Rachael is getting back on track with cheering since being away for a week
I'll be ticking this off
19 months ago
In September ‘09 I guess :) I’m moving to Sweden to live with my boyfriend this September, and I’m really excited.
How to live abroad for a year or two
It made me
feel independent 
"Living in another country, with another language, is very fulfilling, and challenging!"
How I did it: I moved from England to Sweden to be with my boyfriend Erik. I moved exactly a year ago. It's been great living with my boyfriend, and this has been my first home away from my family. It hasn't all been good, though. I have had great difficulty in finding jobs, even getting interviews! I still do not have a job, and we get by with a little help from my parents, and Erik's uni money. Sadly this will mean I will be going back to England in December, but I have high hopes of eventually settling in Sweden.
Lessons & tips: If going to a country with a different language: Learn as much of the new language as you can before moving, it'll mean less hard work when you're there, and more chance of finding a job quickly. I firmly advise going to a language class if you can (before you move). That option wasn't available to me, so I learnt on my own, but having a small group, or even just a tutor, works wonders.
If possible, already have a job offer before you move. It can be a long and frustrating process, and be prepared to eat away at those savings!
Save lots before going. I had around £7000 before I moved (and that really wasn't enough). You don't want to be stuck in a foreign country with no money.
Leave your preconceptions of what is nice/fair/polite at home, because it's likely this system will be very different in your new home country. Buy some books about the people of your new country, the Xenophobes Guide books are a light hearted way of finding out some key points (but take all with a pinch of salt - if you generalise a whole nation, there's going to be some differences between what you read and what you see).
Resources: My parents
Erik
Umeå Universitet (here I do a free language course)
Modern-Day Vikings by Christina Johansson Robinowitz & Lisa Werner Carr
Xenophobe's Guide to the Swedes by Peter Berlin
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Rachael is getting back on track with cheering since being away for a week
Saving money first
2 years ago
Then, either in April next year, or August, I will be off to Sweden. Either I will be living with my boyfriend, Erik, which is what I really want. Or, I will be living with a Swedish family as their au pair.
Rachael is getting back on track with cheering since being away for a week
Sweden, Sweden, Sweden! :)
2 years ago
That’s where I’ll be going, I may go somewhere else later, but the first country will definitely be Sweden :) It’s the home country of my lovely boyfriend, Erik.
Rachael is getting back on track with cheering since being away for a week
Right now...
3 years ago
I’m thinking, anywhere, I’m not fussy :) probably somewhere within Europe would be easier for me, but I’m not going to limit this too much. France would make sense as I can speak it a bit, and hopefully practice more. I don’t even have a time scale here yet.
Sometimes I think I should up and go, start up in another country, I don’t have a job yet, I could just start one somewhere else :) hehe.
Rachael is getting back on track with cheering since being away for a week
Okay...
3 years ago
This shall probably either be France, Holland (The Netherlands), or America if I decide to do the Au Pair America thing (that’s a year).
Not only lived abroad
3 years ago
but stayed abroad.
Just because my ancestors left Europe doesn’t commit me to share their folly. Besides, it’s infinitely more entertaining. My folks used to complain about the “accursed expense of bilingualism”; all the toothpaste tubes and cereal boxes and whatnot that had to be in both French and English. Tsk tsk tsk. Now when I look at a toothpaste tube or cereal box, I enjoy trying to figure out just what anti-halitosis and Corn Flakes are in Finnish.
It’s a life of simple pleasures.
nananaina wants to be early for everything
in Spain!
3 years ago
and i want to do it again!
I want to live in randome places just until i get 30
Rachael is getting back on track with cheering since being away for a week
Something different
4 years ago
It’s all experience in the end, I’d just like a different perspective on things, and living in another country, with another set of problems (regional/political etc.) will be a good way of doing that. Of course, that’s not the only reason, but it’d give me a better idea of where I want to stay. Maybe I’ll do this in a variety of different countries :) that’d be nice.
