Scandinavians

[dance of life 1]

I actually shipped over 10 big moving boxes from Sweden. Didn't cost too much. I did a lot of research and found very price worthy companies. They took care of everything and it was fast. Now I know you are in Norway and the company I used only work from Sweden so that won't help you much but I recommend you to Google and make phone calls!

Hi Alaska2012.

Could you please provide the information for the company you used to move things from Sweden? Been looking and no luck yet:/

[Alaska2012 462]

I used travelcargo.se it was very convenient. They have different drop off locations around sweden so you don't have to take it up to arlanda yourself unless you are close by. I used to live in orebro and they had a drop of in town, didn't cost any extra.

[dance of life 1]

I used travelcargo.se it was very convenient. They have different drop off locations around sweden so you don't have to take it up to arlanda yourself unless you are close by. I used to live in orebro and they had a drop of in town, didn't cost any extra.

thank you:) I actually spoke to them as well- very nice people- hope that will work for us. thank you again.

[Mr. Borkström 63]

Hmm. Seems like the process has changed a lot since I got my visa in September 2012.

Congratulations to everyone who's gotten their applications approved lately. I hope you will all like America as much as me. I've been here for about a year and a month now and I am loving it. Pittsburgh's great city and my wife and I have a good life together. I could not be more happy. Well if they would just invent those Star Trek transporter thingies so we could visit Sweden every once in a while, but oh well...

[plasthandske 3]

Hmm. Seems like the process has changed a lot since I got my visa in September 2012.

Congratulations to everyone who's gotten their applications approved lately. I hope you will all like America as much as me. I've been here for about a year and a month now and I am loving it. Pittsburgh's great city and my wife and I have a good life together. I could not be more happy. Well if they would just invent those Star Trek transporter thingies so we could visit Sweden every once in a while, but oh well...

What, in your day-to-day life, do you consider the biggest challenge? I sat on the bus on my way from the embassy this morning and thought to myself "You have a fundamental understanding of society in Sweden, laws, norms, cultural yes/no and such" - this for me will probably my biggest challenge. I n terms of just working in an American environment, this will be different because I have absolutely no idea about my rights as an employee in the states, which I posses for my "natural" environment, Sweden.

Such small things will probably take a while to be accustomed to for me.

83 days from NOA to approved, that happened way faster than I anticipated. Excited and sad at the same time, life as I once knew it in Sweden will soon cease to exist and a new one with my, soon to be, wife will begin.

Crazy.

I bet some of you, like me, did not see them self moving away lets say 5/10 years ago.

[Maalin 0]

So glad to have found this thread! It was through this I found out that I needed to call Skatteverket för birth cert, or the closest we Swedes can get to it at least. Me and my fiance filed last June and we are currently gathering all the affidavit papers and I'm gathering all kinds of fun papers for my interview as well as medical.

exciting!

[scartwright 0]

Crazy.

I bet some of you, like me, did not see them self moving away lets say 5/10 years ago.

It's not even a year since I met my Fiancée, so if someone would have suggested a year ago that I would fall head over heels for a girl on the other side of the globe, and move to the US, I would certainly have laughed. Never thought someone could have this much impact. Very very happy, and now it's just a lot to take care of before moving in 1 1/2 month. Congrats to everyone coming closer to getting forward whereever you are in this process - I think the fact that we're doing this will tie us even closer with our Fiancé(e)s.

Edited February 3, 2014 by scartwright

[Mr. Borkström 63]

What, in your day-to-day life, do you consider the biggest challenge? I sat on the bus on my way from the embassy this morning and thought to myself "You have a fundamental understanding of society in Sweden, laws, norms, cultural yes/no and such" - this for me will probably my biggest challenge. I n terms of just working in an American environment, this will be different because I have absolutely no idea about my rights as an employee in the states, which I posses for my "natural" environment, Sweden.

Such small things will probably take a while to be accustomed to for me.

Hmm. Not an easy question to answer. Like I have said many times before since I moved here, I don't think America is as different as I thought it would be, but I also can't pinpoint what that means exactly, because I am not sure what I expected. I had at least visited Pittsburgh two years before I moved here, so not everything was completely new. I had met my wife's family, I had stayed at the house, I had been to the neighborhood. When I visited here in 2010 for three weeks, I tried to feel if I could see myself living here, and I said to myself that I could.

