Yes, now I have a job in Sweden!
I have a shelf-stacking job in a supermarket.
I am not allowed to speak English. My training is in Swedish.. It's pretty hard to communicate - my Swedish is so bloody awkward! My 'trainer' can speak brilliant English and is extremely patient. I fire a lot of 'how-do-you-say...' questions at him!
The customers are very nice, including (surprisingly) the old people. Let me make a comparison. Imagine a gnarled old English O.A.P going into Tesco and asking a shelf-stacker where the basil is. Now imagine said O.A.P's outrage when the shelf-stacker doesn't speak good English! O.A.P hits roof, grumbles, scuttles away in righteous rage. Well, that hasn't happened to me so far in Sweden. My Swedish is basic, but I find most customers are willing to re-phrase the question to work towards the required answer. If they know any English they throw that in the mix too (although I reply in Swedish). If I can't help them I fetch someone who can. Let's hope they stay this nice!
Job conventions are different in Sweden. I worked the first few days in my new job without signing anything. I had to remind the boss I hadn't signed any papers. Someone once told me they worked for months without a contract. In the U.K that's just not done - you get the contract in the post before you even set foot in the workplace. It's laid-back here, but I'm happier now I've got something in writing!
All my colleagues are really friendly and seem happy. Some of the blokes high-five each other as they pass. Everybody asks me questions about Oxford. There's one bloke who, every time he sees me, says the word rectify (in English) in what I can only describe as an 'American-movie-trailer-voice'. He just likes the sound of the word! And once I was called in to settle an argument about whether you could say 'mind-boggling' in English. I have my uses, it seems!
And there's free food in the staff room too! Cake, bread, salami, ham, free coffee. Free food may be a small gesture, but it means a lot. You feel valued.
Managers seem decent here. People trust you to do your work and get on with it, so problems with meddling, power-crazed managers are minimal.
These are all my first impressions, and they may change. But for now, Sweden seems a pretty nice place to work.
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