A house isn't a real house until it's painted red and white
201. All the horizontal slats of your fence are at 35 degrees (to save wood?)
202. You leave your front door open, especially if you live in a block of flats
203 You expect neighbours to walk into your flat, as they all look the same
204. A REAL aeroplane has delta wings..!!!

(Jag alskar Sverige !)

[Lucky13]

200. You are no longer offended by the fact that you are a Swedish size XL when at "home" you are a medium

201. "Godis" and "glass" become daily necessities

202. When visiting others you try to go in first. If it's locked THEN you ring the doorbell

203. While visiting England someone gives you directions and says, "It's about 5 miles down the road." You in turn ask, "Are you talking Swedish miles or English miles?"

204. You start spelling the days of the week in lowercase! monday, tuesday

205. You find that you can't spell in English anymore. You now replace C with K. Like panik, automatik, seasik, arithmetik.... and you try to remember does papper/paper have one or two p’s in English?

206. You no longer make appointments, but instead you book times

207. You read text instead of sub-titles

208. As a student, you accept and even enjoy getting dressed in formal wear to go to a candle-lit 3 course dinner where you will alternately bang on your table and stand on your chair singing songs in praise of alcohol each and every time you attempt to raise your fork to your mouth.

209. You have an Åhlgrens “Bilar” addiction

210. You know all the Fanta and Marabou flavours

211. You think that the 25kr ICA bonus cheque is generous after spending 2500kr in their shop

212. The words "typ" and "liksom" are part of you spoken English vocabulary

213. If a friend says that he/she would like to get together with you, you instinctively reach for your pocket calendar

214. You own a pocket calendar

215. You begin to understand Danish

216. It seems normal to you that you've been bleeding in the emergency room at the hospital for four and a half hours when the three doctors walk by on their third coffee break since you got ther

217. You can identify the people on Big Brother and Expedition Robinson

218. You plan to watch "kvinnofängelset" (Prisoner) the next day because you need to know what happens

219. You can name the toppings of at least ten different pizzas just by name (which is coincidentally more than the pizza-baker can himself)

220. You accept that you will never get what you ordered at Burger King

221. Not only do you not mind, but even expect to wait ten minutes for a Big Mac at McDonald's

222. You ask for a Big Mac and company outside of Sweden

223. Trousers/pants tucked into all shoes, including low-top sneakers, seem like reasonable fashion sense

224. Someone cuts you off on the freeway and instead of giving them the finger, you simply mumble "eedeeyout" under your breath

225. You even lock your car to take a pee on the side of the road

226. You no longer think it odd that you talk to your kids in English and they answer in Swedish

227. You sit and pretend that Ice Hockey is a great substitute for footy

228. You use your Swedish Lexicon to look up all the English words you've forgotten

229. You say “I’m almost annoyed” when you’re as furious as humanly possible

230. You find it completely natural that otherwise sensible people dress up in silly hats on several occasions during August while they’re eating crayfish and drinking as much vodka as they can

231. Christmas has changed so much that you only associate it with rice porridge and Donald Duck

232. You don’t think twice about calling someone in the next room using your mobile phone

233. People buy you a drink in November because they remember when you bought them one in March

234. You have no idea what "The X-files" is but you watch "Arkiv X" as soon as it's on TV

235. It's normal for a post office to be located inside the local ICA store, where no one can help you

236. A 25 % sales tax on just about everything is no big deal

237. VD is the boss, not something you need to get medical treatment for

238. You know the names of at least three different types of sill (pickled herring)

239. Opening your Christmas presents on the 24th of December no longer seems like cheating

240. You can use bra, fart, and slut in the same sentence without giggling

241. You go on a package holiday to Greece and never leave the hotel complex

242. You refer to weeks by their number

243. You carefully dissect the restaurant bill so you know to the exact kr how much everybody owes

244. You know the catalogue numbers of all of your favourite wines at Systembolaget

245. It's May. It's 15C degrees. And you're stretched out on your balcony in your bikini trying to get a head start on your tan

246. You don't understand why your friend from Mississipi took offence when you referred to him as a yankee

247. You no longer laugh hysterically when you hear a sappy love ballad being called a "butter song"

248. England, Scotland and Wales can all be called England

249. You've come to accept that customer service departments don't do anything to help customers

250. If you meet someone you haven't seen in ages you just stay right where you are chatting away even if that happens to be in the doorway of a very busy department store

251. You think the songs played at "The Eurovision song contest" are instant hits

252. Christmas presents are opened somewhere between Donald Duck and "Karl-Bertil Jonsson" on Christmas Eve. Whoever heard of doing it the morning of Christmas Day?

