What Do Amusement Parks and Laundry Rooms Have in Common?

 I already told you about my first big culture shock moment: when I found out that most public restrooms cost five or ten crowns.

My second biggest culture shock: I have to book laundry time? What?

In most apartment complexes in the U.S., you either have your own washing machine or a community laundry room. In some cases, you go to the laundromat. But usually when there is a community laundry room, you just waltz in whenever you please and start your laundry. If there is someone else in there, you just say "Hello there" and continue what you are doing.

This is not how it works in Sweden. Laundry time is important stuff. This is pretty much sacred to Swedish people. In Sweden, it is not just laundry time. It is your laundry time. You can be alone in the room. You don't have to socialize or interact with anyone. You can hang out, listen to music, read books, do whatever you want. This is your time to relax. And if someone else steals your time or takes too long on theirs, that is not okay. It's just wrong. It has to be fair. Everyone should have an equal amount of laundry time.

 In my apartment building you have to use your electronic key to activate this little machine outside the laundry room, and then you book a three-hour window. You usually have to book days in advance. If you're out of clean underwear, you are also out of luck. Unless of course you have a nice friend who will let you throw your stuff in with theirs.

Actually, that's exactly what happened when I was doing my laundry last week. A friend was like, "Eden, I am desperate. Can I wash my underwear with your laundry load?" So of course I helped him out because it really wasn't a big deal. Then we left the room and I went to hang out with friends. 45 minutes later, I get a call from my friend saying "uh, Eden, the laundry room is going to close in two minutes." I started swearing in Swedish (which is funny, because Swedish swear words are so mild that children can say them) and I ran as fast as possible across the yard until I got into my building. I just barely made it on time. See, at 10 pm, the laundry room locks. So good luck getting your stuff out in the morning, since you haven't booked the room for yourself.

 This is stressful to me. I do not like to book things such as laundry in advance. I like to just go with the flow, and go do stuff when I feel like it is the right time. This is not the Swedish way, and I need to get used to the Swedish way. I know I will soon enough.

"Take a number." This is found everywhere. At the help desk at IKEA, at the IT center at the university, even in this electronics store. You don't have to stand in line, and it is very fair. You will get a turn.

Sweden is a culture of schedules, punctuality, and fairness. You need to know what you will do and when. You need to know you will be comfortable. You need to know exactly what time the bus will come. And you nearly always do. At most bus stops, there is a clock that shows how many minutes until the bus arrives, and 99.9% of the time, it is correct. I asked someone who has lived here for a long time how they know that the bus will be on time. He told me that they frequently install GPS systems into the buses that communicate with the timers at the bus stops, so you know in how many minutes the bus will be there.

Things are very categorized and organized, such as in this fast food restaurant disposal station.

"Thank you for cleaning up after yourself." Different things are put in different places.

These ramps are found everywhere. It makes it really easy for fathers on paternity leave to push their kids around in their strollers while their wives are busy at work.

 You see now how important organization is to Swedes? But that is what makes things so convenient in this society. Things are orderly and predictable. Things fit together. Everything functions like a clock, with cogs meshing together in the most efficient manner possible.

Another way to illustrate this point is the amusement park I recently visited called Gröna Lund. It was so much fun...and it was also the most compact amusement park I have ever seen. Everything was so close together. There were roller coasters nearly intersecting other roller coasters. Right underneath one ride was a restaurant over which another roller coaster's tracks were built very closely. It was crazy, and yet everything was safe. No one would hit anything or get hurt because all the measurements were made correctly. The longest time I ever waited in line there was about 35 minutes. Usually I would only wait about 10 or 15 minutes. It was the most efficient amusement park I've ever seen.

Gröna Lund was expensive, but worth it. My friends and I went on a drop tower fall ride which shot us up really fast, and then after going up and down, took us to the top. Our legs were dangling and we were terrified. We were going higher and higher. But right as we hit the top, the view was wonderful. It was the evening, and we could look across the water and see Stockholm in all its beauty. The moon was huge and bright. It was absolutely perfect. And then we screamed as we plunged toward the ground.

Gröna Lund! The tall tower on the left is my favorite.

As a bonus, here is a photo of stalls in a unisex restroom. These are very common in Sweden.

Sweden is very different from the U.S. in many ways, but that is part of the adventure. Until next time.