My 1-month review of living in Sweden
Hej everyone, so I have been living in Sweden for over a month now! I moved here in August and here is how I am feeling about the country and the city of Gothenburg based on this short period.
Quick re-cap as to how and why I got here. I am an engineer working for a Swedish car company that also has an office in the UK. Prior to the global pandemic in 2019, I showed my interest in wishing to live and work abroad. Sadly the pandemic paused the plans, but now 3 years later I made it,,,
Working life
So the first thing I guess is working life! it is the reason I am here. In short, I find it significantly greater than my experiences in the UK, in all places I have worked, The working culture is usually flatter working structures in my industry but also speaking to other friends, which means you’re spending less time with politics and more time with doing your job.
Not only the way the work is here but also the benefits around work like holidays, child care leave, etc etc all have improved conditions that I was aware of in the UK.
Getting around
Moving from a country where I felt I needed to have a private car to do most of the things in my daily life, to now not having one at all. This is mainly due to being able to live in the city and work on a local bus route… massively reducing my dependence on driving to work, whereas in my role in the UK I was working 40mins by car away from where I lived. I would contribute better travel conditions to being in a city as opposed to the midlands in the UK. But also to our locations of larger industries being closer to cities so that the possibility of public transport to get to work is likely.
Culture
Now for a more generic view of the wider Swedish culture from the short period, I have been here. The main thing I have noticed, and something which has really boosted my mood. I feel everyone here seems really happy and positive. I have noticed a lot less aggressive or unfortunate behaviour in public.
Now, this can be just me looking through a tinted perspective, but generally, after a month I am experiencing a lot of interactions with some amazing strangers.
Language
Now you may have heard this but, the Swedish people are insanely good at English, like better than I am. I would recommend understanding a couple of phrases and if you’re planning on staying long, doing some Swedish language so you can have basic conversations. The main this about knowing Swedish would be useful is that you can read a lot more about yourself. But as I mentioned you’ll be more than adequate in the country if you speak English
As always if you want me to expand on any of these points, I can fo so. Please let me know in the comments!!