253. If no TV station airs "Ivanhoe" on Christmas Day you become extremely irritated

254. You just have to watch "Grevinnan och betjänten" on New Years Eve

255. You don't find it strange that they add tax on top of the taxes

256. It's perfectly normal to hear teenage girls say "****" as a swear word

257. You no longer find it hypocritical to hear people bashing Australian culture in one sentence and in the next hear them saying that they've always wanted to go to Australia

258. Food is supposed to often be white in colour

259. You're no longer repulsed by the idea of eating pölsa or isterband

260. You find it reasonable that reviews of non-Swedish movies with a Swedish actor in them should use at least half of the space available to discuss how good or bad the actor was in it, even if he had just one line

261. You understand the jokes in "Pistvakt"

262. You watched "The Phantom Menace" and "Attack of the Clones" just to see Pernilla August

263. It's normal to have an entire pizza just for yourself

264. You have learned how to schedule your bouts of illness so you don't get sick on weekends. Because if you do get sick on a weekend you have a hard time getting to see a doctor and you've wasted a weekend. It's much better to be sick on a Monday so you can call in sick. That way you can extend your weekend

265. You don't get surprised when kids come trick-or-treating during Easter, all dressed up like witches

266. You don't find it odd to find movies with a "translated" title. It's perfectly normal for a movie to get a completely different English title than the one it has in the rest of the world

267. You sing bawdy drinking songs instead of Christmas carols

268. The first light of understanding in your child's eyes is when he bangs his little cup against something and says, "ska!"

269. You use the word "or" as a question

270. You consider 11 the standard age for no longer riding in a stroller

271. You are concerned when the picture on the front page of the paper is not of some completely random person watering their garden or of a child holding an animal

272. You think it's normal that people take shoes in a bag to the theatre

273. You start using "rather" as your most common adjective in English

274. You stop thinking you're being yelled at every time you hear "Hey!"

275. You no longer expect to just "call in" unexpectedly on a friend

276. You no longer feel it's unbearable inside an over-heated shop wearing full winter gear

277. You no longer look for toilets marked specifically male or female

278. You remember to buy the weekend grog supply before 5.00pm on Friday

279. It is your birthday YOU have to make the cake

[Heinz]

Hey Lucky a lot of these are applicable in Aus

[Lucky13]

280. You know you have to hurry home to stop the ice cream from getting too hard

281. You start collecting travel brochures and talking of trips to tacky places like Gran Canaria just for a fix of sun

282. You agree to pay 500kr for a basic hair trim

283. You accept that fruit juice is always made from concentrate

284. The most interesting report on the news is the weather

285. You start to believe that everything in Sweden is actually good

286. When you say good bye to someone you depart by saying 'Have it so good'

287. When you make a mistake or an accident happens you say 'It was not the meaning'

288. You don't blink an eye at the cloak room size at the pub with all the boots and stuff in there, despite the fact that it may be 3 levels high and cost 5 bucks - making a pub crawl definitely out of the question sometimes

289. You get annoyed when you realise you have to say “not too much and not too little” instead of “lagom”

290. You either run for the last pendeltåg at 1 am or choose to party on until 5 am when they start again rather than endure the horrific night bus home, as a taxi ride would require taking out a 2nd mortgage.

291. When you arrive at a destination you immediately scan for the nearest free toilet or private hide away - crikey even Mack - Donalds is off limits

292. You find yourself eating bay-con for breakfast and talking about Bill Clin-ton and taking a trip to Lon-don

293. Anything good and in particular food is “giant good”

294. ICA is not I.C.A - it's eeka

295. The wash cottage is not a holiday resort but a very competitive environment, where the rules should never be broken and in particular never go over your time by even a minute or you risk a lot of sucking and muttering from the next in line.

