Tagged: americanabroad

07
Dec
2014

HOME SWEDE HOME

I bet you thought I’d NEVER get back! It actually felt like longer than 2 weeks away. Weird how time distorts. I had a lovely week of vacation at my sister’s new (temporary) place in Connecticut, just hanging out and enjoying the American bounty of Thanksgiving and family. Sarah and Mom and I binge-watched the entire first half of Season 1 of Outlander while it snowed outside. We avoided the malls on Black Friday but ventured out Saturday and things were just as crowded. Eek! Mom and I left Sunday for Boston and I had a good week working and...

26
Nov
2014

NOTES FROM CRUISING ALTITUDE

I’ve been chasing the sun across the Atlantic. It’s been a 4.5 hour long sunset, the sky stippled orange, layered with yellow and topped with deep evening blue above a bubbled deceptive surface of clouds. Clouds all the way across the sea…i am glad to be above them in the clear sky. How dark it must be below this endless expanse. We’ve had only a little turbulence and I’ve had only a little sleep. According to my phone it is only a little after 9, long after the sun would have slid beneath the planet’s curve back home. Flying is...

23
Nov
2014

DREAM ABOUT THE DAYS TO COME

I’ve spent the day relaxing and packing, for the most part. Even after talking to my mom and sister a couple of days ago as well as a colleague in the States, I still have no idea exactly what to pack for the weather. The forecast for the Boston area as well as Hartford, CT, where my sister is, jumps around all over the place temperature-wise. From 11-12 Celsius to 19 (!) to 3-4 at the end of the week. ´ I don’t want to fill up my suitcase with winter clothes, so I really hope that it doesn’t snow...

23
Oct
2014

AMERICAN IDIOTS

A woman I know, who is a member of the AWC here, despite having moved up north in Sweden several years ago, emailed me yesterday to tell me about something that had just happened to her asking if anyone else in the club was having the same issue. One of her banks, where she and her (also American) husband have their savings accounts, had written to them telling them that since they were American citizens, the bank was closing their account. Sweden recently signed the FATCA agreement with the U.S. As of July 1st, 2014, Swedish banks are obligated to...

17
Sep
2014

BEEN DOWN SO FAR ALL I SEE IS UP

Yeah, so the whole weekend sucked. I can’t think of any other time I’ve been in that much consistent, awful pain, since…mmmm. Childbirth? The toothache that led up to the root canal? Toss-up. Anyway, I went to the doctor on Monday and I have “frozen shoulder” and he gave me a cortisone shot on the spot and aaaaahhhh… sweet, sweet relief. It’s not 100% gone and I can feel it threatening to come back after only 2 full days of working so have to talk to my boss and get SOMETHING, anything, figured out about what in my work situation...

02
Sep
2014

FIRST WORLD PROBLEM OF THE WEEK

I can’t figure out if I should go to Boston and work the week BEFORE Thanksgiving week or the week AFTER with the assumption that I will be at my sister’s with my mom FOR Thanksgiving week itself. The trip is already approved by my boss with the week of vacation attached, and my family has grudgingly, though not without a far amount of grumbling on the part of the children, accepted my absence for Thanksgiving, which means moving our own annual Turkey Day celebration up by 1 or 2 weekends or down by 1 (which causes it to land...

18
Aug
2014

BACK TO REALITY

I didn’t think it was going fast while it was going but suddenly, here we are at the tail end of summer and the good times are OVER. We spent the entire weekend traveling home and arrived here at 8 pm last night. I actually slept well almost all night and worked all day without turning into a zombie, though I could feel the jetlag creeping up my eyelids by about 3 pm. The kids start school tomorrow and it’s rained for 2 days straight, both signs that autumn has definitely begun. Camilla, my awesome friend, and our housesitter extraordinaire,...

01
Mar
2014

BIG PLANS

It’s the first day of a new month! That means INTERNET! YAY! But even better, Anders has made the call and placed an order for us to get hooked back up to broadband…no more mobile internet for us, wheee! I’m not sure when that will be in place, but as long as it is, I do not care. I haven’t been able to do anything online for WEEKS. And in the middle of all that, my friend Russell and I were trying to get our BIG Birthday Trip figured out and he basically had to do all the work because...

11
Jan
2014

SEVENTEEN

17 years in Sweden, today. 17 years of lagom and fika and myskväll. 17 years of eating mazariner and semlor and kassler and köttbullar. 17 years of taking my shoes off when I come in the house. 17 years of speaking and thinking in and dreaming in Swedish. 17 years of trying not to complain about the weather and being glad every time I see the sun. 17 years of meters and liters and celsius. 17 years of missing family and friends from the States, but 17 years of making new ones here, both friends and family. 17 years of...

25
Nov
2013

THESE ARE THE DAYS

Every day when I come into work, one of my colleagues greets me and then says what day it is. I don’t know if this is a Swedish thing, but I find it very strange. EVERY DAY. I suspect he is saying it for confirmation because he must understand that I KNOW what day it is. So, in case you weren’t aware or don’t have access to a calendar or are on vacation and not paying attention: today is Monday. One of my other colleagues is gone on a business trip this week, so we’re short one person, which means...

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