Times are changing and I am slowly getting used to it. When I arrived in Ulricehamn 3 ½ years ago I was the last person to enter the new Development unit I Ulricehamn. On my team I got three talented colleagues who made me feel right at home. After 11 years abroad, living in big cities, changing to a small town and moving to a country unknown to Jochem and the kids was a big step. I am not sure what we expected of Ulricehamn from a social point of view. But, whatever we expected my three colleagues Håkan, Mikael and Daniel made sure I was one in the team both on and off work. Our first Easter in Ulricehamn we spent with Mikael and his family followed by many parties and fun events. We worked 40 hours (+) each week together and spent many hours off work in each other’s company. I have never had a group of colleagues who made me feel so included as they did and some days I went home with sore stomach muscles from laughing so much. We worked on different tasks most of the time but exchanged ideas and it was a very creative environment.
In the late summer Daniel got a new exciting job up north and moved away (at least 800 km away – Sweden is a big country!). Håkan, my boss who was the man behind the innovative and including approach to our work, got a new job in a nearby municipality about the same time and Mikael is now following him. In our reorganization at my work I got a new exciting job and some very nice and talented new colleagues but still lost some really good friends and it has been some hard weeks getting used to the new world. When everybody is on the move it is easy to start wondering if one should also get on the train or stay put. And actually, I have always been the first one to move on and to seek new opportunities so this is a new experience. I guess it is a good learning experience but on rainy October days I miss a good laugh with crazy colleagues!
