Saturday, December 28, 2013
That emptiness after company leave
Once again, I am left with the emptiness after someone has left. This time it was my mom and my little brother who had visited for Christmas. We took them to the train station this morning and immediately the feeling of loneliness took over my body. Now the house is quiet and empty. No longer does it feel warm and cozy. Only dark and cold. Everyone who have experienced this emptiness, myself included, know it is only temporary. Usually last no more than a day. Tomorrow, we should be back in high spirits.
Monday, December 9, 2013
ROI – we are back in black
This move really was my idea. It was me who wanted to move back to Sweden. I was just lucky enough to have a husband supportive enough, understanding enough and crazy enough to agree to doing it. Even though we had everything we wanted where we were at. And the future would be very uncertain, if we gave it all up to move to a new place. The past year and a half have been very trying. Especially for Chris. Many times we have doubted our decision, even though things have mostly gone our way and every step has inched us forward. Yesterday, however, I felt was a turning point. Yesterday Chris thanked me for "making him" move to Sweden. He says it was the right thing for us and he is finally happy where we are at. This has a lot to do with his new job and our house. And the feeling of finally getting to settle in. I don't think anything would make me happier than knowing he is happy too. This is what we worked towards, and we are finally here. Our return of investment is finally back in black.
As a side note, he did say that knowing what he knows now. If I asked him again. He would say no to moving back. It was too trying. It was too hard. I almost would have to agree. It was 10 times harder than I had expected. But now, we just look ahead.
As a side note, he did say that knowing what he knows now. If I asked him again. He would say no to moving back. It was too trying. It was too hard. I almost would have to agree. It was 10 times harder than I had expected. But now, we just look ahead.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
One year
It's exactly one year ago today, that we left the United States. It was extremely hard to say good bye to everyone. It's not like I haven't been through it all before, but this time it was different. This time it was permanent. It doesn't mean that we won't be back to visit, cause I am sure we will at some point. But visiting is never the same. That is probably why saying farewell to my colleagues was the hardest, because once I left the team, I would never be part of it again. With other friends, we will still be friends, even if we don't hang out or talk as often. My last day at work, I was a mess. I cried non-stop while cleaning out my desk and then finally we went bowling for lunch. With the recent election we had divided up the team by political parties. My team lost, but we had fun. Then my boss held a speech for me and it was very sweet. Thinking about that last day with my team still brings tears to my eyes. I don't think I will ever have a team that amazing again. Today is exactly one year since we left Arkansas. Tomorrow is exactly one year since we arrived in Sweden. Today I mourn. Tomorrow I will celebrate!
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Here we go again...
Less than 2 weeks left until closing. Started packing today. Not looking forward to living with moving boxes all over our house for the next 2 weeks. I know it will be all worth it in the end, but I really wish we could just get it over with and start our life again. It's been on hold for the last year and a half. Not saying we haven't been living. We have. We really have done and seen a lot. Made lots of progress in our lives. But it has also been cluttered with things we have to do, to get to where we will be in 2 weeks. I don't like complaining, but man, moving sucks!!!!
Friday, October 18, 2013
Familiar playdate
There must be something that draws me to Americans. Some kind of fascination. Something.
So when Chris had run into an American girl with 3 kids at a nearby playground and exchanged email addresses, I was all over getting to meet them. Due to "life", it still took a few months, but finally today we had our first play date. There was something familiar about it. Made me miss my friends in AR. At the same time, it made me feel fortunate to be able to add to my group of international friends. I hope we will have many more play dates in the future.
So when Chris had run into an American girl with 3 kids at a nearby playground and exchanged email addresses, I was all over getting to meet them. Due to "life", it still took a few months, but finally today we had our first play date. There was something familiar about it. Made me miss my friends in AR. At the same time, it made me feel fortunate to be able to add to my group of international friends. I hope we will have many more play dates in the future.
Thursday, October 10, 2013
The Alchemist
One of my all time favorite books is the Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It's a sweet story with an intriguing message. I am not very religious, but I think it is comforting to think that there is a greater meaning. The language of the World — That if you stop and look and listen, you will see signs and if you look within your self perhaps you can read those signs, to help guide your way, to realize your destiny.
One of the messages in the book is delivered by the old King, whom Santiago meets early in the story:
"The soul of the world is nourished by people's happiness."
"To realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation. All things are one. And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it."
I feel like this has been the case for us every time we have moved. When Chris first moved to Sweden to be with me. When we moved to the US. When we moved back to Sweden. I am not saying that it has been easy any of the times, but somehow things have worked out like pieces that fit perfectly together and complete the big puzzle. At first, every move have seemed overwhelmingly big. Like a huge rock wall, impossible to climb over. But then little by little, a path has been made and somehow, we've ended up standing on top of the world. Amazed!
One of the messages in the book is delivered by the old King, whom Santiago meets early in the story:
"The soul of the world is nourished by people's happiness."
"To realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation. All things are one. And when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it."
I feel like this has been the case for us every time we have moved. When Chris first moved to Sweden to be with me. When we moved to the US. When we moved back to Sweden. I am not saying that it has been easy any of the times, but somehow things have worked out like pieces that fit perfectly together and complete the big puzzle. At first, every move have seemed overwhelmingly big. Like a huge rock wall, impossible to climb over. But then little by little, a path has been made and somehow, we've ended up standing on top of the world. Amazed!
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Friends all around the world
Some of my best friends live in Arkansas, Canada, India, Germany, Denmark, Washington and Sweden. I love having friends all around the world!!! But it also means that I miss my friends all the time!
