The trainee life in Stockholm

The trainee-life in Stockholm has been a good one. It has been very exciting, informative and developing; but also stressful and confusing at times. I guess that’s all part of being a trainee and moving to a new place. I have now worked at Canal Digital in Stockholm for more than four months (Canal Digital is part of Telenor Broadcast). Somehow, that sunny October day when I packed my bag and got on a plane from Oslo to Stockholm seems so close, and yet so far away. The days and weeks have come and gone incredibly fast, and in another two months my stay here will be over. But the journey doesn’t end just yet. My next stop on the trainee-road is Kuala Lumpur, in the beautiful country of Malaysia (- Truly Asia!).

A Norwegian in Sweden
In October last year, after a week of introduction and trainee gathering, I packed up my things in Oslo and moved to Stockholm. The reception at the Canal Digital office in Stockholm was beyond my expectations. The management team at Canal Digital Sweden even took me out for dinner the first evening I was here. My time here at work has been split between the CEO and the Business- and Product Development department in a 60/40 way. And I have learned a lot. Being a technologist from school, I have had quite a few crash-courses in different economy and business fields. I see now that although we are all the same, there are differences between the economists and technologists. We seem to think somewhat different, which of course makes it all the more stimulating. Also, Sweden and Stockholm in particular, is a great place to live, even if I have to switch to English from time to time to make myself clear (one guy even asked me if I was Danish :-D). I thought Swedish and Norwegian were very similar, but there are a few important differences (e.g. the word “rolig” which in Norwegian means “quiet, calm, peaceful” and in Swedish “funny, fun, amusing”). It can be confusing.

Reflecting – revisited
I know the other trainees have done their fair bloging-part about reflections, so this won’t be a long reflection about reflections. However, since I, as the other trainees, have done quite a lot of reflecting the past four-and-some months, I just had to bring it up again. In the beginning I thought these reflections were kind of silly and childish. Most of us reflect upon what are doing naturally. But now that we have started digging into the whys and the hows of what we do and feel in different situations, it has become a great tool for personal development. Saying that is so not me four and a half months ago…

Exciting road ahead
As if Sweden hasn’t been a lot of fun, I will move to Kuala Lumpur for six months from April. I’m really looking forward to going there. Another six months in a new city with new colleagues. It might be a little bit scary, but most of all I think it will be a lot of fun. More challenges and inspiring times are coming up. I can’t wait for the next episode.