A Thought ... eller låt oss säga "En Tanke"

Should I continue writing in English or, should I start writing in Swedish again? Since I arrived in Australia I've been thinking that it would be a good practice for me to write in English, but to be honest ... it stops me from updating regularly. It takes a lot of energy to think and write in English. ALSO ... I am now participating once every month in a short story competition, so I do get to practice my English writing.

AND(!) ... I have a Youtube channel where I speak mostly Swedish as well, if this blog is a compliment to that channel it makes no sense (in my head) to keep writing in English here.

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SÅ(!) vet ni vad? Jag tror att det är svenskan som jag egentligen bör underhålla för nu när jag är i Australien så blir det inte mycket prat på svenska. Faktiskt. Från och med nu kommer min blogg återigen fyllas med texter på svenska. Punkt.

(Bild tagen från vår balkong här i Melbourne, ser ni lilla månen?)

January is not over yet!

January is coming towards an end, but not just yet ... my birthday is still around the corner (on the 24th of January) so there's still some juice to squeeze out from this wonderful month. I've been mostly working from home, and taken the days as they come. Me and Sam have been on a few bike rides, watched a lot of tennis (mostly Sam) and well ... yeah, a lot of other stuff as well (drawing, reading, cooking, hiking etc).

I have, since I came to Australia, started a new hobby ... crocheting. Weird, right? Or maybe not. I think it's very therapeutic and it's fun to see what you can create.

And from one thing to another ... I've been trying to keep in touch with everyone in Sweden but it is much harder than I thought. We all have a lot of things going on in our own lives. It obviously complicate things when I am 10 hours ahead as well ... But, I try to keep everyone updated by uploading vlogs, blogging, sending my family/friends different snapchat videos and photos. I also try to text and sometimes call them. I have even sent a few physical postcards. It's not easy but I hope they know I love them and think about them ALL the time. ALL the time.

Oh ... and last week we had pancakes for dinner one evening. It was DELICIOUS! 

Already?!

15th of January 2019, are you sure? Wow, time flies and I don't know how to slow it down. I'm starting to feel a bit stressed (even if I know I shouldn't). Time is really ticking fast and even if my visa will be fine until October there is so much happening and so much that needs to be planned/taken care of before that.

• I'll have to quit my job in Sweden when 6 month (183 days) has passed and that is soon. 
• I need to find a new job, here ... in Australia(!!).
• I need to double check a few things with my medicare card (It has not arrived even though we were at central link and everything). 
• I need to fix an Australian ID (so much work for one Id ... ugh). 
• Look into and prepare documents to apply for a new visa that (hopefully) will allow me to stay longer here in Melbourne/Australia.
• Have friends from Sweden coming over in April.
• Take care of things like my apartment (rental) in Sweden + my furnitures.

 ... and much more, I'm sure.

As you might understand after reading above ... we will try to stay in Australia and hopefully everything will go well when we apply for my visa – there's a lot of information that we need to provide to show that we truly are a couple. This whole process feel a bit scary because, what if there's any document or information we do not have? Ugh ... I'll try to keep my mind hopeful. ❤

FYI: Here is a youtube clip (in Swedish) of my monday, just wanted to show me on a very ordinary day – life is not always filled with cool things to do just because your on the other side of the planet hehe ... 

New year but no new me

New Year's Eve 2018

The Australian heat oozes outside and my cellphone lets me know it's 42°C in the sun. Even if the winds are going strong it doesn't really feel like nice cold kisses when touching the skin. Most people are hiding in shadows where the temperature is a bit lower and others visit a mall where the air condition is running strong. Some people, I'm sure, are doing exactly what I'm doing which is hiding at home with my own AC.

It's a new year and here in Australia we are even 10 hours ahead of Sweden. I'm enjoying myself with a glass of cold Chardonnay ... well, it is Friday and that's always worth celebrating. It tickles nicely under the skin.