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Swimming in the ocean in September
While in Halmstad on September 20th, William and I took a dip in the ocean. It was surprisingly warm. I would guesstimate the water temperature was close to 20 degrees Celsius.
Hello darling!
Where have you been? It's been way too long! Cleaned and about to take this baby for a test drive after 8 years in storage.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
From the bottom of the sea
This weekend we picked up our stuff that we had stored at a relative's house since we moved to the US in 2005. It was a handmade book case (from my dad's side of the family), a chest that my grandpa (morfar) made, my grandma's (mormor) make-up table, macramé shelves Chris's dad made, a mosaic coffee table, my sewing machine, 3 rugs my grandma (farmor) have made and 4 boxes. The chest was filled with kitchenware that I didn't even remember we kept and I don't know what is in the boxes. Since everything is already neatly packed, I don't want to unpack until we move in to our new house in less than 2 months. Plus we don't have room for the stuff in our current house. I don't know if I will be able to wait that long though... I might just have to take a peek.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Buying a house in Sweden - Part 1: Bidding war
Only nine months after moving to Sweden we are under contract, buying our "forever" home. I say "forever" home, since this is the first time we will live somewhere that is not temporary. Finally we can put our heart and soul (and money) into it to make it exactly the way we want it. Closing date is set to November 29th, one year and 15 days after arriving in Linköping. We are beyond excited. There are still a few hurdles to get over, but I really think the "bidding war" was the biggest hurdle, and we managed to win that one. You might ask what that is all about. Partaking in one ourselves, we now know how it works. So let me tell you about our experience.
A house enters the market, being listed by a realtor and entered into Hemnet. Hemnet is the site that has all the home listings in Sweden, and is by my guesstimate almost as popular as Facebook. In the listing, two scheduled open houses are announced, usually the first being on a weekend and the second being a week night the week after. Our house had it's first open house on Sunday August 18th and the second on Tuesday August 20th. The open houses are only scheduled for 30 minutes and are usually jam packed. There were 40+ families at the first and 20+ families at the second open house of our house. This was busier than any of the other 4 open houses we had been to.
Usually on the day after the second open house, the bidding starts. For our house, there was already one bid at the starting price that was given at the second open house. First thing the next morning, I called in our first bid and we were assigned the ID "Bidder #2". Immediately the bidding took off. The bidding is open, meaning all bidders, and really anyone who cares to look, can see the current highest bid and all the bid history online. Anyone who left their phone number at the open house, get text messages for each new bid that comes in. In some cases the actual bids are placed by text message, but our realtor wanted you to actually call him, when placing a bid. By 3pm on the first day of bidding, there were 6 bidders, a total of 20 bids placed and the price was up over 33%. Shortly after that the bidding started to slow down. We had the highest bid over the first night, and thought that maybe, maybe this was it.
Sure enough, the next morning, the bidding continued. Not quite as aggressively, and it seemed like there were only 3 bidders left in the game. Throughout the day, the bidding crawled. The other bidders seemed to take their time... this is a sign of them having to think over/scavenge for more money, for every bid. Our strategy however, was to be aggressive. Always up the last bid as fast as we could, and with the same amount. Making it seem like we were nowhere near our limit and they might as well give up.
Day three of bidding was just one other bidder and us. Bids in the morning were placed fast, but then it got quiet. After a few hours of silence, we thought we had won. I called the realtor around 3 pm to ask what was going on. He told me the other bidder were needing to think, but they were going to place another bid. Apparently, they were already over their limit, but still wanted the house so bad. This made us nervous, since at this point we were very close to our limit. And then the bid came in. We raised ours. They raised theirs. Their new bid was the limit that we had set. However, we figured this was probably their limit too. What gave it away, was that they had raised their bid twice as much this time. We decided to place one final bid, just to see if they actually had reached their limit. Silence. And then the realtor called. The other bidder had asked to think over the weekend. The realtor had told them, we had agreed on getting this over with that day. They had to give up.
After 35 bids and 52% increase in price, we won the bidding war. I have to add that this was quite extreme. Most houses on the market has 2 to 4 bidders and the price increases about 30%. In our case, the starting price was set way too low. This is a common technique to draw a lot of interest. We could tell that the house was severely under priced and were expecting the price that we ended up winning it for.
The whole bidding experience was very stressful and is not something we wish to go through again. The fact is, you never know from a house listing, if you will be able to afford the house. It all depends on the bidders in a sellers market.
A house enters the market, being listed by a realtor and entered into Hemnet. Hemnet is the site that has all the home listings in Sweden, and is by my guesstimate almost as popular as Facebook. In the listing, two scheduled open houses are announced, usually the first being on a weekend and the second being a week night the week after. Our house had it's first open house on Sunday August 18th and the second on Tuesday August 20th. The open houses are only scheduled for 30 minutes and are usually jam packed. There were 40+ families at the first and 20+ families at the second open house of our house. This was busier than any of the other 4 open houses we had been to.
Usually on the day after the second open house, the bidding starts. For our house, there was already one bid at the starting price that was given at the second open house. First thing the next morning, I called in our first bid and we were assigned the ID "Bidder #2". Immediately the bidding took off. The bidding is open, meaning all bidders, and really anyone who cares to look, can see the current highest bid and all the bid history online. Anyone who left their phone number at the open house, get text messages for each new bid that comes in. In some cases the actual bids are placed by text message, but our realtor wanted you to actually call him, when placing a bid. By 3pm on the first day of bidding, there were 6 bidders, a total of 20 bids placed and the price was up over 33%. Shortly after that the bidding started to slow down. We had the highest bid over the first night, and thought that maybe, maybe this was it.
