(My Swedish is currently limited to things like crudely ordering generic items at a restaurant, apologies. I’m not the best at learning new languages but I’m slowly figuring it out!)
I’m so excited :3 I worked so hard to get into my first choice of university and they accepted me! There’s still a lot of logistics that need done but I think I’m on track. I’m going back to school to be a game level designer and hopefully find work in Sweden after I graduate
This last Christmas/New Years I toured various towns I’d possibly go to for school. There’s so much I was able to see and I loved all of it. From Stockholm to Luleå everywhere felt special <3
I want to explore and learn everything I can. I want to learn Swedish it’s such a beautiful sounding language. I’m going to be living pretty far north and I’m legitimately thrilled about the winters there. I think I’m going to be really happy
This is amazing, I hope you’ll be really happy here! When it comes to learning the language, everyone here already speaks English (as you’re definitely already aware) so you might have to push really hard to get some immersion learning going because people will switch to English to make things go smoother. Make some friends and insist on using Swedish when you feel comfortable doing so.
For the winter, you might want to make sure you get sufficient vitamin D. Sweden’s southernmost point is further north than most of the populated areas in Canada. The cold isn’t as big a problem here as people might think (particularly thanks to global warming), but the day lengths shift dramatically and even as someone who’s lived his entire life here I still struggle with it. I get miserable and cranky in the winter, and then euphoric come spring, only to slip back to cranky when the sun goes up at 2AM in the summer. Not even exaggerating, I took this photo of my dog around 2AM back in June 2023.
I hope that this will be an amazing stage of your life! Make the most of it! :)
Edit: fix words.
I’m a bit worried about the summer ngl. Winters are going to be great for me though I love the cold and dark. Maybe the fact my sleep schedule is always a disaster and doesn’t have anything to do with normal daylight hours will help me 😅
On the making friends part I’m also worried about that. I haven’t been in a small town in like 6 years, plus being in a new culture, and my understanding is finding friends in Sweden is generally difficult. I’ll have other students I could potentially be friends with but also I’m in my thirties now I worry there’s going to be an age gap boundary there. I know I’ll get there eventually it might be hard for me though
I’m so excited regardless of what does it doesn’t work out though! I’ve always dreamt of being in another country and I’ve only ever wanted to be a game dev
I get this, haha. I am really photosensitive so summers tend to be rough. Some nice blackout curtains is the way to go. There are ones that you can essentially velcro directly to the window. It involves a bit of work putting them on and taking them off all the time, but it is the most effective. I admit I’m too lazy to do that so I have double sets of blackout curtains and it does the job most of the time.
My (German) roomie had the same general attitude towards winters here when he first moved, but after a year or two he’s now firmly in the “I’m going to retire somewhere far south” camp. I’m curious how you’ll hold up!
Finding friends here is… well it depends a bit on where you are and what you do, I suppose. We are really into clubs and unions here, so if you find some sort of activity you enjoy doing (board game clubs, choirs, dancing, pottery classes, what have you) I’m sure you can make plenty of friends. One has to kind of put oneself out there and be open to it, then I think most people reciprocate in kind. Swedes have a bit of a rep for being cold and distant, but I think it has to do with our general mentality of not wanting to stick out and take up too much space. It makes us seem more distant than we actually are.
My hometown had a weekly developer meetup that advertised on meetup.com. My roomie found plenty of furries in the area via BARQ. I found a local board game club via facebook, and there will generally be fliers and information available at the local library. If the town you’re going to has a Folkhögskola I’d recommend checking that out as well. They usually have smaller courses and classes that can be a lot of fun, and a great opportunity to meet people at, and in addition to that they often host events.
Then of course there’ll be a notice board at the university that’ll likely have lots of current events listed. The world is your oyster! :)