VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4 APRIL 2013

President Letter 2

Sponsors 3

Why Not Volunteer!?! 3

From the Editor’s Desk 4

GEP Vision 4

China in Focus 5

International Pot Luck 5

International Coffee Morning 6

Relocation Support 6

March Important Dates 6

Art of Networking Coffee Morning 7

Language Service 7

Cross Cultural - Seminar 8

Cyber World & Me 8

Easter Egg Hunt 9

Improving the Lives of Global Couple 10

Member Benefit 11

Moving 12

Tax Due 12

Happy Families 13

Typically Swedish 14

Awareness Month - Autism 15

What’s Buzzing in Stockholm 16

Notice Board 17

In this Issue:

Global Expat Magazine

Global Expat Partners AB

Is Your Spouse Key to You?

When: Wednesday 24 April Time: 9:30 to 12:30

We kindly invite you to the workshop:

'Entering the Swedish

Labour Market'

This workshop supports you while preparing to find a

nice job in Sweden. During the workshop we address the

3 main topics:

1) The Swedish Company Culture

2) CV Writing => A (Swedish) Format

3) Interview Training => The Do's and Don'ts

The workshop is facilitated by Fredrik Lange

(RANDSTAD)

Sign up here

Workshop - Jobs in Sweden

Many expat spouses quit their job back home in order to sup-port their other half when he or she is given an overseas post-ing. Losing a job can be heart-breaking and depressing, and, if a couple isn't careful, it could harm the marriage. It can be very cost-ly for the company as well: after the move the employee may not

be as happy, not as well focused on his or her tasks at work which translates to poor performance, and may well end the contract.

If you keep a level head and support one another, you can survive an overseas move and that is why, as a first step, we at Global Expat Centre Stockholm offer support for spouses who may want to return to

work, study or volunteer, by offering a range of seminars and workshops. Second, in the era of the War for Talent

It is a big loss to not make use of the thou-sands of talented and skilled accompanying spouses. It is a waste of talent to NOT appreci-ate their expertise. Global Expat Partners is working with our collaborating companies to increase job opportunities for accompanying spouses.

Don't be afraid to ask how other people got through this difficult time: it may give you some perspective on the situation.

We invite expat spouses this month for our Job Support Workshop on 24th April.

PAGE 2 GLOBAL EXPAT MAGAZIN E VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4

President’s Letter

Feels Like “Home”

Dear friends,

In March, the team of the Global Expat Centre did a great job by moving the Global Expat Centre, your ’Home Away From Home’, from Odengatan to Västmannagatan 92. Some of us joked about the exercise suggesting that I had created an alternative team building activity. If so, I succeeded as it was definitely a great one: hard work, great collabora-tion combined with fun! The new premises was approved by our members during the Friday Night Mingle and many enthused that the place was ’much more like Home’. Thanks team for doing a great job!

Our Madrid team member, Danielle, will soon hear about her next posting. Very exciting for me as I sincerely hope that she will move back to Stock-holm again. It is amazing how well she has man-aged to work remotely to support the expatriates in Stockholm. The timing would be perfect as we see the big cleaners in the streets already collecting the small stones that protected us from slippery side walks. For those of us who stayed in Stockholm longer…. this cleaning car is the sign that winter is about to end.

In March we facilitated an interesting workshop on Cross-Cultural Competence as Key to Global Suc-cess. In April, we will organise another breakfast meeting with the focus on cross-cultural awareness and competence in Chinese Culture. In collabora-tion with the Chinese Embassy, Xin Fan will facili-tate this workshop where she will reveal the secrets on how successful business is being conducted in China.

In April, we will organise the workshop ‘Job Sup-port’ for those expat spouses who would like to work during their posting in Stockholm. The focus

during this workshop is on learning about Busi-ness Culture, CV writing and interview techniques. We aim to prepare you so that you can approach the Swedish labour market with confidence. Many of our spouses have managed to find good jobs after taking part in this training. For the spouses who would like to start their own businesses, they can count on getting the right advice that will lead to empowerment in April too.

Furthermore, we will organise on 10th April a workshop on Third Culture Kids, facilitated by Lysanne Sizoo of Turning Point. On Friday 12th April, Erin Miller will lead a great International Potluck where our members can share their fa-vourite recipes from around the world and enjoy the best dishes they ever tasted! The lunch is or-ganised at the Global Expat Centre and will be repeated every month. Much more is planned for April and I invite all our members to benefit from all the free events.

I look forward to an exciting month and hope to welcome many of you again!

Spring greetings!

