I'm on a boat!

I am writing this from the Viking Line ferry to Turku. Despite my doubts, the check-in and payment was straightforward. The boat itself is pretty nice, and my fears that choosing the cheapest cabin option, and therefore having to sleep with some strangers, seem to be unfounded. I still think the amount of hassle required to book this trip was not reasonable, but I'm glad today was trouble-free.
In 7 hours I will be in Turku! Technically we're still in Sweden right now, but I'm exhausted so I'm going to change my clock and go to bed soon. I've heard a lot of Finnish spoken in the last 3.5 hours, and surprisingly, I can recognise a lot of words and semi-understand, which is nice. I'm
I'm so happy I could cry. I can't wait to get there. I've thought about things tonight, and I realise I understood Finland in a way I don't understand Sweden. Finland is still my home from home, and I can't believe I've been away for over two years. I'm so excited to get there and see my friends!
I've regularly thought that I was much more integrated in Finland, purely because there's less immigration, so almost all of my friends were Finnish, compared to the majority of my friends in Stockholm also being from other countries. It was easier to learn the Finnish way than it has been to learn the Swedish way. My friends in Stockholm are awesome, and I wouldn't have them any other way, but when I moved to Sweden I assumed I'd eventually end up with a group of Swedish friends and I'd be the odd one out. I was wrong.
So far the highlight of my trip, 4 hours in, was getting the Finnish singer in the bar to sing "Olen Suomalainen". He did it and he was pretty good. But I'm sure I have better moments to come in the next few days. I've been tired all week, so despite not having the nicest cabin I think I'm quite ready for bed. Goodnight everyone!

Successful Valborg weekend

I've really enjoyed the bank holiday weekend. Even though I had Friday off work it doesn't stop me being a bit jealous of everyone in England having tomorrow off whilst I have to go back to work. I've mentioned previously how I struggle to balance everything in my life, and I think it's especially difficult in a new country when there's much more to take in. I'm really happy that this weekend I've been able to get lots of creative stuff done. It really frustrates me when I can't get on with the work I need to do. Exhibiting is less of a priority for me right now, I'm more concerned with actually producing work, so I'm really happy that there's been plenty of time for that this weekend.
On Friday I finally finished a piece of work that I've been doing for a while, and it was so satisfying to get it done. Then today I attended a meeting of a drawing group where we played some drawing games and worked on our own pieces. It wasn't quite what I was expecting - people who had an art education and who worked at this professionally were in the minority - but it was enjoyable.

The image shows a game I particularly enjoyed where everyone wrote a word in their language - except I had to go for Finnish as the other three languages I speak were all spoken within the group - we then chose a piece of paper at random and worked from that. I was quite lucky as I chose a Swedish word that I'm not familiar with - skorstensrök - so I also learned a new Swedish word today. It actually means chimney smoke, but the sound of it made me think of scars and rocks, so I drew something intended to look like a jagged and and scarred rock or cliff. By coincidence it also turned out to look quite smoky. It was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon, and I have a similar event coming up in a few weeks with a slightly different target audience, so I'm looking forward to that.

Aside from these activities this weekend has been pleasant. I went out with my friends on Friday night and had some well deserved drinks after the stress I've had this week. It also became quite clear that spring has arrived in Stockholm - I woke up at 5am this morning to find that it was daylight, but somehow I doubt this'll make it any easier to get up for work in the mornings. And lastly, this evening I was chatting to my landlord, who is currently living in Spain, and I mentioned to him the huge fees I get charged by my bank when I pay my rent to him. He was shocked, and told me that for transfers between EU countries it is not allowed to charge more than you'd be charged for transfers within one country. He told me that he doesn't get charged for transferring between his Swedish and Spanish bank accounts. I understand that a small part of the fees I pay are for currency conversion, but this really is a small part of the fee, and I have certainly never paid fees to transfer money to different banks within the UK. I googled this, and found the EU website, which says exactly the same as he did. He suggested I take this up with my bank and I certainly intend to, even if I have to do it in person when I'm on holiday. I'm not going to assume that the bank will do anything about this, but it's certainly worth looking into further.

I don't want to spoil my good mood with worrying, so to end on a happy note, here's a picture of me and my lovely international family on Friday night. The family that dances around like drunken morons together stays together.

A delicious new experience

Last night I had a new experience, but not a very Swedish one. Our housemate suggested an Ethiopian restaurant to us, so Kai and I went for dinner there. I'm certain that there are Ethiopian restaurants in London, but I'd never really eaten Ethiopian food before, so it was new for me.

We went to Gojo in Södermalm, and it was amazing. We hadn't booked a table but they managed to fit us in anyway with a time limit. There was a nice atmosphere and the restaurant is comfortable and looks great, with portraits of Ethiopian people and colourful lamps. It felt really homey, and they played Ethiopian music too. When we left we noticed there's a live show on Saturday nights - we were a bit too early for that last night.

