Chapter 4

4.   The move to Sweden

 

A few days after my residence permit was stamped on my Greek passport, I passed my last exam and had to cancel my suspension from military service as soon as possible. But doing the military service just when I was about to move to Sweden was of course out of the question. I therefore had to act quickly and leave the country before I was punished by the military authorities.

As a student at the School of Business and Economics, I was a member of AIESEC, which was an international student organization that promoted internships abroad of students studying business or economics. The annual conference was to take place in the Belgian university town of Louvain-la-Neuve, in the last week of March. During the conference there, we were supposed to match all countries' AIESEC members with internships in the rest of the world, including international students in Greece of course.

The board of AIESEC in Athens decided to rent a small bus for all board members who wanted to participate in the conference. I took the opportunity and went with them and continue my trip to Sweden. I remember that I was the only one who had such a huge bag that my mother had packed with a lot of things I should need in Sweden. Everyone else would of course return to Greece in a few days and had small bags.

My mother was with me at the bus station and she was of course very sad. She wanted me to promise her that I would return to Greece after my studies, which I promised her, even though I knew I would break my promise. As soon as we left, I actually felt pretty bad that I lied to her.

The trip went well and two days later we arrived. Nevertheless, we noticed that when we went to the Flemish Leuven, which is close to the French Louvain-la-Neuve, we didn't get the same service when we tried to speak French. All other delegates had experienced similar treatment when they spoke French, but not when they spoke English. Anyway, I spent a lot of time there with the Norwegian delegation and I managed to get an internship in the Directorate of Labor in Oslo during July-August. The Norwegians appreciated that, in addition to English, which was the most important language requirement, I knew some Swedish and French! 

After the conference, I was supposed to go by train to Stockholm from Brussels. Unfortunately, during that time, Sweden was hit by major strikes and lockouts. I was used to such strikes in Greece, but I hadn't expected that it would happen to me on the way to Sweden as well. When we arrived in Copenhagen, we had to change trains to Stockholm. But due to the strike, there were only two old wagons. I remember all the elegant ladies with nice dresses who probably had a first-place flight ticket and had to crowd with everyone else in the same wagon. For me it was just as bad, I had a heavy bag to take care of and was also tired from the night train ride from Brussels.

First weeks in Stockholm

My adrenaline was high and I could handle my fatigue when the old train drove in southern Sweden towards Stockholm. Spring had not yet arrived; there were a few pieces of snow left along the fields and the sky was gray. Along the platforms I could see Swedes in their winter jackets. All the passengers in the wagon were tired, and quiet, and many were reading a book or newspaper. I also tried to sneak a peek at the big headlines in the newspapers that were filled with "strike chaos" or similar expressions.

After many hours of travel, we arrived in Stockholm. I had called Nikos from Belgium and told him that I was going by train. Of course, I hoped that he would be still there as he promised since the train was delayed. And Nikos was there! The arrival information board had informed everyone that the train from Copenhagen was delayed.

It was late in the afternoon when we arrived at the Central station and it was still light. When I saw Nikos, I was both happy and relaxed. He came towards me and helped me carry the heavy bag to the subway. He bought a ticket just for me only, because he had a monthly pass himself. Then we went a long walk with many stairs down to the platform, where we waited a few minutes for our subway train. Even though I was so tired, I could notice that everything was very clean, tidy, and extremely quiet. Nikos also spoke relatively quietly and reprimanded me to lower my voice. Greeks, mainly due to heavy noise in big cities, speak loudly. Then we took the metro to Niko's and Barbro's apartment on South Stockholm and after a few minutes we arrived, where Barbro was waiting.

She welcomed me in Swedish and we started chatting. She had cooked a nice dinner and Nikos explained to me that I should sleep on a mattress on the floor in their living room, since they had a small two-room apartment with no room for an extra bed. I answered that it didn't matter to me and I meant it. The most important thing was that I would stay with them for a few weeks and also for free. Both Nikos and Barbro refused that I should pay anything at all, even though they themselves did not have a high income. They told me it was fun to have me there and help me with everything they could. I am very grateful for their great generosity and friendliness! 

Nikos had finished his studies at Stockholm University and he started working. Barbro was also working and both of them got up early in the morning. I'm not a morning person, but it would be very embarrassing not to get up and have breakfast with them. So, I learned to do it, even though I had nothing to do while they went to their jobs. The only thing I did at home was to move the mattress back under their bed and tidy up the living room. Then I tried to read a little in the daily newspaper, watch some TV and go for a walk until they got home.

