Last night I was out walking, I mean in the very middle of the night. I’m going through some sort of delayed jetlag and if it’s one thing I really do not like it is to be in bed without being tired. I very easily get almost manic urges to go out running or cooking or cleaning the house. I see no point in wasting time just laying there “trying” to go to sleep if my body is not tired. Of course sometimes the mind is tired so whatever activity I set out to do might end with a quite poor result. In those cases watching a film or, ehrm… perhaps a little glimpse on Facebook might suffice. But yea, lying in bed restless is not for me. Better do something productive whilst awake!
So, this time I went out for a walk at 2:30am. Stupid some might say, why not some others may say. I’m of the opinion that cities are safe places, surroundings that don’t go to sleep and always folks around. Unless you live in an area know to be very unsafe due to high criminality or something of that sort, I don’t see a problem with going out alone. Rather, I see it as a fortune! I’m a city person, not a countryside individual. Stockholm and its surroundings is the city in which I spent most years of my life, and I love this city. It’s big enough to always offer something new, yet it’s small enough to have its integrity and good qualities that larger metropolis often start lacking. – Yes yes, I know, Dubai is large and still impeccable. True, but its sort of fake, certainly doesn’t have the same integrity as say Stockholm. The same is true for, say Singapore. Brilliantly tidy and efficient and perfect, but do I want to spend the rest of my life there? Not necessarily. I like a bit of street graffiti, unpolished cobble streets, and a change of seasons. – Anyhow, I went out for a walk and to me it feels fairly normal. My aunty would tell me that it’s unsafe to be in the city and would much rather have me move to a suburb, or perhaps to a cute house in the country side. And a very close friend of mine would most likely remind me that Stockholm is not really a city, try Los Angeles or Tokyo instead. I like LA and I love Tokyo, perhaps I’ll spend some more permanent time there at some point. But as for countryside living, I only have one thing to say – No one will hear you scream…
This morning, after 3 rounds of sleep and my night walk and another forced nap, I remained in bed in the dark and browsed BuzzFeed, being determined not to rise before 6:30am. I took this test to find out What City I Should Actually Live In? With 9 questions, each with 9 possible answers to pick from, I could sort of make out which answer would categorise me as a certain type of person. I mean, what are the stereotypes for “a venti-skinny-soy-non-foam-sugar-free-vanilla-latte” and “a cup of black brew”…? Yes, exactly. But I tried to ignore the obvious and refrain from letting my subconscious(?) predetermined idea of what city I would like to be associated with control my answers. You want to know my result?! New York 🙂 Apparently, I am “a BOSS, made for the concrete jungle. Of all of your friends you’ve always been the most ambitious. You love the fast-paced beat of the city and are constantly in search of bigger things. Basically, there’s nothing you can’t do.” Basically I’m pretty amazing. And sorry to all of my friends. And yes, I do love Jay-Z’s and Alicia Key’s Empire State of Mind. I spent 4 years in Manhattan and I think I’ll be back. Jay, I’m not sure I’ll be hood forever though. Not sure I have ever been hood… Can I be more like Alicia please?
Stockholm Serendipity 