A new year does not mean a new me, that is something I have learned during my (soon to be) 29 years on this planet. A new year for me means that I (hopefully) get a new chance to work on myself and what I care about. I am not aiming for perfection or to be the best. I just want to be my best for me, whatever that is. I aim to not hurt myself or anyone around me. I aim to be kind and to learn from my wrongs. I welcome mistakes and I accept that I might not always choose what's right. That's okay ... because: I am human and I am a world citizen.

With that said ... I do have some goals this year. I tried to give myself goals last year as well but I did not reach them all during 2018. So here are this year's hopes and goals:

→ Write more.
→ Draw more.
→ Read more.
→ Exercise more.
→ Dare I say ... cook more?
→ Love more.
→ Stress less.
→ Breath more.
→ Do not be scared to grow.

I want to enjoy this year even though we have a lot to plan, to do and to think about. It will always be something, right? So why stress about it, why not just enjoy the ride? Well ... I'll try!

Happy New Year!

First picture of the year with just me and Sam 2019

First dinner of the year  – Quesedilla 2019

Relaxing and soaking it all in

Christmas is over and a new year is soon born. Crazy how time flies. Me and Sam have tried to relax and enjoy the holidays as much as we can. It's been really nice to have some days off from work even if I do have the luxury to work from home nowdays.

Next year will mean a lot of changes for me and Sam. First, we have to fully decide where we want to live – Sweden or Australia – and we need to start the process of either him trying to get a permanent visa in Sweden or me getting a permanent visa in Australia. Then, I need to find a new job because I'll not be able to keep the job I have now in Sweden IF we choose to (and can) stay here. Sam will start to study part-time and work part-time within the food industry (so proud of him). So yes ... these are just some examples of what we need to think about next year.

But until then ... 

We have been doing a few adventures lately, we both bought bikes for each other as Christmas gifts so that resulted to a trip to the beach. I love my bike! So much freedom but it's a bit scary riding on the roads where the cars are, haha.

Oh and! Sam helped me yesterday to colour my hair with henna (the red one from Lush) and even though the process was a bit annoying (hehe) I absolutely LOVE the result.

Check out my Christmas blog

Do not forget that I also update my Christmas blog this time of the year – in Swedish. This year I have been struggling a bit with the Christmas spirit but I think I'm starting to feel that familiar feeling bubbling inside ... better late than never. 

Merry Christmas! 🎄♡

Trying my best to get some Christmas spirit

Here is a new vlog of me trying to get into the Christmas spirit. 

SPOILER: It goes ... okay 😀

(In Swedish)

A Day In December

Yesterday was a beautiful day, me and Sam spent most of it at the Botanic garden in Melbourne. We had a picnic, talked and enjoyed the beauty around us. The park had not many visitor so it was a luxury to be there.

Today is the temperature 39°C(!!!) and very windy. Both me and Sam have been tired all day, not had that much energy to do anything yet. We did manage a short yoga class and meditation in our living room earlier. Maybe we'll have some more energy when it cools down – I hope. 

I have a hard time getting into the right Christmas spirit, my body thinks it's summer. I love Christmas, the best holiday of the year if you ask me. I even have a Christmas blog that I start to update in August/September every year. So ... this is a very weird time for me. Oh well ... I guess not the biggest problem in the world, haha. Hopefully I'll be more jolly soon hehe ... *hope*

Rain, football and ... pads

Yesterday it rained so much here in Melbourne, I'm glad I didn't have to go anywhere. It kept raining for hours and then out of nowhere it stopped. Nature, how amazing you are! 

It was not just a rainy day yesterday, it was Melbourne Cup Day and that meant a public holiday for all Australians – not for me who work for a Swedish company. People bet on horses, drank beers/champagne/wine and just celebrated their day off ... in the rain. We had some friends over, it was nice too. And dry!

I'm not feeling great today though, I think Sam gave me his cold so I've been sneezing a lot. My head feels heavy and it was hard sleeping because I could not breathe properly. 

