The City
Rewind to the start of July and I was probably lying outside in a park somewhere in Stockholm soaking up the sun and the heatwave that came along with it. Still unemployed at that stage, there was plenty of time to enjoy the long nights (sunset around 10 or 11pm) and the cloudless days. Slight change now with the onset of autumn and the imminent arrival of winter. To give you an idea of what these seasons are like up here around the 60th parallel, autumn is essentially an NZ winter. And winter... well there is a certain date that everyone is required to have winter tires (with metal studs) on their car by and it gets cold enough that you can drive on some of the lakes. Bring on the snow I say!
Luckily the Swedes know how to build their houses though, so the cold stays outside. My apartment is pretty old but it's still double glazed and centrally heated. I rarely need more than just a tee on, despite near freezing temperatures outside. And best of all, I don't pay for heating, water heating or clothes washing/drying. Trust the super-efficient Swedes to incorporate this all into a central location in each apartment building. At just 38sqm (almost all Swedes know the exact size of their apartment for some reason), my apartment certainly isn't big, well not to non-Swedes anyway. But it's plenty big enough for me. As it turns out, I actually got really lucky with my apartment, completely unbeknown to me. Before coming to Stockholm, a friend of a friend offered me the apartment and after a quick search on Google Maps, I decided the location was sort of alright and the price was kind of ok. Since arriving I've probably had over 90% of the locals I've met ask how the hell I managed to get an apartment where I am and how come it's so cheap! Apparently there's up to a five year waiting list in this area! The location is perfect for me, it's close to town, parks and the water. I live on one of the few hills (really just a bump in the otherwise flat landscape) in Stockholm. My window overlooks some sports fields and there's a path leading straight down to one of the numerous waterways that wind through Stockholm and the surrounding archipelago. There are running and walking tracks all round here and all are very scenic for the middle of a capital city.
My apartment is in the upper right.
This is my bedroom/lounge/living room/bike storage area. Looks different now though as I have a proper bed and a tv (both freebies!). I also have a couch made out of mattresses. Gold.
Stockholm itself is a fantastic city I reckon. It has all the advantages of a major city but is still small enough to include plenty of nature and a relaxed atmosphere. People here seem very happy wherever you go and it's rare to hear people complaining, arguing or yelling. There are bike paths almost everywhere and the traffic is very considerate to both cyclists and pedestrians. Even bus drivers! When a bus pulled forward too far the other day, forcing me to (shock horror) ride in the pedestrian lane instead of the bike lane, he hand signaled a sorry and looked all apologetic. In most other countries, bus drivers also frequently use hand signals, but normally more along the lines of a single finger extension! And to top it all off, it must be one of the safest major cities in the world, there just doesn't seem to be any crime.
I can't help but wonder if all this happiness and friendliness is due to the fact that they have so much holiday time. One thing I can tell you though is don't try and do anything business related during June, July or August... like attempting to get a job for example. Unfortunately I learnt the hard way. Everyone takes at least a month off during this period and heads to their summer houses or away somewhere. I don't mean it just gets quieter either, whole businesses just shut down and cities become ghost towns!
The Job
So because of the summer shutdown I was fairly happy when I finally got a job, a month after arriving. Given that I'd had a year and a half off, I figured it would take a while to get the career back on track. The plan was to get back into engineering and then work my way into a technical sales position within two years, either here or elsewhere. Turns out I got lucky here too but I'll take it! It's probably since I'm an NZer and I done learned to talk Englandish good.
So I'm working for a Swedish medical device manufacturer called Perimed (check out http://www.perimed.se/ if you want to know more). We sell our products worldwide but the US is our biggest market. Initially I was only meant to be part-time for a couple of weeks, so I had a spot in the corner of the lab doing donkey work. Then this changed to full-time for a couple of weeks, then full-time until the end of the year and some proper engineering work. I even got moved out of the lab and given a desk in another engineer's office, woohoo! A couple of months in they asked if I'd be keen to gradually move in a sales and marketing direction over the next year or so, which of course I was. Then, as luck would have it, two weeks ago one of our main salesmen handed in his resignation. So my schedule got pushed forward and I move into his old office on Monday. My engineering career is officially over already! I'm really looking forward to getting stuck into the new job though. There's a lot to learn and they're more than happy to throw me in the deep end... but that's where I like it! My territory will mainly include parts of Europe and Asia but also several other countries here and there. At this stage they plan to train me up here and eventually send me over to the US. Sound familiar!?! I'm starting the cycle all over again!
The Good Times
I thought it would be relatively quiet once I settled in up here but that hasn't turned out to be the case at all. A couple weeks in, Travis (who was staying at the time) and I ended up playing in the world's biggest international rugby 10's tournament, right here in Stockholm. We had a blast and met plenty of cool people over the weekend. Swedes are fairly easy going folk so meeting new friends hasn't been any trouble at all. I haven't been on any big trips since being here but have had several smaller ones. One highlight was a weekend in Uppsala (uni town 70km north, with about 40,000 students) for a party. As you can probably imagine, being a uni town, the place goes off. They also have a funny tradition up there; each night at 10pm everyone opens up their windows and screams and yells for a full minute to vent the frustrations and pent up energy from sitting inside studying. It's crazy when you're not expecting it! I've also had plenty of visitors up here (about 15 so far, including Kiwis, Swedes, Frenchies and Norwegians) and several more booked in, which is always good times. There's a decent crew of Kiwis heading this way for Xmas too. So if anyone's contemplating a trip up here, feel free to hit me up for a place to stay!
Well, that pretty much sums it up. Well done if you've managed to get this far! Other than a possibly a quick Xmas post, that'll be all from me for a while. I'll be sure to update again when the adventure continues. Hej då...
