I was in Stockholm from the 10th of Nov until the 12th of November visiting the company's offices which were small but vibrant with a very young team. I have to say I would probably be the oldest there and I'm in my thirties which is different for a change as I've always been in relatively senior teams.
Summary of the three days
Day 1
On the first day I met part of the team in the evening, we had dinner and then after dinner we went to a party (organised by Blixten, they're like a ticketmaster if you live in the US, sistec if you live in Singapore, ticketec if you live in Australia, etc.). The party was held at the actual Blixten offices, which was surprising because the venue really did look like a party place! I spent time mainly talking to the team members, and then in the later part of the night I spent all my time talking to a girl named Thelma who also works in the team. She's pretty cool, she spent ten years growing up in Thailand so she can definitely understand where I'm coming from since I've lived in Singapore, Oz and Norge. So she eats spicy food but can't ski which is pretty funny since she's Swedish at least by passport. It just dawned upon me that there's really no such thing as race, put a "Caucasian" into Asia and let them grow up there and they'll be hundred percent "Asian". It all depends on where you're brought up. As for me since I've lived in 3 continents I can definitely appreciate more of humanity and what it means to be human. It's hard to find someone to relate that sort of stuff with often since most people just grow up in one small part of the world and they don't know anything else. We talked about food and life. But yeah she's cool, definitely someone I can hang out with if I move to Stockholm. I also visited Gamla Stan and Södermalm.Day 2
I went to the Vasa museum, and then later in the day I visited the offices again where I met the rest of the development team, all of them were cool. A Russian, Bangladesh, and another guy and an Englishman (? I'm not so sure), but yeah it was definitely an international team. Since the team is small, you also get a better feeling of togetherness. Also I managed to negotiate a better salary (that's why it's always important to do your research!) so it was a good productive day overall.Day 3
Visited the ABBA museum due to bad weather. It's a good and definitely fun museum which will leave you with positive vibes at the end of the day. I dropped off my things in the morning at the office, visited the museum then went back to the office, said goodbye to the guys and then caught the bus and plane back to Oslo.
Conclusion
All in all it was a couple of very fun days, and I had a great time visiting the company and probable future colleagues. Plus I also negotiated a better salary with better benefits. I'm estimating I'll move in February middle of next year. I'll update this blog as and when time permits. Stay tuned!
