OUR FIRST WEEK IN SWEDEN… WHERE TO BEGIN?
I’ll try to organize my thoughts on the first week. Just as we tried to organize our belongings in the house...
Our green house
After our late arrival on Sunday, the moving company arrived on Monday, March 25th in the afternoon with our belongings. It took us 3 hours to unload everything and then… there was chaos! Not only in my head, but also in and around the house. Boxes and boxes and furniture and more boxes everywhere. And not enough space in the house to unpack everything.
With the invaluable help of George and Jean-Paul we managed to install the most important things (a bed and a couch!) in the house the first evening so we could have a good night’s sleep.
On Tuesday we took some time to enjoy our very first “fika” in Alingsås with a very tasty “kanelbulle” and coffee of course. And then… off to more boxes and stuff!
First fika with a typical kanelbulle for sure!
Wednesday we got some very nice spring weather, ideal for Alex, George and Jean-Paul to work outside to make the garden dog-proof so they can run freely. Vaca enjoyed off-leash freedom and ran around the garden truly happy!
On Thursday George and Jean-Paul had to leave and drive home again. My infinite thanks for all you’ve done for and with us during our first days in Sweden. We couldn’t have done it without you and it means the world to me!
Thursday also marks the day Alex and I had an appointment at “Skatteverket” or the “tax office” to apply for our Swedisch registration number or “personal number”. Nothing can be done without this. So now we have to wait (between 2 and 18 weeks!).
Meanwhile, a thousand thoughts crossed my mind and several bouts of tears escaped my eyes. I’m not gonna deny the deep impact this whole move has on me. I LOVE securities and known habits. I HATE insecurity, the unknown, the unsafe feeling it creates. Because there’s a lot we don’t know yet, a lot we don’t understand and a lot we can’t do without our personal number. We’ll get there, but for now -as Alex replied to someone’s question-, the words “stress level” and “dropped” still don’t go together in one sentence (talking about me, Valérie, of course).
Luckily, our four-legged friends are doing well. Most of them adapted quite easily to their new home and are enjoying life. Which is one of the most important things to me.