Stockholm Syndrome

"Stockholm syndrome, or capture-bonding, is a psychological phenomenon in which hostages express empathy and sympathy and have positive feelings toward their captors, sometimes to the point of defending and identifying with them." excerpt from Wikipedia..the super reliable

I am starting to identify more and more with the Swedes. I now feel like I am showing less emotions, getting annoyed when people speak on the train, and conversations that I used to have with my friends now feel like they were at an unusually high volume! In addition colors are slowly fading away from my wardrobe and I'm finding myself wearing more black and the occasional crazy white.

Now that I have been in Sweden for about 7 weeks I am starting to feel more and more settled in. I've unpacked and we're living in our temporary housing. I have overcome my homesickness and I am now starting to feel like I have some purpose for being in Sweden. I guess I am feeling some Stockholm Syndrome.

To be honest before I moved over here I was TERRIFIED! I was worried I'd made the wrong choice and I was looking for any reason not to move.

I knew that I gave up my schooling, my friends, my family, and I thought I was giving up my independence.

I started to see Sweden as my kidnapper!

The place I wanted to live in was now the enemy. I was more and more upset when I got here too. I didn't want to speak Swedish, I was annoyed there wasn't air-conditioning, and I was mad that it felt like I would never belong in this land of the Nordic people.

I am finally starting to feel like some things are falling in to place. Tomorrow I start my first day at the Stockholm University Business School. I am in the Business Administration and Political Science program. I am nervous to start at a new school again, and I have NO idea how the Swedish school system will be, and I still need school supplies! Oh Gosh! Just writing this now is making me anxious...

I think things will go well... POSITIVE THOUGHTS.. they will go well... I hope.. I think.. agh I will just have to write about it tomorrow after class.

I'll have a complicated journey to class though; I have to take a bus-to a pendletåg- to a subway-to a bus again. Thank god I have my trusty mobile app  so I'm not the lost late one to class!

I feel like that's always me! Even when I'd been on a campus 3 years I was still late on the first day of classes because I forgot building names in my pseudo-upperclassman knowledge. I'm talking to you UW-Madison. Stupid Sterling building!

Back to my point though. I am happy my attitude towards Sweden is better. I am defending and relating to Swedes a-la- Stockholm syndrome. ;)

We had a meeting at the bank today to discuss apartment loans. In December we will be homeless unless we can buy an apartment. SCARY! So I've been obsessively looking at Hemnet.se to find an apartment. They literally sell like hotcakes! I've never used that term before in my life, but in this case I don't even think these hotcakes, no matter how good they are sell as fast as a Stockholm apartment. Unless maybe they are a cronut... then maybe they sell at about the same speed. Seriously though.

So things are looking up, I still need a job, but I'll keep applying and hopefully find something. I did at least get my Swedish ID so I am legit to be here!

I realized now that this blog post didn't really make a point but it was very ADD.

I hope some point was made or at least the thought process was there and you can kind of see the effort.

Now I'm off to make dinner and stress over my first day of school! Enjoy some random Swedish photos I've had on my computer!

xx Elizabeth