Anyway ... Last week, on Friday, me and Sam met two of his friends (Michael and Beth). We went to a football game, my first real football match, and watched Melbourne being beaten by Sydney – not what we wished for but Hey! ... it was cool to be there and I understand why many people can enjoy this, happy vibes. 

And before I end this post this time ... look!! Haha, some "knowledge notes" when switching pads. I don't think I've seen it before (not like this) so thought that was cool. No wonder why women are smarter than men ... haha, jokes aside. This was clever. 😉

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Swedish summary: 

Igår regnade det extremt mycket, i flera timmar! Det var Melbourne Cup Day vilket innebar att många i Australien hade en ledig dag som de kunde spendera med vänner, satsa på hästar, dricka sina favoritdrinkar samt njuta av en ledig dag. Dock blev de flesta av dem genomblöta innan solen dök upp. Stackarna. Vi hade några vänner över och firade hemifrån. Ingen här blev genomvåt så det var ett plus haha ... Dessvärre har jag ändå blivit förkyld. Tror att det är Sam som smittat mig. Huvudet värker en aning och näsan är stundtals täppt. Frustrerande!

Förra veckan var jag på min första fotbollsmatch, ganska roligt faktiskt. Jag förstår att många uppskattar att gå iväg och kika på en match då och då. Det är så skön stämning och en gemenskap där som jag förstår att många söker. 

Missa inte bindan på bilden ovanför! En liten kunskapsnotis sådär mellan bytena. Smart!

Bloggers who travels or/and move abroad

I have been searching for other bloggers that update about their everyday life in Australia – and who are NOT only writing about beauty, fashion or "the perfect life". I want something real and I want to be able to relate, I suppose ...

This search has not been easy but I have found some that I can add to my list, here is the whole list: 

❥ Emmy – Bortabrabloggen.com
The writer is a Swedish woman named Emmy who's been living and working in Melbourne since 2010 and shares a lot of good tips on her blog for people like me.

❥ Linn – Linnwiberg.se
Written by a Swedish woman named Linn who lives in London (it's interesting for me to follow other swedes trying to live a life outside Sweden too). She writes about her everyday life, she's very open and shares a lot of beautiful images.

❥ Johanna – Tokyoyo.se
This Swedish woman, Johanna, lives in Japan and shares wonderful images and tips from her life there. I have always been interested in Japan and its culture so that's why I think Johanna's blog is a delight to follow.

❥ Jake – Wheresjake.com
Just discovered Jake and his blog. He's travelling around the world and will maybe visit Australia during Christmas. It will be very interesting to follow him on his journey.

❥ Alice – Nouw.com/aliceeedin/
Also a new discovery, this Swedish woman just recently moved to Melbourne/Australia. Same here, it will be very fun to follow Alice on her journey so far away from Sweden.

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

If you have any more blogs that you want to recommend, please comment below. I would love to read about: 

• People (both swedes and none-swedes) who share about their everyday life in Australia.
• People (both swedes and none-swedes) who share about their everyday life in a country different from where they grew up.

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Swedish summary: 

Jag letar nya bloggar att följa. Jag vill utöka min lista så om ni har några tips på bloggar som ni tror att jag kanske gillar, kommentera gärna!

We have an apartment!

We are not being lazy over here, it has really been something every day. We finally moved into our apartment* this weekend and that, as you can imagine, was a workout. It feels nice to have our own space and when we have more things in place I'll post some pictures (of course!!). Even though the weekend was busy, we did manage to squeeze in a Wedding fair on Sunday – our friends are getting married so we went there with them to get inspired. I pointed Sam a little extra to the ring-section (hihi) – I took two photos of some cool dining decoration/launch area ... a bit bohemian, don't you think. Love it!

The location of our apartment is P-E-R-F-E-C-T. We have cafés, restaurants, a park and close to the trains/trams/buses ... and so much more in the area. We are not complaining at all.