Claudia de Leeuw-van Wijk

President

Global Expat Partners

Global Expat Partners has managed to develop a great post-relocation programme for expatriate families in Stockholm and through this programme, we are able to support interna-tional talent in ENJOYING their Stockholm experience. We thank the organisations below for their great support.

PAGE 3 GLOBAL EXPAT MAGAZIN E VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4

At the Global Expat Centre in Stockholm, expat-riates find a home away from home. A team of professionals support expatriates to have an EASY and ENJOYABLE stay in Stockholm by organising workshops and activities addressing Cultural Awareness, Language Training, Spousal Support and Social & Business Networking. The organisation relies on a fantastic collaboration with all the stakeholders in global mobility => City of Stockholm, International Companies and the EXPAT community. Help us to make Stockholm a great place to live and work! The Global Expat Centre Stockholm is currently looking for motivated volunteers who want to contribute to the well-being of expats in Stock-

Why Not Volunteer!?! holm. We are looking for volunteers with organisa-tional skills who are willing to share their knowledge and experiences to organise and coordinate the Social & Business networking activities. If you feel that you can contribute to supporting expats in Stockholm, please contact us. We are looking for creative minds for our (social) media, excellent hosts for our Inter-national Coffee Mornings, our Embassy Visits, Inter-national Baby Group, International Pot Luck, and sportive people to guide the family during (outdoor) activities. Please send an email about how you want to/are able to contribute to the Global Expat Centre Stockholm to: claudia@globalexpatpartners.com

PAGE 4 GLOBAL EXPAT MAGAZIN E VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4

Where we want to go in our life is normally a very simple question that has no simple, definitive an-swers. This problem applies to individuals and companies. We need to manage our time, energy and resources as best we can, to reach our targets and follow our dreams, and hopefully, achieve them.

To do this in a “scientific manner”, we can use a methodology called Strategic Planning.

As a first step, we need to look at ourselves and identify what are our main strengths, what makes us unique and what we do best.

The second step is to start dreaming: imagining where we want to be in 3-5 years’ time. The con-cept that represents this is the Vision: it should have some special characteristics:

Inspiring Challenging Achievable Simple language Short

The third step is to define the strategies in order to achieve the Vision. Simply put, this means “how” we will actualise our Vision.

Finally, all of the above are based on the Values that define our personal or our company’s behav-iour.

We are very proud to announce that during Febru-

ary and March of 2013, our team at Global Expat Centre worked to define our Vision:

“We support Global Success by Making the World Home”.

The values that we have identified as the basis of our behaviour are:

Collaboration Proactivity Integrity Professionalism Diversity

And the Strategies that we have decided to focus on to enable us to manifest our Vision are:

Client relationships Growth Marketing improvements Internal development

We wanted to share with all of you this key Strategic def-inition to allow you feel part of it!!

Have a nice and Strategic month!

(Submitted by Fernando Ardiles)

GEP Vision

From the Editor’s Desk

April showers bring May flowers … for me it is more about the energy of doing a clean sweep in the house and the endless list of storing, giv-ing, throwing out, and finally getting papers in order for the tax time.

Well, GEC Stockholm did their clean sweep, moving to a new location last month and are now back into the full swing of receiving you all with wonderful smiles and many activities and workshops supporting you in your posting in Stockholm.

With spring often comes change, whether it is for work, an upcoming move or new projects to be taken on.

This month we bring to you an array of sugges-tions to learn more about yourself and to share some of your knowledge and interests with oth-ers through our workshops and activities.

I want to thank Yasmine for the great organisation she did of our family outings and events at the GEC Stockholm while she supported her hus-band’s career.

I encourage volunteering as a way to learn more about ourselves and be stronger as a human com-municators with the world.

Enjoy the new season and take time to smell the flowers.

Danielle Hébert (Madrid)

COO

Global Expat Partners

PAGE 5 GLOBAL EXPAT MAGAZIN E VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4

Claudia and Xin visited the Chinese Embassy of Stockholm on the 11th of March. We met Ms. Xue and Mr. Li in the Economic and Commercial Department to discuss further co-operation between GEP and the Chinese embassy for international companies in Sweden and the Chinese government.

As we all know the Chinese market has grown dramatically during the past few years as many companies have set up business or are seeking business opportunities in China. As the second largest economy in the world, China has ambitions on becoming the world’s largest economic country within the next 15 years. At the same time the Chinese government steps forward for a friendly

China in Focus

foreign investment.

However, many companies meet obstacles to adapt the Chinese environment in the beginning due to the huge differences between east and west. It is almost impossible to make a deal with local Chinese without knowing the language, culture and business practice. Inspire of the local knowledge, it is also very important to have good contact with the Chinese government as it plays a key role for business success with authentic regulars, policies and first-hand information.

