Shopping, Family and Moose

It's a rainy, cloudy Monday. See? Sweden isn't that different.

What all has happened since Wednesday? Nothing too crazy and exciting. My current project (since I'm unemployed as of now) has been to redecorate the apartment. J has set me the task saying it needs help/he wants it redone anyway. What else better to do! So often times during the days I'll tidy up around the apartment then set out, either on foot or taking the car, to the stores shopping around for ideas. My next target will be Hem & Hobby (if you could guess, Home & Hobby).

On Friday I was out and about when J said he was tired of the office, so I went and picked him up around 3pm or so. We were going to go back to shopping right away (I wanted his opinion on a few things) but he said it might be smart to go back to Skatteverket (the tax office) to apply for social insurance through Försäkringskassan, the Swedish social insurance agency. The point of that insurance is, say once I'm employed and I get some terrible flu for a month, well then Swedish social insurance would kick in after 2 weeks (my job would pay for the first 2 weeks, Försäkringskassan would pay for the rest, 80% salary mind). Here is a link to their site if you would like to know more.

After we went there, then J suggested we go to the bank since I now have my personnummer and at least get me access to his bank account. Long story short, we ended up opening an account for me so that once I do gain employment, I'll already be all set up to receive paychecks! Or direct deposits, most likely. After all that, we finally went back to shopping. And didn't end up getting anything...although we did get some really great ideas. We're pondering a futon (sounds somewhat crappy, I know, but it's actually neat and would be good for guests to sleep on) for the computer room.

The weekend was filled with family. J's sister and 2 nieces were in town visiting/staying at his parents' house. On Saturday we were invited over for lunch. I must admit J's parents know how to make some great food. I'll have to learn a thing or two from them. J's little nieces are adorable. One is only 6 months old, whereas the other is nearly 3. The baby is one of the best babies I've ever encountered, always happy/never fussy and easily amused. I applaud their mother for being able to handle them both at the same time without help (their dad stayed in Gothenburg taking care of some things).

On a side note: we saw 2 moose in J's parents' backyard! They have several apple trees, and apparently the moose like to come around in the late fall/winter time since the apples are ripe around then. We saw a mother and baby. I hoped to get a picture of them but the trees were in the way and they weren't too terribly close to the house. J's dad said often times the moose get drunk from the apples (since they've fermented) and end up sleeping in the backyard. Such wasn't the case on Saturday.

Sunday was Fathers Day here in Sweden (they like to put some time between Mothers and Father day, unlike us Americans). So J bought a lottery ticket (well, horse race betting, it's huge over here and his dad loves it) and a movie theater gift card. Fathers Day isn't such a big deal here, no cards or anything. So again, we visited the parents and sister/nieces on Sunday, and had lunch as well. I met J's mormor (grandmother, his mother's mother). Come to think of it, the Swedes make much more sense when they have labels for relatives. Instead of simply aunt, uncle, grandma, and grandpa, they literally label who they're talking about. If we say grandma, we English speakers ask, your mother's side or your father's? Well, in Sweden, mor is mother, far is father, bror is brother and syster is sister. So...a mormor is mother-mother, which means grandmother...on your mother's side. Or say farbror, well that's your father's brother, aka your uncle. But you know specifically who the person is talking about! I think it's a really neat way of labeling family.

I think that catches us up pretty well. The snow is gone, thanks to several days of rain. It's not too much of a loss, I know there will be plenty more in the near future. That's all I have to say about that!