"What on earth do you plan to do with yourself in Sweden, Stephanie?!"
Good question people, good question. I did address this a bit before I left, but my ideas are gaining clarity and I'd like to share them with y'all (apologies for any information you already read/know).
Currently, my most concrete plan is to pursue a masters degree (called "second cycle" here) in Welfare Policies and Management, which is a little like social work administration. That would take two years, keeping Daniel and I here for a total of 2 years and 7 months. I haven't applied yet, because the first date the application is even available to view is December 1st.
However, Dan found online that there is indeed a "School of Social Work" in Lund. Most of their website is in Swedish, which explains why it has taken us so long to find out about it. It says that they have masters programs, and a syllabus for a class I looked at was in English. This indicates to me, unofficially, that the masters is in English. I have to admit, I would prefer this program, but either degree - especially at no financial cost to me - can't hurt me in the least. I am now waiting to hear from the adviser of this social work program to gather more details.
On the job front: without Swedish, finding employment is very difficult. I hear the same sad refrain about the difficulty on forums, talking to Swedes, and especially talking to other foreigners around here. I won't lie, it was discouraging from the moment I heard it back when we visited in May. Until I know Swedish, only the most basic jobs are available to me, like cleaning or stocking. While everyone here does know English, their absolute default is Swedish. I am searching though. I have been trying to network through the American Women's Club (more on this later) and have inquired into a couple jobs. No interviews yet, but I plan to continue trying.
Just today I signed up for an intense Swedish language course through Folkuniversitetet (unfortunately abbreviated FU) that will, for 4 weeks, have me in the classroom 5 days a week for 2.5 hours each day. Perhaps it shows my geeky side that I am totally excited about this! These classes cost a bit of money, as they are through a sort of open people's university - sort of like adult community education - but I think the payoff will be great. As I mentioned, swiftly learning the language here could open me up to all sorts of jobs, including ones in my field eventually.
I suppose the last front to elaborate on is my social life. The American Women's Club, or AWC, is my starting point. It's an expat network for mostly American women, although so far there are dudes and folks from all over. They have all sorts of activities, plenty for families, but also book clubs, Thanksgiving dinner, holiday cookie exchange (nom nom), julbord (a special Swedish holiday buffet) sushi nights, lunches, and so on. It seems like a great starting point. Unrelated to the AWC, I've also had lunch with a woman from St. Paul who is at Lund University! Who lived just a couple blocks from where Daniel and I did! Whoa! Small world, and I'm happy to be building a new social network from scratch.
All in all, I feel like on all fronts I am adjusting and making progress. It's a great challenge and very exciting. I'm sure at times I'll be bored and a bit uncomfortable, but this experience is totally worth it.
FU!
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