Easter is here, our first official holiday in this new country. Wait, is that right? Weren’t we here for Valentine’s Day? Hmm…I think so… Ah, yes, we must have been! We moved here in January and that was in February. Huh…apparently the Swedes don’t really celebrate it overmuch because I didn’t see a single chocolate heart in the stores or even see any decorations. That’s right folks, Valentine’s Day just wasn’t a big deal here so I basically forgot it. My dear husband did not, so that was good 😃

As I was saying, Easter is here and it is our first official holiday in this new country. How do I know it is here? Wowza! How could I not? These people are very serious about Easter. The decorations are ALL OVER. Let’s talk about that a little. Easter decorations in Göteborg are so fun! There are trees and branches across town adorned with brightly colored feathers. When we went to check out Mölndal the other day, every small tree in the town center was covered. They are super cute.

Most stores also have these feather decorations in the windows, and just about every florist in town has branches you can purchase, as well as the feathers. The stores also have huge candy displays filled with chocolate eggs, marshmallow ducks (almost a PEEP!) and other tasty treats.

The trees and windows aren’t the only things being decorated. Swedes even decorate the kids for Easter! How fun is that? I found out about this tradition about a month ago when my husband forwarded me a message about the company Easter party (in case you are wondering, yes we did go and it was a lot of fun—more about that later). In the message, they provided a link about Easter in Sweden as well as a picture of two children wearing the customary costumes. So, how do children dress up for Easter? As witches! That’s right, not bunnies or ducks, these kids dress up as Easter Witches. The cutest witches you’ve ever seen. They have aprons and head scarves and paint red cheeks and freckles on their faces. It is a fun sight to see. My son really enjoyed wearing his apron and scarf courtesy of a last minute shopping run at Hemköpp—pronounced Hemshop. Do you see how that goes? A “k” pronounced like “sh”? So odd… Anyway, Hemköpp is one of the local grocery stores and Easter is such a big deal that they carried everything you could possibly need to make your place and your person festive. That is how serious they are about Easter.

Sugar overload

Hmm…does this mean Swedes are religious? No, from everything I have read, they are not particularly religious. Instead, they are very family oriented. Even though many Swedes have moved away from organized religion, they’ve held onto the holidays as a way to ensure additional time spent with family. Even the schools are closed from Friday through Monday for the Easter holiday.

Loved this window decoration! 

Curious about the exact traditions Swedes are following?  Here is a link to The Local, an English language site that discusses all topics related to Sweden.  They even provide a picture of the cute Easter Witches 😃  When researching the topic myself, I felt this page was very helpful.  The last link here talks about the origins of Easter in Sweden and I like it because I think it’s important to know the history behind the celebrations.  Also, I find root words rather exciting—yes, I know that makes me sound like a weirdo, but to each his/her own.

One of the things I found quite funny is that I haven’t seen a lot of Easter baskets around. What I have seen again and again are Easter eggs; small, medium, large, and extra large, hollow cardboard eggs that you fill with goodies. I let the little guy pick out his own egg and he picked a big one out (thank you thrift shopping). Happily, the stores have plenty of non sugary options that can go in the eggs along with the sugar laden options. Swedes really do like their candy!

So, how did we celebrate? I mentioned our first celebration in the beginning of this blog. The amazing employees at my husband’s office arranged a first rate Easter party. Everyone was invited to bring their families; children were running all about the office. A huge pancake luncheon was prepared and there were many fun activities including foam egg painting, branch decorating, coloring, and even a video game set up on a big screen. The wonderful administrative staff even set up an egg hunt and ran with the little ones as they scoured the office for treats. This was the most fun I’ve had at an office event and it’s not even my office. I think it is important to note that everyone was very inclusive. I’ve been told time and again that Swedes are standoffish and difficult to engage, but this stereotype is repeatedly debunked here in Göteborg. One sweet boy even let our little guy play ping pong with him, even though a 3 year old is definitely not an ideal partner.

Our second celebration was the birthday party of a new friend’s child; filled with laughter, good food, and camaraderie.

Finally, like others in Göteborg and the States, our actual Easter day will be spent together as a family, eating a meal, begging for chocolate from the toddler, and playing at the park. Don’t worry, I know how lucky I am 🙂

It’s getting late and Easter is fast approaching; time for me to sign off. As the Swedes would say, Glad Påsk! (Sounds like Glaad Posk—think post with a k). And of course, as we Americans say, Happy Easter!

Easter Egg safely hidden for the toddler to find

Until next time…

A frequent topic of discussion in our house is whether Sweden is more family focused than both the US and the UK (currently the consensus is yes). Whether or not that ultimately proves to be true, I stumbled across two statues that seem to support the point.

