One month ago today, I left Seattle for Sweden. In that month, a lot has happened. In that month, not much has happened.
When compared to recent past, there isn’t a lot of productivity to identify. I did get a contract (long story) and moved into an apartment. I did get an article revised for publication. Professionally, I was invited to participate in a few other things, so September will have some busy times, including that I start my Swedish for Academics course on Friday.
Church this morning had an extended children’s sermon which seemed to be the main message for all today.
This made me think of a funny (to me) thing I saw on Facebook this past week:
After church was a major fika (coffee hour). They served a sandwich thing, which was like a small pita (but not pocket) with butter, cheese, and cucumbers. (Swedes may also have jam instead of cucumbers. Really!) There was also a lovely cake covered in fondant. I was pleased to find English Breakfast tea too!
As a newbie, I wonder who do I sit with (yes, moments of a little trepidation), but I was coming behind a couple (German wife and Australian husband), who are also English speakers. We sat at table, and soon three of my moving-in friends joined us. One brought me shower curtain rings, as he knew we got a new shower curtain but forgot to pick up some rings. The shower of blessings continues (pun intented!).
After a nice nap, I continued the unpacking. Things are still in process, but here are a few pictures of the next stage (for Kathi).
Notice the orchid in the window. It seems that every Swedish home has orchids in the window, so we had to get one too! I put my Swedish flag in the orchid pot to be really Swedish!
My drying rack is somewhere between Amsterdam and Uppsala in the shipping crate, so we improvise with the few items we have to tide us over. The IKEA shelf liner has little bumps to let the water run down the oven tray that is propped up with an empty milk carton.
The green futon cover is partially draped with African fabric. I’ll be finding a way to make this, well, less green. Elenn, there’s your bed when you come to visit next March!
A table will go under the window for a desk after the crate arrives. The drafting table in the crate goes to Anya, and then I’ll take the table that is currently in her room for doing homework.
Our living room has plenty of room. I think it is beckoning for a ping pong table! I saw on the Internet that the recommended room size for a ping pong table is 11 x 19 feet. This room is about 12 x 17.5 feet. If it is a fold-down table, we can put it against the wall and roll it out when needed.
This evening, we Skyped with my parents. I gave them a tour of the apartment. It is pretty great to have this way to communicate with loved ones on the other side of the world!
With blessings,
Beth
Amazing, that in a few weeks, it will feel like ‘home’ and you won’t hardly notice the ‘newness’ of it all. Thanks for sharing it, especially the pics. Nothing communicates like a pix.