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Canadian Woman Moves To Sweden, Lists The Culture Shocks She Experienced In A Viral TikTok Series (17 Culture Shocks)
Interview With Author
Have you ever visited a country and felt like everything there is a gazillion times better than at home? Its people, culture, food, environment, architecture, perhaps even the sense of personal security – whatever.
For some, it might be because you get to break out of the tedious routine and experience something fresh and new; however, for Madeline Robson, a Canadian who has been living in Sweden for over four years, it happened to be more than just novelty, as the place has indeed proven to be pretty grand!
More info: TikTok | Instagram | Madeline's Website
Image credits: madeline.rae
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My salary is actually higher this month since I took some vacation. Yeah, you always get paid a little bit more on vacation days to incentivize you to take the time off.
Ah, but you haven't really spoken about the process for immigrants to receive a long term visa to live in Sweden, or how difficult it is to obtain this visa when you're not married to a Swedish national. It's not like you just decided to move to Sweden and all of these benefits were immediately available to you. You're promoting the dream and not explaining reality.
Good news! Bored Panda was lucky enough to get through to Madeline and pose a couple of questions about her life in Sweden. First things first, we invited the TikToker to introduce herself: "My name is Madeline Robson and I am a Canadian who has been living in Malmö, Sweden, for over four years. I originally come from Windsor, Ontario. I work in marketing, particularly with communications and social media, and started sharing my experiences and culture shocks living abroad in Sweden back in 2020 on TikTok. After a while, I started sharing on Instagram as well and now have over 300,000 followers across both platforms."
We then wondered how Madeline ended up in Malmö, to which she replied: "I met my Swedish fiancé while traveling in New Orleans. I was there for a bachelorette party with a group of friends and met him in a bar on the last night of my trip. He was traveling solo in the US. I went back to Canada the next day, never expecting to see him again. But we kept in touch and texting turned into video chatting. And a few weeks later he asked me if he could come visit me. Our second date lasted almost two weeks in Canada, and then a few months later I went to Malmö for the first time to spend Christmas with him and his family. Over the next year, we dated long-distance and traveled a lot, and then I was ready for a big change and decided to move to Sweden to be with him. I was only planning to stay a year or two, but over four years later I have no plans to leave."
My son is sick today so I'm actually going to stay home and VAB. Oh, no, no, no, it's not a problem. I still get paid to stay home with him when he's sick.
I had to look up VAB. It says: "To wear one's own vaginal fluid as perfume, as a purported aphrodisiac". Is that really what was meant?
Now, we were also curious about what inspired Madeline to start the TikTok video series: "Working in social media, I was very curious about the platform and how many creators were growing quickly. In late 2020/early 2021, I gained over 150,000 followers by sharing my culture shocks. Now, it has been two years since those mega-viral videos and I had learned so much more about Swedish culture along the way, so I decided to revive it as a POV series. And was surprised to see how many people were still interested in learning about all the little things about living in Sweden that I find so special."
It would also be criminal not to ask the TikToker about her favorite thing about Sweden: "There's a lot of things I love about living here, particularly in Malmö, but the biggest improvement in my life has been in my work-life balance, which is what I was sharing about in my recently viral video. The anticipation of summer break at this time of year is something I never thought I would experience again once I became an adult. And having at least 25 days of vacation that I am encouraged to take gives me time to prioritize and take care of myself."
Speaking of vacation, I was thinking I'll take four weeks off this summer. Actually, my employer is making it mandatory take at least three weeks of paid time off to reset. But I thought a month would be really nice
Minimum is 25 days, so you can take a whole month in summer and STILL have one week left. Many of us has even more, with age and negotiations I have 40 days.
I've actually been thinking seriously, I might go back to school. I mean, why not? The tuition is free, of course, and the government pays you an allowance while you're studying. And then I'll just take a loan for my living expenses because it's basically interest free.
Last but certainly not least, BP pondered whether Madeline has any advice she would like to offer to those who are thinking about packing their bags and legging it to Sweden: "This advice applies to anyone wanting to take a big step and move abroad. I think it's easy to watch videos like the ones in this series and romanticize a big move abroad, but it isn't a decision that should be taken lightly. Moving to a new country can be challenging and stressful, and it is a big sacrifice in many ways to be so far away from home. Navigating everyday life in a country that you didn't grow up in, learning a new language, and finding your community is hard. All that to say that I wouldn't change a thing and I am so happy with the life I have chosen. But there are a lot of days that I miss home, too."
I'm actually thinking I'll only take 10 or 11 months of parental leave and then my husband he'll take 6. And then anything left over will just save for later.
My friends just bought a house in the countryside, so I'm heading out there to visit them today. Oh, no, no, I still don't have a car but since you can get anywhere by public transit, I'll just take the bus.
Are you already contemplating buying plane tickets? Yes or yes? Either way, we hope that you've enjoyed these eye-opening disparities, and in case you want to find out more, we've already covered an article on Madeline's TikTok – so make sure to check it out too! Also, don't hesitate to give her a follow and let us know which fact has surprised you the most.