Sure enough, the next morning, the bidding continued. Not quite as aggressively, and it seemed like there were only 3 bidders left in the game. Throughout the day, the bidding crawled. The other bidders seemed to take their time... this is a sign of them having to think over/scavenge for more money, for every bid. Our strategy however, was to be aggressive. Always up the last bid as fast as we could, and with the same amount. Making it seem like we were nowhere near our limit and they might as well give up.
Day three of bidding was just one other bidder and us. Bids in the morning were placed fast, but then it got quiet. After a few hours of silence, we thought we had won. I called the realtor around 3 pm to ask what was going on. He told me the other bidder were needing to think, but they were going to place another bid. Apparently, they were already over their limit, but still wanted the house so bad. This made us nervous, since at this point we were very close to our limit. And then the bid came in. We raised ours. They raised theirs. Their new bid was the limit that we had set. However, we figured this was probably their limit too. What gave it away, was that they had raised their bid twice as much this time. We decided to place one final bid, just to see if they actually had reached their limit. Silence. And then the realtor called. The other bidder had asked to think over the weekend. The realtor had told them, we had agreed on getting this over with that day. They had to give up.
After 35 bids and 52% increase in price, we won the bidding war. I have to add that this was quite extreme. Most houses on the market has 2 to 4 bidders and the price increases about 30%. In our case, the starting price was set way too low. This is a common technique to draw a lot of interest. We could tell that the house was severely under priced and were expecting the price that we ended up winning it for.
The whole bidding experience was very stressful and is not something we wish to go through again. The fact is, you never know from a house listing, if you will be able to afford the house. It all depends on the bidders in a sellers market.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Summer vacation Part 2
So the summer vacation came and went. Being off for 7 weeks was great, but somehow it went by too fast anyway. Some of the highlights were showing Sini Linköping by bike, visiting Anna-Lisa and Niklas and getting to meet their baby Elise, taking William and niece Ella to Astrid Lindgren's world, running with my big brother Leif, running with my little brother Janne, taking William fishing with my dad and Janne, boat ride to Luleå archipelago, shopping with my mom, kid-free
lunch date with my husband and running along the old railroad tracks in Tornedalen.
lunch date with my husband and running along the old railroad tracks in Tornedalen.
Saturday, July 13, 2013
Summer vacation Part 1
We are 2 weeks into my 7 week vacation. It's not actually 7 weeks of vacation, but 4 weeks of vacation and then 3 weeks of maternity leave. To me, it's still the same thing. It means I am off work and get to spend every day with my family.
These first 2 weeks we have taken day by day. The weather has been great and we have gone on several day trips to local parks, playgrounds, rivers, downtown, skate parks and yesterday we went to the popular Zoo Kolmården that is less than an hour away. There we got to go on a sky lift ride over the safari park and see bears, lions, giraffes and lots of other animals.
We also took William on his very first roller coaster ride. It was much more extreme than I had imagined and I thought he would be totally shook up and cry afterwards, but the first thing he said was "I wanna do it again!", so we did it 2 more times. He loved it!
I am really enjoying time off! Next week my friend Sini will visit and then my brother with family. Then in 2 weeks, we are flying up to Luleå to spend time with my parents. And after that we still have time to relax at home before I start working again. Yay for vacation! So glad I am not in the US or my vacation would be over now, after 2 weeks.
These first 2 weeks we have taken day by day. The weather has been great and we have gone on several day trips to local parks, playgrounds, rivers, downtown, skate parks and yesterday we went to the popular Zoo Kolmården that is less than an hour away. There we got to go on a sky lift ride over the safari park and see bears, lions, giraffes and lots of other animals.
We also took William on his very first roller coaster ride. It was much more extreme than I had imagined and I thought he would be totally shook up and cry afterwards, but the first thing he said was "I wanna do it again!", so we did it 2 more times. He loved it!
I am really enjoying time off! Next week my friend Sini will visit and then my brother with family. Then in 2 weeks, we are flying up to Luleå to spend time with my parents. And after that we still have time to relax at home before I start working again. Yay for vacation! So glad I am not in the US or my vacation would be over now, after 2 weeks.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Happy Sweden Day!
Spent the National day of Sweden in the capital and happened to see the entire royal family when the royal cortege came by. Here is the crown Princess Victoria and her family.
This is my first time ever seeing anyone from our royal family. Live. And the best part was that I got to see my friend Linn (who is a mounted police) escorting them.
This is my first time ever seeing anyone from our royal family. Live. And the best part was that I got to see my friend Linn (who is a mounted police) escorting them.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Personal Best at a 5 km race
Thursday was race day. Blodomloppet. I entered the 5 km race with a goal to run it in less than 25. Since I ran my first race 6 years ago, I haven't trained for a 5 km. I have always had my focus on increasing miles and never on getting faster. Until this year. I took a break from running when we moved to Sweden, mainly because of lack of time. So, when I started running again in March, I had this idea, that maybe I should train to run faster instead of farther. My previous best 5 km time was 26:46:56. I set my goal at 25 minutes. Running a 4.3 km run during lunch breaks my time improved from over 24 minutes to 22:20 to 21:59:58. But then it was very hard to get under 22 minutes again. I missed it by 7 seconds, 15 seconds, 45 seconds... Then finally, I ran the route in opposite direction (less head wind) and finished in 21:26. 8 days before race day I ran 5 km in 24:59:58, so I knew I could do it. However, the race route was supposedly hilly. During the actual race, I stayed focused and on pace. First mile was mostly uphill, but not too much of a climb. The second mile began uphill, then changed into a descent. After 2 miles I was on pace to finish just under 25 minutes and I was feeling good. I just kept going, putting one foot infront of the other. It wasn't until after 4km that I checked the total time and it was 21 minutes. I had fallen behind. I had almost 1 km left and had to do it in less than 4 minutes. I still had lots of strength, so I sped up, determined to make my goal. My watch stopped at 24:31. Official result was 24:33, finishing 108th out of 3108 women. I beat 3000 women, and finished strong in under 25 minutes!!!
