Settling In

A view of the meditation area at Skogskyrkogården.

 It's been a little while since I checked in, and figured that passing the 3 month mark was as good an occasion as any to give an update regarding how things are going with Kara and I. It's incredible to think that we've already spent a quarter of a year over here, and we're still uncovering the secret little treats of just our little island of Södermalm.

 The last month or so has been brilliant for showcasing how the Swedes react to summer. They embrace it and make sure to go out, taking advantage of Stockholm's beautiful open spaces. My theory is that this is to make up for the notoriously dark winters that Scandinavia is known for. Personally, this has been a great summer for me, as my hayfever has been held at bay so far. Most people who know me will wince as they recall the creature I transform into during the spring and summer months. I often describe myself during these seasons as a "human snot volcano", which is an evocative phrase, even if you don't believe me. The fact that I only have Sweden's warm summer days to complain about may cause some of you to roll your eyes, but I feel like while many older people move to southern Spain for their arthritis, I can see me permanently settling in Sweden for my sinuses. Still, that's a decision for another day.

We found a Tri-force on one of our recent walks. It was fitting that Kara was wearing Zelda shoes at the time!

 Kara and I have been taking advantage of living in the center of Stockholm's trendy (is it untrendy to use the word "trendy"?) part of town. Södermalm is hipster heaven, covered in tattoo studios, unironic ugly shoe shops, technology companies (such as Avalanche, Paradox & DICE) and barbers that purport to be all Victorian aesthetic, but have a PS4 in the corner. It's also covered in very cool bars that we will probably never go to, but that hasn't stopped us from appreciating the beautiful traditional spots that we've found around the island. We have been working our way around the island's edge, visiting it by quadrant and taking in the atmosphere.

Söder has many of these wonderful red brick buildings, especially along the waterfront.

 These wanderings have shown us old boats from all over the world, turned into quirky, beautiful and often luxurious-looking house boats. They bob gently next to docks that see regular maintenance and usage. Many of the older ones come with plaques, denoting the origins and original function of the boat. Some of them are former American military boats that were used in the D-Day landings. There are also a few larger boats that have been converted into restaurants, hotels and even a delightfully tacky pirate-themed one, featuring a fiberglass shark dangling from a rope, and some weather beaten pirates with unconvincing comb-overs. It's a little bit like if Madame Tussauds was an attraction in Blackpool that someone had fished out of the sea.

A fountain in one of Söder's parks.

A glimpse of Sofia Kyrka.

 Stockholm continues to delight pretty much every time we go walking, with so many little streets and hidden surprises. On one of the nights when summer was beginning to really blossom, we rounded a corner to find a large open square, roughly 300 square feet, that had been allocated for dancing. And it was packed. People lazed on the grass, waiting on their turn to dance, watching the cyclists, joggers and walkers passing by. I've never been summer's biggest fan, but seeing how much it meant to the Swedes to go out and claim their city was something I found really endearing.

 Kara and I have also ventured outside of our immediate neighbourhood, most memorably travelling out to Skogskyrkogarden; a UNESCO world heritage sight and by far the largest cemetery I've ever visited. While Kara normally enjoys looking for the more elaborate or macabre headstones, I think we both enjoyed the peace and tranquility that permeated the area on the beautiful day that we visited. It was eye-opening to see just how many people are buried there, but the trees and landscape are something to behold.

 I have been attempting to get "back on it" at the gym. This is hopefully the beginning of me getting back into rugby, which is a hobby I haven't indulged in for over 12 years now. I miss the game, and while I'm out of shape, I'd like to think that I still have some of the old instincts. That doesn't count for much if I can't run the length of the pitch without collapsing afterwards, so I'm hoping to get in a decent state in anticipation of the next year's season. Kara and I went to watch the two teams I'm considering play against each other, and I am yet to make up my mind. One team is made up of ex-pats, while the other is a more Swedish team, but both extol an ethos of inclusivity and friendship. One of them plays in green and white hoops, which is a colour scheme that makes me wonder what my dad would say if he was to see me wearing it.

Arsta Rugby Center in Stockholm is a surprising find, given Scandinavia only recently taking up the sport.

 As we enter July, it becomes startlingly clear that I am about to exit my twenties. Age has never really been a significant worry for me before, but since my Dad's passing and my further analysis of my progenitor's related health issues, I do find myself with a more healthy awareness of my own body reacting to the passage of time. I don't know how much of this is exiting the normal teens and twenties "I am invincible" mentality and realising that the aches and pains you've felt the last six months aren't necessarily going away. That being said, I am very well placed for someone in their thirties. I have a beautiful wife who I just accompanied into her thirties, I work in the industry I want to make a career in, surrounded by talented and supportive colleagues, living an adventure in a city that doesn't look likely to run out of excitement in the next few years. It's a good time to be in Sweden.
 

