Month: August 2016

I can’t buy a Swedish SIM card until I have a person number. Yesterday’s trip to the tax office was the first step, but now I wait “a couple weeks” for the person number to arrive in the mail. This means that I don’t have GPS on my phone to help me get around a new city yet. When I was in Norway, I walked 14 km (8.7 mi) to the airport with my map app on a path I had never walked before. (Yes, you can walk right up to the airport in Stavanger!) I have to figure out another way to get around for now.

This morning, I was up about 7:30 am and ready for a nice walk. I knew that a very important historical site was not too far from my host’s home, only 2.1 km (1.3 miles). I mapped the walk on my phone.

Then I took several screen shots, zooming in on the route to be able to view landmarks on the satellite map image. I was out the door before the others were up (at least out of the bathroom).

It was a beautiful morning with lots of blue sky and the perfect walking temperature with a very light jacket. There are plenty of green spaces around, including football fields (think soccer).

I arrived at Gamla Uppsala (See the Old Uppsala link on Wikipedia), where viking kings are buried. It is one of the most important historical sites of Sweden. It used to be the center of Norse religious worship, complete with sacrifices. When Christianity arrived, the temple was destroyed an a Christian church was built upon the very site. The first church was burned by a fire, moving the cathedral south west across the river (which distinguishes the city’s landscape). Another church was later built again on the spot.

There has been archaeological studies of the area which confirm the old Nordic temple foundation under this area, with burial mounds from at least the 5th century. Wow, that’s old!

After my walk, a shower, and lunch, Kristina drove Anya and me to the airport to pick up her wallet. She had lost it somewhere between Arusha, Tanzania, and Dubai, UAE. I filled in an online form for Emirates Air, and indeed they found it and sent it to the Emirates office just 20 minutes away. Except for some US cash, it was all there, including Anya’s new driver’s license. We are glad to have this back!

Along the way, I was talking in my beginning Swedish with Kristina. She is so patient and helpful! I think my Swedish tutor from Sammamish would be proud of my efforts. (Thanks Catharina for a great foundation!) As Catharina says, “There are always more words!” so I’m working on vocabulary as well as improving my understanding of Swedish grammar.

Kristina and I then went grocery shopping. I love international markets! This one was very new and large!

There is much new to me!

Another new thing is the locked shopping carts, which is an effort to keep shopping carts from being pushed away from the store.

The afternoon allowed for a nap before studying more Swedish. However, the beautiful weather mean a nice time outside with my grammar book.

Other than the trip to the airport to get Anya’s wallet, there was nothing else I HAD to do today! This was the most relaxing day in many months.

With blessings (med välsignelser),

Beth

 

I decided to change the date format to match the format I used today at the Swedish tax office. I’m in Sweden now! And to be honest, it makes a lot of sense.

London’s Heathrow airport only has two runways! No wonder there was so much traffic that my flight was put in a holding pattern for 15 minutes or so prior to landing. I rushed as fast as I could and was permitted in the “Fast Track” line through security, but security stopped both my bags and carefully searched the contents. My two external harddrives were unpacked again along with much other computer gear. I ran to the gate and arrived just a few minutes after the gate closed, even though they held the plane 5 minutes for me. (Wow, the whole plane waited for little me–but only 5 minutes.)

So, I spent 5 hours in the airport waiting for the next flight that had an available seat. At the airport, I switched my phone over to Swedish language, while I used my £10 voucher at Starbucks for dinner and chai.

I arrived about 10:00 pm and had no trouble at customs with my copy of my work permit approval letter. All my bags arrived, and I was greeted by Anya and Jim.

Jim is my colleague at Johannelund. He clarified that he is not my boss, but he is the head of the Biblical Studies Department, within which I teach. I will primarily teach Old Testament, but also some spirituality courses in the Bible school.

Early this summer, we were told by the Swedish immigration department that they wouldn’t even look at my application until October. So, the apartment that had been designated for Anya and me was extended to the present tenants through the end of August. Thus, Jim and his family offered to host us for a month. Jim is American and his gracious wife, Christina, is a Swede. His eldest of two sons, Jacob, is home for the summer until he returns to Stockholm to complete his last year in an architecture program.

