Slovenians know Sweden?

The flag of Sweden (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have a confession to make: until my wife-to-be voiced her fascination with Sweden I wasn't really aware of it. Sure I could find it on a map, but other than that and Ikea I really didn't know much about it.

That is why it struck me as odd that now when Sweden is on my mind all the time I'm finding that my peers know stuff about Sweden. Slovenians have been to Sweden! My friends have been to Sweden! While I'm sure there is some selection bias at work here, the number is still higher than what I would have ever expected.

It turns out one of my friends (and a colleague from the Amsterdam project I worked on in 2011 and 2012) has taken part in a student exchange program and has lived in... Malmö! And another one was in Gothenburg. Both had the time of their lives and are eager to share what they have learned about the local culture.

Even last night, when I was enjoying a well earned pint after a very successful Ingress run, I've bumped into a friend and he introduced me to another adventure seeking student who has spent a couple of months in Sweden, he too as a student exchange participant.

An epic adventure awaits!
(Photo credit: Expedition Sverige)

The list goes on and on: A fellow Slovenian twitter user @vanja who was kind enough to retweet my link is living in Stockholm. And yesterday I was delighted with a call from a Slovenian company Cosylab saying they have seen my blog and happen to have a job opportunities in Lund!

It excites me that I'm finding other people who have experiences with Sweden and are willing to share their experiences. With each success story I hear and with each fond memory of Sweden that is shared with me I feel more confident that we're going to make it and have a blast while doing it!

As I've said many times I'm looking to absorb all the knowledge so I'll have a fighting chance in Sweden. So please tell me: have you been to Sweden? Share your story! Please get in touch via Comments/Email/Google+.

But first... A toast!

Delirium Christmas
makes a special occasion!

Don't mind the sword. It is the only thing in
our small apartment that makes a good
background!

Every RPG player (I'm a huge fan of Pathfinder!) knows that every adventure begins in a tavern and this one is no different. We simply had to celebrate the good news!

Since the night was special, we wanted our drinks to be special too. We jumped at the opportunity to visit our local beer shop. We would have gone for a bottle of champagne, but we also wanted to gorge ourselves on cashew nuts and crisps, so we went for a special beer instead. Delirium Christmas was my weapon of choice and it made our toast perfect!

Meanwhile this blog got more attention that I've dared to imagine thanks to my friends on Reddit, Google+ and Twitter. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read and share!

Many people already stopped by and said hi. I am astonished at how many friendly Swedes already offered their advice and have overwhelmed us with warm wishes. Thank you all for being so friendly!

I certainly feel that we're off to a good start. For now that's all I have to add to my first post, but hopefully there will be more progress soon!

Until then, please leave a comment and tell me what you think! Which beer would you choose?