First blog post: Our new digs

And so this is my first blog entry.  Today is my birthday.  I am 53.  Funny story:   A few weeks ago someone mentioned that they wanted to introduce John and me to someone who is in their mid-50’s.  For s split second I honestly thought, “Oh.  Ok.  But they are a lot older than us.”  Funny. 

So in two days the movers come.  We fly to Washington DC, and then eight hours to the Copenhagen airport.  From there it is a mere 20 minute train ride to Malmo, Sweden.

We have rented our house in North Olmsted, gone to every doctor for every check-up that we can think of, sold our cars, our kayak (which we never should have bought), our Weber grill and some furniture, eaten through our inventory of food stuffs, quit our jobs, been wined and dined by many friends and co-workers, and  have now (mostly) split our household between what we anticipate will stay in Cleveland, and what will eventually go over the pond … And the house looks like it threw up….

For the next few months, we will be staying in a charming little (63 square meters) furnished apartment.  Housing (and life) are more expensive in Scandinavia, and the homes are much smaller.  Most apartments in Malmo and Lund are 700-900 square feet.  Interestingly, most apartments are purchased, and it is not easy to find a “first hand rental” apartment.  The term “first hand” equates to being the primary renter, as opposed to a sub-letter.  One might wait months or even years to rent a place “first hand”.  Our preference would be to rent, but we anticipate buying a place. 

Anyway, here are some pictures of the apartment we are renting for a few months.  The laundry room has a  mangle (!) and the drying rack.  

Life is an adventure. 

 

Oh – prayer request:  I need to make friends!!!! 

Later--