Six weeks’ holiday
True stories about the myths and realities of working in Sweden
Have you ever dreamt of re-starting your career in Sweden?
Nordic countries often rank high - if not the highest - in international surveys on happiness and quality of life. As a professional, you can expect a healthy work-life balance, gender equality, flat hierarchies, and access to an efficiently run welfare state. A high proficiency in English and technology has fostered innovation hubs and a buzzing start-up scene, attracting international talent.
Sometimes overlooked, there is a personal journey behind each such relocation. There is, of course, the discovery of a new culture, coupled with expectation, hope, disappointment and wonder. More profoundly, there is the encounter with ourselves, exposed in the light of the new culture. Outside our comfort zones, we are more vulnerable than ever of our own personal shortcomings, values and aspirations.
In Six weeks’ holiday, 17 international professionals share their experiences of exploring the myths and realities of Swedish culture and working culture, alongside the universal question of being human — as one among many. Curated and edited by the co-author of Working in Sweden - The A-Z Guide.
Six weeks’ holiday will be published and available for purchase the 1st of October 2018.
Contributors
Joshua Bookman Some reverse American dreams | Catherine Derieux You are the hero of this story | Kateřina Duchoňová Flush | Nausherwan Ghaffar Simplicity and humility | Marco Guadarrama A Mexican dreamer in corporate Sweden | Clarissa Hirst Home | Jill Leckie Mother of all let downs | Franziska Müller Subject: (No subject | Veronika Opatřilová A departure is the arrival to someplace new| Raman Ramalingam Trust score | Morag Ramsey Not a Swedish class | Werner Renck The fourth reflection or the broken mirror | Adriana Salazar A recipe for a successful work life in Sweden | Maddy Savage Me, a feminist, too | Olga Talalay Untitled | Federica Viero Naked so what | Angeliki Vlachou Perhaps because I have become a vegetarian
About the editor
Sofi Tegsveden Deveaux
Sofi was born and brought up in Stockholm, but spent seven years abroad, mostly in Scotland, before re-settling in her hometown in 2008. Now, she teaches Swedish and Swedish culture to international professionals in Stockholm and beyond.
From her international clients and friends, she has learnt that there is a need for stories of settling and re-settling to be shared, a need for companionship and belonging. From there came the idea for this collection of stories.