Swedish Facts II

Here are some interesting facts about the new place I’ll call home:

1.    All employers are required to provide FREE MASSAGE to their employees and it is a write off for the company.
2.    You can pay your taxes by sending an SMS (Text message) from your cell phone.
3.    Any property (with exception of fenced areas, private gardens, government or military) is open to anyone for hiking, bathing in your lake, picking berries or mushrooms or for camping overnight. This is called “Every man’s right” or Allemansrätten.
4.    The sunrises at 3:30am and sets at 10:30pm during the summer
5.    The sun rises at 9:30am and set at 3:30pm during the winter.
6.    Swedes celebrate Midsummer (Midsommar) on the 23rd of June. It is the celebration of the longest day and on this day in many parts of Sweden the sun never sets.
7.    Prime Minister, Olaf Palme, was shot and killed in 1986 when walking home after viewing a movie. His killer was never found.
8.    Thursday is pea soup and pancake day.
9.    Sex is the number six.
10.    Sweden ranks second in Europe (after Finland) in terms of technological achievement.
11.    Total taxation in Sweden amounts to 54.2 % of GDP, the highest level worldwide.
12.    The world-famous discount furniture chain IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943.
13.    On Easter children dress up as witches and go trick-or-treating.
14.    Carl Von Linne, known as Linnaeus, was a Swedish botanist and naturalist who lived in the sixteenth century. He introduced the scientific method of naming flora and fauna.
15.    Yes, the women in Sweden are drop dead gorgeous (I find this daunting) but the men aren’t hard on the eyes either.