trollgatan. home.

For the next year or so, I will be living on the ground floor of a small house on Trollgatan.  In Swedish, “troll” means “troll” and “gatan” means “street”— so, I am living on Troll Street.  This neighborhood is situated in a quiet area just outside of town.  The street is lined with several dozen small houses in which both the young and old reside.  By bike, it is about fifteen minutes to city center, ten minutes to all the essential shops, and five minutes to school. 

The house I am staying in belongs to Rut, an older Swedish woman who loves gardening and has two grandchildren who go to the school I will teach at.  Rut speaks no English, and I speak no Swedish (yet), so our communication is somewhat limited these days.  Typically when we pass by each other, we exchange a quick “hej” followed by a long pause because we both want to say something we know the other won’t understand.  Hopefully, I’ll begin to learn some Swedish soon. 

Inside the house, I have a bedroom, bathroom, and living area equipped with a small kitchenette.  Fortunately, my accommodations came fully furnished, so I have had to do very little in the way of gathering items and decorating.  When I first arrived at the house, Rut had even placed a fresh bouquet of flowers from her gardens on my table. 

The view from my window looks out onto Rut’s gardens.  Every day I look out, it seems she has placed new flowers in front of my window.  Yesterday, I only saw the pink and white flowers; but today, there now sits a new selection of purple and orange flowers.  Just beyond the gardens, I also have a view of the nearby forest.  Needless to say, I am quite happy about where I live.  Both the accommodations and people I have met are lovely.