The Newbie Guide to Sweden

We explain Sweden

The Newbie Team

The Swedish enthusiasm for races

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The beginning of the year, to me, equals with optimisim: Longer days, a fresh start, a pretty-much empty diary waiting to be filled with exciting opportunities and of course the new years resolution. I’m definitely not alone in promising myself to eat more healthily, drink less alcohol and do more exercise, but how do you keep up the motivation?

After the first few weeks, when the novelty of the new training clothes/exercise classes/fitness equipment has worn off, its really hard to stick to the promises. Even the thought of looking good on the beach in the summer isn’t enough to get me moving. I need a challenge. So I sign up for a race. Or several races. In more than one discipline. And then panic that I wont be able to finish, which gets me off the sofa and moving!

There is no shortage of amateur races in Sweden, from the fundraising 5km walk/run for charity to the super-tough ironman competition there is something to fit all levels, ages (look out for the Barn events for children) and interests.

Of course some races attract more attention than the others. I present to you, the Classics/En Svensk Klassiker. Do you fancy 90km of cross country skiing (Vasalopet) in March? Or perhaps 300km of road cycling (Vätternrundan) in June? Or maybe a 3km open water swim (Vansbrosimmet) in August is more your style? These races are so popular that some years the start places sell out within minutes. That’s right, there are literally thousands of people who want to do these races.

Do these races seem like madness?

In case these distances sound too scary, there are half (halvklassiker) versions of all of these races and the womens race (1/3 of each distance, Tjejklassiker).

All these races are growing in popularity, to the extent that some joke that completing all 4 makes you so Swedish you should get citizenship alongside the medal ☺.

So be warned, after the Christmas and New Year holidays, there is likely to be a significant increase in the frequency of lunch discussions revolving around training, finishing time ambitions and weather predictions!

The classics are truly something that Sweden can be proud of. The organisation is incredibly efficient, people come from abroad just to participate, the atmosphere is amazingly welcoming and friendly and there are a huge number of spectators and volunteers,  even in awful weather!

Happy new year and good luck with the challenges you set for yourself!

Are you “duktig”?

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In 1977, the twenty-one-year-old writer Inger Edelfeldt published her debut novel: Duktig pojke. Back then it made a sensation, as it told the story of a boy, Jim, who slowly but inexorably realizes that he is gay. This little book has become a sort of classic in modern Swedish literature and it is considered the very first Swedish “coming-out”-novel.

Jim is the typically nice, smart, obedient boy. That kind of son that every petit-bourgeoisie mother wants to have. No trouble in school, no fight with other guys in the backyard, no rebellious behaviors. Nice, smart, obedient. In a word, “duktig”.

Apparently, “duktig” indicates only good qualities, but I have always looked upon it with a suspicious eye.

Maybe because parents often use it when their kids draw a scribble (“Oh, vad duktig du är!” “Oh, how good you are!”) as if they had painted a new Monna Lisa, but I never felt I was so good when people told me I was “duktig”.

So how does “duktig” apply to you as a Newbie?

As a foreigner, you might hear it when you start to speak Swedish pronouncing the “ä” and the “ö” with the correct intonation. You are miles away from fluent, you are not even decent, but someone will say it: you are duktig.

Over the years, I realized that “duktig“ means that you are good in the way the society expects you to be good in a certain circumstance. Kids are supposed to draw scribbles, foreigners are not supposed to put the “å” always in the right place.

However, do not feel frustrate when you hear that you are “duktig”. Like Jim in “Duktig pojke”, at some point you will also become good – for real.

Written by Alessandro Bassini

Originally from Italy, I have been living in Sweden for the last eight years. Translating Swedish novels is what I do for a living. Languages is not only my work, but also my passion. I believe that every language has some key-words that best express the culture of the place where it is spoken. A cultural map of the Swedish language is what I want to create with this blog.

Sweden – where men are women and women do men’s things

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There are lots of different ways to look at culture, and with all of them we have to tread very carefully. It is very easy to misuse these approaches and fall into the quagmire of stereotyping.

