Hi! I’m Caroline, I studied Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience through LSA. I also studied abroad in Stockholm, Sweden through DIS during winter 2024. If you’re anything like me, food is one of the most important things in life. So before embarking on a semester-long stay in a foreign country, you might be wondering what your meals will look like. Luckily for you, Stockholm has a ton of amazing restaurants of all different cuisines, and DIS makes sure you won’t go hungry by supplementing grocery costs! So enjoy this guide to food abroad!
Through DIS, each student living in a Residential Community, Living & Learning Community, or Studentboende receives a grocery stipend of 6000 SEK, or 600 USD. This comes in the form of ICA gift cards, which are super easy to use. ICA is everything when it comes to grocery shopping. There are locations all over Stockholm, and they have basically everything you could want. There was an ICA literally next door to my housing which was extremely convenient. It’s also slightly dangerous since it’s far too easy to make a spontaneous candy run…
NOTE: A crucial aspect of the Swedish lifestyle is lördagsgodis, or “Saturday candy.” Per tradition, people avoid consuming sweets during the week but fully indulge on Saturdays (apparently to promote dental health). Every ICA has a massive candy wall where you get to fill a bag and pay by weight!
My first time grocery shopping was honestly pretty overwhelming. It was my first time really struggling with the language barrier, since all the packaging is in Swedish. It also involved a lot of mental currency conversion and figuring out if things were actually cheap or not. During that first trip to the store, I took a walk through every aisle and just tried to figure out what was offered. I ended up going the safe route and just buying pasta and yogurt to get me through the next couple meals. Turns out, that’s what almost everyone on my floor did (except for the people who bought kvarg on accident – I’m still not sure what it is exactly, but it’s yogurt-adjacent).
Since then, I’ve made tons of trips to ICA and feel qualified to give at least a couple pieces of advice.
#1: The camera function on Google Translate is your best friend
Take a photo of whatever product you’re confused about and it’ll usually translate it pretty well, quick way to get a grasp of what you’re looking at
#2: Bring a reusable bag
At most stores, you have to pay for a bag, so bringing your own is a way to save some cents and the planet!
In terms of actually cooking, it can be as simple or elaborate as you make it. I personally like cooking and am pretty used to doing it back in Michigan, so I enjoy making meals for myself. I’m by no means a chef, but I managed to pretty successfully recreate the classic Swedish meatballs dish!
I lived in a Studentboende (meaning DIS students living in the same building as local students) in Årsta, and we had communal kitchens for our floor. Even though it could be tricky sharing a cooking space with others, the people on my floor were great and we all did our best to keep the kitchen clean.
I really enjoyed having a communal kitchen because it’s the best way to be social with the people in my housing. If I ever felt like chatting, I’d go sit in the kitchen because someone was bound to be there cooking. We also planned cute events for ourselves, like a pizza making night!
No matter how much cooking experience you have, don’t worry about your food situation while abroad! You can always supplement your own cooking with delicious meals in so many restaurants around Stockholm. Smaklig måltid! (Enjoy your meal!)
