Reflections on Sweden

Taxi's in Sweden: The Perfect Crime

2011-11-13T02:35:00.001-08:00

Generally thought of as one of the least dishonest professions in the world, Taxi's have always bugged me. Its fairly rare that i find a taxi driver that is not out to squeeze ever last öre out of your wallet and this is exceptionally true here in Stockholm.

There are several taxi companies in the market and every so often the newspaper does a story on which is the cheapest taxi company out there with a few driving tests just to make the population feel better about how much they are getting screwed.

I have found that there are few if any 'Swedish' taxi drivers left out there, most of the drivers are immigrants to Sweden and couldn't care less about getting you to your destination on time or saving you any money.

For example: its normal here in Sweden to have a 'framkörs avgif't which basically is an extra cost on them having to come out to pick you up if your not living a hair away from the central station. There is also 'vänta tids avgift' which replaces the framkörs avigft with one where the second that they start waiting outside of your door for you they start billing you. This particular fee averages out to about 1 euro per minute, so about 60 euros per hour. Even doctors don't make that kinda dough, figuring in that the 'time' of these members of society is worth about 10 euros per hour (a typical MacDonald's job) this fee is grossly unreasonable.

Then comes the actual drive where the majority of the cost adds up. This varies greatly with some dishonest taxis that peg the meter to the number of seconds in a minute meaning that the meter counts 60 SEK / 6 Euros no matter how far or fast your driving. Your generally safer with Taxi Stockholm or Taxi 020 or Sverige Taxi but you can have bad experiences with these guys as well depending on who is behind the wheel.

The majority of people use taxis over the weekend when they are out partying with their friends to either get to or from the party. And this is normally after a pre-party at home and here is where Taxi drivers take advantage of Swedes general nature not to cause conflict. They will drive around in circles and take the most indirect route possible to a location just to run up the meter and when questioned will claim ignorance and state they have been driving for years yadda yadda yadda......

Not only that but with all the inebriated scantily clad swedish girls that are on their way home from the nightclub, its not entirely uncommon for sexual assaults by Taxi drivers which unfortunately happened to a friend of mine a year ago. Its become such a culture of mistrust that the guards at nightclubs will even take down the liscense plate information about a taxi they put a girl in to ensure that nothing happens to her on her way home (which is how that particular taxi driver was caught and charged).

This culture of overpriced taxis have opened up an underground taxi industry which is unfortunately hundreds of times more dangerous then licensed taxi drivers. It will always be non-swedish immigrants standing outside the closest food joint (McDonalds, etc) whispering out taxi, taxi.... hoping to get a bite and once you are in one of these 'Svart Taxi's' (quite literally black taxi's), who knows what will happen to you. I have had a friend that was robbed at knifepoint for his bank card and pin number, i have had other friends sexually abused, the list goes on and on.

Tips and Tricks with Taxis in Stockholm (and Sweden for that matter):

Speak swedish to the driver if possible, english speakers normally get a 'special rate' or route.
Travel only with the above mentioned taxi companies (be careful, a lot of companies try to trick you with logos, names or cab coloring to make their vehicles look like one of the above companies
Travel in small groups is possible, dont travel alone
Know the route you want to take and the fastest way to get there before getting into a cab, google maps works great for this and with the advent of the smart phone you can access this information anywhere
ALWAYS use the meter, some will try to convince you to use a 'fast pris' or fixed price rate

And if your open to it, USE THE DAMN PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM! It runs 24 hours during the weekend and its quite fast and costs you next to nothing if you compare it with taxis!

The word of the day is 'Fuskar' which means cheat in Swedish

The Swedish banking system: wins & fails

2011-10-16T22:50:00.000-07:00

One of the more evolved aspects of Sweden and Europe as a whole is the banking system here. Gone are the days of cheques (or checks if your american). As most people here bank over the internet, transferring payments between accounts and/or paying invoices is a piece of cake.

In fact, once micro payments become more common place I see this system of electronic transfers a possible replacement for cash entirely. Unsurprisingly, this was discussed in sweden a few years ago where the thought was that the entire country should switch entirely to a cashless (read: paper currency) based economy. Such a move would be a boon to Skatteverket (the tax authority) here as a lot of transactions do occur 'black' otherwise known as untaxed here in the country. Such a move would also reduce money laundering as funds could be tracked as they flowed through the system.

But what happens when electronic transfers go wrong? This was the case for me a few weeks ago as I had deregistered my vehicle and was expecting my road tax from the traffic authority back. Now this should not be such a difficult thing to accomplish, one would think, however getting my funds back were more challenging then i could have imagined.

When i first moved here i opened up an account with SwedBank. After picking up the language, i decided that i would switch to an internet based bank such as the one i use in Canada. Skandiabanken was my choice and i went down to a local SwedBank branch and requested to close off my account. Foolishly i figured that when I closed my account with SwedBank that my account would actually be closed. Traffikverket uses Swedbank as the company to handle refunds of payments made to their organization. I dont understand how it is so hard for them to type a few numbers in a form on the computer in order to refund people but whatever, so they use SwedBank. When they received the funds, they saw that i had an account (which has laid dorment for almost 3 years) and thought great we can put the money in there and promptly sent me a letter that they had done this.

The frustration started when i tried to even contact Swedbank!, i have no account with them, no pin code no way to actually talk to a live person using their customer support line which asks you to key in your customer number and passcode and hangs up on you when you dont put in this information.

After months of asking why they had put the money into an account that was obviously dormant, i had to physically go to a branch and fill out paperwork to close my closed account again.

The swedish word of the day is: Jobbigt which means annoying in english.

How did Americans get so fat???

2011-09-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

why walk when you can Segway?

Vacation: Sun, Sand, New York Shopping Sprees......Jumbo Sized portions and even more Jumbo Sized people. I have been living in Sweden for 4 years now. I suppose that i might have a distorted perspective of the typical 'look' of a person when it comes physique. We have all heard the reports of how Americans are the most overweight people in the world. This is distorted however as whenever you see programming from the US, its full of good looking slim people.

Its not until traveling here that you see the truth.

If you can believe it, this picture below is actually true, and it gets worse then this. I was at a Subway in uptown Manhattan and two kids came in, they couldn't have been more then 6 and 8 ...they already looked like they were going to burst out of their skin. While waiting for their mom to come in they pulled up a couple of seats in front of the ordering counter and sat down. What is our world coming to?? The 8 year old polished off a full 12'' sub on his own...one that i, a 105kg adult felt sick after finishing. There were of course no veggies on his sub, only meat and cheese.

The 'burger queen' at Burger King.

Just as you get used to seeing healthy looking people in Sweden, you quickly come to the opposite realization here in the States. Huge portion sizes, cheap fast food, high fructose corn syrup in everything.

I went over to a hotel close to time square around 10pm one night to ask the person behind the counter if he knew of any good places to go to clubbing. he mentioned one to me and gave me the address. He then said it could be a bit of a walk but you can easily catch a cab out in front of the hotel.

The place was all of 4 blocks away!

I walked from the top of central park to time square on my first day in NY (around 60 blocks), to get a feeling for the city and see the sights. This is something i guess no one does here.

I think for the most part that people try to assimilate to their environment and try to match their surroundings. I think that this probably applies as well to ones weight. If you continually see fat people around, you are not going to think twice if your 8 year old weights 50kg.

I think that i prefer to see healthy people around me. I live a few minutes walk from a running/walking trail and people in Sweden are always active, ensuring that they stay fit and in good shape. It has shaped my action as well and im a lot more active in Sweden then i was while living in Canada. This is clearly visible when you look at photos of me before moving there.

The Swedish word of the day is 'träna' which means working out.

Trip to Iceland

2011-08-25T09:04:00.000-07:00

It was time for the yearly vacation (not often enough-considering that when working in sweden you are entitled to 5 wks or more of vacation a year, compared to canada's 2) and this time i wanted it to be a longer vacation as i had not done anything outside of sweden this year.

I love NY: the sights the shopping and just the general business that you get there. I would compare it to bangkok or tokyo for the hustle and bustle that you see daily on the streets. Definitely nothing like Calgary, or Edmonton, Alberta where i had the fortune of living for the first 27 odd years of life. As i am on my last pair of jeans that has not entirely disintegrated on my body, I decided that it would be a great time to visit NY again.

Living in sweden gives one a multitude of choice when it comes to air carriers that can take you to the US of A. Fortunately this creates a bit of competition and round trip flights can be had for 500 € or less generally during anytime of the year. Based on the excellent service i received from them last time I decided that I would once again fly with Iceland Air. This gives you an advantage that you are not only getting a great price to your destination with them however you are also able to stop off Iceland for up to 3 months with no extra charge on your ticket. SOLD!

So I decided to do the entire icelandic experience this time and rented a 4x4 for some serious off-roading in order to see as much of the sights as possible. It was me and an Irish that on arrival were on a mission: drive the entire island and visit everyplace imaginable on the tourist map that is provided at the airport.

The result was good and bad. Turns out

Iceland, though it looks very small on a map, is crazy effin big! The roads are not straight nor are they level and driving on them tests the muscles in your neck as well as your rump. That being said, we decided that the best course of action was to see as much as we could along the southern cost and keep the traveling realistic. On returning the vehicle we had driven almost 2000km and visited all the major sights such as (MOUNTAIN THAT ERRUPTED), Several Glaciers and seen the dramatic change in not only landscape but weather patterns that occurred on the island. We even had the opportunity to high to a mountain hot spring and take a dip and to clime inside a once active volcano.

Icelandic people are smart. They know that their country (although for the most part self sufficient) is in the middle of nowhere and if it were not for their spoke like reach to several major cities in Europe and North America, tourism would not really be an industry anyone really depended on around here. to get people to come to Iceland they have excellent, roomy well equipped airplanes and friendly staff. There is no reason not to do a lay over in Iceland right now as their currency is currently in the buckets due to the financial crises caused by their banking sector a few years ago.

Not only are the Icelanders smart, they are equally (if not more-so) friendly. They speak perfect english and they seek out to help you if they see that your somewhat lost or unsure about a way to move forward. while i write this i have just seen an icelandic store attendant running out to catch an american customer who did not receive the proper documentation to receive their VAT refund.

Truly an honest and helpful people.

The Swedish Word of the day is: 'hjälpsam' which means Helpful.

Censorship in Sweden

2011-08-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

Age appropriate entertainment

From my perspective there seems to be a disconnect in how the swedish people have decided to handle censorship. Growing up in Canada we have fairly strict regulations as to what is broadcast over the airwaves and a keen eye on how this material could be received by those that are not old enough to understand or interpret its meaning.

There is also a a lot of unrealistic censorship in sweden when the content could shed a negative light on decisions the countries leaders are making in the running of the country.

For example with the prevalence of english in the swedish media, one would expect that material is age appropriate considering the audience, time of day, and subject matter however, there seems to be nothing that prevents broadcasters from using 'vulgar' language such as the F word, S word, or any other word that would not be used in Canada. I have on several occasions seen this type of material being used in give away papers, radio, tv, etc. Could it be that the goal of the media is to alter the connotations of such language and to remove the stigma associated with it?

there was a mega hit single here by an artist called Eric Amarillo this year (2011) called 'Om Sanningen Ska Fram' which translates loosely to 'If the truth comes forward' and the entire song's about wanting to get laid. A catchy tune with a pretty suggestive music video however is this type of song appropriate for children? It would seem that the media here thinks so as he played this single at a children's amusement park called Skansen in Stockholm in front of hundreds of children and teenagers. During his performance, even I could sense that even he was not 100% when singing. Maybe the thought is that by continually bombarding people with sex that the taboo erases itself and it becomes nothing special.

In another example Veronicca Maggio a pop artist here has also released a single called 'Jag Kommer' which translates to 'Im Coming' but throughout the video the suggestion is not to arriving somewhere but instead to the sexual act of orgasim. It was even discussed with her during an interview where she played innocent and insisted that it did in fact mean the former. Once again, a very popular song, played all over the media but perhaps not totally appropriate to all audiences.

There was also the gay pride parade here in Stockholm which happens every Summer. There are always tons of people out for the parade and a number of very interesting themed vehicles which drive through the center of the city. This year i noticed some very racy, bordering on pornographic displays where in some cases people were completely naked on vehicles, in plane site of every spectator on the side of the road. Suggestions of saddo massicicism, sexual domination and the like. What sort of message does this send to children watching the parade and is it something they will understand or is it just a way to shock spectators?

