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Monthly archives: February 2012

Royal Baby! Royal Baby! ROYAL BABY!

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*Innnnnn and ooooooout. Innnnnn and ooooooout.Innnnnn and ooooooout.* Ok. I think I’m ready to speak normally now.

ROYALBABYROYALBABYROYALBABYROYALBABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, sorry. Maybe not.

Princess Shinylocks will have her day, but for now, let’s just talk about HRH Crown Princess Victoria, Prince Daniel, and the as-yet unnamed LITTLE PRINCESS!

Here are all the deets:

The birth announcement! Photo: Kungahuset Facebook Page

It says that Her Royal Highness the Crown Princess Victoria had a daughter at 4:26 a.m. on Thursday, February 23. (That’s today.) The baby was 51 cm tall (20 in tall) and 3280 g (7.2 lbs). Which is really exciting and all, but just wait until you see this video of Prince Daniel announcing the birth of his first daughter. Read more » >>

Kate Reuterswärd - Expat

February 23, 2012

How to find a job in Sweden from abroad

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If you want to live in Sweden and you’re not an EU or Swiss citizen, you’ve got basically three options: one, study; two, have a lasting and genuine relationship with someone else who has permission to live in Sweden; or three, find a job.

Choosing to study in Sweden is probably the one you have the most control over; the second is a little more up to fate. And then there’s the third option.

Finding a job in Sweden is tough, especially since the EU has certain protectionist laws that make it difficult for European countries to hire non-Europeans. (This does not necessarily apply to international companies, which are free to transfer employees throughout the organization.)

I get questions about searching for a job in Sweden all the time, so I thought I’d share some of my experiences as well as a letter from a blog reader. Read more » >>

Kate Reuterswärd - Expat

February 19, 2012

15 Ways to Say I Love You in Swedish

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We Americans are known for throwing around the word “love” to mean everything from “This is an amazing sandwich” (I LOVE JIMMY JOHN’S!) to “I want to spend the rest of my life with you” (I love you).  We think this is normal, but the rest of the world tends to express their feelings more subtly.

If you’re coming to Sweden, a straight up “Jag älskar dig” might be hard to come by, but listen closely enough, and you’ll hear it being expressed in other ways.

The writing is on the wall: it's love! Photo: Kate Reuterswärd

15 Ways to Say I Love You in Swedish Read more » >>

Kate Reuterswärd - Expat

February 14, 2012

5 Quintessential Swedish Foods You’ll Never Find in a Cookbook

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Food is a way of getting to know a country, its people and its history. By learning about typical Swedish cuisine, for example, you’ll learn about the importance of the sea, the different flora and fauna of different regions, and the inventiveness of the Swedish people as they came up with different methods for coping with the long, hard winters.

To learn about a country’s food culture, historians and anthropologists might comb through cookbooks, interview chefs, and examine grocery store aisles. But what about the quintessential Swedish foods that would never show up on a restaurant menu or in a cookbook? Those have to be at least as important, if not more.

Welcome to the freak show tour of Swedish food: the foods that hardly ever see the light of day, and yet are undeniably Swedish. Read more » >>

Kate Reuterswärd - Expat

February 11, 2012

As precious and unique as a snowflake… I think.

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When I was young, my mom told me that I was as precious and unique as a snowflake. Or at least she probably would have if she had been into sentimental platitudes, which (thank goodness) she’s not. My mom likes to keep it real.

As it turns out, however, I am as unique as a snowflake in one particular way. A few weeks ago, I got the official notice from the Swedish government that my name change had gone into effect, and I am now officially Katherine Gabriella Reuterswärd… and as far as I can tell, I’m the only Katherine Gabriella Reuterswärd, or Kate Reuterswärd for that matter, IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD.

That’s, like, 1 in 7 billion kazillion holy moly lot of people. Drumroll, please! I’m going to start playing the lottery. Read more » >>

Kate Reuterswärd - Expat

February 7, 2012