Therefore, GEP now is expanding and aiming to bridge the gaps between east and west for success in China in both way, by providing customized mandarin language service, Chinese cultural awareness workshops, activities between the enterprises and Chinese embassy in a comprehensive package. Language and cultural services are designed for the Chinese knowledge enrichment meanwhile for a good relation with the Chinese government through the events and activities with the Chinese embassy in Stockholm. Our members show great interest in this part already.

(Submitted by Xin Fan - Chinese language and cultural consultant)

Welcome to the International Potluck Club! The Potluck lunches will be held every month during the week to give ourselves the chance to meet new peo-ple and explore the different tastes of our cultures. Bring a dish specific to your country, or something you enjoy making, eating and sharing!

The Potluck will be on Wednesday April 12 at 11-13. Invitation to follow.

Please list the dish you will bring when you sign up. On the day of the potluck, please bring a small card with a list of ingredients to place in front of your dish, in case of any food allergies.

International Potluck

From Vancouver Canada, Erin Miller arrived in Stockholm with her husband and two children in May 2011. Erin has been coming to the Centre, participating in Swedish classes and other activ-ites since September 2011. Now that her young-est child is settled into dagis, Erin has a bit more time and will be able to do some volunteer work with the Centre. Erin will be starting the Inter-national Potluck Club! From a background in office administration, and a love of food, pot-lucks have been a regular event planned by Erin in the work place and amongst friends. We look forward to this new, ongoing event and sharing many delicious afternoons together.

Erin Miller

PAGE 6 GLOBAL EXPAT MAGAZIN E VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4

Free International Coffee Morning When: Thursday 18th April

Time: 10.00-12:00

Where: Global Expat Centre Stockholm Address: Västmannagatan 92, 3tr

RSVP by Tuesday 16 April here

Join us, Global Expat Partners, Alfa Quality Moving & Relocation, Crown Relocation, Human Entrance and Nordic Relocation Group to participate in the Free International Coffee Morning and take the chance to grow new international friendships. During the coffee morning we share our experiences and offer you the opportunity to ask your questions about living in Stockholm.

This month a presentation on: "Setting up your own business in Sweden"

Our members can collect their First Class City Pass discount card on that morning.

The coffee morning is an opportunity to meet with like-minded people and build new (international) friend-ships.

We look forward to see you then!

Relocation Support

As a smooth relocation results in a GREAT first impression and experience by the newcomers, Global Expat Partners emphasizes the importance of a high quality relocation support. Global Expat Centre Stockholm collaborates with Alfa Quality Moving & Relocation, Crown Relocation, Human Entrance, Nordic Relocation Group.

10 Third Culture Kid Seminar 12 International Potluck 17 Cross-Cultural Training 18 International Coffee Morning 24 Entering the Swedish Labour Market Workshop 26 Friday Night Mingle

Coming up 15 May: Improving Lives of Global Couples

Important Dates in April at the Centre

PAGE 7 GLOBAL EXPAT MAGAZIN E VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4

On Thursday 14th March we gathered for the last of our International Coffee Mornings to be held at our Odenplan location. We welcomed over 30 ladies and as usual we caught up with each other, warmed our cold hands and chatted over breakfast.

The staff at the centre were especially excited be-cause we had invited Lee Wermelin to join us and speak about the Art of Networking, and we all know how important this is in the modern age, so we were looking for a few tips too!

Lee Wermelin was a delightful speaker: using a Pow-erPoint presentation and technically assisted by our own Helene Grunstrup (great job, Helene!), she gave us some basic insights into the Swedish culture and mentality in order for us, in future, to at least under-stand what we are dealing with when we meet, and try to relate to these elusive Swedes. As a Swede her-self, of course she knew what she was talking about, but she made fun of herself, and made fun of some of us too in the true democratic, Swedish way.

What was so nice about this event was that many of you had your own opinions and weren’t afraid to speak up! And that’s what we like – we want the Global Expat Centre to be a place where we can exchange ideas and opinions and for those of you who would like to continue this dialogue, I invite you now to get involved with us and write a piece for the newsletter or start a group. Let’s engage! (Submitted by: Susana Mensah)

Art of Networking Coffee Morning

Language Service

“The world is a book and the one who stays home only reads one page” ~ Unknown

We live in a world of language and language is the source of human life and power: it is the source of communication. When you know a language, you can speak and be understood by others who know that language.

As a human being and an expat, a new way of com-munication can be challenging, but a new country and a new culture extend your world picture and contribute to a greater and wider perspective at the same time as it contains different challenges.

