An Alien in Sweden

A blog about my move from England and my new life in Sweden.
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Archive for March 6th, 2010

Counting those pennies

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

One thing that I have been learning a lot about this week is the financial system that Sweden has in place. When I was contemplating my initial move and began to research the financial system in Sweden I was shocked by the levels of tax that the Swedes pay, however I was totally unaware of the way that the high monies that are paid are put back into the country to maintain a good standard of life.

Currently the level of unemployment in Sweden is around 9% compared with 7.8% in the UK. The UK does have a lot more in the way of opportunities to find work but this Labour government have seriously lied about just how many are out of work.

Tax here is 17.5% and I know that I will be doing a lot of my shopping for certain goods on my trips back to the UK (I still cannot believe how much tax is put on toiletries in Sweden!). But one main difference between Sweden and the UK is how to deal with finances in your later life. It seems that the majority of people in the UK that are my age have no or little plans for their financial future. I have been quite smart and started pensions since the age of 18 so I should be ok. Most of my friends are either relying on a property inheritance or some kind of monetary inheritance. This is something I personally disagree with as why should we inherit something that our parents spent our entire lives working and sweating for?!

So moving to Sweden will hit me hard financially which is why I am already making plans to sustain an extra income in the way of launching not only my poetry website but two other businesses as well. In the long run things will be better there. Rent and buying is far cheaper than it is here in London so I don’t think I will see much of a difference.

Sweden is far from being a country where everything smells of roses. It’s a country that has just as many problems as the rest of the world. Yet it’s the really small things that make me want to move and nothing is going to change my mind.

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I need to learn more about Swedish history

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

Today I was reading a list of the top 100 most influential Swedish people. I remember reading the UK list some months ago and the entire top 20 I would assume most people in the world (over 25!) would know.

But reading the top 100 Swedish list made me realise just how little I know of this country and its history. Of the top 100 the only people I knew of were

• Alfred Nobel (#4)
• Ingmar Bergman (#19)
• Bjorn Borg (#32)
• Birger Jarl (#53)
• Great Garbo (#57)
• Bjorn & Benny of Abba (#58 & 59)
• Zlatan Ibrahimovic (#77)
• Lars Noren (#84)
• Sven Goran-Eriksson (97)

Now I know that this may come across as ignorant but Sweden’s history is something that I have never really had an interest in, until now.

Unlike the UK list the Swedish list comprises of mainly historical (14th-19th century) people and focuses much less on the modern day celebrity. There is royalty, arts, history, inventors, finance, politicians and religious icons. The fact that I am myself a writer yet have never even heard of the author who is at number 2 in the list, Astrid Lindgren, really shows my ignorance.

So today I listened to the latest Swedish podcast and hear that Sweden is to cut down the teachings of its history in schools. This is something that I’ve always been a staunch supporter of. When I was in school we were taught very little history and it was only through my real love of the subject that I gained any knowledge. When I read that in a recent poll 5% of UK schoolchildren think that Hitler was a German football coach makes me wonder just what they think of Churchill or Thatcher. It’s truly shocking.

So whilst I know that I really have to increase my general awareness and knowledge of Swedish history it is also essential that the Swedish education system retains the level of historical teaching that the UK seems to be lacking. I’ve always maintained that whilst the perception of history may be perceived as boring to many students if the subject is delivered in a fun and interesting way then the important lessons of the past can be a something that we can learn from. Rather than memorising important dates why not turn the event into a play?

History is something we must never forget. Otherwise we simply cannot move forward.

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When to move….

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

Not much really to report at the moment. I’m still undecided about when is the best time to move to So far the most likely dates are

Feb 2011
Dec 2010
Oct 2010

The reason that I am choosing Feb is because I want to move back to Bristol for one month before I move to Sweden. I don’t think that moving straight to Sweden from London would be such a great idea. I would need at least 3-4 weeks to relax after living in this city for ten years!

On another note I hear that Skavsta Airport and RyanAir are in talks about issues affecting flights from London. Currently Skavsta are refusing to accept any RyanAir flights that land after 23:30 each night.

There is only one flight from Gatwick each day and that lands at 23:15 now I know that RyanAir base themselves as the most accurate and on time airline in the UK but there will always be times when flights are delayed for some reason, so last week alone two flights were diverted from Skavsta to Arlanda. Whilst this is not a problem for some it is for others. I just hope they can resolve this as soon as possible.

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Racial issues in Sweden

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

One of the reasons that I’ve decided to quit the UK is the ongoing racial violence that stains this beautiful country. I grew up in times where racial violence was much worse than it is today but times have changed since then.

I remember as a young child during the race riots in 1981 and reading the news of the riots in Bristol, Liverpool and London that resulted in several deaths and the killing of PC Keith Blakelock. Driving down through St Pauls would always send a chill down my spine as a child and I would try and find out where the riots took place but more importantly why they took place.

As I grew older the myth of St Pauls diminished and I even ended up working 500 yards from where the worst of the violence took place, the streets whose very name struck fear into me as a child just became a road I walked down. It was really only the murder of Stephen Lawrence back in 1993 that once again put racial violence at the top of the news.

These days the cities that I live in still have racial issues. London especially has become a city that is notorious for knife related crimes. Now I am not saying that all of these are racially motivated but certainly it appears the majority are. Last year alone there were over 100 stabbings in London with 38 murders.

When I think of Sweden I don’t think of a country where everyone gets on, nor do I think of a country that does not have racial issues. Show me a country on Earth that has no racial issues and I will move there tomorrow. However the more I learn about Sweden the more I find that unfortunately there are many issues that seem to resemble the UK.

