This is my last post. Thanks for watching and good luck with your Swedish!
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Posts written by Gabriel
My mom and her boyfriend flew in from the US yesterday to visit the newest addition to the hoard of grandchildren (barnbarn). As always when you get people visiting from abroad, you become more aware of all the ultra Swedish things that used to catch your attention when you first got here. Clean minimalist design, wooden floors (parkettgolv), men with baby carriages and strong coffee.
When I look back at my first day in Sweden, which actually started across the water at Kastrup Airport in Copenhagen, I remember complete darkness, rain and everything seemed to be flat. I reacted to how people at with both fork and knife, and feeling insecure, created my own special way of eating that confused the hell out of my future inlaws (svärföräldrar). It was December and dark all day long. The pastries were good and the snaps dangerous. I discovered that elevators stopped when you weren’t on them and that you had a choice when flushing a toilet bowl — number one or number two. I noticed that people didn’t say excuse me when they bumped into you in line and rarely small talked. And ultimately that Swedish sounded scary and seemed like a daunting task to learn.
After almost five years, some of my first impressions (intryck) have held up well, others not.
Please share (Dela gärna) yours with us.
Moving to Sweden can be easy and it can be hard. One thing which is really different is the housing market. There are all sorts of strange and hard to understand names for things that there most likely is no equivalent for in your own language or country.
Here’s a list to help you along the way:
att hyra – to rent
att äga – to own
hyresrätt – rental apartment
bostadsrätt – owned apartment
villa – freestanding house
radhus – rowhouse
hyra – rent
månadsavgift – mortgage for apartment or house you own
förstahandskontrakt – first hand contract, a rental apartment when you own the rights to a lease of the apartment you rent
andrahandskontrakt – Second hand contract when you rent from the person who owns the first hand contract.
att vräka – to evict
flyttstädning – the rigorous cleaning you are expected to do when you move
flyttlasset – load of furniture and belongings that are to be moved
hemförsäkring – home insurance which can also cover you when you are away from home…check with your
försäkringsbolag – insurance company
inflyttningsfest – homewarming party
inflyttningspresent – homewarming present
att gå husesyn – to take the tour together with the host of the new house
visning – open house, when you go look at a home to rent or buy
mäklare – realtor
bostadskö – queue you have to sign up for to get the rights to a first hand contract. There are both private and public queues. The first day you enter Sweden you should get on one of these queues….many of them take up to 3 years to find a good home.