Life in Sweden. Chapter 9. A Difficult 2025. Starting Over After Family Life. A Working Grant and Swedish Friends.

At the time of my move, I was not registered in any of them. I joined later — separately in Gothenburg and Stockholm.

So just before New Year, I started looking for an apartment in the usual way, online, and quickly realised that, as my father likes to say, things were looking pretty bad:)

But somehow — Santa Claus, perhaps?:) — I managed to find an apartment in Vänersborg.

It is a small Swedish town about 100 kilometres from Gothenburg, situated by the enormous Lake Vänern.

The owner had been trying to sell the apartment for quite a long time. One of the conditions of renting it was therefore that potential buyers would occasionally come for viewings.

And once the apartment was finally sold, I would have to move out. After receiving notice, however, I would still have several months to find another place to live.

I weighed all the pros and cons.

Although, to be honest, I did not really have much choice:)

The train from Gothenburg to Vänersborg takes about an hour and runs quite frequently.

That sounds perfectly reasonable.

Until you start counting the journey from the apartment to Vänersborg station, then the train itself, and then another trip from Gothenburg Central Station to your final destination.

So, to make a long story short — it was fun:)

Life Between Vänersborg and Gothenburg

The apartment itself was cheaper than a similar one in Gothenburg.

On the other hand, the monthly travel pass cost roughly twice as much as a city pass. And, most importantly, there was the constant travelling.

On average, the journey took me between one and a half and two hours each way.

So I was spending 3–4 hours a day simply travelling.

I went to Gothenburg practically every day.

First of all, until September I did not even have a digital piano at home. I tried to find a place in Vänersborg where I could practise regularly, but I was unable to solve that problem quickly.

And for a professional pianist, living without an instrument is, of course, almost impossible.

So every morning — off to Gothenburg.

There I practised as much as the day allowed, taught online lessons, recorded videos, and worked on various musical and online projects.

And on the train I wrote posts for our online community:)

You could say I tried to make maximum use of my time.

But the year was still a very difficult one.

And it was not really the travelling itself that was the hardest part.

It was more the atmosphere of that kind of life.

Vänersborg has stunning nature. A huge lake, forests, and beautiful places for walking.

During the first week, I genuinely admired all of it.

And then my routine often started looking something like this:

Arrive after midnight.

Sleep.

Back to Gothenburg in the morning:)

In September I finally got a digital piano, which made it possible to do part of my work from home.

I tried spending some days without going anywhere at all.

But it turned out that a hermit lifestyle is definitely not for me.

Jumping slightly ahead, I can say that now, when I am living in Gothenburg again — and in a wonderful neighbourhood — I do not have that feeling of emptiness at all.

Everything is nearby.

I can practise, work, meet people, attend concerts, and walk around the city.

In one word — civilisation:)

But more about that in the next chapter.

A very pleasant moment of this difficult year was our trip to Croatia with Timofey and Nikita. For a few days, we managed to completely switch off, relax, spend time together, and simply enjoy the sea, the sun, and a completely different atmosphere. Croatia left us with very warm memories.

Concerts and a Working Grant

There were relatively few concerts in 2025.

Again, jumping a little ahead, I can say that in 2026 the situation gradually began to change, and I started performing more often.

One stage achievement I would mention is that I performed the complete Chopin Études in concert a couple of times.

I also cannot help but mention the success of one of my online students. Daria and I started working together about a year and a half earlier — not exactly from scratch, but at that time she definitely did not yet have the professional preparation required for admission. In 2025, she was accepted to the R. M. Glier Kyiv Municipal Academy of Music, into the class of Professor Artem Liakhovych. For me as a teacher, this was, of course, a very pleasant and important achievement.

Another highlight of 2025 was receiving a working grant.

Grants in Sweden are really a whole separate field that is definitely worth learning about properly. And that is something I am gradually doing now.

There are public and private foundations, as well as programmes for professional musicians, young performers, students, cultural projects, and organisations.

And one thing I would particularly like to emphasise is that applications here really are evaluated objectively.

Receiving my first substantial grant was good confirmation for me that it is definitely worth applying.

Timofey is also actively learning how this system works, and Nikita is gradually beginning to explore it as well.

There are many foundations for children and young people that can help cover the costs of education, travel, competitions, masterclasses, and other projects.

The main thing is to find the right programme and prepare the application properly. And this is where ChatGPT can certainly help:)

Gustav and Kirsti

And of course I cannot write about this period without mentioning my Swedish friends Gustav and Kirsti.

Over the past few years, these two people have done more for me than almost anyone else in my life, apart from my parents.

Gustav is an honorary professor at Lund University and an extraordinary music lover.

I sometimes joke that I am not even sure whether I love music as much as Gustav does:)

We met at one of the concerts at Betlehemskyrkan.

Every Thursday, Gustav organises lunch concerts there. He invites all kinds of musicians and takes care of practically all the organisational work.

And Gustav is 85 years old!

I would certainly like to be in such good shape and live such an active life at his age.

What is more, Gustav participates almost every month in the online concerts of our online community.

We communicate in English. He performs himself, listens to the other participants, shares his impressions, and has simply become part of our musical community.

His wife Kirsti also loves music and always listens to our online concerts. Gustav and Kirsti also regularly attend my live concerts.

Gustav himself is also an active live performer.

They always support my musical projects and take an interest in new ideas, concerts, and recordings.

I will tell you more about Gustav and Kirsti in the next chapter.

So that was my 2025.

Not the easiest year.

A lot of travelling. A lot of solitude. And a life in a small town that did not suit me particularly well.

But at the same time — new plans, work, the online community, receiving a grant, wonderful people around me, and a gradual understanding of where I wanted to go next.

In the next, tenth chapter, we will finally reach 2026 and catch up with the present day:)

Thank you for reading about our life in Sweden!

And of course, I look forward to seeing you in Slakva Piano Circle, where we constantly have new projects, concerts, and ways to communicate. And starting next month, there will be even more!