From Seattle to Stockholm

It’s only been eleven days since I returned home from my second trip to Stockholm, yet it seems like it’s been months. It feels like so much has changed and still everything is the same… but then again, I think most of the changes that have emerged from my Sweden trips have been internal.

Shortly after I got home, the wonderful Seattle weather began showing itself: grey skies and rain; and I couldn’t have been happier about it! I know most people simply can’t comprehend those of us who actually prefer this type of weather to bright, warm, sunny days… and I can’t really explain it myself- but there is a comfort I feel in this weather. I really do love it. I can’t wait for it to start getting darker earlier. Am I crazy? Some might say so, but I just think I know what makes me happy.

I’ve been super busy since I got home: I spent all of last week and today doing a special project that was both physically draining and mind numbing. Adding to that, I started covering the UW Husky home games again. They’ll eat into some of my weekends but the money more than makes up for it… and I’ve already started thinking about my next trip to Stockholm. I really want to go during winter as well as visit some other cities. Still trying to figure out when exactly though as I have to plan it around school now. Ugh! School. The Fall quarter starts in one week and I am SO not looking forward to it.

I’ve been feeling quite detached these last few days. Maintaining the balance between my present and my future is becoming more difficult as they grow closer to one another. I love Seattle and all of my friends here, but something else calls to me and it’s hard not to feel a tad guilty about that. It reminds me of when I left Sacramento to move to Seattle (though in that case I wasn’t going to miss the city at all… just my friends). Who knows? I think I’m rambling anyway… my thoughts aren’t feeling very cohesive at the moment.

Maybe I’m just a bit eager to begin the next chapter.

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Well, I got back from my second trip to Stockholm yesterday. The thing with this trip was that I really had no idea what to expect. Last time I knew that there would be the whole “toursity” phase that could have easily lasted the entire trip (which it thankfully did not)… but this trip wasn’t going to be like that. My main goal was to really explore the friendships that I had begun at the end of my last trip and had tried to maintain on Facebook over the past 6 months. Also, I really wanted to experience life in Stockholm as much as a local as possible. I can honestly say that this latest trip was exactly what I wanted… and then some. I got to spend A LOT of time with my friends there, and I really feel like those relationships grew quite a bit. The level of familiarity that I feel in Stockholm also grew and it hardly felt like I was “on vacation 4000+ miles away from home”… it felt like I was home.

What’s funny (and kind of sad, too) is that pretty much every friend I’ve made there in Stockholm has plans of leaving. Most of them have a strong dislike of the city and the people that live there and they have a hard time understanding why I want to move there. By now I’ve given up on trying to convey that reason to anyone really… but I kind of get why they have a hard time grasping the concept. It sucks to think that by the time I actually make it over there, none of these wonderful friends I’ve made will be there… but I’m not going to let that dissuade me. Now, more than ever, this move feels very do-able.

But, in the meantime, I’m back here in Seattle, working, studying, and everything else I can fit into my free time. Life continues. I miss Stockholm and even more, I miss my friends there.

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