Every time diaspora comes to mind, we always have a tendency to only have utopia-kind of imaginations. In the minds of so many, Scandinavia specifically or Europe in general is heaven manifested on earth-this perhaps comes from the branding that the countries and region have invested over the years. Truth be told, they’re so many things to marvel about just as there are enough bad experiences to be lived. Ordinarily, a new person arriving in Scandinavia will be first struck by the glamour and near perfection kind of everything in the countries before possible bad experiences in Scandinavia start creeping in.
Bad experiences don’t necessarily mean offensive stuff that would make someone pack up and go home. Yes some people would not stomach some of these experiences and actually leave while a good number try as much as possible to live regardless.
Equally, likely bad experiences in Scandinavia vary from person to person but a good number of them seem similar for many. Again, these experiences may also have something to do with culture shock and other inconveniences of joining an entirely new society.
Traveling to live in or just visit Scandinavia should be a great decision for many who aim to expand their horizons in a world that’s fast becoming a globalized village. By any judgment, living in the Nordic countries is thrilling, and you should absolutely try it.
You will definitely enjoy higher standards of living, functioning democracies, robust social security systems, a lot of job opportunities and maybe snowfall if you have never seen this before. Also to mention, you’ll definitely have to adjust to the extremely cold winter and hot summers.
All the positives notwithstanding, there’re a couple of things that won’t please you in Scandinavia. Not so many have the boldness it takes to loudly voice the challenges as an expat in Scandinavia or if there are, such news never gets the attention which may be a sorry thing. Let’s grind on and learn the possible unsettling things to watch out for as a foreigner living in Scandinavia or the Nordics.
It would in the face appear paradoxical to allude that finding a dream job would be a struggle in a place with so many job opportunities. So many find it a mismatch but when you start your life in the new place, you’ll surely see that the available jobs in the market may not be what a foreigner would have expected to do. So many resort to taking jobs below their skill set, experience or education just to find a way of footing bills.
Whether you are talking about Norway, Iceland, Denmark or Sweden, it can be exceedingly challenging to find employment in your desired field and professional level in the short term.
This doesn’t mean that good jobs don’t exist in Scandinavia; far from it-so many high level jobs do exist there. The catch is that before any company or employer for that matter trusts your qualification as an expatriate, it will take a strong reference or extra self proving. This need for exceeding self affirmation and proving makes it so hard especially for early career expats in Scandinavia to get into dream jobs.
You will for sure get so many job advertisements and possibly get offered low level and highly physically demanding jobs than those that need intellectual rigor. This is an antidote for those who could have come to study in higher education with expectations of landing a lucrative job in any of the countries afterwards.
In Norway for example, it can be a tormenting experience to get skilled employment because of the competition and high educational standards of other suitable candidates. In essence, unless you find employment, you are on a tightrope and unclear of your ability to continue living there. The worst will happen when your temporary visa expires before you manage to secure employment. However, working in Norway has many advantages if you succeed in getting a job.
So many may not realize how difficult it becomes to get a driving license in Scandinavia as an expatriate until they find themselves there. Of course having a car and being able to drive it helps a great deal for expats especially when they have to work odd hours and in areas not frequently plied by public transport. But, it’s a tough cookie for so many trying to either change their driving license to Scandinavian ones. This gets even more difficult for people coming from countries whose driving training doesn’t match up to what is expected of a well ironed driver.
Interestingly, expats in Scandinavia sometimes end up coughing out loads of money, even more than the cost of a car to pass driving school. Maybe you won’t understand it until it catches up that the driving test isn’t as simple as an examiner briskly pointing at road signs and asking what they mean or taking you through the model town board.
If you arrive in any of the Nordic countries from a country whose level of driving training isn’t the same as that they recognize, be ready to take another test. The tests may involve a written test with a bunch of practical courses, and thereafter redo the driving test. It may as well cost you a lot of money.
It can be a bad experience for you if you were not prepared to pass through such tests again. Most people make mistakes when driving manual cars because they have not had enough experience, which makes them apprehensive and causes them to forget a number of driving concepts. It is important that you be extremely adept if you decide to retake the test in a manual vehicle. Additionally, there are numerous roundabouts in this area, so drive on them frequently.
An adult having to learn a new language and start using it for effective communication can’t be something easy. But believe it or not, the Scandinavian countries all have their own languages and foreigners have a choice to learn them for a fulfilling, easy life of sticking to their own language and facing difficulties at every turn.
Just in case you thought that your English was the best, that’s good but know that each Nordic country has its own language. Whether you are planning to live in Norway, Denmark, or Sweden, you must be aware that you will find it rough in case you do not speak their languages.
Without a good level of Scandinavian languages, one stands a high risk of missing important communication, difficulty in creating useful connections and feeling of discomfort. You may really love to tell stories and get to freely interact with the often laid back Scandinavians then language just puts you on the chopping board. But with a positive mind and openness to learning a new language, everything else becomes easy to learn including the languages.
Although this depends on which specific country you decide to move to, or comes from adverse weather changes will affect you tremendously. If you grew up in a tropical country and moved to any of the Nordic regions, dealing with weather changes will be a great challenge for you.
In tropical countries, people only encounter wet and dry seasons. In this part of the world, the four seasons come and pass, though with varying levels of changes. There is no such thing as bad weather, but bad clothes. Ordinarily, you as a newcomer have to brace yourself for a biting first winter in Scandinavia which can be so bad.
Unfortunately, it can be difficult for foreigners to make new friends. If you dislike going out and making new friends, the only new people you will frequently encounter are your coworkers. The key is to avoid isolating yourself in this situation, as it would be awful for you otherwise. However, joining networking groups or Facebook groups for expatriates can help you make new friends while in Nordic countries.
High cost of living
Adjusting to the new high cost of living in Nordics can be a terrible experience for you. To cover the high cost of living, particularly in Norway and Iceland, you will need adequate money. Finland comes across as the nation in Scandinavia with the lowest cost of living. But even this cost of living in Finland remains comparably higher to other nations in Europe. Prepare to dig deep into your pocket whenever you land in the Nordic regions.
