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Post by Shayna2 on Aug 23, 2004 20:47:41 GMT -5
Hej everyone! I had a heck of a time getting signed up on here but I am so glad to be here! I am a 23 year old from Arkansas with a Swedish husband. We have been married since December 2000. We met online in an MSN chat room. We chatted for a bit and then the next day, he emailed me the cutest ecard that said "I just want to hug you" It was love at first email! ;D We chatted online and on the phone for a month and a half before he came to visit me. He spent a month with me and during that time proposed. I accepted and then he went home for 5 weeks, sold his things, quit his job and came back and married me. It was a whirlwind romance but I don't regret a single day being married to him. We will be celebrating our 4th anniversary soon. We have lived here in the US all this time but for many reasons have decided our lives will be much better in Sweden. I am a nurse now but I do not feel that is what I am meant to do. In Sweden I can afford to go back to school. I just have to learn swedish first! I also believe our stress level will be much lower. I feel Sweden is a better place to raise children. I just received my residency permit last week. We have set our time to move for "no later than April" He thinks we should save up a sizable chunk of cash first. That is probably better. That way we won't have to live with his family too long. My husband is a nurse too but he is interested in signing up in the police academy once we return to Sweden. Ok, I think I have babbled on enough. I think I should save something to post about later on.  Shayna |
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Brandy
Regular Member
There are 3 kind of people in life, those who do, those who watch and those who ask what happened.
Posts: 215
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Post by Brandy on Aug 23, 2004 23:26:35 GMT -5
Hi Shayna! Glad you are here in PS and soon to be here in Sweden! Do you know where you'll be moving to? Arkansas to Sweden, do you know it's winter here in September - April? |
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Post by Carolyn on Aug 23, 2004 23:34:41 GMT -5
Glad we were finally able to get you on here and I hope we can find a better program or else iron out the bugs. Welcome onboard.
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Post by Natooke on Aug 24, 2004 6:02:04 GMT -5
Happy you made it on PS Shayna ;D [glow=red,2,300]WELCOME[/glow] ... Natooke  |
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Cake Guru
Regular Member
Original Member
Cakes are only as good as what you put in them.
Posts: 235
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Post by Cake Guru on Aug 25, 2004 3:15:17 GMT -5
Welcome Shayna!
When you get here check with your kommun. Most places have special accelerated programs for foreign health care workers so that they can start working as soon as possible. There is an extreme shortage of nurses in Sweden (but be prepared to make ½ of what you make now).
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Post by Shayna2 on Aug 25, 2004 19:58:06 GMT -5
Welcome Shayna! When you get here check with your kommun. Most places have special accelerated programs for foreign health care workers so that they can start working as soon as possible. There is an extreme shortage of nurses in Sweden (but be prepared to make ½ of what you make now). thanks everybody fpr such a warm welcome! cake guru, i am from arkansas, one of the lowest paying states in the us...from what we can tell the pay is about the same! |
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Cake Guru
Regular Member
Original Member
Cakes are only as good as what you put in them.
Posts: 235
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Post by Cake Guru on Aug 26, 2004 4:12:27 GMT -5
The average pay for a nurse (RN) is about 19 000 SEK a month, before taxes. (about 2500 USD). Subtract about 30% for taxes and you have on the average 1750 bucks take home. These figures are very rough. Depending upon where you live in Sweden you can make from 16 000 SEK up till about 22 000 SEK.
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Vember
Junior Member
In Skellefte? with sambo Fredrik since January 2004
Posts: 67
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Post by Vember on Aug 26, 2004 13:18:35 GMT -5
Welcome to PS Shayna! And welcome in advance to Sweden! Have you visited here before? I too am curious to know whereabout in Sweden you'll end up. Wherever you go, though, you're bound to end up near some of of our other posters! Yours sounds like a romantic tale. I hope Sweden treats you fabulously. Keep us posted  |
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Post by Shayna2 on Aug 28, 2004 1:07:22 GMT -5
yes, i have visited twice. once in winter and once in summer. my husband's mother lives on the island of muskö and the rest of his family lives in nynäshamn. we will probably stay around there at first. we have been looking at apartments in haninge and botkyrka...generally we will be in the southern stockholm area...before taxes here in arkansas i make about 27,000 dollars a year as a nurse.... not a whole lot...
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Post by Sabeine on Aug 28, 2004 4:56:28 GMT -5
I may be overstepping my bounds here, but I would try to stay away from Botkyrka though there are a lot of available apartments in that area. The crime rate there is quite high compared to other neighborhoods. This has a lot to do with why so many apartments are available in that area.
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Post by Shayna2 on Aug 28, 2004 14:57:41 GMT -5
really? lol, and i thought my husband knew it all...i guess he hasn't lived in Sweden for 4 years so maybe things have changed  thanks for the tip! i myself prefer to live in nynäshamn but apartments are much harder to come by there. is haninge pretty ok? |
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Post by Sabeine on Aug 29, 2004 1:37:46 GMT -5
Most of Hanninge is okay. There are some parts that are higher in crime than others. I can't remember which parts they were, I can ask around. I know a lady that lives in a "bad" part of Hanninge and she is looking to move, I'll ask her what area she is in. I should add that what many Swedes will call "bad" areas is not the same as what an American would call a bad neighborhood. I don't think that the worst area in Stockholm is that bad compared to some real slums in the US. Unfortunately, there are areas here that have developed into areas of crime, Botkyrka being one, Tumba, and parts of Hanninge in the southern area of Stockholm are some others. I lived here for a year from 1990-1991 and I don't remember these areas being that bad back then, but things have changed to some degree. Before I scare you off, I don't see any problem in living in some of these areas for a 6 months to a year or so while looking for something else. I just wouldn't want to live in these areas long term. When are you moving here? |
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Post by Sabeine on Aug 29, 2004 1:43:14 GMT -5
I should add if you can get an apt in Nynäsham definitely go for it. It is lovely in that city, and right on the water too. Not to mention you can take the train to Stockholm from there and it takes only about 30min. Plus, there are many boats that leave from Nynäsham that go to the cute island of Gotland.
There is someone on this forum who lives there and likes it. I think it was Marie, or a poster named Aussie. Which one was it?
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Post by Shayna2 on Aug 30, 2004 21:29:30 GMT -5
oh yes, if it's the same aussie that is on amerikanska than she is the one...i spoke to her about nynäshamn a while back. Not sure when we will move. husband now has changed his mind and says he wants to move before christmas instead of next april. husband's morfar, at one point, was offering to sell his house in nynäshamn to us...it would have been great..but then he changed his mind. he is very indecisive! maybe once we are there he will change his mind again..we can only hope.. |
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thanks for the tip! i myself prefer to live in nynäshamn but apartments are much harder to come by there. is haninge pretty ok?