More action-packed weeks here! Before the next wave of guests arrive from The Netherlands it is time for a quick update.
In mid-March Susanna made a short, unscheduled trip to The Netherlands in conjunction with the loss of a dear friend. Whilst there she also met up with her colleagues in Ede and even managed to catch up with many friends and family members. It was superb to see that despite busy home and work obligations people did their utmost to make time to see Susanna. It was pleasant and very familiar but all rather hectic. What made it so hectic was, in the first place, the sharp contrast to the Swedish tranquillity but also, of course, the fact that the six days were packed with appointments from dawn to dusk.
The first signs of spring were marked by the lengthening of the days and the return of migrating birds. The cranes and wild swans were the first to ‘çheck in’. Then, early in April, we again spotted the hen harrier and the red kite which had ‘checked out’ for the entire winter. To top it all, at the very end of March we were treated to yet another northern lights display.
Towards the end of March we took the train to Stockholm for a long weekend. This all fell into the ‘maximizing our Swedish experience’ category. In short, the Swedish capital had definitely been on our to-do list. We saw the sights, walked a great deal and enjoyed ourselves.
In the space of two days we visited no less than four museums, we travelled by bus and tube and did at least 15,000 steps. We stayed in a centrally located hostel organized by the Svenska turistföreningen (i.e. Swedish Tourist Association) from where we had a splendid view of the old city and a magnificent historic yacht.
On the last day Vidar unfortunately fell ill. He ran a high temperature, became listless and slept the whole way back in the train. Not long afterwards, Mathijs and Susanna also caught the same flu infection and both ended up with nasty coughs. All of that after having got through the winter unscathed by coughs and colds!
Before April 1st Susanna had to indicate whether or not she plans to return to the job in Ede after the summer break. At that stage we definitely felt: “Our time here is not really over and we would like to further explore what Sweden has to offer”. Such matters cannot be rushed. However, it was rather nerve-wracking to abandon this final certainty; that of a permanent contract.
Meanwhile she is exploring the possibility of becoming self-employed. In that way she hopes to secure contracts with Dutch local authorities and perhaps even experiment with short-term contracts provided within the Swedish public sector. She has already had an initial exploratory interview with Regio Värmland (the province in which we live) and there has been substantial online and telephone interaction with Dutch contacts. Now it is just a matter of playing the waiting game to see what might materialize.
For the first time since arriving here Mathijs has felt considerable homesickness and has become doubtful about a future in this country. What also has to be admitted is that it is sometimes pretty difficult to forge ahead. When do you give way to such feelings and make the necessary adjustments? To what extent is it merely a ‘passing phase’?
We are having a fabulous time here in Sweden—that’s something our regular readers will have already fully understood. And yet…
The familiarity of all things Dutch remains a strong pull: the proximity of friends and family, the collective consciousness of one’s own compatriots, the naturalness of such familiarity and the fact that there you literally and figuratively know the way. You have internalized the rules, you know exactly how your own society operates, where you have to go or be and what you have to do. Likewise, there are also the things that we do not miss: the constant noise, the heavy traffic, the tuned vehicles on the roads, the poor air quality, PFAS, always having to fight for your personal space, exposure to unhealthily high fine particle concentrations. In short, after ten months in Sweden just contemplating such matters from a distance is stifling. Undoubtedly we have begun to take for granted all the positive aspects of this country.
There is, alas, no perfect way of combining both worlds. So, what is the right answer?
Here we live in a tranquil paradise surrounded by the natural world. The air is clean, the countryside is packed with surprises and the prospect of endless walks, camping adventures, swimming opportunities in clear lakes and all kinds of edible goodies hidden in the woods and hedgerows. Every day we are treated to the song of the skylark, riding over the endless gravel country roads on the motorbike is sheer freedom and the sunsets above the lake are often breath-taking.
There are downsides though: the high unemployment level and the educational standards in this region that are below par. There is also a lack of connectedness. You are not part of what I term the ‘collective consciousness’.
Up until now we have followed our hearts and it has been a fantastic year. But what’s next? It sometimes seems impossible to choose. Put simply, there is no best of both worlds.
The time has come to reflect, to make concrete plans for the future and to decide what is best for our family and for the boys.
How therapeutic it is to put all these sentiments in writing; to get it out of one’s system—hopefully it hasn’t been too tiresome to read!
At the end of the day, this whole process leads to meaningful discussion and brings us closer together. It becomes increasingly clear what this adventure has already brought. For the time-being this will inevitably remain a recurrent topic of debate.
In the near future we look forward to a whole range of activities: children’s parties, Gran’s visit at Easter when Rune will celebrate his birthday. Soon after Mathijs plans to do a motorbike tour through northern Germany with a good friend. As if that weren’t enough, Olivia and Jens will drive up to see us in the May holiday whilst simultaneously good Dutch friends of ours will be spending a holiday here in the vicinity.
All-in all, life here is not so bad at all—more to the point, in many respects it is fantastic. We enjoy the resounding silence of our natural surroundings where each day we are treated to bird song and glorious sunsets and we are free to make calmly make our plans.
At the same time it has to be said that we were not unhappy in The Netherlands. We had our familiar routines, people all around us and, as mentioned, we knew the way—literally and figuratively. Perhaps it is precisely the knowledge of both these worlds that allows us to focus on where we now stand but which also opens up the doors to doubt………
The screeching of the cranes and the concert of the skylarks. Switch on the sound!
