A Nature Documentary

The past few days have been dominated by the apartment hunt, and today was no different. First thing this morning, we took a short trip from Stockholm Central down to Årsta to look at the loveliest apartment we have seen so far. Thank goodness we have more or less adjusted to the new time zone!

I don`t want to say too much and risk jinxing it--our chances of getting the place are based on the friends of the current tenants deciding not to take the lease--but the place is new, clean, adorable, and situated between all the public transit connections a person could want and a clear and quiet field to walk around in nature. Watch our newest video to see more!

The Apartment Search Continues

We've been scouring the internet over the last few days for an apartment. Like San Francisco, the housing market here is competitive and tight so we haven't made a lot of progress so far.

We've also stumbled on a number of scam listings (generally written in English) that wind up being remarkably similar, from the fact that the poster claims to have taken a job in the UK to the promise of a large DVD collection in the apartment. The key part of the scam is that they want you to wire them money via Western Union before the deal can be closed. Incredible!

We have gone to two apartment showings so far, but neither has turned out so well. One of the apartments was old and kind of dirty, so we said no to that one. The other one was really far out in the country, and before we even got there we realized that it was too far for a daily commute. I recorded that trip in a YouTube video for your viewing pleasure:

Our First Two Days: Apartments and Person Numbers

I have one week in Sweden before I start my job, so Melissa and I plan to use our free time to get ourselves registered with the state and search for an apartment. We have been staying at Melissa's aunt and uncle's house outside of Stockholm since we arrived, but obviously we want to find our own place as soon as possible.

Finding an apartment in Stockholm is very different from finding one in the United States. First, most people rent apartments "second hand," which is basically the same thing as subletting. Because of this, most leases are less than a year in length, so you end up switching apartments frequently. If you want to get an apartment "first hand," you have to get in a queue, and you might not get an apartment this way for 8 years or longer.

We went into Stockholm to register ourselves with the Swedish tax authority, Skatteverket, which was pretty fast and easy, but now we have to wait two weeks to receive our official person numbers. Until I have a person number, I can't open a back account or get a cell phone, so it is an important thing to have.

While we were in Stockholm today, we make this video with our new Flip camera... the sound is a little bad at first because of the wind, but it gets better:

The Flight to Stockholm

The day has finally arrived, and after almost a year and a half of planning, we are actually on our way to Sweden. We spent yesterday--our last full day in San Francisco--with some of our best friends, who showed us a great time. We started off the day by going with our friend to Muir Woods to hike through the forest of giant redwood trees. We ended the night by eating a great Chinese vegetarian meal at one of our favorite restaurants in the city, and then drinks and one of the coolest bars in the city, a 1920s-style speakeasy called Bourbon and Branch. We said our goodbyes to our friends and headed back to the hotel for a few hours of sleep.

Early this morning, our friend picked us up from the hotel we have been staying at, and drove us to the airport. We will miss our time in San Francisco so much, but we are also both really excited to see what life in Sweden holds for us. Wish us luck!

In just a few minutes, we will board our flight. Take a look at this map of our flight today: http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=SFO-SEA-KEF-ARN