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Swedish summary: 

Vi är allt annat än lata här borta. I helgen flyttade vi in till vår lägenhet, äntligen! Det var en hel del att göra, våra kroppar var helt skakiga när vi var klara. Trots detta lyckades vi klämma in en bröllops-mässa också, två av våra vänner ska gifta sig så vi följde med för att inspireras. Jag puttade Sam lite extra åt ringarna, hehe. Däremot fastnade jag själv för en matplats-dekoration (eller vad man nu vill kalla det). Bohemiskt och fint, eller hur?

Måste bara säga att vi har verkligen perfekt lokalisering/placering av lägenheten. En hel del härligheter som kaféer, en park, tåg, affärer och mer alldeles i närheten. Älskar´t!

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*Later, when we have landed a bit, I will write a post about our chase for an apartment. It was not super easy but obviously not impossible.

World Vegan Day – Melbourne

Me and Sam went to a vegan event in the city this weekend. It was awesome! So much good food, products and interesting people. The event was free and you could try some samples for free as well. Sam was so happy to see all the cool food products and talking to the smart people selling it all. Yes, we bought a few things, believe it or not but most things were not crazy expensive.

Right now we are putting all our energy into finding a place to live and we might actually have something BUT ... I don't want to say too much until pappers have been signed. We have had a really good time with Sam's family but it will be nice to have our own place and make it to our home.

➺ Can't wait to get back into good routines again when it comes to working out, eating well and writing/drawing/reading. It will be awesome! 

 

 

 

Yes, even the dog food is vegan(!!). 

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Swedish summary: 

Sam och jag firade World Vegan Day i stan under helgen. Vi gick till en vegansk mässa där det fanns hur mycket härligt som helst: produkter inom mode och skönhet men också mat, dryck och snacks – till och med hundmat(!!). Det var riktigt intressant. 

Hittills har all energi gått till att finna ett boende och det kan faktiskt vara så att vi har något på gång men jag vill inte säga för mycket förrän alla pappren är påskrivna. Hoppas! Sams familj har varit fantastiska men det ska bli skönt med ett egen hem. Längtar!

Work, Australian accent and a pelican

Australia delivers as one could say. The Melbourne weather is special, sometimes you can have all seasons in one day but most of the time, in my opinion, it's pretty great. I have now been working for a week for the job I have had in Sweden and so far everything seems to go well – my co-workers have been very nice to me and given me a very calm week to be honest. Again, I am grateful that I can work for them for another six months before I have to quit or pause my employment. We'll see what happens.

My English is improving everyday as well. I wasn't bad before, I speak better English than I write, but I am getting more comfortable and less scared of making mistakes. The Australian accent though ... oh boy. I really need to concentrate sometimes. It's almost like I get hypnotized byt the accent that I don't always register what they actually are saying, haha ... so bad. Like I said, I'm improving at least. Baby steps forward.

What about all the poison animals? Haha, no but honestly, I have seen a few spiders but nothing too scary. Yet. Yesterday I saw a pelican (see picture below to the right, it's hard to see but it's there) and I thought it was so cool!

Today it's already Friday (I've been in Australia for a little more than a week), me and Sam are going into the city to do some shopping and maybe have some drinks with friends. Later we'll get back to Sam's brothers house (we're still looking for a place of our own) and I think I might draw or write if I can. Tomorrow we will go and see four different apartments and probably apply for them all – I just HOPE that we will get our own place soon.

Have a great weekend!

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Swedish summary: 

För det mesta är vädret i Australien helt fantastiskt och jag mår gott av att veta att sommaren är på väg. Jag har haft min första arbetsvecka och det går bra. Vännerna på jobbet har varit mer än snälla men nästa vecka får jag nog mer att göra. Så tacksam för denna möjlighet och trygghet fortfarande. 

Många djur har jag sett här i Australien, för det mesta spindlar och fåglar men inget som var alltför läskigt. Igår såg jag en pelikan och det var jäkligt coolt!

Språket går bra, ibland förtrollas jag av den australiensiska dialekten och tappar bort mig men jag övar. Det blir bättre och bättre. Idag blir det shopping och drinkar i stan innan vi åker tillbaka till Sams brors hus. Vi letar eget boende för fullt och imorgon ska vi gå på hela fyra visningar. Jag HOPPAS att det snart blir vår tur att hitta ett hem. 