I felt good, but finishing a half marathon sure feels like more of an accomplishment. Next race is Tjejmilen (10 km women's race) in Stockholm in September and then I plan to run Göteborgsvarvet (half-marathon in Gothenburg) next May together with my Swedish interns and some of our Arkansas colleagues.
I felt good, but finishing a half marathon sure feels like more of an accomplishment. Next race is Tjejmilen (10 km women's race) in Stockholm in September and then I plan to run Göteborgsvarvet (half-marathon in Gothenburg) next May together with my Swedish interns and some of our Arkansas colleagues.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Au-pair reunion - we made it happen!
William and I took the train from Linköping to Copenhagen where we met up with Irina and Maja who flew in from Münich. There we rented a car and drove down together to Nykøbing, Falster. Grit and Milo took a 6 hour bus ride from Berlin and Mette drove down with Sebastian and Nicoline from Copenhagen. So there we were, almost 10 years after our last get-together. My totally awesome friends! And now with their really cool kids!
We spent 4 nights together in a beautiful house on the Danish country side. We hung out, played, went to the beach, cooked and spent the evenings, after the kids were asleep, catching up over wine. These girls are great! Hanging out with them makes me so happy! And now they are all wonderful moms!
Now that I am back in Europe I hope to make this in to an annual get together. I also plan to visit each one of them. I love traveling in Europe, and William is a great travel partner!
We spent 4 nights together in a beautiful house on the Danish country side. We hung out, played, went to the beach, cooked and spent the evenings, after the kids were asleep, catching up over wine. These girls are great! Hanging out with them makes me so happy! And now they are all wonderful moms!
Now that I am back in Europe I hope to make this in to an annual get together. I also plan to visit each one of them. I love traveling in Europe, and William is a great travel partner!
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Living in Sweden Observation #18
When my male coworkers go on paternity leave it is "See you in 6 months!" (or sometimes more).
Saturday, May 4, 2013
My new year's resolution - part 2
Coffee drinking habits was the first thing I wanted to change. The other, was my clothes and accessories shopping habits. It's not that I buy a lot of clothes. It's not that I spend too much money on clothes either. However, after having to go through my closet when moving, and ending up donating half of my wardrobe and still feeling like I have a lot of clothes, I decided I should not buy more.
The beauty of this resolution is threefold:
I was debating whether to say I couldn't buy any clothes for the entire year, or if I should set a limit, like 5 pieces of clothing or something like that. I do think allowing myself 5 pieces of clothing is the way to go. Then I need to be very conscious and selective about what I buy. A necklush is currently high on my list.
The beauty of this resolution is threefold:
- Less stuff - Less clutter. We have less closet space here in our rental house than we did in Arkansas. Plus, knowing our housing situation is not permanent, it will be less to move.
- Money saving - Considering the move was expensive, the saving money aspect of the resolution is a bonus.
- The challenge - Challenges trigger me, so I am in!
I was debating whether to say I couldn't buy any clothes for the entire year, or if I should set a limit, like 5 pieces of clothing or something like that. I do think allowing myself 5 pieces of clothing is the way to go. Then I need to be very conscious and selective about what I buy. A necklush is currently high on my list.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
My New Year's resolutions - Part 1
I don't normally make new year's resolutions, but for this year, I was thinking about two things I wanted to change. My coffee drinking habits was one of them.
My relationship with Coffee is fairly new. It wasn't until William was almost one, that I became a daily drinker. Until then, I would have a cup (usually something fu-fu with whipped cream) when going out to a cafe or visiting friends. My actual addiction started when my team at work started making french press coffee in the mornings. For the first month or so, I could still go without coffee on non-workdays. But after a while we started having coffee in the afternoons too, and I was hooked.
Now, I know 2 cups of coffee a day is not the end of the world. What I didn't like about it, was that I was addicted. If I skipped my coffee, I would get a head ache, and usually by the time the head ache had set in, drinking coffee didn't kill it. Most of the time, it is not difficult to get my coffee fix, but when traveling or being too busy with house projects (or whatever else we were doing during the 3 month haze leading up to our move), it's not always convenient to make/get coffee.
The thing about me and coffee is that I don't drink it for the caffeine. I actually don't think the caffeine has any affect on me. I drink it because it tastes oh-so-good! Another thing about me and coffee is that I have to have something sweet with it. A piece of chocolate. A slice of pie. A cookie. Something sweet. I don't like coffee with breakfast really, since I don't eat sweet breakfast. Coffee and oatmeal doesn't really work. However, a bagel with cream cheese and a good cup of dark roast is wonderful!
Moving to Sweden, where the majority drink a lot of coffee, I found myself drinking coffee on both of our daily fika breaks at work. Having fika is a way of socializing, and it always involves a cup of coffee or tea and usually some pastries to go with it. However, coffee is more often "enjoyed" in Sweden, than "downed" like it often is in the US.
So, my new year's resolution regarding my coffee habits was to skip my morning coffee. If not every day, then often enough to where I didn't depend on it. It didn't take long to get over the withdrawals, and now I only have my afternoon coffee on most days. I can have a morning coffee when I want to, but not have to have it. I will have to call this a success.
