So, happy new year everybody and welcome back to school, work, or whatever you’re engaged in. Exactly three hours ago I returned to Lund after a wonderful winter break at home with my family in San Francisco. I (and a lot of people, in my opinion) tend to appreciate a place, or a thing or person, when they are absent. For this reason, I’m so glad that I went home for break because now Sweden seems a little shinier and exciting than before. The ice is still slippery as hell, but it’s like a new beginning after the academic grind of last semester. I can (and have in previous posts) gone on and on about all the fabulous things in Sweden, but don’t get me wrong, I love San Francisco, especially for its edgy urban grittiness (the real, NOT sugar-coated world, a bit wild and dangerous but exciting at the same time).
This is one characteristic that SF shares with NYC, if the West Coast is too far for you to travel to. Life in Sweden is great but it definitely spoils me. This break at home I remembered why public transportation isn’t as popular as in Europe- manifest during this trip in foul smells and crazy people (which I usually like to watch but wasn’t psychologically prepared for). For example, 1) in the middle of one afternoon I saw a middle aged man get off the bus with his bare bottom exposed and freaked out about the general cleanliness of every single bus or MUNI train seat I’ve ever sat on, 2) on New Year’s Eve (when the city graciously made public transportation within the city free for all the smashed revelers) the people were packed in tight like candy in a greedy child’s fist and a crazy woman was pressed up against me and talking to herself and spitting on me almost the entire ride. Luckily I had a hood to hide under. Although at one point she did address my boyfriend with a loud, ”McDonalds!” and that was it.
In conclusion, happy new year and I hope no one spits on you.
