‘They really do need all our help’
Welcome to the second issue of Norrland Living. And thanks for all your positive feedback on the first issue – it means a lot to us. In April’s issue, we’ve worked hard to provide you with as much value as possible. We have a very thorough guide to northern Sweden weddings (p8), which leads with a terrific personal account of her own wedding from Wendy Cherie Lidman, an atmospheric exploration of Walpurgis Eve from Marina Georgescu (p4), a guide to choosing a Skellefteå school (p22), Rehana Lothian’s investigation into the Skellefteå music scene (p26), and much more. We’ve also added a directory section where you can find condensed versions of our previous guides. So if you missed the last issue’s guide to Skellefteå supermarkets, you can find a digest of it in our directory section at the back of the magazine on page 32.
We’re a monthly magazine and our production lead times are such that we’re writing this letter to you in March. As this is written, Russia is still brutalising Ukraine, in one of the most senseless and evil wars of recent history. As newcomers to Skellefteå, we may feel a sense of dislocation when we settle in a new country or city. Everything seems new and confusing. It can be an unsettling time. But our discomforts are nothing as compared to those Ukrainian civilians, including children travelling alone, separated from their parents, who have left their homes to seek refuge away from the murderous invasion of their democratic country. They need all the help we can muster. Therefore the most important page in this issue of Norrland Living is page 29. Even if, by the time you read this, there is peace in Ukraine, please make your way to page 29 now.