Podger55

Hi Folks!

Have just joined the ‘site’ and - a few words of introduction.

I moved here - to the Uppland province of Sweden in 2008. Some of things I LOVE about Sweden are:

- I can be with my Swedish partner! (I’m from the UK by the way)

- Real seasons – last year, for example, we had one summer day
when the temperature reached +36 degrees C (phew!): but, just
before Christmas temperatures were kind of minus 30 (Brrr!)

- Sweden is geographically larger than UK is and with a smaller
population – so there is more chance of peace and quiet somewhere.
Unless you’re ‘busy-bodying’ around in Stockholm, or the larger cities,
there may be less stress in your life.

- I reckon most Swedes care about what they do – and service/products
are usually pretty good

- Have NEVER had a bad meal in Sweden – anywhere!

- Shouldn’t ‘tempt providence’, I know – but, there seems to be less
chance of being the victim of petty/other types of crime, than more
densely populated places.

Against these things, I live on a small company pension (from the UK), but taxed in Sweden. I find that the way the Swedish taxation system works, penalises lowest ‘earners’ - who pay proportionately more of their income in tax, than say, the UK, where my tax would be negligible. Lower Swedish tax rates ‘kick in’ only when your earnings exceed a certain level. I don’t think Sweden is a place, just to retire to!

Life can be tough! - still, I’m making some ‘contacts’ with gallery owners, as I am also an artist. Things are looking up, financially….

What I most miss about the UK? Easier access to things like groceries, consumer stuff (sometimes) – top-class cricket, rugby…thank goodness for broadband internet!

Jerseygirl

Hello...welcome to BE. Thank you for taking the time to introduce yourself...that was an excellent introductory post.

Unfortunately we don't have a forum specifically for Sweden...it comes under the umbrella of the General Europe forum. Why don't you pop over there, take a look around and join in the fun?

We have a team of concierges who will help you find your way around the forums if you get a little lost. You can find a list of their names at the bottom right hand side of this page.

Complaints or problems should be addressed to a moderator...Mitzyboy is the mod for the Europe forums but if he's not around any mod or admin will be pleased to help you.

Please give me a shout if you need any help.

Podger55

Thanks, Jerseygirl - will do

Sue

Hi Podger55,

Welcome to BE. I hope you enjoy being part of our community.

I've never been to Sweden but it's on my list of countries I would most like to visit, so maybe one day I will get there.

Anyway here is a recent thread on Sweden in our Europe forum for you to get stuck into.

Welcome again.

Sue

Podger55

Hi Sue - and thanks for the reply: will take a look soon.

(Nice to know who some of the administrators/moderators are - I used to subscribe to another site which felt SO TENSE sometimes because of the amount of 'trolling' and nothing was ever done to stop the stalking/ insults etc)

Regards

Sue

You are very welcome.

Its a fine line to walk whilst moderating, we try and take a step back and allow discussions to progress freely, whilst keeping an eye out for trolls and spammers and generally only step in as a last resort. Obviously with a site this size it's hard to please all of the people all of the time, but we try our very best Please don't hesitate to let us know anytime you have questions, and we always welcome feedback so feel free to post any questions/concerns/suggestions in our Site Feedback forum.

Sue