Some awesome pixel art at Thormildsplan.

Walking up to the meditation area at Skogskyrkogarden

A small part of Skogskyrkogarden, with Greta Garbo's grave at the far end.

Our First Month of Nordic Living

The cherry blossoms in Kungstradgarden.

From Rain to Snow

 At the time of writing this, I am sat at my desk in our little flat in central Södermalm, enjoying the feeling that comes after the first warm day of the year. Today (May 1st) also marks the end of the first month that Kara and I have spent in Sweden. My sense of time is distorted, as I feel like we've done a lot in the past month. We have been tourists, I have been acclimating to my new job at Avalanche, and we've both been working to find the daily routine in our lives. While we have lived in the west-end of Edinburgh before, we've never lived in a city as big as Stockholm, and the options for things to do can be a little bit overwhelming. This is a good thing though, as it's allowing us to go out and explore the city piece-by-piece.

My "Welcome Package" that was awaiting me on my first day at Avalanche. Look at that fancy embossed notebook!

 Our first week here, it seemed that the weather was much the same as it had been in Scotland. Of course, it would be churlish to complain about cold weather after moving to Sweden, but even the locals were upset that spring was taking its time to show up. In-fact, we had numerous snow showers in the first fortnight here, which made for a nice setting, even if the snow didn't stick around for long. But I digress; nobody is interested in the Swedish weather.

 Out & About in Stockholm

 During our first month here, we have done our fair share of exploring, with most of our recent adventures all being done on foot. Stockholm is a busy city with a lot going on and an expansive metro system, but Kara and I have found ourselves wandering across Slussen and into Gamla Stan to explore the sights, sounds and even the tastes of the old town before walking back home. One major source of concern is the shop "Science-Fiction Bokhandeln" which contains pretty much everything we want in our home. Fortunately we are behaving ourselves until we have a steady two-person income. Our neighbourhood is very well placed, with numerous supermarkets and public amenities close-by, and during a recent timed exercise, I was door-to-desk in 6 minutes. My recent commute from Perth to Dundee involved over an hour each way of commuting, so it's really nice to have so little wasted time making my way to work. That being said, I am really struggling to fit in all of my podcasts, now that I've lost my commute!

One of the beautiful shop fronts in Gamla Stan. This is a sweet shop!

I don't even want to know how long it took to arrange it...

  Our first "day out" was of course; the trip to Ikea to supply ourselves with all the essentials a Scottish couple needs. Naturally, this involved me buying a £12 potato masher, which is expensive, even by Swedish standards. It does appear to be the king of all potato mashers, but still, if it wasn't for Kara's pleading, I don't know if I would have buckled. Our apartment in the city is small, so I know we don't need to worry about buying a lot of furniture. Truth be told, it's quite refreshing to know that our next house move won't involve begging family members (sorry Doug) to help. Both Ikea trips that we've taken so far have involved utilising Stockholm's expansive (and a little expensive) transit system. We've been to cities with Metro systems before, but that was as tourists. It felt utterly bizarre to be sweating under the weight of two flat-packed chest of drawers as we sat in a busy carriage home.

That's right, kids. This masher has a spring action and two layers! That means twice as much "lolly" at the end of mashing.

 On the 14th of April, Kara and I decided to take a walk out of our way to explore the western side of Södermalm. We ventured out and discovered "Tantolunden"; a large park with an impressive open-air sports area, including a couple of football pitches and a basketball court which has a surface that doesn't look conducive to the bouncing of a ball. It was impressive to see such wonderful facilities were wide open the public, with a distinct lack of vandalism that one might expect elsewhere. If Kara and I wanted to play a quick game of football (I'm sure that me thinking it just sent a shiver up her spine) then we easily could have. We walked onwards and up quite a large hill to find a "light" blizzard, and allotments that put any I've seen before to shame. Almost all of them looked like they'd fit in The Shire, with quirky designs and paint schemes. Bearing in mind that only the daffodils appeared to be blooming at this point, it's impressive that most of the allotments looked like someone was still tending to them at least every week. Despite the weather, I have pleasant memories of the trip, seeing how well respected the public spaces seem to be, even if there was a little graffiti on some of the bins.

