There is a VERY good chance that myself and my wife will be heading to a new life in the Malmö area of Sweden in early 2022…
We have the option of living In Copenhagen, but we feel the more sedate pace of Southern Sweden will likely suit us - and our cats - better. With the lights and life of Copenhagen just over the bridge. Malmö looks to have benefitted from its diversity in some good restaurant choices - “will we be able to have a Friday night curry?” being one of questions we have already answered!
The company will help with relocation, but from some initial searches we like to look for the Falsterbo peninsula. Some nice seaside vibes there. Any other tips for the Malmö area? …Helsingborg looks lovely too.
Any tips for Brits assimilating to life in Sweden appreciated! ….can I get Sky Sports? …the BBC (via iPlayer and VPN is my assumption) ….where can I buy Yorkshire Tea? …In a world of streaming - who is the best ISP and what speeds can I expect?
…and - this being the Naim forum - any tips on the HiFi - dealers etc. it’s my assumption (!) that I can just take as is - and just use my UK power distribution with a Swedish termination on the master mains cable. The Naim power supplies just sorting everything else out?
Matt, I would recommend you get in touch with Carl Michael Engvall who is the Naim distributor for Sweden (Instereo). He’s a great guy and quite an Anglophile - who else would book me into Sweden’s own Fawlty Towers on one of my many trips to Sweden when I was Export Sales Manager for Naim? He’ll be a great local guide.
In my experience, most people in Sweden speak excellent English and have a good grasp of '70s British culture thanks to a heavy diet of BBC TV programming when growing up.
Your UK kit is just fine in Sweden. Only thing to note is that they use European Schuko plugs so make sure you get them all the same way around. Investing in an inductance pen pays big dividends here. As I once discovered, getting this right makes a big difference.
Matt, I can’t resist for that little joke. As the Sweden Solstice is on December 21, I hope you will receive your Solstice before. Naim Solstice before Sweden Solstice.
Carl Michael sounds like a great contact! …I’ve sent a LinkedIn request
Yes - that’s my experience too - and that coincided with Leeds Uniteds glory years. So I will have a disproportionately high number of fellow Leeds fans - I was interviewed by one in fact, which slightly derailed what was meant to be a very focussed conversation on Digital Transformation (but in a good way!)
I’ve never even heard of a Schuko connector - so I’m researching that now. Anything that it’s possible to get the wrong way round, I’m usually first in line to do that - so I’ll read up.
Edit: but having googled a Schuko - I do recognise them - I never knew there was a right and wrong way - to do with phase?
As an expat living in the US, I have found that the iPlayer doesn’t play nice with VPNs. Auntie has a limitless budget for stopping such scurrilous behaviour.
Hi Matt, good luck with your relocation to Sweden, you may never return to Blighty. I moved to Norway over 10 years ago and there are many similarities between the cultures/peoples.
The local dialect (Skånska) is considered to be quite a hard listen, especially by the non-Scandinavians, it will take some getting use to.
As far as tea goes, Malmo being multicultural, you will definitely get PG Tips in the Indian/Pakistani local shops and even some of the more expensive supermarkets. Even Yorkshire tea is likely to be available…although I can’t be 100%
I can get Branstone Pickle, Marmite, Coleman’s Mustard, Clotted Cream in one of the more expensive supermarkets here, so I am pretty confident you will because many of the food chains are Swedish owned. Having said that, it’s a real problem getting Marmite because of Covid and Brexit.
Arrive, unpack and then get yourself down to your local Systembolaget to befriend a very knowledgable assistant who will then supply you with some very good wine.
In the countries that use the earth connection around the plug periphery it’s easy to get live positive and neutral the wrong way around. It’ll work fine that way but it all usually performs and sounds best if everything in the Naim system is the same way around.
What’s that phrase people sometimes use for when people either love something or hate something - I can’t remember
That’s perfectly possible - I do think the cultures are compatible. The swedes don’t have the directness that we Brits can have - but I’ve never met one I didn’t like.
Norway is good fun - and many Norwegians are a force of nature in my experience!
My ex wife is from Finland.
The differences between the Nordic countries - and how they each view each other - which isn’t always flattering - is fascinating!
I was planning on taking my mains block - which feeds everything - so in theory I can stick with the PowerLines into that, and just have a single Schuko cable feeding the block - so I’ll check out the hydra variant