The menu is small, and there's just one vegetarian meal, but after eating it once I have no problem with that at all! I loved it! 

The food is presented beautifully, with the plate set in a woven basket with a lid that the waitress took away. It looked nice on the plate, and tasted so good. Even the salad was seasoned perfectly. Every item on the plate had a unique flavour and texture, and it all balanced really well. I can't think of many occasions when I've been to a restaurant for the first time and been so impressed. Kai had a similar meal that included meat, and he loved the food just as much as I did. Of all the small dishes I really can't choose a favourite - the salad, cabbage, beans, and potatoes with carrots were all unbelievably tasty. The bread is really good too, but very different in texture, flavour, and appearance, to European bread.

We read on the menu that coffee is a very significant part of an Ethiopian meal, so next time we go to Gojo we'll definitely book a table so we can take our time and drink coffee too - we finished eating just in time last night so ordering coffee was unfortunately not an option. After this experience I would undoubtedly recommend Ethiopian food, and Gojo too. It wasn't even very expensive; the vegetarian meal cost 145kr. 

I know of a couple of other Ethiopian restaurants in Stockholm - I walk past one of them every day, it doesn't look great from the outside but is almost 100kr more expensive than Gojo, and my housemate read me an online review that said someone found a bug in their food. So I don't think we'll be going there, but there's another near Rådmansgatan that we could also try. 

I've been really impressed with the restaurants in Stockholm - the variety of food available, and the quality. Every time I've eaten out here I've been very satisfied. I'm used to living in a very multicultural city, and I'm glad that Stockholm also has such a mix of people, meaning that authentic food is available. I think Gojo has replaced Greasy Spoon as my favourite restaurant in Stockholm, and its location is ideal for us, it's so easy to get to. I really can't say anything negative, and I've found a new type of food to enjoy!

A lovely afternoon in Södermalm

As it was Valentine's Day yesterday we wanted to do something nice, so we decided to go to Greasy Spoon in Södermalm, which was recommended to me when I previously wrote about my desire for a vegetarian fried breakfast.

We got there around 2pm, and didn't think that it would be extremely busy, but maybe it's understandable seeing as it was both Valentine's Day and a Saturday afternoon.There was a one hour wait for a table, so we went for a little wander to pass the time.

Yesterday was really a beautiful day - the weather is definitely improving, and there's much more daylight now than when we arrived. We walked to the tip of the island, and from there we had beautiful views of Djurgården, Gamla Stan, and Skeppsholmen. It reminded me how beautiful Stockholm is, and I felt so lucky that I can live here and that our life here is starting to become more stable. We also walked to the Viking Line ferry terminal, so it amused me to see a street sign pointing to Finland. Now that I have an income I really need to look into the price of ferry tickets so that I can visit Turku.

By the time we'd had a walk for an hour we were so hungry, so back to Greasy Spoon we went. Actually getting food was quite a slow process because it was so busy, but I don't want to criticise the staff, especially the kitchen staff because they were putting food out constantly. The staff were all English, and automatically speaking English to every customer. I only heard Swedish being spoken amongst groups of customers. As it's clearly as English themed cafe maybe this added to the experience for non-English customers. The customer based seemed to be English people, and Swedish hipsters who probably think eating breakfast in the middle of the afternoon is edgy. I do actually find it a bit funny that this kind of food is a novelty here because it's the most normal thing in the world to me.

I like the way the cafe is decorated - the wallpaper looked like it had attractive scenes of London at first, but when we looked closer it actually showed scenes of gangs and police cars. I liked that - it felt more real to me, as someone who has lived in London for years, than having various tourist friendly pictures of Big Ben and double decker busses.

Eventually the food arrived, and wow, it was worth the wait!

Needless to say, this cafe is not a greasy spoon in the traditional sense. The ingredients and cooking were obviously of a much higher quality, and it may well be one of the best fried breakfasts I have ever eaten! Even now, the next day, I am still thinking about the food! Usually I prefer fried eggs to be more well-done, but these were actually delicious, and I say that their chefs are doing an amazing job. I also feel that you can't have a decent breakfast without some nice toast, and the toast here was just perfect, with lots of butter. Every single component was perfect, and I was so happy to find that the vegetarian sausages were Linda McCartney sausages. Maybe it's a bit sad that I knew that from taste alone. Fortunately, they're my favourite vegetarian sausages, and went perfectly with the rest of the food. I remember that the same sausages are available in The English Shop in Medborgarplatsen, and now I'd quite like to buy some to have at home. I've been to a limited number of restaurants in Stockholm, but for now I'm actually going to say that this is my favourite.

I'm not homesick, and I don't actually want to surround myself with purely British people and British culture here, but it was nice to be in an environment where my native language was expected, rather than potentially awkward. There seemed to be a sense of humour that's very familiar to me, the staff were lovely, the food was amazing, the coffee was very good, and it really did feel like a little piece of my home. They were playing English music from a cool jukebox, the cafe looks lovely, and I really enjoyed every part of our visit. I will definitely be going back there, and if I ever want some comforting food I think it's the obvious choice.