This first statue was in a green house at Trädgärdsförening.

This second is in a park, in Majorna. My Swedish friend called this park Zenit, but I think that’s not right. When I know, you will know too 😉

They both made me pause and smile.

Until next time…

That’s right, it’s laundry day! Laundry day dawned grey and dreary, with many a cloud in sight. Rather than let that get me down, I decided to look at this as an adventure. Now that I’ve spent some quality time with the laundry room, I would like to share the process with you.

Swedes don’t do laundry the same way we do in the United States. Most apartment buildings have shared facilities, but chaos does not reign. Rather than go about this haphazardly, I will describe the process from start to finish and include pictures 😃 Enjoy!

The first step in utilizing the laundry room in your apartment building is to reserve a time slot. In our particular building, there isn’t actually a laundry room… My first step involves going to the building next door (really, just 20 or 30 feet); then up some steps, then down some steps, then into the laundry area. I understand now how Swedes stay so fit…

Reserving time slot

Upon arrival at the laundry area, I found a large board that had little numbered locks. After wracking my brain, I finally remembered our lock number and selected a day and time when I would want to do laundry. Laundry slots last for 4 hours each. There is an extra hour padded in at the end where you may continue to use the drying facilities. So, technically if your slot is 10am to 2pm, you are able to use the facilities until 3pm.

Today, I headed down to the laundry room door, turned the key, and there it was…a tidy and efficient laundry room. There are two washing machines and one very large dryer. These are free for all residents to use, as is customary throughout the city (I can’t speak for other cities, but I’ve been assured this is true throughout Göteborg).

After loading the machines, I inevitably try to understand the guide for which setting to use (of course in Svenska…). Thankfully, the temperatures, times, and spin speeds are display so I just pick quick cycles at the right temperatures. One caveat I’ve discovered is that if a washing machine here says there is 6 minutes left, or even 1 minute left, that minute may just last a half hour. Kind of like American football 😉

Once the loads finish, it is time to dry! Those items that can be dried in the dryer should at this point be entering the industrial sized dryer…but that is not necessarily the case. I’ve noticed that dryers in both the UK and the Sweden, aside from those at laundromats, do not dry as quickly as I am accustomed. Why does it take 2.5 hours to dry a load of laundry??? This makes no sense. The time does decrease slightly with my wool dryer balls, but it is still in excess of 1.5 hours.

At this point, I find myself grasping for ways to minimize the amount of clothes entering the never ending dryer cycle. Also, you may be wondering about the clothes that cannot go in the dryer. Clearly I can’t leave the laundry hanging overnight in the laundry room. That would be a mess. Then again, our apartment is much too small to crowd it with a bunch of laundry. Swedes anticipated this! Let me introduce you to the torkrum.

Torkrum

This clever room is full of hanging rods with air vents that will literally blast warm air into the room to dry your things in record time. More gentle than the dryer and faster than having them hanging throughout the apartment. Genius! I’ve discovered that most laundry is dry within one to two hours of sitting in this room. That’s less time than the dryer in our old house required! By far, my favorite use of this room is drying our waterproof mattress cover. Anyone out there with a toddler or even just an expensive mattress knows the value of a waterproof cover for the bed. Unfortunately, most of them advise against drying in the dryer and they take FOREVER to air dry. This room makes drying that cover quick (quick is relative here people!) and easy. The only negative to the torkrum is that it is designed with Swedes in mind. I’m probably about 8 inches shorter than the average Swede, so jumping is required😛

There is one downfall to the torkrum that I feel compelled to share. You know how towels get super crunchy after drying outside in the sun? The torkrum creates this same phenomenon. I am not a fan. Thusly, I try to throw the towels into the dryer for about 10 minutes after they are dry, just to remove the crunch.

As an interesting aside, we were one of the few families I knew in the UK with a dryer. Most families seemed to have drying cupboards, drying racks, or drying lines in their homes. This may be part of the reason there is such a prevailing acceptance of damp (mold). Being a bit pampered, I was unable to get on board with this way of life. One of our first purchases was a condenser dryer from John Lewis. Best money I spent the entire time in the UK. I put a link here to one on Amazon.co.uk for you to check out. Condenser dryers don’t seem to be as common in the US, so the US site doesn’t show many styles. It’s a shame. As much as they are super slow on drying, there is something pretty cool about not needing a vent tube and just emptying out a tub of water every few loads. The freedom of sticking a dryer wherever you want is pretty awesome.

I hope you enjoyed this trip through our Swedish laundry room.

