I’ve lived in Sweden now for 13 months, and unfortunately I still have no proper job.  I was warned that it usually takes over a year for foreigners to get a proper job here, so I’m not feeling too shocked by it.  But as my previous post discussed, I do know that having taken learning Swedish seriously has brought me much closer to finally having a job here. I have also learned over the last year, and especially the last few months, that a huge part of finding jobs more easily in Sweden is networking.  Getting to know people who can “vouch” for you withinRead More →

So, last month I took a Swedish exam so that I would have some sort of physical proof of my Swedish language capability level.  Just in case it could help me in my job search.  Not that anyone has ever asked me for proof–but I’ve heard it COULD be possible for someone to ask. But, I’ve noticed recently that around the middle of October I finally started to feel comfortable attempting to speak Swedish when meeting potential employers.  I used Swedish when I was at a job fair at the end of October.  I still had my issues, of course, and I wasn’t speaking perfectly. Read More →

After almost a year here in Sweden, I feel like I have finally adapted into my life here pretty well and act reasonably Swedish.  But occasionally there are American things that I just find hard to break away from.  And these are similar for all expats in a new country, no matter how long they have been away from their original country, because they are things we grew up with–they are ingrained into us.  One of these things is holidays. So, when my first Halloween in Sweden approached, I felt like I needed to celebrate it even though Swedes are only just barely starting toRead More →

  “As an expat in any country, you are faced with needing to make new friends.  It can feel extremely lonely in the beginning, and it can be intimidating trying to make new friends as a grown adult.  It is almost as horribly challenging as dating and trying to find the one you want to spend your life with–because that is also what you want in your friends, as an adult!  This problem can feel amplified here in Sweden, where Swedish people are notoriously reserved and hard to make a personal connection with. When first moving to a new country, it is common to tryRead More →