Scandinavians

[Blondie-CO 8]

I am a USC and my fiance is Swedish -he'll be moving here in March 2012 (pending approval of our K1). Although he has spent a year in the US studying etc, I know it will be hard for him to leave his family and friends and language and food... I have a few questions:

How often did you find yourselves flying back to visit home?

How easy was it to find a job? My fiance has a aeronautical engineering degree, and is getting experience now in Sweden before moving here.

We will be living in Boulder, CO which is a pretty liberal, bike friendly place with seasons and we'll have our own place where we can walk out the door and be DT... but I'm looking for ways I can make him feel less homesick while he's waiting to get his legal working status. What comforted you when you first moved here?

Also, while I'm wanting to get the new apartment all perfectly ready before he arrives, I'm wondering if leaving it kind of empty and unpainted would be a fun activity for us to do together (and while he's not working).

Thanks! Lets keep this forum active

[cartaverde 12]

Hi Blondie-Co, all the best for you and your Swede.

A lot of homesickness and one's desire to visit home depends on the individual.

E.g. I have no desire to visit my mum's home (where she lives has never been my home so I lack any ties to even the part of the country up there in the North where she lives). For social pressure (one of the things the European parents seem good at - pressuring their offspring to want to spend all the free time they ever get with them. Never mind if they live on the other side of the planet, and visiting "home" with the spouse is not exactly cheap always..) we do go every now and then. Last time about a year ago, next time planned next summer. With your guy, it's probably not a bad idea to plan a visit every summer (when it's nice long days around there), or maybe even in winter.

There are a few things that will make him get more Scandinavian stuff around there;

1. Sign up in meetup.com and see if there are any Swedish, Scandinavian, or European meetup groups around there. I'd be surprised if there weren't. Sometimes there are some Facebook groups too for specific language/culture in a city/state. He definitely isn't the only Swede out there

2. For Swedish food etc you can't beat IKEA. There's one in Centennial, about 40 miles from you. So probably not that bad a trip every month or a few months to stock up some knackebrod and abba and whatever else you guys like http://www.ikea.com/us/en/store/centennial - I recommend leave the apartment empty and you can have fun decorating it together with stuff from IKEA (or at least get many inspirations while browsing the stuff there)

I don't think he'll have any difficulties finding a job in US.

[K & M 0]

I've been here (NYC) for over a year now and it was hard in the beginning before I got my work permit and found a job.

Took me roughly 4 months to get my work permit, then 2 months to get a job so all in all about 6 months.

I took some classes at NYU while I was waiting. To learn but also to not have a gap in my resume.

It helps that I have some Swedish friends here but as has been mentioned IKEA is a good food source.

If you're in Colorado maybe you can take him to an Avalanche game? Swedes have a tendency to like ice hockey.

I travel some with work so I tend to go back to Sweden every month or once every other month. Quite lucky like that I guess.

Meetup.com works, but sometimes it seems to be more for people who wants to meet Swedes than Swedes wanting to meet up if you know what I'm saying.

What else? If he does snus then northener.com is a saviour (although I quit when I moved here).

Maybe his university has an alumni chapter there? My Swedish university (KTH/Royal Institute of Technology) has a NYC chapter with some 20 members.

[Mr. Borkström 63]

Swedish citizen here. Applying for permanent residency. My wife lives in Pittsburgh, PA.

[kalicki 0]

My over-21 girlfriend is a dual Swedish and American citizen, born in the United States. Her mother is a Swedish citizen, born in and living in Sweden.

From what I can tell, it's a very simple IR-5 visa process, but are there any tricks or problems Swedes tend to run into in this case? She plans on working when she gets here.

I'm just trying to find out if there are any traps we need to worry about getting her to the US.

[MissK 5]

Hi!

I'm trying to figure out the costs of the K-1 visa so:

Does anybody know what the medical exam in Norway costs? And immunization?

Do I have to pay about 2400SEK for the visa at the interview?

Thanks!

[jaycali 415]

Hi!I'm trying to figure out the costs of the K-1 visa so:Does anybody know what the medical exam in Norway costs? And immunization?Do I have to pay about 2400SEK for the visa at the interview?Thanks!

No idea actually, but I heard around 1600 NOK for the medical.

[jaycali 415]

My over-21 girlfriend is a dual Swedish and American citizen, born in the United States. Her mother is a Swedish citizen, born in and living in Sweden.From what I can tell, it's a very simple IR-5 visa process, but are there any tricks or problems Swedes tend to run into in this case? She plans on working when she gets here.I'm just trying to find out if there are any traps we need to worry about getting her to the US.

