Stockholm as told by Memes: TV-Show Edition
By: Tetiana Poliakova
Congratulations! You have just moved to Stockholm! It is an extremely fascinating city with so many different faces from a vibrant and busy T-Centralen during peak hours to peaceful and harmonious Södra Grinda in the archipelago. Nonetheless, you should probably be loving it here – with both ups and downs.
Just for fun, I made 8 memes using our favorite TV show characters to convey the experiences we have as students in Stockholm.
1. Finding Housing in Stockholm
Finding housing in Stockholm can be both difficult and expensive. While you should not be discouraged because there are multiple resources for students, be prepared to settle for a room in a corridor and/or place further from a city center. My best advice is to start to look for housing well in advance. On the bright side, when you sign a lease, you will definitely feel like a winner:
2. Becoming more Swedish
Although Stockholm is a very international city, you will also quickly pick up some essential Swedish habits like the importance of the queue:
3. Learning Swedish
While it is true that you might need to have the knowledge of Swedish to integrate into the culture quicker, it is absolutely unnecessary to know Swedish to get around the city. In fact, according to the Special Eurobarometer 386 report, 86% of Swedes speak English, but, in my experience, that number is even higher in Stockholm. Basically, even if you try to talk to people in Swedish, they might respond in English. Be prepared to be insistent on speaking Swedish with locals if you are trying to learn the language.
4. Falling in love with fika
Stockholm has so many great places to enjoy fika (social coffee break) at, but nothing beats free fika.
5. Struggling with the budget
Sadly, Stockholm is quite an expensive city. However, if you take advantage of multiple student discounts or double bonuses for student in some grocery store, like ICA, then life is not so bad. Additionally, there are so many free and budget-friendly things you can do. Check out this blog for some ideas.
6. Being intimidated by how healthy everyone around you is
I am generalizing here, but after living in the USA for 5 years, Sweden is like heaven for healthy lifestyle. Free outdoor gyms around Stockholm, cheaper gym membership, discounted fitness classes for students, plenty of healthy affordable options in the grocery stores just to name a few things I love about living in Sweden. However, I also feel a lot guiltier eating pizza or skipping a run in the morning nowadays.
7. Getting to class on time in Stockholm
Public transportation in Stockholm is amazing, or you can also ride a bike on well-marked bike lanes if you prefer. Stranger things can be perfectly applied to the transportation situation in Stockholm.
8. Surviving Swedish winters
If you have already experienced a winter in Stockholm, you will probably agree with me. If you have not yet, brace yourself because winter is coming, and trust me the cold is not nearly as scary as the constant darkness. Make sure you pile up on hot cocoa mix and make good friends you can spend dark winter afternoons with before November comes:
