Written by Inez
29 Dec 2017
When I made the decision to move from Amsterdam to Stockholm, I was sure I was gonna be homesick. I am really close with my family and I am in love with Amsterdam, so homesickness is a logical consequence when moving away from The Netherlands.
moreHowever, that didn’t really happen. I was too busy with discovering Stockholm to be missing Amsterdam and kept in touch with the people at home. What did happen, was the reversed. I am currently home to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s, feeling a little homesick and missing Sweden.
I love to read the personal stories of other people, so that’s what this story is gonna be like too.
As I said before, I expected that I would be homesick. When I lived in Amsterdam, I would go back to see my parents about every weekend. I was, and still am, in love with the city. I was having an amazing time and wasn’t necessarily planning on moving away. However, saying no to the opportunity to live and study in Sweden just wasn’t an option for me. And that was the right decision, because this Sweden adventure is making me the happiest I’ve ever been.
Moving away from everything and everyone you know is scary. But what scared me the most was being homesick. Missing The Netherlands too much to be able to have fun in Sweden. Looking back, that was completely unnecessary. Ever since I’ve arrived in Stockholm, I’m having the best time. That is not to say that it is always fun and games, because it is not. Passing courses is hard work and so is finding your way in a new city. But by now, I wouldn’t want to have it any other way.
Stockholm is my home now too
What I forgot about, is that I might start to feel the same way about Stockholm as I do about Amsterdam. And that has happened already. As I wrote before, I’m already starting to feel like a local and Stockholm is my home now too. This means that, when I leave, I miss this place. I miss my favourite lunch place, I miss hearing Swedish and I miss my routines. But most of all, I miss the friends I’ve made here. My little Stockholm family.
Tips on how to deal with reverse homesickness will be posted somewhere in the next months. For now, I’m just gonna be happy about the fact that there’s so much for me to look forward to when I get back in Sweden. I can’t wait!
Also ready to make a new city your home? You have until January 15th, 2018 to apply to start studying in Sweden this Autumn.