From what I know, the only 'trap' in IR-5 cases is if the parent plans to retire, and not work in the US. Then the US citizen has to prove that they can provide health coverage that's not government based. But if she plans on working once she gets there, I don't think you have anything to worry about.

[jaycali 415]

It's been an easy adjustment for me. My main complaints are all food-related. I'd kill for some kneippbrød. All the bread here is terrible, synthetic and plastic-y.

Har dere Whole Foods eller Trader Joe's der dere bor? De finnes overalt og har som regel ganske bra brød Ikke så my kneip da, men MYE bedre enn det allerede oppskjærte plastikk'brødet'!

but I'm looking for ways I can make him feel less homesick while he's waiting to get his legal working status. What comforted you when you first moved here?Also, while I'm wanting to get the new apartment all perfectly ready before he arrives, I'm wondering if leaving it kind of empty and unpainted would be a fun activity for us to do together (and while he's not working).Thanks! Lets keep this forum active

My wife was here in Norway for 90 days on a tourist visa and wasn't able to work. Decorating an empty apartment, and painting definitely made the days go by a little faster!

[LlamaInvasion 76]

Nei, det eneste vi har i den bittelille byen jeg bor er en Wal-Mart. Nærmeste Whole Foods er ca 3 t kjøretur unna. :/

[MissK 5]

Nei, det eneste vi har i den bittelille byen jeg bor er en Wal-Mart. Nærmeste Whole Foods er ca 3 t kjøretur unna. :/

Jeg vet jeg kommer til å savne skikkelig brød når jeg en gang flytter over. Men vi kommer til å bo i nærheten av både Whole foods og Trader Joes så jeg få sjekke ut brødet der...

Men jeg har tenkt at jeg kanskje må bake mitt eget, gjør ikke det her hjemme for jeg er en elendig baker. Kanskje jeg må investere i en brødbakemaskin;)

Andre ting dere som allerede bor der savner?

[Alaska2012 462]

Anyone here who lives in AK?

Me and the kids will move in with the hubby in Anchorage as soon as the little thing called visa is in the pocket!

[jaycali 415]

Anyone here who lives in AK? Me and the kids will move in with the hubby in Anchorage as soon as the little thing called visa is in the pocket!

I won't be moving to Alaska this time, but I have lived in Juneau my with my (then gf) for 5 months.

Have you ever been to Alaska before? It's a beautiful state, and the nature reminded me a lot of Scandinavia The main difference I noticed between Scandinavia and Alaska though is that Alaska still has that American feel, and is a lot more remote than Scandinavia - more laid back. There were no roads in and out of Juneau, so the only way to get in and out was by plane or ferry. But then, I lived in Juneau, Anchorage is a bigger and more connected city.

I went to school in California for 4 years. When I first landed at the airport in Juneau, it felt like I had landed in a Norwegian fjord town

[jaycali 415]

Jeg vet jeg kommer til å savne skikkelig brød når jeg en gang flytter over. Men vi kommer til å bo i nærheten av både Whole foods og Trader Joes så jeg få sjekke ut brødet der...Men jeg har tenkt at jeg kanskje må bake mitt eget, gjør ikke det her hjemme for jeg er en elendig baker. Kanskje jeg må investere i en brødbakemaskin;)Andre ting dere som allerede bor der savner?

Brødmaskin kan nok gjøre livet lettere ja

Fra Oslo var vel det jeg savnet mest ordentlig god indisk mat. Det var vanskelig å finne.

[Alaska2012 462]

I won't be moving to Alaska this time, but I have lived in Juneau my with my (then gf) for 5 months.

Have you ever been to Alaska before? It's a beautiful state, and the nature reminded me a lot of Scandinavia The main difference I noticed between Scandinavia and Alaska though is that Alaska still has that American feel, and is a lot more remote than Scandinavia - more laid back. There were no roads in and out of Juneau, so the only way to get in and out was by plane or ferry. But then, I lived in Juneau, Anchorage is a bigger and more connected city.

I went to school in California for 4 years. When I first landed at the airport in Juneau, it felt like I had landed in a Norwegian fjord town

Yes I've spent two summers up there, and I absolutely love it! We travelled around alot up there the first summer, this summer we spent most of the time arund the anchorage area but went fishing here and there. We also got a cabin up in Girdwood so we spent some time there too.

And yes it did feel alot like scandinavia and the people are so nice! Well people in america generally are relly nice but up there they make an effort to get to know you. And even if Anchorage is a fairly big city, at least for alaska, it still have a small town mentality. I like it!

And having bears in the back yard doesn't make it any less exciting!