One body of research that is widely bandied about, and also widely misused is Hofstede’s dimensions of culture. Using questionable research techniques, with small test groups made up of mainly professional, middle class men, Hofstede took his assumptions and applied them to a whole culture. For those countries that weren’t involved in the research, he estimated their results. So, it’s important take his findings with a massive dose of salt and see them as possible frames of reference and not absolutes.

Dads
Dads

Hofstede arrived at assumptions about power, risk, authority, group orientation amongst other things. The only one of his dimensions that has been able to be replicated in other research is the dimension he labelled, somewhat sexistly, as Masculine-Feminine. This is an interesting one for Sweden, as the Swedish people came out as the most feminine society in this research.

This doesn’t mean that all men in Sweden are ‘pussies’, although the Finns seem to tend to think so.

This dimension refers to how clearly separated the gender roles are in a society. A Masculine society is a society where men do traditionally male things (work, fix the car, building, plumbing etc), and women do traditionally female things (cook, clean, take care of children). A Feminine society is a society where these gender roles are less clear, where there is overlap between the sexes in terms of behaviours and expectations.

According to research, Sweden is the most ‘Feminine’ country in the world.

So what are some examples that show Sweden could be defined as a feminine society?

  • There are an equal amount of men and women in the workforce, with women occupying many of the higher managerial positions
  • In kindergartens, you will see male teachers and assistants working with the children

  • The amount of fathers taking paternity leave is on the increase. For many foreigners, this is noticeable. An American acquaintance of mine reacted to all the Swedish dads on parental leave by saying, ‘I just love Sweden and all the gay nannies you see everywhere.’

  • You might notice a high level of grooming and personal vanity amongst Swedish men. Another Austrian friend of mine noticed how much hair gel the average Swedish man had in comparison to the men back home in Vienna.
  • In the workplace, men will stay home to take care of sick children, or arrive late in the morning/leave early in the afternoon to fulfill their child-related obligations
  • There is a gender neutral pronoun which can be used to describe a person when their gender is irrelevant. So instead of ‘he’ (han) or ‘she’ (hon), Swedes can use ‘hen’. In Sweden, there are several gender neutral day care centres where all the children are referred to as ‘hen’ until they form a more mature relation to their gender identity.

Most importantly, you will see an attitude of gender equality in Sweden. In comparison to many countries around the world, Swedes generally don’t see the big deal of gender difference in relation to the kind of life a person should live. Men and women are equal.

And that means at work, in society and at home.

Written by: Neil Shipley

My name’s Neil Shipley and I have lived in Sweden for over 20 years. I work as a trainer, lecturer and coach in Intercultural competence and communication from my Stockholm-based company. I am also of one of the few people in Sweden to have a Master’s degree in Intercultural competence.

From my English perspective, I observe Swedish society and the Swedes – everything from the special to the sublime, the scary to the surprising. This is my blog of my observations.

I can be employed to provide training, lectures, seminars. Check out my company: Key Training

Dear Researcher – welcome to Sweden!

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Sweden is (1) the home of the Nobel prizes, (2) the hub for start-ups in Europe and (3) the second European country (after Finland, but don’t tell that to anyone) in resources devoted to research and development (R&D) as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GPD).

Sweden is the paradise for researchers and research in life sciences, cleaner technologies, and IT and communication technologies; the only place in the world where infallible cars (Volvo), self-assembled furniture (IKEA) and spotless melodies (ABBA) could be simultaneously conceived.

It’s a dreamland for any scientist, where one can basically make reality to any creative idea.

Either if you arrive as a Master or a PhD student, to perform your postdoctoral stage or to establish your own research group, Sweden offers unlimited possibilities in terms of research education, funding opportunities, a well-defined career path, possibilities to balance professional success with personal life, and unlimited cooperation partners within academia, research institutes and industries.

