A home away from home

There is something which on the surface sounds like a great benefit but in reality has a sting in its tail: That something is the fact that Swedish people in general speak excellent English, so good that it’s all too easy for me to convince myself that I don’t need to study and learn Swedish at all. Helping to make me feel guilty and a little ungrateful with my decision not to study is one small detail. If I wanted, I could attend Swedish lessons every day of the week and it would be completely free. (Ok! That’s 2 reasons) Of course the times they run are not really suitable for me, but the fact is they are available. For the past 20 years I have lived outside of my home land and for most of that time I have felt like a foreigner. There are obvious reasons why that could be the case in places like Japan and Indonesia, but even in Germany (actually especially there) I never felt accepted and always knew that I was living in a country which was not my own. In Sunne I honestly forget all about nationality. I never feel out of place and the community is such that as long as your intentions are good anyone could settle here. I can speak some Swedish and will try harder to get better, but I blame it on you, yes all my Swedish friends who may read this. If you guys could only have been a little worse in English, im positive I would be much better in Swedish!! One final thought: being accepted into Swedish society allows me to enjoy my sport so much more. As a Scot I was not used to ever winning anything, but now as an adopted Swede I cheer on as we win at ice hockey, qualify for world cups in football and kick butt at handball. I may not know what bandy or innebandy actually are or how you play them but as long as we are winning, who cares.