My life in Malmö: Turning the apartment into a home

I have lived here in my tiny 21sqm apartment for over three weeks now and I'm very glad to let you guys know that this place actually starts to feel like a home. I suppose it takes time for everyone to settle into a new town, into a new country. And I'm not just talking about the paperwork but also about the little things that make you feel like you belong where you are. Getting your social security number and a bank account are huge things and a relief but they aren't the whole story. Getting to know the town and its little secrets, learning to take the right bus home and finding the best prices, helping out the tourists and making your apartment look like you are the things that matter just as much. And now I can tick off the last thing mentioned. I did that with the help of my mum.

She arrived on last Saturday. We had decided earlier that I wouldn't get any furniture before she gets here so on Sunday we spent almost the whole day in Ikea. After checking out some second-hand stores in town we came to a conclusion that for us the cheapest place to get furniture is Ikea unless you've got your own transportation which we didn't. I mean we couldn't really fit the sofa into our Toyota. If we were to get all the different pieces of furniture we needed from several different places the transportation cost would by then be bigger than the actual prices of the furniture. So I bought myself a sofa bed, a shelf and a table with two chairs. I can read the instructions quite well and use the tools but my lack of patience makes it really hard to work alone so I'm really grateful for the help I got from my mum. In the end we put all the furniture together in less than 24 hours. Of course it was helpful to get the delivery on Sunday night!

My mum also brought some stuff from Finland I had packed into boxes before coming here so suddenly my apartment was full of me and my mum plus several boxes of stuff and furniture. It took me some time to figure out where everything should go and I even sent some things back to Finland. With so little space every centimeters counts. But now it's done. I've got a home. And I live in Sweden. It still feels really strange to say that out loud :)

Luckily we didn't spend the whole time my mum was here screwing screws and we got to look around in town as well. I do have to admit she didn't really get to enjoy her stay in Malmö as much as she should have. I'll make it up to her when she comes back here, hopefully next year. Eventually we had a wonderful time together, laughing and talking - the whole bonding thing. I remember how my teenage years pushed us apart back then but now it looks like we can actually talk like adults and get along really well. I'm realy happy about it.

But as usual the time passed quickly and she started driving back home on Wednesday morning at 7am. I watched the backlights of her car disappear behing the corner with a peaceful mind. And then went to do the laundry. I hoovered the apartment (I love my hoover!) and organized everything so it would all be nice and tidy just the way I like it.

Blue magic - makes the dust disappear!

I've gotten really good about doing the dishes and tidying etc but cooking has been a big problem for me. I've started to notice I'm rather starving than cooking for myself. I've been having days when I have two potatoes for breakfast and 9 hours later a sandwich for dinner. I have headaches all the time and so I tried to be a bit wiser today. I cooked something for breakfast and for dinner and had a sandwich with me for lunch when I went to Uni. I don't know what to do or how can I learn to love cooking cos I certainly can't live or study without eating properly. I wonder if eating unhealthily (fast food etc) would be better than starving :D But I refuse to eat that either. Well, I've got some cooked rutabaga for tomorrow :) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutabaga