Telia

I still haven't really settled in Stockholm.

After finally opening a bank account last Wednesday, I tried to arrange the opening of my landline phone to use the Internet (my landlord does not allow me to open a fiber connection for the Internet). With help of an assistant at the Institute, I placed an order on the website of Telia, Sweden's telecommunication company, which is all in Swedish.

This morning someone from Telia is supposed to come to open my landline phone. So I wait at home in the morning.

Nobody shows up.

I call their customer service number 90200. The computerized message answers me IN SWEDISH. I wait for them to automatically connect to an operator. This never happens.

Come to the Institute, and ask a friendly Swedish PhD student sitting at the Institute to help me. Then I finally manage to talk to an operator. She says, "The appointment is this Friday morning."

Without any notice, they've changed the appointment time.

Opening a landline phone, and thus opening the Internet access at home, is delayed at least two days.

Microwave and Skype headphone obtained

Go to the Institute to email Sonia with photos of Swedish plugs and sockets so that she can bring converters when she visits Stockholm in a few weeks.

Head for Mörby Centrum. According to Torsten, Mörby is an area of Stockholm the most affluent live in. According to the Sato memo, the term centrum means a shopping mall. So I suspect there may be a better shop than those in the city center, to buy a microwave and bed linens.

My guess is wrong. The shops at the centrum include Åhlens and Hemtex, exactly the same list as in the city center. Anyway, buy an olive green double bed size flat sheet.

Have lunch at a Mexican fast food restaurant. Not too bad, and only 60 krona (4 pounds). If you have 4 pounds for lunch in London, the only option is a sandwitch.

After paying 5 krona for a public toilet (I can't stand this...), take Tunnelbana to Hötorget, to check if Siba on Kungsgatan has a better microwave than Åhlens City. On the way, stop by at On/Off and ComputerCity if they have a Skype headphone. Their stock is more expensive than what I saw in Tokyo. Philips offers the least expensive one at 149 krona. I remember a store in Tokyo sold one at about 55 krona...

On the first floor of the Siba store, find a Samsung microwave for a price of 899 krona, about 400 krona cheaper than the one available at Åhlens City. To buy an electric appliance in Stockholm, you do need to walk around a bit to find the best offer.

The shop assistant tells me that the delivery costs more than 300 krona while taking a cab shouldn't cost more than 200 krona.

Before going home with a microwave, then head for Teknik Magazinet if they have a good Skype headphone. The shop assistant shows me a 99 krona Chinese one as the cheapest. Ask for the second cheapest. He shows me a gigantic headphone costing 149 krona. Philips's one looks much better and costs the same. I come to think that Teknik Magazinet is actually quite useless.

Then visit Åhlens City to buy magazine boxes and a Ordning & Reda's mouse pad on the downstairs.

Go back to Siba and buy the Samsung microwave with Philips skype headphone. Take a cab home with it.