Lisa(28)

After studying international relations in The Hague, I worked three years at an NGO. The work was meaningful, but the salary was modest and the housing market impossible. I lived with three housemates in a too-small house and every month was a puzzle with the bills. When I saw a vacancy at a sustainability consultancy in Malmö, I applied that same evening.

The Öresund region is unique in Europe. Malmö and Copenhagen are connected by the Öresund Bridge — fifteen minutes by train. Many people live in Malmö and work in Copenhagen, or vice versa. You get the best of both worlds: Swedish calm and Danish vibrancy. I work in Malmö but regularly go to Copenhagen for culture, nightlife and flight connections.

The first months were bureaucratic. Applying for a personnummer at Skatteverket took six weeks. Without a personnummer I couldn't apply for the bostadskö (housing queue) at Boplats Syd. The waiting time for a förstahandskontrakt in Malmö is five to eight years. I now rent via Blocket, a Swedish version of Craigslist, an apartment in Västra Hamnen — the trendy waterfront district. It costs 9,500 SEK per month, affordable compared to The Hague.

SFI — Svenska för invandrare — is the free language course that every newcomer can take. I started in Course C and am now in D. Classes are four mornings a week, with a mix of people from all over the world. My Swedish isn't perfect yet, but enough for daily life. At work we mainly speak English, but at the supermarket and sports club I speak Swedish. It makes a huge difference in how people receive you.

What surprised me about Malmö is how diverse and young the city is. It's Sweden's third-largest city, but feels more compact. There are amazing restaurants, a thriving art scene and Folkets Park where everyone gathers in summer. The cycling infrastructure is as good as in the Netherlands — maybe even better. I cycle everywhere, just like at home.

My tip for young Dutch people considering Sweden: start with Malmö. It's the most accessible city for expats, with many international companies and a large expat community. Rents are lower than Stockholm, the weather is milder, and you have Copenhagen around the corner. After a year and a half, I have a group of good friends, a job I enjoy, and a city that feels like home.