I’ve lived years in North America, and know a lot of other nordic people who have moved to the USA. This is by no means comprehensive list, and each person will have unique points of view -someone else would make a very different list. Also, USA is HUGE and where you live makes a massive difference (New York ain’t Alabama). However, here goes:
LIKES
Tremendous career prospects for educated, skilled workers. A very good chance to increase your net worth due combination of low taxes, low-priced consumer goods and high salaries. For entrepreneurs like me, the best access to venture capital money there is. A hub for high tech, science and innovation from the top universities of the world to the cutting edge developments of the Silicon Valley.
A humongous country to travel and see some of the greatest wonders of the nature, from Grand Canyon to Niagara Falls. Truly the US is the dance floor of Mother Nature.
Friendly, warm, people, with social and night life for those who like to party -some of the best clubs and concerts on the planet. Individuality is valued and seen as a plus. Especially when travelling in the American Deep South I’ve encountered hospitality that has only ever been rivalled by the Russians.
Whatever you are into, there is a convention, concert or a massive art gallery for it. US is a Mecca for hobbyists and enthusiasts.
Options for Entertainment in general is unparalleled, from Disneyland to Navy Pier.
Excellent variety of restaurants, shops and other services. All the latest gadgets come to the US first. Food especially is startlingly cheap and plentiful to a Nordic person, and the portions are gigantic.
Enlightened laws about Free Speech, Separation of Church and State, and a possibility to declare personal bankruptcy and start again if your life takes a bad turn. Nordics really should incorporate the personal bankruptcy laws of the US.
Hard work and entrepreneurship is respected and valued not (just) envied. American positive thinking and encouragement of visionaries leads into innovations that change the world.
Spacious living quarters. With a massive country comes the ability to have plenty of living space for you and your family at a manageable cost, unless you live in LA, NY, Seattle or San Francisco or the other cities where the cost of living has skyrocketed out of control.
DISLIKES
Public transportation is a joke for most of the US, though I give a honourable mention to New York subway. Public transport is by and large seen as something only poor people use, and instead you end up stuck in endless traffic jams in your car for hours. Nordic people miss their punctual trains and trams!
There are no public funds for Childcare, Healthcare, Homelessness or Education unless you are tremendously poor or land a stipend. It is hard for Nordic people to grasp why you would not care about your fellow Americans enough to ensure that they would not fall into utterly miserable squalor. This is the big one for someone coming from the Nordics.
Ironically, though the nation was founded on the premise of breaking the shackles of a class society, US has become very segregated by your financial status. The contrast between the Skid Row and the immense wealth of central LA is startling every time I see it. Many, many of my working class American friends work harder than my friends in the 3rd world, and still struggle to make ends meet. Social upwards mobility appears to be very low indeed -a stark contrast to Nordics.
Almost no vacation time. The standard 2 weeks of Vacation for full-time employees is not enough for people to recover, and it also means that productivity dips. Nordics believe in work/life balance not because of pinko socialist ideology but because it makes people much more productive.
Massive prison population. It is very expensive to the taxpayer to put so many people in prison for minor offences. This also creates career criminals. The logic is hard to fathom. In Nordics the premium is put on reforming the criminals and incorporating them into the society. Putting people behind bars is the last option.
Treating guns differently from cars. I come from a country with very high gun ownership levels (Finland) where hunting is common and every man learns to use a gun in the army. I believe population should have the right to bear arms. But I think this comes with a duty of passing some exams and taking care of your guns responsibly -i.e. needing a license. This is obviously a big difference between Nordics and USA. I am well aware of the historical reasons for American gun ownership, so this is not criticism as such, just one of those areas where the cultures clash.
Omnipresent fear the Americans feel towards their fellow Americans. A huge part of the media is devoted into how to protect yourself from other Americans. Social media is filled with anxiety the US population feels towards each other. Far too many of my American friends are on shockingly heavy medication because of it. Perhaps a symptom of this is that unlike in the Nordics, you very rarely see children walk/cycle to school or play on their own outside.
Keeping up with Joneses. There is an arms race going on in America, and it is between Middle Class and above people having a compulsive need to compete with each other when it comes to overt consumption. Social pressure to show off is huge, and many Nordic people in the US suffer from it in their neighbourhoods.
Pressure to Tip. A minor one, but in the Nordics we really believe that you should make a living wage and no-one should be forced to rely on tips. It is of course a small thing in a greater scheme of things, but it is an everyday difference you encounter.
Rampant commercialism and advertising married to a very weird dual relationship with nudity and sexuality. In the Nordics, nudity is no big deal. In much of the USA, it is seen as a huge issue, and yet the omni-present advertising sells everything based on it.
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