10 years ago today I arrived in Sweden.
Anders had gone ahead of me, arriving on New Year’s Day since he had to start work, and I was still at my parent’s house helping my mom deal with the aftermath of my dad’s death 2 weeks earlier. We went straight from the airport to the hospital to greet the arrival of his sister’s newborn baby, who celebrated his 10th birthday yesterday.
10 years! I didn’t know it would be that long. I have lived abroad for 16 years of my life now.
3 years ago I wrote a post that listed all the major accomplishments I had achieved since I came to Sweden. I can add a couple of things to that list:
- survived company closing and job loss
- got the 2nd AND the 3rd jobs that I applied for in Sweden
- sang at Globen in Stockholm
- had tea with the Queen of Sweden*
- held a position for 2 years as an section editor for a great online magazine
- badly sprained a foot and had to learn to walk on crutches for the first time ever
- fulfilled a lifelong dream with a trip to Scotland
- stayed married for 10 years (and counting)! Yay, us!
- learned how to let go of the reins and when to take them back up again
- dared to post a music clip of myself singing on the internet
10 years in Sweden. I’m still not a Swedish citizen, though, even though I qualified years ago. I need to remedy that. Maybe this year. I like it here. I think I’ll stay.
However, if it doesn’t stop raining soon, I will pack up the house and the family and move us all to the Mediterranean. I hear Nice is nice.
*She was in the same room. It counts!