A Late Introduction to Living American in Sweden

Some of the people who will be reading my blog know me quite well, but this post is really to tell everyone a few things about myself and why I started this blog.

My name is Megan and I'm an American who moved to Sweden this past August, a month before my 29th birthday. I have an identical twin sister who is my partner in crime. One of the reasons I chose to write this blog is that she can see what my life is like here because we are apart. It's hard having two partners and only being able to live with one. It's hard to describe the relationship of twins unless you are one. I mean I just had a daughter and she automatically has two mothers and always will.
The decision to move to Sweden was an easy one. My beau of 10 + years had proposed and we found out we were expecting our first child after he returned home from another month long visit. We knew it was time for us to pick a country. He had always wanted children, a theme that runs in his family, so it was important for him to be present for the delivery and to be able to be an active father.
Why did I move to Sweden? Well my partner is currently finishing a bachelor's degree here and I was just finishing my master's degree in Forensic Psychology and working full time for a job that would end in August. The social benefits here help a new family make ends meet. They have an 8 month maternity leave, healthcare is covered here, college tuition is free so that PhD I had been dreaming about became a possibility, among other things. I wish we could live in both countries and teleport back and forth, but that's not possible; so here I am discovering myself in a foreign world that I could spend days and days writing about. I am never worried that I will run out of differences and new experiences here because the truth is, Swedes and Americans are very different people and tend to live very different lifestyles. You will have to read future posts to read the elaboration on the last statement!
My Swede's name is Anton. We have a beautiful 2 1/2 month old baby he named Rosalind. This summer we are having a wedding in Michigan, where I'm from. A lot of his family will be coming which makes us very happy, that our families will finally meet. I'm sure everyone will have a great time. Our future is unknown. I'm not sure if I'm ready to make another four year school commitment, I'm not sure if I can find work here not knowing much Swedish yet, and Anton is not sure if he wants to continue school or look for work. We may decide to move to another country someday. We think about having our own business often. The only things we do know is that someday we'd like more children and that for now we're happy.

Since being here, I'm sure I have amused, delighted, confused, and annoyed many people. Some people have been very kind and patient with me. Sometimes I am gawked at because of my size, for speaking American English, or even wearing my baby in a carrier in public. There have been a couple of times where people have actually been excited to hear my American English. People often ask how I am doing here. You know the good old adjustment question people ask when you've had a big change in your life. I usually tell them the truth. I don't hate it here and I am not unhappy. I think I am still feeling things out and trying to get a real sense of my new reality. I'll keep you posted.

I promise I will try to keep your interest. This blog will have it all. Adult perplexities, new mother experiences, and a lot of differences between the US and Sweden! I hope you enjoy what I write about. I am an open book here, or at least I think I am...

Hockey, almost a religion here?

A couple of days ago I went to my first hockey game in Jönköping, Sweden (where Anton is from). The teams play in the SHL or Swedish Hockey League but are strangely enough considered "clubs". Anton's family was kind enough to buy us tickets and take us to see HV71 Jönköping vs LHC Linköping. The arena was full. There were concessions and a memorabilia shop just like at any other sports venue. The sport seemed like any other seriously beloved sport, cult-like in the mannerism of hitting the provided folded paper pamphlet to cheer on the players and the chanting and songs sung that you can tell are done at every game. I have never been to a NHL game in the states, yes sadly no Red Wings game in person. But I imagine the atmosphere is similar. At least it appeared to be similar to a University of Michigan Hockey game I attended. When you are not a regular fan to a certain sport or any sport for that matter, going to a game makes you feel like a foreign being because you don't know the proper protocol like the fans that come and support the teams on a regular basis. Add in being in a foreign country at a game and it really is a different experience. Of course my Swedish is poor and almost non-existent so far, but the rules of this game appeared possibly different than from US hockey. I just tried to go with the flow.