I did a bit of unpacking but soon went to sleep. I slept well and was greeted by Jacob at breakfast.

After breakfast, we went to a neighboring colleague’s home (Tomas teaches systematic theology), to get a bike that was left by a friend and has been passed on to me. It is red, and it even came with two different locks and a basket that attaches to the back rack.

Jim and I biked to Johannelund, which is just a short ride away. I was introduced to colleagues again, as we arrived just before coffee/break. Only a few are around in the end of the summer, but I was able to get an electronic key, a computer login, and a temporary place to serve as office space. I will share an office with the other Old Testament person, LarsOlov, who is gradually retiring and will finish this year. I have had few nice connections with him. Both Jim and LarsOlov came to my PhD dissertation defense in Norway in May, which was a wonderful support of me, a future co-worker.

Lunch was back home, where Anya and Jacob joined us. We had fun stories to hear and tell. It is great to see the obviously wonderful relationship and humor that father and son share.

After lunch, Jim, Anya, and I biked to the tax office. This is the first step in getting registered as a resident in Sweden. The 2.5 mile/4 km bike ride on a beautiful day was a nice way to see the city. Jim had taken Anya and me around in May 2015, but now it was on bike, except for the few blocks in the shopping district where bikes aren’t allowed.

Jim pointed out one medieval-era building, the home of Celsius, the guy who established the celsius/centigrade temperature scale.

After the tax office visit, we biked back next to the river and had “fika,” the traditional Swedish coffee (chai for me) and pastry time.

I love biking in a place where everything is so flat! The only ups and downs are overpasses or underpasses! A three-speed bike is plenty!

The rest of this beautiful day had some unpacking and organizing, as well as a lovely dinner on a patio surrounded by flowers. The Swedes love the summer and seem to celebrate it by surrounding themselves in flowers.

I end the day with this post, which I’ll follow with some Swedish language learning, as the twilight of dusk hangs even at 9:45 pm.

Sov gott (sleep well),

Beth

 

 

******
If you’d like to receive email notifications of new posts, please email me at mamaanya [at] gmail.com to have me put you on the list.
******

Sigh! When I first started this blog in January 2015, I had no idea that “whithersoever” would be such a poignant concept. I have gone beyond my original whithersoever concept, especially with this week.

On Monday, I said goodbye to Anya in Dubai, as we were returning from Tanzania with our church’s mission team (more on this later). She went directly to Sweden. I came back to Bellevue to finish up many tasks, pack a bit more, but primarily to retrieve important things like birth certificates and computer equipment that we didn’t want rattling around Tanzania for 2.5 weeks.

These past two days of frenzy while oriented to a different time zone were crazy! Fortunately, my sister, Elenn, flew out from Michigan to help me. She will drive my former car to Minnesota, as my parents have bought it from me. She has many friends to visit on a wandering road trip back to the Midwest. Her expertise with international moves and travel were strategic to help me fill in some gaps. I now have dental records and medical records secured and ordered.

Marv was again a gift as I needed a place with secure WIFI to do all that last minute online account stuff.

I had a conversation with Marv about how it was humbling to realize how many people rallied around me and some who almost carried me in the most stressful times. I said that perhaps this was one of the silver linings of Eric’s cancer and passing; I had to learn to accept help. However, I am looking forward to the time when I will again be more on the giving side than on the receiving side.

Yet, I realize that it won’t be in the near future. I’ll be dependent upon new colleagues to help me get oriented to a new job, a new culture, and patiently endure my limited Swedish as I learn little by little with my 52-year-old brain.

Elenn took me to the airport. Anya and I hope to welcome her early spring 2017 in Uppsala!

So, why doesn’t my Global Entry work with British Airways!?! I’m still going through TSA security in the USA! Fortunately, the lines weren’t too long, but it is discouraging that my investment isn’t paying off!

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be including two sections in my blog posts. The day’s discoveries in Sweden will be juxtaposed with my last 2.5 weeks in Tanzania. We had so little internet connectivity and with my responsibilities facilitating the team, it was not possible to keep my blog going. It was another powerful and transforming experience, so I’m eager to share some of the stories.

Off to whithersoever!

Beth