A nice little arrangement on a Tantolunden allotment.

One of the allotments on Tantolunden.

 As luck would have it, Kara entertained some friends as they visited Stockholm, leading to her having visited the Vasa Museum without me!  This was the utmost betrayal, as I was fascinated with the concept of a warship that was designed by the king and sank before even leaving the harbour. Still, Kara made it up to me by proposing a trip to "Skansen"; the world's first open-air museum. We took advantage of one of my three bank holidays (or "red days" as they're known in Sweden) that I've had in the past month to travel into the city and visit this amazing arrangement of preserved farmer's cottages, shacks from the Norwegian wilderness and an impressive range of animals, including brown bears, grey wolves and a pair of lynx. We visited on a day where a "master folk musician" married couple were putting on a show which involved an impressive range of instruments and a small history lesson. Kara took advantage of Facebook's "LIVE" functionality to transmit a short concert to some of her friends, which was cool. As we wandered around some of the more modern buildings, we decided that if we buy a house, we'd like to paint the outside to look in the colourful traditional Swedish way. There were numerous old farmsteads that were honestly like going back to the world of the Witcher or something. It did occur to me that as much as I refer to Kara's home town as being like Skyrim, I'm now living in one of the countries that inspired the setting of Skyrim itself. I can't wait to get outside the city.

One of the MANY impressive buildings that are part of Skansen.

Skansen has a couple of cool windmills.

 On Saturday 29th, we decided to head out into the city for "Kulturnatt"; or "Culture Night" where the city's museums open their doors to the public for an evening of exhibitions, including some of the royal family's personal collections. I spent a couple of hours planning the most efficient route for us to see everything and in the end, I forgot about one of the exhibits I really wanted to see, but in the end, we did see some cool stuff. Unfortunately, my love of history and museums was overcome by my dislike for crowds, and of course on the night when everything is open for free, the crowds are crazy. After a wander around a floor of the royal palace, a tour of their armoury museum and tagging onto the tour at the Medieval museum, we called it a night. I'd come to the conclusion that I'd rather pay some money to wander around at my own pace, instead of being unable to read the plaques due to a constant stream of people. I'm not entirely sure what part of that last sentence makes me sound more like an old man...

The design for some kind of cyber-horse...probably.

Old Swedish kings loved guns like modern American nutters do.

 Since we got here, Kara has been giving me not-so-subtle hints about the boat tours that tourists can go on, allowing for quite a great deal of sightseeing, as Stockholm is built across a series of islands. Because today was so warm and sunny, I decided to relent and we went on the Stockholm "Ocean Bus". Kara was giddy as the bus pulled up to the stop and after the last tour disembarked, we clambered aboard. The experience of driving around in a bright blue truck that has been sealed at the bottom and converted into a bus on top must be like the experience of driving around in a limo with loud music blaring. As we looked out of the window, people stopped and stared, some even took photos. The fact that the front of the bus had been painted to look like a shark's mouth probably didn't help. The stares and picture taking was only amplified when we approached the side of the water and the driver charged in (to the theme from Pirates of the Caribbean). Kara had such a massive smile on her face as the bus transformed into a boat and we powered on into the water. The tour itself was pretty good, due in no small part to the tour guide; Paul. His playful snipes about certain aspects of Swedish culture and Stockholm itself were nicely interspersed with interesting facts about the sights as we passed by. Facts such as "Södermalm is composed of 90% hipsters. Does anyone here live on Södermalm?" of course, as I sheepishly raised my hand, he said that my beard was a dead giveaway. I thought that was a little unfair, as I wasn't even wearing a plaid shirt...at that very moment.

 His tour did briefly mention "Kungsträdgården" with its many cherry trees, which Kara and I arrived in time to see blooming. It's a beautiful open space, with water fountains and on a hot day, it's packed with people just chilling out and enjoying their city. We actually walked through it a few days beforehand, after we had taken a trip to the "Skatterverket" or the Swedish tax agency, so that we could begin the process of getting our personal numbers that will allow us to settle in the country on an indefinite basis. Despite our worries about the time-dragging power of bureaucracy, we were in and out again within an hour or so. 