I would highly recommend Greasy Spoon. British people will love it because it's so comforting and familiar, I think for Swedish people it must be an interesting novelty. At least I know now how popular it is, and will maybe time my visit better, or at least be prepared for a long walk whilst I wait, as by the time the food actually arrived I was so hungry I could have passed out.

Friday night was the first night we'd spent in our new house, which we are so happy with, so overall yesterday was a really nice day. We're still exploring our new area, but there a more shops and businesses than there were in Hagsätra - so far we're really pleased. The flat is beautiful, and the two guys who already live here have been really friendly and welcoming to us. I think it's a really good thing that we now have the Swedish language being spoken in our home, so it's there all the time and hopefully this will help us both to keep improving.

My weekend is going very well, and I'm already looking forward to my next trip to Greasy Spoon. If they could start a home delivery service that would just be even better!

A reflection

This week there's been a lot to be happy about, finding a job and a place to live in one week is a bit special. As I still don't know a huge number of people in Stockholm I decided to invite everyone I do know out last night, and it was great. It made me think about our situation.

Five weeks ago we came to this country with nothing - no job offers or solid long term plans, nowhere to live long term, and we knew only a couple of people in Stockholm. Five weeks is not a long time, and I'm actually so proud of how I've done, and that already I'm in a position where I feel at home here, rather than feeling like a visitor or tourist. 

Although I lived in Finland for a year I was more nervous about coming here, probably because I'm now older and wiser, and more realistic about the difficulties of living abroad. In Finland I had a lot of good luck, and a lot of help from others, and I did worry I wouldn't manage this time round. I really do not want to live in England, so failing here would be such a massive disappointment. 

I'm so happy that we've started to really make a life here in a short space of time. Obviously it's still very early on, and things are not perfect yet, but I'm surprised at the progress we're making. I have a job, we have a place to live, which I can't wait to move to next week, and we have friends here. It's starting to become home. 

I'm keen to make Swedish friends, but I also like meeting people from a variety of countries and backgrounds. I realised last night that the people we count as our friends in Stockholm are all of different ages, nationalities, and backgrounds, including Swedish, but despite this everyone can be together without it being awkward or uncomfortable. I love that, and I feel lucky to already have people here I think of as friends. I'm used to having a lot of friends and contacts in London, so to suddenly be in a strange place where you know barely anyone can be lonely and depressing. There have been a couple of times when I've been lonely, but that's not really the case now.

Good luck comes in threes so hopefully very soon Kai will find a job or something else that he wants to do. I hope that our luck doesn't run out and we keep having as amazing a time as we've had so far. I've put in a lot of effort since we got back here, and it's so good to know that said efforts have paid off. I feel it proves that anything can happen if you try, and that the negative experiences I've heard about do not go for everyone. I feel that we have a future here, and I'm so happy.

Busy, brilliant week

I've been busy this week, mainly settling into my new job. I'm still adapting, but I'm enjoying it. As I work for an EU agency, and it's such an international environment, I don't know how much the workplace culture is influenced by Sweden, and how much by other places, but either way, there are some aspects that are brand new for me.

1.) Flexible hoursThere are certain hours of the day when I have to be in the office, but outside of these hours it's flexible, as long as I work enough hours in total. This is great, in particular because the Skatteverket opening hours are not very compatible with people who work usual business hours.

2.) Meetings
I've heard that meetings are very regular occurrences in Swedish workplaces; having meetings about meetings is not unusual. I've definitely experienced this during the last few days, and it looks set to continue.

3.) LunchLunch seems to be a much bigger deal here. My workplace has a canteen, as do numerous places nearby, and it seems more usual to have a proper hot meal at lunch time. Swedish law, I now understand, requires employees to take a lunch break, so there's no sandwiches at your desk here!

Obviously it's early days, but I'm enjoying it, and it is a bit surreal to think that 5 weeks ago tomorrow I arrived here with no job, and now things are totally different. Another big change is that yesterday I found somewhere for us to live for a few months! I'm so excited, especially as the house we've been living in since we got here last month has not been great. That's a story for another day. We were looking for another airbnb property, as we knew we wouldn't find somewhere to live by the end of next week. We found something suitable in Högdalen, only two stops from here on the t-bana, and when I explained our situation to the owner he told us he's going away for a few months until May, and offered to let us rent from him until then! This gives us a chance to relax for a bit, not immediately look for housing again. I'm genuinely amazed that I found both a house and a job within a week! I'm looking forward to moving next Friday, it'll be nice to settle in somewhere for a while, even if it's not really our own home. It really feels like everything is starting to come together here, and a bit more quickly than I expected. I'm starting to feel much more comfortable. I'm even more sure now that September wasn't the right time; this is the right time. I hope that our luck continues into the future, I feel so happy.