An Alien in Sweden

A blog about my move from England and my new life in Sweden.
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Posts Tagged ‘christmas’

One year one, what now for my blog?

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

I have been in Sweden for a while now, and the past few weeks I was thinking what I could do with this blog. The main point of the blog was to express my move from the time I decided to move to the first few months after arrival. Through the time, this blog has been active I have learned a tremendous deal about Sweden, its culture, its people and most importantly how it is to live here.

The Local has been a tremendous resource for me to communicate and meet other people who have an affiliation with Sweden and I have even been giving advice of my own for some who are taking the decision to move here. There have been highs, and lows but this is par for the course when trying anything new.

After several months I finally landed the Right of Residence and the Personnummer is on its way. Things have changed for sure. Though this is my first Christmas here, it will be my third winter in total. I’m slowly getting used to things that I one found a novelty. The endless months of snow (though not so much this year!), eating wild boar on Christmas dinner and so on.

Yet though, I have been here one year on and off, I am far from being an expert. One thing that I have found about Sweden is that many only get to experience the tip of the iceberg before forming an opinion. They believe all that they read and acknowledge that as being the only way, which is not so. Sweden is a country with a wonderful heritage, a fantastic society and it takes time to understand the true beauty of this country.

Of course, things will not stay the same forever. Like my blog my direction in Sweden will change course over the next year and where I am twelve months down the line is anybody’s guess. But I certainly am not going to close this blog down. Whilst it was actually aimed at my first year here, I still have so much to learn.

The next phase of my Swedish journey is about to begin. I am not a newbie anymore; I am like the schoolchild who has stepped up the year in High school. I don’t know it all, but I certainly know more than others.

I hope that this blog continues to help, amuse and sometimes get under peoples skin. It’s nothing more than my own thoughts about one mans move from London to Sweden.

Thanks all for reading the past year and here’s to a happy 2012!

Göd Jul!

god jul

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My first six months in Sweden

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

Today marks six months to the day that I moved to Sweden. To say time has gone quickly would be an understatement.

Flying back from London yesterday gave me time to stop and reflect on how the time has gone, the good bits, the bad and what exactly I have achieved.

Firstly I can say it’s been a very long winter. Certainly not one that I was gearing myself up for. Moving to Sweden at the end of October the sudden realisation that winter had replaced autumn was evident in the levels of snow that greeted my arrival. The sudden expectations of romantic strolls around leave strewn parks were dashed by the mere fact that the first thing I had to do was go out and buy some winter shoes that I could actually walk in.

The first two months flew by and it was a case of acclimatising to a new environment, a new lifestyle and, above all a new language. Though I tried to carry on as I left off in London, life was changing.

The social side was the first real change I encountered. Though I was hardly a ‘party animal’ I would be out with friends at the local pub two or three times a week to watch football, shoot some pool or just have a few drinks to catch up on things. Now whilst there was an immediate lack of friends here (still is!) I am not one for being afraid to drink alone. But it seemed to me that drinking during weekdays in Sweden is not the norm. This maybe a good thing for my bank balance at least!

All in all I think I’ve been to the pub less than five times since I moved here.

Then of course came the snow.

Being Scottish snow is not unusual to me. Never in my life had I seen so much snow that had lasted for so long. The beautiful Swedish landscape transformed into a sea of white. Snow back home would last several days maximum, yet here it seemed to last an eternity. The inner child within me loved it, yet I soon learned to share my neighbours feelings of “How long will this last?!”

There does not really seem to be any lasting seasonal transformation here, I only saw snow two weeks ago and now people are sat outside catching the sun. The transformation from winter to spring was instant.

Food was another thing I needed to adjust too fast. Breakfast back in London would consist of a lukewarm cup of coffee, whatever I could throw down my neck in the way of food, and that was it. Yet in Sweden people take their time over breakfast, and rightfully so. Fruit, sandwiches and a vat of coffee are the perfect way to start the day. Then again working from home I do have the luxury of not dashing around like a blue ass fly all day.

Christmas was eventful, mainly due to being snowbound in the UK and, for the second year running, found myself not being in Sweden when I should have been. Yet the build up to Christmas was another major difference. Far more emphasis on the tradition and family values and not too much on the high levels of commercialism that seems to have become the norm in the UK. Attending the Christmas markets, and even a simple visit to the shops it just seemed very different.

I’ve also learnt to become an excellent recycler! Back home it was a case of glass in one bin, everything else in another. But now I just love seeing how much I will get back by recycling beer cans and bottles (more than often people stare at me as though I am some kind of closet alcoholic. Relax people its light beer and I am Scottish after all).

There are many things that I have enjoyed in the first six months here and there have also been a few occasions where I have wanted to pack it all in and move back. But these days are often removed by a new experience that just makes it all the worthwhile.

In summary, each time I fly back from London and I see the night lights over Stockholm a sense of peace comes from within, Sweden no longer feels like the place where I have moved to, it feels like home. The next six months will see many more challenges ahead, the language and more importantly meeting new people the hardest of the two.

It’s been wonderful so far, and a big thank you to all those who take the time to read and comment on this blog.

Just the mindless ramblings of a Brit abroad.

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Good to see Sweden upholding a dying tradition at Christmas

Monday, November 29th, 2010

Well yesterday was my first ever Advent in Sweden, not that we did much as it was about as cold as Jack Frost’s scrotum outside.

In the UK the art of putting up Christmas decorations has become less of an event each year. I remember when I was a child I would long for the days when I would venture up into the cold loft, crawl on all fours like an explorer in a cave. The box that had been up in the roof for all seasons was akin to a magical chest being opened that heralded glittering treasures to admire.

The tree, ah that sturdy plastic tree, it was a like a friend when I was a child, a friend that you only saw once a year but it was always a meeting that you yearned for. Taking out the base, erecting the middle and then laughing as you had lost some of the “leaves” so had to fill in the gaps more and more each year.

Then there was the tinsel (glitter), where would this go? Where best should it go? Was it going to go up the stairs or just hang from the beam? Yes indeed the art of decorating the house as a child was just as important as Christmas itself.
Yet the older we got the more insignificant it became. The childhood soon became the teenage years and well of course the tree would be admired hurriedly on the way out when we were on our way to meet our friends. Into our twenties and the tinsel soon disappeared and was replaced with just a tree. Also does anyone still erect balloons at Christmas these days?

Now the tree comes out when it’s convenient. Long gone are the days when putting up the decorations on any other day other than twelve days before Christmas would bring bad luck to the house. Now it’s just done when one has a spare moment in their hectic lives.

Yes the art of decorations in the UK, in my family at least, has all but vanquished.

So it is refreshing to be in Sweden where Advent seems not just to be a time where you aim to get your decorations up but it’s actually a family event where the days of my childhood soon come flooding back. Every window it appears has the advent candles. In fact the only ones not visible from where I live are the empty apartment.

It’s warming to know that traditional customs still thrive in this modern day age of commercialism and spending excess.
Well done Sweden.

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