October Blog

Fall is upon us and soon Sweden will become a dark place where kids in many parts of the country will go to school in the dark and not be back home until after the sun has set.

The long days of barbecues and socializing outdoors are over for a while and it is time to hunker down for the dark season with plans of spending cozy evenings at home, or partaking of all the cultural activities that restart after the summer hiatus.

Swedes are used to the seasonal change and even look forward to fall but for people from abroad, the dark season in Sweden can feel very inhospitable.

So I was very happy to read about Scan-dinavia's first Global Expat Centre (Oden-gatan 62, globalexpatpartners.com) that has opened in Stockholm and provides all sorts of support to make the stay of diplomats and business people, and above all their spouses, much more pleasant.

Between 12 and 20 percent of all international assignments fail and this is largely due to partner dissatisfaction. The "Stock-holm Model", developed by a Dutch spouse with an HR background, could go a long way to alleviate this problem.

The four pillars of Claudia de Leeuw's programme are Integration and Cultural Awareness, Language Training, Spouse Support and Social Network. When I read about the activities, that range from Parent and Toddler to Adult Cooking Classes, an International Breakfast Club and Happy Hours Mingling, it strikes me that this is a little like what we are doing in all our Swedish American organizations. Just like the Expat Centre we offer activities and “a place to go to”.

The Expat Centre is non-profit and run primarily by volunteers. It is sponsored by the embassies, a lot of companies and the Stockholm Business Region Development that wants to make the capital of Sweden a more attractive place for foreign workers.

A full membership for a family costs SEK 10 000 and this includes individual language courses and all activities.

The high fees, although mostly paid by employers, are a good reminder of how in-expensive Swedish American organizations and facilities are for us “cultural expats”!