Welcome to the Grow Internationals Community, where you can explore the expat experience in Sweden through the voices of our members. Dive into a series of interviews with our community members as they share their unique challenges and cherished moments of life in Sweden. Get a firsthand look at their journeys below.

Kimmie and Diede didn’t move alone. Their beloved fur-child named Dollar, also made the big move to Stockholm. Dollar was adopted by Kimmie in Belgium and is now a expat cat in the big city. After getting his first passport to travel to Sweden, Dollar has found the transition fairly easy. He enjoys spending time on the sofa, keeping a spot warm for when his humans arrive home. Moving to Sweden with your pet? Discover all you need to know about bringing your pet to Sweden here.

Getting Started in Stockholm

Initially, the relocation provider was a key support system for the pair - finding an apartment, helping with ID-cards and giving a crash course on basic things to know about living in Sweden. After the move, Grow Internationals connected with Kimmie, providing her with access to Swedish classes and workshops to aid her transition into living abroad.

“For me as an expat partner, the courses allow me to get out of the house, learn Swedish and meet great people.”

Kimmie attends Swedish A1 at Grow Internationals in small sessions with a class of other expats. The class resonates with her saying, “Our teacher puts a lot of effort into the classes. We are a diverse group from China, France, Ireland, and Belgium. She does a wonderful job explaining so everyone can understand.” The class learns basics through lessons, reading and a class favorite, singing along with Swedish songs. A method appreciated by the students. In the beginning, Swedish was overwhelming sometimes. Now Kimmie notes her progression and enjoying practicing Swedish over dinner with Diede.

Takeaways

“With Grow Internationals, I’ve gotten an opportunity to learn new things and meet many people from different backgrounds. From networking, learning about Swedish culture and other immersion workshops on things like job hunting, Grow Internationals has made my time in Sweden so far great. It is comforting to have a nice group of people around, especially when you move to a foreign place,” says Kimmie about her experience in Sweden and with Grow Internationals thus far.

“In my 20’s I had an opportunity to do an MBA in Dallas, but I chickened out and I regret that. This is my second chance to live abroad.” Leonard made the move to Stockholm in June last year and began his time by taking a much needed break. 

He found Grow Internationals initially on meetup.com. He credits networking to making the transition easier, much of which he has done via workshops and classes at Grow. He even got his job and apartment through contacts he made there.

“I went to a Grow Internationals career workshop and the host was so good, I booked a private session. Before Stockholm, I had the same job for 15 years after applying through a newspaper ad so I’m not really used to generating a business network.” He explains how after his private career counseling, the coach contacted her network and knew the perfect job connection. The rest is history. 

Learning Swedish

Leonard is also a regular student in Swedish for Expats. He emphasizes the difficulty of working in chemistry without Swedish and how learning it is a way to create more opportunities in the future. Not to mention the social aspect. “Swedes don’t talk English to each other. Swedes talk Swedish. It’s obvious but true,” he says. He also credits his Grow teacher, for her skill and understanding:

“I like the student-to-teacher ratio. With a six-week course, it is faster and more fun. The teacher can pay more attention to students because of the class size. She is really, really good.” 

Long-term Cosmopolitan

“The whole world is here in Stockholm, in terms of nationalities. Stockholm feels long term cosmopolitan. I’ve met so many internationals, from countries I’ve never been. It’s very exciting.”

The Swedish Language

“Spoken Swedish is so musical, it sounds good to the ear. Along with Swedish being nice, it it weren't for Swedes being so great at English, I probably wouldn’t be here. Most Swedes have better English than a lot of Irish people."

Fashion

Margot's lifelong dream was to live in the Nordics, drawn by their reputation as the happiest places on Earth. So when her husband landed a job in Stockholm, they did not hesitate for a minute and moved to Sweden. Their smooth transition was thanks to her husband's company, which supported both of them through the Grow Membership: “My husband’s company is really good at taking care of spouses”, Margot shares. 

Margot is loving every aspect of her new life in Stockholm, and speaks about it with sparks in her eyes! She says, "it's actually even better than I was expecting, it's awesome!"

The weather

One wouldn’t have guessed that the Swedish weather could be someone’s favorite but apparently it can: “I love the weather, I like the cold and the sunshine nearly everyday!”

The easiness

Margot has noticed that Sweden goes out of its way to simplify life for its residents. She admires how everything is modernized and easily accessible, with widespread internet access. "It’s just so easy to be here”, she adds. What's more, the vast majority of people speak English here.

Learning the language

Margot wasted no time in starting her Swedish classes with Grow Internationals just days after arriving. Though she finds Swedish challenging, she is determined to learn. Her commitment paid off and she also forged her initial friendships: “in there I got to start a social life”.

The social factor

While Margot has a deep love for Sweden, she recognizes that relocating to a new country can be tough, especially without an established social network. She admits that it can be a bit lonely in the beginning, but also notes"But that's moving anywhere, isn't it?" Margot also finds making friends, especially Swedish friends, to be a delicate task.

And Now?

Now, Margot is embracing a truly Swedish lifestyle. In between her Swedish classes, she's taken up running and even joined a running group. In addition, she's embarked on a business venture, although she acknowledges that it involves some paperwork, which can be time-consuming.

From a small town close to Frankfurt to big city living in Stockholm, Melanie joins us as a result of her partner getting a job and their mutual desire to move and "do something new."

Melanie and her partner found Grow Internationals very helpful in meeting other people, getting a lot of questions answered, and getting out and doing different things. She is now learning Swedish by taking classes through Grow, and is on level B1, which she is finding a little harder. She tries to practice on her own by texting her Swedish friends and playing trivial pursuit but still finds it a little difficult to be understood when trying to order a beer. Her favorite word is "snälla" as it reminds her of a German word that actually has a pretty opposite meaning.

Nature

“It is nice that there are a lot of parks, and each park is crowded with people… I also love the fact that it is a big city but it takes only around fifteen to twenty minutes to get into the woods.”

People

She likes Sweden in general and how she feels welcomed here. For others considering the move, her advice is to start looking early enough for an apartment, as “it's hard to find an apartment.” Indeed the market for rentals is very competitive in Sweden.

She says the easiest way to get into the community is to have a job because then you meet people easier that way since it is hard to meet Swedish people otherwise. She was fortunate to already have a Swedish friend from the time in the United States, when they worked together. That friend has opened up her circle of friends to her. She says it is also good to “use something like Grow or other options out there to meet people.”

Vitamin D

Like most expats and even some natives, Natalie finds the winters and periods of darkness extra long and is in desperate need of some natural vitamin D. “We knew this before so it is no surprise,” she says as she also explains that she is not hibernating and is enjoying some of the winter activities like ice skating. She misses friends and family but she has gotten many visitors so she has not gotten too home sick. She misses German sausages and kebabs and looks forward to her upcoming vacation back home. Luckily, it is just a couple of hours away.