Hej!

Have the children gone to sleep? For more than 2 hrs. I hope so. It is just starting to get dark here. We appreciate the emails and tips on jet lag. Not sure it's working though. I start work tomorrow which should be interesting. I still can't find the camera to put some pics up but I will very soon.

For those of you tracking our every move. We'll be at Skansen (www.skansen.se) on the national holiday, June 6. Kickin it with the King, Carl XVI Gustav and all that.

Another cultural tidbit... you have to pay for your bags at checkout. Typically they are ~2Skr.

Only an hour asleep. Rowan is driving us insane. No sleep for the weary.

Some have asked about how to comment. I direct you to this link to read at your leisure.
http://help.blogger.com/bin/answer.py?answer=1082&topic=23

I switched to Anonymous posting so you don't need to register if I read things right. You could, however, register on Blogger with the knowledge that someone from Google (which owns Blogger) will be at your door within 5-7 business days requesting a vial of your blood for "security purposes". That is assuming I read the agreement correctly. The choice is yours.

Tasty!



Rob

Address info and more!

Hey all,

1. If you are just dying to see the Nordic ship from 1623 (or if you just want to check out the Swedish language, the website is in Swedish!) then go to:

http://www.vasamuseet.se/Vasamuseet/Om.aspx

2. A word about the weather as a few of you are wondering. It is really green and beautiful. It reminds me of the northwest. It is rainy and sunny at some point each day. There is a real preservation and reverence for nature so the city and surrounding area having lots of trees and parks. Maybe that is why it feels so green. This weekend is supposed to be sunny and dry. I think the summer months a warm and sunny and then by Sept. it gets cold and dark. It is the same latitude as Juneau, Alaska. The biggest adjustment is the daylight. It gets dark after 10 pm and is completely light by 4 am. Saniya wakes up and says, "mama, it's time to get up because of the light".

3. Our mailing address is (for another 6 weeks):

Fogdevreten 17A
SE - 171 65
Solna, Sweden

4. We also have access to see and talk with any of you that have a webcam (we can see each other) or microphone(like talking on the phone). Go to:

http://www.skype.com/

and our account is: yazandrob

It will walk you through the process to put it on your computer. It is free!

Hope all is well at you end of the globe...
Yasmiene

In a bubble

What's up with this wacky language. Everything is "---plan" or "---ag". We are definitely in a bubble. I think renting an apt will be a challenge. We were trying to translate the advertisements tonight for flats in the city. One translation gave us "plasticized balcony". I definitely feel at the beginning of a steep learning curve. We went through a tragic grocery shopping experience today with the stroller in a small store, when everyone was getting off work, Rowan screaming and Saniya having a meltdown from being over tired and worn out. We think one of us will shop alone for awhile. We'll see. Rob's last day as an "unemployed and loving it"person is today. We think we will go to an outdoor museum that recreates Swedish traditions in a working village to celebrate. They have a Zoo as well. It is called "Skansen" and is supposed to be great. Saniya is having a hard time and talks a great deal about missing her friends. Actually I think we are all having a hard time. But, we hope and think it will be worth it.

Yasmiene

catching up

5/28/06

We’ve arrived! We have been here for a few days and it has definitively been interesting. Let’s discuss the plane ride. It was the longest ride of my life and Rob and I have spent days on buses in the 3rd world. This was of a different sort. The whole time my mind kept referring back to the phrase, “holy crap”. Saniya did really well as a whole. I know the people in front of us hate us to no end. I know I told Saniya to keep her feet off the chair in front of her at least 50 times. Then Rowan was kicking around and would not sleep for hours when everyone else was sleeping. He would cry and squirm. Great times! But in all it went well. No missing luggage, no delays, taxi took us to our new place and it was great! Fully furnished in Ikea attire. Very sleek and functional. We even have a washer/dryer. The best part is the Rob’s new boss met us when we arrived and had bought an entire house full of food! It was so awesome. The frig and the cupboards were filled! What a great gift when you have been up for 24hours and are so tired with the shell shocked little ones. How thoughtful this Swede is. Also the food is so yummy and real here. Everything tastes so fresh.

We are now in the middle of jet lag issues. How do you tell a baby and preschooler that you are supposed to be sleeping when they feel like being awake? We are on night two of up at 1 to 2 and then no one is back to sleep until 4-5. It makes me wish for the days of jet lag amongst adults. Where those days of making yourself are stay up and hallucinate the first day and then it is done. A baby would really fly with that, would he? We’ll see how long it takes to adjust.

Saniya misses her friends. We put up some pictures on the fridge and she got very sad, so we tool them down for awhile. We talked of calling them on the computer, but internet isn’t working until Monday. We are definitely in a bubble. I was reading the newspaper in Swedish and thought this is what it is like to wake up with amnesia and not know how to do anything.

5/29/06

I think the biggest adjustment for me right now is being in a city again. Eugene was small and easy. I am comfortable not understanding anyone and being a foreigner. But, the largeness and energy of a city is exciting and a bit overwhelming. Stockholm is an extremely clean and maneuverable city. It is just the size and options I need time with. We went to see a Nordic ship from 1623 that sank and was raised and then restored about 40 years ago. It is completely intact and was impressive as to how well preserved it is. Today we are heading to IKEA to pick up house wares and a highchair. Everyone has strollers with big wheels for the snow. Kind of funny. They are smaller than the jogger strollers at home, but with rubber tires. Rob starts work in 3 days. The institute looks impressive. It is the center for disease control for Europe and feels like there are people from all over here to do medical research. Rob told me it is the largest medical university in the world. We are both feeling lucky to be here. It’s exciting! A side bar is that it is 4 am and Saniya and I are up. Rowan was up from 1 to 2 am. The jet lag is getting better, because we kept them out all day yesterday, but it’s not perfect. Maybe in a few more days.



(Sidebar from Saniya)

TO SAM:

We are in Sweden. We slept on the airplane and mommy woke me up and I was really tired because we were starting to land. I am eating chocolate (Nutella) on my bread right now. I am really messy. Yesterday we wanted to take a boat to an island, but we missed it by accident, so instead we took the bus and we went over a bridge and then we sat down and put my purple pants on under my skirt. It was REALLY cold!

TO ISAAC:

Yesterday when we were walking around the city, we got to the boat and we couldn’t get on by accident and then we took a bus and then we went home and took a nap and then we got up. We slept on the airplane. Our car is gone and we had a rental car and we slept at a hotel and then Daddy returned the rental car. We needed a cart at the airport so we could put all of our stuff in it, because we couldn’t carry it because it was a lot of stuff. We used the washing machine here and washed Rowan’s rattle and it changed colors because we put in some clothes that were dark and it changed all of the other clothes in the wash. So it dyed everything. How did it do that? My shirt and underwear was dyed too.


Hope to hear from you all soon!
-Yasmiene

We're here

We've been in Stockholm a few days and are becoming familiar with the city. I know Yaz has a few things to say as well. Have to wait for that post though. I have recovered from the jet lag but the kids have not. Oh the joy of it all. Possibly will get our personnummer today which will brand us as Swedish. This number should allow us to get blue eyes if we want them as well as many other benefits.

A trip to IKEA might be in order as well if Yaz and the kids will wake up from their naps.

Of note is our shower which requires us to mop the floor of the bathroom after each shower since the drain is in the center of the room. A picture would explain it all but I can't find the camera right now.

Rob

T minus 4

I was going to write something witty for the first post but decided that would be cliche.

There is definately some level of insanity involved in packing up and moving overseas. All our furniture will be gone later today. More painting. Please.

Rob