My relationship with Coffee is fairly new. It wasn't until William was almost one, that I became a daily drinker. Until then, I would have a cup (usually something fu-fu with whipped cream) when going out to a cafe or visiting friends. My actual addiction started when my team at work started making french press coffee in the mornings. For the first month or so, I could still go without coffee on non-workdays. But after a while we started having coffee in the afternoons too, and I was hooked.
Now, I know 2 cups of coffee a day is not the end of the world. What I didn't like about it, was that I was addicted. If I skipped my coffee, I would get a head ache, and usually by the time the head ache had set in, drinking coffee didn't kill it. Most of the time, it is not difficult to get my coffee fix, but when traveling or being too busy with house projects (or whatever else we were doing during the 3 month haze leading up to our move), it's not always convenient to make/get coffee.
The thing about me and coffee is that I don't drink it for the caffeine. I actually don't think the caffeine has any affect on me. I drink it because it tastes oh-so-good! Another thing about me and coffee is that I have to have something sweet with it. A piece of chocolate. A slice of pie. A cookie. Something sweet. I don't like coffee with breakfast really, since I don't eat sweet breakfast. Coffee and oatmeal doesn't really work. However, a bagel with cream cheese and a good cup of dark roast is wonderful!
Moving to Sweden, where the majority drink a lot of coffee, I found myself drinking coffee on both of our daily fika breaks at work. Having fika is a way of socializing, and it always involves a cup of coffee or tea and usually some pastries to go with it. However, coffee is more often "enjoyed" in Sweden, than "downed" like it often is in the US.
So, my new year's resolution regarding my coffee habits was to skip my morning coffee. If not every day, then often enough to where I didn't depend on it. It didn't take long to get over the withdrawals, and now I only have my afternoon coffee on most days. I can have a morning coffee when I want to, but not have to have it. I will have to call this a success.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Living in Sweden observation #17
There is a line outside systembolaget
(Swedish government run liquor store) before they open at 10 on a Saturday.
Replacing what was left behind
As I already mentioned, we didn't bring a whole lot of stuff with us when we moved. Other than clothes, books, personal items and some home decor, we really didn't bring much else. We left all our small kitchen appliances behind. There were especially 3 kitchen appliances that I LOVED and would have wanted to bring:
I wish I could get a new Kitchen Aid mixer, but it will have to wait. They are so much more expensive here. If it wasn't for the fact that you either needed a converter the size of a shoe box weighing a ton or replacing the motor of it to make it work in Europe, I would have brought it.
Next purchase on my list, is something I did not have in the US. A bike. We bought Chris a bike 2 weeks after getting here, that I've been riding all winter, but now I need one too, so we can go on bike rides together.
- Green Apple Kitchen Aid Artisan mixer, that I bought myself only one year before the move
- AllClad Waffle Maker that Chris had gotten me for my birthday a few years ago
- GE blender with a glass jar, that provided us an endless supply of smoothies
I wish I could get a new Kitchen Aid mixer, but it will have to wait. They are so much more expensive here. If it wasn't for the fact that you either needed a converter the size of a shoe box weighing a ton or replacing the motor of it to make it work in Europe, I would have brought it.
Next purchase on my list, is something I did not have in the US. A bike. We bought Chris a bike 2 weeks after getting here, that I've been riding all winter, but now I need one too, so we can go on bike rides together.
Friday, April 26, 2013
"It takes a year"
Someone said it takes a year to get settled in when you move to a new city. (Does moving from the US to Sweden qualify?). I didn't believe them. Now I do.
My (new) boss said that people always under-estimate the amount of work to move - otherwise no one would ever do it. He is so right. It's been almost 6 months and we still have ways to go.
It takes a year, if you're lucky. Or it takes more. Better not think about it.
My (new) boss said that people always under-estimate the amount of work to move - otherwise no one would ever do it. He is so right. It's been almost 6 months and we still have ways to go.
It takes a year, if you're lucky. Or it takes more. Better not think about it.
Preschool in Sweden
Just when we thought it was never going to happen, we got a spot at a preschool! It wasn't our first choice. And at first, we weren't sure we wanted it. But, the more we learned about it, the better it seemed, so we decided to give it a try. Considering William has never been in daycare/preschool, this was kind of scary. At the same time, we knew William wanted to get out more. Meet new friends. Learn new things. He just started this week, and so far we haven't left him there alone, but we are ready to. So is he. It's only 3 hours a day, so it is pretty easy. It's a great start for us. We feel pretty comfortable leaving him there. Living in the states (Arkansas) we never even considered sending him to daycare/preschool.
There are fundamental differences between parenting/schooling in Arkansas (USA) and Sweden. The biggest difference, that I will never get over, is the practice of spanking. Considering spanking was outlawed in Sweden the year I was born (1979), it seems very old-fashioned and I think it is utterly wrong! One of the main reasons we moved back to Sweden, was that we think it is a better place for kids to grow up. I hope letting William start preschool here in Sweden will be good for him, and for us. And that it will reassert our decision to move back.
There are fundamental differences between parenting/schooling in Arkansas (USA) and Sweden. The biggest difference, that I will never get over, is the practice of spanking. Considering spanking was outlawed in Sweden the year I was born (1979), it seems very old-fashioned and I think it is utterly wrong! One of the main reasons we moved back to Sweden, was that we think it is a better place for kids to grow up. I hope letting William start preschool here in Sweden will be good for him, and for us. And that it will reassert our decision to move back.
