Paperwork

I have now been in Sweden for almost two weeks. The time has absolutely flown by and to be honest, I don't have a real good time awareness right now. I am not really aware of the day of the week, or the time of the day for that matter. I really at this point have nothing I have to do, or to much that I can do until my paperwork is all completed.

Last week we went to the two offices that I need to register with. One is the tax office called Skatteverket, and the other is the migration office called Migrationsverket. Migrationsverket is where I had to go to get my green card. I had an appointment for 13:45 last Tuesday to go in and get my fingerprints and photograph taken for my green card. Not really knowing what to expect we arrived about an hour early and began waiting. Migrationsverket was the office that I had had so much difficulty with approving my green card to come here, so I was expecting the absolute worst from this experience. After waiting for 20 minutes there were no other people in line and I was up. I began speaking with the lady and she asked if I had an appointment. I told her that indeed I did have an appointment for 13:45. She looked at her clock, and then told me that I would have to wait because my appointment was not for another 30 minutes. This confused and upset me, because there were no other people in line. Defeated and frustrated I decided to go find the restroom. I was only gone for one or two minutes and when I returned my wife and daughter were in the cubicle getting my green card started and all I had to do was give my fingerprints, take a picture, and sign my name. This turned out to be one of the easiest things I have done for quite some time. My green card will be ready for me to go pick up this Thursday, and then I can go back to Skatteverket to finish applying for my person number.

The person number is by far the most important piece of paper in Sweden. Without a person number you basically do not exist. You cannot get a job, a bank account, utilities at your house, you cannot even rent a movie. I was told that my person number will take about four weeks for me to receive, so I am on a four week forced "vacation". Once I receive my person number I can enroll in my SFI classes to better learn the language, and also register at the labor office to get help finding a job.

So for the next four weeks I will continue to explore the area and work on my Swedish. I just hope that the time passes as fast as this first two weeks has.

First Day

Today was our first full day in Sweden and we took a bit of the afternoon to go and explore a section of our neighborhood. I can say that the weather today was far different than what we were used to in Arizona. Not really being accustomed to the Swedish Summer, my daughter and I did not dress for the storm that was coming in. The lesson that I learned here was that when it is windy in Sweden, it is going to be a little chilly as well. 

We wandered around a place called Globen City, which is a shopping area, a Hockey arena, and the brand new soccer stadium that opens this weekend. It is all a bit of a mess right now with the construction going on, but when it is finished it seems as though it will be a very nice area for us to be part of.

Before we went on our walk today we unloaded the boxes that we had shipped here from the U.S. It appears that everything made it, and only a couple of things were broken. I am not entirely sure what these boxes went through to get here, but I think that rolling down a few flights of stairs and maybe being dragged behind a vehicle may have been involved. These things looked rough, and for some very strange reason a couple of them were filled with sand?! Like I said though only a couple of things were broken so all in all it was okay. Tomorrow we are going to go do some shopping and get a few things for our apartment. Thanks to Mor Mor and Mor Far (my wife's parents) the things that we thought we were going to need is GREATLY reduced. They really took care of us and set us up with a lot of the things that we were going to need. This made it so we could stay in our apartment on our first night, and also makes it so we only need to get a few things tomorrow. This made the transition on the first day so much nicer. All in all I gotta say it was a good first day.

 

The Bike

For the last two years this has been my daughter's bike. Over that time she went from wobbly and scared to a parents heart attack inducing dare devil. When I walked outside today and saw my daughters bike all alone in the middle of my parents yard, it became so much more.

It became a catalyst for an outpouring of emotion that I have been bottling up since arriving in Colorado. This little bike brought me to tears. I looked at it and no longer saw a bike, but a piece of my daughters life. She overcame some of her biggest fears on this bike. She learned that pain goes away on this bike. She got her first taste of independence on this bike. She also became more responsible on this bike.

When I looked at this bike today, all I could think about is how much my life is changing right now. I have made a serious effort to not have any emotions showing for the last two weeks. I do not want anyone to misinterpret my emotions. I do not want my daughter to see daddy crying and scared about moving to Sweden because I am trying very hard to instill confidence in her. I cannot tell her that everything will be okay while I am crying and scared. So the choice I made was to bottle it up. Apparently my bottle was full and that damn bike was the last drop.

