3rd July 2009 – And it’s all coming back to me now…

I have during the last days realized that my brain has been quite selective when it comes to remembering certain aspects of Sweden. I had for example totally forgotten about the mosquitoes. I cannot even remember them liking me very much before, but now they are all exited about the new blood in town and feast on me all they can. Maybe it’s all the antibiotics in my blood that makes them mad about me. Or they just prefer me older and wiser. Which is understandable.

Summer is not only mosquito time but also the time for building and rebuilding things. Swedes just seem to love doing that. A true Swede always has a façade to replace or an approach to pave. Since most Swedes are off on vacation in July most cities (especially Göteborg) take the opportunity to work on roads, tram tracks and train tracks during this period. I guess we are assumed to withdraw to a remote island or go sailing. We are definitely not assumed to stay in town. So, the city goes ahead and changes all the tram and train routes and redirects every second road which makes going anywhere even more confusing than it normally is in this city of one way streets.

I might also have slightly glorified the shopping in Göteborg. For a year now I have been constantly complaining about how impossible it is to find nice things in Sydney, and been bragging about how much better it is in Sweden. My master plan was to go back with an empty suitcase to be able to do some SERIOUS shopping. And so I did. For about 30 minutes. Then I panicked and headed home – disillusioned and confused, trying to avoid getting hit by every bus, tram and car in Göteborg on the way (they drive on the WRONG side!) – and ended up borrowing clothes from Lotta instead to solve the situation. It seemed I had completely forgotten about two small summer features; SUMMER SALE and TURISTS. Combined they turn every shop in Göteborg into a burning inferno. How could that slip my mind?

I’m now heading down to my parents’ place on the west cost 160 km south of Göteborg. The plan is to do a lot of nothing for the weekend. There will be no sale on since there are no shops. There will be no trams and hardly any cars. There will be no mosquitoes. Hardly any tourists. If I just stay put and not divert too much towards Båstad there will be nothing but family and food and ocean and a little bit of forest. And that is exactly what I need right now.