Little Adventures

An exciting benefit to moving to Sweden is the newness of it all: every little task is a big adventure and subsequently a great success if didn't make a fool of yourself.

For example, Daniel and I went to get groceries on our first night here. Scary? Yes, but we needed dinner and breakfast! We weren't sure where the market was, although we sort of remembered. We stumbled across a different grocery store than intended, and were able to find some basic foods without too much trouble. We didn't even make a fool of ourselves. Our mini-fail occurred when we got completely lost on our way home. No map, no luck.

But the next day was filled with yet more new adventures! As I reported in the last entry, we had to report our immigration and apply for a personal ID number. Again, we surprisingly didn't really make a fool of ourselves. On that same trip we also visited some stores we found on the way, including an appliance store. We were able to find a dish-drying rack, a blow-dryer, a beard trimmer, and a toaster! We were on our way to a complete household (added bonus, my hair looks fantastic again)!

Yesterday also felt productive, despite some minor setbacks. We went to the bank and took a number to designate our place in line (this is the only way you "queue" for something here). We explained our situation to the teller, who informed us we could not have a bank account without a personal ID number. Hmm, but that might be an entire month! She informed us that since Daniel has already received pay checks, we can take out cash in about $2,500 chunks. I suppose that's not a bad last resort, plus I'll feel like a European gangsta.

Today Daniel and I are planning to go to Ikea - there is one only 20 minutes away in the neighboring town of Malmö. We think we can figure out how to get there, but who knows! I am bizarrely excited about this trip. I am imagining it to be laid out just like the one at home, with hotdogs and cinnamon rolls at the end to reward you for not freaking out at the hugeness and busy-ness of it all. I expect this to be true here, in the country of Ikea's origin, as well.

And it's real-adult-working-hours for Daniel on Monday (in this case, about 8am to 5:30pm). Last week he was in lab half the day for meetings about his new projects, and at home with me the other times, unpacking, rearranging our given furniture, and going on said errand-adventures.

Actually, I feel like I have a big to-do list too: wish fervently for our shipment of personal items to arrive on Monday, somehow take the bus all the way to the place I sign-up for Swedish for Immigrants classes, and be a good temporary housewife by cleaning the apartment and cooking a wonderful meal. The adventure continues... (next post on my job hunt and school plans)