Censorship on the reporting of crime is common practice here in Sweden as well. If a crime is committed by someone, you will not be given any information as to the name of the person or their original nationality if not of Swedish ancestry. As the government wants people to accept multiculturalism: if it is shown that a majority of criminal activities are being committed by non-swedes this would cause people to question how the government is going about immigration and integration in general. A number of independent people are reporting complete details about high profile cases but you will never see the same information information in the mainstream media. In canada there are regulations on what information is released but this is based on the age of the people involved, not their nationality. If tried in adult court, full name details are given so as to inform the public. Its somewhat confusing that in Sweden you can get anyones name, address, social security number, how much they made last year, and a bunch of other information on anyone with a simple search online but not information about who is committing crimes in the country.

The question then is: Why are people in Sweden putting up with the propaganda that is being sold to them by their own elected officials? Is it apathy, naïvety or ignorance? From my perspective the entire scandinavian culture is based on honesty and openness. Can Sweden keep this culture of openness in the 21st century and how will multiculturalism effect its outcome? Will Sweden have to abandon openness in order to be more like Canada, England, the USA etc. with strong privacy laws?

One thing is for sure, there is a conflicting message that is being sent out where on one hand you have sexuality and age inappropriate material being broadcast freely but a lack of transparency from a criminality standpoint. Is it wrong to shame those that commit crimes so that people realize there are consequences to their actions? Why protect the criminals and not the victims?

The Swedish word of the day is 'Sanning' which means truth.

Why do Swedish Airlines Suck and Keep going Bankrupt

2011-08-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

On a flight with swiss airlines today to prague.
This is a short haul flight within the eu. i didn't pay much for the ticket and on the way back i will be flying with SAS / Cimber Airlines.

Onboard i have to compliment the airline, what a refreshing change to typical scandinavian air hospitality. Not only did i receive a hot meal (without having to pay extra for it) but on top of that, i could have had a beer to drink! imagine that, beer, on an airline for brunch. With the bargin basement fairs that are available now a days it seems that people have come to expect that everything on a flight (except for the oxygen) is going to eventually cost extra…It was Ryan air that was experimenting with charging for the toilets and even standing only seating for shot haul flights. For the sake of a kronor people are putting up with more and more to get less and less. It's kinda unfortunate. What is the limit? Will it be like a NY City subway in the summer with no AC and packed wall to wall seating?

I remember flying with Virgin a couple of years ago from dk to UK. onboard you were also served something to eat and drink. IM sure that 99% of the people on board were swedish and as such, they all requested just coffee or juice to drink. I requested something alcoholic and yes it was available and included. Later i asks the flight attendants how many of the passengers had requested something alcoholic to drink, i was the only one.

It seem that whatever sweden is doing to prevent alcohol consumption unless its during a friday or saturday seems to be working.

Im not sure about the state of financial affairs of Swiss airlines but I do know that SAS is always losing money, this despite the fact that they offer nothing in the way of extras like food or water. This primarily because they can't compete with airlines like Ryan air and Norwegian which offer the same in the lack of extras.

One thing that is quite different is the pay that these flight attendants and pilots receive. Seniority is key in Scandinavia, you can tell that with the flight attendants which on average are double the average drinking age. Don't expect to see any dazzling swedish blondes on the flights, unless you flew 20 years ago (the same ones are on current flights)

So what can be done to improve service quality and enable SAS to actually turn a profit? Firstly, get rid of all the highly paid employees which are sinking the company, start fresh by incorporating the company outside of sweden (if you don't do it, it will happen when SAS goes bankrupt and is sold to some other company outside of scandinavia).

I realize this is harsh and people will think that this is ultimately going to lead to the destruction of Swedish companies but if you look at whats been happening over the years, as companies grew large and successful they were sold off, it happened with Volvo, SABB, Absolut Vodka, the list continues….

One company I am very impressed with that is actually incorporated in Sweden and runs with Swedish employees is Malmö Aviation. They have managed to keep the prices low and the service level high. They saved my sanity during the 1.2 million seconds I was living in malmö with cheap air fairs to Stockholm that even included something to eat. I have noticed over the last year that the meals portions have started to get smaller and one less coffee round near the end of the flight but they are still bucking the normal Swedish trend.

Oh another flight attendant just came by, he brought me a piece of Swiss Chocolate, i think ill be flying with this airline more often.

The swedish word of the day is 'Kundtjänst' which means customer service.

Swedish governments mind control techniques

2011-08-15T02:19:00.001-07:00

Its true, the swedish governments controls its' population through mind control. Ok maybe not by hypnotizing the swedish population by using TV 1 and 2 (although one would think that would be a better use of those channels instead of broadcasting some of the programming they do).

No, the government has figured out a way to control the Swedish habits such as eating, drinking, and other activities through taxation. When you come to Swede, one thing you notice immediately is that a very high majority of the population is in great shape, with a high percentage that one could call fit or toned or buff.

I try to make it out to gym as much as possible however in Canada there was never much incentive to do so. For example, here in Sweden, your employer will provide you with funds to get a gym membership but if you dig a bit deeper you will see that its actuallyt he government that provides these funds to your employer who in turn passes this onto you.

Bad food is taxed. A McDonalds big mac meal costs 10 bucks here, compared to the $3.99 in Canada. Where is that other 6 dollars going? Granted wages are higher here too with the average McDonalds employee making 13 bucks an hour but the truth of the matter is its all going to taxes. The truth of the mater is however that one could purchase a normal healthy meal for the same price as an unhealthy McDonalds meal here in Sweden.

Alcohol is the same and the stronger the spirits the higher the taxes that follow. Your average horrible beer will be about 1 euro with a high of up to 2 euros for a finer brew or with a higher alcohol content in the beer. Hard alcohol is taxed the most with prices a little over double what they cost in Canada. How ironic i can pruchase a bottle of Swedens famous Absolut Vodka for half the price in Canada.

So we have two basis covered, a fatty food tax, an alcohol tax, whats left? Oh yes a transportation tax!

I decided about a year ago that I was going to import my vehicle here to Sweden. It's a fairly nice car and it was just sitting in Canada all lonely wanting someone to drive it. Well once getting it over here, (paying 35% tax on the value of the car to bring it in) I had to insure it. What an unpleasant surprise when I discovered it would cost me about 10x the amount to insure my vehicle as a comparable vehicle here in Sweden. Seems that with the engine was a bit larger and it had a few more ponies under the hood was good reason to do so here.

There is also a tax on even using your vehicle inside the Stockholm city center during the weekdays which is equivalent to a congestion tax of sorts. Its based on time of entry/exit and can add up quickly if you live outside the center.

Basically the government wants you to use public transport, your bike, moped or some other means of transport instead of polluting vehicles. The cities here are designed not to need to have a vehicle with the great public transportation between all points of interest. Canada definitely could learn a thing or two about this.

Why is there no high speed rail between Edmonton and Calgary as of yet?

Its something that's been needed for decades and been delayed and overlooked by the province with the help of lobbyists (whom i assume work for the airlines)

Ultimately the government here controls you in the only way that actually works: your wallet. You can live in the lagom swedish way and do like everyone else or you can stand out and forge your own path (very unswedish).

The swedish word of the day is 'trängselskatt' which means congestion tax

Water water everywhere.....

2011-08-14T22:12:00.000-07:00

This fact may be hard to believe but Sweden has over 97500 lakes larger than 2 acres (8100 m2) in size. Its not hard to believe then that all Swedish cities have in their close vicinity either access to the ocean or a lake. In terms of land area, you could fit all of Sweden into Alberta!

I grew up in Edmonton, Alberta and then moved to Calgary, Alberta for work. There were rivers going through both cities but there were definitely no one using them except for the odd boater. Both were fairly old lakes geologically speaking with a fairly wide channel and shallow but both moved fairly slowly and were not the most clean if one was to compare them to here in Sweden.

Its not uncommon here to see people fishing right in
the literal center of Stockholm at Gamla Stan....its also not uncommon during the hot summer days for people to be seen swimming in the waters in Stockholm or even in Malmö (a town i was resident of for 1.2 million seconds). If i were comparing the two, Stockholm is much better. The water here is fresh water whereas Malmö has ocean water. In Stockholm you dont get that sticky feeling after drying off.

Swedes love the water. There is a shortage of places to dock your boat (Of course there is, any reason to add a que to something is good enough) you can wait for future places as they come up. The water is viewed upon another common transportation route. Islands in the archipelago like Sandhamn are easily reachable by public boat. There are some lucky swedes that own an island all to themselves and others that are at public disposal, but only for those that have a boat.

There are Swedes that even dock their boats permanently and live on them during the year. Quite often this is much much cheaper then buying a place in Stockholm especially when you can dock your boat in the center of the city. The only eventual problem with this is heating during the winter which can really add to your costs.

I have to admit, i have become somewhat enamored with the water after living in Sweden as well. Growing up the only swimming you did was at the local pool, full of chlorinated pee and who knows what else. Here its a 5 min walk for me to enjoy the Mälaren (a lake that streatches quite far inwards into the country composed of fresh water.

One can even navigate the entire way through the center of the country by boat with a series of canals that were built to facilitate such.

One thing that i have discovered while living here is that im a horrible swimmer...i can do a great doggie paddle and perhaps even the back stroke however trying to do anything olympic style results in me getting a lot of wonderful (hopefully) fresh water in my mouth. This is something that will definitely take practice.

There are tours that go all over stockholm at regular intervals during the summer that cost almost nothing at all and will give you a perspective on stockholm like no other. I highly recommend one of these tours for those of you visiting the country. In the meantime, I will be out in the sun and enjoying the water for as long as I can, its a very short summer season in Sweden so there is not time to waste.

The Swedish word of the day is 'badkruka' which means swimming coward, reserved for those silly people that think that Swedish water in the summer is too cold...

I love Ikea and Blocket

2011-08-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

Well if you are a reader of my blog, you will know a couple things, first, i have not really written in my blog for almost a year (sorry all you divoted readers) and secondly I have just purchased a flat here in Stockholm on the beautiful and central island of Kungsholmen.

Some Statistics for you:

3 min walk from Central Station
4 min walk from Stadshuset (City hall)
3 min walk from the beach 10 min if you want to go to Rålis (a nice park here)
20 min walk from Medborgarplatsen
15 min walk from Stureplan

I think you get the idea....

With the proximity to everything, I can even overlook the fact that ill have to invest about 15,000 Euros in order to add a proper bathroom (with a shower which is currently missing) and redo the kitchen so it doesn't feel like Alcatraz when preparing my extravagant culinary creations on a daily basis.

It's kinda exciting to have somewhat of a blank slate to work with, making the apartment my own. I do own property in Canada but ironically I have never lived in anything I own there due to timing and moving to Sweden. This will be the first time.

For those of you in my situation, never forget how great Blocket can be. I was able to get the basics in my place for almost just the cost of hiring transport. Most of the time, brand new goods or almost never used. You have to dedicate some time to staying on the net to keep checking for new bargains but if you're on a tight budget like i was when i first moved, it can be a savior.

Ikea has also been great. Im about 10 min walk from the free bus that goes to Ikea every hour on all weekdays. They take you there, you shop till your content, grab a few free hotdogs on your way out and they even take you back all at no charge. What a fantastic service. The bus is even of higher quality then the city buses here in Stockholm. I would say its more of a long distance Coach experience with AC and Free Internet on the way. Could it get any better?

The Swedish word of the day is: 'snål men duktig' which means cheap but smart

Wonderful Kungsholmen

2011-08-10T06:19:00.001-07:00

By a stroke of happenchance, i have managed to secure a property in Stockholm, Sweden! No more words like andrahand, and studentbosted, hyresrätt and all the moving around associated with not owning a flat in Sweden.

Firstly, the whole process of bidding on a flat here in Sweden is completely ridiculous and leaves so many open ended situations whereby a buyer is not at all assured that he is bidding against an entity that can actually afford a flat. The system here is set up that the real estate agent works for both the BUYER and SELLER...hmmm can anyone say the words: CONFLICT OF INTEREST??

