Perspective change.

I officially have been here three months as of yesterday. It has been an interesting trip to say the least. It has proven my gut right, that I do want to live here. It has opened my eyes to a completely different lifestyle as well. I figured that I would take this blog post to talk about all the things that I have observed/noticed in the past three months, as well as look back at some of my experiences and reflect on them now.

I guess I should start by talking about my first experiences and observations from back at the beginning, and how my opinion has changed, because it actually has changed quite a bit. The first thing that I noticed happened before I even got into Sweden. It was at the airport, which is actually located in Denmark. When I got off the plane at the airport, I had to walk through what was basically an art museum to get to passport control. Once I reached passport control I realized that I was not back in the U.S. anymore. Anton told me all these horror stories about when he came into the U.S. about how he was questioned, and they wanted to know things such as how much money he had on him, and how much he thought he had in his bank account. The ONLY questions that I was asked when going through passport control were
"Where are you going?" and when I promptly replied with "Sweden" I got asked after a bit of a chuckle, "Why in the world would you want to go there?" My brain was a bit confused at that moment, because it didn't register in my brain that he was joking. I was so nervous that I was going to be questioned so harshly, and the passport control officer was joking with me? It was interesting.

After that I met Anton and we got some lunch, because I didnt eat breakfast or dinner on the plane, because both were not really something that I could eat. Dinner was some sort of soggy fish pasta dish with a salad that had raw fish on the top. Breakfast was a cold lunch meat sandwich, and plain yogurt, although I did eat the yogurt, by the time I had landed I was hungry. Of course the cheapest and fastest place to eat in the airport was Burger King. Now what I found there was a big shocker, and it was also something that applied to most fast food in Sweden. Not only was it more expensive than back home, it was smaller sizes. It was strange to me to pay more for less food. I think I have gotten used to it now, and we have found ways to supplement the need to go out to eat. We started cooking more food, and healthier food at that. But we didn't start that until later into my trip.

The next major difference? Shops close early. That was a big shocker to me. Most shops close by 6. I find that interesting, because back home most small, family owned stores close by then, but the chain stores are open later. Not here. Even the major chain stores like H&M close by 6. The grocery stores stay open later, but that is to be expected, because most people here work the standard 45 hr work week,which is 9-6 Monday through Friday.

Movie theatres are also different, as I learned shortly after arriving. Movie theatres here are pretty neat, you have reserved seats, which is interesting, because back home to go see a movie you dont reserve seats. To see a play, or musical, or opera maybe, but not for the typical movie. But besides reserving the seats there are a few more differences. The movies here come out later than back in the U.S. usually... Now I say usually, because we actually are getting to see the Avengers before all of you back home. The ticket prices here are sometimes a bit higher, but I think the seats in the theatres are more comfortable, so I am completely ok with paying a bit more. The snacks are different here, where back home you can get almost anything you want, because a lot of movie theatres basically have built in restaurants, here you have a lot smaller of a selection. You can get some sort of chips (They are not potato chips, they have the consistency of Funyuns), candy, or popcorn, and soda or water. Thats it. You can't get nachos and cheese, you can't get a hot dog, or pizza, or ice cream. I am pretty alright with this system though. AND one thing that I really like is that they don't put ice in the drinks! So you actually get a full cup of soda!

I think one thing that I have noticed through out my whole trip here is that people here are not as open as back home. While if asked a question most of the time they are willing to help, don't expect to make chat with someone while waiting for the bus. Everyone stands pretty far apart, and is on their phone. Its the same sort of attitude on the bus, no one really wants to sit next to anyone else, so you will get on a bus and see row after row that only has one person sitting in it.  I would definitely not go so far as to say that people are unfriendly, but people are not as outgoing, I suppose, as what I am used to. Although that is not to say that I have not made friends! I have! I have made friends! Its been quite an interesting trip as far as that goes though.

I guess now is where I talk about the struggle that I had at first with making friends. It wasn't completely a struggle with making friends so much as it was a struggle with accepting that I have to speak English for now. Once I overcame that, I was able to communicate with people so much easier! It took some time, because I wanted to be the best, I wanted to know everything. Since obviously I didn't, at first I refused to speak. I would only say what I knew, which was not much. Although now I know a lot more. I am able to have whole conversations now. I still get nervous, and have problems speaking to people who are not in class with me. I am getting a lot better. I enjoy trying to speak the language now!

I think also I should mention how much easier it is to stay healthy here. I don't have to drive to get places, If a place is a bit further I can take a bus, but walking is still the best form of getting places. I love it! I have noticed a HUGE change in my health level since the beginning of this trip.

When I first got here, I thought things were expensive. I have noticed that my perspective on that has changed quite a lot. I think it is because at first I was not used to the tax being included in the price. I also think that things here tend to be better quality. I think that its different from home, in the way that processed food here is actually pretty awful. You almost have to cook your own food here. Which we really started doing after we got back from Berlin.

Speaking of Berlin, I think I should reflect a bit on that. Berlin was a fun trip. Although I learned that I could never live there. The city is covered in graffiti. It's still a fun city, there is so much to do there, that we did not have enough time to see everything. I am sure that eventually we will go back and see some more. I really like the different options for food that they have, and the energy of the city was nice. No matter where you looked, there was something going on. We even happened to see a protest for the transportation union workers being set up. Though I think though that the dirtiness of the city, and the people being not so friendly was a big turn off. We were there during the weekend of the Berlin international film festival, and we saw a red carpet being rolled out in front of a hotel, and when I went to ask people what was going on, the people were incredibly rude, and just either didn't answer, or gave me an attitude that basically meant that I needed to get away from them. I also found it surprising how the media is all dubbed. Here in Sweden, children's shows are dubbed, but that is about it. No matter what language it is in, the shows use subtitles if it is not Swedish. Sweden is also MUCH cleaner. While I can't say that there is no graffiti, I can say that there is a LOT less than there was in Berlin.

After Berlin we came home and started cooking like I had mentioned before. It was a good idea, and a nice improvement! We have made many good meals, and it has been a lot of fun, learning how to cook! I like making food on my own! It makes me feel accomplished that I can eat something that I have made myself!

I have more reflections to post, but I think for now I have written enough for one post. I think I will split this into two. So for now, that's all, I will update the rest in a while.