Until next time…

Every country has some way of identifying its citizens and cataloguing their various circumstances. In the United States it is the Social Security number (SSN). I’ve had this memorized since college. I had to, my University even printed it on our ID’s! We used them to order pizza! Thankfully, that practice stopped shortly before I graduated…but I digress. In the UK it is your National Health Service (NHS) number. The NHS number is very important for taxes and the like, but the UK is so well connected that I didn’t really need to learn it. If I gave my name and house number, most any agency could track me down. In Sweden, it is the personnummer or personal number. This is the number of all numbers. You need this for everything! I’m actually a bit shocked by the sheer number of places that require it.

Your Swedish personal number is not exactly like an SSN and it’s not exactly like an NHS number. It’s an all around number. You use it to pay taxes, to see the doctor, to enroll your child in nursery, to set up the internet, to enroll in IKEA Family…wait, what?!? You use your personal number that you use at the doctor and with the government to enroll in IKEA Family??? Right now you think I’m joking don’t you? I’m not. This number is the number to rule all numbers. It’s the granddaddy of all numbers and if you are planning to be in Sweden for more than one year, you are eligible to get one. If not…you are going to need a lot of help from others.

Skatteverkett, Swedish Tax Agency

After going to the Migration Board and turning in all of your paperwork to get a residence permit card (UT card); you will be able to go to the Tax Agency and apply for your personal number. If you will not be in Sweden for a full year, you are eligible for a co-ordination number. I’m not quite sure how they differ, but I do know there is no “co-ordination” option on that IKEA Family application 😉

The Tax Agency does not accept appointments, and I have been told the wait can be anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour and a half. Please note that they are open between 10am and 4pm with lunch from 12pm to 1pm. It is key that you arrive with all required data. In our case, we brought:

– Copy of work contract
– Migration Board cards
– Marriage Certificate
– Birth Certificate for our toddler
– Passports

We were told that because we had the Migration Board cards, we didn’t really need the work contract, but better safe than sorry.

After filling out the forms they provided, we waited between 30 and 45 minutes. I feel this is reasonable; kind of like getting your license renewed. Our arrival time did coincide with the conclusion of lunch and I do not know if this was helpful or not.

I also need to note that we are not doing this alone. Our liaison, Rachel, from Nordic Relocations, took us to the Migration Board and also to the Tax Agency. She brought along the copy of the work contract, information on our permanent housing, and even entertained our toddler while we were filling out the paperwork. If you do not have a Rachel or if you just want to be extra prepared, this website is very helpful:

http://work.sweden.se/plan-your-move/register-with-the-authorities/

The employees at both the Migration Board and the Tax Agency were very helpful and friendly. Once you complete your paperwork, you take a number and the Tax Agency employee will need to make a copy of all your documents. They will be returned before you leave. This whole process took about 10 minutes once our number was called.

After completing your paperwork, there is nothing to do except wait. Receiving the personal number will take between 1 and 4 weeks. Rachel speaks excellent Svenska (Swedish) and followed up on our behalf, ensuring we had our numbers available even before they sent out the confirmation letters. After the notice was received in the mail, we went the next day to have our photos taken for our formal identification cards (officially my worst identification picture EVER). These cards have your personal number as well as not one, but four pictures; four awful pictures… From start to finish, this whole process took us about a month and a half.

After speaking with some friends, I feel it is imperative to note that our experience is in line with individuals coming in on a long term work permit. We have an American friend not on a work permit, who joined his Swedish partner and child in the country and his experience is very different. He is in a queue to be able to apply for his personal number and is anticipating waiting at least six months. He began the paperwork in August and is still waiting for his number. If you are moving, just make sure to double check these types of things in advance 😃

As a funny aside, yesterday I went to mail a package to the United States. Imagine my surprise when the customs slip on the outside of the box required me to provide my personal number! That means that if you come to Sweden for a short period of time and don’t have a personal number, mailing packages back home (non EU only I think) could be pretty tricky. This number really is THE number for everything.

Like this Ring, except it’s a Number. Image: http://lotr.wikia.com/

I hope the website link and this information is helpful for anyone who is planning a move to Sweden. For the rest of you, I hope you still enjoyed reading 😃

Until next time…

Better late than never? I wrote this blog right after we moved and somehow time got away. Read on for an exciting installment involving…dun dun dun…Socialized Medicine!!!

One common refrain I remember growing up in the United States was the idea that socialized health care, either whole or partial, resulted in lax care and standards. I’ve experienced all levels of the US healthcare system: poor kid with medical coupons, railroad insurance, federal employee insurance, and the penultimate: “The Microsoft Cadillac Plan”. My experience in the UK was interesting. I always got the urgently needed care; waited long times for non-essentials; and was sometimes lucky to get an amazing doctor. Only once was I angry about my treatment and that was quickly rectified, thanks to our supplemental insurance. Needless to say, I went to the doctor today expecting something similar to the UK; after all, this is “socialized medicine” *cue dramatic music*.

