Got to add my 2 cents to this. Maybe by now outdated since a decades old view point and from a very filtered perspective.
Lived for about a year in Ydrefors doing swami guru school at a secluded monastery in the beautiful deep forests. Traveled back and forth to Norway as required.
I remember a couple lasting impressions from the experience (beside the clash and discipline of the schooling).
One was the mosquitoes. So damned big they had their own orange day glo parasites eating them up faster than they could eat us up. The poor cows were patiently surrounded in a cloud of blood suckers, but learned to adjust and accept life as is.
Beautiful forking country if you are into nature. Incredible beauty with the Atlantic storm clouds flying by hi speed overhead.
Warmth of the people and how they learned English as a movement among the youth to understand the lyrics of western rock n ' roll.
Lots of complaints about the hi tax rate, however...
At that time, rarely saw anything less than a Mercedes or Volvo on the road. National pride was such that you could travel miles on a highway without seeing a piece of trash on the side. Healthcare by virtue of birth was a right of every citizen.
Everyone was taken care of. Problem was in later years the test of open mindedness with the influx of refugees from other cultures. Did not play out well. Please update if things have changed and I'm pouring out a defective view.
John