First week

Well it's been just over a week since we've moved out to Fagersta in Sweden. We're settling in nicely to our new surroundings, although I think the change is a little easier on me and Isabelle than it is on Laura. I of course have the advantage of already spending a lot of time here. I have some friends at work and I get out of the house everyday and talk with other people... It's only at work of course but it still helps with the transition. Isabelle, being only 16 months old is totally dependant on Laura and myself anyway, so as long as we are around to clean up and feed her she is more than happy. She settled into her new room a lot quicker than we could. By the second night she was sleeping through like she'd been in that room her whole life. Laura on the other hand is at home everyday (week days of course!) taking care of Isabelle. Yes she can go out for a walk (the weather since we arrived has been fantastic, apart from a very brief snow shower we've had blue skies and 15 - 20 degrees) but not knowing the area and being unsure of the language is making her think twice. I think I'm going to have to force the issue if she continues to stay indoors!

Our furniture eventually turned up which has made the house a lot more homely. Our very first night was very upsetting pushing together two single beds and rattling around in an empty house, it didn't help that all the surfaces in the house are hard so all the sound echoed around the place like we were living in a shell of a home. Luckily we only had to live like that for one night but I could tell by the look in her eyes that Laura was starting to wonder what I'd got her into. A weekend trip to Ikea has also helped to make the place a little more homely. We took the 60km drive on Saturday which only took 40 minutes to get there (there is a severe lack of traffic here)... I remember it taking longer to get from Streetly to Birmingham city centre on a Monday morning so the 40 minute drive isn't too bad plus the scenery is amazing. Vistas of lakes and forest that make us feel that we definitely made the right choice in moving here (not that there's anything wrong with the views on the way into Birmingham... Newtown anyone?) 

The language is going to be a little difficult to understand. Luckily most people here speak very good English except for one or two very important people - anyone who works in a supermarket and the guy who owns the pizza takeaway around the corner. On the first night as the house was empty and we had been travelling all day we decided to try the local pizza takeaway (seeing as it's one of the 4 dishes that Laura will eat!). I started with Laura's order - Margherita is easy and always the same in any language. For those of us who have a more adventurous taste things get a little tricky. Nothing (and I mean nothing) on a pizza menu in Swedish looks anything like the English version of the word. So I'm trying to explain to the guy behind the counter who is looking increasingly more and more uninterested in what I am trying to describe before he finally utters two words that I understand... "Kebab pizza?"  The thought of a kebab pizza was not as agreeable as the pizza itself, but I'm sure I put on an extra 1/2 stone in that first night alone! (I've now taken to miming animals to the guy which seems to work and makes him laugh so we're all winners in the end).

Well that's about it for now other than to say that work is going well (although there is a lot of it!), Laura is getting used to dividing the SEK prices by 10 to get a rough GBP price and we have booked our first weekend away to Stockholm which we're really looking forward to.

Oh and one piece of advice for anyone else thinking of moving out here... the Systembolaget (beer shop) closes at 3:00pm on Saturday and is not open on a Sunday... At all!! Don't forget or you'll end up like us - having a very dry weekend!

Lots of love

Ben, Laura and Izzy x x