And, by the way, this is the week where world-leading scientists are received and cheered as heroes in the Nobel ceremony and where the whole country stops for celebrate excellence in science – (tomorrow there will come a Nobel Prize Quiz, so keep en eye out) with the same excitement as the Eurovision Song Contest entries are selected every year in the national Melodifestivalen.

But is it all wonderful for you who is a researcher?

However, after the initial hype, one realizes the difficulties to navigate in a foreign system where everything is not as clear as it seems.

  • How should I address and engage my supervisor in my research?
  • Where can I apply for funding as a young researcher?
  • Which are the etiquette codes when interacting with my newly established collaborators?
  • How can I deal with the unclear university administration?

Whether you are an early stage researcher or an established leader, many questions arise when doing R&D in a new country.

The purpose of this blog is to discuss different issues of a researcher’s life in Sweden, both sharing the experiences from my early days as a PhD student and the challenges/excitement of the new discoveries as a young research leader.

My intention is to provide factual information about the different aspects of scientific practice combined with more relaxed personal impressions of the interactions with other scientists and students from different backgrounds. Hopefully this will be helpful for any of you working with R&D in Sweden, independently of your career stage, and will provide an interactive platform for discussion.

Useful links

  1. The Official Website of the Nobel Prize
  2. The Telegraph (28 Jun 2015), How Sweden became the start-up capital of Europe
  3. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2013)

Written by Francisco Vilaplana

Francisco Vilaplana is an Associate Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. He has international research experience from Spain, The Netherlands, Australia and, of course, Sweden. Francisco is passionate about research on sustainable materials and processes, especially on utilising biomass for solving our material, energy and nutritional needs and understanding the molecular mechanisms behind biotechnological processes. In this blog, he will discuss in an informal setting the challenges and possibilities of a newby researcher in Sweden.
Neither his host institution, none of the funding agencies, nor his co-workers can be held responsible for the opinions in this blog.

Want to go for a fika?

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”Ska vi fika?” when you are asked this question in a Swedish office, the only answer you are supposed to give is ”Yes”. What have you just said “yes” to? Probably to the most common moment of relax in any office worldwide: the coffee break. The Swedes have this little word, Fika. If you wonder what is so special about it, then you’ve probably never had one.

The Swedish fika in offices is an unquestionable institution, a fundamental right equal to paid vacation, a ritual with a fix protocol. Like any other religious ritual, it has a temple, priests, fervent believers and skeptical atheists.

The priest is usually a colleague who, after two hours and a half of work, lifts his/her head from the computer and says: “Nu ska vi fika”, “Now we shall have a coffee-break”. It is not a question, not an invitation, rather an order.

The fervent believers, who were just waiting for the sign, will immediately get up from their chairs and follow the priest to the kitchen, the temple of the fika. Here, surrounded  by coffee mugs, cinnamon rolls and tea boxes, the members of the fika-congregation will officiate the ceremony, that usually takes twenty minutes (and this happens twice a day).

But what does one talk about during this fika?

Usually work related matters. If someone just came back from parental leave – diapers and prams will be a recurrent matter. Vacations, plans for the weekend and (sometimes) politics are other topics that might pop up in the conversation.

The atheists (those who ignore the fika and usually hide themselves in order to escape from it) consider it a boring, repetitive moment. That can be true, but do not underestimate the power of the fika.

This is also when you can socialize and approach your colleagues in a more personal way (granted, not the most spontaneous). If you want to say something very personal, slightly provocative or excessive, the fika is NOT the right moment. Save it for the Friday-evening beer or for any other occasion when alcohol is involved. Then it will be more than welcome – and easily forgotten the day after.

Written by Alessandro Bassini

Originally from Italy, I have been living in Sweden for the last eight years. Translating Swedish novels is what I do for a living. Languages is not only my work, but also my passion. I believe that every language has some key-words that best express the culture of the place where it is spoken. A cultural map of the Swedish language is what I want to create with this blog.

LGBT and the challenges of coming out at the office in Sweden

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You’ve come all the way to Sweden. Now it’s time come out at the office. Just like in most countries, in Sweden it can be a tough decision as to when to come out as LGBT to your family, friends, classmates, and colleagues.

