Home Again

I'm a delinquent blogger, I'll admit it!

I'd like to give closure to my Swedish adventure and fill any of my followers in on the past couple of years. 

After trying my hand at helping launch a start-up company, and taking Swedish language courses, I decided it was time for a change.

SFI Language Class in Kungalv, Sweden

After months of frustrating attempts to find an English speaking position that actually utilized my background and skill set, an opportunity arose.  Finally in July of 2011, I landed an interview with one of the world's top advertising agencies for an opportunity to work in-house at Volvo Car Corporation. This opportunity came about as a direct result of networking with the American Women's Club in Gothenburg. In the early Fall of 2011, I began my position as an Account Support Manager with Volvo Car Corporation. I was elated. I received the opportunity to work for a reputable ad agency with great people. Better still, my hope to have a true "Swedish" work experience came true since Volvo is arguably one of the most "Swedish" companies around. 

Volvo Office Gothenburg, Sweden

Unfortunately we lost our lease on our incredible Gothenburg apartment in Spring 2012. At this point, we felt it was too late to start over, and for a variety of reasons, we decided to "come back home" - to the States.  In August of 2012, I moved back to St. Louis, MO with my oldest daughter so that she could start 1st grade on time with the rest of her class.  Meanwhile, back in Sweden, my husband and our youngest daughter waited for their Visas to be approved.  Five long weeks later, my entire family was back together again. We returned to our same St. Louis home. Looking back, it feels like nothing really changed.

I'm thankful for the opportunity:

To Work in an international environment 

To Learn Swedish

To Live on the countryside (cows and meadows anyone?) 

To Live in a high rise city apartment with a view 

To Learn what Non-Americans think of America

To Meet interesting people from all over the world

That my children were able to experience living in another country

That my children learned Swedish

Time with my husband's family including two grandmothers who passed away during our time in Sweden

To Challenge myself to navigate an unfamiliar city

To Travel  - A Northern Italy roadtrip, family time in Denmark, Romantic weekends in Barcelona and Paris and catching up with a friend in London.

To Enjoy Swedish film, TV & Music

If I had to do it over again, I would have tried to learn the language before moving, joined the American Women's Club of Gothenburg sooner, committed to create a social circle early on, bought a condo or something of our own, and get a driver's license.   It was a challenging and rewarding experience and all in all, I'm glad I made the move with my family.

Thank you for following along on this journey with me.  Please feel free to share your own personal stories about your life in Sweden or other similar situation.

Until the next big chapter....

Brandi 

I'm all shook up....

just 15 minutes ago I felt a rumbling in my bed, from what felt like a small earthquake.  I immediately searched the web to find my answer, did I just have a nighmare, is my parent's condo on shaky ground, or was there really in fact an earthquake on the very morning I'm set to return to Gothenburg?  You would think I would find my answer on the sites I went to including: The Weather Channel and all my local news sites....but alas, no answer could be found. So I hopped on Facebook, posted " just got woken up by what felt like a small earthquake, but nothing reported yet....weird."


...and then I received my answer within seconds, when I saw my younger sister who lives within 10 miles of me in St. Louis post:  " Am I crazy or was there a small earthquake around 310 am?"


So Facebook has either confirmed that there was in fact an earthquake, OR, both my sister and I are nuts!

Good night all!

Is there a sign on my forehead?.......

Something's just been a little weird lately, and it's making me think I must have some type of marking on my forehead that says...I AM NOT FROM HERE!

On several occasions, around town, on the elevator, and laundry room etc., people just look at me and start speaking English to me.  It's really weird.  I mean, how do they know I don't speak swedish? How do they know I wasn't born and raised here in Sweden?

The first couple times it happened I didn't think all that much about it, but random people continually begin their conversations with me in English.  I don't have an answer as to why this is happening, but perhaps if you aren't blue-eyed and blond, people can just tell?  Or perhaps it's the way I dress, or carry myself, or maybe there is just a "she's not a Swede radar, (a swedar if you will). 

Does anyone know what the deal is?

Alright, that's been bugging me a little, so I thought I'd just throw it out there for some possible feedback?  Anyone experiencing a similar thing?

Until next time....