It takes some getting used to, though. When I first moved here in December about a year ago, one of the biggest challenges I faced was expanding my comfort zone. Luckily my wife had taken some time off from work which meant I got to be with her a lot the first two weeks or so. Before I visited here in 2010, I had never been to the US and I had never really wanted to go either. So when I moved here, I had a lot of vague ideas of what life would be like. The media in Sweden probably didn't do me any favors in that department. I remember the first time I walked down to the Uni-Mart (snabbköp) ten minutes down the main street in our neighborhood. I was very nervous, maybe even afraid. And while Troy Hill is kind of run down and was a lot nicer when my wife grew up… there were not crack dealers on every street corner, there were no juvenile delinquents mugging senior citizens in every alleyway, there were not cop cars chasing bank robbers. In other words, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

I slowly started expanding my comfort zone further. I remember the first time my wife dropped me off in the downtown district called The Strip (which is on the other side of the Allegheny River from where we live in Troy Hill http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strip_District,_Pittsburgh) on her way to work. I wanted to go and explore a little, but I was still nervous. For me, who had lived all my life in Västerås, which has a population of maybe 135,000 people, Pittsburgh felt like a HUGE city. I walked down the main street in the Strip and checked out a bunch of stores. I then walked down to the downtown area. It was a cold and snowy morning. In one place I was stopped by a very chatty fellow who went on and on about the NHL lockout. The whole time he was talking, I was fully prepared to run for it at any time, in case he'd pull out a gun or a knife.

Miraculously, he never did, he merely talked my ear off for a bit. I finally made my way to a place I recognized from my first visit here. I was also able to find my way to a bus stop for the bus that goes up to Troy Hill. Going on the bus was different though. That's what I have found, that there are a lot of small things that are different here. Like here in Pittsburgh, sometimes you pay when you get on the bus, sometimes you pay when you get off the bus. It was all confusing at first. But after a while you get the hang of it. I've always thought that I would have felt equally lost if I had moved to Stockholm or Gothenburg, or Köping or Sala for that matter. I feel like I know my city a lot better now, but there are still so, so many neighborhoods that I have never set foot in, and probably never will visit either. I wouldn't feel comfortable anywhere, but my comfort zone is much bigger than it was a year ago.

Getting to know my wife's kids and family is another thing. I'd talked quite a bit with my wife's now 13-yeaar-old daughter on Skype, and I'd met her parents and her 18-year-old son and one of her two brothers before, but actually spending time with them and getting to know them, I must admit I was nervous at first. But they've been great, very generous and welcoming.

The first place where I applied for a job was IKEA. I got turned down (jagoffs!). In September I got my first job and started working at Target. I like it. But it did take me a while before I started feeling more comfortable. Even though my English is good, better than a lot of Americans' English, there has still been so many words, phrases and concepts related to my job that I have had to learn.

Aside from missing family and friends and not having anyone to speak Swedish with (for the most part, I've Skyped with family and friends a couple times the last couple weeks), I'd say that's probably been the biggest challenge for me; expanding my comfort zone to the point that overall I feel comfortable in my new surroundings.

I bet some of you, like me, did not see them self moving away lets say 5/10 years ago.

Yes, definitely. In 1999 I took some English classes at Mälardalens Högskola, and one of the classes was called American Society and Culture. At the end of the class our teacher asked if we could ever see ourselves moving to America. I was one of the people who answered with a definite "no". Until I met my wife I could not see myself ever moving away from Västerås. Now I live halfway across the globe. So yeah. You never know what's going to happen. My motto has always been tho that I have nothing to lose by taking a chance and moving here. I love it and we have a wonderful life together, my wife and I… but I always thought that if it wouldn't have worked out, I could have just went back home to little ol' Sweden. Sweden will always be there.

[MikeandEl 4]

What, in your day-to-day life, do you consider the biggest challenge? I sat on the bus on my way from the embassy this morning and thought to myself "You have a fundamental understanding of society in Sweden, laws, norms, cultural yes/no and such" - this for me will probably my biggest challenge. I n terms of just working in an American environment, this will be different because I have absolutely no idea about my rights as an employee in the states, which I posses for my "natural" environment, Sweden.

Such small things will probably take a while to be accustomed to for me.

83 days from NOA to approved, that happened way faster than I anticipated. Excited and sad at the same time, life as I once knew it in Sweden will soon cease to exist and a new one with my, soon to be, wife will begin.

Crazy.

I bet some of you, like me, did not see them self moving away lets say 5/10 years ago.

Honestly, my biggest challenge is not coming off as rude. Protip: You can never say "Please", "thank you" and "excuse me" too much. Even when I feel like I'm being ridiculous, I'm still just barely polite enough. Otherwise I think the challenges are going to be different for everyone. I'm lucky, I went to college in Boston so I have my own American friends in addition to my fiance - husband! Omg, husband. Still not used to that. - and his friends and family. So if I wanna go away and do my own thing for a weekend, I can do that, and I know the area and how to get around. It also helps that my husband's friends are awesome, and that his family has been super welcoming. I work for myself, so the work environment isn't going to change too much for me.

Good luck! Three years ago, I certainly didn't see this coming, but I'm very happy that it did.

