The Move sneaks up on you. Up until about 10 weeks out the move home still seems far away. Then suddenly you're 6 weeks out and you're surprised that you just made it in under the wire to order that coffee table you've been eying for a year because it's a 4- to 6-week delivery window. Then you're a month out and have to rush to cancel your cell phone service and gym membership. Then you're less than a month out and you stop buying big things of ketchup at the store because you probably won't finish it and you're planning meals around what you have in the freezer. We fly home on July 10, so we're officially in the no-new-ketchup phase, and my days are full of final playdates, goodbye coffees, and work wrap-up meetings.
Am I sad to be leaving Sweden? Not exactly. I'm a little prematurely nostalgic because it's been such a great family adventure and learning experience for all of us. I will miss the friends we have made who have meant so much to us over the past 2 years. I'll miss the slower pace of life, the 5 weeks of vacation a year, the kids being in 1 school, the sincerity of the Swedes, the daily discoveries. But no, I'm not sad to be leaving, nor am I purely ecstatic to be moving back to SF.
I'm excited about being on my home turf again and knowing how things work and where the best kiddie swim lessons are. I'm excited about Mexican food for 4 for $20 and buying nuts at Trader Joe's for peanuts (pun intended). I'm excited to have friends around who have known me for 5, 10, or 30 years, who get the context of my life. And I'm excited about the work opportunities that are happening in the Bay Area for me and Adrian. I'm also nervous about losing the work-life balance that we have fallen into here and I'll do my best to hang onto that European lesson as we slide back into home.
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A blog following the expat exploits of Adrian, Nevada, Ava and Julian in Göteborg, Sweden.
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5 comments:
Wow, you've been in Sweden for 2 years...makes me think that that means we know each other for 2 years now. Crazy!
By the way, you were able to cancel cell phone and gym within a month??? Good for you! They made me pay for another 3 months after cancellation!
M, for some reason the gym, cell phones and energy bills were no problem, but ComHem is going to charge us 3 months. Oh well!
Hi,
I am a swedish expat wife in Palo Alto and a friend of mine suggested me to read your blogg (and I am not even sure my friend is a friend of yours....that is how far your blogg has travelled!). And I am so glad I did!
You have really got me to think about what is part of being an expat wife ANYWHERE and what is from being here in California and the US. It has been wonderful reading about your impression of Sweden, swedish people and the swedish system. Most of the things I agree of, although I probably wouldn't have if I hadn't been away from Sweden and experienced California for a while...
I hope you and your family manage to move back without too much hazzle, and that you settle quickly at home. I hope you will have good memories from your stay in Sweden, and maybe come back sometime?!
Linda (with three kids, 6, 4 and 1 1/2 years of age)
Hej Linda! Vad roligt att du hittade (och läsa) min blogg! Since I always think there are like 5 people who read it (specifically Mom, Wilbur, Sonja, Merel, and Sarah), I love to hear that others are reading.
Treasure your emotions and memories of the past two years. The friends that you say goodbyes to and the ones that you say hello again to will always be cherished. The experiences of us all make each of us who and what we are, and the past two years will be no exception.
Thank you for keeping up the blog, I always look forward to your thoughts.
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