Brandi

Winter in Sweden

As I am not so accustomed to such long, cold and dark winters, spending my first winter in Sweden has been quite the learning experience.

I have learned to deal with the cold weather, because if you don't, you'll just end up indoors all the time, and that is just depressing. 

Winter Attire:
So, first things first, as my husband always says, "there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing".  For years, I hated this saying, but you know..it's really kind of true.  From thermal leggings, to UGG boots, a min. of 2 pairs of socks, several layers of tops and a Didrikson wind and water resistant coat, it's a bit of a chore to get dressed every day, but it makes the (up to -18 C weather bareable).

Winter Solstice:
Baby it's dark out there!  This winter solstice dealio is no joke.  There are days when we only have about 5 or 6 hours of sunlight, so even though it's only around 3:30 in the afternoon, you feel like it's bedtime...this does not make for very productive days unfortunately.  The darkest day was Dec. 21/22, but luckily now we've hit our darkest hour, so to say, and every day, we are gaining more and more light.

The winter solstice occurs exactly when the Earth's axial tilt is farthest away from the sun at its maximum of 23° 26'. More evident to those in high latitudes, this occurs on the shortest day and longest night of the year, when the sun's daily maximum position in the sky is the lowest.[1] Since the winter solstice lasts only a moment in time, other terms are often used for the day on which it occurs, such as midwinter, the longest night or the first day of winter.  The seasonal significance of the winter solstice is in the reversal of the gradual lengthening of nights and shortening of days. Depending on the shift of the calendar, the winter solstice occurs on December 21 or 22 each year in the Northern Hemisphere - Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice

Early Snow:
We had our first bit of snow fall in late October.  The next, first real snow hit on November 9th, 2011, which just so happens to be my youngest daughters birthday.  Then, from mid-November until today, we have had snow on the ground.  Coming from St. Louis, MO- I have definitely seen my fair share of snow, but nothing as constant as I have seen while living in Gothenburg, Sweden.  The funny thing is, despite the bad weather, and low temps causing icing on the roads, I have discovered that Sweden just keeps on going.  No "snow days" like back at home.  A close source told me that the only day they ever remember being off for a "snow day" was on November 17th, 1994 - where about a foot and a half of snow dumped over the city of Gothenburg.

Record Low Temps:

Winter hit new record in December. The month was the coldest in more than 100 years in the Gotaland and locally also in southern Svealand. Some of the towns that had the coldest December since records began in the 1800s was Karlshamn, Gothenburg, Lund and Linkoping. Source: http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=83&artikel=4273502

A Winter Wonderland: 
I will be the first to admit, winter is not my thing. I do not like being cold, and I would rather be on a beach in sunny Cali or chillin' at Bondi Beach in Australia.  However, life has brought me to one of the coldest places in the world, and for what it's worth, Sweden is a beautiful country and with the glow of the snow on their gazillion trees, it's quite amazing really.  Seeing the street of Avenyn lit up with beautiful lights, and just the perfect white powder lining the trees and homes really makes you think you are in a real life winter wonderland.

Alright, it's pretty, but let's bring on SPRING!!

Home Sweet Home- Back to St. Louis for Thanksgiving

Just got back from my 9 day trip back home to St. Louis, MO.  I brought my 4 year old with me, leaving behind (sadly) my husband and 2 year old.

Sophie with cousin Ashley at the St. Louis Zoo

We left our home in Sweden around 4:45 in the morning and headed out to the airport on November 19th.  Snow was falling as we drove to the airport and unfortunately, our flight to Stockholm was delayed 20 minutes, leaving my daughter and I only about 40 minutes to catch our flight to Chicago.  We ran like hell just so we could make it on the flight....but we made it!  Of course my daughter was dragging her feet so it made things a bit challenging.  Luckily, a couple of different woman helped my daughter and I get to our gate just in time.

Finally, after around 20 hours of total travel time (starting when we left for the airport), we were welcomed by my mom and dad at the airport.  It was good to be home again. That first night, we drove to Whole Foods to grab a quick bite, and my poor little girl Sophie ended up falling asleep in the car, and didn't wake up again until 2AM.  We were both awake for an hour or so and finally, we fell back asleep.



Sunday morning I met with my bosses at my favorite meeting place - Bread Co. on Ballas.

