Ex-Expat Day 101

It’s snowing! First snow of the season. It’s cold and dark. The days are short. Very short.

It will definitely take some time getting used to this. It’s still dark when I leave for work in the morning and already dark when I get home in the evening.

I moved to Sweden just over 3 months ago, and a lot has changed. Actually, everything has changed… profoundly! And I have changed.

I used to be a Swedish American. But now I’m an American Swede… and apparently with an American accent. I guess that’s what happens after 35 years in the States.

Interesting side note: I just got back from a few days in the States, and one thing that struck me was how much time I spent driving from place to place. And this was just running errands and doing normal day-to-day things.

I bet I spent on average well over an hour, if not more, per day just driving from place to place. And this was not commuting to work—just doing regular things.

I don’t drive anywhere in my new life. Instead, I walk to most places or take the train. Sure, I spend about 2 1/2 hours commuting most weekdays. However, I doubt that total time in transit per week is much more than all that time driving in the States.

More importantly, I like not spending all that time driving, and I really like being able to walk to most places.

So, just over 100 days in, and I’m already so much more European. 😊