This month’s morning coffee focused on network-ing, especially networking in Sweden. We talked about how hard it can be to participate in Swedish society so when it comes to you as an expat, you read many chapters in the book, which really extends your

world picture - you get the opportunity to experi-ence different kind of cultures and new and inter-esting people.

As the new manager of language support, I am of course proud to be a part of Global Expat Partners and the great team I now belong to. One of my missions here is to contribute to individual lan-guage development and fortify knowledge and skills among our members and customers. My fo-cus is to support and coach you, as an expat so you have the opportunity to obtain more linguistic abil-ity and a greater understanding in the Swedish lan-guage. This will increase your quality of life and make your posting here in Stockholm a great expe-rience. We are also offering English and Mandarin language learning because We Support Global Suc-cess by Making the World Home ! (Submitted by: Anna Sjöö Hammar)

PAGE 8 GLOBAL EXPAT MAGAZIN E VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4

Last week the Global Expat Center had the pleas-ure of offering a Breakfast Seminar on Cross-Cultural Awareness; Key to Global Success to our partnering companies as well as to the Embassies in Stockholm. We were proud to introduce Gigi de Groot as our Key Speaker, a Cross-Cultural Expert with over 17 years’ experience as both a Cross-Cultural Coach and Trainer, besides having been the CEO of a large international organisation in this field.

It was a great success for the participants: Gigi focused on how cultural competence can contrib-ute to international success. She presented the lat-est research, from March 2013 by Ipsos & Booz Allen Hamilton, concerning cross-cultural skills in the workplace which gave us insight into how cross-cultural skills are perceived, why these skills are important and how they stack up next to other necessary skills – all from the employers’ perspec-tive. The research shows “that there is real busi-ness value in employing staff who have the ability to work effectively with individuals and organisa-tions from cultural backgrounds different from their own. In particular, employers highlight the following as important intercultural skills: The

ability to understand different cultural contexts and viewpoints, demonstrating respect for others and knowledge of a foreign language.” Gigi also illus-trated what risks there are associated with business-es not having intercultural skills: from “global repu-tational damage” over “loss of clients” to “conflict within teams” and finally the alarming statistic of a 33 % risk of “early departure of expat families”.

Where IQ (Intelligence Quotient) used to be the highest valued intelligence, subsequently followed by EQ (Emotional Intelligence), nowadays CQ (Cultural Intelligence) has become a highly prized commodity. This underlines the fact that interna-tional organisations today have to address Cross-Cultural Awareness if they want to become and remain business leaders, win the war for global tal-ent and care for their employees.

After a short presentation by Helene Grunstrup, Xin Fan, and Nisha Nilsson from the Global Expat Center, the attendants stayed for questions and mingling with each other and the speakers, before returning to their busy work lives in and around Stockholm.

Cross-Cultural Breakfast Seminar

When all fails, go to plan B! For me who grew up making computers, I am often absolutely lost today! I can just imagine people that are not so computer literate. How do they sur-

vive with the technology? As an example, this past month all of a sudden my Internet Explorer 9.0 (IE 9.0) doesn't bring up the links from the Global Expat Calendar web site. I tried all sorts

Cyber World and Me

of remedies and to this day still nothing. What to do? I simply went to another browser Mozilla Fire-fox and all is good. I suggest you do the same un-til someone can guide me (us) properly to a solu-tion in English to all who do not have computer wisdom!

If you’ve had such an experience and got a solu-tion, bring it to us and we will publish for our readers. Maybe it’s much better than googling!

Danielle

PAGE 9 GLOBAL EXPAT MAGAZIN E VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4

Saturday morning in Vasaparken, hunting for Easter Eggs! At 10 o’clock Saturday morning the Easter Bunny was quite busy. Making a path through the park with feathers and some leaflets with questions for the kids. At the last point of the tour around 150 eggs were hidden. Since there were a few Swedish children playing, the bunny also gave them some chocolate eggs, hoping they wouldn’t take the rest. ...

At 11, the kids ran off to ‘hunt’. Parents followed and saw their children being very active with the games. The children had to hop like a bunny, answer questions and had to do an egg-relay. It was good fun!

After half an hour we arrived at the big playfield where the eggs were supposed to be hidden. But where were all the eggs??? Luckily the Bunny had some spare eggs in his pocket!! So, quickly some new eggs were put around the playfield. At least all the kids had one to find.

Well, we had made the Swedish kids happy, giving them the best playtime that weekend with free eggs, the bunny thought. Surprisingly the local children didn’t eat them! They just played with them, giving all the eggs a new hiding spot. High up in the hill, under the climbing frame, all the eggs were gathered by them. In the end all the kids had their baskets full, and were eager to eat!

