After tossing around our options, we decided it would be best to head back to IKEA to get light fixtures. Good news for David, he gets to go to work. We recruited Joannah, Jason’s wife, to go with me. She had never been to IKEA either and was up for the adventure. We decided to take the IKEA bus which runs weekdays from a stop downtown, straight to IKEA and is free! We met at the stop 10 minutes before scheduled departure. There was a sticker placed over the sign, in Swedish. Luckily Joannah has a I-phone and was able to translate the sign. Bad news – the stop had been moved for the month. Good news – the I-phone has GPS and directed us to the location. We hurried but missed the bus by two blocks. They bus runs on the hour. We knew there was a McDonalds nearby and Ellie was hungry. So we wandered over and got Ellie a milkshake and doughnut. Ellie downed half the milkshake in one sip. She really has been missing what she thinks of as milk.
We made the 11 o’clock bus. It was an easy 20 minute bus ride out to the store. We wandered through the whole store again so that Joannah could get the IKEA experience. It was much easier today because there was less foot traffic and I had an idea of what it was like going in. We found the lighting department and a helpful associate. She let me know there was a universal connector for the lights so we didn’t have to worry about the type of plug in we had. After deciding on two different fixtures, 6 of one and 4 of another, and 10 connectors it hit us that we had to figure out light bulbs. Simple, right? It was a little like buying light bulbs at Lowe’s with the large wall of options but not knowing exactly what you were looking for.
After we thought we had everything we needed, we headed to checkout. It was my first purchase in Sweden. The cashier had some trouble with ringing up my order. At the end of the transaction, she apologized for all of the trouble saying she was new here. I told her I knew the feeling, I was new to Sweden. In Sweden you pay by debit card with a pin number. They use very few credit cards that you have to sign for. Before a purchase you have to let the cashier know you need to sign the receipt. Then you need a passport for identification. This is at least better than the Wal-Mart in Kinston. One of the Swedish employees had gone to Wal-Mart to make a purchase. They would not accept a Swedish driver’s license or passport. They did take his Electrolux employee badge as proof of identification.
I was even able to arrange for delivery. First, I had to fill out a form. You guessed it…it was in Swedish. Thank goodness for Joannah’s phone. I need a phone like that. At the counter, they asked when I would like delivery. Thinking of Lowe’s or Home Depot in the States, I asked for as soon as possible thinking it would be 2-3 business days. The next available slot was that night between 6-10pm. I took it, not thinking we could end up sitting in a dark apartment for 4 hours.
After a nap and David’s arrival home, we scurried over to the apartment to await delivery. I stayed at the apartment in case they came while Ellie and David went out for pizza. They got home with the pizza just as the delivery truck arrived. Perfect timing. We ate our first meal standing at the kitchen counter. Ellie even has her own perfect counter space that she likes to stand at that is her height. Other great news is that our Swedish pin numbers arrived at the apartment, our first official mail. Plus now we can do things like get a cell phone and register Ellie for pre-school. I was surprised how quickly they arrived since it could have taken up to 6 weeks.
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