| ABOUT
MY STAY Stockholm
(Sweden)
march 2001-january 2002
INTRO
What I did: living
and a little bit travelling around
When: march
2001-january 2002
How I moved: mainly
by train, bus, kayak, boat and hitch hiking
Where I slept: student
house in Stockholm, while travelling tent and youth hostel
How much: my
god how much is expensive Sweden!!!!!! travel cost not less than 40 euro/day (apart
kayaking in the arcipelago that is cheaper)
Baking or
freezing?: I hope you are prone
to chilly weathers, but frankly what made me dizzier was the sun during the summer time.
Dangers: spend too much
What I
liked: wildlife, kayaking in the arcipelago, the north in the winter time with
its ice hotel, rollerblading in the main square of charming Stockholm, and living
with people from 6 differrent countries, ah.... I was forgetting the salty liquorice, I
love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What
I disliked: how tough is to have friends
What you
do need: being able to appreciate the nature and to have money!!
MY STAY
WHY DID I MOVE TO SWEDEN?
It was years that I thought to
experience to live abroad besides just travelling for, at most, one month. The best would
have been to carry out my thesis project for the university somewhere in Europe; given I'm
fond of north european countries, I choose to try to apply for Sweden, and finally I was
accepted. I was excited by the idea to leave my italian everyday life to dive in, what I
was sure would have been, my life's most interesting experience.
Actually it was!
WHAT I DID?
I got a room in
the outskirts of Stockholm (in Lappis for those that know), sharing the kitchen and the
living room with some guys (two sweds, a german and a france) and a bunch of girls (one
from Kurdistan, two armenians, one greek, one france and two sweds). It was a
mess but I had great fun.
I work hardly in the labs of the mechanical department freaking out to align lasers
in the wind tunnel (P.I.V. for those that know).
I showed off rollerblading with some friends in the main
square in Stockholm every saturday till the temperature dropped
below the 0 C, then I started ice skating almost every evening in
the ice-ring in downtown.
And what about the travels:
IMPRESSIONS about the people
During these ten
months Sweds wholly confirmed to me their reputation of reliable, serious and respectful
people; I envy them for their respect to the wildlife and generally to the common things
(they should teach it to italians). This, summed to a widespread wealth (few people with
many resources), determines an average high standard of life, shown, for example, by the
number of public services and their efficiency, incomparable with the italian ones.
Nevertheless, despite I strained, I didn't managed to have many friends and, trying
to build friendships, most of the times I felt like bumping against a wall. I think it's
just a different way to get in confidence in the relationships.
IMPRESSIONS about the
wildlife
Concerning the wildlife for me
living in Sweden has been a ten months long dream. I don't think I could be able to
describe the beauty of the swedish archipelago in the summer,
or of the midnight sun that shines high in the
sky even in the deep night. And what about the four hours long twilight that lights the snowy
land in the north of Sweden during the deep winter?
Once I read that Stockholm is considered one of the most beautiful world's capital, I
perfectly agree with it. Stockholm is amazing, no way to describe his islands, his parks,
his shops, his international atmosphere...
Alby
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