Mosaiko

Six Years in Sweden

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A One-Year Study Opportunity Becomes a Six-Year Chapter in Life.

A lot of things come to mind when one thinks of Sweden: IKEA, Volvo, cradle-to-grave welfare, minimalist design, and stunning blondes. But perhaps Sweden is best known for the Nobel Prizes, established through the generosity of Swedish chemist and inventor Alfred Nobel to honor those who have “conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.”

The first time I really ever paid much attention to the Nobel Prize was at my college graduation in Seattle in June 2002, where our commencement address was given by Leland Hartwell, winner of the 2001 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. He mentioned standing on stage with the king and queen of Sweden, and the statement grabbed my attention because I was planning to move to Stockholm the following autumn.

Little did I know then that the next December I would be sitting in the very same concert hall where Hartwell received his prize, or that four years later I would interview two of the 2006 Nobel laureates, Andrew Fire (medicine/physiology) and Roger Kornberg (chemistry), for a magazine published by Stanford University School of Medicine, where they both taught.

In short, I never imagined that I would have a personal connection to the Nobel Prizes. When I began taking classes at Stockholm University in the fall of 2002, I was surprised to learn that many of the Nobel laureates would be giving their lectures in the Aula Magna (Great Hall) auditorium on campus—and what’s more, that anyone could attend. As an added bonus, Fulbright scholars to Sweden were invited to attend the award ceremonies that December, something that many Swedish friends envied.

Unlocking Doors

This experience was just one among many during my time studying, living, and working in a foreign country. When I first stepped off the plane at Stockholm Arlanda Airport on August 16, 2002 – a date that remains stamped in my passport and in my memory—I had no idea that Sweden would become my home for the next six years.

I was not a stranger to living abroad when I moved to Stockholm, having spent my junior year of college in Leiden, a university town about a 40-minute train ride from Amsterdam. The Netherlands became my home base as I jaunted around Europe for a year. I was pretty green when I took my first few forays by Eurail, but I quickly learned the value of flip-flops, padlocks, and flashlights … and not to pack them at the bottom of my backpack.

When I returned to Seattle at the end of my year in Leiden, all I could think about was how to get back to Europe after graduating the next spring. The answer came in the form of a Fulbright fellowship from the U.S. State Department. It provided me with an academic scholarship and research support for a year of graduate study abroad. The beauty of the Fulbright is that it is based on a research proposal you develop yourself, giving applicants flexibility in setting up course work and selecting advisers at the host institution.

During that first year in Stockholm, I learned all about the Scandinavian welfare state, a topic that had first sparked my interest during a course I took in the Netherlands. But perhaps more importantly, I studied Swedish. Swedes speak English with near-native fluency, and it’s entirely possible to get by without speaking a word of Swedish. But for me, learning the language was essential to creating an experience abroad that was more than just “getting by.”

Speaking Swedish unlocked several personal and professional doors for me. On a personal level, learning a foreign language (and making the inevitable blunders) is something many people can relate to. Learning the language was also a good career move; even now, after returning to the United States, I spend one evening a week translating Swedish news stories to English, providing a steady source of income in a sometimes uncertain freelancing career. Fluency in the local language also allowed me to more fully understand what was going on around me, something I think was essential in my decision to stay on. You understand what people are saying around you; chatter on the subway is no longer just background noise. I think it gives you a better sense of belonging to a place.

Give and Take

Somewhere over the course of that first year in Sweden, I began to settle in and realized that Stockholm was somewhere I might like to live. The chance to extend my time abroad was partly due to an opportunity to continue working at the university as a research assistant, but it was more than that. I started to see Sweden with different eyes as I made the transition from tourist to visitor to resident in the city that had become my home.

But at the same time, as a foreigner, you will always in some ways remain on the outside looking in. I learned the language and did my best to understand the customs and culture, but I also learned that how I perceived what I saw was a reflection of my own American culture. Some customs required adjustment on my part, other things became less important over time, and a few things I just considered to be Swedish idiosyncrasies, such as their affinity for salty licorice and surströmming, a fermented herring considered by some to be a delicacy.

Unfamiliar culinary habits aside, maybe being from somewhere else gives you the best of both worlds. Living abroad is both give and take—you bring some of the experience home with you, and leave a part of yourself there. I have developed a fondness for meatballs and lingonberry sauce (which is thankfully available at IKEA in Seattle!), but I also taught my Swedish friends about the joys of an American Thanksgiving meal, complete with roasted turkey and pumpkin pie.

I returned to the United States just a few months ago, and I’m still processing the implications of my homecoming. I’m not sure Alfred Nobel could have comprehended our current world where technology allows you to work from anywhere with an Internet connection, but I think he was correct on many levels when he said, “Home is where I work, and I work everywhere.”

Studying, living, and working in another country for the last six years has certainly expanded my notion of “home.” No matter where I am, the land of IKEA, Volvo, cradle-to-grave welfare, minimalist design, and the Nobel Prizes will always feel a little bit like home.