Moving progress - part 1

We fly one way from Stockholm to the DC area on July 27, so still nearly 3 weeks until the big move. 

BUT our stuff leaves us on Wednesday. The cheapest option for overseas moving is to pack-it-yourself and send it on a boat, which we did on the way over here in 2009. We could have forked over nearly $4K to have a company pack us up and handle all the details, but I guess like pain. To be honest, in paying that labor, we would  have been paying for someone else's time, and Stu and I have lots of time right now. And, bottom line, it costs almost FOUR GRAND! Our DIY option will be closer to $1500. Not quite the $700 it cost to come over, but what can you do? Thanks, crappy US dollar exchange rate!

Regardless who packs, the boat option generally takes a month for your stuff to find its way to your door on the other side, so we're sending it off a little earlier than we are sending ourselves off. We managed to get a ton of it done in the week after graduation and before our big trip to France & Italy. But these last few days have been our final take-it-or-leave-it decisions on what gets put on the boat, what gets crammed in our 4 checked bags & 2 carry-ons, and what just gets tossed/donated.

Hooray, moving! So far, we have 26 large boxes filled. We came to Stockholm with 15. And granted, Stu doesn't let me *do* any heavy lifting, but I still acutely feel the stress of moving and heaving boxes, what with the fact that they are TAKING OVER our apartment. 

But after Wednesday, they'll be gone. I've sold a large chunk of our other stuff on Blocket (ahem, we still need someone to buy our lovely red pull-out couch...it sleeps real comfy! Promise!) 

Stu, taking apart our 3 large wardrobes for a Blocket buyer. Now our bedroom is so empty. 

So Thursday, we'll have a pretty empty apartment to enjoy for a last 2 weeks. So sad. 

Banking in Sweden

Its meant for Swedes. They don't have English translations of anything banking related. Its confusing.
We opened a bank account a few days after receiving our personnummers (that took about a week and a half, after first being rejected for putting the wrong address on the paperwork!)
We went first to Handelsbank, which is a block from our new apt. They didn't want to open an account for us, even though we had all of the paperwork they said they required, because we did not have a Swedish ID card. The ironic thing is that it has been the Swedish banks that issue ID cards for the longest time. We were even told that we could probably get one at Handels! Whatever. No arguing, we left.
And opened an account at Nordea, a half block further down. They had no problem with our paperwork or American IDs, and we got all our stuff on the spot! Including the wierdest little card reader ever:





(I blurred out my card numbers because I don't know who really reads this blog. Välj funktion just means choose a function)

It is how you make online transactions with Nordea. You slide your card in, type in the website's unique code for your session, then your PIN, then it spits out another unique code that you type into your bank's website. THEN you can see your balances, pay bills, transfer funds, etc. Every time you bank online.
Anyway, we haven't gotten hit with any fees yet, but I have been told you get charged a monthly fee for having a debit card, for paying bills online, for existing as a customer basically. Great. Oddly, our account is called a "CheckIn" account, which confused me the first time I heard it. This country (maybe every European country?) does not do checks.

Now I just need to fill this account up! Ha. We have to pay a few thousand kronor to get our stuff through customs and delivered to our new apt (yay!!) so it'll all be eaten up soon enough.

Bye til September!

This week has been insane, while we've dismantled and boxed up our apartment in DC, and moved a ton of furniture to my mom's, and saw exactly 1.88 cubic meters worth of our stuff shipped off to Stockholm. And we sold our place!

That picture is our stuff at the shipping depot in Baltimore. Very industrial, very gritty, very loud, very mechanical. We were told it was featured in season 2 of The Wire. Awesome. But it was fine...we had our crap boxed up, organized and labeled, and they very nicely took it from us to send away on a boat. It takes about 35 days on average, but we've asked it to be held to be delivered in September, when we are in our more permanent apartment. So in the mean time, Stu & I are living out of 2 suitcases a piece for the next 6 weeks. SIX WEEKS! What that means is that I have exactly 3 pairs of shoes to wear until September.

Vi kommer att bo i en fin lägenhet i Stockholm!

Well!

We've getting boxes packed and preparing for our move today. For we have found an apartment!

It's such a relief. We just got off the phone with our new landlady and she was so nice. It gives us a real good feeling to know our living arrangements aren't a big scary question mark, looming...

?

Can't you guess, yes, it is I, Stu, as our silly/intrepid blogger du jour.

In anycase, Anne and I are very excited. And she wants me to quit goofing off and post the pictures. Without further ado I present you, our new cuteness.

It's so bright! Such long, pretty windows. Granted, it won't be as bright at night, which will be approximately from Nov-Feb, but time will turn. (We'll break even from the basement light we "enjoy" now.)

Anne's particularly psyched about the bathtub. This is a one bedroom place, but is actually 10 whole square feet more that our current place! Plus, it's a stone's throw from school. Somehow that will make our first Nordic winter more bearable when I just have to do a quick 200 meter dash. Hardly seems fair, no? Well, I endured Siberian air blowing down to Korea for two winters, so I've paid some chilly dues.

Oh! And we found great deals on cold weather boots and a parka with a fur-lined hood for Anne. We'll do fine.