I came home around 1pm and headed straight out to the Zoo (a must when visiting St. Louis).  We had a great time checking out all the animals with my parents, sister, bro in law and my 1 year old niece. We shut down the zoo, and decided to grab a bite at Llewellyn's in the Central West End.  I got the Llewellyn's Chicken Sandwich (amazing).  As if the day wasn't complete enough, we headed out to Eureka to check out some light displays and meet Santa.  We were all exhausted and were happy to have a good night's sleep.  This was just my first day back.

The Girls..at Kobe

Monday, after some conference calls relating to my job, I went to my old place of work at ReachLocal to catch up with friends.  I was a bit surprised to see so many new faces, but luckily I was able to catch up with a few of my previous co-workers.  That night, my girlfriends and I went to Kobe's for some good Hibachi food and wonderful conversation....(unfortunately, that place is pretty noisy so we caught up in the bar instead), while my daughter slept on the chair.

Throughout the week, we did a ton of shopping, kid friendly activities, and catching up with friends and family.


My daughter had her hitlist of things to do:
The Zoo
Incredible Pizza Company

Planet Fun for a playdate with her BFF Sam

Magic House

Jumping with Bungee Cord and Trampoline at the Mall

Butterfly House, Carousel, Faust Park



Fun at the Magic House





Me and Sophie at the Butterfly House in Chesterfield



We did all these things AND MORE in about a week - this is more activity than we've had in the last 6 months combined!

My hitlist was a little different;

Target (why is there no Target in Sweden?)
The Mall- any mall will do just fine thank you....
Whole Foods
Oishi for Sushi
Hibachi at Kobe Steakhouse Westport
Dierdorf & Hart's for King Crab Legs
Pei Wei for Mandarin Kung Pao Chicken
Llewellyn's - Llewellyn's Chicken Sandwich

I took in as much of my favorite dishes as possible and it was awesome!  Although my mother in law is a great cook, nothing compares to some of my faves in St. Louis. Although I could have shopped MUCH MUCH more I contained myself (slightly) anyway.  I could have done some SERIOUS damage in the Macy's shoe department, however, I held back.  Generally, things cost more in Sweden, so I was happy to stock up on some clothes for my two girls at Children's Place and Target.

We had great time with friends and family as well! We stayed part time with my parents so we got in a lot of time there, and later in the week, we stayed with my sister.  It was wonderful catching up with my sister and bro in law, and of course, my little niece Ashley.  Thanksgiving allowed us time to spend time with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins.  We ate, played, and surfed the web together!

Thankful for the iPhone at Thanksgiving 2010

 My older brother Doug and his fiance' Heather also came in last weekend allowing (nearly) our whole family to be together..or course we missed Mikael and Maja.  I spent two nights out with my girlfriends, one night out with "the boys" and had a dessert date with Kels.

Dinner at Jessi's

Besides for missing my hubbie and youngest daughter like crazy, we had a fabulous trip.  We definitely could have used another week or so there so we could have spent more time with everyone.  That old saying..."Time flies when you're having fun" definitely applies to my recent trip home to St. Louis.

Until next time...

Brandi











Maja Turns 2!

The week leading up to my youngest little girls birthday I had off of school because of a Swedish holiday called Alla Helgons Dag (All Saints).  I was able to spend time with both my girls; hanging out, watching TV, reading books and playing games.  This was probably the first time I wasn't at work for one of my girl's birthdays (assuming it didn't fall on a weekend).  It was a good feeling to spend time with my birthday girl, even if we didn't do anything too exciting.

Maja turned 2 on Tuesday the 9th of November, although we waited to celebrate until this past Sunday.  Of course, this just means she received nearly a week of tight squeezes and kisses and happy birthday messages from me all week. On Maja's actual birthday, we woke up to an incredible view.  Everything was covered in snow...it was beautiful.  We spent a good portion of time playing out in the snow!

This past Sunday we had family over to celebrate Maja turning 2 years old.  Unlike a celebration we would have likely had at home, I feel like the whole preparation part is much more relaxed here. No worrying about invitations or who to invite....because here, it's simple.  You have a simple smörgåstorta (literally translates to a sandwich cake), and tårta (cake), and your family and maybe a couple of close friends come over.