Hoping you all had a great time at the weekend and your kids didn’t get sick ;-).

Since we’re moving at the end of April this was the last outdoor activity organised by me. I hope you’ve enjoyed them as much as I did . Yasmine Dijkstra

Easter Egg Hunt

PAGE 10 GLOBAL EXPAT MAGAZIN E VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4

The Global Expat Centre quite rightly puts international families at the heart of their mission statement. They are well aware that if the families of foreign assignees are not happy the whole assignment can be in jeopardy. At Turn-ing Point we see this in action, either couples come to us to help bring about some clarity in their new work and life situation, or individuals come, often the accompanying spouses, with issues that are linked to the pressures of ad-justing their identity to fit their new lives. However, we strongly believe that the expat experience can help make the relationship and the family stronger.

On 15th May we will once again be teaching our support-ive workshop on the challenges that are faced by interna-tional couples, and once again, the prevailing message is ‘forewarned is forearmed’. There is plenty of literature about the challenges that are faced by accompanying spouses. About 75-80% of accompanying spouses were working independently before the relocation, and so find themselves missing the fulfillment and social context of their own workplace. And in the past years the prevalence of men accompanying their partners abroad has also been growing, bringing with it a new gender aspect. According to a research study by Brookfield relocation service, con-ducted in 2010, 17% of expat assignees are now women, whereas in 2005 (McNulty) this was still only 9%.

We all know the stereotypes that are often projected onto accompanying spouses, not only by the host society, but even by some human resource managers; ladies (and now gentleman) that lunch, spend their days shopping, lack di-rection, enjoy an easy life, are privileged, non-professional, or just dull. In therapy-speak we call these assumptions about the other person ‘Projections’. And projections sometimes ‘stick’ to us because privately, there is a part of us that agrees. Part of working through the accompanying spouse dilemma is to explore our own often unconscious prejudices, or those that we feel we’re picking up from our partners.

There is a huge difference between going straight into a foreign assignment and being ‘left’ holding the proverbial babies, house contracts, plumbing issues, telephone con-nections, etc., all in a foreign language and in a culture that might look and feel the same but inevitably does things very differently. Often the accompanying spouses feel the culture shock far more than the foreign assignee. Identity issues, disenfranchised grief, guilt, loneliness and isolation are other factors that play a part in making it a real chal-lenge to be the +1. But for the foreign assignee there are the pressures of uprooting your family, feeling that you have to prove yourself ten timers harder and can’t afford failure. Both partners may end up feeling that no one really appreciates how hard they are working, with or without a salary. Couples need to sit down and acknowledge their changing roles, take time to measure the expectations against the reality, and keep reminding each other that it is unproductive to keep blaming the other, and more produc-tive to find ways to reconnect as a team.

Improving the Lives of Global Couple

Then, when these issues can be acknowledged and worked through, the status of being in a transitory phase of life can also offer huge potential. It can be a time where you have the space to rethink your direction in life. You might want to start working on that book that you’ve always wanted to write, or get more involved in the lives of your children, something third culture kids will deeply appreciate. Or you may want to use the time to start studying again, or train really hard to be able to run Tjejmilen and the Stockholm marathon, as one of my acquaintances decided to do.

To get from feeling overwhelmed and unappreciated to excited and entrepreneurial doesn’t happen overnight. And it certainly won’t happen if, as many expat couples do, you get stuck in the feeling that there must be something very wrong with you if you’re not up and running, speaking the language fluently, and having a great time all within two months. The first step is to acknowledge you have bitten off a huge chunk of life experience, and it needs to be fully chewed and digested before you can begin to do something with it. Knowing what to expect, and getting confirmation that you are exactly where you need to be right now, is of-ten the boost you need to move into a more enterprising stage. At Turning Point we hope that our Global Expat workshops will contribute to that turn-around, and we hope that we can welcome many of you at our presentation in May .

Lysanne Sizoo is the founder and director of the Turning-Point Coun-selling Center and has been working as a counsellor and psychothera-pist since 1997. She regularly holds workshops and presentations to the international community of Stockholm on subjects that are perti-nent to the cross cultural experience. Louise Wästlund is a Relate trained counsellor who has lived in the USA, UK and in Sweden. She works predominantly with interna-tional couples.

Lysanne Sizzoo

Turning Point

Upcoming on Wednesday 15 May

Workshop on support for the accompanying spouse, how

to improve lives of global couple with Turning Point.

Sign up here

Limited space.

PAGE 11 GLOBAL EXPAT MAGAZIN E VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4

Member Benefits Global Expat Centre Stockholm

Our members enjoy many benefits with their First Class City Pass.

