transatlantic sketches

How to find a job in Sweden from abroad | from The Expat Blog

Kate — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 11:42:44 +0000

To read the whole post, check out “How to find a job in Sweden from abroad” on the Expat Blog at Sweden.se.

If you want to live in Sweden and you’re not an EU or Swiss citizen, you’ve got basically three options: one, study; two, have a lasting and genuine relationship with someone else who has permission to live in Sweden; or three, find a job.

Choosing to study in Sweden is probably the one you have the most control over; the second is a little more up to fate. And then there’s the third option.

Finding a job in Sweden is tough, especially since the EU has certain protectionist laws that make it difficult for European countries to hire non-Europeans. (This does not necessarily apply to international companies, which are free to transfer employees throughout the organization.)

I get questions about searching for a job in Sweden all the time, so I thought I’d share some of my experiences as well as a letter from a blog reader.

To read the whole post, check out “How to find a job in Sweden from abroad” on the Expat Blog at Sweden.se.

Airport Days

Kate — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:19:59 +0000

I’m sitting on the bus from Malmö Airport to Lund now, thank goodness, because I am one tired chiquita. Two days of teaching nonstop is totally exhausting! It went well, though, and I’m really happy I got the chance to work with such interesting people.

At the end of my trip, I got a little tour of the VIP areas at the airport and then got escorted to my gate in one of their VIP cars (BMWs, strangely enough, since you’d expect them to go Swedish with Volvos). I even got to see the room where the Royal Family stays when they fly… Very cool.

I learned lots of cool facts about Arlanda, so now I’m just hoping that our next quiz night has some airport questions thrown in. You never know, it could happen…

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this little fact. In Swedish, the words avisning and avvisning sound the same and mean “de-icing” and “deportation,” respectively. I witnessed one of these things through my tiny plane window and not the other.

A Very Wiseman Trip to the Airport

15 Ways To Say I Love You In Swedish | The Expat Blog

Kate — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:40:45 +0000

Click here to read 15 Ways to Say I Love You in Swedish on the Expat Blog at Sweden.se

We Americans are known for throwing around the word “love” to mean everything from “This is an amazing sandwich” (I LOVE JIMMY JOHN’S!) to “I want to spend the rest of my life with you” (I love you). We think this is normal, but the rest of the world tends to express their feelings more subtly.

If you’re coming to Sweden, a straight up “Jag älskar dig” might be hard to come by, but listen closely enough, and you’ll hear it being expressed in other ways.

Click here to read 15 Ways to Say I Love You in Swedish on the Expat Blog at Sweden.se

Off to Stockholm, sort of

Kate — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:34:18 +0000

I’m headed off to kind of Stockholm right now for a two day business trip… Very exciting, mostly because the seminar I’m leading will be interesting and a new experience for me, but a little disappointing because I’ll be sooooo close to Stockholm and yet still not there. I was also a tiny bit disappointed to miss Valentine’s Day with Simon, but we’re going out to dinner next weekend. Plus, we are seriously romantic lovebirds 6 days out of 7 so I don’t feel like I’m missing out on the one day when Simon is compelled to be lovey dovey by the force of a Hallmark Holiday Culture he doesn’t understand.

Anyway. I’m teaching Business English to the VIP coordinators and Visit coordinators at Swedavia, a company that owns 18 airports within Sweden or something like that. Basically, when the King goes to the airport, VIP staff members take care of him, take him through separate security areas, escort him to a private waiting area, etc. All celebrities who come through Sweden get the same treatment, and for a “reasonable price” so can regular old people too (mostly being marketed to honeymooners, as you might expect).

So Swedavia employees have to speak impeccable English for all the foreign celebrities and hotshots, and I get to teach it to them. Yeah!

I’m also excited because I like traveling, I think airports are interesting (and now I’m going to be in airports for the next 2.5 days or so), and I get to stay at the Radisson Blu Hotel at the airport, which is totally swank. Woop woop!

