Hi everyone!

I just got through my first week here in Kalmar. It started off a bit rocky, since my luggage got delayed by almost two days. The good news is that almost everyone speaks English. We haven’t had any issues communicating with anyone. We’ve only ran into a few people who don’t speak English. I asked a guy at IKEA if he spoke English and he said, “Of course I do, why wouldn’t I?” Which sounded a bit rude, so maybe I offended him.

I furnished my apartment at IKEA, Jysk, and Bauhaus. Jysk is a home goods store and Bauhus is like Home Depot. I had to buy light fixtures and curtains. In Sweden, the previous tenants the lights. the light fixtures plug into an outlet near the ceiling and hand from a hook. There is a track that hides the wires so it looks nice. It was much more complicated, but I got to customize the lights.

The beds are different too. I basically had to build a bed since they sell all the components separately. I didn’t get a headboard, but they’re freestanding headboards here, so I can always buy it later. We bought it all at IKEA.

My dad, brother, and I all went there every day this week. They even started to recognize us! We made definitely friends with the employees. We also ate lunch at IKEA every day. We had everything on the menu. The best part was how cheap the food was! We all ate a full meal, dessert and drinks included for about $25 total. The food was amazing too!

I have so much more to share about Sweden, but I that’s all I have time for right now. Now we’re off to Prague.

Enjoy some photos from this week!