I’ve been living in Paris for more than a year now and I realize that every day I get more and more used to the city, the country, the people, and their habits; almost to a point when I no longer reflect on acts – and facts - I would have found extremely peculiar and odd only a couple of years ago. This becomes evident only when I return to my home country and meet my family and friends over here. I stroll along the streets in Stockholm and observe things I’ve never previously seen; still my eyes are watching the same picture as so many times before.
Everytime I try to write in English I do comment on my choice of language, and that I should abandon Swedish more often; still I haven’t done (but I evidently need to practice!). It may then seen astonishingly stupid to write some kind of comparative – though completely non-objective – chronicle between two cities, countries, cultures. I was once asked not to change language as it would require a significantly higher level of political correctness. Well, I wouldn’t say that I normally do too many serious blunders, but I’m certainly not the one to judge.
Anyway, I came to consider a few issues where these highly subjective observations and conclusions could result in short notes. So let's start today with the…
Size
When I was a kid, I considered Stockholm as an immense city; you could buy anything you wanted, there were people everywhere and there were subway train.
Paris, on the other hand, has never been a big city. Of course, when I first came here, I was well aware that within Paris and its suburbs live as many persons as in my whole country. I saw, and registered the size, but it felt all natural from the beginning. This surprises me, I frankly think there live more people on my street than in the village where I've spent most of my life so far (though only with a few years margin…I’m getting old).
When I last arrived to Stockholm, about two weeks ago, I wasn’t proud to hear the words: “Stockholm is actually a small city” slipping out of my mouth. Am I going snobbish, pretending to be urbane?
Several of the observations-to-come are tightly connected to the size but deserve their proper attention...and a mental note; this has all been written whilst in Sweden...
Everytime I try to write in English I do comment on my choice of language, and that I should abandon Swedish more often; still I haven’t done (but I evidently need to practice!). It may then seen astonishingly stupid to write some kind of comparative – though completely non-objective – chronicle between two cities, countries, cultures. I was once asked not to change language as it would require a significantly higher level of political correctness. Well, I wouldn’t say that I normally do too many serious blunders, but I’m certainly not the one to judge.
Anyway, I came to consider a few issues where these highly subjective observations and conclusions could result in short notes. So let's start today with the…
Size
When I was a kid, I considered Stockholm as an immense city; you could buy anything you wanted, there were people everywhere and there were subway train.
Paris, on the other hand, has never been a big city. Of course, when I first came here, I was well aware that within Paris and its suburbs live as many persons as in my whole country. I saw, and registered the size, but it felt all natural from the beginning. This surprises me, I frankly think there live more people on my street than in the village where I've spent most of my life so far (though only with a few years margin…I’m getting old).
When I last arrived to Stockholm, about two weeks ago, I wasn’t proud to hear the words: “Stockholm is actually a small city” slipping out of my mouth. Am I going snobbish, pretending to be urbane?
Several of the observations-to-come are tightly connected to the size but deserve their proper attention...and a mental note; this has all been written whilst in Sweden...
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