Stay at home Mom moving to Sweden.....lots of questions! :)?

Question

Hi! Hubby is thinking of accepting a temporary (2 yr) transfer to Sweden. I have some questions for you pertaining to MY job as a stay at home mom. I know they probably seem really petty, but your answers will make a difference to me. I have been to England and saw how tiny their appliances are- washer, dryers, refrigerators, etc. Is it the same for Sweden? Also, I have 3 children- ages 4,3, and an infant. I understand that the state provides education. Does that include preschool? And what age does that start? Will my English speaking children be able to learn or feel accepted in a Swedish preschool? Also, we will be living in Sodertajle, and I know they have taken in a large number of Iraqi immigrants due to the American war in their country. Will we be targets for being American? Is Sodertajle itself a nice place for parents with young kids? It looks like it is from the few websites I have found, but I wanted to get a first hand perpective. Thanks alot!

Answer 1

If you think the appliances in England were small then, yes, you will find the ones in Sweden small as well.

The state provides education, however you have to pay to put your children in preschool. It varies depending on where you live, how many hours you wish for them to go to preschool per week and your (the parents) income. Pre-school is for children of working parents ages 1-5.

I think your children will pick up Swedish really quickly. It's amazing how fast they learn.

Sodertalje is so close to Stockholm and there are so many varieties of people living there, so don't think you will have any problems fitting in. It may be harder to get to know people than if you were living in a slightly smaller place, but Americans are usually rather outgoing people, or at least they were in San Diego when I lived there.

Like the other person also said, Swedish people are very quiet and modest. Americans may come off as loud and boastful (is that a word?), but the Swedish and American culture is not very different in terms of clothes, food, entertainment and so on.

Feel free to e-mail if you have other questions: [e-mail]

Answer 2

TINY!! What do you mean? We only need small washing machines in England because we arn't as big as Americans are, so medium clothes fit us not extra, extra large, and Americans need big fridges because they eat so much food! The Swede's are even skinnier, and don't need huge fridges cos it's colder, Sweden is an excellent country to live, great education and top health, it makes the US look like a third world country. Avoid the Iraqi's though, they are NOT Swede's, live somewhere else if you can, you will be assaulted and robbed by them. Yes pre-schooling in Sweden is excellent, most people in Sweden speak English perfectly, you will be hard pressed to find anyone under the age of 50 who doesn't, be aware though that the Swede's are a VERY reserved and quite people, you might struggle at first, don't be loud.

Links: http://www.sweden.se/templates/cs/FactSh...

Links: http://www.csce.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction... the 5,000 Iraqi's are Christians by the way.