I came to Sweden as a student in my early 20s, and gradually came out to my new friends in my new country. I started by telling close friends and eventually most classmates. This coming out process went well for me, as a happy young student in my adopted country — for me a major reason to come here in the first place was to figure out who I was and to dare to start coming out to people around me.

But graduating from university and staying on in Sweden to work was a whole new ballgame. I started at a workplace dominated by straight colleagues, most of whom were older than me and already married with children. Although I was still out to all my friends and family, I was intimidated by the straight workplace around me, and put myself firmly into the closet at my new job.

My being closeted at work went on for several years — too long, looking back. In the end I realized that I could never really be my real and relaxed self at work if I wasn’t open with my colleagues.

It wasn’t that I was actively lying to them, it was more that there was this side of me that I could never show or talk about — I could never talk about the great gay bar I went to last night after work, about the weekend getaway with my gay friends, or especially about my new boyfriend. I finally just told my colleagues.

I started out by telling a couple of close colleagues, using the company chat system, so that I didn’t have to say it face to face. When that went well, I told others in person, and I eventually told my manager. No drama — it all went well, with only positive reactions and encouragement.

Several years later I can also confirm it did not affect my career development in the slightest.So with my personal “Oldbie” experience of coming out at work in Sweden, I’m trying to figure out what my advice is to you Newbies. Let me sum it up like this:

  • Dare to do it. Come on, one reason you moved to a new country is to push yourself to do new things, right? Especially if you came here wanting to be more open about being LGBT, coming out at work is a great step to take.
  • Start with your closest colleagues; test the waters and see what reactions you get.
  • Turn on your gaydar. Many Swedish workplaces have openly LGBT staff these days — speak with them for advice.
  • Check your company’s employee handbook — many Swedish companies openly and explicitly support LGBT rights and have clear policies to deal with discrimination and bullying.
  • Speak with a union or professional association. Most Swedish workplaces have a local union presence and the larger unions all have LGBT programmes promoting open and discrimination-free workplaces. They can give you advice about coming out at your specific company, and they’ll have your back if you do face problems.
  • Worst case? Change jobs. OK, maybe you moved to Sweden specifically because of your current job, but if you’re getting clearly bad vibes about coming out at this office, now you’re here in Sweden and can start checking the job market for Swedish companies that offer a better environment for LGBT employees.

What’s your take on being LGBT and out in the Swedish workplace? Have you come out recently, and what were your experiences? Help other Newbies by telling your story in the comments section and in the forums. Helpful links to unions, associations and groups that actively support an open workplace:RFSL — The Swedish Federation for LGBT Rights helps with LGBT issues in the workplace

Written by: Steven Muir

I am originally from Canada but after many years here, first as a student and now working for a Swedish company, I definitely see myself as a seasoned “Oldbie” here in Sweden, full of advice for Newbies! I blog about LGTB life here in Sweden. Probably not too much about the latest club or who’s gay on the latest docusåpa (look it up), but more about things I’ve learned about living in Sweden, where being gay is at least part of my identity.

My one piece of advice for all Newbies if you want to enjoy living here – gay, straight, or any flavour of the rainbow: Learn Swedish and do it now! It doesn’t have to be perfect, but just understanding what’s being said around you in the office, understanding a joke cracked at lunch, or being able to “harumph” properly in Swedish at the parent who just ran over your foot with the triple-wide pram on the bus — all this is so much easier and enjoyable when you understand this Swedish chef language we Newbies and Oldbies are immersed in here.

Let me know if there’s any Swedish LGBT Newbie questions you’re curious about!

What is your opinion on Swedish integration?

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Have you ever found yourself in a discussion where everyone talks and nobody listens? Well, that’s the feeling I get when I read the newspapers, scan the web or watch the news. There is a lot of talking going on right now. About migration and integration and everyone seems to have an opinion. Yet there is very little listing… People are so occupied talking that no one seems to have the time to listen or to ask what Newbies themselves actually need in order to advance quicker with their integration.

