The WIFI package had been burned through, so we were without WIFI at home yesterday. Until we get our own unlimited account (after I get a Swedish bank account), we use the modem that Jim and Kristina use for travel. Thus, I give cash to Jim, and he uploads more gigabytes onto the account.
I’m back!
There is a slow 0.5 Mb account that is free with my rent, with which I want to get connected. However this afternoon, I called and went through two companies and four phone decision trees (in Swedish) and was transferred through 4 people and ended up getting connected to what seemed to be a satisfaction survey in Swedish. So, I hung up. I’ll try again tomorrow.
There is also a disconnect from the stuff of life. When leaving Bellevue, the problem was too much stuff to pass on. Now, we have barely enough stuff, until our crate arrives. (I’ll be writing sometime about the thousands of little losses in that journey and some of the reflections related to the major transition. Sneak preview: even with good changes come losses.)
The good news is that our crate has cleared customs in Amsterdam and is somewhere between there and here, arriving sometime between the 21st and 28th. I’ll be in Swedish class and in a conference at the Nordic African Institute in Uppsala for half of these days, so I’m hoping that the timing of things works out miraculously well. I wouldn’t want Anya having to stay home from school one day to receive the crate and unload it, carrying things up 2 flights of stairs to our apartment, hopefully with a few others that we can recruit.
Living simply has some intriguing moments. It is fun to creatively solve some issues.
The other side is connections. I mentioned that I’m going to Stavanger on Monday and Tuesday, invited by my former PhD adviser. Today, I was invited (with expenses paid) to the conference, “Classical Religious Texts in Global Contexts,” at Linnaeus University in Växjö, Sweden, in the beginning of Oct. What a wonderful invitation! And my new boss approved my trip, saying that it would be good all around for me to make these connections.
OK, I’m a little anxious about my Swedish class tomorrow! I’ve been working feverishly and talking more Swedish with co-workers, but there is only so much my 52-year-old brain can manage to remember and process for speaking. The report will come tomorrow!
With blessings,
Beth
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