Writing in English is surprisingly soothing after try to focus
your mind in swedish all day. Words come easily from the mind to the hands to
type without having to think and look up and get confused. Although I enjoy
learning Swedish it is so very hard to get my head around. If I can’t remember
what a word means in English it is gone within seconds of learning that word. Learning
Swedish means watching peoples every move to get what they mean or what they
are telling you to do. I know that Swedish will come in time and that if I put
in the effort now I will benefit in the long run, but this is becoming increasingly
harder when you feel that others around you are picking it up and you still
seem to be stuck at this confused stage of learning the language. So English comes
as a relaxing tool. To just type in English has never been so relaxing. It is
as though my mind switches into a state of pure ease and the headache that lingers
around when I am trying to think in Swedish goes into nothingness. Swedish has
not necessarily been harder than I first thought I think there is just more to
it that I first anticipated. Many rules that you just have to guess if you use
it with that word. Some things there are no rules to it you just do that with
this word, but if you add a t at the end it changes completely! But these
things come with learning a new language! But there are the times when you
understand something and you just want to dance. The moment when your mind just
goes hang on I know what that means, you can answer that! At the moment just
understanding one small conversation in Swedish means that I have accomplished
something in my day, that I can keep on going on in this endless sea of
Swedishness!
There is something about living in a big city that is
exciting and scary all at the same time. Stockholm is not the biggest city you
can find but it sure amounts to more than Christchurch does. I have this
thought in my mind that big cities have trains. Stockholm has trains.
Underground trains too. Trains make a city feel bigger. Trains make you feel
like you have been on a journey, even if it is only a 20 min train ride. I have
always dreamed of living in a city that is full of people and life and general busyness.
A big city. Being here feels right. I feel as though this big city is soft and
welcoming with its history and different coloured buildings, with its many
little alley ways to lose yourself in, it’s smell of the sea mixed with the
smell of hotdogs from the many carts dotted around the city, and with its many
bridges and it’s busy hum of all the people. There is so much to explore and
get lost can mean finding yet another new and enchanting place in this city.
Finding yourself sitting down on a concrete wall with your legs hanging down
just above the water in the middle of a city is something this city aloe can
offer. I am looking forward to seeing this city in the middle of winter. The picture
in my head is of the buildings covered in snow with many lights on around
giving the city a glow in it’s almost constant winter darkness. I image a fairy
tale like setting and I am forever hoping that it will look much like this
image I have painted in my mind.
Sometimes when I say
I am from New Zealand I get a blank look until they click and realise they do
know where that is and then go on to say “you’re so far from home!” others will
know right away where it is and say “lord of the rings!, sheep! or Auckland!”
Well at least they know it’s not part of Australia! But one thing I have
realised quite quickly is that although New Zealand is known for many things it
is a very small country. My English teacher was talking to me about his trip to
New Zealand (Auckland) and he said that it was “lovely but if you blinked you
missed everything.” He was very surprised to hear that Auckland was the biggest
city in New Zealand! I have always know New Zealand is small, I mean we are
always being left off maps, even the AFS one, but looking at it from an
outsiders point of view makes me believe that it is not only Auckland city you
miss if you blink, you could end up missing the whole thing! I love New Zealand
though. It is so relaxed and so easy to just chill there!
Sweden so far has been full of surprises, so here is to
more of them!
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