Until Next Time, Sweden
It feels like only a week ago that I was writing my last piece about settling into a new place, and now here I am reflecting on the past few months of my life and trying to summarise my experience.
From Sweden with Love
How do I even begin to say goodbye to a city – to a country – that I have come to love as home? The culture difference was shocking to my system at first, but now these same societal quirks are among many of the reasons why I cherish Sweden so much; the government-operated alcohol stores, the way that Swedes queue up with plenty of space between them so as to give each other personal space, and their intense love for all things sweet.
Over the course of my time here, I tried to make myself feel at home as much as possible. I decorated my room with posters and lights (a room that was never mine in the first place), stocked my shelves with food, and wrote my name on a shelf in the freezer. I joined my flat’s Facebook chat, met as many exchange students as possible, and even made friends with some Swedes. I always felt special meeting a Swede because they would be so in awe that I had traveled all the way from England just to study there for a semester. Now I look back on those memories with great fondness and I can’t believe that it’s already time to begin saying goodbye to it all.
The Long Goodbye
How do I say goodbye to the tradition amongst my friends of meeting for Fika every day (at least once a day… but often a lot more than that), to chat over a cup of good coffee and show each other the things we miss about our home countries? Of course, I would show them Falmouth’s sandy beaches and fish and chips. How do I say goodbye to travelling to a new destination every other week? Gothenburg, Oslo, Lappland. At the moment I’m trying to fit in as much travelling time as I can in my final three weeks of being here – well, as much as my bank balance will allow.
As much as I have missed my life back home and in Falmouth, and I can’t wait to reconnect with my friends and family, I feel like I will be leaving my heart in Sweden. I feel rooted here like I belong in this culture and lifestyle. But don’t get me wrong, I’ve been lost without my daily dose of sea, sand, and sun.
I’m just hoping that I don’t become ‘that-person-who-doesn’t-shut-up-about-their-study-abroad’.
by Niamh Hichtmough