Part II of the Apartment Tour

Sorry for the delay in this second update! Now we have internet in our apartment, which is absolutely amazing. I'll be on Skype quite often, and I'm even considering getting voicemail for my Skype so that family members can call anytime.

Well, on with the apartment tour!

Here is one view of our kitchen. To help you imagine, this is what you would see to your left when you walk into the room. An electric stove with a small bit of counter, then right in front of you, a microwave and a table for two.














Then to your right, a small refrigerator/freezer, more counter space, and a sink. The kitchen even came with one of those neat things that boils water for tea (perhaps called an electric tea pot?)










This is our dining room! A rug, a nice expandable table, a big window, and a bureau-like thing that we might move to the bedroom.

































And last but certainly not least, our bathroom: It's small and has zero storage, so we are going to go shopping for some tiny shelves to hold things. Unfortunately, the bathroom was kind of moldy and we had to do some heavy-duty cleaning. I nearly passed out from the fumes, but I think it's a little cleaner now.












All in all, it's been a successful first couple days. We went grocery shopping right away, and were able to find some basics. Unfortunately we both forgot to bring a map and on the way home, in the cold darkness, we got totally lost. It took us three times as long as it should have to get home. Just one of many mini-adventures I'm sure...

Yesterday, we had to go register at the "skatteverket." I have no idea what that means, but we had to go there to report our immigration, and hopefully this will give us the all-important "personnummer," which is similar to a social security number. We can't get a mobile phone or a real bank account until we have this, and they reported that it takes up to four weeks (although I've heard of people getting them sooner). The woman who helped us barely spoke English, and she really only muttered and didn't say any real words... Perhaps we were supposed to get a receipt, but I guess we'll never know!

Later on I had a very successful grocery shopping trip, which made me incredibly proud. Funny how the tiniest things can feel so good! Today was also productive, as I learned how to purchase postage and mail a letter. I am on my way to being a good Swede!