plans, part III

Liam and I are in Sweden! We have a weird, worn down, huge apartment in Göteborg (the rose garden in the photo is very close to where we live so I consider it my own garden now, hehe) for the next year (more on this place later, I'm sure) and are currently navigating small hills of cardboard boxes in the lounge and Liam's office (kitchen and bedroom are beginning to look liveable though). Liam's working remotely at his old job, and I'm in the midst of preparing for the autumn semester to start at all of my different gigs. We have fun autumn plans - teaching both blues and balboa together, for example - and have already been out swimming in a lake and been to Liseberg and spent a week in the mountains (and a week in Herräng, as you saw). Liam's Swedish is cuter than ever and life is, on the whole, looking up.

Manchester was exciting, and also hard. I feel very stupid and naïve to have thought that I could just land somewhere without a plan of what I was actually going to, well, do. I know I am the kind of person who gets more done when there's a lot to do, whereas too many empty days in a row just gets me stuck in inertia, staring into space ... So the truth is that I didn't really do much with my time there, and that is entirely my fault. People have said that it takes at least a year to create a new life in a new city, and I only gave six months. But I've learned from it, and will do a lot of things differently next time.

Also, can't even tell you how wonderful it is to be speaking my own language on a daily basis again. Sure, my English is fine, I have a decent English-sounding accent and all that, but honestly? That's just caused me more problems! In several instances, people have misunderstood my wording of something, thinking I meant something I didn't. I wish people would remember that English is not my native languague. I wish people would cut me some slack. I think they would have, if I had put on my fake Swenglish accent. Instead, now, people have expected my English to be perfect, and for me to understand the very very fine nuances of English communication - something I'm very far from. It's been completely exhausting.

Me coming to stay in Liam's home country added extra anxiety for him, too; feeling like he was responsible for my happiness, telling himself subconsciously that he had to take care of me. We both feel it will be very healthy for this relationship to be on my home turf for a while, so that he can relax and be taken care of, and I can pull the heavier load regarding both administrative stuff and emotional support. I look forward to it very much.


Also, here's a selfie with a glacier in the background! Because how awesome is that?

Lake Street Dive | Walking On Broken Glass