Tjörn feelings

A few weeks ago, I travelled to the island of Tjörn in Sweden to do a teaching course. After a few days in Göteborg – where I rented a room at in the apartment of an old lady I had fika with while talking about literature (she told me she saw Johannes Anyuru on the bus sometimes!) and Sommar i P1, walked around the streets on my own, met up with my friends Anna and Viktor and waited for my suitcase that was left behind in Amsterdam to finally arrive – on one of the last days of July, I took a bus to Tjörn.

I was happier than I had been in a long time. The view from my room (in the first picture) was wonderful, and I realized it was the first time in my life I had my own bathroom. In the evenings, we used to have evening fika (yes, that’s a thing!). But the best thing was just to have people to hang out with all the time, instead of just being pressed into one hour of their weekly schedule. In the morning, I would just wake up and listen to the quiet around me, get dressed, walk around in the cool morning air (contrary to this summer, it was around 17 degrees back then – in fact, I even went for a swim in 17 degrees), and find other people at the breakfast table to talk to while eating oatmeal, fil and jam. It was just such a nice atmosphere all along! And to be able to talk in Swedish all the time! I don’t know how but it just made me feel more free, like I become a different person when I’m speaking Swedish, maybe someone who’s more brave.

And to be near the sea, oh how I miss that.