We’re moving. Again. And I can’t begin to tell you how relieved I am right now. And that’s in spite of the fact that this will be our FOURTH – yes, you read that ridiculous number correctly – apartment in less than a year. It’s because there are no rentals in this town and we were getting down to the wire in finding a new place. (We had to move as our landlord wants to sell the place we are in. Otherwise, we would have stayed firmly entrenched here for as long as possible. We have way too much stuff to have to keep moving around.) So oh, let me tell you how relieved I am one more time that we found a place – thanks to a friend!
What I’m not so fond of is taking care of all the change of address stuff – again – with skatteverket (the tax authority), the post office, our internet, getting a moving van and so on. I am so tired of hearing “you are now number 67 in the queue” in Swedish and trying to muddle through exactly which option I need to push. I learn new and mostly otherwise useless Swedish words every time.
It all annoys the heck out of me. What I see as strange questions are probably just everyday stuff for most Swedes. But to me, it’s “interesting” that Telia needs to know the telephone number of the people who lived in our new apartment before us in order to set up our new phone and internet, while Com Hem needs to know the name of the people. Every apartment in Stockholm has a lägenhet or apartment number that’s specific to that apartment. You would think that would be enough.
Thanks to all this, I have cauliflower ear. I wonder if that phrase translates sinto Swedish in any fun way? Basically, my ear is all red and hurty and feels like it’s about to fall off from holding the phone up to it as I don’t have a speaker phone and I am waiting endlessly in those bleeping queues. OK, I’m done now. Back to move management.
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My sympathies. Moving that many times would drive me crazy.
Thanks James. It just may put me over the edge!
I’ll keep my fingers crossed that this is the last one….for at least a year! Will you still be on Söder?
U should have tried Adressandring.se 🙂
But my sympathy with you, we need to drink it all away, let’s meet for cocktails later in the week maybe ?
Roger, That’s my next step. Apparently you have to use it now for the post office. Oh well. As for a drink, I talked to your wife about it at lunch! Maybe Friday?
Sorry to say that but I am really happy that I am not the only one moving around!
I moved last week to a new apartment. We still have over 100 moving boxes to unpack! Can you imagine?
And today we have to renovate the old apartment.
I tried to get telephone and internet here in Germany. As I am working (more or less) for a telephone company I thought that it would be easy. But no!
I don’t have a fix phone so I could not order telephone via internet but there was a hotline number for this case. Calling the hotline they say that I have to order it via Internet because I am an employee!!! What??
The story goes on but it is too long to write it here. Fact is that I don’t have telephone and internet.
Maybe it is a new working area for you for the future: Moving Manager! 😉
I hope that you can stay in the new apartment for a while and that you feel at home there! Good luck!
And enjoy the cocktails!
Hälsa Nici and Roger and Robert of course!
Sorry Sand, but on the plus side it’s probably a nicer space?! I remember the phone calls from our two moves in Sweden and don’t envy you a bit – we still haven’t gotten out of the tax tangle (after three years – they don’t believe we’ve left).
We’ll be wishing you the best, Jul & JC xo
As someone who loves both the concept and the reality of ‘home,’ I can’t imagine how upending it must be to have to schlep your stuff yet again. You have my sympathy! Miss you guys lots!
B
Bryn, Julia and Britta, Thanks for all the good wishes. Moving does suck, but this should do us for a while. I hope.
We do have “blomkålsöra” in swedish too. But it refferrs to the deformed ears of for example wrestlers, it would not be used about a red and hurting ear I’m afraid… 🙂
Liv, Ha! I think you are right about that!
Hiya Sandy,
I’m sorry to hear about all your hassles. Moving houses is draining and exhausting however I always thought that the Swedish system was overly bureaucratic until I came to Australia and realised that it is really the same here..with more old school things going on as cheques and signatures required for everything as we don’t have personal numbers here…but to move four times in one year sounds terrible…and I think it’s bad that Stockholm doen’t seem to have many rental flats in the city any more…Perhaps we can tempt you and Rob to come to Australia??
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