I recently made it to a new country where I’m studying and hopefully will migrate to. It’s been a while since I last talked here and things then were very difficult for me. Thank you for your support then I really needed it. It’s still difficult to be honest but I’ve been doing so much better here. It took me years of seriously looking into and over a year of getting legal stuff lined up and doubling down on savings.
I’ve gone through a divorce and watching multiple good friendships dissolve over long distance. I’ve been fighting with bureaucracy every day, I don’t have a phone plan or internet at my home yet because of it. Without a phone plan I can’t connect to the internet to translate stuff or get directions anywhere when I’m away from the school wifi. I miss my cat but for now he’s being fostered by really good people who love him.
But I’m here, I’m away from the US, I’m making it work every day. I already know a lot of basics about what I’m choosing to study here so I’m spending most of my effort early on building new relationships and helping other students learn. I’m project lead in our current assignment which isn’t something I thought I’d like but I think I’m actually not bad at it. I’m really proud of what I’m doing in part because it’s so difficult for me and I’m pulling it off.
Congrats! As someone who’s moved countries (twice now), friends are invaluable. Go make some! Part time jobs (or full time) are great, so are language schools and climbing gyms if you can afford them
I love climbing and used to go 2-3 times a week. Unfortunately not only can I not really afford one right now but the nearest one from me is like an hour away. I’ve taken up walking for hours on end again and found some cool hiking places near me. Bilberries grow all over the place here. They’re not so much in season anymore I caught the tail end of that, but I was making friends earlier by foraging and making bilberry muffins from scratch to give to people
It’s been a bit difficult for me to feel comfortable making friends though, I’m in my thirties and most the people here are in their early twenties. We have such different life experiences like I’ve already been in professional settings, gone through school once, divorce, already gone through being an alcoholic and quitting, etc. Most the people I interact with are just out of high school it’s a bit weird for me how little life they’ve experienced and the difference in kinds of things we value talking about. I’m still trying though and I’m making friends where I can
Firstly, congratulations on the big move! That’s awesome! Well done!
Without a phone plan I can’t connect to the internet to translate stuff or get directions anywhere when I’m away from the school wifi
On both of these:
- The Google translate app allows you to download a full dictionary while on wifi that you can use without an internet connection. I used this in China a lot as my SIM didn’t work there (and neither would anything google). You can even just point your camera at foreign text and have it auto translate (this is a bid dodgy at times but generally gets you the jist).
- For directions you can get an open source app called “Comaps” which allows you to download a whole region and use it offline. Here’s their download page. It’s very good.
I’ve downloaded the offline dictionary twice but it still keeps telling me it can’t translate without the internet x.x For the time being I’m just slowly getting better at reading Swedish so at least I’m not totally illiterate in a grocery store, but I still often run into things like the other day took me nearly 20 minutes to figure out which sugar was powdered…
I’ll have to look into Comaps! Having an offline region would help so much. I’m still nearly a month out before I have the right paperwork to get a phone plan assuming everything gets handled quickly and I don’t to apply for anything more than once. The paperwork here is for real
Oof. I’ll try it out in the morning and see if I can figure out what I did before to get the translate working offline.
I did test out comaps offline earlier and it worked a treat.
Well done! Going to another country can be overwhelming just for a week or so. To go actually there, doing all the paperwork, planning and learning a foreign language is seriously daunting, I‘m proud of you!
Internet and phone is fairly important though. Phone for calls and internet for studying. Also if you make friends it’s important to stay connected.
Anyways, just do what are you doing, one step after another and it will turn out fine. There are plenty of others who didn’t even get so far.
I visited for the first time just a few months before moving as a last minute “I should probably check in person if I’ll actually be able to stay sane here”. It was me and my best friend for a couple of weeks, we’d previously gone to Taiwan together a year or so before too. So even knowing we work well together it was still a wild time running around here trying to not be too overwhelmed. The first day after I moved here I fucked up a bus route and wound up crying on the side of a highway trying to figure out how to get back home. I didn’t have a bed until day 3 we just slept on the floor and used jackets for blankets. It’s been overwhelming for sure this is the most wild thing I’ve ever done in my life but I wouldn’t have it any other way
And yeah I’m working so hard to get on a phone plan. There is a lot of stuff that needs to happen for it. Basically it is get a residency permit, get an ID card, get a bankID, use that to sign up for a phone plan. I have my residency permit and I’m halfway through getting an ID card. It’s a lot of spend a couple days gathering papers then shipping information off and waiting for 2-4 weeks to see what they say
Sounds like an adventure! Good luck and don’t forget to have fun! You’ve got this!
