Question 8b: How settled do you feel in your city/town?

"Sometimes I feel like my only friend is the city I live in, The City of Angels, lonely as I am together we cry" - Red Hot Chili Peppers, Under the Bridge

I've never felt as settled as I did in Brighton & Hove. After just a few weeks there as a 19-year-old, it felt as if the city was my friend - just like the Red Hot Chili Peppers song - and one of the people I stayed with during Swenglish said: Brighton treats me well, as if it was truly a character.

Most of the people I stayed with in England lived in the Brighton area and a majority said they felt very settled there and couldn't imagine living anywhere else in Britain. Funnily enough no one was born in Brighton and only two had lived their as kids. The rest had moved there to study - or in many cases just ended up there because Brighton had a good vibe. Open-minded and friendly were words that turned up time and time again.

Of the Swedes, 8 of 15 felt very settled in their current cities or towns. Especially the ones who lived in Umeå (both of them from Småland) seemed to be in love with their city, but also 3 out of 4 people in Stockholm (none of them native) felt very settled. So you don't have to be born and bred in a certain place to feel settled. Only 7 out of 30 people lived in or near their hometown.

My dilemma is that I feel more settled in Brighton than in Sweden, but I feel more settled in Sweden than in England ...

This study is by no means scientific, the answers are based on interviewing 15 people in England and 15 people in Sweden, aged 22-59. Look out for the next question: How settled do you feel in your neighbourhood?

PÅ SVENSKA

Week29: Stockholm Drama

Last night I had to call the police. My host was trying to stop a fight at a tube station in Stockholm and was protecting a guy who was bleeding. The police turned up very quickly and we could go home, but I still feel a bit shocked.

Sometimes it feels like Stockholm and Sweden are two different countries. I've spent four weeks in Stockholm with four different people during Swenglish, and what they have in common is that at least three of them are stressed, more stressed than people living in other cities.

Stockholm is where it all happens. Both good and bad stuff. This week I've been to the opera for the first time in my life and I've been to a PR event for a new magazine and I've been to a bar/club where only selected people got a stamp and an entry to the "secret" dance floor. I've seen two very good authors, Karl Ove Knausgård and Nina Björk. I've also been to McDonald's for the first time in twelve years, a place I would never have entered if it wasn't for this project and the fact that I have to shadow the person I'm staying with.

Now I'm on the train on my way South to Småland where I'll spend my last Swenglish week in Flisby, the village where my dad grew up. Hopefully it should be quiet, but I've learnt to expect the unexpected ...

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Week27: Leading English Park & Winning Bandy Team

I had no idea that one of the most English parks in the world is situated in Sweden. I’m back in Stockholm and my host recommended that I walk through Haga Park near his work place. On an information board it said ”one of the world’s leading English parks”. Apparently an English style park consists of view points, lawns, bushes, trees and winding paths. How original. I must admit I didn't see all of the park, but I came across a ”Turkish Pavilion” – which reminded me a bit of the the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.

Last week I tried my luck on the ice, this week I ended up by the side as a spectator, drinking beer. Bandy is a winter sport similar to ice-hockey, but instead of using a flat black puck, the game is played with an orange ball, a bit smaller than a tennis ball. The playing area is bigger than in an ice-hockey and usually the game is held outdoors. 

My host is a fan of the south Stockholm team Hammarby and they won the game against GAIS from Gothenburg with 8-1. Even though I think it’s quite an artful sport to watch, I lost interested after 4-1, feeling sorry for the losing team. I also felt a bit restless because I wanted to be on the ice myself, I quite liked bandy when I was little, as my hometown Nässjö is a ”bandy town”.

After doing so much sport last week I kind of got addicted to the endorphin kick. I’m not interested in competing or running faster or longer, but every time I've stayed with people who exercise a lot I've felt very happy and energetic, and I hope I can keep up with it after Swenglish is completed. One person I stayed with even used the gym as a substitute for anti-depressants. Normally my host goes running three times a week, but he’s having a period of rest at the moment, so I’m climbing on the walls! (Not literally this time ...)

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Week7: World Famous Squares

It’s not every day I have lunch in Trafalgar Square. My seventh Swenglish person is an arts writer, and he took me round a few galleries in London. When we stopped for a sandwich in the world famous square I felt strangely happy.

To be in a place I’ve seen on TV and read about in books makes me feel connected, puts me on the map. That’s one thing I really like about living in England, to be part of the world. People all over the planet know about London landmarks, but I doubt anyone can name a square in Stockholm unless they’ve been there on holiday. 

Perhaps it’s my job to educate people, so I've inserted a picture of ”Plattan” ("The Plate"?) ,

or Sergels Torg, a famous square in the heart of Sweden’s capital. 

And as a bonus I'll give you "Dödens's  Väntrum" ("Death's Waiting Room"), 

the "big" square (stortorget) in my hometown Nässjö.

PÅ SVENSKA