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 Malm\u00f6, I applied that same evening.

The \u00d6resund region is unique in Europe. Malm\u00f6 and Copenhagen are connected by the \u00d6resund Bridge \u2014 fifteen minutes by train. Many people live in Malm\u00f6 and work in Copenhagen, or vice versa. You get the best of both worlds: Swedish calm and Danish vibrancy. I work in Malm\u00f6 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 bostadsk\u00f6 (housing queue) at Boplats Syd. The waiting time for a f\u00f6rstahandskontrakt in Malm\u00f6 is five to eight years. I now rent via Blocket, a Swedish version of Craigslist, an apartment in V\u00e4stra Hamnen \u2014 the trendy waterfront district. It costs 9,500 SEK per month, affordable compared to The Hague.

SFI \u2014 Svenska f\u00f6r invandrare \u2014 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 Malm\u00f6 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 \u2014 maybe even better. I cycle everywhere, just like at home.

My tip for young Dutch people considering Sweden: start with Malm\u00f6. 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.