296. A recipe for drugs is not instructions on how to make them.

297. Gift is not a present but it could be dangerous (whether it is poison or marriage)

298. Using a shovel when you are cooking is perfectly normal

299. A dime is yummy not currency

300. Sambo is not a racist remark

301. When talking about centuries the Swedes all seem to be a hundred years behind.

302. When a Swede realises that you are an Aussie, you immediately rattle off the facts about sharks, spiders, snakes and other creepy crawlies just to get it out of the way.

303. You know what 'What seventeen' means.

304. Swedes saying Va' to you is still annoying (even after ten years), not to mention that there is no real word for please, or?

305. You think that reading this list is one of the most exciting things you have done for ages.

306. You know that "fan" is a swearword, and not an admirer or an air conditioner.

307. You eat pizza with a knife and fork.

308. You only leave the country to stockpile cheap alcohol.

309. All of your conversations resemble a chess game, with each participant quietly and patiently awaiting the other to finish their turn.

310. You've owned more than one Volvo.

311. You accept that any bureaucratic employee is incapable of a single autonomous thought and that anything, regardless of how ludicrous, is law once committed to paper.

312. You no longer find this list funny, just painfully true.

313. You know the names of two or more Swedish ministers.

314. You get excited when you hear someone speaking English.

315. You travel north on vacation instead of south.

316. You start to mix up your c's and k's when writing in English.

317. Even the 140kg amateur body-builder uses the handicapped door-opener instead of "straining" himself and you think nothing of it. In fact, you do it yourself.

318. You take off your shoes when entering someone's house outside of Sweden.

319. A seven-year-old with his own mobile phone seems perfectly sensible.

320. You no longer eat yoghurt, you drink it.

321. You know the Swedish national anthem better than your own.

322. The inescapable stench of Mamma Scans' meatballs on your fingers, which CANNOT BE WASHED OUT, no longer s you.

323. You put both jam and cheese on toast and call it breakfast.

324. You were excited when Kalles Kaviar released "Kalles Randiga".

325. You eat caviar from a tube.

326. The only pasta that you eat takes 3 minutes to prepare and is inedible unless drenched in ketchup.

327. Three for the price of two is the deal of a lifetime, regardless of what it is. Even 3 for the price of 2 1/2 surprises you.

328. You use a coupon to save 5 kronor on something that costs over 100 kronor.

329. Your wallet contains more plastic than a Hollywood superstar.

330. Christmas is more intimately tied to "Kalle Anka" than to Santa Claus

331. You can tell the difference between the different radio stations.

332. You make liberal use of compound words never heard of by Webster or Roget.

333. You actually pay an annual television fee without feeling infringed.

334. You actually pay an annual television fee.

335. The idiots in all your jokes are Norwegian.

336. You tease people from Skåne about their "Swedish".

337. In chess, you refer to the knight as a horse, the rook as a tower, and the pawns as farmers or peasants.

338. At Easter, pre-adolescent boys dressing up as old women isn't a sign of a developing psychosis, it's just part of the festivities (although it may explain a few things down the line)

339. You feel a certain sense of pride when you see Swedish people in films or on foreign TV shows.

340. Drinking is the fundamental pillar of your social network, be it coffee or alcohol.

341. You aimlessly chat using SMS.

342. A “big strong one” is a beer.

343. When someone says "Cheers" you look at everyone in turn before drinking.

344. You know that going for a coffee is a first date.

345. When someone asks you "Hi, how are you?" you actually take time out to explain how you are.

346. You automatically try to dress the same as everyone else.

347. You know the words to the frog song.

348. When you stop converting Swedish crowns into your native currency.

349. You are no longer surprised when you see full-frontal male nudity in a commercial or on TV.

350. You make fun of tourists.

351. You can pick out the real blondes from the fake blondes.

352. You get used to seeing dogs tied up outside of supermarkets and you stop to pat them.

353. You learn to let the BMW's, Audi's, and Mercedes do whatever they want.

354. Paying $3,000 for a dog seems normal.

355. And paying $800,000 for a 3 room (living room, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, kitchen) house in a suburb of Stockholm seems cheap.

356. You accept that you pay bills at the post office, pick up packages from the grocery store, and you have to drive 5 miles to find a postbox to put your outgoing mail in.