This week has been horrible. I’ve been sick, the boy has been sick, the husband is sick; it has been yuck. Finally, despite not yet having personal numbers, we decided we had to see a doctor. Our relocation liaison from Nordic provided us with an office 3 blocks away and gave us the open hours for walk-ins as well as the price we would pay (SEK 1435 or about $169— each). Yeowch! That’s a lot of money. Thankfully, the company my husband works for will reimburse this cost up until we get a personal number.

Masthugget Familjeläkare, with Walk-ins at 9am

When we arrived, I promptly queued (lined up for my US fellows) to ask if they needed any information. My hubby was a bit more on top of it and wandered the room; quickly finding the ubiquitous Swedish “take a number” stand. He came back with numbers 18, 19, and 20. They were onto number 4… We got back into the queue and notified the receptionist about our status (new and without personal numbers). She asked if we had US insurance. *Tip for Travelers* Get travel insurance!!! We explained the reimbursement situation and she looked relieved.

Once that was sorted, she explained that as soon as we had our numbers, we should come again and register. At that point, all of our visits would be SEK 100 (about $12) and our son’s would be free until the age of 6. After that, she pointed us to the children’s area so we could relax while the small one played. They had a pitcher of cold water and an espresso machine for all to use. It was bright, clean, and everyone working was in a good mood.

Ahh! You may be wondering what type of personal data they wanted on us. They requested our names, dates of birth, and a phone number so the doctor could call with the results. That’s it. No identification, no insurance card, no address, just the basics. It was easy and that was helpful with two sick adults and a sick, hyper toddler…

We ended up waiting a LONG time. If you come as a walk-in and don’t have an appointment, we were told the wait is shorter after lunch. Since we got there just as walk-in hours began, there was an immediate disadvantage. Overall, we waited 2 hours. During that time, the hubby went and bought snacks, and we had lots of free water and coffee (water for me and the kid, coffee for hubs). Thankfully, another woman and her child sat down and she explained a lot to us. Have I ever mentioned that most Swedes in Göteborg speak phenomenal English? She even flagged down a nurse to get me a baggie so I could get a urine sample from the small one to make sure he didn’t have a urinary tract infection. Very friendly!

The doctor finally came for us. I’ve never seen a doctor like this in the UK. Fit, handsome, friendly; bonus for the fact that he could understand us 😃 I’m not dissing UK doctors; I’m sure there are many who fit this description; I just didn’t have the pleasure of meeting them. 😉

What happened next was the best customer service I’ve ever had from a physician. He worked on each of us in turn, getting a thorough history, and checking us out. He explained that we seemed to have the current flu; but mine had become bronchitis. Just to be safe, he wanted to do lab tests on all of us to ensure it was viral and not bacterial. Since I’ve also had an ongoing low grade fever previously, he wanted more tests just to make sure everything is good. We left his office about 40 minutes later, armed with 3 prescriptions and 3 lab slips. What happened next was mind boggling.

He pointed to a set of chairs just across the main room and said to wait there for the lab tech. Less than 4 minutes later she was taking our blood…10 minutes later the tests were done and we were sent on our way! There was one test that takes longer; they will be calling in 2 days with the results. Insanity. The efficiency here is amazing. Now came the final hurdle: paying the bill…how much would it be with all those extra labs? Wait for it…

Would you believe me if I said there was NO EXTRA COST FOR THE LAB TESTS?? It was included. Just think, this appointment cost us about $165 per person, but once we are assigned a number, that appointment with all those tests will be $12. But wait! The receptionist neglected to mention this gem that I found at the website, Work in Sweden, “…the maximum cost for visits to a doctor in a 12-month period is SEK 1,100.” This is roughly $130.

There was an additional cost for the prescriptions, but that too will change once we get those personal numbers. Similar to the appointment fees, prescription costs are capped at SEK 2,200 every 12 months. That is roughly $260. Can you imagine that? People would never have to forego medication due to cost if we had this system.

Despite the 2 hour wait, I’m still very satisfied with the amazing service we got today and I am so appreciative of the fact that I was able to get excellent care even as a foreigner wandering in to a medical facility for help.

Remember, if you come to Sweden as a tourist, get travel insurance! If you come as an employee, make sure in advance that your employer will reimburse you until you have a personal number. If they won’t, get travel insurance! We had travel insurance our first week here, before the job started. It was $12 for all 3 of us. This is a small but important detail to remember.

Fear not though, even if you don’t, the Swedes won’t make you go bankrupt to see someone. It will hurt the wallet a bit; but one visit won’t costs thousands of dollars and that I think is awesome. See, not all socialized medical care is evil 😉

Until next time…