Barbro worked a little shorter and came home earlier. I practiced some Swedish with her while she cooked and waited for Nikos to have dinner. My habits also changed, as dinner was served even before six o'clock. Then we talked a little, often watched the news on TV and late in the evening it was time to drink tea and eat crispbread with cheese before we went to bed.

A couple of weeks later I went early in the morning with Nikos to an adult school (Medborgaskolan). I was going to start studying Swedish there for a couple of weeks, together with other foreigners who had been studying for a few months. Nikos left me there to go to his work and explained which subway I should take to go home. The day before, I had bought a monthly pass.

In Medborgarskolan there was a young teacher who tested me in the language. It was a test of word order and grammar. She was really surprised because I did so well. Then she was going to question me about some topics. She noticed that I understood a lot of things but I wasn't as good at talking, which was understandable. She said that I was welcome to start there if I wanted, mainly to practice listening and talking. Since I didn't have anything more important to do, I thought it was a good idea. My internship in Norway was supposed to start in some weeks and my studies in Uppsala in September. So, I went to the school for two or three weeks, until the course ended.

Meeting my cousin

On May 1, Nikos asked if I wanted to go to the Kings’ Garden (Kungsträdgården) where the Left Party used to hold its Labor Day meeting. There we would certainly meet many Greeks. It was a very beautiful day and we went by bus. When we arrived, it was packed with people and red flags. The situation was actually quite tense because several hundred thousand union (LO and TCO) members were on strike and also locked-out. At home, the national TV showed only news, which was dominated, of course, by the strike. Even the subway did not run normally and there were many delays. I remember that the news said that many schoolchildren could not go to school because there were no school transports.

Right at the beginning, opposite to the big fashion house NK, my cousin Dimitris stood with some other Greeks and talked quite lively. Nikos recognized some of them and as we got closer, my cousin shouted my name and laughed out loud. We hadn't seen each other since that summer in Greece when he dismissed my thoughts of moving to Sweden. He didn't know that I had come and was very surprised. "Have you come to Sweden?" he asked. "You finally did it! Welcome and good luck!" I just nodded, yes in a weak and a cautious voice.

One of the other Greeks asked me what I was going to do in Sweden. I told him that I was going to start my doctoral studies in Uppsala. Both Nikos and I still remember his negative and ironic reaction when he said that "all Greeks who come here say the same thing, until they understand that it is not possible". I tried to explain that I had been accepted, but he didn't believe me. After a while, Nikos thought it was better to leave and move to Norra Bantorget where the largest union, LO and the Social Democrats had their Labor Day meeting. I got my cousin's phone number in case I needed anything and we walked towards Norra Bantorget.

There we listened to the LO president's speech. I hardly understood anything. There were an incredible number of people and the voice from the speakers was covered by the audience's applause and all the strips. It was Nikos who interpreted that Sweden had become a "thief society" and that "the class struggle must continue against the growing inequalities and capitalism". I remember the daily newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, the next day wrote that Nicolin's supporters (president of the employers’ association), due to the conflict "could be accommodated in a phone booth".

At the end of May, we sat in front of the TV and watched the final of the Champions League between Malmö FF and Nottingham Forest that was played in Munich. Malmö lost 1-0, but they played very well. It was the first time I saw Malmö with its light blue colors and thought it was a great achievement, perhaps bigger than what Åtvidaberg had done several years earlier, or what the Swedish national team had achieved during the World Cup-74 in Germany.

In the beginning of June, a hot weekend, we went to Eriksdalsbadet to sunbathe and swim. There were a lot of people and I thought it was fantastic that you could swim in the middle of Stockholm! Nikos and Barbro went and sat in the sun while I went on to the other pool. I jumped in and started swimming very fast. I was a pretty good swimmer and wanted to test how fast I was. After I had swum about ten-twenty meters, I started to feel bad. My heart was beating loudly and was almost ready to vomit when I left the pool. I think I fainted and Nikos ran towards me when he saw a lot of people around me. They called the ambulance and all three of us went straight to the nearest Södersjukhuset.

