The very first activity
It all started as a reaction to the pandemic and the social isolation it brought. Deyana explains her experienced feelings as eagerness and a wish to kickstart her social life in Sweden after the pandemic. This led to her one day signing up to a social activity with Kompis Sverige, and sometimes she wonders why she didn’t do it sooner.
Before the first activity, she was feeling a mix of nervousness and strong expectations, but also a fear of being seen as greedy as a free ticket seemed too good to be true. Deyana realized quickly that this was not the case, and that the activity was full of people who, just like herself, wanted to meet people, learn new things and create collective experiences together with others. One activity soon became many and in the blink of an eye Deyana’s life in Sweden had changed to be full of exciting experiences and many friendships.
That one activity unravelled an array of wonderful events, meetings and experiences with lovely new people. It was a starter to my now pretty hectic social life in Sweden.
An insight into Swedish culture
Besides new friends and experiences Deyana describes how the activities have opened up the door to understand and take part of Swedish traditions, behaviours and stories which are packaged in all kinds of activities from theatre shows to concerts and musicals.
It has taught me a lot about Swedish people and the cultural structure of this society.
If there’s one thing that Deyana regrets, it is that she didn’t have the courage to sign up earlier. She describes the whole experience as life changing and reflects on what her life would have been like if she never had signed up for that very first activity. We asked Deyana what she wants to tell others who, just like she did, are thinking about trying out a social activity. Her response was immediate: “I will be forever grateful for Kompis Sverige. To this date it has been amazing. Everyone should sign up since the activities open up doors to better experiences as a person new in Sweden. I wish I had discovered it earlier.”
Together with Postkodstifelsen, we conduct the project ”Vardagsintegration” where we work to create meetings through social activities across all of Sweden. You can read more about the project here:
