New Member - Moving to Trollhättan in 2004

[Suzanne]

Hi Eveyone!

I'm 37, from Northwest Indiana (about 40 minutes from Chicago) and so excited that I found this website!

I met my dream come true, Per, on the internet last year in July. I visited him this past July in Trollhättan and we spent 3 days in Stockholm. I met his parents just south of Stockholm. I loved the country, his friends, his neighbors and his family. We decided I should come there to live as soon as I can sell my house and get my visa. We are tentatively planning on a June 2004 move.

I will be starting my Swedish classes in two weeks and I am trying to get as much information about my move as possible. I will be spending Christmas in Trollhättan with Per. I will hopefully make some contacts there as I am hoping to get a job working in insurance in Gothenberg when I get there next summer.

Anyway, I'm so excited about finding this site and can't wait to read all the posts!

[Carolyn]

Well, welcome to PS, Suzanne, and congratulations on your coming move. Many of us here also found our dear Swedes via the internet, and for the most part, have been very happy with our lives here.

I know we have some members in the G'borg area. Sandy, how far away are you from Trollhattan?

[Sandy]

Suzanne,

Welcome! I'm a little over an hour from Trollhättan. We get there a couple of times a month. ;D

[Carolyn]

And I'll tell you right from the start, Suzanne, you can't meet a better person than Sandy. She really takes the meaning of the word "friend" to new levels!

[Sabeine]

Welcome! I hope you like this site.

There are many on this site that met their SO over the internet, this is not at all unusual on this site.

[Debbie]

Hej Suzanne....I'm from Chicago originally, but now live in Kristianstad which is Skåne. Kristianstad is in the good half of Skåne. (the right side)

You met your man on the Internet? How scandalous! At least that was the initial response I got when Bosse and I met in 1999.

Where are you taking Swedish classes? Have you applied for residency yet?


This is a great site.....

[shadow=red,left,300]everyone stayS calm and cool.....peaceful...relaxful...gentle....tranquil......
mmmmmm.
[/shadow]
This is a great place to get information. And Carolyn is right, Sandy is a good person to meet. (Well after me , of course).


Can anyone tell it is Friday afternoon and I do not have to look at students for TWO WHOLE DAYS!

But seriously, welcome, and please don't hesitate to ask questions.

[Suzanne]

Thank you ladies for the warm welcome!

I'm so excited because now I don't feel like such a freak for having met my man on the internet. Of course I still haven't told my family how I met him. Even at 37, I don't think my folks (in their late 70's) were ready to hear that I was going to Sweden to meet a guy I had been talking to for over a year. I told them that I went there on "business" and met him the first day I arrived. If anyone has any experience on fessing up to the folks, I'd love to hear it! LOL

I joined the Swedish American Museum Center in Chicago (http://www.samac.org) and will be taking my Swedish lessons there. It's located in the Andersonville area on the northside of Chicago. I was really interested in North Park University but they only offered the language classes during the day. I know I'll be doing a lot of self study but I know I can learn a lot before I leave. Some of the websites I've found and books have really been helpful. My tutor is very helpful too! Thank goodness he is originally from the north. He told me not to worry about "rolling my r's" or fussing with the strange pronunciation of words beginning with "sj." That was a real relief.

I haven't applied for residency yet as I was a little nervous with my Sweetie being currently unemployed. I will send in the application when I get back from Trollhättan in January. The Swedish Consulate is about two blocks from where I work in downtown Chicago. I couldn't believe how nice and helpful they were when I called.

I'm so excited that there are people I can meet when I am finally settled in! I'm used to being around people as I am an avid bowler here. I feel such a weight lifted that you've put this website together because already it has helped so much with my preparations.

Thanks again and sorry I'm so windy!