Trevlig helg!

In a place they call "Down Under"

I landed in Australia Wednesday evening last week and took the rest of that week off. What a beautiful welcome I got! Sam met me at the airport and we acted like giggling teenagers. It was around 7 p.m. so we just had a quiet evening at Sam's brother's house (we are renting a room here until we have found our own place). 

We have been very lucky with the weather, the summer is really on its way! For me, this is of course a crazy feeling considering it is autumn in Sweden and winter is coming. Just the idea that I'll celebrate Christmas in summertime is hard to take in. It will be interesting for sure. 

Today is my first workday from Australia and I really am lucky that I have this opportunity to work from here. It will only last for about 6 months but it's more than enough. I will mostly do graphic material/designs and such, which suits me perfectly. 

There is a few things I want to fix this week: 

• Open up a bank account.
• Get an Australian ID.
• Get a Medicare card.

I already have an Australian phone number, thanks to Sam. The best thing about it is that I have Internet connection wherever I am and ... that Sam can call me if I for some reason get lost, hehe.

 

 

Psst: If you ask me, I think that the botanic garden in Melbourne might be the best place on earth. I love it!

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Swedish summary: 

Snart har jag varit i Australien i en vecka. Resan gick över förväntan och det dröjde inte alls länge innan jag var i Sams armar. Jag tog ledigt de resterande dagarna som var kvar av förra veckan och det var fantastiskt. Sommaren är snart här! Givetvis är känslan märklig då hösten nu är i Sverige. Tänk att jag ska fira jul mitt i sommaren? Obegripligt. 

Idag är första arbetsdagen här och jag känner tacksamhet. Tänk att jag får jobba härifrån och lugnt får komma till ro?! Wow, vilken grej! 

Det är några saker jag önskar hinna med denna vecka så jag hoppas att det ska gå smidigt med det också. Tjing!

Heat, ice cream & a walk in the woods

This year, the summer in Sweden has been incredible, it feels like you're in Greece or Spain. It already started to get warm in April but it really hit us in May and many swedes were scared that this would result in a not so sunny summer. Well, the sun kept shining on Sweden and it has been a crazy hot summer – and it's not over yet.

For many swedes (and stores/companies) I believe this heat has been a chock. It might have been fun in the beginning ("Spain in Sweden, awesome!") but most swedes are now tired of it. I've heard many people here longing for autumn. What do I think? I love summer but it has been sweaty not having any air-condition or fan in the apartment. Right now, it has not felt necessary to buy any of these because the idea is for me to soon leave Sweden. But we'll see ...

Today, me and Sam walked, via the woods, to a beach called Nyboviksbadet. It was a beautiful little area where people had picnics and played in the water. It was nice to cool off a bit and enjoy the nature. When we got home we had some vegan ice cream – it was heaven. Now we are planning to have vegan pizza for dinner – yes, I'm still blaming it all on me still being on vacation *haha*. 

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Swedish summary: 
Sommarhettan i Sverige fortsätter. I april när det började bli varmt välkomnades denna värme med öppna armar och i Maj när hettan slog till ordentligt var de flesta av oss rädda att den inte skulle hålla hela sommaren ut. Man kanske ska vara försiktig med vad man önskar sig? För de flesta har nog denna värme varit en chock och de flesta svenskar verkar vara redo för den svala hösten. Jag njuter vidare men däremot hade det inte varit helt fel med en fläkt hemma. Nu tycker jag däremot att det känns onödigt att lägga pengar på saker till lägenheten då jag ändå ska åka till Australien för ett år i oktober. Nog kan jag hålla ut en liten stund till ... 

Idag var jag och Sam i Nyboviksbadet och svalkade oss. En skön belöning efter vår skogspromenad. När vi kom hem åt vi vegansk glass och snart ska det bli vegansk pizza till middag. Ja, jag skyller fortfarande detta gottande på semestertider.