On top of this, when you make a bid for a place, lets say the utropspris or starting price of a flat, the seller is under no obligation to actually sell the flat if you are the one and only bidder! What's the point?? An auction has a defined starting time, starting bid or reserve, and ending time, this is how an auction works. I wonder how successful ebay would have been if sellers could just end their auctions if they didnt get the price they were looking for?

I personally had a horrible experience with the real estate agent that the seller used. He seemed to be completely incompetant like he just started working at his job but no he had been there years! Hans Göthe was the company involved. I wont name the mäklare involved in my tranaction but some of my favorite exchanges of conversation with him included:

ME: Hi, i need to know if there were cats or any other animals in the flat before i moved in
HG: Im not aware of there being any cats or other animals in the apartment.

ME: The seller left her broken furniture in the flat and there is a leak in the sink!
HG: You said it was ok to leave the furniture and the person whom inspected the flat for you surely saw the leaking sink, it was purchased befintlig skick..
ME: You never said the furniture was broken, if you had, i wouldnt have taken it, why would i want to have to deal with broken furniture. The person who inspected the flat for me didnt see any leaks, why didnt you mention anything to her
HG: Its the inspectors job to notice all these things
ME: Is it not your job to list all deficiencies in the flat so that I know about them
HG: My only job it to find a buy and seller and bring them together.
ME: Could i not replace you with a well formatted web page and save the 30,000 SEK commission?
HG: I guess so.

Anyways, I digress....i could go on forever, it was a very interesting if not frustrating experience as I had to purchase from a distance since I was moving here from Malmö.

The funny thing is that bidders can simply make bids on a place without the agent checking if they can actually afford the apartment, i know this as thats what I did!! Granted i wasnt buying a place on Strandvägen however a bit of background checking is the least you could ask of an agent! i wouldnt want to be outbid by someone who cant actually afford the place and forced to pay more and conversely as the seller what if the buyer pulls out for no reason? There is no recourse. In fact thats how I got my place, a buyer pulled out at the last minute and as a result lost about 25,000 SEK.

It all seems very silly to me. But then again, im from Canada.

I should count my lucky stars that I can even own a property here in Sweden. Many countries do not allow foreigners to do this.

However at the end of the day, im now somewhat settled into my very small flat (thats has now shower by the way, thats down the hall, i have to renovate) but then again, im a 4 min walk to central station, a 3 min walk to the beach, and a 15 min walk to stureplan or södermalm....boy i love being central!

The Swedish word of the day is: 'trångt' which means tight or narrow

You think im from where?? Tunisia??

2011-08-10T04:10:00.000-07:00

Had the opportunity to go out a couple weeks ago and since I am now living in a flat in Kungsholmen, i thought why not do what the locals do and go to a place called Lemon bar (click the photo for a writeup on the place).

The place has been known to be a meat market and besides being very crowded and hot (as they cannot installed AC becuase its going to cost them 500,000 SEK according to the guards), they also play some of my favorite music: Schalger!

Well this time i was there on a thursday and this is decidedly an older hangout with most people showing up on a friday or saturday. On walking around the bar i ended up chatting to 2 girls whos first question was of course 'Where are you from?'. I have gotten somewhat tired of this question by now but I do like to make a bit of a game with answering it. My first response was China (dont look anything chineese at all by the way). They didnt buy that one so I decided to up the stakes.

I told them that if they were able to guess my country correctly, I would purchase them both something to drink, and conversely if they got it wrong they would get me something, kinda like 2 to 1 odds, quite a good deal.

They went to work, debating amonst themselves in Swedish about where in the world i could possibly be from. Now to the untrained ear, my accent can sound somewhat American and this is the answer i typically get whenever i ask people what they think as i was in this situation. After a couple minutes of deliberating, the blonde one turned to me.

She gave me a razor sharp stare, bit her lower lip, and then then widened her eyes and pronounced with confidence: We think you are from Tunisia!

After comprehending what had been said (I admit, it took me a few seconds as it was so unexpected) I replied in disbelief: 'Tunisia???, is that some country in Africa??, What made you think that??'. Her reply was that it was because i spoke such good English that i must have been from Tunisia.

Never mind the other 100 or so countries i would have guessed ahead of Tunisia that spoke english. And wait, I met with some friends a few days after this and after a thoroughly enjoyable retelling of the story, they told me that this couple was in fact there last year.

Its a french country! They speak french in tunisia!

That was the icing on the cake.

The swedish word of the day is: 'otroligt' which means incredible.

Annoying Swedish Grocery Store Habits

2010-12-23T05:18:00.000-08:00

The inevitable trip to the grocery store! Something that can not be avoided but the differences between grocery stores here versus back in Canada are stark, leaving me to wonder what exactly are the Swedes doing.

Firstly, most grocery stores here seem very cramped for space. Its understandable that space in the city center is at a premium and the interest is to use the space as effectively as possible however with the manner that aisles are spaced you have a hard time fitting two people down one without stepping on top of one another. As a minimum they should space these so that you can comfortably fit two people.

Perhaps the biggest most irritating part of the entire Swedish shopping experience originates at the check out line. Now this is normally the final impression you have of the store so a speedy passage through the checkout leaves a good impression however instead you wind up with a bad taste in your mouth. Normally there are far too few check outs open leading to long lineups and on top of that the people working behind the till take their time in processing peoples goods from their comfy seats, while the rest of the people are standing for ages in the lineup.

You also find those that think they are making a contribution to the speed of moving through the checkout by meticulously placing each and every item in a perfectly neat line on the belt with all of the UPC codes facing upwards. Not only does this take forever and results in slowing down the whole process but i dare anyone to prove that all this actually has any positive effect on the speed of moving through the cash register. The people working behind the till have a scanner in two locations, and any item moving past them will easily be caught by one no matter what direction they are facing. I suppose that we should be lucky we don’t have to take a number just to get into the lineups to pay as opposed to many other Swedish services.

Just a little rant!

The Swedish word of the day is Tålamod which means Patience.

Speaking Swedish with the Swedes?

2010-12-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

Bork Bork Bork!

As of this post, I have been in Sweden for an astonishing 3.5 years. Wow what a run it has been.

Originally when learning I would come here, i immediately started working on studying Swedish. My first aid was a software program called Rosetta Stone. Which was excellent to start out on and from there I had moved to textbooks.

In the last year or so I have noticed one thing. Although my understanding of the language is getting better every day, one thing that is not is my ability to speak Swedish.

To put it succinctly, the only reason for this is that it's impossible to speak Swedish with the Swedes.

Although I can communicate what i want to say in Swedish and i have been complimented on my pronunciation of the words in the language many times over, one thing that I have when speaking Swedish is a Canadian accent. On top of that, due to the fact that i don't practice Swedish, my grammar is not getting any better. This is a catch 22 because when I do try to speak Swedish, a native speaker can immediately understand that I am not fluent and will do what they believe is a favor by switching to English for me.

Make even the slightest mistake in a sentence, for example, saying en bröd instead of ett bröd (the word for bread is Bröd and this is a ett word, something you just have to memorize for every word). And the next words that will come out of the mouth of whomever your speaking with will be in English.

Think of how frustrating that is: You are trying to practice and learn the language and instead of supporting you and giving you a polite correction, they just immediately switch to English thinking they are doing you a favor.

I for one always try to help Swedes out when speaking in English to help them when they make small mistakes but i don't switch to Swedish when they do.

I have been told that if one just continues in Swedish no matter what the person across from you does, then eventually they will revert back to Swedish, something that I will definitely try in future communication encounters.

I still find it amazing however that after only 3 years (of which i dont even really count the first year) I am now entering meetings at work where they do not change to nnglish when I walk through the door and with this help, my ability to understand what people are talking about has gone up exponentially.

It's all about baby steps, give me another 5 years and I will be a native speaker =).

The Swedish word of the day is Öva which means to Practice.

Medical Care in Sweden

2010-12-19T07:23:00.000-08:00

Need a doctor? Hopefully not in Sweden becuase the entire process of how seeing a doctor is handled here is complicated and confusing.

Just as with most other things in Sweden, seeing a doctor requires you first take a number from a dispenser, after which you wait to see the secretary who takes your information and then you are in the cue to see a Nurse. The nurse will then take a look at you and assess whether or not you need to see a doctor. The whole process is complicated in that if you do get the opportunity to see the doctor you are charged a fee for the visit. Somewhat confusing how with the high rate of taxation here, one still has to pay a fee for the doctor when this is not the case in Canada where are tax rates are much lower. Its true however that there is a yearly maximum for doctors fees however if your a fairly healthy individual, you more then likely will never reach this threashold.

Another strange difference here in Sweden is that unlike in Canada where your able to go to any clinic and see the doctor of your choice, here in Sweden you become registered to a specific medical center and at that point your not able to see doctors at other locations. This is somewhat frustrating in the fact that if the office you are registered at is very busy, you cannot visit a location that is less so.

It also seems that Doctors here in Sweden prefer not to perscribe medication. For example several months ago i needed some antibiotics and the Doctor informed me that i would need about a weeks worth of medication which you would take a pill 3 times a day so 21 pills should be necessary, however she then informed me that they only sell these pills in packages of 20 and 40, instead of just perscribing me 40 pills to ensure that i would have enough medication to cure the infection, instead she perscribed me the 20 pill package. Well it was all well and good, and i was almost healed when wouldn't know it, i ran out of pills and had to go to the doctor again. wait in the cue, pay all the fees and then get another perscription. A waste of time, money and frustrating to boot.

Dentists in Sweden?
Similar to Dentists in Canada, they are privatized here and can charge what fees they choose however there is transparency in what your paying versus what the government states you should be charged. On top of that, there is insurance here so that if you are in need of some major work you pay on a declining scale over certain threasholds. This i have to say is better then in Canada where you need to purchase fairly costly insurance to cover higher dentist bills if your work does not provide you with a good medical plan.

The problem however is again with being able to visit the Dentist in the first place. For example, since i am new here, there is no way to see a dentist as im not a patient of any dentist. The only way around this is to call an 'emergency dental help' hotline which will book you an appointment that same day at a dentist and will charge you for the pleasure on top of any fees the dentist charges.

The Swedish Word of the day is: tandkött which means gums (literally translated however it means toothmeat.

Backdoor entry for Non-EU immigrants into Sweden

2009-10-10T12:26:00.001-07:00

(Note: since this article was started, things have changed a lot in Sweden for non EU people that are interested in studying here, they have now introduced tuition fees comparable to those in the USA or Canada. The enrollment has dropped dramatically accordingly, I feel that this is for the best as it will ensure that those that come here now are interested in actually studying)

Make the classes accessable to as many students as possible to maximize enrollment
It is in the best interest of these schools to ensure that students pass their classes
If due to poor teaching or improper testing, several students dont pass the couse, reduce the required level of knowledge to pass the course on follow up examinations
Profit! (at the expense of the taxpayer)

OK, so you have the students from foreign countries enrolled in your classes, and you want to make sure that you pass as many as possible but at the same time you have to comply with various standards commissions ensuring a minimum quality level of education is being provided in order for the degrees to be accepted thoughout europe.

All countries in the world have conditions that are enforced in order to control the tide emigrants that want to immigrate into yours. Generally these policies work quite well having been developed over many years and the list of loopholes is for the most part nonexistent. One interesting development I have noticed here in Sweden is that the system has one major and glaring loophole.

The loophole involves giving people from any country in the world outside the EU to apply as an international masters student in Sweden thereby being granted an automatic 2 year uppehållstillstånd or Residence Permit on the grounds of studying in Sweden. Not so exciting as Canada has this too however here in Sweden neither the School system, nor the government keeps track of your progress in the School system and on top of that, cours finals can be failed and taken again as many times as you want with no adverse effect on your transcript. You could take a final 10 times and only your highest grade out of these 10 will appear on your permanent record. Does that seem fair to the person that passed the course on their first try? would you want to hire the person that took 10x as long to pass a course as someone that passed it on their first go?

Ok, what does this all mean?

More and more the government is spreading propaganda that the Swedish language is not required in order to get a job in Sweden . How can any Swede in the world agree with that statement? What would Canadians think if the government started to tell them that French or English was not required to get a job in Canada, how would that go over with the population? Its the most ridiculous statement I have ever heard.

