Olaf Rompelberg is 37 years old and originally from Heerlen. In July 2022, he moved to Sweden with his wife Jela (35) and their children Mels (10) and Jolé (7). In this blog, he shares his story with you.

Why Did You Choose to Emigrate to Sweden?

We had been on vacation in Sweden several times. The nature, peace, and space appealed to us every time. Additionally, you can fully enjoy all 4 seasons here. Spring and summer are incredibly beautiful, allowing you to enjoy hiking and camping in the forests or swimming in the lakes. Winter lasts at least 4 to 5 months with plenty of snow. You can ski, cross-country ski, ice fish, skate on the lakes, and much more. We enjoy living close to nature.

I Read that You Emigrated with your Family. Did your Partner Share the Same Dream? And how Was it for your Family to Take this Step?

We shared the dream of living in another country. Sweden appealed to us most in terms of nature and culture. Moreover, the distance to the Netherlands is manageable. It certainly wasn’t an easy step because we left family and friends behind in the Netherlands. After living in Sweden for 1.5 years, we can say that missing family and friends is the hardest part. The children were 5 and 8 years old, and it was especially difficult for our son because he already had friends in his class in the Netherlands and played soccer at the local club.

How Did You Prepare?

We prepared ourselves well, starting language lessons six months before departure to establish a basic foundation in Swedish before leaving. The children didn’t have lessons before departure. A few months before emigrating, we traveled around the province (län) where we wanted to live. This was the province of Dalarna, and during the trip, we found a rental house in Rättvik and had the children try out the new elementary school in Vikarbyn. In the Netherlands, we prepared well by reading books about emigrating and about Sweden. We also attended multiple online webinars where people shared their experiences regarding emigration to Sweden. From the Netherlands and during our trip, we visited agencies and researched all the paperwork involved.

Additionally, we already applied for jobs with Swedish employers from the Netherlands. We also had our bachelor’s degrees evaluated by an agency and converted to meet Swedish requirements.

I contacted EURES in NL (Robert Kobben) and also Lara Feller in Sweden to receive more information about the potential help your organization could provide. We also used the Export WW (UWV Netherlands) which gave us a short transition period to eventually find a job in Sweden.

What is your Advice for People who also Want to Emigrate to Sweden?

In my opinion, speaking Swedish is one of the most important factors for successful integration and finding a job.

Furthermore, speaking and understanding the language helps with integrating into the local community. Every person who emigrates has their own goals in mind, and these can obviously differ per individual. After 1.5 years, we all speak Swedish well and understand the language very well, which helps tremendously in daily life.

What Do You Do for Work in Sweden? And Can You Describe your Work Week?

I work at Vasaloppet, and I’m incredibly proud to work there as a sports coordinator for the event.

Historically, Vasaloppet is Sweden’s most beautiful and largest winter event and even the world’s largest cross-country skiing event. Besides the winter event, we also organize a summer event with running and mountain biking competitions.

As a sports coordinator, I’m responsible for several projects including the registration system for all participants, event timing, development of different races, and ordering materials for all races. Additionally, our department handles contact with foreign participants and travel groups (international contacts). The work week is very diverse, and I work with different departments.

The Vasaloppet races are also broadcast live on SVT, which is comparable to NOS in the Netherlands. Our main sponsors are Volvo, Stadium, IBM, Ahlsell, and Preem.

Vasaloppet: www.vasaloppet.se

The Vasaloppet is “the world’s largest long-distance ski race” (cross-country skiing competition). The first race was organized in 1922, and the classic 90 km route between Berga by Sälen and Mora was the only race for a long time. The Vasaloppet winter week with cross-country skiing and summer week with mountain biking and running attract nearly 100,000 participants annually. Since its start in 1922, over 1.8 million participants have crossed the finish portal in Mora. At Vasaloppsföreningen Sälen-Mora, about 35 full-year employees work on planning, preparing, and developing the various events throughout the year. During the event, 4,500 volunteers from different associations help with the event.