Suzanne ;D

[SlyandKami]

Welcome to the club , Kami and I met on ICQ in a room called 30 something. Kami tried to live in Canada for 6 months but was missing her 2 kids too much so I moved to Sweden. The other thing was that I lived in Montreal a town that has a population of about 4,5 milion people when she was used to living in a town of about 43 000 people. As for telling your parents about it well yours are older then mine but it was never a problem for them as long as I was happy they were happy for me . It all worked out for us now we are married and have 2 new kids together. Best of luck.
Sylvain and Kamilla

[SlyandKami]

Here is a few immigration facts to help you. First of all you don't need to be married to Immagrate to Sweden and your boyfriend doesn't need to be employed either. They don't realy look at your finacial situation they mostly check that you are a couple. A very important fact is that you can not visit Sweden when they are in the process of of evaluating your immagration file during that period of time you most stay out of Sweden or it may delay or even hurt your chances of getting accepted. Since I was warned when I applied and have warned a fellow Canadian on our Canadiana site where We are moderators. He got accepted quickly and like the Swedish embassy said it would of hurt his application process if he would have gone to Sweden during that time. If you have more questions about the application process feel free to ask. Hope everything goes great for you.
Sylvain and Kamilla

[Debbie]

I lived very close to Andersonville, so I know the area well. That is where my grandparents settled shortly after immigrating from Sweden. In fact, a bar that my great uncle owned for many years was still there 3 years ago, but of course, under another name. My morfar built several buildings that still stand there.

About the residency permit process, you can travel to and from Sweden UNTL you have had the interview and that is when you must not travel to Sweden. However, that does not stop you from meeting elsewhere. (London, for example, often has cheap weekend flights from the States.)

You may also want to talk to the embassy about the length of time it is taking to process the application. I went through Chicago in 2000, and it took close to 9 months to get my permit. Perhaps things have changed.

As for your parents.....I was 45 when Bosse and I met. It was not an easy task to tell my mother and it took some time for her to really accept the fact. In fact, it was after I married and moved that it finally sunk in. However, now everything is fine. Except for the fact of wanting to "bare your soul" is it really important that your parents know HOW you met?

I have heard that they also offer Swedish courses at the University of Chicago.

Here is a link.

So what are you bringing Per for Christmas ? ?

[Carolyn]

Another in the never-ending chain of coincidences, it's quite possible that MY morfar may have been a mason on some of the building projects of Debbie's morfar. My morfar and mormor were in Chicago from about 1920 up until about 1931 and where did they live? Andersonville, ya sure, you betcha! And my great aunt Beda's drunk of a husband may have hung out at that very same bar!

Anyhow, I ALSO met my darling Anders on line originally and we were ICQ friends for about 4 months before he came to the States. My sister, who is a psychiatrist, still has her doubts about our marriage, despite the fact we've been married now 3.5 years and are extremely happy, but then again (1) she IS a psychiatrist, (2) married to a psychiatrist, who (3) is a bit of a dork anyway.

I think we're all great advertisements for the fact that although you can meet serial killers and rapists on line, you can also meet them in bars AND for every bad story I've heard about bizarre relationships from the internet, I can tell you a couple hundred great stories about people who might otherwise never have met and who are very happy together.

Hey, it beats meeting in bars. At least you don't have to worry about incipient alcoholism ;D

[Natooke]

Carolyn said:

And I'll tell you right from the start, Suzanne, you can't meet a better person than Sandy. She really takes the meaning of the word "friend" to new levels!

Hi Suzanne ;D a warm welcome extended to you ;D
I second that ... I had the pleasure of meeting Sandy & hubby this summer ... ;D

I'm one of the few who met my Swede (nearly 14 years ago ) in person ... we didn't have the internet just huge phone bills & stamps

[Carolyn]

Tons O fun talking to Suzanne on the phone today. I really needed a break from work and it's so nice to be supportive to people stepping out of their comfortable routine into the great unknown.

I remember how important it was to me when I was first applying to have Les, Pam and Anna for all the emotional support, when some of us were busy screaming at our dearest darlings over the phone, "You have NO idea what I'm going through!" and having them wonder if they had agreed to move a psychotic B***H to their home in Sweden. Thank god THAT time eventually passed without permanent injury to our relationships.

[Suzanne]

I really enjoyed talking to Carolyn as well and I can't wait to meet her and the rest of you as well! I knew I made the right decision when I decided to do this move. Now I have some confidence in my decision. It's so nice knowing I'm not alone out there!

[Wyndweaver]

<waves to Suzanne>Thank you.