I've moved to Sweden!

Monday is my first official workday. There won't be many differences from when I was an intern, except for being paid for my work. That'll take some transitioning, mostly in my head-space. Getting paid for my work and skills? No longer just studying something that interests me, but actually working? I'm a professional now? What? (Start believing in your own skills at some point, please.)

Just now I've finished unpacking all my belongings, deciding what will go where, not focusing on the logistics just yet. Decorating is the most important part of moving into a new place, in my opinion. Setting up and living in your defined spaces, which activity will happen where? How do I want this corner of the room to feel? Are there areas I want to clutter and allow to be cluttered? Are there areas that need to be minimal, clean, simple; areas that clear my mind too. So many decisions to make!

My cats have moved with me too. All three of us are expats now! Initially, I felt like a horrible pet owner for putting them in a car for a total of fifteen hours (split into a trip of six and nine hours). The first fourty-five minutes of the trip they were NOT happy. Stressed, meowing, hissing. I felt devastated for making them go through this.
What surprised all of us though, is how completely relaxed they were after the initial shock (exhaustion probably had something to do with it.) They slept during most of the trip, they ate, they drank, and they made use of their litter-box during the drive!
They've gotten accustomed to the new flat ridiculously fast, purring, playing, cuddling, all the things a happy cat does.

Packing and unpacking has been an emotional experience. Deciding what to get rid of, deciding what to put in a box for days when I want to sit and go through the memories, looking at old photos, looking at recent photos, realising what a (mental and physical) roller-coaster the last four years have been, missing old friends, missing new friends, missing lovers.

The last two weeks especially I have felt like I'm living in a dream. I'm not feeling anything as if I'm 'feeling' it, if that makes any sense. It's good to be back here, and it feels like I've been away much longer than only a month.

I'm so incredibly happy to be back though. A new chapter starts.

'Anything worthwhile will always take a lot longer than you think.'
- Tom Cox

Liefs, x.