I just got back from the doctor and they are recommending that I try new medicine. But I was shocked it is so expensive. Thankfully, we only have to pay a maximum of 2,400 kr ($220) per year for prescriptions.
I think the hardest part for me is the darkness, you can not really understand the darkness unless you've lived through a winter here, it's about five hours of peak hear in Malmo, and this is the most southern city in Sweden, it is hard. So if you're someone who is heavily affected by the weather, this is probably not the place for you to live.
The shortened days in southern Canada are hard enough on me. No thank you.
Oh no, I don't have an education fund for my kids because university is free, but I am saving up to help them buy their first apartment.
We like some of mums cake while at campus though😋. Parents often help you pay for drivers licence, that can be pretty expensive
Now, Swedes are known culturally for keeping to themselves and being a bit more reserved, and taking a long time to warm up to people. So I know a lot of people who said they really struggled to make friends in Sweden. When I first moved here, I hung out in the international community a lot, because that was an easy way for me to make friends. Over time, I have made Swedish friends. But it has been an effort, you really have to put yourself out there. And that's something to consider if maybe you're a shy person, because I've heard of a lot of people feeling very, very lonely here.
Swedes are generally most comfortable when they're leaning on activity as a social security net. Let me explain this. So let's say you go to a party, there's a very high likelihood that the Swede will bring out a game to help stimulate the socializing or make up a quiz to get people talking about something. And this isn't just friends, if you go to a work event, there's often also an icebreaker activity. And the one that surprised me the most is when you go to a Swedish wedding. They play games during the reception.
The next one is language, which may seem a bit obvious, but I think people underestimate how hard it is to exist in a new country, when you don't feel comfortable in the language. Swedish it's just really hard to learn. And I truly feel anxious and insecure about my language every single day. So living with that every day is actually really, really challenging. And something that people don't talk about a lot, but something to consider if you're going to move to a new country
A lot of people talk about the cost of living in Sweden. And I think that the essentials are quite fair, considering how much people make here. But it's the cost of the extras or the non essentials that are really expensive. So things like going to a movie, grabbing a drink, staying in a hotel, that can be really, really pricey. And seeing that there's a lot less consumer choice also makes things feel a bit more expensive.
Tbh I think this is how it would be in a good world and society. Everything needed to live a comfortable live (food, shelter, access to education and social interactions....) should be easily paid. Everything 'unnecessary' is luxury and should be more pricey. This way maybe people can live a good live, save for special events or things that they would appreciate more because it is something special... We have to many people poor and underfed while simultaneously to many overfed with not just food but unnecessary stuff ... But that's just my thinking - I don't know if I worded it good enough and we can only change so little if we are not rich or a politician...
When you go to a formal dinners, Swedes will actually like to encourage you to sit with people you don't know. This isn't applied to all dinners, of course, but I've been to weddings, work events, dinner parties, where the host actually made a seating arrangement that encourages you to get to know someone new.
No wonder they have to plan/bring games to start a conversation.
Did you hear they changed the cafeteria food at the kids school? I know I should be thankful that it's free but my kids are just not fans of "vegan Monday."
It's all that fat, starch, sugar and salt kids are being fed. Once you limit them on the treats and unhealthy meals their tastebuds will shift into enjoying healthy greens and lentils. In fact, if you stop drinking pop and just drink water for a while, when you drink pop again it will taste unbearably sweet.
This inflation is the worst my daycare bill just went up from 1,000 to 1,200 kr ($92 to $110).
Question to the Swedes: Does Sweden provide subsidized daycare fee programs, where the parent just has to pay a low amount a month and the rest the government pays?
One of the biggest downsides, it's the weather. Here in Malmo rarely snows in the winter. So it's really gray and really rainy, almost all the time, which is a really hard adjustment.
The south of Sweden, together with Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium etc, are affected by the gulf stream. Which means that they have relatively mild winters, they're humid and rainy not unlike England, and the temperatures are tolerable. It is a bit annoying at times, but for me, it makes spring and summer all the more enjoyable. Autumn is also gorgeous in Sweden ;)
Most the stuff is pretty normal with some differences in europe. I live in germany and nothing of this has surprised me. ^^
Most is really different from US. I think it may have been US designated. The work and school cultures are so different!
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I’ve always wanted to live in Europe but I’m extremely sensitive to temperature so I won’t adjust well at all. (I already consider 19°C too cold)
I live in New England where the winters average 0ºC and the summers average 30ºC...and we're at the same latitude as Barcelona and Rome. Years ago, I went on student exchange to Germany and stayed with a family who lived just north of Frankfurt. It was July, and I froze my a**e off.
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Most the stuff is pretty normal with some differences in europe. I live in germany and nothing of this has surprised me. ^^
Most is really different from US. I think it may have been US designated. The work and school cultures are so different!
Load More Replies... I’ve always wanted to live in Europe but I’m extremely sensitive to temperature so I won’t adjust well at all. (I already consider 19°C too cold)
I live in New England where the winters average 0ºC and the summers average 30ºC...and we're at the same latitude as Barcelona and Rome. Years ago, I went on student exchange to Germany and stayed with a family who lived just north of Frankfurt. It was July, and I froze my a**e off.
Load More Replies... 