Gabi Froden: The most discontented privileged person

I have said it before. The transition between countries you belong to is really difficult. There is so much to love in both places. However, I will always choose a Swedish summer over a British one. There is just so much space in Sweden and hardly any people, and when you are on your holiday, that’s exactly what you want. A forest lake and just some birds and hedgehogs to keep you company.

For the rest of the year, I have been happily surrounded by chatty, friendly, witty people, but in the summer I want some silence. I want to go for a morning swim all by myself, I want to pick blueberries all by myself, I want to lie in a hammock with a book, all by myself. And for that, Sweden is perfect. Nobody bothers you, because pretty much everyone wants the same.

But in Glasgow, I have no interest in being all by myself. If I have too much time to myself here, I go crazy. I want to meet friends in pubs, chat with coworkers and blether with folks I hardly know. I don’t know what that is about. Do the two places simply lend themselves to different ways of being? Am I perhaps the most discontented privileged person to complain about having two very different places to spend time in, and be part of?

To feel displaced and confused about where you belong is probably a very common feeling if you have ever ventured outside your hometown. I was always jealous of those who were contented to stay. I needed to go. And even if it is difficult at times, I hope I am richer for experiencing life in another country, even if I will always return for summers in Sweden.