Monday, September 17, 2012

Moving to Sweden (part 1)

Wow. Ok. I don't even know where to start, have had so many new impressions and met so many interesting people over the past few weeks. So this post will just be about the move and settling in really...

I had my leaving do in York and it was excellent. Sad a few people couldn't make it but I got to see most of them anyway. As for the rest... they'll just have to come visit I guess. I will upload some photos in another post.

On the 30 August I left for Göteborg. Mike took me to the airport (thank god - those bags weren't light... and of course, I got to do the tear-filled, looking-back-from-the-security-queue goodbye you usually only see in films. Ha.) and I eventually landed in Gbg at 7pm. Now, I'm going to have to blame the bags, but I took a taxi. Bad idea, you'd think I'd have realised how much it was going to cost. Oh well - it got me here safely and quickly, and I didn't have to lug my bags on a bus, a tram, and up a massive hill. So worth it.

When I got to the flat, K (who I'm renting from) met me and we chatted a bit. Lovely woman. Look forward to seeing her again when she's back from Spain!

So... the flat. I've not finished making curtains etc. yet (I know, I know... just been so busy...) so you will get pics another day. Promise! But the flat is good, 1 small bedroom and a big living room. Good kitchen (red!!) and fairly big bathroom with washing machine. Oh, and a balcony! And since I'm on the 4th floor on top of a hill the view is pretty great.

The only problem is I'm going to have to get rid of even MORE clothes before Mike moves over, otherwise he won't fit... Boo.

So on the Friday my boxes arrived (good old Fedex! Worked like a charm! More on that another time.) and I unpacked... Phew. Good job the flat has built in wardrobes and 4 bookshelves, is all I can say...

And on the Saturday my wonderful family came down from Stockholm, bringing with them even more stuff... They were upset on the Thursday night that I'd only brought 3 books in my suitcase (there were a few more in the boxes) so they brought a few bags full from theirs. Thanks... (It's probably pertinent to note at this point that I got rid of probably 50+ books in York before I moved and there's at least another 100 there yet to be moved too...)

On Saturday we also went to Ikea. Solid 6 hours (I'm still exhausted!) and I got a bed, desk, shoe shelf and other necessities... Fabrics for curtains, pans, stuff like that.

So, here I am, 2 weeks in, sat on my (well, borrowed!) red sofa listen to Rose tint my world and the washing machine, considering what to have for dinner...

More about my first two weeks and the practicalities of the move to come...