Recently, I went though an interview conducted by a recruiter. The recruiter expected me to Speak in Swedish during the interview (i fully agree with that) and as such for the first 40 min or so of the 1 hour interview I did just that. I would say that doing an interview in Swedish is many times harder then must making small talk. I also was told that I was better then i thought I was in swedish however after 40 min she told me that she wanted to get a feel for my personality so switched to english. Of course trying to express your personality in another language is the ultimate test of whether or not you have mastered it. Im not there yet but im not done trying either.

My point is that Swedes seem to be embarrest about being Swedish and dont understand the value of their strong heritage and historical significance. In some ways, Swedes seem to be much too willing to bend over backwards for others when it should in fact be the other way around, remember, its not a Swede coming to Canada, its a Canadian coming to Sweden to work. Let me tell you, Canada would do no bending whatsoever if a Swede tried to come to Canada, if you didnt speak english or have some skills we needed, chances are we dont want you. Swedes dont seem to be very patriotic and the majority of flags you see here will be on boats or at the city hall. For some reason Swedes have confused patriotism with racism or being racist to those that are not Swedish.

The Swedish word of the day is: 'fosterländsk' which means Patriotic

Swedish Girls: Relationships and Sex

2009-10-03T23:57:00.001-07:00

(note: noone in this photo is actually swedish)
This post i have been anxious to write but with cautious reproach as i wanted to do the topic justice with an informed and honest look at where women in Sweden are today and how they got there. Saying that women in Sweden are just like all other women out there would not be giving the women here justice. Swedish women are strong, independent, hard working, determined and have a do what they want attitude.

Swedish women have worked hard for equality in society in fact Swedish women were first given full rights to vote in 1921, somewhat similar to Canada which granted the same 5 years earlier in 1916. This equality also reflects long term relationships (or marriage) in Sweden with rights for both parents to equally split parental leave if they so desire. But wait, before we even can get to the point where we are caring for kids, lets rewind and discuss a bit about how to have sex or a relationship with the fairer sex.

Swedes have worked very hard to remove the 'inconvenience' of conversation from day to day affairs with automated machines replacing people in all manner of places and as such, it is not often that you have the opportunity to strike up a conversation with a Swede be it male or female. In my experience it seems that alcohol is the social lubricant that helps break the ice, in almost all situations. Any event you go to in Sweden be it at a University, Dinner party, or anywhere a gathering is to take place, will undoubtedly have a welcome drink as well as several drinks throughout the evening.

Walking on the street you will rarely if ever get any eye contact from a girl, normally if you bump into someone or they bump into you, not so much as an apology will be uttered from either party.

Now if your here to meat a Swedish girl, the weekend club scene is your best bet. Swedish women have a very liberated attitude when it comes to sex and as a foreigner Swedish women will generally see you as interesting because you are foreign. Something I find funny about being a foreigner here is that in my experience Swedish guys don't even bother to talk to girls in the clubs preferring instead to hang out amongst themselves. Spiky hair, low hanging tight pants and a knack for drinking to the extreme is what characterizes the younger generation of men. Conversely, suit jackets, ties, and a knack for drinking to the extreme is what characterizes the older generation of men. Ironically, both groups seem to want to go after the same age range of women, with the later having a bit more sway as they can afford several more rounds of shots and drinks then the former. (remember, we are in the country of $12 beers and $24 mixed drinks)

Having spoken to my international friends about this, they have all said the same thing that a one night stand (ONS) is nothing unusual here and from their experience its the ONS that can lead to a relationship as otherwise its darn near impossible to even talk to a girl here without it feeling weird.

So what are the ingredients for a night of fun here in Sweden?

Preparty before the club
Get to and into the club (involves looking sober enough to allow the guard to let you in)
Purchase copious amounts of drinks
Get on the dance floor and bump into someone you find attractive
Hope they find you attractive back
More drinks
Dance until the club is about to close
If you are still sober enough to find you way home then get there together.
Wake up in the morning, have some uncomfortable conversation and if it was a hemmamatch then she will be doing the walk of shame back to her place (for her sake, offer to cook lunch and chat up some more until the afternoon so it doesnt look bad)

In terms of being shy, or introverted, i wouldn't say that i fall into that camp but I would be honest in saying that not speaking the language fluently can assist when meeting someone new. Depending on the other parites comfort with their english language skills the conversation can rapidly become a rerun of dozens of conversations I have had in the past such as:
where are you from?,
how long have you been here?
How long are you staying? etc...

In fact, as to the subject of language, i have found that although at this point I am able to have a conversation in Swedish, my approach of choice will be one in English. Swedish girls and guys find it boring to speak Swedish in a way, its so normal to do so. However a foreigner that speaks English that comes up to them gives them both a chance to do something uncommon and speak english. Sprinkle the follow up conversation with tidbits of Swedish just to spark some curiosity and interest and hopefully you get to meet someone new for longer then 1 hour.

As Sweden is quite liberal, sex is also. It's quite normal for people to go out to find someone for the night. A friend of mine in fact just a couple weeks ago was out at a club, dancing the night away and at 3am when the club was closing a girl approached him and said 'Your coming home with me tonight', not only a bold statement but a correct one. And so is the reproach of the Swedish girl, why fool around with small talk, witty banter or a conversation. But just as sex is liberal, dont expect to get a hello from the same person next time you meet out in public as another one of my friends found out (perhaps he was bad in bed, but thats another post for another time).

Well hopefully this article has given you some insight as to my opinions and beliefs about Swedish girls.

The Swedish word of the day is 'Samlag' which means intercourse in Swedish ;)

The Ridiculously Healthy Swedish Lifestyle

2009-10-03T22:53:00.000-07:00

What makes Sweden one of the healthiest countries on earth?
Currently rated 7th on the Human Development Index which is an index used to rank countries by level of "human development". Sweden has consistently ranked within the to 10 for many years and with an average life expectancy of over 80 years, it seems that the Swedes are doing something right. (it should be noted that Canada is doing pretty well on the list coming in at almost the same rating).

The photo of a biker above that looks like she is about to get run down by the bus behind her is a little deceptive. Although in Canada Cyclists are considered vehicles, they are shown very little or no respect by motorists. It is dangerous to ride your bike on the roadways and city planning does not keep in mind cycle paths besides those that citizens might use recreationally which dont really lead anywhere useful.

I don't know how to explain it but for me you can almost feel the less rushed more laid back attitude while your walking on the streets here. Crosswalks are everywhere and cars will start to slow dozens of meters before reaching one if there is even a hint of someone that looks as if they may want to cross. In Canada you frequently need a whole affair with posts that have blinking lights warning motorists that someone is about to cross the road. With Mr. or Mrs Joe Smith rushing from one errand to another suffering through the inconvenience of having to drive there. I've been on buses where there has been a Cyclist ahead of us and the bus driver will adjust his speed to match that of the cyclist, not looking to pass or honking his horn. This was even more surprising when the cyclist was a pensioner who couldn't have been traveling more then 5km/h. Swedes don't stress about it and just continue on their way at the new un-posted speed restriction.

In terms of getting around, it all starts with city planning for which Europe has always been the example to follow. All roadways are designed with pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists in mind. You can easily and safely get to where your going using any means of transportation. Distances are manageable and a car is almost an inconvenience to have if your living in the city. Contrary to city planning in North America where you cant even get to your local 7-11 without driving there.

Historically the Swedish have always had a well balanced food culture that limits unhealthy foods and oversized portions. Going to McDonalds or Burger King here is no cheaper then going to a normal restaurant as they all charge about 60 SEK ($10 CAD) for a combo. In fact I find it crazy that people choose to go to fast food restaurants here at all considering the lack of price differentiation between them an a healthy alternative. Contrast this to Canada where you can get a Big Mac meal for $5 or go to a proper restaurant and drop no less then $15. Imagine my surprise when I learned that KFC does not even exist here in Sweden. I guess the swedes dont care for the colonel's fried chicken with special blend of seasonings.

My opinion is that the work life balance here is paramount to the longevity and health of the Swedish population. Its understood that to have a healthy productive employee you must respect the fact that they also need time to regenerate. The vicious cycle that so easily develops in the work centric North American culture which promotes those that spend their entire lives at work and neglects their families does not happen here.

After all, you only live once.

The Swedish Word of the day is: hälsosam which means healthy.

Taxes in Sweden

2009-10-03T02:41:00.001-07:00

Taxes in Sweden!
Well there is always talk about how Sweden is a Socialist Country and there have been many references to this on American television such as The Daily Show, The Daily Show and more recently in the political sphere due to Obama's (intelliegent) plan to provide a certain minimum level of universal healthcare for all.

(translation of the article title to the left: 'Soon Sweden will have the highest marginal taxes in the entire world')

Firstly, let’s just say it, yes the rumours are true. Taxes are crazy high here. I am fortunate (or not) that I’m not earning above the marginal tax rate which next year will tax those who are at about 57%! Yes, it’s insane. If you look at the top 25 or so countries in the list above you will find that Canada and the US don’t even appear on the list. Here in Sweden they even tax the interest you earn on savings in your bank account at 30%. In Canada you are allowed a minimum of untaxed earnings from bank interest at about $200 or there abouts. The number one taxed country in the world used to be Denmark but as of next year they will lower their marginal tax rate and Sweden will raise theirs.
An interesting comparison of taxes and the differences between Sweden and the US for instance is that I can receive a package from the states for $12.95, if I were to mail this back to the states now the equivalent cost is $30.
Taxes for business are intentionally kept very low to promote people starting businesses in the country. There are several government funds to help entrepreneurs find the capital to get their ventures off the ground.
Food is taxed at 12.5 to 20 percent. Alcohol is taxed obscenely. A 5 minute cab ride that goes about 1.5 km will set you back about $20 CAD.
Are there any benefits to this high taxation?
Having lived here for 2 years, I for one can say that although money is not spent perfectly, you do see a lot of benefits (both direct and indirect) for your tax dollars. For instance, going to the doctor only costs you a marginal fee which caps out per year. This is similar to Canada except that in Canada your employer would cover your monthly health care costs at which point going to the doctor becomes free.
Besides the generous vacation that by default is 4 weeks per year (I receive 6 weeks at my job), you also receive a year off if you were to have a child in Sweden with the right to split that time between both parents if so desired.
Cities are clean and well looked after as the offentliga sektorn (public service sector) receives a bulk majority of tax dollars to ensure flowers are planted and cared for, parks are cleaned, and roads are kept in good condition. A negative consequence of this that I have seen is that some Swedes won’t even bother to clean up after themselves when leaving a park knowing that someone else will do it for them.
Not to mention that education is free and of good quality. In fact, children here even receive their lunches at school for free (or very low cost) up until they finish high school. These are healthy well rounded lunches which are a far cry from what was offered at my junior and senior high school which mainly consisted of pizza, fries and burgers and you had to pay for them yourself. I personally went through most of my education never even having lunch as my single mother worked to support my sister and I, and I was a lazy teenager that could care less if he went hungry and had nothing to eat until he came home.
No one is left behind, if for some reason you were to lose your job and require employment insurance, the government would cover your needs until you were able to find work again. I remember trying to apply for employment insurance in Canada, what a convoluted and confusing process that turned out to be with the end result that even though I was out of work, I was turned down.
I suppose one could say that Swedish life is cradle to grave in fact every year (unless you opt out) everyone in Sweden pays a burial fee to the church so that when it is time to move to the beyond, your final costs are covered.
There is opportunity to do whatever you would like in the country, study when you want, work when you want, or don’t work if you don’t feel up to it. But with all this freedom, it does not appear that Swedes take advantage of the system. People here have a good work ethic and strive for accomplishments, possibly why the economy has been a raging bull for the last several decades with several international firms locating themselves within Swedish borders.
What do Swedes think?
Even with all this tax, people don't complain, it’s almost as if they have been indoctrinated that this money will go for the public good. People here don’t believe in owning anything, knowing that the state will look after them and that owning something is just another expense. A huge majority of people use public transit (which is excellent throughout the country). Until fairly recently people here didn’t buy their flats, they just rented them from the state for their entire lives.
What do I think?
Personally, I’m not a huge user of the public system per say, yes when I first arrived here to Sweden it was to take a master’s program but since then, I don’t really get sick so no doctors visits, with a couple months left in the year I have not taken my allotted 6 weeks of vacation (I have managed to take 1.5 so far - Saving vacation is a Canadian habit that’s hard to break). I’m making less than I did in Canada and paying more tax on what I do earn but I have to say I LIKE IT. Sweden is excellent and sets a good example for the rest of the world. In terms of taxation, Canada could learn a thing or two about how Sweden does it and improve their systems.

