Wander & Nest

So it’s been nearly a month since we made our final country move of the sabbatical year. It’s actually strange to think that this is the last time a place will be totally new (at least for the foreseeable future, but of course nothing is ever permanent).

We are staying in a nice 2 bedroom apartment in a fantastic location in the city of Gothenburg. It’s super central in Haga, and basically 1-10 minutes by foot to nearly anything you could need on a day to day basis – grocery stores, restaurants, Mara’s daycare, playgrounds, public transit, coffee shops, pilates studio, shopping of all kinds, and so so so much more. The space itself is great, it’s much bigger than the apartment in France even though it’s still only 2 bedrooms. We’re on the 6th floor with some cool views of the city – there’s so much development going on, I think I counted 20 visible cranes! We love that there’s 0 creak in the floors of the apartment, which means Mara can freely run up and down the bowling alley of a entry/living room without really disturbing anyone too much… VERY different than France where a neighbor was in shock that Mara was so small because of how loud it was when she was playing in the apartment!

Laundry and trash took us a surprising amount of time to figure out. Laundry because we didn’t read the welcome packet that clearly explained where it is in the building, and trash because the sorting is very intense (the pictures are just the in-building trash and doesn’t include plastic and metal which we take somewhere else). Unfortunately we don’t have laundry in the apartment which seemed like it was going to be impossible with a potty training toddler, but everyone reserves their time, approximately once a week, so at least you know when you’re going to get it done. Wylie told the building we would buy our own washer just to have flexibility with all the toddler laundry we have. They said no to that but did give us a second laundry spot per week, so that was a win. The reservation system is extremely low tech and also quite effective… move your lock to your day/time and that’s it.

The biggest game changer from France has been access to childcare (since we didn’t register her early enough to get a spot while we were in France). Mara started at her Swedish daycare a few days after we landed and I don’t know who was more excited, us or her! We took close to 2 weeks to transition her to full days (called inskolning), including a few days where we stayed with her for a few hours at school. Since she’s been in daycare before it was actually very easy, just like in New Zealand. Within a week, drop offs were completely tear-free. We took note that every single child under the age of 4 is wearing full on snow suits outside, so we went out and found the very last one we could on end of season clearance. It’s an adventure getting her in that thing every day… we’ll be pros by the time the weather gets better and it’s not needed anymore.

Daycare also means regular work hours for Wylie and I! Aside from evening meetings here and there with people in the US, we can both get our work done during the day. Hello again, coffee shop working, I missed you. On my first day back in a cafe this gentle giant kept me company.

Mara immediately acclimated to the new structured schedule of daycare. Most notably, she is napping at a normal hour again which means that we are starting to get evenings back because shes also going to sleep at a more reasonable hour. Woohooooo!! Sleep is always and forever a process to work on but it’s better now than it’s been in 4 months and that’s amazing! She’s having a great time with all the activities they do at school (face painting!), forming friendships with kids even across the language barrier, and of course playing outside no matter the weather!

We are starting to get a feel for the city and are understanding how to get around. The public transit system is great and includes trams and buses. There’s no underground, which was surprising, but it’s nice to be able to see everywhere you’re going, it really makes learning the city go faster.

The area we’re in, Haga, is a very old neighborhood (since 1640) of Gothenburg. It’s very charming with old buildings and cobble stone streets, a 17th century fortress, and tons of cute shops, restaurants, and cafes. Even in dreary weather it’s cute. And Mara’s school is right in the middle of it!

Now that we are feeling more settled we’re definitely starting to feel the itch to go explore a bit more. Thankfully we’re finally coming to the end of our third and last winter this year… side note: 3 winters in a year is too many. We’re looking forward to ditching the heavy coats and to welcoming the hours and hours of sunlight coming soon to Sweden!