Our Summer Home

Here are some pictures of the apartment we're in for the next couple months.

Balcony

Eli's Room

Living Room - larger than our entire last apartment!

Living Room again

Bedroom

Courtyard has playgrounds and a ball court for Eli

Nature Preserve about 2 km from out apartment

Not shown is the full-size eat-in kitchen.  It even has full size appliances, something we hadn't seen in a while. Also not shown are the common areas (indoors and out).  The only downside is that this apartment is spoiling us and making the search for our next apartment less fun...

Catching Up

Sorry we haven’t written in a while.   Much of the last two weeks was spent either in various government offices or trying to survive living in 26 m² (260 sq ft).

It’s amazing what a difference is was going from a 300 sq ft place with nice storage to a 260 sq ft place with no storage.   For example, there’s the “Stockholm shower” for a bathroom, basically just a shower stall with the sink and toilet in it.  It’s not a place you would want to store your toothbrush.   And in the micro-size kitchen there is no place to prep food except the sink or windowsill.   The tiny accommodations with no storage mean daily grocery shopping and constant cleaning.  The worst part of the studio apartment was, after Eli went to bed each night, being stuck in a dark room not making a sound above a whisper. 

So of course, much of the last two weeks was also spent getting out. 

A few days involved trips to Skansen, a huge outdoor historical museum with playgrounds, zoo, aquarium, and plenty of other things to entertain a family with a small child.  

At Skansen's Rose Garden

Overlooking the city

Future engineer, fascinated by the machines

Other evenings included get-togethers with Anne’s coworkers, such as a party at Anne’s boss' house (yes, he has a house, not an apartment). 

And I think every day included at least one visit to a park and playground to get Eli some exercise.

  

No trip to Sweden would be complete without some time in a public pool, properly attired:

And finally, tomorrow we move into our "Summer Home".  Relatively huge at 600 sq ft, with a balcony, two bedrooms, and in a great location.  It's even near some of the few MTB trails.  

Touring Stockholm

A few pictures of Eli and I playing tourist Wednesday, at the neighborhood of Ostermalm and on the island Djurgarden overlooking Ostermalm.  Djurigarden used to be the king's hunting ground back in the day, but now it is all parks, museums, a zoo, etc.

Then Thursday was a holiday, so Anne had the day off work and we toured Gamla Stan, a small island with the best examples of medieval architecture in the city:  

While there, Anne toured parliament (Eli and I started on the tour, but his tantrums put an end to that quickly).

But getting to run around the cobblestone streets, and getting some ice cream, cheered Eli right up:

Housing drama and pictures of Eli

So here’s the scoop with our housing.  It wasn't easy, but we found an apartment for the summer.  To get it, we had to sign the sublease without seeing the apartment.  Otherwise we risked someone else jumping on it.  It’s in an awesome location, near mountain bike trails, subway, and some other people we know.  (While every apartment in Stockholm is near parks and public transportation, this one is ideal for us.)  It’s also relatively large, at >60m² or >600 sq ft.

Unfortunately, it’s not available for another three weeks from now, then we only have it for two months.  So we have to find yet another place for the time between where we are now and that place.  Then we have to find a place for the fall and winter. 

It is easier to find short-term housing, and we’re (hopefully) going to book a place tomorrow for the next few weeks.  Then since we’ll have a few months to work, we should be able to find something that we can stay in through the winter.  By spring of 2012, we should be able to get into visiting researcher housing and stay there for the rest of our residency. 

Anyway, if you want to see how Eli spends his days in Stockholm, here are some pics.  

a few surprises

I had an idea of what to expect moving here from reading a lot.  But there have been many surprises; here are a few from my first few days...

• Time change + long daylight = no sleep: I've never had trouble adapting before, but I can't fall asleep before 3AM here.  Eli is having a lot of trouble too, but I expected that.   
• Nothing is written in English, anywhere.  Nothing.  While everyone here is fluent in English, I can't read a thing.  Even commercial websites never supplement Swedish with English, and google translate sometimes struggles.   
• I wasn't expecting everything to be so expensive.  For example, rather than pack worn-out shoes, I figured I'd buy a new pair here.  But I haven't found any brown shoes less than 1200 kr ($200 USD) yet.  
• Because of those two things, I haven't purchased a phone yet.  If I'm going to pay a lot for a phone, I need to know I'm getting the best value.   
• Swedes stereotypically keep to themselves to the point of being rude, but I've found exactly the opposite.  Whether I'm looking confused about bus routes or chasing Eli around a grocery store, I've had a lot of people start conversations.  
• Living in 30 m2 (300 sq ft) with a toddler is possible.  

Well, staying up 'til midnight writing a quick blog post isn't going to help with that sleep thing...

We made it to Sweden, and Day 1 as a stay-at-home Dad

With around 15000 miles under his belt, Eli is quite the good traveler.  He slept 6 hrs overnight on the flight from Chicago to Copenhagen, and he and I had a good time the rest of the trip.  He's still catching up on sleep though.  

For our first full day here, Eli and I took our own bus & walking tour of part of the city while Anne was at work.  Eli had a nice time eating lunch on the water near central city:

And after a while sitting in his stroller walking around...

...he decided to push it himself.  

After getting back to our 300 sq ft apt, Eli decided he wanted to play in the bathroom sink, and he screamed whenever I tried to put him down.  Having to decide between a temper tantrum and indulging him, I brought the ottoman over to the sink so he could stand there himself.  Then I realized it wouldn't be considered spoiling him if I made it educational - so in the 45 minutes he stood at the sink, I took the opportunity to teach him a few new signs & concepts.  

Anyway, some fun facts: it's perfect spring weather right now, generally in the 60s F.  It starts getting light around 3 AM and dark at 10 PM.  The bus is free when taking a baby in a stroller (strollers load in the middle of the buses, and they don't want people to leave their babies to go to the front and pay).    

Finally, here are some pictures of our tiny apartment (actually an extended-stay business hotel) that we have for two weeks. 

A stop in MI on our way to Sweden

So how's this blog thing work?  testing... testing...

Our first blog post is from Michigan.  Eli and Kevin leave Monday, Anne has been in Sweden for a day and a half.  Here are some pictures of Eli and his cousin Sammy, Eli walking a dog for the first time, and Eli and his Nana.