COMVIQ/TELE2 FREE TELEPHONE & INTERNET CONNEC-TION Comviq hopes that you will enjoy living here and would like to help you get off to a great start by giving the members of the Global Expat Centre two start packages: A free prepaid SIM card (worth SEK 99) and

SEK 100 in call credits A free mobile broadband start package (worth

SEK 199) and one month of free surf (worth SEK 269).

RITUALS The Rituals philosophy is sim-ple: happiness can be found in the smallest of things. It is the company’s passion to transform your everyday routines into meaningful rituals. Just by taking the time to enjoy simple things like a warm bath, a cup of tea or a re-laxing massage, you can transform them into mean-ingful experiences. Members get 20% off at Täby Centrum. TALLINK SILJA Our Members benefit from strongly reduced fees to provide appreciated member benefits when booking a cruise with Tal-link Silja Lines to the beautiful Baltic Sea States. 70% discount for our members. 10% Discount on the Stockholm Card Do the smart thing when you’re in Stockholm. With the Stockholm Card you get free admission to 80 museums and attractions as well as unlimited use of the subway, buses and lo-cal trains. You will also enjoy free boat sightseeing and a really good guidebook! Our members enjoy a 10% discount when booking through www.visitstockholm.com

THANN SANCTUARY An oasis in total harmony with a selected range of massages based on the THANN holistic treatment approach. From the moment you enter, all your senses will be awak-ened. The warm atmosphere you encounter will make you feel cherished and give you peace and quiet in contrast to the hectic city life outside. Members of the Global Expat Centre are of-fered a 20% discount on treatments from Tues-day to Friday, and 15% off on Thann products.

Located on Sveavägen 106. Members get 15% discount on their products. LENÔ TRE In their shop you can find fine grocery items such as Foie gras (goose liver or duck liver), truf-fles, oil, vinegar, different kinds of tapenade and many flavours of salted aperitif biscuits. In the sweet section they have confectionery, chocolate boxes, French nougat, calissons, pies, macaroons, big cakes, ice cream and sorbet, croissant and pain au chocolat and many kind of individual pastries. Members get 15% off at Karlavägen 5 9 , S t o c k h o l m T . b a n a S t a d i o n

Global Expat Centre is Also Our

Members Place to Go To

We invite our members to share their interests

and make use of the Centre for their clubs.

There is no better way to

integrate than to initiate

an activity. We give mem-

bers a place to go to!

PAGE 12 GLOBAL EXPAT MAGAZIN E VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4

Moving

I sit here alone in the Centre at Odenplan, sur-rounded by boxes knowing that tomorrow we begin the arduous task of moving your home away from home to our new location. Moving always brings mixed feelings: a door is closing and hope-fully newer, better doors are opening. Global Ex-pat Partners is a fairly new concept and I feel that we have reached an important stage in our devel-opment and more importantly, we are moving on to the next phase. The new location at Västmannagatan is going to be wonderful: it’s just 5 minutes’ walk away from our present site, so please take the Västmannagatan exit in future and walk up to number 92 and when

you walk in for the first time, I’m sure you will all agree with me when I say it is full of promise, potential and optimism – you will feel it too. I have to thank Xin, Anna, Jessica, Helene, An-na-Louise for whole- heartedly throwing them-selves into the task of packing things up – who knew we had so much stuff? I think even Clau-dia had forgotten just how many plates we actu-ally have! However in the near future we intend to use those plates as we plan new events and grow stronger together in the new Centre. (Submitted by: Susana Mensah)

Tax Due May 2

Filing and payment – Individuals with taxable em-ployment income of at least SEK 18,700 during the tax year must file a tax return and submit it to the tax office by 2nd May of the year following the tax year.

Source: Tax 2013 Sweden

There is a fine of 1000 SEK if you are late, and be honest with your assets, otherwise more penalties!

We would like to thank Yasmine for her great energy volunteering at the Global Ex-pat Centre Stockholm, greeting many of you always with a wonderful smile! Have a nice return to homeland and wishing you a won-derful journey until we meet again!