The Swedish Word of the Day is: Skattefusk and it means tax evasion.

Malmö vs Stockholm

2009-09-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

On arriving to Sweden for studies i ended up in Stockholm which is Sweden's largest city. It has all the big city amenities such as great shopping, international airport and feels somewhat like home (coming originally from Calgary, Alberta).

When i decided to stay in Sweden the main hindrance preventing me from doing that was finding full time employment so that I could get the work visa which was my ticket to staying in Sweden. After sending out more applications then i can count i ended up getting interviewed for a job which would be based out of Malmö - Swedens third largest city. The benefit of living here is that it has many of the large city amenities and a small town feel. For example, Copenhagen Airport is a short train ride away and this ensures that you have an international hub nearby. Malmö also has its own domestic airport. Being third biggest it has about 300,000 people that reside in Malmö. If you want to party in the big city the option is also there to travel to Copenhagen to go out, with the cheaper drink prices and higher currency value it ends up being about the same price as going out in Malmö.

One thing that is definitely different here in Malmö is the population ethnicity distribution. Of course Stockholm is a very culturally diverse city but Malmö has a higher percentage of foreign born citizens living here, the effects of which has made headlines across the globe.

Another big difference between Malmö and Stockholm are the beaches! Of course in Stockholm you have fresh water whereas here in Malmö its salt water. I actually did notice a difference on my last visit to Stockholm over the summer that it is harder to float in the water there.

As Stockholm is the countries capital city you definitely notice that a lot of money is spent to make the city look nice. Malmö does its part as well but not to the same degree. Ironically, taxation here in Malmö is higher then in Stockholm (one pays a different local or city tax depending on what city you are living in here in Sweden).

There is a also a difference in the accents here in Skåne versus those in Stockholm and having been to Stockholm first, the Swedish that I learned was based on their accent. The Skåne residents tend to have more of a twang to their voices and much more emphasis on the letter 'r'. I would almost say that its more of a Danish version of Swedish (which im sure many of the residents here will not want to hear).

The Swedish word of the day is Huvudstad which means Capital City

Swedish -The Language

2009-05-21T15:08:00.000-07:00

Its been almost 2 years, time has flown by.

Anyone that has been here for this amount of time on meeting another Swede is invariably asked the cliché question: 'How is your Swedish?'.

Well my answer to that at the point of writing this post is that I have actually picked it up quite well, with the ability to convey what I want to say and to understand most of the conversations going on around me. Im not fluent, not sure if I ever will be but I do make a daily effort to practice and memorize more words. My grammer needs work and basically i just convert what i want to say in english into Swedish directly, which actually doesnt work all the time. Its hard to compare my Swedish level to a Swedes level of english considering they have been learning it in School since grade 4 and are continually bombarded with english programming and advertising everywhere they go.

I think the main problem for me is that its hard to pick up the various dialects that exist in the country. Right now im in the southern part of Sweden: Skåne (pronounced SKOOONE) and they speak much more like the Danish down here. Living in Stockholm first for 18 months helped me pick up a purer and easier to understand form of Swedish.

Also of concern is the oral, I have to really concentrate on what people are saying and i find myself say Vad säger du (what did you say) quite often. Also its difficult to learn Swedish in Sweden becuase everyone speaks such good english and as soon as you stumble people switch over.

One of the best ways i have found to practice my oral and vocabulary is listening to Swedish Schalgar Music, very fun and normally the tunes are quite bubblegum pop and catchy.

One thing for sure however is that daily interactions here are made much easier if you have a base of Swedish.

The Swedish Word of the day is: BRYR SIG OM and it means to CARE ABOUT ONESELF.

Loopholes in the Swedish Immigration System

2009-04-24T22:57:00.000-07:00

All countries in the world have conditions that are enforced in order to control the tide emigrants that want to immigrate into yours. Generally these policies work quite well having been developed over many years and the list of loopholes is for the most part nonexistent. One interesting development I have noticed here in Sweden is that the system has one major and glaring loophole.

The red line is people coming into Sweden, and the blue is people leaving over the past 150 years. Click for larger Image.

The loophole involves giving people from any country in the world outside the EU to apply as an international masters student in Sweden thereby being granted an automatic 2 year uppehållstillstånd or Residence Permit on the grounds of studying in Sweden. Now this in itself is nothing exciting, many countries such as mine (Canada) have similar programs in place so that there can be some knowledge sharing occurring between those countries which would be classified as developed to those that are perhaps not classified as such.

The breakdown is not due to migrationsverket (The Migration Authority), but due to the schools in Sweden and how the Social system funds the same. For each international masters student and local students that successfully complete a course in Sweden the University or Högskolan where that students graduates from receives a bidrag (benefit payment) from the government. Think about that for a second: If a course has a 95% pass rate and you have the opportunity to enrol an extra 100 students in the class, this means that the educators will receive payment from the Swedish government for an additional 95 students passing the class.

Ok, what does this all mean?

*All higher education centers in Sweden will want to enrol as many students as possible*

Now, with this permit to study the student can now enter Sweden legally and stay for the duration of their studies but what if the goal of this student is not so much to study but to emigrate away from their home land where opportunities are limited?

They say it’s quite difficult to get a job in Sweden, firstly it’s costly for a company to hire a worker, and secondly there is generally a requirement for fluent conversational Swedish skills. If one has learned English as their second language already, interacting and communicating in yet another language fluently takes quite a bit of work BUT, there are companies here in Sweden that work only in English.

One such company is Marcus Evans, an Events company. They will hire anyone that speaks even a glimmer of English. And unless you make any sales, your guaranteed minimum wage is less than the cost of a student room in Stockholm which means that the company pretty much gets your services for free. Even I was employed by this company for exactly 1 week. I couldn’t morally agree with their modus operandi to which I was exposed during their 3 day training and left but, I do remember someone in my training group. He was an international master’s student from India. He had claimed that he completed his master’s course and was now looking for work in Sweden after having only been in Sweden 6 months. Of course any master’s course in Sweden runs for a minimum of 18 months so this person was lying.

(BACKGROUND: A person NOT from the EU is granted a visa to stay in Sweden for 1 year at a time, to receive the student study extension they must demonstrate the ability to further provide for themselves for the continuing year as well as having shown progress in their studies. Of course there is another type of visa one can obtain once this expires, a worker visa which is granted 2 years at a time and the receiver is bound to the company the visa is issued to.)

And finally we get to the end of the loophole. International student gets into Sweden, start classes, quits said classes and are able to find a job with an 'English speaking' company who vouches for them and enables the person to get a permit based on work.

What is not talked about is that typically, to afford the high cost of living in Sweden, these people must share cramped accommodations and live far from the city all but still earning more for their time then they might be able to do in their home countries. Generally, these people find difficulty integrating into the Swedish culture, learning the language, and therefore are segregated from society as a whole.

Making Friends in Sweden

2009-04-24T21:50:00.000-07:00

So you have moved to Sweden or thinking about moving here.

The most common reasons one moves to this country are either due to a relationship or studies. In gereral i have found that it is quite rare for people to move here to work as the taxes are high compared to other countries and wages are gernally lower then what one could make for instance from where i hail Canada. However once you get here, whether or not you have a partner to 'show you the ropes' how do you start to make friends and meet people?

Swedes are gernerally quite a reserved people and on top of that, most foreigners coming here will not be speaking to the Swedes in their native language. Although Swedes are quite good at speaking english in my experience, some are not confident in their speaking abilities (when more often then not they are excellent anyways!). For both of these reasons and maybe more, it might be hard to get to know

Out and About
Speaking to someone on the street is something that I personally have never tried and from my experience its not really done unless copious amounts of alcohol have been consumed beforehand. Although generally speaking this is the case, its certainly not the rule. I was quite surprised the other day while at the gym an older Swede first said something to me in Swedish and then after the typical questions I always receive proceeded to continue talking to me. I was aghast to say the least, in my 20 months here, this has never happened. I think part of my problem is that I am somewhat disapponted in my own abilities to speak Swedish after being here for a while and i feel somewhat like a broken record (LP) when speaking in english and repeating what I have repeated my story like so many times before.

Clubbing
Well of all the places to meet people, this has been the one where i have to say my social circle has expanded the most. People are in a good mood -hey its the weekend- and Swedes have a work hard play hard mentality about work life. Alochol is flowing, the music is playing and the former contributes not only to my Swedish getting better but also to Swedes english-language confidence improving. If you manage to get some contact details gererally you have someone that you will be able to call up again and get to know better.

Private Dinners
Generally a great way to get to know a group better and a more intimate setting where you can actually here whats being said by everyone. the problem here is that you have to know someone to get invited to one of these in the first place.

School
If you come here as an Exchange or Masters Student there is the possiblity to meet Swedes in your class however, generally there are very few Swedes that take the classes your taking and they also generally stick together as a group making it hard to get to know them. From my experience, your generally hanging out with your fellow foreign students and most of these events you rarely see any Swedes participating.

Work
This all depends on the industry your in, if your in a professional industry my experience has been that a lot of your co workers will be older, married, have kids, and their own lives outside the office. A recent 'After Work' event at my place was planned 2 months in advance, VERY spontanious.

The silver lining here is that once you do make some friends here, generally they will be fast and true. You can count on them and bond with them. But until then, Sweden can be a very lonely place.

Work mentally, or is it mentality in Sweden

2008-12-24T11:31:00.000-08:00

Things are looking up, depending on your viewpoint of the situation. It seems my experience and background have qualified me for a position here in this great land full of Scandinavians. This got me to thinking about the Swedish Work Ethic.

You see, as several swedes have pointed out to me during my stay here, Sweden is not a very big (based on populous) country. There are roughly 9 million people here and they are spread out in a Country the size of Alberta. There are many companies here, and quite a diversity of companies however due to the nature of how the population is spread out you wont find multiple huge multinationals all co-located in the same area. This occurred to me after having to find another job in my field. In Calgary, if i needed to go somewhere else, there is literally dozens of companies I could apply to, here in Stockholm however, there were 4. One was down and the others were not hiring.

This lead me to a stark realization. Having to find work could quite possibly mean a move. It would be a rare event for me to have to move from one city to another (without of course wanting to do so) in Canada however in talking with Swedes it didnt seem to be anything out of the ordinary. Most were of the opinion that they are 'LUCKY' to even find work and so jump at the opportunity. Quite strange.

On top of all of this, a Swede moving to another city possibly hundreds of KM's away and having to relocate their lives have to go through a probationary period for 6 months. Strange again.

On talking with an early 20-something, another thing made me wonder...people here truly believe that they should be paid on age and while this makes some sense (to coincide with experience) what about ability and function? In Swedish one might say 'Det Spelar ingen Roll' which basically means it doesnt matter. If your young, dont expect to make much, no matter how competent you are or how much you can perform.

Another thing that was somewhat surprising for such a peaceful country that likes to avoid confrontation is the word that backstabbing at the work place to try to get ahead is rampant here in this country. Its almost childish.

Not that its all bad, there are many good things about being here, about being part of this well functioning machine, but that will be left for another post.

Work mentality in Sweden

2008-12-24T05:22:00.000-08:00

For a small population Sweden has a very high density of international companies. There are many advantages to locating an international company in Sweden or scandinavia in gernal:

Everyone speaks english
the standard of living is very high
you are very close to the rest of Europe
Sweden is viewed positively throughout the world
Child care, medical benefits, sick pay, all entice potential employees

Another thing that I have noticed in my year or so working here is that the stress level at the workplace here in Sweden is almost non-existant. (at least compared to Canada where i used to work)

Swedes like to take fika breaks throughout the day. At all hours spontanious fika breaks will break out in any part of the office. In my current office environment they have chosen to use the 'open office' concept so this does make things a little louder during these times but it also makes it so that others can participate when a fika break is happening near them.

