In Sweden!

So we made it safely to Sweden, the girls were awesome on the plane. Just slept most of the way and we actually had to wake them up for landing! We were lucky in that the plane was not full at all so we took up some extra seats, Sonja got to sleep in a bassinet and Linnea slept across two seats. Matt and I had the hardest time sleeping because we weren't able to recline much or stretch out our legs, but that's just the way it goes.

Jet lag wasn't too bad - for most of us. Linnea had the hardest time. We just couldn't keep her awake past 5:00 PM even if we are in the middle of IKEA and then she's be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at 4:00 AM! That lasted about 4 days, we are all well adjusted now.

So, our new place is great, big, spacious, cold, drafty... all of the things we expected with an old farm house. We don't mind the cold that much, we just wear warm clothes inside and keep our slippers on!

It is so nice to live in a place with a yard! Today we found a cat (most likely the neighbor's barn cat) who looks like Hobbs, so we've been calling him/her Hobbs. Linnea also spied a bunny in the backyard when we were out playing. Our neighbors to the east have a farm where they board horses. There have got to be at least 9 of them and some of them are the nicest horses I've ever seen (very well bred) and huge!

So here are some pics of the place. If it looks like everything came from IKEA that is because it did. It's hard to imagine anything but IKEA decor here. We did hit IKEA the second day we were here and it felt just like we were back in the US. Kinda strange.







So, it is interesting finding out what is different here than what we expected and what really isn't all the different from home. You can never really know until you experience it. One thing that has been hard for me is that I can't find my usual stuff at the grocery store. OK, I anticipated this, but it's weird that I can't find many canned tomato products or Mexican products but that I can find tons of prepackaged, make from a box Indian cuisine. The cereal isle is limited to one shelf but they have an overwhelmingly supply of Musli (pretty much granola) and several candy isle (these people have a sweet tooth). And I so miss the Super Target back in MN where I can get almost everything I need in one spot. Here I have to go to 2 different grocery stores just to make dinner. But I assume that'll all start to change as I learn to adjust. And it really isn't that frustrating, mostly humorous.

I still haven't seen a department store, I think they are all in the mall. The only one I recognize is H&M, must be a European company. We looked at getting a used stroller and quickly found out that strollers here are super pricey because they are all deluxe. Which brings me to another point. Luxury. It seems as though there are very few personal comforts items (scratchy sheets, scratchy recycled paper toilet paper, etc) - very minimalistic and practical. Then you get to things like baby strollers and cars and we're talking high end luxury.

We're all doing well. Matt started classes this week and has been riding his bike into Lund. We have signed up Linnea for school but she hasn't been placed yet. We've got internet, some TV with about half of the time showing something American, and new Swedish cell phones. Now we are anxiously awaiting our first visitors. Andy and Kelly will be here in a about a week and a half. Make sure you pack your slippers!