Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland are
always the happiest places to live in the world if you look at statistical figures, but unfortunately the real world is quite different from the world of statistics.
Finland was recently ranked by a well known US newspaper as the happiest place to live in the world. The people responsible for the study could probably not even locate Finland on a map, instead they simply looked at various statistical figures and concluded that Finland is the winner!
Being sent to northern Sweden would be like being sent to Siberia, however all of Finland is like northern Sweden. If it was anywhere else then everyone there would be classified as mentally insane. If you are not mentally insane by the time you arrive there, you are sure to be by the time you leave.
Even by Scandinavian standards Norwegians are considered to be insane! The country is one of the very richest in the world but people live in simple wooden houses which are considered crude even according to Swedish standards.
Few people own a car but everyone own a bicycle. It is important to keep in mind that Norway is a very oil rich country. Norwegians work a few hours a day and spend the rest of the time hiking in the mountains. They usually look like this:
that is if they are not wearing that silly sweater called lusekofte.
Swedes have among the highest salaries in the EU, yet Norwegians usually have twice the salary and still everyone go to Sweden to do their shopping! The country is so expensive that even with twice the salary people have less money than in Sweden.
Unless you are Scandinavian you will never be able to stay there for long mentally. Most Swedish people can only manage to work a few months in Norway before they must return to Sweden unless they are to risk their mental health permanently.
In the winter it is dark all the time and because of the climate you will pretty much end up like the character in The Shining. Forget about cities bustling with people and activity, the biggest city is Oslo and it is like a big village. All other cities are actual villages and it is rare to see any people at all in the winter months.