Category Archives: The Expat Blog

No Shoes Indoors! | The Expat Blog

To read the whole post, check out “No Shoes Indoors” on The Expat Blog at Sweden.se

Finally, you arrive in Sweden.

Maybe you’re meeting someone—maybe an old friend. A friend who could be more than a friend. A lover.

You’re welcomed at the airport, and on the trip towards his or her home, you’re almost shaking. It could be the tiredness, the effects of the long flight, the rough-edged emotions that can’t be quieted at this particular moment.

You recognize these feelings. Excited. Nervous. Overjoyed. You’ve felt them before, but never like this.

Then you arrive, your friend helping you carry your bags up the stairs and over the threshold. You stumble through the door and into the living room, eager to see the pristine white walls and Ikea-dominated apartment you’ve heard so much about.

And then you hear your friend’s voice, but it sounds different—harsher than before.

Where the hell do you think you’re going with your shoes on?

To read the whole post, check out “No Shoes Indoors” on The Expat Blog at Sweden.se

 

5 things that are already making my 2012 fantastic | The Expat Blog

Click here to read the whole article on the Expat Blog at Sweden.se

I love the idea of New Year’s resolutions. Keeping them is another thing altogether.

I don’t think I’ve ever kept a New Year’s resolution that has been life-changing… or kept one at all, if we’re being honest. I’m much better with Lenten promises. It’s really hard to forget what you promised to do in just 40 days.

This year is going to be different, though. I swear. I have only two resolutions, and I’ve got a plan for at least one of them. The plan for resolution #2 is still in the works, but I fully intend to create a plan and work on it. Immediately, if not sooner.

My first resolution for 2012 is to cultivate more contentment in my life. I have a tendency to obsess about where I want to be six months, a year, and five years from now, and sometimes I realize that I forget to enjoy the here and now. I’m not giving up on being all my goal-setting and crazy ambition, but I’m going to try to temper all that forward-thinking with more satisfaction with what I have now.

To that end, I’m going to start practicing deliberate gratitude on a regular basis. Numerous internet experts say that gratitude has amazing benefits on your health and well-being, and if an internet expert says it, it has to be true. Right?

At the very least, the New York Times said, “Cultivating an “attitude of gratitude” has been linked to better health, sounder sleep, less anxiety and depression, higher long-term satisfaction with life and kinder behavior toward others, including romantic partners.”

I can’t really argue with that. So to start the year off right, here are 5 things that are already making my 2012 fantastic.

Click here to read the whole article on the Expat Blog at Sweden.se

Sunshine is playing a big role in the awesomeness of 2012. Can you believe that this is what Lund and Malmö looked like on January 6th??

Click here to read the whole article on the Expat Blog at Sweden.se

Work makes me happy

Because Christmas fell on a Sunday, we had just one day off of work. A day that I spent in my pyjamas, watching TV, surfing the internet, and occasionally stirring myself from the box of chocolates by my side just enough to make it to the kitchen to continue stuffing my face with cookies. (It’s all about balance, you know.)

It took until about 4 pm to hate myself, but no way was I going for a walk outside in the dark or *shudder* the gym, otherwise known as “the single biggest waste of money in 2011.” Around 6 pm, I decided to take a shower because I wanted a glass of wine and I couldn’t bring myself to drink wine while still sitting on the sofa, wearing pyjamas from the night before and surrounded by a ring of my own cookie crumbs.

In any case, it was a one-day thing because the next day I dutifully trudged off to work, happy to be saved from myself. And look at me now! It’s 5:30 and I’m totally still working instead of heading home to cuddle with Señor Reuterswärd, as he is known in more southern climes.

I have taken over my colleague’s computer over the last few days while I am here and she is on break. During this time, I have logged into every single thing it’s possible to log into and have doubtless forgotten to log back out of several of them. Oops.

Anyway, this is a long prelude to sharing what is awesome news for me! My part-time, “paid by the hour” teaching gig has been upgraded to full time work, 40 hours a week. Woot woot for money! And stability! And feeling a sense of fulfillment at a job well done. Happy chiquita over here.

So from now on, when I’m not teaching, I’ll be doing more proofreading than before, plus administrative tasks, and when I have to travel to a company to teach Business English, I won’t have to worry about tallying the hours and whatnot. Excellent.

EQUALLY AWESOME: My blog with the Swedish Institute has been renewed again, and this time for a whole two months at a time! LOVE IT. It’s like I’m a real girl with a real day job with a secret second life as a real wannabe writer! Add in the fact that I live with the best and coolest guy in the world, and life could not be better. Happy happy happy happy happy.

I will leave you with some thoughts on work. I looked them up for this blog post, thinking I was going to be very serious, but that impulse didn’t last long.

“Without work, all life goes rotten. But when work is soulless, life stifles and dies.” – Albert Camus

“Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need.” – Voltaire

Word.

You’re Celebrating on the Wrong Day!—and other things you didn’t know about Christmas in Sweden

It’s the night before Christmas, and all through the mouse, not a beach chair is stirring, not even a louse.

Wait, what!?!

Celebrating Christmas abroad can make you feel like things are, well, a little topsy-turvy.