Adopting Hygge

 Ok, so technically "Hygge" is a Danish concept, but it's a big thing throughout Scandinavia, where the concepts of being professional and being comfortable are not mutually exclusive. The boss wears jeans and a polo shirt to the office, shoes are often swapped with sandals or birkenstocks, or (and I have genuinely seen this at my work) some people wear big fluffy socks and jogger bottoms to work. Now I'm not saying that I'm going to be showing up to work in my PJs, but Sweden has definitely got things going in the right direction. Between the flexible and fair timekeeping schedule, a generous supply of hot drinks including a range of teabags that's making me wish I liked tea, free (and encouraged) massages, after-work social events, and a workplace full of friendly, happy people; I've definitely got a workplace Hygge going on.

 Of course, it helps a lot that I only have a little five minute wander home, ensuring that I'm not in a bad mood from dealing with delayed trains, rude commuters or the simple act of hanging around train stations for longer than is absolutely necessary. I am glad to say that Hygge has also followed me home. We're both "nesters" you could say, so we always make a special effort to make our living space more enjoyable and practical. We have an absolutely massive couch, so we can enjoy movies or tv shows together while being super comfortable. We also now have our own little work spaces on each side of the living room, so as I am typing away here, Kara is doing the same behind me. We haven't been here long, but I feel like we're already making this the kind of place we want to be.

 Another incredible contribution to our living arrangement is the discovery of the Scandinavian Double Duvet System which is wonderful for Kara and me, as I am normally a furnace at all hours and will end up kicking off covers as I sleep. This is no longer a problem, now that we sleep with two duvets. I would heartily recommend it to anyone else.

 That's all for now. It's most definitely bedtime for me. I am looking forward to getting back to updating my blog, and hopefully playing some games that I can talk about in the next installment. I've been on a bit of an indie rampage of late, so I have some games to talk about, including Jazzpunk, This War of Mine and Oxenfree.

 All that and more, coming soon.

We're Going On An Adventure!

 I will admit that I have been neglecting this blog of late. I have been quite preoccupied since Christmas, due to a mixture of several issues, including an upsetting and prolonged family loss, my fragmented living arrangements and a seemingly never-ending stream of rejections from studios that I had hoped would open their doors. Believe it or not, I've been in a single continuous job hunt since July 18th 2016. My head has been all over the place, and it's made it very difficult to focus on my own personal projects, as many evenings have been spent refining cover letters, applying to companies across Europe and scouring corporate websites.

Back In The Saddle

 I am so very relieved to say that my time spent hunting has been rewarded, and that Kara and I are moving to Stockholm in Sweden, so that I can continue to pursue a career in game development as a QA Technician at Avalanche Studios. We are planning on a late March/ early April move so that Kara can attend her very first Scottish Tattoo Convention as an artist, and to give us time to prepare for a move of this magnitude. I've never lived abroad before, and Kara had never so much as set foot outside the UK until we visited Italy in 2014. We are both excited and terrified.

 This news comes less than a year after discovering that Reloaded was not only failing to send us to the USA, which we had been planning for since 2015; but I was losing my job. To describe the past 8 months or so as "tumultuous" seems to be an understatement. The paralysis of not being able to plan more than a month in advance had been banished and it was quite freeing, after more than a year of worrying about the move. Of course, it left me jobless and I set myself the task of getting back into the industry. After numerous rejections, I was finally able to get myself a job at eeGeo in Dundee, where I was lucky to be surrounded by a dedicated, considerate and friendly group of guys. While 3D mapping software was not the area of development that I wanted to progress, it did allow me to gain an understanding of a totally alien process, as well as refining and sharpening my QA skills. They came along at a time where I was really flagging and it gave me the confidence boost I needed to keep going with my hunt for a permanent games industry job.

 While Kara and I were on holiday in Girona, I received a missed call from a girl called Emma who worked at OPM recruitment, and she was wondering how my job hunt was getting on, asking me to get back in touch with her. I had previously not had much joy with recruiters, having only received one Skype interview that resulted in a "no". After our first phone call, Emma came back with two potential roles, one of which I am only now taking. She has been a positive force that played a pivotal role in not only helping me to secure this position, but she has counselled and generally steered my crazy paranoia out of the way so that we could focus on being the best candidate available. The entire process has lasted about 3 months, some of which has included long bouts of self-deprecation and doubt, as well as returning the stress of not being able to plan beyond a month in advance, as we waited to hear back from them. It is immensely satisfying to have that uncertainty lifted and to be free to plan for the future again.

 So now the plans are starting to form. It's going to be a tough month and a half, but with any luck, this new job is going to be the payoff after what I am personally calling "The Harshest Winter in Memory". I'd like to thank everyone who offered words of encouragement and hope. While it's often seen as the polite thing to do, the positivity has truly helped when I was feeling beaten down.