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...

«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...

Ever since I created this blog, I have been thinking a lot about what defines me. I struggled to find words to describe myself in the "About Me" section and that caught me by surprise. Don't I know who I am? What is important to me? What is it that makes me different from others and sets me apart?  I stared into my screen, my mind working at ultra-sonic speeds to grasp at any sort of words that might come my way. Everything that came out of that search were relatively banal things, like my age and a sum of the things I love and are important to me. And that begged the questions: is that me? who am I after all? I'm convinced that at twenty-four I still don't know what to reply, because I simply have no idea. I really am still trying to figure everything out . What would be the fun in having all the answers anyway? ;) But today something surprised me in a good way. I put forth these questions and asked my boyfriend how he would describe me. He said I was k...

«Strength means blessed with an enemy» I received the dreaded letter on the 22nd of March - the refusal . Sweden couldn't assign me with a personnummer because I hadn't been able to get my S1 form or show any "reliable proof" of my health insurance cover within the EU. It seemed like it was over... After a two-month wait, I felt ready to accept defeat. There was no way for me to get my hands on that form, which was the only thing that was missing.  I was shocked when I received the news. Part of me had always known that it was an option, but had never really prepared for that possibility to happen. I was ( still am ) mad, frustrated, scared. What did this mean for me? Would I have to give up and leave behind the idea of living in Sweden? And what would happen to my relationship, my boyfriend currently dealing with a particularly fragile mental state, unable to move anywhere with me? My mind flooded with questions and I decidedly wanted to roll into a ball and...

Frustration is a tricky thing to deal with, isn't it? Well if you ever plan on moving to Sweden, you'll be well acquainted with that concept - lots and lots of it. Today was a difficult day ( I know, my blog posts haven't exactly been bubbly so far... ), but I had actually been doing so much better lately. I've been taking it easier and trying to enjoy life as much as I can. I haven't been fighting my situation at all, the only thing I've been battling with these last few days is just my anxiety really ( leftovers of my struggled February, don't worry! ). Before I start my angsty rant, I would like to say that I really like Sweden and I think it's a great country. I believe it has several great qualities and that I will be able to make a comfortable living here, once things start going my way. That being said, I wanted to write this because lately I have been seeing a lot of posts related to the idea that Sweden might be the perfect country or that ...