You may have read about the way people celebrate in the country you’re living in, or you might be going into the day free of any knowledge or misconceptions. Regardless of which category you fall under, there will come a point in the day when you look around you and think to yourself:

Now what exactly is going on here?

Last week, I was invited to be on a radio show with two Swedish comedians to talk about the differences between American and Swedish Christmas traditions as I perceived them. I had some thoughts at that time, but now that I’ve actually experienced my first Christmas in Sweden, I’m ready to tell it like it is.

Click here to read the full post on the Expat Blog at Sweden.se:

“You’re Celebrating on the Wrong Day!—and other things you didn’t know about Christmas in Sweden.”

Below, I present to you, the ring dance. Very serious business.

Click here to read the full post on the Expat Blog at Sweden.se.

Christmas Spirit Mania

It’s been nutty around here for the last week, and I haven’t had a chance to write much even though the things to write about are piling up.

I have some exciting things coming up, including an interview with the incredible designers behind Herring + Haggis, so stay tuned over the next couple of days for more!

In the meantime, check out these blog posts I’ve written over at Sweden.se about holiday goings-on in Sweden.

Expat Holidays: How to Create Christmas Spirit on the Cheap

Happy Lucia Day!

Christmas time in Sweden: THERE WILL BE GLÖGG!

ALERT! Test yourself for these signs of Holiday Spirit Fever

Malmö is all dressed up for Christmas

Malmö is all dressed up for Christmas, and I love it. I took a few photos today as I walked from one office to another. All the beautiful lights are enough to make you kind of glad that it’s so dark outside all the time.

On another note, I posted a blog post today on the Expat Blog at Sweden.se called, “THERE WILL BE GLÖGG!” Get it? Get it?! Well. Ok, then.

COME TO MAMA.

Here goes nothing:

In a country filled with seasonal food holiday traditions, I have discovered the tradition to rule them all. The celebration centers on a certain group of foods and drink, but the focus is much more on the Christmas feeling tied to the smells and tastes than the food itself. You will know it by its name and the sound it makes as it goes down your throat:

Glug, glug, glögg!

To read the whole thing, follow this link to “Christmas time in Sweden: THERE WILL BE GLÖGG!” at the Expat Blog at Sweden.se.

A Very Expat Thanksgiving | the Expat Blog

To read the whole post, follow this link to A Very Expat Thanksgiving on the Expat Blog at Sweden.se.

In my opinion, it’s all about the stuffing.

Actually, it’s all about the stuffing in most Americans’ opinions and yet, paradoxically, the stuffing is the part that is least appreciated and/or understood by the Swedes I’ve shared Thanksgiving with.

You put it where? Really?! Why?

Yes, we put it there.

To read the whole post, follow this link to A Very Expat Thanksgiving on the Expat Blog at Sweden.se.


43 Things I Love About Sweden | The Expat Blog

Follow this link to read the 43 things I love (tangible and intangible) about life in Sweden from the Expat Blog at Sweden.se.

Thanks to the wedding, my parents were here in Sweden for the first time, and I got to  show off my new home to two pairs of captive eyes and ears. Poor people… there are so many fun things to see and do (and eat) that I might have been totally exhausting them. I think they enjoyed it anyway.

Besides touring all the tourist sites and cafes in the country, though, I found myself peppering them with a constant stream of facts about life in Sweden. When we got off the train in Lund from Stockholm, I found myself suddenly emotional about how much I love this country that has become home to me.

Being at one with nature and foraging: two things to love about Sweden.

Follow this link to read the 43 things I love (tangible and intangible) about life in Sweden from the Expat Blog at Sweden.se.

Swedish bread: one of many things to love.

Follow this link to read the 43 things I love (tangible and intangible) about life in Sweden from the Expat Blog at Sweden.se.

My Big Fat Swedish Wedding! | The Expat Blog

Love of planning and unhurried, deliberate journey to the altar be damned. The big day came and went, and my Swede and I tied the knot!

Since then, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the wedding: what it was like, what we did, and so on. It was a long, exciting, joyful day full of activities… follow the link to read all about the day’s activities and look at more photos!

Right after the ceremony, so happy and finally relaxed! Photo: Elaine Hargrove

Even more Swedish language hilarity

My two posts on hilarious Swedish words and phrases got a lot of reader feedback. As it turns out, the best kind of nerd-fest is a foreign language nerd-fest.

A man who goes only by the name of “Woodge,” (@woodge on Twitter) sent me these two photos, one from Bornholm, a Danish island off the coast of Sweden, and the other of some Swedish candy bars.

First you’ve got some bådfarten, and before you know it… PLOPP! 

Haha, ewwwww! (Yes, I know, I’ve got the maturity level of an 8 year old boy… as if that’s a negative.)

For more Sweden-related blog posts from Woodge, check out his blog at woodge.posterous.com. Thanks again, Woodge, for the photos!

 

If you haven’t seen my two posts on Swedish words that make me giggle, check them out here: 

14 Swedish Words That Make Me Giggle

25 More Swedish Words (and Phrases) That Make Me Giggle

 

rain and cold
are not conducive to fun.