A SWEDISH woman who moved to Brighton spent 30 weeks shadowing 30 people in both countries to decide where she should live.

Louise Halvardsson, 33, has now turned her unique social experiment into a book detailing her adventures which took her from early morning dips in the sea to UFO hunting.

Her book Swenglish tells the story of her spending 15 weeks in each country with 15 people and asking each person 30 questions ranging from their drinking habits to religious beliefs.

She moved to Brighton from Sweden when she was 20 and after ten years, she decided she needed to choose between the two countries.

She said: “On my 30th birthday, I realised I was feeling stuck in life, everything felt the same.

“I felt like I had lost my dreams – I had to do something.

“I was curious to find out what other people’s lives were like – what they do, what they eat, how many times they shower a day, everything.”

She stayed with each person for a week, living in their homes, shadowing them at work and going out with them socially.

She added: “With one woman, I even got up in the night when she went to the toilet.

“In the end, she nearly slapped me.”

As part of the experiment, she had to eat exactly the same things as the person she was staying with.

She said: “I had a real struggle with Marmite. I never got used to it.”

Most of the people she stayed with were loose acquaintances – friends of friends, ex-colleagues or forgotten Facebook friends.

She said one of the most exciting people she stayed with was someone from Brighton who went swimming in the sea every morning at 6.30am – even in March.

“I went down with my bikini and dipped my toe in, but I didn’t do it. I’m still disappointed with myself.

“I went down every morning and even though I didn’t go in, I felt the water. It was nice just to be there early when no one else was around.”

Perhaps the most interesting person she stayed with was someone in Sweden who hunted UFOs.

“We went to a UFO conference and went out looking for UFOs. It was a very interesting experience.”

She said that the main difference between Brightonians and the people she stayed with in Sweden was that the former were more laid back and spontaneous. The Swedes, she said, had more strict schedules.

However, despite her efforts, she said she will probably never be able to decide where she wants to live.

Her book will be launched on June 13 at 3pm in the Northern Lights pub, Little East Street, Brighton. It will be available in Amazon in paperback and kindle format.

Top five quirky English things

  • The English are really fussy about their tea. It's impossible to make a nice cup of tea for an English person if you're Swedish.
  • Anytime is a time for a pint, for example when you're waiting for your washing in the launderette.
  • It's often warmer outdoors than indoors
  • English people are more eccentric than Swedish people – in a good way. One of my English hosts kept spiders as pets.
  • English people are sometimes too polite for their own good, saying sorry when just passing someone in the street.

Top five quirky Swedish things

  • There's no word for please, people rarely say thank you in shops and no one says sorry if they bump into you, but this doesn't mean Swedes are rude.
  • You can't buy alcohol from shops until after 7pm on a weekday, after 3pm on a Saturday and not at all on a Sunday.
  • Central heating is included in the rent in Sweden and is on 24 hours a day.
  • Swedish pizza toppings include chips, banana and kebab sauce – often mixed together.
  • Midsummer is celebrated by dancing around a maypole and singing a song called “Little Frogs”.