One month in Sweden

It’s hard to believe that I arrived in Sweden nearly four weeks ago, with Tina and Ana arriving a week later. In many ways it feels we have been here quite some time, of course in other ways it is all still very new to us all.

Overall life seems pretty relaxed here. If people are stressed going about their day to day lives they are good at hiding it. Since the moment I arrived I have been astonished how quiet everything appears considered Stockholm is a reasonably big city (for my standards anyhow). The tunnelbanna (underground train) always appears reasonably quiet and at worst busy, but never so chaotic that the platforms are overflowing and the trains bursting. The same can be said for the roads, airports, the tourist sites, practically everything in fact. It’s like everything is stuck in an un-hectic un-stressful cruise mode. I’ve seen people making ‘interesting’ manoeuvres in their cars and bicycles that have ended up causing inconvenience or at worst causing the traffic to come to a halt. In New Zealand they would receive a barrage of abuse (by way of depressed horn of the car or furious arm waving cyclist (I’m one of the later I have to admit), but in Sweden, people simply stop and wait. It appears a few seconds inconvenience is not the end of the world… as it should not be. Cyclists, pedestrians and other cars are also treated with a lot more respect than I am used to. It has had a remarkable calming affect on my own attitude too.

Even the Royal wedding in the weekend appeared a relaxed affair. We were walking through the city and passed by the Royal Palace where things were in full swing for the big wedding between Princess Madeleine and New York banker Christopher O'Neill later in the day. Well I say full swing, but it was a pretty sedate. I’ve seen school boy rugby matches stir more passion. Barricades had been set up along the procession route and police stood on corners. But even when guests were being whisked to the ceremony in their chauffeured cars and buses (yes public buses) under police escort, the crowds were not 20 deep, or even 5 deep. In fact along much of the route, apart from the very entrance to the palace, the crowd was zero deep. It seemed that either people didn’t care for a royal wedding (there was only one a few years ago) or they just didn’t think it was worth making a huge fuss about. The roads in front of the palace were officially closed and barricaded off. Yet cyclists still whizzed by and the police escorts just went around them. I can imagine in other countries they would have been shot! It was similar for Sweden’s national day last Thursday. We went into the city to see what was on. The Royal Palace was open to the public, and although a constant stream of people walked through it and the Swedish flag flew proudly around the city, things were very relaxed.

Ana negotiating the crowds outside Swedish Parliament on Sweden's National day

Inside the Royal Palace on Sweden's National day

Guests taking the bus to the Royal Wedding. At least the driver put on his suit!

Even the male train drivers have a relaxed attitude to wearing skirts:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22828150

As far as getting settled we have achieved the following.
-Obtained a national ID number, without which you can't even sneeze in Sweden;
-Opened a bank account (which you need a national ID to do);
-Arranged for payment of relocation expenses and salary (which you need a bank account to do);
-Enrolled Ana in pre-school (again, national ID number is crucial for this task);
-Found and signed a contract on an apartment (you guesses it, the national ID is the key);
-Purchased new bicycle (what were you expecting?); and
-Sent registration information to Försäkringskassans who in effect are the social welfare providers in Sweden. They told me that we will be eligible for up to 460 days of paid parental leave (yes that's four hundred and sixty) minus what we received in New Zealand (which was nothing) if we stay up to two years or more (highly likely). 

Ana's new bike. She'll grow into it

No wonder there are kids everywhere in Sweden. In fact neither of us have seen so many pregnant women, prams and buggies, playgrounds and actual children themselves anywhere else in the world. It’s like one very large breeding programme.

Pram park