An Alien in Sweden

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

Facing a long winter this year

Tuesday, July 27th, 2010

Well I am now just seven weeks until my move to Sweden and I will be honest I am too far behind to even joke about. I have nod had any Swedish lessons for four weeks, I have not begun to sort out the paperwork and all I do know is that I have too much to do and so little time!

I hear that Sweden is having one of the best summers ever. After the horrific winter that they (is it too early to say “we”?) had then I think it’s a decent enough reward. Though I have been to Sweden during winter time I’ve never actually had the duration of one season there. I’ll be moving to Sweden at the end of summer beginning of Autumn so the days will be getting darker and I will have a long winter ahead of me to become accustomed too.

I will have many summers to enjoy but I know this sounds strange but I LOVE snow so here is to my first winter in Sweden! It’s going to be exciting, an adventure and above all challenging.

I would not like life any other way.

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Go Swedish!

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Like me are you still in the process of learning Swedish? Since I began I’ve tried nearly all types of methods. These include CD’s, DVD’s private lessons, hanging around the Swedish pub in London, translation apps on Iphone, Podcasts and videos.

One of the best I have found is on YouTube called “Go Swedish”

The lessons are easily structured, fun to follow and best of all free! They certainly won’t convert you into a fluent speaking Swede but if your after a good starting point then click on the link above and watch.

Njut!

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The Swedish educational system

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

I read today that Sweden has decided to change their University system. The report reads that Sweden’s new university admissions system discriminates against foreign students and breaks EU law, according to the country’s university regulator.

The system, introduced this year, obliges universities to prioritize students who have studied extra high school courses in certain subjects such as maths and languages – but only if they’ve studied in the Swedish system. People who have been schooled outside of Sweden are relegated to a different quota group. But my main question is does that apply for EU citizens/residents as well?

The complicated new system may actually stop some people out of courses completely. The size of the quota group must reflect the percentage of foreign applicants. So for small courses with a small percentage of foreign students this could lead to them being frozen out.

This new system is already drawing in complaints from neighboring Scandinavian countries: Danish student Emma Vig was rejected for a course in Japanese at Lund University, despite having top marks in her Danish high school exams. This has drawn complaints from the Danish and Icelandic ministers have also indicated their displeasure, pointing out that Sweden has signed agreements with the other Nordic countries that bind Swedish universities to treat other Nordic students the same as domestic applicants.

There are those in the Swedish educational system that are already complaining that the system is unfair and needs to be changed. If you compare this to the UK system I would agree that this is an unfair system. The UK place a precedence on overseas students taking up college and university courses through either paid for, sponsored or free education.

Last years figures show that 15% of all students in the UK were non British. As someone moving to Sweden I may have a desire to further my knowledge possibly in Swedish history or Swedish politics but there needs to be more places made available to those educated outside of the Swedish educational system, especially when more Swedish people are seeking education overseas.

It’s a challenging system that is one I need to research more.

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What shall I take with me?

Monday, July 19th, 2010

Well in five weeks time I will be in Sweden for one week. I’m planning to take an extra suitcase and pack as much as I can in so I then have room to take even more essentials when I move in September.

I have begun a mass clearout of what I own and it’s about 90% clothes. With the exception of my mobile phone and computers I won’t be taking any electrical goods with me. It’s a bit pointless as to ship it over is the same price as buying a new one.

One thing that has been a little strange is thinking of how much downsizing I have done in the past ten years since moving from Bristol to London. When I made the first move I had to hire a van to move all my things down. Now I can practically fit all I own in a car!

I’m in the process of packing things up into boxes and will then ship over the rest of the items I need around October/November time. I will need to take a lot with me but not so much that I have things I do not need.

Over the years I have become a rather experienced traveller, but going travelling and moving to a new country is a totally different ballgame!

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Swedens drinking culture

Friday, July 16th, 2010

I was recently reading this blog and some of the comments I found interesting regarding the topic of drinking during week days. Here in the UK we have a rather set drinking culture. Some people I know only drink on weekends, some I know go to the pub every day (regulars) or others, like me, just enjoy a chilled beer or two at home after a hard day at work.

However it does seem that many of the comments left on this blog give me the impression that if you mention the mere fact that your going to have a few drinks on a weekday then your deemed to be something of an alcoholic? But surely this is not the case. I love a good cold beer, I also like a nice glass of wine with food that I take the time and effort to cook but this certainly does not make me an alcoholic.

The accessibility to alcohol is much harder in Sweden than it is in the UK. You can practically walk into any food shop/store in the UK and purchase alcohol and it’s cheap. Sweden’s alcohol laws are far stricter than the UK and whilst you can purchase light beers in the supermarkets, anything stronger has to be purchased from a Systembolaget. These are state run alcohol shops that close at ridiculous times! Imagine you have had a hard day at work and you fancy a beer at home with a nice meal and your feet up in front of the TV. Well leave work early as these shops close at 6pm! In the UK any off licence will be open till around 11pm should you want to purchase anything from them.

Maybe this is a good method though. The UK has the highest level of alcohol abuse in Europe and Sweden the lowest. Pubs are extremely expensive in Sweden compared to the UK where pubs compete to undercut each other on a consistent basis. Yet I have seen the same level of mad drunkenness in Sweden as I have in the UK. No matter how they try and cap this culture of binge drinking it seems that no method is that effective. Not even having all alcohol sold by the state like they do in Sweden.

Also the Swedish people that I know in Sweden admit that Sweden has a hidden drinking culture that is never spoken of much. Many people in Sweden drink far too much at home and it’s something that the government refuses to acknowledge. The UK takes the opposite stance and tries to persuade people to cut the level of drinking.

No matter how many noses are turned up at me I will still be having some cold beers on a Wednesday and will enjoy them immensely and if I go to work the next day with a hangover I don’t care as I work from home!

