Being at home, but feeling like a stranger

One of the things that I don't like about coming home is that I always feel a bit lost, and stranger-like to the 'Scandinavian way.' Also, things always tend to change over here and I have a problem keeping up. For some reason Sweden now has two different postal services, meaning that there are two different mail men coming around the same time every day to deliver your mail. Odd. 

Then, there's the fact that everything over here is about self-service. When u pay with your credit card u always have to swipe it yourself, or, like yesterday, when I bought my train ticket from Copenhagen to Malmö, put the card (if it has a chip) in the machine, select currency, then press your PIN code, wait for your purchase to be approved, remember to take your card, and so on... I know that many countries have this kind of system by now, but to me, it is still kind of foreign. (Because where I have been living for the last 8 years it has always been the person behind the counter who swipes my card...and in China all u have to do is push your PIN code).  I tend to feel a bit lost when this sort of situation occurs, and that always result in me being embarrassed. Because over here I am supposed to know how things work! I am a native, for Christ's sake! if I don't know how things work in China/Finland/Australia, I just play the 'tourist' or 'foreigner' card... but in Sweden I feel like a complete fool every time I stand there, starring at the machine, wondering what I am supposed to do with my card (swipe it, hand it over or put it in, chip first?) and hear the annoyed voice from the counter telling me that ’and then you swipe your card yourself, you know?!’  

 

Then, there's the whole ID situation. U need an ID for everything over here. Well OK, no, that was sort of a lie. But for everything booze-related. You cannot buy your alcohol from the grocery store, instead you have to head for the only shop that has a licence to sell alcohol in Sweden: Systembolaget. Over there, u have to line up for ages (It’s the only place that sells booze, so just imagine how packed it gets on Fridays and Saturdays), and always show your ID. And don't even think about going to the pub without an ID. I normally don't carry an ID with me, so it has happened numerous times that I have been refused entrance to clubs where the age limit is 18 just because I didn't bring my ID card!!! (I guess I should take it as a compliment that people think I look young, but those times when it has happened, I have felt like a complete idiot). 

 

Also, the lack of small talk in the every day life is sometimes painful. I normally don't chat to strangers in China but a little comment here and there about the weather tends to happen when I am in shops/ at the Starbuck's counter waiting for my latte. In Sweden, that sort of talk is not really OK. I remember I tried it once when I was home from Australia. I was standing in a bar, waiting for the bartender to take my order (bars in Sweden are always understaffed) and next to me was a girl in my age, engaging in the same sport. 

 

-Bit of a long wait, isn't it? I tried. 

She looked at me, wide-eyed, before turning me her back. 

Whoops. She must have thought I was trying to pick her up! 

Well, obviously it takes some time every time I get here to adjust to everything. But except for those little cons, the pros of being here add up. I mean, just taking a walk in the forest, not being surrounded by hundreds of people and breathing the clean, fresh air feels like a minor reward. Indulging in Swedish comfort food is another treat. And seeing friends and family is obviously so nice that it doesn’t need any further explanation.