With all these fika breaks you would logically assume that the productivity here in Sweden is lower or sub par to what you would find in other countries but to the contrary, having worked here myself i find myself able to get more accomplished with the clear head and lack of stress that results from these meetings. Also, these informal fika meetings are also a good time to share what is happening in ones' projects and therefore removing the need to have so many formalized meetings to share information.

At least where i work: they dont block facebook or youtube. Your welcome to browse the web during the day and studies have shown this actually boosts productivity -if not satiating our perpetual lack of long term concentration developed over years of television and nintendo.

There is also a great freedom of where work is performed here in Sweden, need to work from home on the third wednesday of the month becuase childcare is not available, no problem. Need to leave a bit early on fridays to catch that plane to Stockholm, not an issue. Need to show up a bit late on Mondays as your still a little bakis from the weekend, sure!

The swedish word of the day is: 'arbetsnarkoman' which means workaholic (havent seen one of those here yet by the way)

Jultid i Sverige! Spännande, Underbart, Vackert

2008-12-12T03:47:00.001-08:00

Välkomna till i riktig god jul....the holidays here in Stockholm are a time where the entire city is transformed into a holiday themed zone which Christmas Trees decorated and located throughout the city. Also set up are several Holiday markets that sell holiday themed goods such as handy-crafts, Christmas goodies, etc.

I also love how the city sets up little fireplaces such as the one you see picture here, where you can go to warm your hands and experience the fragrant lumber as it crackles and burns, makes me wish i had some marshmellows!

Personally, I have never seen a Santa (Tomten) as realistic as the one that they have here at the Major Fashion Mall - Nordiska Kompaniet (NK).

I personally love this time of year, the whole atmosphere seems somewhat surreal and you have the feeling that anything magical could happen. I recommend you watch the movie 'Serendipity' circa 2001 if you have the time! Its one move that will definitely get you into the spirit of the season.

This time of year does definitely make one think about the past year, friends, family, reflect on decisions made in the past and try to formulate some semblance of a plan for the future. I have to admit, that being in a foreign country away from all your family and friends back home does bring about some feelings of isolation and longing for those back home.

Something that definitely effects everyones mood here in Sweden is the amount of light they receive in the Winter season. Due to its high latitude, you have the sun rising around 8am and setting at 3pm at the worst of times. You basically live in the dark.

THE SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY IS 'TOMTEN' IT MEANS SANTA CLAUS.

Feel like Starbucks prices everywhere you go? Come to Sweden!

2008-12-11T03:35:00.000-08:00

So you have a hankering for a nice cup of freshly brewed coffee or tea? In Canada we have the fortunate luck of being the home of Tim Hortons Coffee. A very reasonably price (about 8 SEK or 1.50 Cad) cup of freshly brewed coffee avaiable at almost every intersection. People literally cue in their vehicles through the drive throughs just to purchase a coffee and the occational donut.

Here, though no shortage of places to purchase a cup of coffee, there is a serious shortage of a reasonably priced, good cup of coffee. The typical price for a Brygg Kaffe (brewed cup of coffee) is 25 SEK which is about 4 dollars. The prices for lattés, capuccinno, espressos, go up from there. Even more ridiculous is that a typical cup of Tea (or Te i svenska) is the same price as a brewed coffee and consists of a cup of hot water and a tea bag.

Its no wonder that Starbucks decided not to locate in the Nordics where they have already learned how to overcharge for a cup of coffee before being able to establish here. I guess its somewhat like the prices of a beer at the bar, you eventually get used to it and dont even realize whats happening.

THE SWEDISH WORD OF THE DAY IS 'ÖVERTALER' WHICH MEANS TO CONVINCE

Tillbaka på Darlana Hästen (Back on the Dala Horse)

2008-12-11T01:39:00.000-08:00

Well its been a few months since my last post. Finally got around to correcting the grammar and spelling in my previous post, my I must have been in a hizzy when i wrote it originally.

What I've said in my previous post regarding the Swedish employment process holds true, I continue on my quest to find employment however something worth noting is that I am fortunate in that I am a Canadian through and through even if my name might suggest otherwise, I have found that following up with a CV submission with a phone call to inform the employer about this fact has had some limited success. At this point, I'm still not where I want to be in terms of City of employment however I do have some possibilities in finding employment.

Right at this time there is also a global financial crisis and several companies in Sweden are cutting back on their expansion plans making a job hunt for anyone harder. I'm about to make a bold statement about working in Sweden:
EMPLOYERS IN SWEDEN ARE AFRAID OF EMPLOYEES
ARBETSGIVARE I SVERIGE ÄR RÄDDA AV ANSTÄLLDA

Surely, this sounds insane, shouldn't this be the other way around? Employees are afraid of their employer? Its the employer that controls if they keep their employees or? Well not in Sweden. This country has developed a very powerful social infrasture and along with that Unions have always been looked favorably on. Unions have grown very powerful, in fact if you are working in a professional field here your employer is more then likely to be in partnership with their respective Union and their corresponding rules and regulations.

On the surface this surely sounds like a good thing, more protection for employees, more job security, better collective negotiating power. If one digs a little deeper however, you will find something smelling afoul underneath this bed of roses.

You see, because the Unions have so much power here, employers fight an uphill battle:
Sure if they hire an employee and the employee is good, works well with others, etc, all is good. However if the employee is found to not fit within the company, the organisation now has a problem. Unless the employee does something drastic in terms of stealing from the company, or killing someone then there is no way to remove this employee. Worker has a bad attitude? Doesn't get along with others? Low quality of work? Sick all the time? Alcoholic or Drug user? Too bad, as the employer you are responsible to train that employee, and to help them to fit in, remember, when you employed them for their position you should have been psychic and been able to predict exactly how well this employee would work out in the organization, or did the psychic on your staff call in sick that day as well?

Most employers here work on a 'prova anställning' principle which gives the employer a 6 month probationary period where they can see if the employee works out, however this is ridiculous as most professional positions require months just to get integrated within the company. What ends up happening is most employers will cycle through employees, never offering fast anställning (permanent employment contract), because at that point the company is now liable for you.

Its ironic that if you are not a citizen of Sweden or a member of the EU and require a residence permit here in Sweden, the employer would have to offer you a tillvidare anställning (till future employment) right off the bat. This is the only way that a Non-EU resident can get a permit to stay. Of course, with that the employer also has to generally show to Arbetsformedling that they were not able to find someone with your qualifications first within Sweden, and then within the EU. That doesn't at all sound ridiculous does it now? How fair is this for the Swedes that are forced to work on a temporary basis hoping that they are able to get a permanent position?

A MAJOR FAILING OF THE EMPLOYMENT STRUCTURE HERE IN SWEDEN!

Patience & Luck?: The Swedish Job Market

2008-09-25T06:51:00.000-07:00

A typical job search is undoubtedly a job of its own: seeking out postings, applying with the tailoring of your CV and covering letter, follow up calls, emails.....continually persevering and keeping hopeful someone will call back for an interview. Now after this callback, the real work begins: presentation, appearance, selling yourself and ability's to the interviewer. Hopefully you have not been typecast on your initial greeting with the interviewer and that you have the attention you require to get your personality across. Even after this the waiting game continues. Calling the company that interviewed you back, sending a letter of thanks for the interview, etc etc etc.....

This difficulty of this whole process is amplified by orders of magnitude for the foreigner that is applying for a job in another country. The irony of the Swedish job market is that although everyone in Sweden takes English language lessons from the time they are in grade school, most speaking the language fluently and actually better then many that i have worked with in Canada, they will not give you a second look if you are not a Swedish speaker. Its possibly foolish of me to expect this country to welcome foreign migrant workers into the Swedish labour market, or is it?

Having run my own company on several occasions before, i know the challenges of sorting through dozens if not hundreds of perfectly qualified people, trying to determine which one should be brought in for interviews. Unfortunately, the process usually boils down to semantics: those who forgot to sign their Covering letter, perhaps spelling or grammatical mistakes or some other mundane or irrelevant method of sorting through the clutter.

The ¨section process¨ in the Swedish market has been influenced significantly by they influx of migration into the country due to the lax and ineffective immigration policies of the Swedish government (see my previous post for more information on this). Qualifications aside, its been my experience here through speaking with friends and colleges that one of the first methods that employers here use to prioritize candidates is the name you use on your application. Ethic sounding name? you need not apply or if you feel like wasting your time, ensure your postal box or email account is empty to receive the rejection letter you'll no doubly receive. Sometimes the rejection can take a year to receive (as was the case for me from a Norwegian company Aker Kvaerner) so be patient, it will come.

The frequency of discrimination by employers in Sweden is actually quite surprising for a country that prides itself on having open arms; taking in refugees and people that ere unfortunately born in volatile regions of the world. Its not uncommon for Sweden's to even discriminate against the first generation Swedish born, whose parents were originally migrants to the country or those of mixed origin where only one parent is Swedish. Your name is a quick and efficient way to typecast you, your religious beliefs, the color of your skin and origins.

Maersk, although not Swedish is a prime example of Scandinavian racism. An example that i myself went through convinced me to change my approach when looking for work in Sweden. I have several years of experience in my respective field and have managed teams in the past and projects worth several million dollars. The position I applied to was actually somewhat below my experience level and qualifications however realizing that when entering into a new country and their respective job market one has to be prepared to make sacrifices and start somewhere, so i applied. About 3 weeks after sending in my application I received the anticipated rejection letter. Maersk politely informed me that mine was one of numerous applications that were received and that on this occasion they felt that i was not a good match for the role i had applied to. It was specifically noted that this was based on information provided within my CV. Now lets fast forward and see what happens when i change the name on my application, leaving all the information within the CV the same but this time the name on the CV is a Scandinavian sounding one. No One was more surprised then me at the time, when no later then 36 hours after my CV was sent, i received a call from Maersk. They were suddenly interested in getting to know me beetter and (in their own words) ¨although the position i applied for does not directly match my experience, we would still be itnerestd in having you come down for an interview¨. One hour later i received a web link to book a time convenient for me to come in as well as ifnormation on compensation for my travel costs.

This series of events opened up my eyes to the unadvertised qualifications that most jobs in scandinavia require: blue eyes and blonde hair.

I never went to that interview with Maersk. I felt it would have been a waste of time on both our parts as there is no way in the firey depths of _ _ _ _ that i would ahave even considered accepting a job from a company such as that.

So at this point i knew what to do. I changed my name to a derivative of my actual one with the help of a swede thereby swedifying myself. THis simple act had expected consequences. Applications i made now seemed to be penetrating companies first line of defence and I was now getting call backs and interview requests.

A WARM WELCOME TO ALL YOU JOB SEEKERS INTERESTED IN SCANDINAVIA.

The Unfortunate Consequence of an Open Door Policy

2008-07-13T01:51:00.000-07:00

Throughout the centuries, the Scandinavian people have been for the most part quite uniform in terms of the peoples and society. The stereotype that's been propagated throughout the years of the tall buck some blond haired and blue eyed inhabitants is not without some element of truth. Even today, a high percentage of the population is of fair complexion if one was to compare Scandinavian countries (namely, Sweden/Norway) to the rest of the world. Due either to geographic isolation or no requirement of immigration, up until the end of the second world war in Sweden you found swedes.

After the second world war now is a different story: Europe was in shambles with much of industrialized western Europe destroyed.

Those that made it through the war with little or no damage were immediately at an economic advantage. For instance the economy of the US skyrocketed with a huge global demand for not only raw materials but finished goods. The war contributed to the wealth that America now enjoys. Along those same lines however, Sweden chose neutrality during the war and played a more supportive role instead of picking sides. Flush with cash from the war and industry booming, there was suddenly a need for skilled workers such that could not be supplied domestically. With the first wave of immigration came further prosperity. These peoples were quick to assimilate and become part of Swedish society. Immigration in the eye's of the public worked for the betterment of everyone.

Now however comes the somber truth of the consequences of having an over liberalized immigration policy that worked initially for small numbers but like so many other things doesn't scale up when applied in excess. Due to recent world events and conflicts occurring throughout high tension zones such as Africa and the middle east during the last decades Sweden has made a noble effort to help the worlds populations by helping to resettle people in conflict ones here. With a huge land mass and (comparatively) small population there is little in terms of space preventing the swedes from accepting these people. With immigration comes the ability to bring skilled migrants to the country and further benefit society both economically and culturally.

