Crush

Right, After my "bored of Scotland & Everything else" topics. I've been toying with the idea of fleeing the country to live in Sweden for a while (well, i've been wanting to do it for a while, but even more so now).

I've read dozens of websites & stuff about it, but none of them are massively helpfull, or talk from experience, which isn't much help to me. Although, my mates flatmate is Swedish, and she says that I shouldn't try to stay in Stockholm, cause it's so hard to find decent accomodation (it looks a bit big for me anyway)

I reckon I can learn the language quickly enough, and I am soon to be proffesionally qualified in investment admin type stuff, which I think I will need to get some sort of job, cause it would be daft to go without trying to have some sort of work lined up.

So has anyone made the switch? where would be the best place to go, and what ways are there to try & set up work first?

I just have visions of getting off the plane; then thinking "What now?"

Any help would be appreciated, cause i'm a bit thick

Cheers

camk

rather than just move to Sweden why not just try and find a job 'somewhere', possibly Sweden , have a job sorted and you'll solve 90% of the issues of living abroad.
Sweden is very nice, however its extremely cold in Winter and Alcohol is expensive. Best of Luck.

Markus

Crush - YHM

Crush

Cheers Markus

Camk, I've weighed up the pro's & cons. And Sweden does look to be the place for me. I can handle the cold

Besides, If I don't like it. I'll move on after a while anyway

Bajie

I lived in Fridhemsplan for 9 months. 1 stop from the t-central station Stockholm. Really enjoyed my time there but missed the midsummer festivities. Which is a big mistake.
There were Irish bars [always are abroad], the main meeting point was The Loft [good guiness] where a lot of us "expats" would use as a starting point.
Clubbing is good fun. As ever you get the poser clubs [Riche] and lots of others going down the scale. Never ask a Swedish girl for a dance when you're on the dance floor. She will say no. Get your flatmate to explain a lot of the etiquette, otherwise you will get frustrated. If you ask the guys at work if they fancy an evening out and they don't fancy it they will say "No". It will sound rude. Its not ... its Swedish. Swedes in general are very independent and always go Dutch [?]. Don't be offended if you offer a colleague a drink and she says no.
Winter in Sweden. Sun comes up late and goes down at 14:30. You live in perpetual darkness. Sweden has [had] the highest rate of suicide in winter. summer, the sun makes up for what it missed and disappears around 02:00 coming back at 06:00.
Drink is expensive and in the off-license you have to get a ticket and wait in line for alcohol. save it and do the booze cruise to helsinki once a month.
Its a great place. Loved the time i spent there and still in contact with people i met while I was there.
Information above is very basic. I was in Sweden 1996-1997.
Its very historical. the old town is great. Cobblestone roads and you can "feel" time. Mind your head on some of the doorways. Swedish people used to be shorter than me!
Good luck with whatever you decide.

ozzy

RB5-Black's just back from living in Norway for a while. He'd give you some advice on living in Scandinavia and just how cold and dark the nights are. Fantastic place in the summer though.

Personally, I'd go to the Czech Republic. Cheap food and drink, cheap accommodation (unless you pick Prague), fantastic weather and the birds are gorgeous.

Stefan

MarkCSC

Thought about moving to Sweden aswell. The langauge is not a huge problem as most people seem to speak English in Stockholm. Getting a work permit will be a problem unless you have a job or lots of savings.
You can't get a job without a national insurance number/work permit, you can't get a national insurance number without an address, you can't rent a house without a Swedish bank account and you can't get a swedish bank account without an address. Or something like that.
this is not 100% true but it is a bugger to just go there and then find a job. Most people I know have had their employer sponsor them through the work permit process.

Best advice would be to get a job first.

My girlfriend lived there for a year as a student and loved it. But be warned it is really expensive. We bought bread, jam, marg and some fruit and it cost nearly £12!!!!!

MarkCSC

Oh and get a copy of "Getaway in Stockholm". You'll never look at the old town in the same way ever again.

SecretAgentMan

Sweden - land of beautiful women, and tasty food (compared to England )

I'd recommend you to find a job first, then move - everything would become so much easier then.

Taxes are a pain (I loose almost 40% directly on my salary, then another 25% on VAT on everything else - if I can't avoid it )and the petrol is almost as expensive as in England.

Basically you need to be rich, or earn really well, or find a wealthy bird.

Houses are VERY cheap though by comparison....and cars are a wee bit cheaper....as is insurance.



Winters can be a drag, but Imprezas are frickin lovely on slippery stuff - as long as you've got proper tires on 'em.
Good skiing isn't too far away either.

Summers are superb, with lot's of light as someone mentioned, which more than makes up for the 4-5 months of darkness we get.

The general Swede isn't too talkative, and you'll need to get to really know him to get him to open up....there are exceptions (me? ) though...

The Swedish scooby club (http://www.impreza.nu) is a small community started 3 years ago, but we're getting there with monthly meets, trackdays, rally trips and such things.



All in all - I really enjoy living here, but wouldn't mind a few years in England either (did 3 weeks in Sevenoaks 2 years ago, and we had a blast).

/J

zax

I went from Scotland to Finland, with just over a year in Sweden in between. Enjoyed Sweden very much, spent most of my time on Stockholm with a couple of months in Göteborg. I would definately agree with the folks who have recommended you find a job first. If it's a large, international company chances are you won't have as much need to speak fluent Swedish. Take it from one who knows - it's ironic but you need better language skills to take a ****ty job than a good one But then Swedish is a lot easier to understand than Finnish to my ears...

Crush

Thanks SAM, Zax

I didn't realise it would be so expensive But I assume it can't be much worse than this rip-off country?

Although it definitely sounds worth a shot. Especially with all the rallying that's around I'll try & investigate setting up some work this afternoon

Cheers Guys

MarkCSC

Finnish in a nightmare language to learn as it is based on Hungerian. Swedish is germanic based so there are a lot of cross overs with English