So I'll move to a new apartment in Stockholm. The search has taken all my energy for weeks now and I can say this has been an almost horrible process. This is just because Stockholm (or perhaps Sweden) is not prepared to receive so many expats and there are not sufficient apartments for the new comers.
So there are a few "good" apartments (or that fit your requirements) and a lot of interested persons, which results in a "weird" market. You can either lose an apartment for the wrong reasons (someone was willing to move in a day earlier, pay a bit more, seemed more trust worthy etc), either you lose it due to "legal" matters. I don't want to explain the complicated process for renting, short story: if you want to rent your apartment, you need the board's of administration (of the building) approval. And sometimes the board might not approve you. Or anyone else, for that matter. Which obliges the owner of the apartment to either keep the apartment and live in it or sell it.
Anyway, short story I think I got an apartment today. Meaning I signed the contract and I paid the deposit, hopefully the board of administrators will approve me and in a month I can start the moving process.
But what I dislike enormously is that the entire experience took away the joy I should have now, when I signed the agreement. I was so worried and working so intensely on this, that I'm not enjoying it anymore. I'm still so worried "what if I got cheated?", "what if I find the apartment in a bad state?" etc. I want to chillax, I want to calm down, I want to enjoy it, I want to be happy I signed a contract for a new apartment and start focusing on something else, invest my energy and time in something else.
Ah, the beauties of expat life... you either love it and embrace it, or hate it and move back home. And as I'm a strong person, this experience will only make me stronger and wiser (this attitude might be influenced by the Ted video I've watched yesterday, of Dan Gilbert talking about synthetic happiness)
