Welcome to Sweden: Just Like Real Life for Expats

waiting to go in and help film for Welcome to Sweden

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to be on set with the cast and crew of Welcome to Sweden. For those of you who have not yet heard of Welcome to Sweden, it is a comedic TV show that documents Bruce's (Greg Poehler) move to Sweden to live with his Swedish girlfriend. Welcome to Sweden does a great job of of highlighting some of the experiences and challenges that a person can (and most likely will) face any time they are moving to a new country, whether they are moving for a short amount of time or for an indefinite period.

Personally, as an expat, I completely relate to the show and think that it is 100% dead on when portraying some of the things that expats go through! Whether you currently live abroad, have just moved home from living abroad, or are contemplating making the move, I would definitely check out this show. Of course, some of the humor is specific to life in Sweden, but any expat can relate to some of the challenges that expat life offers. Today, I'm going to touch on just five of the aspects of expat life displayed in Welcome to Sweden that are just like real life for myself, and other expats.


1. Jet lag & a long travel day, then being instantly thrown into your new life. In the show, Bruce arrives to Sweden and is right away thrown into his new life, going to visit his girlfriend's family and friends and attend a party. Of course, this comes after an overnight flight and not sleeping for 20+ hours. From my experience, this can definitely be just like expat life! While moving to a new country, you go through the challenges of packing your life up into boxes, saying good-byes to friends and family, and then actually making the move. Once you arrive, you definitely are not instantly settled- nope, it is time to go out, meet new people, then eventually have an opportunity to unpack and get some sleep!

2. Language barriers! Throughout the show, there are times where the language barrier is touched on. The one that speaks most significantly to me is being at a party or social gathering, and wandering around not being able to participate in or join in on conversations because the language is different. While people are (in general!) good about speaking English around myself and other expats, there are definitely times where we feel quite awkward and unable to participate in conversations. Even after living in Sweden for almost two years now and working to learn the language, I am far from fluent. Because of this, I personally (as every expat living with a new language does!) know the feeling of wandering from conversation to conversation and being unable to participate.

3. Culturally, feeling as though you don't fit in at times. Part of this is due to the language barrier, but part of this is also because of different cultural customs and rules. For example, in Sweden everyone takes their shoes off immediately upon entering a new house, and when entering a room and meeting people says their name and shakes hands- with every person in the room. Now, these are things you wouldn't know unless you are Swedish or have been informed of the 'rules'… I'm sure there are similar things to this for other expats! Until you know some of these traditions, it is quite easy to feel that you don't fit in.

4. Being defensive of both cultures. This one is classic. In Welcome to Sweden, Bruce ends up defending Sweden to his American friends, and defending America to his Swedish friends. I do this same exact thing, defending both cultures that I live in, even though there are certainly times where I complain about them. For some unexplainable reason though, it is only OK to make fun of or complain about the cultures when it is yourself doing it. (yes, obviously I can take jokes. But really, my friends from back home can't complain about Sweden or Swedish culture- they've never been here. Vice versa for a ton of Swedes!) Once you feel you are a part of both cultures, you naturally feel defensive of both of each culture and become protective of it.

5. The challenges of making new friends. This is also somewhat related to the language barrier, but it can be quite difficult at times to make new friends! In Welcome to Sweden, Bruce becomes friends with an Iraqi guy under the premises that he is Canadian. When moving abroad, you will likely meet people from all over the world, and while at times these friendships may be with people you would not 'normally' be friends with, you can learn so much from these people!

6. People back home having no idea where you really live. Now, perhaps this is just a living in Sweden thing, but every single person back home seems to think Sweden and Switzerland are the same. This could be an exaggeration, but every time I go home I have somebody asking me how Switzerland is. Usually, I respond "Well, I'm sure its nice but I haven't been there in the past 9 years!" and am met by an astonished statement that the person thought I lived there. Have other expats experienced this, where people know you live somewhere else but just can't figure it out? Or is it just these darned European countries that start with SW and are clearly the same country?

All in all, I had a great time on the set of Welcome to Sweden. The show is hilarious to myself and people that know Sweden, and even beyond that does a great job of portraying some of the challenges that expats face when living in new cultures. Have you ever seen Welcome to Sweden? If you are an expat, do you think it accurately portrays some of the challenges, and what are other challenges you have experienced?