Sweden is a wonderful country, a country I will soon be proud to call my home but I do feel there are some things about Sweden, like the sale of alcohol that needs to move into the 21st century.

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Ok shock over, let’s move forward!

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Well following yesterdays bombshell letter about the tax issue if you are still a UK resident living in Sweden I decided to get my jaw off the floor and start working.

My initial research shows that there is little information out there yet I am sure in this day and age that I am not the only person that is going to be working remotely in another EU country yet is still paid by A UK Company.

I’m not one for doing the whole self employed thing that is just lazy. I just want to do this the right and productive way. One good news is that I have three months to live in Sweden before I even begin to get this resolved so I am looking at around December/January time. Moving to Sweden is going to happen and nothing can de-rail my dream. Ok so I will probable have to pay around 15% more tax than I am paying right now. For the price of a dream that is a small price to pay, besides I will be saving much more than I am here.

Above all if you have a dream in life you are going to have to make sacrifices, no matter how little or big they are, it’s the price we have to pay. So I guess I had better sign off today and start ringing up these tax offices!

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Is my move to Sweden over before it even begins?

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

Had a letter through the post from The Swedish Embassy today saying that under Eu tax laws I will have to start paying Swedish taxes the minute I become a Swedish resident. That’s fine I have no worries with that.

However as I will still be paid by an UK employer then I may have to still pay UK taxes too. This will amount to around 60% of my earnings which I will not do. It all leaves everything up in the air right now. I wish that I was not stuck in France right now, I have limited time and have a very busy day ahead but will be researching all that I can before calling both the UK ans Swedish embassies tomorrow morning.

Guess I won’e be watching any World Cup Final today. I also realised I have not had a day off in 18 days. I envy you 9-5 people!

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Part of my taste buds will forever be in England

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

My girlfriend sent me a link to a shop in Stockholm that sells English Food. (http://www.englishshop.se/)

This actually got me thinking about food and what they do and don’t sell in Sweden. Food is unfortunately something that I cannot take with me back to Sweden (but I will be smuggling in some Reggae Reggae sauce!) so it got me thinking about what I will miss.

Firstly, unlike many Swedes, I hate fish. That maybe odd coming from someone who lives on an Island but I really do not like it, the thought of eating something that’s been flopping around in rivers and seas does not really appeal to me. I don’t hate all fish, I just like it covered in breadcrumbs. How British of me.

But back to the shop, firstly I was staggered by the prices of the food but then again I have to remember that these are imported products. Also looking through the wide range of products available I realised that I have not actually tasted, and in some cases seen, these products in years. They are all very “British”!. Ovaltine, Horlicks, Robinsons Jam, Quaker Porridge, the list goes on. It’s also probably the only shop in the world that still sells “Bounce” sheets for the tumble dryer.

I know that the food in Sweden is great (but eating meat for breakfast will take a while to get used to!) and it’s not that different to the UK but there are some things that I will miss. An example was the last time I was in Sweden I ran around Willys like a headless chicken frantically searching for pasta bake and could not believe when they did not sell it. Meat is also far more expensive in Scandinavia than it is in the UK.

I’m not going to sulk because I cannot go to my local chip shop nor have an English Breakfast. I will indulge in the lovely food that Sweden has to offer, I will learn to cook new meals and try new foods. Yet deep down a part of my taste buds will always be in England.

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Are Swedish difficult to make friends with?

Monday, July 5th, 2010

The last few months I’ve been reading but not participating in The Local’s forum. I’ve probably read over 500 threads about people who have moved to Sweden from other countries, there experiences and how they have handled the change. It appears that some are good at adjusting yet some gave up quicker and went home.

With any forum you have to take what you read with a pinch of salt as some people will always post in a negative frame of mind. It appears that Sweden is different to how people envisaged but I’m just wondering how many of those who arrived had visited Sweden before. Even though I have been many times it is still going to be a shock to me when I actually do move (just booking a one way ticket will feel strange!)

One of the topics that I have been very interested in is how those who have moved to Sweden have found it hard to make friends. Many of the posts call Swedish people “Cold” or “Unfriendly” and this has got me thinking. It has awoken some memories and thoughts about my visits to Sweden and the difference between the UK and Swedish cultures.

Living the majority of my life in the UK I have found that moving to a new area means that the local pub is the best place to find friends. I’ve been living where I am for around 18 months now and I met my longest known friends in the local. Alas they were never keen to do anything outside of the pub and so that limited the friendships.

Sweden has a much more outgoing culture than the UK and friends will do a lot more outdoors than us Brits. Yet reading all of the posts so far it appears that Swedish people can be hostile to newcomers. Yet is this true? Could it be that those who have moved to Sweden have been to reluctant to approach any new people due to fear of language or not being accepted? I will admit I don’t have many friends in Sweden so I will be starting all over again. I have always been good at meeting new people so I actually see this as more of a challenge than a problem.

So my questions to all my Swedish readers are

• Do you think Swedish people are reluctant to make new foreign friends?
• What is the best way of making friends with Swedish?
• Where is the best place to meet new Swedish friends?

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Why Tiger Woods will never again win the ultimate prize

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

Tiger Woods and wife Elen Nordegren have signed a $750,000,000 divorce settlement according to The Sun.

As much as I admire Tiger Woods sporting achievements there is still one thing that puzzles me about the events that have been unravelling in his private life. The question on my lips is not “Why did he cheat”, but “Why would he cheat”.

Look at the women that Tiger has admitted sleeping with. Hardly what I would call attractive.

Tigers women

Now look at the former lovely wife and mother of his children.

Elin

To me it’s not even a contest. Tiger may have won a lot of prizes in his life. But in this Swedish angel he has lost the greatest prize of all.

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