Expat, Life

Life In Sweden: A Quick Week One Update

February 12, 2019

Canadian Expat // Canadian Expat in Sweden // Life in Sweden as a Canadian Expat

Hey everyone! I’ve been getting a lot of requests for a week one update. How have I been settling in? What have I been up to? How is Screech (my cat) adjusting? I’m officially unpacked, caught up on sleep, and I’m dishing all the details with my week one update about life in Malmö, Sweden.

How’s Life in Sweden?

Simply put: GREAT. I’m finding my bearings in this new city and so far I’m really enjoying it. From a cultural perspective, life Canada and Sweden is similar.

Perhaps the biggest difference from home is that Malmö is a fairly densely populated city which means I can get virtually anywhere I need to go by foot within 20-30 minutes. It is also an extremely bike-friendly city and I’m planning to get my own bike soon so I can REALLY fit in with the locals. I absolutely love that driving is discouraged, and that between public transit and shared pathways, getting around this city is a breeze.

We’re also settling into our brand new apartment. Although we’ll be living in the midst of a construction zone for a bit as the new neighbourood develops, the apartment itself is beautifully modern and the location is central. Being brand new, the developers really thought of it all. And after living in a 100 year old (very charming) apartment, the small luxuries of a brand new space are so exciting. We’ve been to Ikea three times so far, as well as antique shops and local stores, and are having so much fun decorating the space. I can’t wait to share with you our little Scandinavian oasis in the next few weeks!

Day to day life has been great. I’m spending my unemployed days searching for work (leads, anyone?), writing, wandering, and unpacking/getting organized. As someone who has always had a job, I was admittedly a bit worried about unemployment but so far, I have kept very busy. I’ve even been going to classes at an international yoga studio right around the corner from my apartment called Yoga Roots.

Finally, my cat Screech is doing great and has officially adjusted to her new life in Sweden. The overseas move went way better than I could have ever hoped for [I truly was prepared for the absolute worst]. I’m going to post more about this in a separate post, providing guidance on how to move a cat overseas. I realize that this doesn’t apply to many of my readers, but it is a resource that seemed to be lacking when I was doing my own research, so I want to share some of my tips with others.

What Have I Been Up To?

I’ve spent a lot of time exploring Malmö this past week. Here are a few highlights.

Swedish Coffee

Everyone has told me that Sweden has an incredible coffee culture. And while most days I’ve tried to make coffee at home to save money, I have definitely had my fair share of fika time. Verdict: the coffee definitely lives up to the hype.

Food Culture

I’ve also spent some time getting to know the food culture in Malmö. Aside from ordering sushi (twice), we’ve ventured out to explore a few different restaurants and bars. My favourite experience was at Malmö Saluhall, an indoor marketplace with food vendors and restaurants. We picked up a few take-home goodies [including a traditional Sweden dessert called Semla] and ate ramen at Pink Head Noodle Bar – it was fantastic.

Pink Head Noodle Bar Malmö Saluhall — Pink Head Noodle Bar, Malmö Saluhall

Stay tuned for more on the food culture, I’m going to have so much more to share soon including some highlights from Copenhagen this upcoming weekend!

Shopping

Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to shop. I’ve been lusting over Scandinavian-inspired clothes at so many local shops, but I’m resisting the urge to buy until I have a job. So window shopping it is!

Another thing I’m obsessing over: Scandi-inspired interior design. I fell in love with a local store called AB Småland this past weekend. I honestly wanted to buy everything in the store for our apartment, so thankfully I had Sebastian with me to be the practical voice of reason. We settled on a couple rugs for the bedroom, and I can’t wait to go back and buy lots of little plants once we have some shelving in place.