This bike saved us all today. There had been such a tension in the air today. Nobody was talking or enjoying each others company, everyone seemed to be subconsciously avoiding the elephant in the room. Once my emotional dam broke it liberated is all. It was like a cleansing heavy rain had fell and cleaned the air. This bike allowed me and my family to enjoy our last night together.

We will be leaving this bike behind but because of what it brought my daughter and now me, I will never forget this bike.

A new masterpiece

With one week left in the USA, nervousness is starting to set in. The last week in Colorado has been great! I have seen family, and friends that I have not seen for a long time. Physically I have had a chance to recuperate from the eight month process that moving out of the country became. Mentally though, I have not completely relaxed. There have been times when I have been able to just let my mind go clear, but most of the time it is still trying to process this crazy adventure. Between a family reunion, and a going away party with lots of old friends the questions have been plenty. I understand that everybody wants to know all of the details, but unfortunately I still do not have all of the answers.

It has been pretty much the same questions throughout.

What are you going to do for work? My reply always brings a blank stare, often with a little glimmer in their eyes as if saying this guy has lost his mind. Truth be told, I have ZERO idea of what I am going to do. I have said before that I am totally letting go and trusting that everything will be alright. I have a great support system in Sweden that is as invested in my families well being and success as I am. I will not fail! Or should I say I will not fail forever. I know that there will be failures, and they are going to be used as ways to improve and succeed. This decision was never going to be understood by all, but it is understood by me and my two queens. The questions have set my mind racing.

I try to think forward to next week and what my routine will be as I become a Swedish resident, and all I see is vast blank canvas. I cannot picture a normal day and what it will hold for me. I can easily sit here and look at tomorrow and see my day play out in my mind. That vision does not show for next week, and frankly it is strange. I am 40 years old, and cannot picture a simple day. It is both inspiring and  frightening at the same time. Every day for me has been relatively the same. I know have the opportunity to completely reinvent my life. I can make my new routine anything I want, but there is comfort in my old routine. I am afraid that if I attempt to have the same routine, I will not grow and take advantage of this new life. I am afraid that if I attempt a new routine, I will lose everything that makes me me. I know that I could lead more of an exciting life, but what would that be? How many of you would want that blank canvas to start your masterpiece all over again? Think if you could start all over, what would you do? Would you change things or would you do the same?

Next week, I will be looking at my new blank canvas that is my life. I will pick up my new Swedish paintbrush and begin my new masterpiece. Hopefully I will like the picture!

Trying for some down time

We started our journey north on Saturday. This first leg consisted of an eleven hour drive from Arizona to Colorado. While long, the drive is through some of the most beautiful scenery of the American southwest. This is the land that I grew up in. I saw it everyday through my childhood, and unfortunately after time I guess I took it for granted. On this drive however I was completely struck by the beauty. I guess it must be the fact that I am leaving it all, and honestly do not know when I will return.

Once we arrived at my parents house the goal was to spend the time recuperating from the madness that has been the last eight months. So far though it has been vey difficult to get the down time. There are so many sights and people to see. We took my daughter on her first mountain hike to a place called Hanging Lake. For those unfamiliar with it, it is a 1.2 mile hike covering 1100 vertical feet. Figured it was necessary for my daughter to see the beauty of Colorado before we moved to Sweden. She enjoyed the hike immensely. 

     

The people seeing is difficult. Trying to get family members and friends together is like trying to control a heard of caffeinated squirrels. I know that there are people who want to see us before we move, and we want to see everybody as well. Unfortunately we are all not on the same vacation for two weeks. We are trying to get everyone together in a couple of group gatherings. One for family, and one for friends. 

So as all of this rolls on, there has been very little down time so far. I have this feeling of no matter what I do, someone will feel disappointed or left out. I guess I was a little naive thinking that there would be time to do everything. Whatever I end up doing, it is a win win situation for me. If I get to see everyone and everything I will be happy. If I get my downtime, I will finally get to recuperate a little bit.