Söker efter Karl

Last night we went out for a birthday beer.  We ended up at an Irish pub close to the main street.  There was a house music festival in the market square so it was impossible to find a patio seat close by. The place was relatively quiet so we practiced ordering beer in Swedish.  You say:  "stor stark" - which literally translates to big strong. Beer in Sweden is divided into the percentage of strength. Anything below a 2.25% is considered light, and is sold in the supermarkets. The strong beers are above 3.5%

Later on, the title of my blog - Searching for Sven - came up.  It turns out Sven is not a common Swedish name -- Lars and Daniel are more common. To broaden my search we learned how to say Searching for Man in Swedish - "Söker efter Karl"  Now I can ask for 2 things at the bar using 1 phrase 1) stor stark = big strong 2) stor stark karl = big strong man.

2am - the sky is starting to get bright

The IKEA gods are against me

It has been 10 days since I arrived in this amazing country, and I wouldn't care if I didn't see another IKEA for 10 years!  Not a single build-it-yourself piece of furniture that I bought went together without a disaster! But after borrowing an electric drill and a couple hand saws, I managed to set up my room! Well, it's almost there.  I'm just happy to have a bed and some black out curtains!

Our apartment is to die for!  It has stunning views of the gulf, wall to wall pine floors, a balcony and lots of extra room - so much room, we're afraid we won't be able to fully furnish it!  The only flaw was our leaky sink. We went to the rental company to make an appointment to have it looked at, and expected to wait at least 1 day for it to be fixed .  Walking back up to our apartment, we were greeted by the repair men in our hallway - they had beat us home!

I'm surprised at how well I've been adjusting to my new surroundings, in a new country, half way around the world. Aside from the whole not understanding Swedish aspect, I haven't felt any feeling of culture shock. Sticker shocked, definitely feeling that.  Things are very expensive! The people, for the most part, are very friendly, and patient with our lack of Swedish.  Almost everyone here speaks English, which has been helpful!  I do feel guilty for not knowing more Swedish though, I'm sure it will come to me. In 2 years I'll be fluent ... haha, probs not.

View from our apartment window

I couldn't think of a clever title

Sooo my Mom has this idea slash joke that I'm going to meet "Sven" while I live and work in Sweden for 2 years.  You know, a good looking Swedish man with blonde hair, blue eyes, and lots of money. Or Prince Carl, he would fit the bill too. I'm not really searching, that would be kind of creepy and stalker-like, plus where would I find the time - it is my first year teaching after all. But the title sounded catchy, so it works!