Where it all started....

I moved to Sweden in 1979 just after I’d finished training to be a teacher, with outdoor education as my main subject. In Sweden I was going to be an English teacher, despite a total lack of training in that area.
My contact person in Östersund had found me a room in a flat in a newly built area of town. It was considered a fairly rough area but after three years of Sunderland student accommodation I found it the height of luxury.
36 years later (last night) I found myself staying in a hotel on the edge of the area and wandered into the flats to see how they had fared. They still looked in good condition and each central area still had a children’s playground, cycle racks, a mat beating stand and a barbecue area.
These days it wouldn’t be my thing, but it still seemed a fairly nice area to live. (The nearest x-country ski track is still just a few minutes away.)