For those of you who are not in contact with me on a daily basis, you may not know that I’m spending this weekend in Stockholm. Thursday and Friday are for work here in Stockholm, and after that we’re spending the rest of the week here too.

I’m very undecided about Stockholm. It’s got a lot of nice places, sure. But…

• The atmosphere is odd. People are driving like crazy, they use the car horn for minor things, they are rude, and there’s a very superficial air about everything.
• The house prices are enormous. From what I’ve heard, the going rate is about $7,500 per square meter. Paying $2,000-$3,000 a month in rent is not at all weird; some places more than that.
• Everything is small and shabby. And old. A friend we ran into here spent $600,000 on an apartment that’s smaller than mine back home.
• The daily commute is a nightmare. Back where I live, 25 minutes in the car to work feels like a long time. Here, you may easily double this figure. Or triple it. Or possibly quadruple it.

I can’t say that I miss home very much, because there’s nothing back home but a cold, empty apartment; but I miss the friendly atmosphere, miss having a burger at McD’s, and I miss not getting ruined by buying a sandwich at a café. Quite frankly, I don’t really see what all the buzz is about. Although, yes, Stureplan is a little bit upscale from ICA Nordeviks, I get it, but…

Anyway. I’m going to bed now. More exploring to do tomorrow.