January 2024 was one of the toughest winter months in Skellefteå. It was like a rollercoaster with alternative weeks of extreme and moderate temperatures. One week most of the days were below -30°C, while the next most days were around -5°C. 

Adapting to these drastic variations was not easy, so we decided to reduce our visits to shops and stocked up all essentials at home. The city looked deserted and there was a reduction in the frequency of buses. 

Intake of hot beverages multiplied. We hoped to beat the cold by staying indoors, but that didn't go to plan.

Instead, disaster! Most of the heaters in our apartment stopped working. Out of 11 heaters, only the one in the living room worked. We decided to cook and bake to use the oven more often to keep the kitchen warm. It was Friday evening and we were not sure how we would manage till Monday when the maintenance personnel were due.

We checked stores such as Clas Ohlson but all the heaters were sold out. Luckily, one of our friends had an extra heater that they lent us for the weekend. This made us realize the importance of having found our own social group and friends in a new place. 

The heater got us through to Saturday. But our happiness was short-lived as even this heater stopped working. 

We had exhausted all options and the only thing left was to use multiple blankets. 

However, one of the good things of living in a shared apartment block is the chance to meet and interact with people from different countries and cultures. A family from North Macedonia was living in the same apartment block and they were kind enough to lend us an extra heater for the night. 

We learnt from the technician on Monday that many apartments had similar issues with most heaters unable to withstand the extreme temperatures. Thankfully, he resolved the issue and we were relieved that the following week had slightly higher temperatures.

At this point, we had to take a sudden unplanned trip to our home country. The weather in Chennai, India was the complete opposite. It was already spring and the sun was shining brightly. The temperature was in the high twenties to low thirties. 

Being a beach town, it was breezy and humid at the same time. We were missing our family and the trip was a welcome tonic for us. We made the best of it by also savoring some of the delicacies of the local cuisine. 

While the unplanned trip back home was rejuvenating, there were things about Skellefteå, such as the nature, the calmness of the city and the people that we started to miss. 

Just as our move to Skellefteå helped us appreciate our Indian home in a new light, the unexpected return to our Indian home allowed us to recognize the value of our life in Skellefteå. 

I realized the need to take a step back for a different perspective to appreciate most things in our lives. For us, this unplanned trip back home did just that. After our short stay, although we were feeling bad leaving our family and home country again, the anxieties I felt during our initial move to Skellefteå had subsided.

In spite of Skellefteå's challenging weather conditions, a sense of familiarity had developed over the last few months. Skellefteå was no longer an unknown alien city to us. It had started to feel like our new home.

Also read: From hot to not - Indian couple's brave leap to northern Sweden

Don't miss Sushma's next column in two weeks' time.