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THE SWEDISH AFRICAN

I am a South African who studied radio journalism, landed a desk job and eventually packed it up for the more interesting life. And along the way, I fell in love with my soul mate and partner in crime – a Swede. After we parted in Paris, we did a year of long distance and visited over 25 countries between us: I worked in France, Italy and Tanzania and hot-footed it around parts of South America while he navigated the Panama Canal and spent three months working at the America’s Cup in San Francisco. We met up again in Colombia and then in France before a five month-culture swap in our home countries: Sweden and South Africa. And somewhere, in the thick of that adventure, THE SWEDISH AFRICAN was born. Join me in my story where I explore what it means to live the different life: http://theswedishafrican.wordpress.com/
South African expat missing home

The Anxious Expat Who Really Missed Home

By THE SWEDISH AFRICAN 16-09-15 12:06

I used to think anxiety and depression were all a load of hogwash, those things cray-cray, pill-popping people go through; until, quite suddenly, I woke up as an expat living abroad and didn’t feel at all myself. It started with a panic attack in the middle of the night, when I was woken up by […]

The Not So Normal Life of an Expat Wife

By THE SWEDISH AFRICAN 05-07-15 21:51

Back in the day when I lived a relatively normal life, I ended up sat in one of those stiff, four-walled office interviews where the interviewer asked me — quite originally — where I saw myself in five years’ time. Bored by the question, I sat there rather straight-faced, stared out of the window and […]

A South African…On Becoming European

By THE SWEDISH AFRICAN 12-01-15 11:03

“Does Europe feel like home yet?” asked a good mate from South Africa. “I can’t say it does – just yet,” came my reply. Although it did get me wondering when Europe would feel like home. I’ve been here over two years. Would it be when I learn how to speak the language? (French when I’m […]

We love Africa…but it hurts

By THE SWEDISH AFRICAN 27-02-15 20:39

A South African woman came by my Swedish brother- and sister-in-law’s bakery in Billeberga, Sweden the other day, and mentioned that she’d heard of another South African (me) who was flitting about town. And as the story goes with most South African expats – she proceeded to make a case for why she and her husband […]