The last several podcasts that I have listened to have mentioned several attacks in various parts of Sweden on Middle Eastern migrants. It appears that the main focus of these attacks are down to resentment of asylum seekers in Sweden being given certain worker rights whilst unemployment in Sweden remains at nearly 8.5%.

In one interview a man was quoted as saying “Assyrians are “blackskulls” who deserve to be attacked because “they live off welfare. They sleep until 2. They chase after our Swedish girls.” So just like here in the UK there appears to be many that are reluctant to adapt to social change.

There are currently 800,000 immigrants in Sweden which makes up a staggering 10% of the population. When immigration “Ghettos” began to appear the government tried to break these up but failed in doing so. Another person interviewed Warns Schwarz said “The big problem will come in the next decade when 100,000 to 200,000 immigrant children will be coming out of the schools without cultural pride but still without being Swedes. These people will not accept the menial jobs their fathers did. They will want to become judges and generals when the society is not ready. It is a real social time bomb.”

It’s a very interesting topic and one that has certainly grabbed my attention. Here in the UK the next general election will be dominated by several topics, one of them being immigration. I don’t think that the Sweden election will be the same but it’s an issue that certainly affects Sweden as much as it does here.

Growing up in a very multi cultural society I have learned to accept all cultures and ethnicities make up communities and cities. It’s the 21st century not the 1950’s and I am lucky to live in quite possibly the most multi cultural city in the World. It’s beautiful to learn about others cultures and history; it is what makes our world so unique. I myself will be moving to a new country in 2011 so will have to learn the laws and the ways of Swedish Life. I hope that the Swedish people are just as welcoming.

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Swedish patriotism

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

I was reading today about how the GDP in Norway has now overtaken Sweden. So Norway with a population of half that of Sweden is now producing more money.

Not that I believe all I hear but the impression was that Norway has always been looked down on by many Swedes as being it’s “Little neighbour” or “Poor relative” and now many Swedes are finding it hard to accept that Norway is a more affluent country in production. This is mainly due to oil exports.

I suppose it would be like the UK being overtaken by Ireland but I doubt this will ever happen as the UK import/export industry is too vast. It’s an interesting scenario though to listen to some of the people interviewed. Though many people perceive Swedes to be laid back and unfazed by much the ones I listened to suddenly became fiercely defensive about their patriotism.

A very interesting thing to me as I want to live in a country where the people are very proud about who they are.

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Unemployment

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

So Ericsson have just announced that 1500 jobs are to go in Sweden. That is on top of the already estimated 30,000 worldwide.

This really interests me as Sweden is runs so differently to the UK when it comes to employment and of course finding a job over there is going to be essential to me moving, no job no move!

Today the UK officially came out of recession, the last of the 21 EU countries to do so. It’s an irony that Gordon Brown who championed that the UK was “Saving the worlds economy” actually refuses to admit that the UK economy was in crises. But with unemployment almost at 3% it is the worst jobless total this country has seen since the late 1980’s. Thousands of small businesses have gone bust and also many High Street shops have vanished.

Now whilst many would see that as a bad situation compare it with Sweden. With a population of just over ten million unemployment currently stands at a staggering 10%. Sweden has rapidly grown over the past 30-40 years as a nation, but before the technological boom most of the exports were primary sectors such as timber. As the current retirement generation comes to an end this will leave a rather large gap in the manual workforce in Sweden as more and more people are working in the IT industry.

Another thing I have learned is that the retired workers in Sweden get a benefit depending on how well or poor the country is performing. Compare this to the flat pension rate in the UK and you can see that it is a much more flexible option. Sweden has been hit hard by the global recession but it’s better off than the UK. The nationalisation of banks occurred in the 1990’s so this is nothing new to them, but they are not as productive as other EU countries.

Of course finding a job in the UK is just as hard as thought the unemployment total is 7% lower the population is six times the size. It’s going to be a very important point in the Swedish Election this September and the parties are already debating this live on TV.

Why can’t the UK be as productive?

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One year and counting

Saturday, March 6th, 2010

Well here I am. Just one year to the day that I leave London for Sweden.

I’ve created this blog in the hope that it will not only act as a guide for me along the way but in the future may also help others who are planning a similai move.

I have decided that life in the UK is no longer for me and after 35 years I want to live overseas. I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world and have been to some many fine countries yet it was always Sweden that I kept coming back to. I guess that like most people I don’t really tend to think too far ahead into the future. I moved back to London in May 2008 and since then have moved three times. That is how it goes and it is just the norm in London. Since my original move in 2001 I moved ten times in eight years.

My current flat will be the last I ever rent in London, as you can see from this blog I have made the decision to move to Sweden. Not just for a year or two but to become a resident and citizen.

There are many reasons for wanting to move. Of course my main goal is my relationship but there are other factors. Over the years I have been visiting I feel that I have gained enough knowledge to know that this country is for me. It is very different to the UK in many ways, political, educational, historical and also fiscal. Some parts I feel are more advantageous over the UK, others I feel are worse. Overall the one main factor that is driving me there is the social difference between family values. I feel Sweden has over the last few decades developed a very solid environment where family togetherness is an incredibly important aspect of day to day lives. Now I am not saying that the UK is as broken as many say, but one thing that is missing is family traditions.

I cannot remember a time, apart from on a Sunday, when I actually sat down with my entire family for a meal. Maybe that is due to the fact that when I was a child it would be something of a daily ritual and we had to actually ASK permission before leaving the table. Could be due parents working different hours, many things no doubt contribute to this but the one thing that I really want is to raise a family in a country where education, safety and my child’s health and happiness are the most important a social system can provide.

I don’t hate Britain. I love it; it is my home and always will be. I am proud to be British and will never stop being so. But at times, it comes to a point where you have to consider your options.

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