Finding North

Here I am, coming to you with a fresh update and some very exciting news ( I'll also add some pretty pictures taken over the last two weeks )! The last time I came here to rant about my situation with the good old Swedish bureaucracy, I had just received a negative answer about my personnummer and we had applied to legally make me my boyfriend's cohabiting partner through Migrationsverket...Well that was a big, fat bust since I later discovered on their website that their decision ( which might well be a no ) would take between ten to fourteen months...As you can imagine, despair followed this information - the best option for me would now be finding a job, something that was proving harder than expected because I only knew English. I handed in a dozen resumes and everyone was very polite, some even friendly, but nothing issued from there. Some people made me feel ridiculous ( wordlessly ) for trying to find a job here without knowing the language, which made my frustrati...

You can't talk about the north of Sweden, and in particular Skellefteå, without mentioning classic cars. I'd go as far as to say it's like a religion up here, like something sacred they cherish in their daily lives. People are very passionate and fiercely invested in their vintage cars, holding a particular sense of pride in the ones they own. So much so, that there is a group called Norrlands Motorhistoriker that was started in 1967 and they are all about these veteran vehicles . Every few years they host a car show in town and lucky for me, the most recent event happened this past weekend - I was more than delighted to go. They worked very hard and put a lot of effort into the organization, but it was all worth it because the result was incredible. As soon as we walked in, it was like we were transported into the past ( if you don't count the modern people around ), with so many beautiful cars, mopeds and motorcycles. Now I have to warn you that I know very little...

«Don't stop trying to find me here amidst the chaos» The week started and I...simply had no idea what to write about. Two weeks ago I had started composing a neat little text in my head about how Spring was in full bloom and how many relaxing outdoor activities I was getting to do. I hadn't known how living in the countryside could be so much hard work, but the fact is there are always things to do with the turn of the weather and I was thoroughly glad to get a realistic sense of what it was like to live here during these months. We brought out the hammock, the deck and the chairs to go on it, but it was necessary to oil it in preparation. So I did it and I fully enjoyed getting my hands dirty doing something so practical, under the sun. Someone had to rake all the gravel stones from the lawn, there due to all the shoveled snow we took from the driveway during the winter. I did that happily, slowly making it look better and better every day. The strawberry bushes needed to...

Swedes like to mark the occasion on the evening between the 30th of April and the 1st of May during a holiday called Valborgsmässoafton. Apparently it is celebrated throughout a few European countries and its meaning varies according to several factors, including location and religious myth. Here, many people commemorate by burning bonfires or fireworks, this tradition being linked to the concept of light and spring, the very literal symbol of " burning the old and making room for the new ". Personally, I was quite fond of that idea... Our celebrating didn't involve starting any fires, but it sure had plenty of light, fresh air and nature. We went to a friend's house to have an outdoor barbecue and it was a most magical evening. I got to feed sheep for the first time in my life, enjoy delicious food and be in the forest again. Couldn't really ask for anything better from this experience, which was the first in many ways. My heart fluttered for the entire ti...