Gothenburg
 

Evening folks.

I am considering moving from the UK to take on a role in Gothenburg (amongst other places we are investgating) starting next year, and I'm wondering really what life would be like for my wife and 3 young children over there?

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Re: Gothenburg
 

Hi,

I recently went on a weekend break to Gothenburg. I know that's totally different to living there but I found it quite nice.

It felt like a small place, we had no trouble walking around the majority of the city whilst there. There is also a very efficient tram that can take you to different parts of the city. This was very welcomed seeing as I seem to spend most of my life in London on public transport getting from A to B.

It seemed family orientated - lots of parents, particularly fathers out with their kids. I heard paternity leave is one of the best in the world which would explain why there were so many dads and babies. There is a huge park near the centre, which felt spacious.

There's a big coffee culture in Gothenburg. Coffee shops were heaving and plenty of them.

They love ice hockey. I went to see the Frolunda Indians whilst there, which was great fun!

The pro's that I would take away from my brief visit would be the big parks, good shopping, trams, ice hockey and good coffee!

The bad points - felt expensive but then if you have a good salary then this wouldn't be a problem, the cold winters and sometimes it felt as if manners were a little lacking such as dropping doors instead of holding them open, pushing in line when waiting to be served at bars. Quite minor but relatively annoying when it happened throughout my stay!

Hope that helps!

Re: Gothenburg
 

If you want help with any more specific questions I could try to be help out, I'm born and bred here, although I've moved around the globe quite a bit, but now hopefully leaving for France. (I've also went through the entire Aussie immigration process, but we never made the move, as we couldn't agree 100% on it).

Funny you Pom_Ch mentions the manners thing, I'd be tempted to agree - but that's probably after quite a bit of international influence. I'd say it's got to do with the industrial/working class heritage, the city has always been struggling with being second city after Stockholm. On the other hand, many people immigrating from other places within Sweden, usually credit people here for having a more easy going attitude, less high profile than in Stockholm.

I'd say the main advantage is being on the coast during the "warm" seasson, and the islands. That said, being on the coast is as much a drawback during the cold seasson. Winter is usually *very* wet, *very* dark, and just above freezing point, with extreme air humidity (gets to the bones).

The coast/coastal provinces are beautiful, the inland is made out entirely of pine forests and lakes. Ive found people from abroad usually appreciate the lakes (throughout the country there are probably > 10 000 lakes).

A train ride to Stockholm is 3 hours with high speed trains, during the winter they have had severe problems though.

Automotive industry is #1 in business, followed by Pharmaceutical, IT, and Telecom.

Pl ask and I'll try to help out. Or if you want to ping me on mail.

Good luck!