It’s obvious that one hasn’t got enough inspiration writing about the English lifestyle whilst living in the glorious Sweden. Therefore this will be the last thing I write on this blog.
I remember when I started this blog, it was a life ago in my bed in London, and now I’m ending it in my bed in Stockholm.
Back then this blog helped me in a lot of ways as there was no one around me to understand what I was going through. The culture shock that came with moving to England hit me so hard I’m still in therapy.
If you where moving to a remote village in Africa where people live in huts you wouldn’t expect humanitarian living standards. But when you are taking your belongings on a plane for two hours to a United Kingdom you do expect this.
It was love at first sight. It was love that kept me in England and it was the love for oneself that made me leave.
My hopes, dreams and the life I wanted are continuing in England without me there. And of course this hurts, to know that it only took five minutes to erase five years. It was like I was never there.
But I was there.
So thank you England for Pimm’s, Tattler and Day Nurse! What would my life be with out it?
July 1, 2009 at 6:29 pm |
Nooooooooo. It can’t be over. I know Sweden is such a fabulous place that it would be very difficult to find the things you grip about England in your mind while there, but the name of the blog is “I’m not a snob, I’m Swedish” not “Everything that is wrong with England, from a Svensk Perspective”so you need to continue and just change the subject matter back to life in Sweden. Remember that post you did about “You Know You’re Swedish When”? That was how I found your blog and since then I have checked it almost daily to see what new insights you may share. I even sent it to all my Swedish friends and they had a good laugh…though they later admitted that 99% of it was true.
So why not just start writing about your life in Sweden? I promise you it’s equally as interesting, particularly for a Canadian who once tried to move to idyllic Sverige and had a very serious crisis of her own!
From the bottom of my heart, I’m asking you to continue. When you do make a post it is a ray of sunshine on cloudy Canadian days…you are a very good writer (in English) and your humour translates languages.
If you don’t though, I will forgive you, but encourage you to come write humorous comments on my blog (you inspired me) to keep me amused. thepseudoingenue.blogspot.com. It is just my random ramblings on life here, so maybe you can take inspiration from it and apply it to yours all the way over there? That is my hope anyways.
All the best to you,
Meghan
July 1, 2009 at 10:20 pm |
Dear Meghan,
Thank you so so so much for your lovely comment. What you wrote made me so happy, and proud. Thank you!
I am now considering continuing writing even though I felt quite strongly about my decision to stop. I will have a think about it as I do find it hard to find things to write about living in Sweden. Here in Sweden everything is perfect, organised and things never goes wrong. Honestly!
When I was living in London I just had to step outside my house for something crazy to happen and for me to write about.
I never wanted this blog to be about me, I wanted it to be about my experience as a Swede living in England, and now things are so different. My life is so different.
I was actually once called a snob for something I said or did, can’t remember what it was but I think it was when we had mice and I totally flipped. And I just thought “hey, I am not a snob, I am Swedish” and there you have the name.
For you Meghan I will now have a sleep and think about what to do next. Maybe I just need to visit England more often… which I don’t mind and I know England doesn’t mind either.
//Lisa
July 2, 2009 at 6:58 am |
Hi Lisa,
As an English man living in Sweden with my very own Lisa (like many English men out here I have followed the lady back to their homeland), I think it would be great for you to provide a contrast between England and Sweden).
You say that everything is perfect here, but maybe you could pick on subjects and compare your experiences in the different cultures, showing what is different/wrong in the UK?
Just a thought.
Enjoy the summer and the lakes and all that space!
Peter
July 3, 2009 at 4:56 pm |
Hi Lisa,
Thank you for writing back! I understand that idyllic Sverige would not provide you with as much crazy inspiration for the blog, so I really appreciate you sleeping on it and thinking about a new angle the blog could take. I think the problem is that as a Swede you can’t necessarily see the amusing aspects of Swedish life—even the fact that it is a Utopian society can be amusing with the right voice behind it—and I think you have that voice. So I hope you will find some inspiration and that the blog lives on in whatever form the new incarnation takes.
Cheers/Skol
Meghan
P.S. This Canadian would have flipped out if mice invaded my flat, so that either makes me a snob also (or perhaps Swedish at heart) or the English freaks of nature!?