At the end of February 2024, we’ll have the 100th edition of the event, with 60,000 participants from around the world taking part this winter. There are different races over 10 days, with the main 90km race as the headline event on Sunday, March 3.

How Have You Integrated into Sweden?

After 1.5 years, we can say that we’ve integrated well. We prepared thoroughly and it certainly didn’t come easily.

We first lived in a rental house for a year and last summer 2023 we bought our own house.

My wife works at Mora Kommun (municipality) and works at different elementary schools as a curator. The children participate in sports at local sports clubs and I’m a coach for our son’s team. We celebrate Swedish festivals like Midsommar, Lucia, and Valborg. It’s a unique experience to learn about a new culture, learn to speak a new language, and discover a new country.

Do You Have any Tips Regarding Integration / Learning the Language, etc.?

One tip is to start with the language as soon as possible. We started playfully with the Duo Lingo language app to expand our vocabulary. We soon combined this with online private lessons. In Sweden, I took classes at the local kommun (municipality) and took national language exams.

For integration, it helps to join clubs; in our case, it obviously helps that our children go to school and participate in sports clubs, which allows us to have a lot of contact with parents.

What are the most Notable Differences in (Work) Culture between Sweden and the Netherlands?

I would say that the balance between work and private life is better in Sweden.

Additionally, Swedes consciously take time for Fika (Fika is a social custom in Sweden where work or other daily activities are interrupted to come together, drink tea or coffee, and eat something. It happens at a planned moment and is consciously used to take breaks and maintain social contacts.).

This took some getting used to at first; we have 2 Fika moments per day and lunch break from 12:00 to 13:00.

All Swedes also eat hot meals during lunch, and children all eat hot meals at school. As a family, we now also eat hot meals during lunch.

We live in the province of Dalarna with 290,000 inhabitants; the province is about the same size as Belgium. The population density is not comparable to the Netherlands. Life is much less hectic.

Swedes are generally much more reserved and less direct than what we’re used to in the Netherlands. Swedes are often very modest.

In Sweden, you have to take off your shoes when you enter someone’s home, and children all walk around school in their socks.

Children play outside at school down to -18°C, a well-known Swedish saying is “Det finns inget dåligt väder, bara dåliga kläder” or “There’s no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing”. Education is more focused on outdoor activities throughout the year compared to the Netherlands. Learning and growing up in nature.

In Sweden, there’s the right of public access. You can enjoy nature freely, hiking, cycling, swimming, and boating. You can pick mushrooms and berries, and in most places, you can wild camp for a certain period.

How Do You Look Back on your Decision to Emigrate to Sweden? And to What Extent Does your Expectation Match Reality?

We absolutely look positively at our decision to emigrate to Sweden. It’s an incredible adventure for us as a family to experience emigration. This comes with ups and downs, of course. There are challenges in Sweden just like you had them in the Netherlands. We feel that we’re truly living every day, and we experience wonderful adventures both individually and as a family.

An emigration and its impact is difficult to imagine when you’re still living in the Netherlands because you tend to romanticize everything. Eventually, you also have to work in another country, integrate, and build a social life. What’s a fact is that Sweden as a country with its beautiful nature brings our family a lot. You rely more on each other compared to the Netherlands.

What Do You Wish You Had Known before You Actually Emigrated?

We prepared well and researched a lot ourselves. However, I can imagine that it’s not always easy for people to gather all the important information before taking such a step because you also leave a lot behind in the Netherlands and what the consequences of this are. In our case, I didn’t necessarily want to know much more; we proactively worked on preparing ourselves.

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💡 EURES Netherlands helps you find a job in other EU countries. Would you like to discuss your opportunities in Sweden or elsewhere in Europe with us, just like Olaf did? Contact us! You can send an email to: werken.ineuropa@uwv.nl