Wedding parties are a great way to observe and learn about the culture of a country. From the multiple-day long weddings of India, to the all-you-can-eat banquets of Portugal, or the more spontaneous ceremonies of Las Vegas, they are all a show of local habits, social behaviours, and family relations in that particular place. Sweden […]
culture
Svenska for Children, Immersion or Bilingual Education?
English is the language my entire family speaks. Only English. I know a smidgeon of French from high school, but that is it. My husband speaks both his primary language as well as English, which he learned from an early age. He came to the United States for college and in our home, he exclusively […]
What food is traditionally Swedish?
“What food is traditionally Swedish?” is probably the most asked questions when I go abroad. I never know how to reply. I have asked other Newbies and even Swedish friends but they don’t seem to be sure on that either. What is Swedish traditional food? Ikea has popularised Swedish meatballs all over the world, and […]
What is considered healthy in Sweden?
Food is fascinating in many ways. Of course, eating it – I am a huge fan of this activity, but also as a manifestation of culture. Everyone who has been homesick must know how much the food of the place you call home means. And what efforts you will go through to re-create a dish from […]
How to move from Africa to Sweden.
So you’ve just been given an admission for your undergraduate, postgraduate or doctoral studies in Sweden and you are super excited! You will be leaving your home country to study “abroad”. But after the excitement comes reality. And a move from an Africa country to Sweden can be a bit of a challenge. There are […]
Short & Sweet – ‘Fika’
Want to make Swedish friends? Want to know them more or want to learn more about Swedish behaviour? Yes? then there is a ‘Short & Sweet’ way to do that – and in Sweden we call it a ‘Fika’. When I heard this word for the first time, I had several thoughts ranging from fika […]
Vansbrosimningen
On a hot summers day, jumping into a river for a swim is a great idea… so how about taking part in the next of the Swedish Classics, Vansbrosimningen? Sweden’s biggest open water swimming race attracts approximately 16,000 participants over a weekend, with a variety of distances and races for all ages and abilities (this […]
Allemansrätten – The everyman’s right
When I first arrived in Sweden, I noticed that there is so much greenery around, even in the city. Near my first apartment, there was a forest right behind my place and it was only 10 minutes away from the city. It was simply amazing. From where I came from, pieces of land like that […]
The mystery of the Swedish identity during the summer holidays
Sweden is infamous for shutting down during the summer months, and often earlier – and longer, than in most European countries. Why is that so, and what consequences does it it have? The answers are called industrisemester and sommarlov. These are two heavily institutionalised concepts that are deeply ingrained in our work culture and personal […]
Moving to Sweden from Italy – Cristina’s Story
Cristina is from Italy and came to Stockholm as an au pair in November 2015 and has experienced her first Swedish winter.
The Swedish attitude to weather
However much I have lived abroad and worked with people from all over the world, I am still painfully Swedish, especially when it comes to my relationship to weather. And I am not only talking about going for a walk in rain without grasping the absurdity such a stupid enterprise. I am talking about the fact that right […]
How to make a good impression at work – in Sweden
I once had a student who told me – with enthusiasm, that her impression of Sweden was ‘like Germany, but better’. A few years later, her opinion has changed. Sweden, she said recently, is ‘not at all like Germany, and not better’. Nor worse, she added. Just different. Especially when it comes to relationships at […]
