Thursday, September 16, 2010

Meet our latest addition!!

Say hello to Bella!!  She's our new baby!  She's 10 weeks old at the time of this post and a total gem.  We picked her up today from a really sweet family.




She is half leonberger and half bernese mountain dog.  She is going to be a very big dog!!  She seems to have a very laid back temperament, and loves to lay around and sleep.

I saw her on Blocket.se and well talked my boyfriend into going to look at her in person last weekend.  We drove 1½ hrs to see her.  Spent the same amount of time there playing with the puppies.  For me it was a toss up  between 2 dogs.  But for my boyfriend there was only one.  The only puppy that had white toes, our Bella.

So we went home and talked about it.  I was an absolute yes, and he was a maybe.  As you can see, in the end....I won.  :)  We had some hurdles to overcome and some logistics to figure out.  But it all turned out wonderful.

So we picked her up tonight, and had to drive home again 1½ hrs.  After finding out the puppy got car sick and threw up on the way home from the vet's earlier.  lol.  So we were a little nervous.  We put a blanket on the backseat, and I decided to sit back there with her to keep her company.  So as soon as the car started moving she came and laid down next to me.  A few times during the car ride she seemed to get a bit agitated.  But we managed to make it home without any incidents.  By the end of the car ride though she climbed into my lap and wouldn't leave my lap.  Even when we pulled into up to our apartment and I opened the car door.  She didn't even try to move (which is good at her age...I just hope she stays that way).

We got her inside (See video) and let her explore the apartment for a few mins.  Then we put out food and water for her.  It seemed as though she was afraid of the food bowls.  At one point I had to feed her out of my hand, and got her real close to the dog bowls.  She even decided to drink some water and briefly stuck her head into her food dish....but then it moved and she jumped away.  Hahahaha.  But I guess later on she changed her mind about the dishes.  :)  Sorry for crappy quality.


All in all we are super happy with her!  She's very sweet.  We hope she will become more comfortable with us and here and all the kids and other dogs in our neighborhood that are dying to meet her.  So far she doesn't seem to want to be far from us.  She is absolutely adorable when trying to fund down the hallway to one of us.  She just looks like a rhino or a bull (in miniature of course with fur).  She's just so muscular and strong looking.  Built like a tank!

Now, a little bit about dog shopping here.  Dogs are more expensive here then in the states.  We don't really have pounds and shelters here like back in the states.  People spend an insane amount of money on their dogs ($500-$1000 for mixed breed and $1500-$2500 for pure breed).  There is even a law here that says you can't leave your dog home alone for more then 4 hrs.  And people bring their dogs with them just about anywhere.  During the summer they are everywhere in the town square where all the restaurants and cafes are.  So buying and owning a dog is a bit different here.

Oh and she did the cutest thing tonight!!  When she was exploring, she walked under our coffee table and stopped and stared at the tv cable box.  Then all of a sudden she started growling at it.  It was hilarious.  She is apparently very sensitive to sounds, including the dull hum the cable box makes.  Hahahaha.

All in all I'm thrilled to death and we are so happy!

It's Official!!

I am a permanent resident of Sweden!!

My temporary visa was approved on October 13, 2008.  It was valid for 2 years (so expiring next month).  So 2 weeks ago I went to go and renew it.  We went to the immigration office in Västerås, and spent about an hr there.  We turned in our application for renewal as well as additional documents.  Spent 200 kr the night before getting passport sized photo's taken, only to discover they don't use those anymore.  Now there is this biometric machine thingy that takes the picture for your visa's and passports and stuff.  Then we find out it was more then 30 days until my visa expired, so they couldn't issue me a decision then.  So we would have to come back another day (closer to the expiration date) and do our "interviews" and get our decision.

So we went back today since it's less than 30 days to expiration.  We met with a case worker, who had to ask us some questions.  He made my sambo leave the room, asked me the questions (and we chatted about life and stuff for a bit and about or latest family addition), and then had my boyfriend come back in and asked him the same questions to make sure our stuff matched up. Some questions such as:

  • Are we still in a relationship?
  • Do we still live together?
  • Do we intend to keep living together?
  • What are some future plans?
  • What does each do for work (or school)?
We passed.  He said he believed we were in a serious and real relationship and had no problem issuing me a permanent visa.  And he told me that Sept or October next year I can come back and apply for citizenship and after a passport.  :)  So I'm all kinds of happy and excited!

So now Sweden is stuck with me!

It has been a fabulous day!

-FXA

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Misc. Stuff

Okay, so I'll be honest, I don't know what I'm actually planning to write about here.  I just know it's been weeks, and I'm past due.  I guess I could do a misc. Sweden blog?

1.  It's election time again.  Every 4 years the parliament is up for grabs.  And this is the lucky year.  I don't know much else other than that.  I can't vote yet.  Need to be a citizen.  But what I have learned is so far Sweden has a substantially higher voter turn out rate then in the states.  Something like 90-95% of the population comes out to vote.  My boyfriend isn't into politics at all.  But when I ask him if he is going to vote, he says "most likely".  I'm not sure the turn out is such a great thing if many are like my boyfriend and don't care.  But it is nice to see people attempting to take an interest and take part.

2.  Driving in Sweden.  Holy crap is a license here expensive!!!  My American license was good here for 1 year, and after that I had to get a Swedish license to drive.  And most cars here are stick shift.  Well like many modern Americans, I grew up driving an automatic.  So, I need to learn how to drive manual.  I learned 15 years ago, but never used it.  Here's the thing, both me and my authorized driver (my boyfriend Nick) have to go to a class (which is only in Swedish) to get approved for a learner's permit.  Then once that's done, I have to study a book about the rules, and practice driving.  Somewhere along the way I have to take an alcohol class and get an eye exam done.  Once I feel ready, I can go ahead and take the written test.  When I finally pass that I have 2 months to take and pass the practical driving test as well as the hazardous road condition test (mainly for icy roads).  Once all of that is paid for and passed I get a license.  I may have missed a step somewhere, but ugh my brain is already hurting.  Oh and did I mention all of this stuff adds up?  Especially if I end up taking any classes at the driving school.  It's just insane!!  But I've got time to worry about it.  :)

I think I'm going to end this one here.  I promise I'll try to write more.  I have several things to write about this week.  Lots of updates!!