For professional players the skill level was definitely not as good as the NHL. Anton told me that Swedish hockey player (goaltender) Henrik Lundqvist who just so happens to play for the New York Rangers is said to be the most overrated player in the NHL. He seems very arrogant to me. The arena was much smaller for one that has "professional" players. The Kinnarps arena in Jönköping holds 7,000 (of which 1,100 standing), which is comparable to the Yost Ice arena at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor holds 6,600 people. Joe Lois arena home to the Red Wings holds a capacity of 20,066! The game was still good entertainment. There were three children sitting in front of us, with their parents and one of their grandfathers, who were just as fun to watch as the game. The oldest boy was really upset that his team, HV71, was losing and his little brother tried to console him, it was so cute. Their sister cheered and just enjoyed herself. It was very sweet to see them. Anton commented that the boy didn't know the rules of the game after hearing what he had yelled.
 
I decided after the teams were tied 1 to 1 that I was rooting for LHC because they were the visitors and so was I. I told Anton I was rooting against him and every time my team scored he had to give me a kiss. He said he had no real allegiance to either team and may cheer for LHC too, either way he liked my smooch idea and obliged. Linköping won 7 to 1 and overall I had a good time. The camaraderie was probably better than what you would see at any given NHL game and I really appreciated that. Hockey is a popular sport here and people are truly dedicated to rooting on Sweden in international competitions (especially Anton who is a very sore loser). As for me hockey is fun to watch, but I will most look forward to taking Anton to a Detroit Tigers game this summer; I mean baseball is the American pastime right? Hopefully we can make it a family event!

Top 10 differences of a Swedish Christmas

(Remember these are based on my experiences.)

10. Stockings aren’t really done here. Maybe if you have a couple kids you might get stockings and do them, otherwise they can tend to be just used for decorative purposes or not at all.

9. There are just as many Gnomes with red hats celebrating the holiday as Santa Claus, if not more!!! Our Christmas napkin holder is Gnomes in red hats instead of Santa.

8. Window décor in Sweden is a must. Everyone and I do mean everyone has a lighted star or 5 or 7 lighted candelabra (larger ones exist too but are not as common). Anton noticed upon returning home one day that we were the only ones in our apartment building that didn’t have one and we needed to conform on this tradition, so he bought one and put it the window.

7. Advent candle lighting is a normal part of Christmas tradition here in a country that is not very religious, which I find very interesting that Christian and Pagan traditions are the norm for all.

6. Baking for Christmas is the same idea, but what is baked is different. Gingerbread is EVERYWHERE, it’s like a religion. Thin heart shaped gingersnaps take up almost half an aisle in every small grocery store or you can buy dough to make your own. Saffron buns are a homemade tradition here and they are very tasty! They also have Christmas bread that is spiced/flavored and crackers.

5. Christmas flowers are tradition. Yes they have Poinsettias (we have 1) and mini Poinsettias, but they also have lots of Amaryllis and Hyacinth (we have 4). Real live flowers are a part of everyday Christmas décor, yet there is no holly.

4. Holiday drinks are different. They have a drink called Julmust which is a pop that is the number one seller in December. It’s hard to describe the flavor, but it’s ok in my opinion, what is better is Glögg. Glögg is mulled wine that is full of flavor. The traditional kind is red wine made with spices like clove, or orange peel, or raisins and is like only 2% alcohol. It is served warm. You can go to the liquor store and get up to 12% alcohol according to Anton. He and I have three different kinds, chocolate ball flavored one, chocolate and orange (my favorite), and a regular bottle which we haven’t opened. And sadly there is no egg nog. :(

3. Food! Christmas dinner is different. Yes there is ham, but there is also cabbage salad (yum), beet salad (indifferent), pickled herring (ick), lox with a dill and mustard sauce (yum) and Swedish meatballs (yum)! We also take shots of different liquors throughout the meal too!

2. Yule goats exist. They are really old decorations that have a historic background dating back to pre-Christian days. The yule goat is made of straw and is adorned with red ribbons.

1. The biggest difference of Christmas in Sweden? They celebrate it on the 24th. That’s right the entire holiday is celebrated on the 24th. Anton lucks out on being Swedish on this one, because as you might have guessed, he was born on the 25th! So here the 25th is just Anton’s birthday.

As they say in Sweden, God Jul!