The Global Expat Team

PAGE 13 GLOBAL EXPAT MAGAZIN E VOLUME 4 ISSUE 4

“Happy Families”

“I am really looking forward to seeing our new location”, a member excitedly exclaimed as we sipped our beverages at the “Art of Networking” International Coffee Morning in March. Our con-versation centered around the move from Odenga-tan 62 to Västmannagatan 92, which by the way went smoothly and as planned. We, at Global Ex-pat Partners (GEP), hope that all of you will visit your new “home” as much as possible and consid-er the friends you will make here as your extended “family”. If you have ever been curious about peo-ple from other cultures and have longed to make friends from around the world, “carpe diem” or now is the moment to seize the day. Most recently, the eye-catching title of the play “Happy Families”, written by Niall Balfe, lured me to the Bristol Theatre in Sundbyberg the weekend of 8th-9th March. The play was performed only over that weekend by the Spuds and Sill Amateur Drama Society (www.spudsandsill.com), which is a part of the Swedish Irish Society based in Stock-holm. The Spuds and Sill theatre group perform different plays annually and this year they did “Happy Families”(100 SEK/per ticket). Although I am fluent in Swedish, I was relieved that the play was in English and that I would not have to strain myself to understand the nuances of the Swedish language in a theatrical production. The plot of “Happy Families” revolves around family members who meet up in Dublin to cele-brate the Christmas holiday season. However, are they truly happy or is it a facade to cover up the resentment and envy that lurks beneath the sur-face? Shocking secrets are revealed as the story unfolds. Neighbourly gossip is exchanged while downing Jamesons and declarations of love are made under the mistletoe. The amateur actors made a good effort to keep us entertained but the star of the show was a cute 5-year old little girl who made her stage debut and charmed the audience with her courageous performance as “Ashling O’Toole”. As the play was about families, I began to reflect on what that word meant to me since it never fails to evoke a warm and fuzzy feeling in my heart. While most families have their ups-and-downs, occasional intrigues and gatherings that may be stressful, for me family is the source of love and the core of our well-being as individuals. For many of us the term “family” includes not only our nu-clear families but also our relatives, i.e., people re-

lated to us by blood or marriage, and peo-ple/friends who “become family” along the way. In my own journey as a global citizen, my “family” includes my undergraduate college friends and classmates with whom I shared a common experience at a small academic institu-tion in a tiny town in Western Massachusetts. “Family” for me also includes the friends and colleagues I worked with at the United Nations prior to moving to Sweden. Blending cultures and keeping you happy makes us happy at GEP. Our team hopes that the Cen-tre will become your “home” and the friends you make during your stay in Stockholm will become your extended “family”. The cultural workshops, language lessons, socio-business network activities and family support services are a wonderful way to interact with fascinating people from different countries. I can assure you that there is nothing more personally satisfying than building lifelong friendships and relation-ships, which will keep you connected with like-minded people sharing similar cross-cultural ex-periences around the world. (Submitted by: Nisha Nilsson)

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Typically Swedish

Valborg -Walpurgis Night There's a penetrating chill in the wind. The bright moon rises behind the shivering, nearly naked trees. A profound sense of foreboding permeates the darkness. This is the night, after all, when witches ride their broomsticks through the sky, and the natural world is forced to confront the powers of the supernatural.

The arrival of spring has been celebrated at Skansen since 1894. It is celebrated with singing, speeches and late night bonfires.

Choral singing is a popular pastime in Sweden, and one occasion when nearly every choral singer in the country lets rip is the evening of 30th April, known as Walpurgis Night or, more strictly as Walburga´s Eve (Valborgsmässoafton) being the eve of the feast of Walburga, which comes on 1st May.

When bonfires light up the night skies across the Scandinavian peninsula, families and friends gather for the season's first picnics, enjoying dishes like gravlax, herring salad, and fresh strawberries.

Traditional Swedish Picnic

The food is similar to other Northern European cuisines: simple and hearty, fish being a major component. The colloquial expression "smorgasbord" is actually a Swedish word that represents a common way of eating a meal --- by means of many small dishes. This is also a com-mon way of having a picnic in the country, with many of the popular dishes being packed up and eaten out in nature.

Kottbullar (Swedish Meatballs)

Swedish meatballs are either made from one or a combination of ground pork, veal or beef. They can be either baked in the oven or pan-fried, though the latter gives a better result. These can be used for a dinner the night before and taken for a picnic the next day. They can be served cold and are great on bread with cheese, or served on their own with a standard gjetost cheese sauce for dip-ping.

Inlagd Sill (Salted Herring)

Salted herring is a popular cold fish that is easy to transport and common at meals. Slices can be placed on top of rye bread with some cheese to make a sandwich, or eaten plain with pickled red onions.

Gravad Lax (Cured Salmon)

Gravad lax is one of the most famous Swedish dishes. The fish is cured in a marinade of sugar, salt and dill for up to a week. It is generally sliced thinly and placed on crackers or rye bread with cheese or a mustard sauce. This is an easy and transportable dish for picnics and features heavily in most appetizers in Sweden.