While Nikos and Barbro waited at the reception, I was carefully examined without finding anything wrong. I actually started to feel good while we went in the ambulance and even better when I was lying in the clean and cool room. They concluded that I must have had the attack of extreme overexertion without being trained enough for it. I actually remember we communicated in Swedish quite well, but both Nikos and Barbro had to come in if I couldn't explain myself. After a while we had to go home. I apologized for ruining their excursion and thanked them for their help. Forty years later, we remember this day and how quickly and kindly the Swedish healthcare system took care of me.

First Midsummer at Skansen

A couple of weeks later, Nikos, Barbro and her mother went on holiday to Greece while I stayed alone to take care of the apartment and the flowers.

During Midsummer I went to the Natural Museum Skansen to experience the most Swedish of all festivities. It was a wonderful day with clear blue skies and a little wind. Skansen was packed with people and many international tourists. The music that the fiddlers played reminded me of the music that the Swedish Radio International Program played when they ended their broadcasts. All the sounds were from all over Sweden and they were both lovely and melancholic. I was actually a little moved and at the same time cherished by the Swedish folk music. I stood there for several hours and watched people in national costumes dancing with the Swedish flag waving so majestically.

There I met my cousin who I was impressed that he mastered both polka and schottis traditional dances so well. The ice between us actually started to melt when I found out that he also loved the Swedish folk music and used to go to Skansen every midsummer!

I still listen to Swedish folk music from all parts in Sweden, and have dozens of bands of folk music. I have a hard time choosing among the best songs, but "Vårvindar friska" and "Ack Värmeland du sköna" are the ones I love the most.

I walked around the whole of Skansen, visited all the animals and also adored the magnificent view of Stockholm. I sat on a bench until it was past midnight and experienced my brightest night in my entire life. This midsummer I will remember as long as I live.

Internship in Oslo

A few days before I was to leave for Oslo, Nikos and Barbro came back from vacation where they told me that they had met my parents who thanked me for taking care of me.

At the end of June, I flew to Oslo to have my internship at the Directorate of Labor. It was a sunny Saturday and I was met by a couple of AIESEC Norwegian students at the airport in Fornebu, Oslo. There was also another Swedish student who flew with me from Arlanda and was going to have his internship during the summer in Oslo. The Norwegian students drove us to the university campus in Blindern, where we would live with other international students. During the trip, I tried to understand when the Norwegians and Swedes talked to each other. It was the first time I heard both people speaking their own languages and I found it quite enjoyable. I also tried to talk to them a little, but since I couldn't understand everything, the Norwegians were asking about, we switched to English.

The campus was surrounded by residential buildings and it felt like it was built inside the forest. On the way up to Blindern I could see glimpses of the beautiful Oslo beneath. The Norwegians explained some practical things about the accommodation itself, grocery stores, and the subway to Oslo city center, which was a few stations to the south. Then we met other students who were playing out on the lawn, before we went to dinner. Afterwards, some of us decided to go to the center of Oslo to orient ourselves. On Monday we were supposed to start working there. We walked around the whole city until early Sunday morning. It never really got dark. The southern European students who had gone to Oslo the same day, became lyrical about the bright night and did not want to go home.

On Monday morning I went to work. The office was in the middle of Oslo and I was warmly received by the director and a few others. In the beginning, I wouldn't do much, but I would get a few reports to read, most of them in Norwegian. Almost all the reports were about the Norwegian labor market and welfare. Of course, starting to read reports in Norwegian was not so easy! I prioritized instead reports with English texts.

During the meetings, there was a mixture in Norwegian and English, but not just for my sake. There were actually some British researchers who worked there and did not speak Norwegian. A few weeks later, I chose to read some simple reports in Norwegian and I noticed that it wasn't that difficult. There were big Norwegian-English dictionaries in the office that were usually on my desk. Before I finished my internship, I also wrote a small report, in English.

At the end of July, we went on a trip around southwestern Norway with all AIESEC students who were working in Oslo. The journey took five days. I had never seen fjords before and was an extraordinary experience. The first city we spent the night in was Bergen. I lost my breath as the bus approached the city. I had never seen a more beautiful city in my entire life. It was bright sun when we were there, unlike a few years later when I moved there to work. Then we went south towards Stavanger, Kristiansand, Kragerö and back to Oslo. It was an unforgettable trip! An entire week without rain!

In mid-August, it was time to leave Oslo. During my six weeks there, I earned enough to get by, spartan though, over two or three months in Uppsala. I first flew directly to Athens to meet my family and two weeks later I went back to Sweden where an exciting university life awaited!