Springtime in Luleå
As luck has it, I was able to score an internship in Luleå, and got to go visit my family at the same time. I brought William along, so he could stay with mormor and morfar while I worked.
Spring and summer are my 2 favorite seasons in northern Sweden. Since we moved to the states, we had only visited Luleå in either the summer or for Christmas. Actually, I don't know when I was last in Luleå in spring, but might be about 10 years ago. This time was exactly as nice as I remember it. Tons of snow. Lots of sun. And plenty warm enough to play outside. I got to go sledding with William and my niece Ella, go "kick-sledding" and have a picnic on the Bay of Bothnia with William and my mom and go cross-country skiing with my dad.
We also had timed it with my little brother's university graduation. Our visit couldn't have been better.
Spring and summer are my 2 favorite seasons in northern Sweden. Since we moved to the states, we had only visited Luleå in either the summer or for Christmas. Actually, I don't know when I was last in Luleå in spring, but might be about 10 years ago. This time was exactly as nice as I remember it. Tons of snow. Lots of sun. And plenty warm enough to play outside. I got to go sledding with William and my niece Ella, go "kick-sledding" and have a picnic on the Bay of Bothnia with William and my mom and go cross-country skiing with my dad.
We also had timed it with my little brother's university graduation. Our visit couldn't have been better.
Weekend visit to Copenhagen and Malmö
This post is very late. More than a month late. So I will be brief.
William and I took a trip down to see our friends Mette and Rene and their kids Sebastian and Nicoline in Copenhagen a weekend in March. Mette was my first friend in California, when I was there as an au-pair in 1998. Last time I saw Mette, seven years ago, she was pregnant with Sebastian. It was really cool to see her with her kids, and for them to get to meet William. I love visiting Mette and Rene. The atmosphere in their place is always so calm and welcoming. Breakfast is my favorite part, since they get fresh bread from the bakery for breakfast.
After our short visit in Copenhagen we met up with Chris in Malmö and stayed one night at a hotel. Chris had gone down to Malmö for a skate contest. We did all our travelling by train. I love being back in Europe and being able to use public transportation. It's so easy to take the train places, and William loves it too! Hoping to do a lot more of that in the future!
First time seeing turning torso :)
William and I took a trip down to see our friends Mette and Rene and their kids Sebastian and Nicoline in Copenhagen a weekend in March. Mette was my first friend in California, when I was there as an au-pair in 1998. Last time I saw Mette, seven years ago, she was pregnant with Sebastian. It was really cool to see her with her kids, and for them to get to meet William. I love visiting Mette and Rene. The atmosphere in their place is always so calm and welcoming. Breakfast is my favorite part, since they get fresh bread from the bakery for breakfast.
After our short visit in Copenhagen we met up with Chris in Malmö and stayed one night at a hotel. Chris had gone down to Malmö for a skate contest. We did all our travelling by train. I love being back in Europe and being able to use public transportation. It's so easy to take the train places, and William loves it too! Hoping to do a lot more of that in the future!
First time seeing turning torso :)
Monday, March 11, 2013
Au-pair reunion in the works
So looking forward to May 9th to 13th when we have our au-pair reunion in Denmark! In '98-'99, we were au-pairs in California and we've stayed in touch ever since. We've visited each other in Europe many times before I left for the US. Now, we all have kids. Actually, Irina, Grit and I had our first babies all within a 2 month period. Mette's kids are a bit older, 5 and 7. Grit and Milo visited us in Arkansas in 2010, but this will be the first time I see the other kids. This is also the first time all of us get together since 2003 or 2004, when we had our last reunion in Gothenburg. That time we included our boyfriends. This time it's just us mamas and kiddos. We've rented a house in Nykøbing/Falster, near the beach. It will be interesting to see how the kids communicate. One American-Swede, two Danes and two Germans.
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Swedish observation #14 (by my friend Logan)
Don't eat the Ikea cake. It's shit cake.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21676069
This is just one of many food scandals surfacing in the last couple of weeks. The biggest one lately is horse meet in processed food such as meatballs and ready made lasagna. The funniest one was the meat pie in Iceland that was found to contain no meat at all.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21676069
This is just one of many food scandals surfacing in the last couple of weeks. The biggest one lately is horse meet in processed food such as meatballs and ready made lasagna. The funniest one was the meat pie in Iceland that was found to contain no meat at all.
Living in Sweden Observation #13
The daycare /
preschool situation is complicated! How do you find the right one? And
if you do, how long will you have to wait to get a spot?
Old friends
I know I didn't move back to Sweden with any kind of notion that I was moving back to my old friends. Heck, we didn't even know anyone in Linköping. This is brand new territory. However, I did think that I would be able to get together with friends occasionally. A weekend trip here. Some weekend guests there. I certainly thought I would have gotten to see several of them by now. The only ones we've seen, we saw while visiting Gothenburg in January. I know we've been busy. I know people are busy. They have their lives. We have our lives. Still, I feel a bit disappointed. My oldest friends, living closest to us, are not around.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Living in Sweden Observation #11
Evening (9:30pm) walk alone with the dog in the woods is not scary. No predators lurking. I did meet two deer though :)
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Mardi Gras -The Swedish Way
Fettisdagen, Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras or whatever you may call it in your part of the world, have different ways to be celebrated. Here in Sweden it means only one thing. Eating of the traditional "Semla". This sweet wheat bun filled with almond paste and a hearty dose of whipped cream, dusted with powdered sugar is heavenly! In the past (before moving abroad) I have baked my own for this occasion, but with everything else going on, I completely forgot that it was already today. As luck might have it, my work had gotten some for us. And I was lucky enough to get two.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
ROI - Still in the red
I can't help to wonder, whether moving to Sweden was the right decision. I am quite positive that in the long term it is the right place for us to be. The main reason being: this is where we want our children to grow up! Also, it is home to me. Still, the process of getting to this place, where we see the long-term benefits of living in Sweden has been tough and is still not over.