But here is where it is my belief that things might not have gone all according to plan. With the number of asylum seekers and migrants growing exponentially over the last several years, the system that was in place was no longer designed to handle the demands placed upon it. Along with this instead of giving these migrants the proverbial training in HOW TO FISH, they were given handouts and learn to become dependent on the system. These migrants for the most part were coming from areas where English is perhaps not the commonly spoken language and it can be all but assured that Swedish was not taught to them growing up either. Along with the lack of language skills there comes a further upbringing that fundamentally differs from cultural norms and societal behavior that is taught (both directly and indirectly) growing up in Sweden. Mix all these ingredients in a blender and one ends up with a culture shock and a search for something that's familiar. People of similar upbringing tend to band together. When taking into account the high cost of both a place to live as well as costs for food, transportation etc. you start to get even more of a banding effect where recently it has been uncovered that there are some people living 6 or more to a one room apartment, many times that of its original design.

Being in a foreign land and not being able to communicate, the opportunities to provide for oneself becomes limited. Employers in Sweden want people that can communicate in Swedish or barring that a minimum of English. Lack of work amplifies the problem of poverty which compounds until the only way out seems to be resorting to crime. Suddenly the country that opened its doors to help, becomes the enemy, and its inhabitants the target.

Nothing is more telling then a recent news story by fox news in the States that chronicled the trials being faced by the government workers in Malmö when trying to help the residents there by providing them firefighting, ambulance and other government services below.

Coming from war torn regions of the world these people have learned to develop a fear for authority and disrespect for government. From their perspective government is not there to help but rather to control.

As logic dictates with this increase in crime comes assignment of blame and although a crime committed may not always be the act of someone that has immigrated here the public perception that develops is one that immigration is to blame.

I have personally spoken with many Swedes on this topic of immigration and although i don't claim to be an authority on the subject i do come from a country that has always been built on the principles that having a melting pot where people from around the world share their experiences will bring something unique to the table. In fact as Canadians have to hone the immigration policies for so long we have done a good job in making it work. For examples we have several laws to prevent racism and as immigration is somewhat of old news for Canadians, the mixing is widely accepted.

Here in Sweden due to the problems caused indirectly by insufficient immigration policies there is a slow but consistent resurgence in government parties who's platform is based on reducing and restricting immigration to Sweden. What may not be realized however is that Pandora's box has already been opened and a radical change to immigration will not solve the problems of the here and now.

One important question here is of course by what reasoning did Sweden believe they should create from scratch an immigration policy? Having been fortunate enough to travel to many parts o the world, i have seen first hand both culturally rich and multicultural regions. Similar cultural problems exist wherever you go with people that immigrate to a region wanting to bring with them their own cultures and traditions. In Canada there was recently a case of a 10 year old boy wanting to bring a ceremonial dagger to school as it represented devotion to his cultural beliefs. This case went all the way to the supreme court of Canada and his ability to do so finally struck down. On the other side of the globe a devote Muslim woman in Australia wanted the right to be able to have her Drivers License photo taken with all but her eyes covered as anything more would have gone beyond what was accepted by her beliefs. Once again common sense prevailed and its my guess that this person might be taking the bus instead of driving if she held steadfast in her beliefs.

Instead of trying to reinvent the wheel why not draw up on the experiences of several other countries that have been developing immigration policies over the last several decades? From there pull out the best of what has worked and adapt it to make it your own. This will not ensure success but it will help in demonstrating some predictability in the eventual outcome. Otherwise learning to manage the outcomes of an unrealistic policy will become necessary.

The Swedish word of the day is Invandrare, it means immigrant.

Glad Påsk Alla!

2008-03-24T05:41:00.000-07:00

Its that time of year again! Easter or Påsk in Swedish is a national event garnering not 2 but 2 and a half days off! Work tends to end around noon on the thursday and most people begin their Påsk festivities early.

Påsk is the remembrance of the death of Jeasus, and a day of soul searching and reflection on this monumental point in history. Of course along with the remembrance, tends to come a lot of Stockholmites going out and painting the town Red.

This long weekend is an excuse for several party goers to celebrate for 4 days in a row, finally relaxing on the monday to prepare themselves for the coming week or work ahead.

One thing that I found interesting when first getting here was how the transportation system functioned so well with so much regularity. Of course along with that it also tends to dictate peoples night time activities being that during the week, the T-bana only runs till about 1am. This is inceased to 4am on friday and saturdays and as such the party tends to continue till the wee hours of the morning.

Taking the T-bana is much preferred to the bus system even though night buses do function all throughout the night granted with much less regularity and clarity as where exactly one should wait for their bus.

A swear is just another word, I doth proclaim

2008-03-14T05:04:00.000-07:00

North Americans are sensitive, we wont allow any sexuality on TV and thats the ways wes' likes it. At least this is how we are brought up to believe things should be. You would never want any impressionable young minds being exposed to something as lurid and disgusting as a sexual act on TV or worse yet hearing profanity publicly: OH THE HORROR!

Ironically, this is quite visible here in Sweden to some degree......as much of the Media originates from English speaking countries, and more often then not, American sources play a huge role in what type of media is broadcast in Sweden. There are the classic family favorites such as "PIMP MY RIDE" and who could ever forget the heartwarming classic "Grey's Anatomy".

Its not only sitcoms and reality shows however, there is a major American musical influence as well. MTV is a popular station here, which although broadcasting some Swedish content, is dominated by foreign content as well.

Of course being as how much of the media broadcast here is American, it follows the American rules about language, and various other forms of content, but this is where Sweden takes a huge diversion to that of the West.

I have been here for several months now and during my time, I have seen very graphic sexuality being broadcast on what might be termed "PRIME TIME" in the Americas that wonderful period between 6pm and 10pm where everyone typically zones out in front of the TV and forgets their daily worries. In addition to that, I have also noticed the use of "profanity" is also quite common throughout the day. Terms like "Jävla" and "Sjuit" and the like are regularly used in everyday situations, conversations between old ladies and their grandchildren, kids and their parents, Students and teachers.

In fact just the other day, I came upon quite an interesting contrast right in the daily paper, one that is distributed freely to anyone with an inkling to pick one up.

The "STOCKHOLM CITY" Nyheter or newspaper is one paid by advertisers and distributed freely, making the content even more interesting. How many companies do you know of in North America that would want to be associated with the content below?

Translated loosely, it it reads "Playing a Sweet Fuckup". This kinda thing is quite common here in Sweden and personally I LIKE IT.

Why is it that we are so against a word, or sequence of words. Arent we the country of free speech? If we were not so averse to being able to freely express ourselves would our society break down and people would start to riot in the streets causing havoc and destroying everything in sight?

If Sweden is any example, I think not. (and they have been around longer).

There are many lessons that we could learn from the Swedish culture in North America and visa versa.

Well back to the rainy weather, and blonde bombshells, till tomorrow when I plan to write about some other very insightful and intersting tidbit.

THE SWEDISH WORD FOR TODAY IS: Föreslår (pronounced: Foorslor) and it means Suggest

Spring is in the air, Come Visit Sweden!

2008-02-26T12:37:00.000-08:00

Well its the video for which my blog is name: A wonderful and inspiring tribute to Scandinavia the people and culture, the city and natural surroundings living in harmony. Most everything you can expect to physically see is in this video however its lacking in one major component, that is to say there is no one talking and you do not really get to learn about the people you see in these videos. That is something I would suggest you come here to see for yourself...its definitely worth your while and while your here, look me up, im just around the corner.

But for now, all I can say is that time flies by so quickly here...from one event to another, from one week to the next...I for one can not believe that I have gone through three seasons here already...arriving in late summer, I experienced the fall and winter here in the Capital of Scandinavia....

Winter this year was especially mild which is quite nice, as I neglected to pack any winter clothing! In previous years the channels that line the Skärgård (archipelago) freeze over and one is able to skate to the nearby islands. The result of global warming it seems is that this will be happening much and much less frequently in this part of the world. However with the mild winter comes other advantages including an early spring....this last weekend in February I saw my first signs that spring was around the corner with the blooming of Swedish flowers in several of the gardens throughout the city. The air is crisp and the sun is finally making an appearance, it seems that this will be a Summer to remember here in Sverige.

SNUS, all the benefits of Smoking without the Smoke!

2008-02-20T11:53:00.000-08:00

There you have it...SNUS...What is SNUS?!?....a revolutionary way to reap all the benefits of nicotine, and all those other wonderful chemicals but without the smoke that is so common with normal tobacco products. Being raised in Western Canada i am no stranger to a similar product referred to as ¨Chewing Tobacco¨ . There are many varieties, tastes, strenghts etc...but this product is basically just raw tobacco stuffed into a small round plastic container. You insert it into your gums directly and the saliva produced while its there is normally spit out...to me it conjures up images of cowboys in the wild west and spittoons.
I know of several people back home that do use this as a fix to their addictions but the Swedes, in typical Swedish style have taken some of the ewweee out of the entire thing by creating something similar to ¨chew¨but each dosage is pre-sized and bagged in a sort of tea bag that allows the flavor and nicotine to penetrate through -Yummy! Removal is quick, clean, and easy as none of the tobacco leaves the convenient pouch.

Having spoken with users (that include both men and women) its clear that this stuff is incredibly addictive and socially accepted here in Sweden unlike in the rest of the EU who banned the sale of it back in 1992 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snus). Sweden is supposed to also come on board in removing this product from the shelves it maybe something that will neigh happen over night with over 1.1 million people using the product here.

One chilling side effect of the product from ¨lifetime¨users is the recession of the tandkött or gums up the teeth over time until users when placing the product in their mouth no longer do so below their lip but higher up to a point just beside their nose.

This product is incredibly addictive and many who have used it have a hard time kicking the habit and will frequently switch to smoking during especially weak periods of self control.

I have had the chance to put some in my mouth however a good friend whom i met here convinced me to remove it from my mouth before its effects could be felt, so I cannot really comment on how it feels or the effects. Perhaps this is something your going to have to come here to try out for yourself!

Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll...Swedish Nightlife

2008-02-18T05:37:00.000-08:00

Just as people in many other parts of the world, Swedes have no lack of traditions, cultural heritage, and sacred traditions, this post is on something quite a bit different then that:
The Weekend Party!

No matter how cool or damp the weather is on a given stockholm evening, you can always count on a hot and steamy party to be going on at one of the many bars, lounges, clubs, discos, etc that are located in and around downtown Stockholm.

This weekend ritual is not as transparent as it seems to many of us that live in other parts of the world. There are some very important differences not the least of which is the creation of the förfest or pre-party. Drinking in Stockholm, or even in Sweden for that matter is quite an expensive affair especially when you take into account Sweden's strict regulations on alcohol sales and consumption, only legally allowed by the System Bolaget. The short story here is that alcohol is expensive, very expensive, in fact it is on average 2x as expensive as prices in Canada where the prices are already inflated. The country has had its problems with alcohol abuse although from my experience here, these strict rules do not do much to curb them.

So I believe the förfest was developed in order to a) save people money, b) meet up in one central place before going out, and c) getting into the party spirit. There is a delicate balance that needs to be maintained when drinking at a pre-party, and I have seen many "half decomposed examples" of people with an inability to perfect this on the t-bana on our way out to the clubs. There is also the problem that if you appear to be too psyched in the lineup the ~~asshole~~ bouncers can and do quite easily prevent you from getting inside.

Once you are inside the club, the Fest can begin, or does it? If in student cities outside Stockholm the number of bars can and do prevent a majority from entering so was created the Mellanfest a time where after you get your stamp guaranteeing you re-entry, you go back home to party and continue drinking gratis. When finally you do get inside, depending on the depth of your pockets (t.ex whether your a student) the drinking inside may slow down a considerable amount. Hence the goal for some is to maintain this tipsy balance without overdoing it to ensure a proper fest.

The night life here is definitely vibrant and with the variety of choices you have the option of upscale or down home with advantages and disadvantages to each local. Entry into the more posh and expensive clubs in Stureplan is normally easiest around 10pm with it getting harder and harder the longer you wait if you happen to pee standing up. If you happen to want to get in after midnight and are a group of only guys and don't happen to know the bouncer or owner, it might be worth your while to check out the night life in Södermalm.