We had family over (all of whom live in the 2 houses next to our ours), and we had a smörgastårta made of bread, ham, tomatoes, eggs, mayo, shrimp and much more I'm sure.  I can't tell you if it's good or not, because I don't eat it....(but that's another blog).  My four year old and I made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing (a recipe from a Swedish friend), and my mother-in-law made an amazing rice crispy and merengue cake with a sort of vanilla custard filling, and kiwi and whipped cream topping. YUM!!

The guests arrived, Maja opened a few gifts (an adorable top and cool rose printed pair of jeans, Hello Kitty (lego type) set. Maja also got some clay and one of those funny squeezable balloons - great for relieving the stress of having a two year old (I mean great for a 2 year old). Of course, this broke by the end of the night because my 4 year old stretched it too much.  Oh well!  Maja also received a fun keyboard, a doctors kit, a winter coat from grandma, some cash from her Gamla Farmor (Great Father's Mother) and Gamla Mormor (Great mother's mother).  Her favorite toy of the event- a toy baby stroller.  Two year old girls have this obsession with taking care of "babies".  It's adorable.

We ate dinner - the children and I had pizza instead of the sandwich cake.  Next we sang the Swedish version of happy birthday.  We chatted with my sister Lisa and my niece Ashley on Skype...my sister was a little embarasses since she was in her PJ's when she called us (not knowing a party was going on).   We had a lot of fun singing "happy birthday" with my sister and niece on Skype.
Later we talked to Maja's grandma and grandpa. 

I owe my mother-in-law a ton of credit for helping out with everything. From cleaning and making the table just perfect for my little girl's birthday, she takes care of virtually everything! Many Thanks!

Thanks to ALL who helped make this a special day for Maja.

Brandi

Catching Up

It's been a little while since I've checked in, so here's what's been going on for the last week or so.

1. Searching for a new car- Mission Accomplished!  After months of searching for the perfect automatic car for our family, we have finally settled on a Renault.  So last night, was my first time actually driving somewhere by myself in Sweden!  I drove up to the city of Kärna's Post Office/Goodies store only a few minutes from our home.  It felt great, although a bit strange with this French made car because it has a keycard and a Start/Stop button. Can't wait to get to know the city better.

2. Trying to get a phone- Hmm, this is a little harder than it may seem.  Let's put it this way, we had enough money to pay cash for our new car, yet when it came to getting credit for a new phone for a whopping $15.00 a month, we were denied.  I was able to get my Iphone unlocked, but when we took it to Telia this morning (equivalent of an AT&T) in the states, it was like I was standing in an AT&T store.  Meaning...of course there were problems.  The manager said there could be problems "Surfing" the net on my phone even though the phone had been unlocked (something to do with different programming of the phones in the States).  My father in law and I ran a couple of tests and we think we have things figured out, so I should be able to go ahead and get the service now. I guess the worst thing that will happen is that it won't work, and I'll "have" to buy the new Iphone 4 instead...(I have to admit I'm secretly hoping my old Iphone won't work so I'll "have to" get the new version.  Of course I'll be stuck on a 24 month agreement (just like home).

3. Apartment search- Well, I can't say that we've really done any looking for own apartment yet, however, we were lucky enough through family connections to land an amazing apartment in Gothenburg (Göteborg).  This is an apartment in the center of everything in the 2nd largest city in Sweden.  The view is absolutely amazing and I can tell you that I wanted the apartment at the first sight of the view, before I even looked anywhere else in the apartment. We have been waiting all week to get the news, and this afternoon, we found out that we are approved to sign the second hand lease. Our plan is to move in early January. Getting an apartment is not easy here in Sweden, especially an amazing apartment like we've landed in the heart of the city.

4. Job Hunting- Although it's been relaxing all summer just spending time with my family, working on my jewelry designs (http://www.brandiu.etsy.com/) and getting to know Sweden, now that some months have passed, I'm very eager to get back to working again in my field of digital marketing and sales.  Through networking, I have been introduced to a couple of very good opportunities and I can't wait to get to work, and experience a "work life" in Sweden.  A steady income of my own would allow me get even more out of my Swedish life.

What do you think is the hardest thing about moving some place new?  Share your thoughts below.

Thanks for checking me out!
Brandi