Sure, I managed to get a job.
Sure, we managed to find a nice townhouse to rent.
Sure, we managed to fix our house up to be put on the market.
Sure, we managed to sell it.
Sure, we managed to pack and ship, sell or donate a house full of stuff.
Sure, we managed to get Lejon the paperwork needed to bring him into Sweden.
Sure, we survived the long trip here.
Sure, we found a decent, used car to buy.
Sure, we managed 3 weeks in an apartment that wasn't ours.
Sure, I started my job, working 5 days a week for the first time since William was born.
Sure, we got through moving into our townhouse and got some furniture to make us feel at home.
Sure, our crate arrived and we got unpacked.
Sure, we succeeded in getting Chris' residence permit.
All these things add up! It's been hard work! We are still exhausted! The stress of the move, will take a long time to recover from. So what did we gain, from doing all this work?
Yes, I like the snow. So does William and Lejon. Chris, not so much.
Yes, I love being able to ride a bike, and Linköping is a very bike friendly city. However, the winter isn't the best for biking.
Yes, we much prefer the food in Sweden. And the candy :)
Yes, we love being closer to my family. But it wasn't until last week my parents came to see us, and we still haven't been up north.
Yes, we love being closer to friends. But so far we have only seen a few of them, when we went to Gothenburg to visit one weekend in January. None of our friends actually live in Linköping.
Yes, we like the central location, with the proximity to Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and the continental Europe.
I am well aware that my picture of Sweden is very idealistic and probably not realistic. Most of the benefits of living in Sweden are so far assumed positives. Whether they will come true or not, is still to be seen. But I do know, at the time being, the move hasn't paid off. We are still in the red. What we have gained from moving here, has so far not been worth the work we put in. We do not have a positive Return of Investment.
I am usually an optimistic person and this is probably a destructive way of looking at the move. All I know is we had to make a decision and go with it. We worked our asses off, without looking back and here we are. Still looking ahead. Believing one day, we will feel that the move has paid off. Hoping to add balloons to help lift our mental backpack that this move has filled with stones.
Sure, I managed to get a job.
Sure, we managed to find a nice townhouse to rent.
Sure, we managed to fix our house up to be put on the market.
Sure, we managed to sell it.
Sure, we managed to pack and ship, sell or donate a house full of stuff.
Sure, we managed to get Lejon the paperwork needed to bring him into Sweden.
Sure, we survived the long trip here.
Sure, we found a decent, used car to buy.
Sure, we managed 3 weeks in an apartment that wasn't ours.
Sure, I started my job, working 5 days a week for the first time since William was born.
Sure, we got through moving into our townhouse and got some furniture to make us feel at home.
Sure, our crate arrived and we got unpacked.
Sure, we succeeded in getting Chris' residence permit.
All these things add up! It's been hard work! We are still exhausted! The stress of the move, will take a long time to recover from. So what did we gain, from doing all this work?
Yes, I like the snow. So does William and Lejon. Chris, not so much.
Yes, I love being able to ride a bike, and Linköping is a very bike friendly city. However, the winter isn't the best for biking.
Yes, we much prefer the food in Sweden. And the candy :)
Yes, we love being closer to my family. But it wasn't until last week my parents came to see us, and we still haven't been up north.
Yes, we love being closer to friends. But so far we have only seen a few of them, when we went to Gothenburg to visit one weekend in January. None of our friends actually live in Linköping.
Yes, we like the central location, with the proximity to Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and the continental Europe.
I am well aware that my picture of Sweden is very idealistic and probably not realistic. Most of the benefits of living in Sweden are so far assumed positives. Whether they will come true or not, is still to be seen. But I do know, at the time being, the move hasn't paid off. We are still in the red. What we have gained from moving here, has so far not been worth the work we put in. We do not have a positive Return of Investment.
I am usually an optimistic person and this is probably a destructive way of looking at the move. All I know is we had to make a decision and go with it. We worked our asses off, without looking back and here we are. Still looking ahead. Believing one day, we will feel that the move has paid off. Hoping to add balloons to help lift our mental backpack that this move has filled with stones.
Residence permit - check!
When we first started thinking about moving back to Sweden I had looked into the application process for Chris' residence permit. William and I are citizens and Chris had a permanent residence permit last time around, when we lived together in Gothenburg 2000 - 2005. However, if you leave the country for more than one year, you lose the residence status, and have to reapply to return. Other than the hassle, we were not concerned about whether he could get the permit again.
As I looked into the process, it was clear to me that it would be very difficult for us to apply from the US, even though this is the main rule. I called the Immigration board and the lady I spoke to agreed; for our circumstances it would be much easier to apply from within the country. The main reasons for this is when you apply based on family ties: a) you need to apply to move to your family member who lives in Sweden and b) you send your application to the regional Immigration office of the region you are planning to reside in. Obviously a) was an issue, since I was not living in Sweden at the time - we were moving there together! And also b) was an issue in the early stages of our move planning, since we did not know where in Sweden we were to end up. This is why we ended up moving without the residence permit, hoping for the best.