As you can see, I’ve got food, water, and the obligatory chocolate supply… Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are officially easy to find in Stockholm. (Side note: what is it about traveling that compels me to stockpile food like a cult member before he end of days? Like clockwork, I go into a frenzy right before I leave!)

Last but not least, that little scroll rolled up with a green ribbon is my personal VIP pass to Starbucks’ super secret VIP night before its official opening on Feb 22.

Life is just insane right now, and I’m loving it!

UPDATE: Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. Delicious, irresistible crack. I resisted the temptation to eat it for about 15 minutes. Then it was gone again.

No related posts.

Life in Sweden, as usual? | The Expat Blog

Kate — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:00:25 +0000

When I think about the events of 2012 so far, what strikes me most is how normal it all feels. A friend asked me recently when you stop being an expat and start being something else. I’m not sure that I have a good answer to that yet, but I think I’m on my way to whatever that is.

Everyday life doesn’t feel weird anymore. I have a full time job, friends (both Swedish and international), and a family, if not the one I was born to. I speak passable Swedish. I eat weird Swedish snacks, like leverpastej on Wasa crackers, without thinking twice.

When I think about my life here, I don’t measure successes and failures in terms of whether the move to Sweden “was worth it” anymore. It just is that way now.

Read the full post on the Expat Blog at Sweden.se.

Biggest news of 2012 so far: the arrival of little Luna to our friends Sofie and Adam.

Luna is so adorable that after a couple of hours in her presence, I *almost* wanted a baby of my own. For the meantime, though, being Aunt Kate is perfect.

No related posts.

No Shoes Indoors! | The Expat Blog

Kate — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:00:04 +0000

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

Balmy Wintertime Malmö

Kate — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 13:00:37 +0000

I’ve been saying that the weather has been pretty mild here, and now I have proof. All you naysayers who were like, Kate has finally lost her marbles once and for all, poor thing thinks that it’s warm in Sweden during the winter. Next thing you know, she’ll be telling us that there aren’t any polar bears there, either.

Proof, I tell you! PROOF!

I took this photo on Malmö’s main shopping street, Södra Förstadsgatan, during the period between Christmas and New Year—conveniently called the “mellandagar,” or “in-between days,” in Swedish. The picture was taken at 17:04:44, give or take a few milliseconds. Not really the warmest part of the day, and yet, and yet…

Against all odds, one brave coffee shop had set up outdoor seating, and people were flocking to it, plopping themselves down in the cold, damp, overcast weather, out with their coffees and coats on. Unbelievable.

A mellandagar miracle.

Demonstrations in Malmö

“American Soda”

Kate — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:00:12 +0000

Simon and I went for a quick grocery run on our way home today and came across this at the ICA Malmborgs in Lund. Simon pointed out that the list of American sodas should probably be a lot longer than this, but I guess Vanilla Coke and Mountain Dew are extra-American.

American Soda ("Amerikansk Läsk") according to ICA: Vanilla Coke and Mountain Dew.

Speaking of which, does anyone still drink Vanilla Coke? I feel like that was a fad for a hot second in high school that died once we realized that it’s disgusting. Mountain Dew, though… that stuff is gross but powerful. Every once in a while (road trips, all-nighters), you’ve just got to Do the Dew.

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

Kate — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 13:00:34 +0000

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

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas…

Kate — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 13:58:07 +0000

Yesterday, I was featured on the Displaced Nation’s series on expat writers around the world. What an honor!

You can check out my interview here: 12 NOMADS OF CHRISTMAS: Kate Reuterswärd, American expat in Sweden (12/12)

The Displaced Nation is an online blog/magazine dedicated to writing by “expats, global nomads, armchair travelers and the like.” The whole series has been really awesome and I have discovered a lot of great expat bloggers and writers! You can check out the whole series here.

Thanks again to the Displaced Nation for including me in their 12 Nomads of Christmas series!

Awesome-o! Read the full article here: 12 NOMADS OF CHRISTMAS: Kate Reuterswärd, American expat in Sweden (12/12)