An Alien in Sweden

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

21 Days to go – No reason left to stay

Tuesday, August 31st, 2010

21 Days to Go

A facebook friend of mine is moving to Japan on Friday. Like me the thought of spending another year in the UK is becoming less and less appealing.

Firstly I would like to clear one thing up. I don’t hate the UK, nor do I hate living here. I was born in Britain, I am proud to be British and I will always be British no matter where I live. But like my facebook friend and I we have become tired of the way that the country has become over the last few years.

Before the new coalition government took power in May the previous government seemed to act like tenants leaving a property. Gone was the love, gone was the caring they just ran it into the ground for the next government to clean up the mess. Crime and Unemployment are at an all time high and even after living in London for ten years I have noticed the difference.

I am old enough to know that Sweden is not a country paved with gold; it has its problems just like the UK. There is unemployment, crime and issues just like we have here. But after spending the last eight days in Sweden, my last ‘visit’ before my move I have realised that I am making the correct decision.

There will be many things that I will miss (note to self. pack Reggae, Reggae Sauce, Vinegar and Mustard!) but there are also plenty of opportunities through work to come back to the UK and enjoy the things that currently I am taking for granted.

The UK has gone downhill the last few years and I have made the big decision to move to a country where I cannot speak the language fluently nor do I know how to drive on the other side of the road. A country where I will be paying more taxes and ridiculous amounts of money for a half full pint of beer.

But the very society that Sweden has, the society that my friends deem as “boring” is what appeals to me. I want a country with stability, a system where the emphasis is on family life and not just about ‘number one’ It is a decision that I have not taken lightly. It’s been two years of thinking, planning and experiencing to reach.

Yes Sweden is my new home. But my heart will always be British.

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30 Days to Go – Understanding the Swedish political system

Thursday, August 19th, 2010

Apart from the Royal wedding this year the two biggest other events that are happening are of course my move to Sweden (joke) and the forthcoming General Election.

If there is one thing that I have studied more about Sweden than the language it is the political setup in Sweden. After all these are the people that are elected to run the country, make the laws and govern the land. Now it would be pointless to vote in next month’s election as I won’t officially be a resident nor will I know enough about the party’s manifestos to place a worthwhile tick.

The current PM is Patrick Reinfelt and I have been monitoring his party’s policies. I think that the current government has done a good job but like here in the UK many want a change.

There is a huge sweeping change happening across the political map of Europe. Many countries are changing their political parties to emerge from the ashes of the financial climate that has affected so many. For the first time since the early 1970’s there is a coalition government in the UK and three months in the changes that the Conservative/Liberal democrat alliance have announced have been harsh, but needed in order to boost the economy back to what it once was.

The Red-Green opposition seem to have a lot of ideas and policies that I would deem suitable for my own personal lifestyle but that would be a statement that I could so easily change as I have only ever experienced Sweden on a short term visiting basis. When I do become a resident there, then no doubt there will be things that I would agree and of course disagree with.

It’s very important to not only learn about the historical and cultural side of a new country but also to understand the political system and how it operates. Many find politics a very boring issue but for me it’s something that is vital in order to survive in life no matter where one lives.

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31 days to go – Don’t let the negative critics spoil your move to Sweden!

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010

31 Days to go –

Part of my investigation into moving to Sweden was to speak to as many people as possible on forums, in person or on social networking sites. Some were helpful, others not so but most seemed keen to share advice which is one of the reasons that I set up this blog.

For those thinking of moving to Sweden the forum on thelocal.se is a wonderful library of information, knowledge sharing and advice. Yet there are some people who are just so dismissive about moving that they seem almost intent on making sound as bad as possible.

We are all individual with different reasons for moving to Sweden. Some are moving for a change, some for love and others for work. No matter what the reasons it is not going to be an easy process. The world we are living in is in a financial mess, unemployment is up and the cost of living is increasing. On top of that moving to any country that has a different political, educational and cultural environment is always going to add to the challenge.

Some will find the move life changing; others will find it the opposite and will return home quicker than they anticipated. But it is all about the personal challenge that, for me at least, makes it something I will strive to succeed at. Those who only offer the worse negative advice just fly over my head I will not let them distract me.

There are going to be days that the move to Sweden seemed like the best decision I ever made, but I am old and wise enough to know that there will also be days where it seemed like the worst decision ever. That is called life, what comes with the good also comes with the bad, just as light follows darkness.

For anyone thinking or moving to Sweden my only advice is make it what you want to make it. There are hundreds if not thousands of us in the same boat and anyone that needs a friend or advice, I’m here. Were all in this together. Let’s not let the negative idiots drag us down.

Keep smiling!

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33 Days to go – I have too many things to pack

Monday, August 16th, 2010

With just over a month to go things are getting very hectic around my move. I’m currently out of the UK for two weeks so by the time I am back in London I will have just 18 days to pack everything and move.

I’m really behind my schedule. It’s now just mostly down to clothes that I need to sort out but it appears that every time I try and throw something out I have this nostalgic connection to it and I find myself hanging it back in the wardrobe. Now I know that I will be bringing the majority of what I own in October by air but I must start being more ruthless with the things that I do not need.

I began with sorting the clothes into three piles Keep, Do not keep and Unsure.

After I sorted out one part of my closet I realised that I actually only had one pile, ‘Keep’. So I have decided that I will be more ruthless when I return and sort it into the following

• Keep
• Do not keep if not worn for one year
• Rest in storage

That way I will know that I am only taking the essential clothes with me. I’ll be arriving mid September so taking a mountain of T-shirt is not going to be the smartest of moves. I’m hopeless when it comes to this sort of thing so any advice on sorting clothes out will be more than welcome!

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Sweden will not change me

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

A lot of people that I have been speaking to have been saying about how life will be different in Sweden and asking if I was scared about moving to such a different country.

Of course there is a little bit of apprehension and adjustment that needs to be made but simply my answer is no. I am simply moving from one European country to another, the way of life is not that different and the ethics, cultural setup and economic systems are more or less the same.

I’ve been fortunate enough to travel the world and in those travels have seen things that changed my life. I have been amongst what I would describe as some of the best and worst environments that one can imagine. In those travels I have needed to adapt in order to survive so Sweden will be no different.

To simply summarise Sweden will not change me. I will change Sweden.

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Are RyanAir getting too fussy with Sweden?

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

I read today that RyanAir has defied the new Swedish law on charging supplementary fees for bank card payments despite a new Swedish law banning this.

This is not the first time that RyanAir has had issues with Sweden. Last winter during the deep snow many flights to Skavsta were re-directed to Arlanda after Skavsta airport refused any flights that landed after 23.15pm. RyanAir threatened to leave Skavsta if they did not change their minds and eventually an agreement was reached.

In these economically challenging times more and more people are looking for more affordable ways of travel. RyanAir is by far the biggest budget airline in Europe and I personally travel with them as much as I can as it keeps the airfares far lower than if I flew with SAS or BA.
But my question is ‘Are RyanAir getting too big for there own boots?’ my own answer is ‘Yes’.

Each time I fly with RyanAir they are coming up with more and more ideas that never seem to happen. From passengers standing up, to a toilet charge of £1 and the latest is take as much luggage as you want on your flight providing you can take to and from the plane. It’s all just effective advertising that will never actually happen.

RyanAir maybe able to charge extra for online checking and carrying extra bags but by defying the air laws of Sweden they are treading on dangerous ground. Whilst they maybe able to afford pulling out of Sweden financially the damage the companies reputation may take would be too great a risk to take.

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