Beginnings

My home town has changed a lot in eleven years, but I have changed too, and the life style I will now adopt is radically different from eleven years ago.

The first thing I do on the first day of the rest of my life is get a public transportation app. I feel slightly resentful because in Cambridge I had my free bus pass, but there isn't much I can do about it. The app, tied to my bank account, allows me to buy a (senior discounted) ticket valid for 75 minutes on buses, underground and commuter trains. It also provides timetables for all transport from my location. I am sure it can do many other wonderful things I will discover soon. It feels like a game. I don't play games on my phone, or otherwise, but as I said, this is going to be a new life style.

Equipped with my app, I take the underground to Skatteverket, the authority the closest equivalent to which in the UK is HM Revenue & Customs, but it also takes care of residency and other things that in the UK are considered interference with your personal freedom and integrity. I need to register as repatriated before I can do anything else (in the UK, nobody cared, as long as you had a postcode). The website says I just need to show my passport and, where relevant, documentation confirming any changes in my civil status. In reality, I am shown to a computer terminal where I fill out an endless form that includes details of my first marriage almost fifty years ago (“Can you provide your marriage certificate? If not, please describe your wedding”; “Can you provide your divorce certificate? If not, please provide the particulars of your divorce”), my second marriage and my children's social security numbers, which I don't have at hand. I am about to start texting the kids when a nice employee borrows my passport and within ten seconds prints out all the details – why the h-ll are they asking when they already have it all in their system, including my recent divorce? Never mind. Very soon I get a stamped receipt and am officially a resident in Sweden. From now on, every other database recognises me at my temporary address. I know many people outside Sweden view this as worryingly Big-Brotherly, but if you think systems in your countries do not know everything about you, you have illusions. And it least it make things easier. I log in and sign every form with my mobile bank ID, which is very civilised.

My next step is registering with health care, and I fill out another form at a terminal – the system recognises me happily as a Swedish resident of 30 minutes ago, which later enables me to register with a medical practice and get my first appointment. My third step is to apply for my state pension. There are some hurdles because I also have pension from the UK, that luckily is still part of EU, so this can be dealt with. My two work pensions are administered by different authorities, and I hope I have filled out the relevant forms correctly. The whole process only took three hours – I am a straightforward case. Still, it feels more than enough for one day. At least, I already have a Swedish bank account. Opening a bank account in the UK was an almost unsurmountable problem. You need a utility bill to open a bank account, and you need a bank account to create a utility account. I am glad it's all in the past. I haven't tested my new Swedish credit card yet, but I don't anticipate any issues.

I need to reconcile myself with the thought that I am not in the safe hands of NHS any more and will have to pay for visits to doctors as well as for my medication. Token fees, but still. But I am happy to discover that since I lived here last, repeated prescriptions can be ordered electronically. That's called progress.

I join a walking club. The system recognises me as a Swedish resident, but does not like my UK phone number. I will need to get a Swedish number soon. After Brexit, my UK tariff may not be valid in Sweden.

I identify a Pilates studio around the corner and email them my indication of interest. They respond within five minutes. Yes, there is a space in the Monday class, and yes, I am welcome to come and have a look. The classes start in late August. This will give me a welcome fixed point in my weekly routine.

I feel I have achieved a lot in just a few days.