Taking the Slow Boat Home

I realized I haven't yet 'announced' our big news - we decided to move back the the USA. It wasn't really official until we booked our trip back, and that part is a funny story. I did a search on the internet for flight prices for a one way ticket to Boston, and it was coming up at $1000 EACH! In the past, it's been about $400-600 round trip! So that made me think, what about a cruise? It sounds expensive, but so does $1000 for a one-way flight to Boston. So it turned out the cruise was LESS EXPENSIVE! Ok, so it ends up being about a total of $200 more after taxes, but since we would have had to pay for the flight anyway, it's effectively like getting an 11-day cruise for $200. We'll take it!

I really can't wait to have all that uninterrupted time together!

But deciding to take the boat back also made me think about what it must have been like for my family a couple generations going back. I talked to my Grandmother about it a little, and she said it took about 3 weeks to get across the ocean (and not on a luxury cruise ship like we're doing!), and many of the men lived in boarding houses when they arrived. If they were lucky, they had a nice one and were able to save some money, but apparently my great-grandfather wound up in a pretty bad one, where the men weren't fed enough and had a lot of their wages taken. Eventually he moved out to a better one, but it must have been quite a shock for all these young men to come over from Sweden and other places looking for great jobs and prosperity only to wind up poor and hungry. But good things came out of it too, and my family has done well in America. It's so important to remember the sacrifices your family has made to give you a good life, and I think this is something Paul and I think about a lot. We both think it will be good for us to try to be near family if we can - and there's no reason why we can't.

And on that note, I realized time was running out for our year in Oxford, and we still haven't visited Sweden. Paul's never been, and my cousin has a new baby so it's really a fun time to go. There was one of those super cheap airfares to Gothenberg, so we booked it. Of course, it requires a 3.5 hour bus trip to get to the airport for a 2 hour flight, but it's still cheap. I am so excited to see the family and for them to meet Paul!

So, the next step is to look for jobs and a place to live near these jobs, and FINALLY get to enjoy our wedding presents! If you know anyone who's looking to hire an MBA or a researcher with an MA in Social Science, send them our way!

Some day, I hope, we won't have so much stress and uncertainty in our lives. But at least we figured out the most important part - to get married!