EXAMPLE PAGE - MAGAZINE - LIVING - Flipbook - Sida 16
and approachable person. But here
in my small village, I was never able
to get past the “Let’s be pleasant and
just talk about the weather” stage. I
guess that a big part of that was the
language barrier (I had very limited
Swedish at the time) and the fact we
lived in a small village. Of course, I
had my sister here, but I didn’t want
to feel like a burden. She had her
own busy life and I wanted to make
friends of my own.
Around this time, I remember
finishing my Swedish studies and
feeling full of hope that I would be
able to find work here and start to
feel settled. But those hopes were
dashed when my Swedish teacher
told me that I would struggle to find
any job with my limited Swedish.
She meant no harm, but my selfconfidence plummeted. I needed to
work not only for financial reasons
but also to make friends.
I’d left a travel industry job in the
UK that I had loved, with wonderful
colleagues, and as I became more
lonely in Sweden I came to realise
how much I liked just being around
other people. It was all I had ever
known, but suddenly I felt so
isolated. So, I decided to continue
further with my Swedish studies, and
then after a chance meeting, I met
a lovely couple who were looking
to hire someone in their growing
catering business in Skellefteå.
This really was the turning point for
me. Two and a half years later I am
still working for the same employers
and life certainly feels more positive. I have a great job working on
Campus Skellefteå where every day I
get to meet people from all over the
world. With more and more people
now moving into the town from
overseas, my English skills at work
actually come in handy! Through
working in Skellefteå I have made
friends, whether it be my work
colleagues or other people I have met
along the way.
I love that Skellefteå is a
multicultural town and that I can
speak freely in my native language
as well as in Swedish, which is still a
work-in-progress but improving all
the time.
Life for me and my girls is now very
positive. They are thrilled
to have so much more independence
here in Sweden than they ever could
have had in the UK. It’s a safe place
to live, and now that they are all
teenagers it means I can sleep better
at night! I often ask them how
they feel about life in Norrland, and
if they would ever want to return to
the UK and I’m happy to say they
choose northern Sweden every time.
Cheryl was speaking to Paul Connolly
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