Life in the Land of the Ice and Snow Podcast

The Podcast

Heather and her expat friends discuss their experiences and humiliations among their adopted country of Sweden. We discuss tips, observations, and the type of important questions expats want to know, such as “Why are there witches on Easter?”, “Why do Swedes never take the last piece of candy?” and “Where can I find decent Tex-Mex food?”.
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The Blog

As an American living in Stockholm I’ve had lots of observations and questions about my adopted country of Sweden that I’ve been blogging about since 2009. I talk about the difficulties of finding a job, parenting, and horrible, horrible language mistakes.
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Latest episodes

image shows a bowl of chili

#136 Love Story, Chili & Taxes

John, from Texas, ended up in Sweden by marrying the Swedish foreign exchange student he met long ago.

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#135 Building Northern Dreams with Project Sweden

We talk to the hosts of the popular YouTube channel Project Sweden. Mimi from The Netherlands and Derrick from Texas.

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#134 Navigating Swedish Language with a Side of Humor

Sarah, from Australia, is involved in publishing books around Swedish language and culture and how people, mainly non-native Swedes, experience that. She also has the best tip for surviving the darkness of November. To explore what books are available at Lys, just visit their site here: https://www.lysforlag.com/?lang=en

Latest Posts

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Pumpkin Spice has gone too far

On a recent trip to Dublin, I spotted this sign in a spa window:

image shows comment feed on Facebook discussing whether kids can trick or treat in a Swedish neighborhood

The Annual Halloween Confusion

And so it begins again. The annual confusion over the correct day for Swedes to celebrate Halloween. This is just a sample from our neighborhood online group. Allow me to translate:  -Can kids go on Halloween and ring on private people’s doors October 31st? -Yes, anyone that has a lit pumpkin in front of their … Read more

image of the top of my head in a bathroom mirror that I am too short to reach.

These are some tall people

Once again, I’m reminded of how I will always be different than the majority of Scandinavians by simply trying to look at my own face in the bathroom mirror at a Swedish hotel.  I also can’t look out of the peephole in the door without standing in my toes.