Smorgastarta (Sandwich Cake)

One large sandwich cake is also a good Swedish picnic food as it can be the only dish taken along; an entire cake is just sliced and served in individu-al portions. A smorgastarta consists of layers of white bread with savoury fillings in between. Cold cuts, sliced cured fish, olives and cheese are standard ingredients.

Welcome to Spring and don’t forget the strawber-ries !

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Awareness Month for Autism

April is the month of awareness of Autism. In my English book club this past month we read and discussed the book “Look me in the eye” by John Elder Robison.

Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger disorder (AD), is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that is characterised by signifi-cant difficulties in social interac-

tion, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development. Although not required for diagnosis, physical clumsiness and atypical (peculiar, odd) use of language are fre-quently reported.

Most children improve as they mature to adult-hood, but social and communication difficulties may persist.

When you read a book there are always things you learn, about yourself or another part of the world. I thought this book could be read in ref-erence to anti-bullying and to teach us that just because a person is different, they have certain gifts and need to be respected just the same. It has a lot of humour and now I know why my brother was so much into Kiss guitars! And I may just buy a Land Rover soon!

If you have never heard of Asperger, you may want to read about it. After reading this book, I reflected that we are all at times a little Asperger, so involved in our passion or living in the mo-ment and not letting anything in.

Another book written, which younger audience can read, is “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon. “House Rules” by Jodi Picoult is an author I really enjoy for her psychology break- through and I thank my friend Gosia, who I met in Stockholm and who made me discover her.

(Submitted by: Danielle Hébert)

Do You Love Your Children?

We had a great contributor to our newsletter who returned to her homeland in December, and continues her dream career as a coach. Visit Karlijn de Broeck in her most recent youtube video here.

Hello from all of us at Global Expat Centre Stockholm!

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Stockholm Activities

Stockholm offers you a wide range of events and activities to enjoy. For a total overview, visit the website: www.visitstockholm.com/en/

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MONTH

April 11 to April 14– Nordic Garden

Spring is here and so is Scandinavia's leading garden show. Lots of inspiring exhibitions of new ideas, tips and suggestions. Seeds, plants, tools, seminars, machinery, greenhous-es, ponds, pools, books, magazines, balconies and plenty of exciting new products Where: Stockholmsmässan, Älvsjö www.nordiskatradgardar.se

Saturday 13 April - 2 June- Jens Assur. Africa is a Great Country

Meet the urban Africa! Photographer Jens Assur’s has visited the big cities on the African continent and presents topical artistic depictions of the swift developments and changes that are presently taking place there. The pictures also challenge, in a self-assured and rare manner, the dominant perspective of the media reporting from Africa. Instead of catastrophes, viewers will encounter a hyper-urban lifestyle, a quickly growing middle class at work and at play, a trend-conscious culture and entertainment scene, crea-tive entrepreneurs and the architecture, expansion and immense infrastruc-tures of the gargantuan metropolises. Africa is a great country at Liljevalchs is the first stop of this touring exhibition which will comprise seminars and discussions .

Saturday April 20, 6pm to 12pm - Stockholm Culture Night

Stockholm Culture Night is the night when the cultural institutions of Stockholm come together to create a special and unforgettable experience. All with free admis-sion! Boat rides around the archipelago, exhibitions, dancing, mingling and live music are on the menu when Stockholm roles out the purple carpet. All in all, close to 85 art galleries, clubs, museums, theatres and a number of other participants extend an invitation to more than 100 events taking place in one night.

For more information, go to Culture House Information Center at Sergels Torg. The full program can be found at www.kulturnattstockholm.se.

Until Sunday 12 May 2013 -Poul Gernes - Made in Sweden Spring’s most exciting news at Artipelag’s Art Hall is the exhibition Sidekick featuring artists Poul Gernes and Cosima von Bonin. The art of Poul Gernes has become the object of international interest in various exhibitions such as Documenta XII, Kassel 2007, Deichtorhallen, Hamburg 2010, Malmö Konsthall and Lund’s Konsthall 2011. In Artipelag’s exhibition Sidekick, the works of Poul Gernes and Cosima von Bonin will be shown together for the first time in Swe-den. Artipelagstigen 1, 134 40 Gustavsberg www.artipelag.se/en/exhibition/poul-gernes-sidekick-cosima-von-bonin For all your concerts and special events check www.Ticnet.se Enjoy it all!!

What’s Buzzing in Stockholm?

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Global Expat Partners is a proud sponsor to Zinc

Saves Kids

Zinc Saves Kids’ is an initiative of the International Zinc Association

(IZA) to improve the survival, growth and development of undernour-

ished children by funding UNICEF-supported Zinc programs around

the world.

www.http://www.zincsaveskids.org/

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