In Södermalm you will find that the rules of entry are quite a bit more relaxed as are the drink and entrance prices. Not only are the rules of entry more relaxed but from my experience the people seem more down to earth and easier to talk to as well.

Many clubs are open late here in Stockholm with several closing at 3 and others that close at 5am. The T-bana shuts down from the center at about 3:30am and for many this is their last time to get out of the center to the suburbs without having to worry about the night bus. The T-bana can be quite unreliable at this time with drunk people trying to get on and off and who knows what else happening at stations besides the one you are at.

Once you do get home some of the die hard party animals might continue their partying with what is known here as Aftonfest. This is where you migrate back home and continue the party which typically ends in people passing out around the flat after a bite to eat.

Swedish Education System

2008-02-13T10:12:00.000-08:00

So you might wonder why it is that I am here in the first place: Education!
The Social System here covers a lot of things, Education from K through 12 is just a part of it, in fact many universities and colleges are also without fees or costs for the education itself...the only fee that one might pay here is a mandatory fees to the Students union which amounts to no more than $25 or thereabouts. There are also course materials but most of the time the materials are provided the students electronically so you can do with them what you will.

The most amazing thing is the introduction that Swedish children get to the education system. As early as 1 they go to government subsidized day cares where they are introduced to the learning environment. You learn for your entire life but most of your early formative years children in Canada are cared for at home by only their parent or guardian. What a frightful thing it would be for any student to leave this secure environment and go at the age of 5 to spend their entire day with strangers. Here is another example of why Sweden has it right.

But!...lets start from the beginning. K through 12. Its typical in western societies that a certain minimum education level is maintained so that the population is somewhat educated. Canada is no different, there we have some of the best education in the world...I will probably ruffle a few feathers if i was to say that our education system is better then the great US of A but i firmly believe this from my experiences traveling and the general perception that you gather watching countless hours of American programming. US education aside...in Canada our Education system is great, I went through it, I excelled as did many friends and colleges. In fact my opionion was that the education system was somewhat easy which is why I chose to accellerate my learning by taking International baccalaureate (www.ibo.org) courses in science in my final 3 years of study.

In Sweden, not only do they have the same level of high school education but they go a step farther here...for instance, all the way through to the 12th grade students are provided lunch! And we are not talking about a burger and fries, speaking with people here the food choices are healthy and nutritional. In the event that the school is too small to have its own cafeteria, the students are provide THE SCHOOL to go to any establishment of their choice for lunch. You might think: "Great, lunch so what?"....but let me tell you when i was going through school being raised by a single parent who had to work to keep food on the table (im talking dinner food here) there was never time for her to help us with lunch....we didn't have the money growing up for me to eat out every day and pretty much for 6 years through junior and high school i would go without lunch. How does this
effect a student? well for one they are probably hungry in the afternoon...reduces concentration, weight gain, im sure dozens of other effects.
The lunches end at grade 12 however the support from the government does not. Students are encouraged to go onto higher education be it University (Universitet) or Technical School (Högskolan) where the government provides student with a strip end to make ends meet while going, noting however that the school costs nothing. The entire system here is setup to promote higher education of the general population.
What is the result of all this higher education? The results from are pretty clear from my viewpoint. For a country of 9 million they have more popular and worlds known brands then I can count.

These are just a few of the companies I could come up with off the top of my head. Its obvious that the Swedes are doing something right here.

Along with the great education system the provide their own citizens they provide the same to countless international students every year as well. Its a win-win situation: The students that come here are typically from part of the world where the education system is still lagging behind the rest of the world and by helping these students they are helping their entire country by helping to advance knowledge there; Schools here are funded based on the number of students that pass the courses, the smarter the kids and the better the education the more funding the school gets to do more of the same.

When i finished my degree I was looking down the barrel of a huge student loan that was accumulating interest daily and this is even worse in the states where their education system can cost almost 10x what one in Canada currently costs. Not exactly helpful.

Swedish Honesty

2008-02-13T01:27:00.001-08:00

Having been here several months now, I have had the opportunity to get to know many people in Sweden as well as those things that you can only learn and experience by being here. These are things you wont really find written down anywhere and quite honestly they are hard to describe.

One thing that has really struck me is how honesty and morality has penetrated this society to such a degree. There are many facets of this society that I just cant see working back home.

For example:

At a typical Swedish Smörgåsbord you are given a main course as well as access to the Salad buffet. At one of the local eateries they have this setup that the Salad buffet is completely separate from the food counter and the rest of the staff. Now the honest thing to do is to purchase a main course and then take from the salad buffet and thats how I have always done it. After speaking with a few international students that are here temporarily I was surprised to learn that a few just come to the cafeteria with their own main course from home and take from the buffet gratis without a second thought. This is the kind of problem I believe you would experience back in Canada as well.
When driving to a supermarket or mall and parking in their lot, its up to the person parking there to display the time they arrived on their car so that if inspected, the inspector can confirm they have not overstayed their limit.
The subway system or t-bana is not policed and one can easily jump over the turn style and ride for free. Its expected that everyone riding the system will pay for the system therefore ensuring that costs are paid for.
While riding the t-bana a few weeks ago, someone had lost a single glove on one of the carriages, this was brought up to the conductor who then announced the disappearance of this glove at all of the next stations at least until I got off and possibly longer.
I forgot my digital camera on the bus on a recent trip. Not even realizing it was missing i was not concerned about it at all, however, someone has brought the camera to the driver and she was actually -frantically- looking for its owner. My camera and I were re-united.

There are also other things that are hard to describe however in general things are not policed here, its expected that people will do the right thing and if something is offered at a charge, the charge will be paid. I have to say I really like the Swedish system and it inspires me to try to live up to their high standards. Just like when you were a kid and told not to do something, you would try your best to do the opposite, is just the way that I believe giving people freedom to choose to do the right thing works here in Sweden. I think that of course there will always be those people that take advantage of this freedom but so far it seems to be working here.

Now a really good song that was part of the Svensk Melodifestivalen a couple of years ago by a well known Swedish artist Lena Philipsson - Det Gör Ont..which losely translates to something like - It Hurts.

What's _issing _n Stock_lm City?.....

2008-02-12T12:45:00.000-08:00

There are a lot of great things about Stockholm. You have a moderate climate regulated by ocean currents so that its never very cold here. The weather has been especially mild this Winter with it rarely getting very cold, in fact its a good think, along with everything i packed when coming here, my goose down filled winter coat didn't fit anywhere so I ended up leaving it in Canada.

Im currently staying in an area referred to as Östermalm which if you look it up on Google maps is quite centrally located to the downtown. you can easily get to anywhere you need to by T-Bana, bus or even walking. The majority of the clubs, bars and downtown nightlife is within walking distance of the central station referred to as T-Centralen in Segels Torg. The nightlife here is especially different to what I am used to back home in that some of the more popular clubs don't get started until after midnight and several of them are open until 5 am (This is in contrast to clubs that close at 2am!) There are two main districts where the majority are located: Stureplan and Södermalm. I have had great times in both districts but I prefer Söder. The Stureplan clubs are very posh, pushy, the bouncers decide entry on looks rather then your spot in the queue, drinks are expensive -even for Swedish prices- and much of it seems somewhat fake. In contrast, Söder is down to earth, people are out to have a good time, drink prices are more reasonable and the bouncers are more friendly. If you are interested in going out in the Stureplan area, my recommendation to you would be to get there early, say around 10pm where the line ups will be non existent and the selection process to get in is less strict.

Swedish Meeting place:
Svampa or Mushroom in English....A huge concrete statue that looks the part located in the heart of Stureplan.

The heart of Stockholm is full of beautifully designed buildings and is architecturally stunning. Its clear there is a lot of history here and one of the first things that struck me when I finally got settled in my first night was the way that the city is designed for people to walk and bike from one location to another. In contrast to typically North American design where the cities are designed for vehicles with pedestrians as an afterthought. I love just walking around the city here and around every new corner you discover something you have never seen. One thing thats taken a bit of getting used to is the naming of the streets instead of the numbered grid system that I'm used to. I guess this it how its done in a lot of the world, but I will never figure it out....

What about the Swedes you ask?

Well glad you asked. There is a lot to say about Swedish people. They are famous for their English skills which i can tell you first hand is the case. Swedish is not an international language being spoken by about 20 million world wide and from the time children are in grade 4 they are taught English. Most television programming comes from the USA and is all in English (subtitled in Swedish). Swedes also normally also speak a third language, something that is taught to them starting around grade 7, they have the choice of learning a variety of languages the most popular of which are Spanish, French, or German. I have been amazed on more then one occasion where I am at a party full of international students and Swede is able to jump from conversation to conversation each time changing their language of choice to the dominant one of the person they are talking to. This is truly a life skill and one I wish i had been exposed to growing up.

Before coming here I did research on Sweden and Swedes in general and everywhere i read that they are hard to get to know but once you do get to know them they are very warm and outgoing. I have to say that for the most part this criticism is a little exaggerated. In my time here I have found that Swedes are very friendly and outgoing and while some may be a bit reserved, it takes only a hello to open up dialog. Swedes are quite interested in learning about other countries and also practicing their English skills. Going out you meet lots of people especially on the weekends, i guess a few beers helps too. One of my favorite resources on Sweden were videos by a Swedish Comedian named Henrik Schyffert. He has a series of videos where he goes out on the town and addresses various Swedish stereotypes and issues in Swinglish. I have included a few in this blog but finding the rest is as easy as search for them on youtube.
These videos are good examples of how extroverted swedes can be. This comedian is randomly selecting people walking by and interviewing them. Im especially impressed with their dancing skills...

First Experiences in Sweden

2008-02-07T11:51:00.000-08:00

It was just a few short months ago that I arrived in Sweden. The day I arrived is still as clear in my mind as if it was yesterday. I got off the plane after missing my first flight to the Capital of Scandinavia (more on that later) and was greeted by border control which politely took my passport which was embossed with a Swedish permit to stay in the country for study.

Whats the first thing I did when I arrived in Sweden? - well to be honest, nature called so as callus and unexciting as it seems, I "discovered" the facilities. After freshening up in what seemed like my own private hotel (again, more on that later) I departed towards customs inspection.

Of course no world traveler would be worth his salt without having done some research on their intended destination and I for one had been studying Sweden and the entire Scandinavian experience for several months before I got on that British Airways flight.

What I read about was how the Swedes had created what some might call a Utopia of sorts. Everything about the society maintained a balance that I personally envy. People in Sweden have the opinion that you WORK TO LIVE and not the other way around. A testimate of this fact is that Swedes work the least amount of hours in all the European Union. In fact a typical Canadian working year is based on a 2080 work hour year whereas in comparasion, a Swedish work year is approximately 1519 hours!
http://www.thelocal.se/7984/20070724/
http://www.web.net/32hours/sweden.htm
In actual fact, when I was working in Canada, my work hours typically consisted of getting to work at 6:30 and leaving at 6pm! I would even come in on the weekends during times where we were busy. It seems that they have figured out that delicate balance between work and personal time. This can be seen in all facets of society here:

There are no 24 hour grocery stores and most typically close at 8 or 9 pm
The liquor store is open till 5pm most days, 7 on fridays and closes at 3 on saturdays! (dont even think about Sunday, thats the day of rest)
Many institutions close for lunch between 12 and 1
My current accommodation has office hours between 8 and 9 am daily, and at no other times.
The underground runs until 12:30 am during the week (at least in Stockholm!)
Even 7-11 stores, which are very popular here, close at 11!

I'VE JUST GOTTEN OFF THE PHONE WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS TOLD ME THAT THERE IS IN FACT A 24 HOUR PHARMACY IN SWEDEN, YES THATS RIGHT 1-24 HOUR PHARMACY FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTRY AND ITS LOCATED IN STOCKHOLM.

Kidding aside, I have to admit there is a certain understandability about the hours that Swedes keep. Family and friends are important, these things take nurturing to develop and ultimately all of this takes time. How many times have you heard of a story where one member of a household is working long hours and it ends up causing problems in the nuclear family unit. Closing shops early means that more time is spent with loved ones and ultimately these loved ones develop into well integrated members of society. The Cycle of life as it were.