357. You enjoy that postcards are the means of communication.

358. It seems sensible that you need to be at least 25 to buy a bottle of red wine.

359. You don't think twice when you hear "Shake it out". You just check it out.

360. When you are terrified of meeting you neighbour in the stairwell.

361. When you see that the time is 3.30 and you say it’s "half TO four" (halv fyra)

362. You can prepare fish in five different ways without cooking it.

363. You think there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing.

364. The only thing in your quick memory is “Hej” and “Hej Hej”

365. You think Sweden is big (because you always compare it to Finland, Norway or Iceland)

366. You think is perfectly normal that people get in to nightclubs/restaurants with innerbandy stick and shopping bags.

367. You think is perfectly normal that nobody talks on the bus, train or tunnelbana.

368. You accept that people talk to you only when they are really drunk.

369. You accept that the best answer for a question is always "Jag vet inte" meaning "I don't know".

[Lucky13]

370. It's acceptable that you don't have the same rights as Swedes to buy a mobile phone, rent an exclusive apartment in Gamla Stan, or to make a reservation by phone to a restaurant.

371. You accept the fact that to rent an apartment you have to wait in the queue for 5 years.

372. Pronouncing Euro as “Evro” makes sense.

373. You never get sick of meatballs and/or falukorv, cooked any style.

374. You're complaining in January not because it's minus 10 degrees, but because there's no snow.

375. Your house is starting to look like the showcase to IKEA.

376. You think it's acceptable that builders start banging and hammering at 5.30am.

377. You are horrified if you see anyone drinking wine with their lunch.

378. You haven't been to the pub on a Monday for five years.

379. You start calling squid "black fish".

380. You are accustomed to every other front page headline in Expresson or Aftonbladet being about some food/drink/activity being dangerous for your health.

381. You inform your partner six months ahead of a weekend when you will be playing cricket/rugby/football.

382. You tell the ticket office staff that you have seen someone drinking beer on the underground station platform.

383. “Sex and the City” is on at 6pm.

384. The 'extended family' involves both sets of new partners/kids, their exes and any kids... all without a punch up!

385. Sunbathing while there is still snow lying is normal.

386. A disabled toilet is on the 2nd floor of the gym.

387. You’re disappointed when your Curry/Chinese food isn’t served with salad.

388. Despite explaining that mince pies at Christmas contain dried fruit, they are still looked upon with suspicion.

389. When you think it's perfectly normal to leave all the manufacturers' stickers on all of your glass ware.

390. When you reply 'Yes, thank you' when people ask you how you are. (Hur är det? Jo tack.)

391. You understand that yiros (kebab meat) is not only found on a roll but also on a pizza too.

392. You always wait until you are actually driving before putting on your seatbelt.

393. You think Sweden is big (because you compare it to Finland and Norway).

394. When someone asks for a cup of tea, you give them a cup of lukewarm water and a selection of teabags.

396. You accept that people talk to you only when they are drunk.

397. You recognise the taste of surströmming right away.

398. You randomly begin sentences with the catchphrase "You know you have been in Sweden too long when…"

399. You start thinking about the weekend on Wednesday morning.

400. You automatically line up the barcodes on all your groceries at the supermarket checkout.

401. You're used to see horses everywhere, and constantly step in their “heaps”.

402. You're used to seeing dog owners picking up the dogs’ heaps in little black plastic bags.

403. You think it's perfectly OK to wash your car just once a year - the day before the summer holiday drive.

404. You start thinking about buying a boat.

405. Your kid can use a pacifier until he/she starts school.

406. You're not surprised anymore when hearing about an old petrol station being turned into a mosque.

407. You know that twenty hundred is a year, not an hour.

408. YOU CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY PEOPLE LIVE ANYWHERE BUT IN SWEDEN!!!!

[Lucky13]

Yeah? Just thought that they were funny....

[Njaco]

409: There are enough things wrong that you have to make a list.

[Thorlifter]

Is it like all that? WOW.

[Wayne Little]

Strewth I'm gonna have to go get a coffee and take a breather...what a list!

[Screaming Eagle]

same here wayne! theres some good ons in ther lucky!