[plasthandske 3]

Hmm. Not an easy question to answer. Like I have said many times before since I moved here, I don't think America is as different as I thought it would be, but I also can't pinpoint what that means exactly, because I am not sure what I expected. I had at least visited Pittsburgh two years before I moved here, so not everything was completely new. I had met my wife's family, I had stayed at the house, I had been to the neighborhood. When I visited here in 2010 for three weeks, I tried to feel if I could see myself living here, and I said to myself that I could.

It takes some getting used to, though. When I first moved here in December about a year ago, one of the biggest challenges I faced was expanding my comfort zone. Luckily my wife had taken some time off from work which meant I got to be with her a lot the first two weeks or so. Before I visited here in 2010, I had never been to the US and I had never really wanted to go either. So when I moved here, I had a lot of vague ideas of what life would be like. The media in Sweden probably didn't do me any favors in that department. I remember the first time I walked down to the Uni-Mart (snabbköp) ten minutes down the main street in our neighborhood. I was very nervous, maybe even afraid. And while Troy Hill is kind of run down and was a lot nicer when my wife grew up… there were not crack dealers on every street corner, there were no juvenile delinquents mugging senior citizens in every alleyway, there were not cop cars chasing bank robbers. In other words, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

I slowly started expanding my comfort zone further. I remember the first time my wife dropped me off in the downtown district called The Strip (which is on the other side of the Allegheny River from where we live in Troy Hill http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strip_District,_Pittsburgh) on her way to work. I wanted to go and explore a little, but I was still nervous. For me, who had lived all my life in Västerås, which has a population of maybe 135,000 people, Pittsburgh felt like a HUGE city. I walked down the main street in the Strip and checked out a bunch of stores. I then walked down to the downtown area. It was a cold and snowy morning. In one place I was stopped by a very chatty fellow who went on and on about the NHL lockout. The whole time he was talking, I was fully prepared to run for it at any time, in case he'd pull out a gun or a knife.

Miraculously, he never did, he merely talked my ear off for a bit. I finally made my way to a place I recognized from my first visit here. I was also able to find my way to a bus stop for the bus that goes up to Troy Hill. Going on the bus was different though. That's what I have found, that there are a lot of small things that are different here. Like here in Pittsburgh, sometimes you pay when you get on the bus, sometimes you pay when you get off the bus. It was all confusing at first. But after a while you get the hang of it. I've always thought that I would have felt equally lost if I had moved to Stockholm or Gothenburg, or Köping or Sala for that matter. I feel like I know my city a lot better now, but there are still so, so many neighborhoods that I have never set foot in, and probably never will visit either. I wouldn't feel comfortable anywhere, but my comfort zone is much bigger than it was a year ago.

Getting to know my wife's kids and family is another thing. I'd talked quite a bit with my wife's now 13-yeaar-old daughter on Skype, and I'd met her parents and her 18-year-old son and one of her two brothers before, but actually spending time with them and getting to know them, I must admit I was nervous at first. But they've been great, very generous and welcoming.

The first place where I applied for a job was IKEA. I got turned down (jagoffs!). In September I got my first job and started working at Target. I like it. But it did take me a while before I started feeling more comfortable. Even though my English is good, better than a lot of Americans' English, there has still been so many words, phrases and concepts related to my job that I have had to learn.

Aside from missing family and friends and not having anyone to speak Swedish with (for the most part, I've Skyped with family and friends a couple times the last couple weeks), I'd say that's probably been the biggest challenge for me; expanding my comfort zone to the point that overall I feel comfortable in my new surroundings.

Yes, definitely. In 1999 I took some English classes at Mälardalens Högskola, and one of the classes was called American Society and Culture. At the end of the class our teacher asked if we could ever see ourselves moving to America. I was one of the people who answered with a definite "no". Until I met my wife I could not see myself ever moving away from Västerås. Now I live halfway across the globe. So yeah. You never know what's going to happen. My motto has always been tho that I have nothing to lose by taking a chance and moving here. I love it and we have a wonderful life together, my wife and I… but I always thought that if it wouldn't have worked out, I could have just went back home to little ol' Sweden. Sweden will always be there.

Honestly, my biggest challenge is not coming off as rude. Protip: You can never say "Please", "thank you" and "excuse me" too much. Even when I feel like I'm being ridiculous, I'm still just barely polite enough. Otherwise I think the challenges are going to be different for everyone. I'm lucky, I went to college in Boston so I have my own American friends in addition to my fiance - husband! Omg, husband. Still not used to that. - and his friends and family. So if I wanna go away and do my own thing for a weekend, I can do that, and I know the area and how to get around. It also helps that my husband's friends are awesome, and that his family has been super welcoming. I work for myself, so the work environment isn't going to change too much for me.

Good luck! Three years ago, I certainly didn't see this coming, but I'm very happy that it did.

Sorry for the long quote.