Okay. First, let me just say that I respect the hell out of your dedication and can do attitude. Do you mind me asking where you’re currently at, in the most general terms possible?
I made it to Sweden! Everyone here is really kind, Swedish is possibly the most beautiful language I’ve heard and I really want to learn it, I’ve seen an aurora with my naked eye for the first time and then two days later I got to see another even more vibrant one. Half the time when I try to buy food it isn’t what I thought it was because I can’t read so it’s a daily random adventure what even am I eating. I’m actually really excited for the winter I miss having snow in the winters. It’ll be my first winter living by myself ever though so I’m a bit worried about that but I’ll make due. I’ve determined which chocolate melts the best in milk so I’ll have plenty of varm choklad mjölk to keep warm
Congratulations! I’m right next door in Denmark. Speaking of food and expectations, I highly recommend trying some curry-pickled herring on dark rye bread served with hard boiled eggs on the side. I know how that sounds, but it’s delicious and probably quite different from what you think.
Speaking of food and Sweden, if you’re ever in need of some comedic relief, check out Regular Ordinary Swedish Meal Time. It’s a classic. And hilarious.
Welcome to Scandinavia!
Hej hej granne! I’m hoping to visit Denmark during one of my breaks. When I was visiting the area last winter we planned on stopping by but ended up going to the Hague instead (for new years and it was unhinged in the best of ways)
Someone gave me some kind of pickled fish a bit ago it was great. I think I took them by surprise when I liked it seemed like they were trying to play a joke on the foreigner lol. Not sure what kind it was but I know it was not surströmming. I’ve really liked most the food here so far though could be a bit more seasoned and they have no idea what spicy food is. I’m trying to find a good hotsauce too but so far only been able to find what I’d describe as loud ketchup, might need to make my own
Okay that cooking channel is ridiculous and I love it. Gonna watch that after classes for sure
You’re not wrong about the spices. It’s a culinary travesty, I agree. Sure, there’s good historical reasons for the local cuisine being the way it is, but these days there’s no excuse. Fortunately, that’s changing some in recent years.
Personally, I just turn to the Indian, Chinese or Mexican traditions if I want spicy – which I generally do. Unfortunately, I’m in a household minority there.
Although… Now I wonder what Indian/Danish fusion food would even look like? Hmm. Or Danish/Mexican. You know, flæskesteg served with a Mole manchamantel replacing sauce brune and rice instead of boiled potatoes doesn’t sound half bad.
I was also curious, so I checked their post history and it seems that it’s Sweden. I’ve thought about moving there myself, though I’m still in the “years of thinking about it” stage
I cannot express how so incredibly proud I am of you, daughter. It takes an awesome amount of bravery to leave your support systems and forge your own path. You’re in great company of immigrants who made their mark, big and small, on the world. I know you’ll do great things and touch lives and be a bright shining star for those that come after you.
Love you kid, dad
Thank you dad <3
It’s been hard losing so many of my support systems. I always thought I’d make this journey with someone but that ended up not being in the hand I was dealt. In programming there’s a thing called the hill climbing problem where you are trying to get to the highest peak in a data set. Think trying to find the tallest hill in a field. You’re only able to look around your immediate vicinity though. The naive approach is to always just go up from where you are until there is nowhere up left to go. It’s not guaranteed to be the highest hill though since you may be next to a taller one and not realize it. I’ve always thought of this as a good way to think of how I approach my life where I want things to be better for myself but sometimes I have to go down a hill to see if I’m actually next to a taller one. In many ways I was very happy where I was but I also felt I capped out on what I could do, and with going through so many losses at the rate I did I just couldn’t keep a hold on things very well anymore. I think this new hill I’m at the base of is going to be much taller but I have to climb the thing to find out.
Thank you for the kind words they mean a lot. I want to be a positive influence in the world it means a lot you believe in me. Love you too dad