Once in Sweden we tried applying online, but got stopped after the first question: "Are you currently in Sweden?" When answering yes, it said you can't apply online. You need to return to your country of residence to apply. I called the immigration office to ask some questions, and when I asked how long the application process might be, I got the answer "seven to ten months"!!!! I wasn't really buying it, but thought maybe half of that would be reasonable for a simple case like ours. The uncertainty of it, however, made it difficult to make any plans for Chris to start working. Obviously, you need the residence permit to be able to work. Without it, it didn't make much sense for Chris to even start looking for a job, since he wouldn't be able to set a start date. We figured we would be in limbo for a while.
It took us several weeks to get the application ready and in the mail. It wasn't until the first days of this year that we mailed it. About a week after, we got a letter inviting us to the Immigration office for a hearing on January 28th. That was fast!
During our scheduled visit, we had separate interviews. The immigration officer asked us questions about our time spent in the US, about our reason to move back and most importantly, whether we were aware of the main rule, to apply from your country of residence. She then asked what would happen to us, if they were to enforce this rule - forcing Chris to leave to apply from the US. It was obvious to me, she had to ask this, to justify granting residence to someone breaking the rule. The hearing took approximately 30 minutes. Two days later Chris got a letter in the mail granting him permanent residence permit in Sweden. Wow! That was easy! Never would I have dreamed it would take less than a month!
So here we are, ready to start living the Swedish dream, whatever that might mean...
As I looked into the process, it was clear to me that it would be very difficult for us to apply from the US, even though this is the main rule. I called the Immigration board and the lady I spoke to agreed; for our circumstances it would be much easier to apply from within the country. The main reasons for this is when you apply based on family ties: a) you need to apply to move to your family member who lives in Sweden and b) you send your application to the regional Immigration office of the region you are planning to reside in. Obviously a) was an issue, since I was not living in Sweden at the time - we were moving there together! And also b) was an issue in the early stages of our move planning, since we did not know where in Sweden we were to end up. This is why we ended up moving without the residence permit, hoping for the best.
Once in Sweden we tried applying online, but got stopped after the first question: "Are you currently in Sweden?" When answering yes, it said you can't apply online. You need to return to your country of residence to apply. I called the immigration office to ask some questions, and when I asked how long the application process might be, I got the answer "seven to ten months"!!!! I wasn't really buying it, but thought maybe half of that would be reasonable for a simple case like ours. The uncertainty of it, however, made it difficult to make any plans for Chris to start working. Obviously, you need the residence permit to be able to work. Without it, it didn't make much sense for Chris to even start looking for a job, since he wouldn't be able to set a start date. We figured we would be in limbo for a while.
It took us several weeks to get the application ready and in the mail. It wasn't until the first days of this year that we mailed it. About a week after, we got a letter inviting us to the Immigration office for a hearing on January 28th. That was fast!
During our scheduled visit, we had separate interviews. The immigration officer asked us questions about our time spent in the US, about our reason to move back and most importantly, whether we were aware of the main rule, to apply from your country of residence. She then asked what would happen to us, if they were to enforce this rule - forcing Chris to leave to apply from the US. It was obvious to me, she had to ask this, to justify granting residence to someone breaking the rule. The hearing took approximately 30 minutes. Two days later Chris got a letter in the mail granting him permanent residence permit in Sweden. Wow! That was easy! Never would I have dreamed it would take less than a month!
So here we are, ready to start living the Swedish dream, whatever that might mean...
The eye sore of the street is gone
Today we finally got rid of that huge wooden box that has been littering our driveway the last month and a half. I had listed it on "Blocket" (Swedish equivalent of Craigslist) before Christmas and had a prospective buyer withing hours of listing. He fell through and so did the next couple of people who messaged me within the next several weeks. I guess there isn't much of a market for wooden crates.
Two weeks ago I got a phone call from someone, considering to make it into a hen house. I told him I didn't know much about hen houses, but surely with some modifications, it would work... Unfortunately he lived 3 hours away and needed transportation. He didn't get back to me until this week and today, the crate was loaded into a horse trailer and hauled away. We won't miss it one bit nor will our neighbors. It's safe to say, it's been the eye sore of the neighborhood for the last month and a half.
Despite the pain getting rid of it, I do recommend having your own crate to load/unload when moving overseas. It gave us plenty of time to carefully load it and like solving a 3D puzzle, fit as much as possible of our beloved belongings into before shipping out. For us it made a huge difference!
Two weeks ago I got a phone call from someone, considering to make it into a hen house. I told him I didn't know much about hen houses, but surely with some modifications, it would work... Unfortunately he lived 3 hours away and needed transportation. He didn't get back to me until this week and today, the crate was loaded into a horse trailer and hauled away. We won't miss it one bit nor will our neighbors. It's safe to say, it's been the eye sore of the neighborhood for the last month and a half.
Despite the pain getting rid of it, I do recommend having your own crate to load/unload when moving overseas. It gave us plenty of time to carefully load it and like solving a 3D puzzle, fit as much as possible of our beloved belongings into before shipping out. For us it made a huge difference!
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Reunited with Ficus Benjamina
When visiting Gothenburg, one weekend in January, we stayed with our friends Sini and Lars. After putting our overnight bags in their bedroom, which we were to occupy, Sini asked: "Did you recognize the plant?" "No. Which plant?" I asked. Turns out she still had our ficus that I had given her before moving to the states seven years ago. Then she tells me I can have it back. At first I think that I can't take her plant from her. I gave it to her to keep, not just to watch over while we were away. But when she insists, I accept. Feeling really excited about the fact that my ficus from our years living in Gothenburg, has been well kept and is ready to move back home. That is how we have come to have a Benjamin Ficus in our living room window.
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