Summer Back Home

I finally returned to Paris on Monday. After a long summer back home in Norway and Sweden, I finally got to see my girl and city again.
I started the summer with my gang from back home. We have a yearly trip to a cabin in Sweden, and it is truly one of the weeks that I am looking forward to every year. It is a week where it is just us, in a cabin, in the woods, close to the ocean. When we are there we can sit and relax by the ocean all day, or have competitions by the cabin. It is the one week in the year when we are all gathered together.

After this amazing week, I stayed home in Oslo, being with family and friends. Catching up, although with today’s social media that doesn’t have to be done to the same extent as before. It was a nice week where I got to be back to the city that I have spent most of my time since I was 15. When we went out with the guys, it was like being back in my student life in Oslo, which when I think of it now is actually 3 years ago. After a week, I realised though that I was missing that missing part too much, and I had to go back to Paris and see her. I realised that my plan of being 5 weeks away from Simay was way too long. When I booked my trip, I thought to myself: Hey, it’s my last long summer vacation, I might as well spend it with family and friends one last time while I can. We’ve been away from each other for over 2,5 months before, and we made it through that. What is 5 weeks?”
But she is such an essential part of my daily life now, so I can’t be without her for that long anymore. The great thing about this is that I know that what I am doing now, living in a different country than my family and old friends is the right thing. Because I really want to be with Simi, here, in Paris.

So after 5 days in Paris it was back to the home visit tour, next on the plan: Sweden, starting with Gothenburg. For those of you who don’t know; my mom is Swedish, and she grew up in Gothenburg. I stayed one week with my uncle, aunt and two cousins in Lindome, right outside of the city. It was great as usual. On Saturday, my other aunt and uncle in Gothenburg joined us, and we spent the day hiking in the nature and swimming in the lake. It was like the summers when I was little. I have to admit that I prefer the lakes over the ocean, not just because of the higher temperature but also because of the lack of saltwater.
The rest of the week was spent seeing some people that I haven’t seen in ages. And I also got to meet Martin. now keep your focus and I will tell you how Martin is connected: He is the husband of my aunts’ sisters’ friends. Now you’re probably wondering why I would mention him here. The reason is that Martin is Argentinian but he has been living in Sweden for the past 6 years. When he got to Sweden he spoke zero Swedish, and it was fun to meet someone who was in the same position as I am right now, only back where I am from. It was fun to hear what he found weird about the Scandinavian culture, and also to see that he had experienced some of the same situations as we have here in Paris.
I also watched a lot of football during this week, as it was Gothia Cup in Sweden. I watched a 3-4 games with my cousin, and I also spent 1 day alone watching some games.

After a week in Gothenburg it was time for the last, and longest trip up north to Umeå, Sweden. This is where my grandfather, uncle and aunt live. It was also a great week. I hadn’t seen my grandfather and his wife in over 5 years. But they were just as I remembered them. We played a lot of mini golf, as we used to do when I was little. Although this time I was able to control my anger whenever I missed the easy ones.
Other than travelling around and seeing places up in the north I got to spend time with my youngest cousins, Moa, Lilly and Ted. Although I saw them last summer, it felt like it wasn’t that long ago. We had a great time, and it was the perfect ending to the summer tour.

The last weekend was spent with my friends, and I got to say goodbye to everyone one last time before going back to Paris. It has been a summer that I will remember for a long time, and I now have 3 more weeks until I start my French studies at the end of August.