Enter phase: Apartment hunt

Time is a scarce resource so I can't afford to stay
idle while waiting for news.

With my visit to Lund I have done everything I can regarding my job hunt and now all that is left is the waiting game. But since time is a scarce resource I have decided not to wait idly and have begun with the next important chapter in our story: Searching for the apartment in Lund!

Here in Slovenia apartments aren't really that problematic. They are expensive (especially in Ljubljana, our capital, where we live), but generally speaking there are plenty of apartments to go round. One might have to look for a while to find a flat that balances all the important factors (location, price and size), but shouldn't encounter too many difficulties.

We haven't given up hope:
we are looking for a flat in Lund!

The situation in Sweden (and especially in Lund) is a lot different. I have been told time and time again that finding an apartment in Lund is going to be a challenge. Some readers have even advised me to avoid searching in Lund altogether and focus my search in the surrounding areas or Malmö.

So far we haven't lost hope. I have replied to about 25 ads found on blocket.se to date and I have received 8 replies so far, most of them encouraging. At about 20% positive reply rate I am confident that we will manage to find something! And today I have posted an ad of our own and already got one reply. I think we will be all right!

If you are a landlord please consider us as your new tenants! Either way please spread the word about our ad!

Not sure about that policy.
Why couldn't I pay for my own ad?

Publishing and ad was no piece of cake... Blocket.se has a policy which prevents payment with non Scandinavian credit cards. I have spoken with their support line, which while friendly was of no real help. Luckily I was able to turn to a helpful reader (thanks again Chris!) who published the ad for me, while I forwarded him the funds. If anyone else is looking to rent an apartment in Sweden from abroad, this is something to keep in mind!

Have you gone through a similar experience? Or do you have some advice to share? Please get in touch via email/comments or Google+

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• Actually visiting Lund for the first time! (helpmemovetosweden.com)
• Planning: Visiting Lund for the first time (helpmemovetosweden.com)

Lund first impressions

Image via CrunchBase

I know you are all dying to hear the "bottom line", so let's get it out of the way as soon as possible: My meeting with Nokia went great and while I haven't received an offer yet I am feeling quite confident! They have made quite an impression on me and their workplace looks seems great! I'd be honoured to work there.

The trip itself was quite exhausting. I "visited" three countries for the first time yesterday: Germany (Frankfurt airport), Denmark (Copenhagen airport) and of course Sweden. The trip itself was quite uneventful if we overlook the rush over the Frankfurt airport to make the connecting flight. After four flights, two train rides and a long walk I was really exhausted and when I came home I just crashed: Slept like a baby!

Two things really caught my attention while making my way across Europe. On Frankfurt airport I witnessed, for the very first time, an "airport land traffic jam": So many buses, baggage trucks and other personnel-only vehicles were buzzing around that it looked like a very busy city.

Quite the opposite was the flight to Copenhagen: I dare say that it was the quietest flight in the recorded history. I don't think a single conversation occurred while we were airborne! I don't know if that's typical for Scandinavian Airline flights, but it felt quite eerie to me!


Lund was strikingly beautiful yesterday. Even though the Weather forecast
predicted rain I was greeted by a picture perfect sight, without a cloud in the sky. That allowed me to walk from the train station to Nokia's office in Ideon science park and back. I was even delighted by seeing a few Swedish girls sunbathe and enjoy what was probably one of the warmest days this year.


Unfortunately I was too hungry too look for a restaurant that serves a great portion of Swedish meatballs, I settled for a Subway meal. But that was great too, and since we don't have a Subway in Slovenia, I technically still had something exciting for lunch! They are definitely on my to-do list for next time though!

Kan rekommendera du en bra restaurang där de tjänar svenska köttbullar i Lund?

All in all I had a great trip and Lund really charmed me. Hopefully it will turn out that it has been professionally successful as well. More on that is yet to come!

View my whole Lund album!

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• All packed for Lund and I'm leaving nothing to chance! (helpmemovetosweden.com)
• Actually visiting Lund for the first time! (helpmemovetosweden.com)
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All packed for Lund and I'm leaving nothing to chance!

I count on this to insure I make
friends on the airport!

• Laptop Check
• Kindle Check
• Kindle with full batteries DoubleCheck
• Valid passport and printed plane tickets Check
• Spare clothes Check
• An umbrella Check
• A power cord for making friends at the airport Check

I have been hoping for a dry day,
the forecast changed on the last minute.

You are probably thinking something along the lines "What? Is he moving to Sweden already? I thought that was months away!" So let me reassure you right now: I'm only visiting Lund for a day, I'm just leaving nothing to chance.

Have I forgotten anything? This is the list I've come up with and I can't think of anything else I might need for my epic trip to Lund.

I'm leaving home tomorrow very early and depart at 7 AM from Ljubljana's airport. I suspect it will be a mad dash across Frankfurt's airport to catch the 9:30 flight to Copenhagen. All I need to do there is find the train to Lund and then sailing should be smooth all until I start making the return trip at around 17:00 - this time a lot more relaxed since history will already have been made!

If your path tomorrow is by any chance crossing mine please say hi!

I expect I won't have any spare time in Lund to meet with anyone but Nokia, however I'd love to have someone to chat to on the airports and/or flights. If you are travelling tomorrow drop me an email and let's see if our paths intersect!

