Swedish Language Blog

My mom and her boyfriend flew in from the US yesterday to visit the newest addition to the hoard of grandchildren (barnbarn). As always when you get people visiting from abroad, you become more aware of all the ultra Swedish things that used to catch your attention when you first got here. Clean minimalist design, wooden floors (parkettgolv), men with baby carriages and strong coffee.

When I look back at my first day in Sweden, which actually started across the water at Kastrup Airport in Copenhagen, I remember complete darkness, rain and everything seemed to be flat. I reacted to how people at with both fork and knife, and feeling insecure, created my own special way of eating that confused the hell out of my future inlaws (svärföräldrar).  It was December and dark all day long. The pastries were good and the snaps dangerous. I discovered that elevators stopped when you weren’t on them and that you had a choice when flushing a toilet bowl — number one or number two. I noticed that people didn’t say excuse me when they bumped into you in line and rarely small talked. And ultimately that Swedish sounded scary and seemed like a daunting task to learn.

After almost five years, some of my first impressions (intryck) have held up well, others not.

Please share (Dela gärna)  yours with us.

Moving to Sweden can be easy and it can be hard. One thing which is really different is the housing market. There are all sorts of strange and hard to understand names for things that there most likely is no equivalent for in your own language or country.

Here’s a list to help you along the way:

att hyra – to rent

att äga – to own

hyresrätt – rental apartment

bostadsrätt – owned apartment

villa – freestanding house

radhus – rowhouse

hyra – rent

månadsavgift – mortgage for apartment or house you own

förstahandskontrakt – first hand contract,  a rental apartment when you own the rights to a lease of the apartment you rent

andrahandskontrakt – Second hand contract when you rent from the person who owns the first hand contract.

att vräka – to evict

flyttstädning – the rigorous cleaning you are expected to do when you move

flyttlasset – load of furniture and belongings that are to be moved

hemförsäkring – home insurance which can also cover you when you are away from home…check with your

försäkringsbolag – insurance company

inflyttningsfest – homewarming party

inflyttningspresent – homewarming present

att gå husesyn – to take the tour together with the host of the new house

visning – open house, when you go look at a home to rent or buy

mäklare – realtor

bostadskö –  queue you have to sign up for to get the rights to a first hand contract. There are both private and public queues. The first day you enter Sweden you should get on one of these queues….many of them take up to 3 years to find a good home.

This image of a bonfire typical on Valborg is taken by Hans Svensson for www.imagebank.sweden.se

So, let’s all light big fires and get drunk. I love Sweden. This is one of those Swedish holidays which is kind of funny. It derives from a number of different pagan spring customs (traditioner). It’s also celebrated in other countries like Germany and Estonia for example.

Students will party hard, with their white student caps. In Uppsala it will be mayhem. I read today that more bicycles will get stolen tonight than any other day during the year….so lock em up.

Tomorrow, of course is May 1….the worker’s day. Kind of funny. I overheard a colleague today say she didn’t celebrate May Day (Första Maj) because she wasn’t a Socialist….I didn’t know you had to be a socialist to celebrate May Day:-)

In the newspaper there was also a map of where not to drive. Places were marked where large parades (parad) were going to be held. I think you can support workers even though you’re not a socialist (socialist). So happy May Day.

So here’s to burning some fires (eld, bål), the midnight oil and supporting (stödja) workers (arbetare)!