I am no stranger to the American way of life, or at least sort of. I feel prepared since I studied in the state, when I met my fiancée and I have spent more time abroad with her than in Sweden ever since. However, there is probably a big difference between studying and moving over to build a career and life together. I have a somewhat big circle of people but still they are all very different from "normal" to me in a way.

I appreciate the answer you guys have, good insights. I mean for me this is a big change, grew up in a small town of Sweden with no more than 4500 inhabitants and a municipality on the edge of bankruptcy (We are in the bottom 5) and moved away for gymnasium and to study at university to a city with 140 000. I think the best I personally can do is to go in with an awesome attitude and spirit and life will probably sort itself out. Hopefully the "Minnesota nice" will treat me well

[N-o-l-a 7,167]

I appreciate the answer you guys have, good insights. I mean for me this is a big change, grew up in a small town of Sweden with no more than 4500 inhabitants and a municipality on the edge of bankruptcy (We are in the bottom 5) and moved away for gymnasium and to study at university to a city with 140 000. I think the best I personally can do is to go in with an awesome attitude and spirit and life will probably sort itself out. Hopefully the "Minnesota nice" will treat me well

Honestly, I am sure you will be just fine with the move. Maybe I've misunderstood it, but doesn't Minnesota nice mean nice and polite on the surface without a deeper connection? I asked some of the Minnesota folk in another thread about it and they said it was very very very difficult to make new friends there. I don't know if we had mentioned it here, but our house in CT is hopefully about to sell as our buyers have cleared underwriting and been given the clear to close from the bank. We had planned on moving to northern MN actually.

I think my husband would say all the manners and stupid rules and things. He thinks it is silly how often we say sorry!

I totally echo his sentiments on not thinking he would ever move, he didn't ever want to see America and had no interest in Americans. He's adjusted mostly well to being here - especially in terms of having guns and a big truck. I think for him, America was a good fit all along especially with his really traditional beliefs, but it does carry that stigma.... He's even fine with giving up his Danish citizenship to get American. I think if someone told him that 5 years ago, he would have laughed in their face.

Seriously, though, at least from my experience, everyone loves Scandinavians and will delight, much to your dismay, in telling you all about their Swedish great grandfather or some such thing.

[plasthandske 3]

Honestly, I am sure you will be just fine with the move. Maybe I've misunderstood it, but doesn't Minnesota nice mean nice and polite on the surface without a deeper connection? I asked some of the Minnesota folk in another thread about it and they said it was very very very difficult to make new friends there. I don't know if we had mentioned it here, but our house in CT is hopefully about to sell as our buyers have cleared underwriting and been given the clear to close from the bank. We had planned on moving to northern MN actually.

I think my husband would say all the manners and stupid rules and things. He thinks it is silly how often we say sorry!

I totally echo his sentiments on not thinking he would ever move, he didn't ever want to see America and had no interest in Americans. He's adjusted mostly well to being here - especially in terms of having guns and a big truck. I think for him, America was a good fit all along especially with his really traditional beliefs, but it does carry that stigma.... He's even fine with giving up his Danish citizenship to get American. I think if someone told him that 5 years ago, he would have laughed in their face.

Seriously, though, at least from my experience, everyone loves Scandinavians and will delight, much to your dismay, in telling you all about their Swedish great grandfather or some such thing.

Oh, where in northern Minnesota? I have spent loads of time up in Duluth and along the North Shore, it is absolutely beautiful - year around. However, that Lake Superior is going to freeze your butt off!

Interesting thoughts about the whole Minnesota nice, from my experience so far people are extremely polite and open to me as a foreigner. Perhaps because I met people in a college environment but also all the elderly that I have encountered so far are really welcoming in their approach. More often than not people say things such as "Oh I am Swedish as well" and after a five minute conversation it comes to the conclusion that they had a great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather who emigrated from Scandinavia (more often than not it's Denmark, Finland or Norway and not Sweden.)

What trips me off often is the whole social norm when it comes to pay the restaurant bill. I always leave that part to my fiancée because otherwise she'll be upset with me not tipping nearly enough, according to her. Probably because we do not have a system for such things in Sweden.

I do not see myself purchasing a gun or a truck at any point in life, but who knows what I'll say about that a couple of years down the road..

[anjans 21]

My visa has been issued!!!! I'm so happy, they will send it tomorrow, finally i can relax

[dance of life 1]

How long does it take usually from the time visa is issued and printed- to the time they send it and receive in the mail? What have been your experience?

[MikeandEl 4]

How long does it take usually from the time visa is issued and printed- to the time they send it and receive in the mail? What have been your experience?

I had my interview on a Thursday and received the visa in the mail the following Thursday, so exactly one week later.

My visa has been issued!!!! I'm so happy, they will send it tomorrow, finally i can relax

Congrats! Good to hear.