In december 2023, my husband and I made the decision to move from India to Skellefteå. We were excited as this was our first time relocating to a new country. But moving to a new place is never easy.

When we first discussed the move, I googled Skellefteå and researched on different social media platforms.

I wanted to get an idea of our new life. Moving to a new place means that you must restart your whole life from scratch. We were moving far from our family, friends and the comfort of home. 

We were used to a certain way of living in our home country, which would be different in Skellefteå. But the opportunity to develop my husband’s career, the chance to experience a new culture, and to live among a diverse community, persuaded us to move to Skellefteå.

But we were worried, too. The first issue was the weather. We lived in the southern part of India where the average temperature rarely falls below 20°C even during winters, and we had never seen snow. 

This concerned us as we were moving in december, one of the coldest months in Skellefteå. We were not sure if we could adapt to the cold. We also didn't know if there were any Indian people living in Skellefteå, and how the local people treated newcomers. I was also worried about whether I would be able to find a suitable job.

To ease our move we found some people living in Skellefteå through mutual friends, WhatsApp and Facebook groups, and enquired about Skellefteå. They shared their experiences of living here. 

We were introduced to the common Swedish saying of “there is no bad weather, only bad clothing”, and we equipped ourselves with the necessary clothing. We also understood the tough housing market and joined multiple housing queues. 

The support from Northvolt's relocation team gave us a lot of confidence. They provided us with temporary accommodation, relieving us of the pressure to find a place immediately. 

Finally, the day arrived, and we started with an emotional send-off from all our family and friends. There was a lot of excitement, but there were doubts too. We landed in Stockholm and took the late evening flight to Skellefteå. 

It was a cold winter night, dark and full of snow. As we were approaching Skellefteå, I recall looking through the window with a lot of eagerness and a little fear, waiting for the flight to land and to finally experience the place for real. How would it be? Would we love it or hate it? 

Don't miss Sushma's account of her first experience of Skellefteå, in her second column in two weeks' time. 

This column was originally published att norran.se/english, the English part of norran.se.