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