Let’s hear your opinion on Swedish integration

I´m tired of talking and I´m ready for some listening…so, Newbies out there, what are your thoughts on Newbie-life in Sweden? What do you wish was different? What could make your integration processes in Sweden easier? What are the hurdles? What are the strengths?

Bring it on – I´m ready for some listening.

Winter is coming

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One of the main associations foreigners have about Sweden is snow. Depending on where you are in the country, the snow arrives anytime between October and January. And once it’s here, it usually stays for a while.

In the Stockholm winter, it’s dark and cold. So cold that the lakes turn to ice. So cold that your lungs hurt when you inhale. So cold that being outside, well, is brief. We scurry from flat to office, office to home. We try to find as many underground shortcuts as possible. We freeze even though we are wearing 5 layers of clothes.

As we foreigners walk briskly down the street, hunched with cold, and cursing the sting of the chill, it’s not uncommon a focused Swede runs past us. Dressed in lycra tights, a reflective vest and an Ipod, he’s off on a jogging round. Probably down to the frozen canal and along the slippery canal-side path. He’s probably going to circle city hall and run casually along the lakeside, past the boats frozen fast into the ice. His skin is red and slightly chapped. His breath is billowing steam. But he doesn’t seem to care. The cold won’t stop him from his daily jogging round. That’s what I call Swedish determination. Freezing? It’s for wimps.

Normally, I find snow in the city irritating. My shoes get ruined, I slip and slide inelegantly around, my face gets battered, my hair gets mushed. In general, very irritating. But a few years ago, my perspective changed. As the snow tumbled down, I realised that snow is all about democracy. No matter how ugly something is – when it is covered with snow, it is beautiful. No matter how dirty something is, when it is covered with snow, it is clean. No matter how shabby something is, when it is covered with snow, it gets a new, fresh start. The snow kind of evens everything out. Now if that’s not democratic, I don’t know what is.

So it’s in the winter that two clear Swedish characteristics are revealed – determination and democracy. So brace yourselves – the Swedish winter is coming.

Written by: Neil Shipley

My name’s Neil Shipley and I have lived in Sweden for over 20 years. I work as a trainer, lecturer and coach in Intercultural competence and communication from my Stockholm-based company. I am also of one of the few people in Sweden to have a Master’s degree in Intercultural competence.

From my English perspective, I observe Swedish society and the Swedes – everything from the special to the sublime, the scary to the surprising. This is my blog of my observations.

I can be employed to provide training, lectures, seminars. Check out my company: Key Training

Sweden welcomes Refugees

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Sweden has, in the last days, shown that it stands up for people in need. The horrifying pictures of the three year old boy Aylan – laying face down in sand – has made people react.

About 15 000 people braved the rain last Sunday and gathered at Medborgarplatsen in Stockholm to show their support for the thousands of refugees who take desperate risks to reach the safety of Europe. All political parties where represented (except the Sweden Democrats) and the Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, held a speech where he spoke about the importance of humanity but also the necessity of a joint action from the EU countries.

Support in form of donations to humanitarian organisations – like the Swedish redcross, Rädda barnen and Läkare utan gränser – reached record levels last week. Many people donated their time and spent days working as volunteers and welcoming refugees at the train stations.

Support has also come from the business world. The Swedish banker and industrialist Jakob Wallenberg (by some called the prince of Sweden´s royal family of finance) has decided to donate money directly to humanitarian organisation and encourages other within the business to do the same. Petter Stordalen (a Norwegian investor and hotel owner) has offered 5 000 nights for refugees at his hotels in Norway. He has also said that he will cover the food expenses for all refugees during their stay at his hotel.

All of you out there – Newbies and Swedes – remember this when facing the time ahead. Yes, political parties like the Sweden Democrats are wining in popularity but they are just a small percentage of the Swedish population. The vast majority in Sweden has clearly shown that they back and support people in need. Refugees – welcome to Sweden!