And then the rain came...

It's Sunday morning and it has been cool and rainy all weekend.  Reminds me of summer in Ketchikan... My first week of work is over already.  It was a wonderful first week filled with water side tennis games, a bike ride to an Austrian restaurant where we feasted on schnitzel, and intimate dinners with locals. 

When I first arrived, everything seemed so foreign and impossible to complete.  How to understand the signs in the train station?  How to shop for items at the Coop (small grocery store) when all of the labels are in Swedish?  How to meet new people?  Its amazing how much one is able to learn and accomplish in just one week.  I feel pretty comfortable here now and have learned how to navigate the city.  I even fixed my first Swedish 'blown fuse' yesterday (result of my American blowdryer)!  Fuse boxes here are very different from those in the U.S. and of course all of the directions are in Swedish.  My roommate and I also did laundry yesterday (fixing fuses and doing laundry was proof of the windy and rainy weather outside).  Learning to work their foreign washing machines and fancy dryers was yet another feat.  Side note: they have a wonderful clothes drying system.  It is a large box with racks on the inside for which to hang your clothes.  Warm air is then forcefully blown through the box, drying your clothes quickly, and minimizing damage (brought on by traditional drying machines).

Today is a little less rainy, so I'm going to grab an espresso and venture off to the Vasamuseet (Vasa Museum).  This museum houses an old ship that sunk in the 1600's and was salvaged in the 1960's.  It is very famous and is the most visited museum in Sweden.  One of the owners of my company, Anders, grandmother's brother is the one who found and salvaged the Vasa.  Pretty cool.

Below I included a photo of the large colorful yard art located across the street from my work. It's magical!