I haven\u2019t forgotten about the book contest! Don\u2019t worry. I am just waiting for the weekend \u2013 I think it will be more festive to announce the winner then.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, I want to talk about something that seemed very puzzling to one of my friends. And because it also happens to be a very practical bit of information, I thought it would be a good idea to go over it in a special blog entry.<\/p>\n
You see, my friend is not in Sweden right now, but that is not stopping her from looking for an apartment in the town she is going to live (I don\u2019t remember where exactly she\u2019s moving to, all I know is that she\u2019s looking for a place somewhere down south). Long-distance apartment hunting is never easy. Heck, it\u2019s not easy when you are doing it right there and then in person! Now imagine trying to do it in a language that you have just started to learn very recently. Not fun at all.<\/p>\n
So, let\u2019s go over some points that might make this process a bit less confusing.<\/p>\n
One thing that my friend wanted to know was: \u201cAnna, what\u2019s a second-hand apartment? Does that mean that the apartment is not new? That it has been lived in before?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Hmmm\u2026 I can see how someone might have gotten this idea, because the literal translation of \u201candra hand<\/strong> l\u00e4genhet<\/strong>\u201d is indeed a \u201csecond hand apartment\u201d. But when talking about apartments, \u201candra hand<\/strong>\u201d simply means \u201ca sublet\u201d. So, someone owns an apartment and wants to sublet it. This is called \u201chyra ut i andra hand<\/strong>\u201d, or \u201candra hand<\/strong>\u201d for short.<\/p>\n So, are there \u201cf\u00f6rsta hand<\/strong>\u201d apartments? Sure there are! This type of apartment is when you rent (or buy) directly from a housing company.<\/p>\n Another thing that you may notice when reading Swedish rental ads is something like this \u201c1 rok<\/strong>\u201d or \u201c2 rok<\/strong>\u201d. So, if you see an ad listing \u201c2 rok<\/strong>\u201d, you know the apartment will have 2 rooms and a kitchen. This would most likely be what in the US we call a \u201c1 bdr\u201d. A one bedroom apartment that has a living room and a kitchen. In Sweden, we just count the total number of rooms, regardless of whether they are living rooms, dining rooms or bedrooms. This is something worth remembering, because there is nothing worse than finding out later on that what you thought was a two-bedroom apartment is actually a one bedroom plus living room type of place. I actually know of at least one foreign expat who made that mistake. That lady also had two kids, so you can imagine how unhappy she was when she saw what \u201c2 rok<\/strong>\u201d actually meant.<\/p>\n Frequently, you will also see it abbreviated to \u201c2:an<\/strong>\u201d \u2013 that also means that the place has two rooms plus a kitchen.<\/p>\n And finally the most important word of them all (just so you\u2019ll know what you\u2019re renting):<\/p>\n I am no expert when it comes to renting apartments, but if you remember these basics you should manage to get by just fine. And I hope this short explanation will be useful to those of you, who like my friend, are trying to sort out a place to live in Sweden BEFORE actually moving to the country. Good luck! I know it\u2019s not easy. Especially in Stockholm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I haven\u2019t forgotten about the book contest! Don\u2019t worry. I am just waiting for the weekend \u2013 I think it will be more festive to announce the winner then. In the meantime, I want to talk about something that seemed very puzzling to one of my friends. And because it also happens to be a…<\/p>\n
\n“Rok<\/strong>” simply means \u201crum och k\u00f6k<\/strong>\u201d \u2013 room and kitchen.<\/p>\n\n