In other news Radio Sweden has aired their interview with me from a couple of weeks ago. Here is the link to the episode and here is the direct link to the mp3 file. My short bit starts at 21:40 and lasts for about five minutes. While not exactly thrilled by my performance I think I did all right for a first radio appearance.

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• Actually visiting Lund for the first time! (helpmemovetosweden.com)
• Planning: Visiting Lund for the first time (helpmemovetosweden.com)
• The game is on! (helpmemovetosweden.com)

Equipping our family with technology

Google+ Hangouts are the best. By far.
Seriously, you have to try them.

Our departure date is approaching with ever increasing speed (I know it's an illusion. Bear with me :) ) so we have started thinking about keeping in touch with our families after we embark.

I have some very good experiences with Google+ Hangouts from a time when a friend of mine was working in Germany (Hi Kristina!) and have used it to keep in touch with my Mom in England ever since. It is the the service we are planning to use with our friends anyway, so we decided to introduce the rest of our families to it.

After the tedious process of shopping we installed the new cameras and laptops and eventually tried it out. Everyone loved it, al though introducing my dad to the effects option might have been a mistake! In all we have bought one new laptop and equipped two stationary computers with new webcams, so we think we are set for now.

I am really impressed by GooglePlus Hangouts and really urge you to give it a go. It allows you to connect several people at the same time, shows all their faces at the bottom of the screen and automatically focuses the big screen on the one who is talking. With additional options such as the youtube plugin it allows you to play a song in everyone's background, creating almost a pub-like atmosphere. When everyone is provided with a drink (unfortunately Google doesn't help with this obligatory step yet) it is as good as it gets.

My intuition tells me that this type of socialising should be common in Sweden. After all, the drinks are expensive and it's cold outside so I'd expect people would be keen on the idea of chatting with your friends from the comfort of your own home. How right am I about this? Please respond in the comments!

I might invite all of you to join me on a hangout once and meet some of my readers! Would anyone be interested?

Actually visiting Lund for the first time!

Image via CrunchBase

Last week I posted about how we are planning to visit Lund for the first time. I also wrote about the good feeling I had about a series of job interviews I had with Nokia. Well it turned out my intuition wasn't wrong and Nokia has now invited me to visit them in Lund at their expense!





I'm visiting on Wednesday, 15th of May from Ljubljana to Copenhagen, with a crossover in Frankfurt. Not only will I be in Sweden for the first time, I will get to see the Frankfurt airport for the first time as well! My flight back is also on Wednesday so I will only be in Lund for a couple of hours, but I hope I will get to take a walk and see some of it - hopefully the weather will allow for it!

Can you recommend me something I simply must see/try while in Lund? Perhaps a unique Swedish candy that will blow my mind?

The plan to visit Lund together with my significant other is still in place. We will still need to find an apartment  but now I will get to see it first! If anyone would like to have a cup of coffee on us you are very welcome - get in touch!

I am so grateful for this opportunity and am really excited - in fact I can't wait for Wednesday.

In other news I have been interviewed by časopis Delo, one of Slovenia's largest daily newspapers. The article only appears in the print version, however I have been allowed to share it with my readers. If you speak Slovenian please take a look (pdf).

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Planning: Visiting Lund for the first time

I have a good feeling about our first ever bike-date!

Today is a national holiday in Slovenia and that means I finally have some time off! I'm using the time to relax, read a great Terry Pratchett novel, then complete the day by taking my wife-to-be out on a date-night. And since we're getting into the Swedish spirit we are making it a bike-date. We are quite excited, it will be our first!

The job hunt is going well, I think. I had a series of what I feel were very successful interviews with Nokia and I have high hopes. That means that we are slowly looking into the "find an apartment" phase of our project. We can't really start apartment hunting until I get a job, because we don't know what we will be able to afford. On the other hand we are anxious about the plane tickets - we don't want to wait until the last minute.

We're planning to visit Lund for about a week, spending the time looking at apartments and of course getting to know the city and its inhabitants. We plan on staying in a hostel or perhaps trying couch-surfing.

We haven't tried couch-surfing yet.
Is it common in Sweden?

Hopefully we will arrange such accommodation that will provide us with a good starting point for exploring the city and of course apartment hunting. In my mind that means it will be located somewhat central and will provide excellent wifi. If they provide a bike renting service as well that would be excellent! This is another area where I would greatly appreciate your help, dear reader! Care to recommend anything?

As for the dates, we still haven't decided. It will probably be around mid-June. Are there any events in Lund/Malmö in June that would help us decide? We would love to experience the local culture and perhaps some of Lund's night life. I think that our schedules are still flexible enough to move things around a bit if the opportunity calls.

It would mean the world to us if we could meet with you (yes, you!) We hope to make new friends in Lund and I can't think of a better way than by inviting you for a cup of coffee. Would you be interested in having a nice chat and perhaps showing us to the cool part of Lund?

Jag och min sambo kommer att besöka Lund i ungefär en månad. Har du lust att en kopp kaffe? Hoppas att vi kan möta!

I will be delighted to hear any other recommendations you may have concerning Lund. Please respond in the comments or email me!

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