Day 20: Can't have too much cabbage

Pizza comes with Syrkål...pickled cabbage salad.
Definitely not something ya get in England.
Mmm

Day 18: Skogen?

 

Picking berries after work is one potential activity for the average Swede. Unlike my previous home, London, which sprawls out for miles and miles of inhabited space, in Sweden you are never too far away from a forest, even in built up cities. There is Epping Forest outside London which Londoners can make the effort to journey to, but I doubt many would do this after a long day of work.

In this picture I'm picking Lingonberries in, a common Swedish berry. I also collected a substantial pot of blueberries, which grow all over Sweden and can be found easily. The joy of foraging, picking and making your own food is enjoyed by many and I can understand why.

Day 16: Waka waka waka

This is Thorildsplan T-Bana in Stockholm, I'm very impressed with the tiling!
Who knows why? My theories are:

• Swedish people love good design wherever they go, so why not a sharp T-bana station?
• There is a much more widely accepted love of videogames, board games and other "nerdy" such things, many more people may appreciate this walkway here than they would in London
• Thorildsplan is near a lot of schools, and the Campus Konradsberg of the university of Stockholm - maybe one of these large student bodies organised the tiling...
  

Day 15: Dags att gå på återvinning

 

Swedish people queue on Sundays for a long time, hours even, at huge recycling stations. They often sit with their cars running, probably undermining all their morally commendable efforts.

Day 14: An unlikely medium

I suspect my boyfriend is using the medium of cushions to make me feel more at home...

Actually he's more than my boyfriend now, according to Swedish terms, he is my Sambo (living together partner).

In England we don't have the same cultural practice, but this country has a long history of accepting couples who live together and have steady relationships without being married.

Day 13: Arriba!

Swedish people fucking love Tacos.
When my Swedish boyfriend saw me taking this picture he explained that a lot of people have comfort foods on Fridays for "Fredagsmys" (comfy Fridays)
It also reminds me that Sweden has several things in common with America...

Day 12: I would have got away with it too, if it wasn't for those meddling kids

Today I was reading the Metro newspaper on my commute and I thought this was a very Scandinavian story. Usually the Metro paper in London has stories of gang violence, political corruption, poverty and death, but here in Sweden the front page featured a story about a beaver bringing a train to a halt. "Beaver behind the stopping of the Saltlake train. A gnawed tree trunk fell on the tracks"

Day 11: They've got my number

Sweden is a very efficient country! I had my migration registered in 3 days and now, just 10 days later, I have a person number.

I heard a lot of horror stories about how difficult it is to obtain a person number. They may well be true. However, having a job and a boss who can pester Skatteverket (tax office) will make the process much faster! So will being an EU citizen.

Now it's time for me to get out there and do some stuff for the government to monitor!

Day 10 of Swedish life

After over a week here it's time to wash my skanky clothes!

If you live in a lägenhet (flat) it's likely you have a communal tvättstuga (wash room) in the basement. This has a sign up sheet so you can let others in the building know when your undies are going for a spin.

Some people are great and keep everything clean, some people are assholes and leave shit in the machines, others are just damn forgetful and we find their pants and socks lying around the drying room. You people have interesting taste.

Day 4 of Swedish life

Upon arriving in Sweden I immediately sent notice of my immigration to Migrationsverket in order to be registered here. You must do this in order to apply for a person number, but as it turns out I had no need as I am an EU citizen and therefore have the right to live and work in Sweden.

Still - they know I'm here now...

Day 3 of Swedish Life

Today I took out some books from the library to help me learn Swedish. There are Swedish classes provided by the government but you need a person number to register for them. I don't have this yet so I'm starting on my own.

You also need a person number to have a library card, so my boyfriend lent me his. I find it strange that every service here is liked to your social security number...this means someone somewhere has a very comprehensive record of my life.

Day 2 of Swedish life

  

This is how you queue in Sweden, by taking a numbered ticket and waiting for your number to come up at the cashier. It's a fair and orderly way of queuing and it takes away the opportunity for people to be assholes and push in. 

However, I had to wait a full hour to buy my rail pass which was a ridiculously long time.

Coming from London where there is a much larger volume of people, I couldn't comprehend why this took so long and why Swedish people were complacent to wait without fussing. It must be a trick of the numbering system - it's hard to see how it could be unfair.

Day 1 of Swedish Life

On my first full day of Swedish life I made a trip to Ikea because, hey, when you move in somewhere, Ikea has all the furniture you might need. Also, it's a Swedish institution (even the snobby Swedes have at least one BILLY, KOMPLEMENT or MALM)

So far, life is not so different from England...
... but why would it be when Ikea is the same everywhere?