#MySweden: ‘It feels like I have just scratched the surface of this city’

How old are you and what do you normally spend your days doing?

I am 29, and during the week I am usually bouncing between being hyper-focused on work and then winding down in the evening with some video games. I work as a usability specialist at KRY, which is a very fast-growing startup, so the pace is a little bit crazy. I wouldn't have it any other way, though! We are working on some very important stuff in the healthcare sector.

I am the "living for the weekend" type of a person, which means I work as hard as I can during the week and then try to spend my time on the weekends doing fun stuff like visiting museums and art galleries, or going for a walk in the woods. Whatever I feel like will help me reset my brain for the week ahead.

When and why did you move to your city?

I moved to Stockholm and to my neighborhood, Liljeholmen, almost exactly a year ago! April 28th, 2018.

Like many expats I have met so far, I moved here to follow my heart. My sambo and I met a few years back, playing video games, of course. A very modern love story I guess!

I visited him a couple of times here in Stockholm and once the relationship became more serious, we decided it was time to live together. That was last year and I am so happy we have made that decision!

What do you love the most about your city?

Stockholm is a gorgeous city. One of the things I love about it is the architecture style of Gamla Stan, which so strongly reminds me of the Old Town in Zagreb, where I am from. For me, Stockholm just feels like home.

But I guess the thing I love the most about Stockholm, and my neighbourhood, is how green it is! I mean, sure, every city in the world has parks. Some more beautiful than others. But in Stockholm, it feels like wherever you are, you are never more than 15 minutes away from a park so big it will make you feel like you are standing in the middle of the woods somewhere.

I love this about Stockholm, and I value it so much.

I can exit my apartment, walk for barely 10 minutes and be in the middle of the woods, surrounded only by the sounds of birds in the trees and a lost deer crossing my path. No traffic noise, nothing.

What annoys you the most about your city?

It's going to be a tired old response, but the housing market here in Stockholm is such a nightmare!

Finding an affordable place to live really shouldn't be so complicated. I know the city is working hard on building a lot of new homes, but it feels like despite all of that the prices of apartments are still stagnating.

This is a very stressful state of affairs for everyone, but maybe especially so for expats and us who are new to Sweden, as we do not know how things work here, and very often we do not have a support network in place to help us navigate the housing market hell.

How should I spend a day in your neighbourhood?

You need to start off with a fika at Brot! It's a small neighbourhood pastry shop with amazing coffee, delicious pastries (there's still time to have a Read More – Source